The calm of October

October was super quiet, I didn't do much. But I am now heading to Boise tomorrow and I will be there for an entire week. I am looking forward to being around my people. Considering I have finally come to the conclusion that I will be out east for at least 2 more years. So, when I come back from Boise, I will start apartment hunting. I am not really motivated to look but I have to cause I need a new place to live at the end of January as the cousin is moving back to Texas and for the first time in 3.5 years I will be in DC alone. It's interesting to think that when I moved to DC just over 3 years ago, I was only going to be here for 2 years. Then I decided it would be 3 years. Then through a couple of change of events last year, I decided it would be 5 years. When I started this journey I never knew it would be this long, or I would be the last one of the three of us to be here. I am excited to see what will happen in the two years that I am out here alone and I am hoping that I am closer to DC, to truly experience DC. 

In October, Las Vegas had a major tragedy when a gunman opened fire on a crowd at a country concert. I have my political views, just like everyone else. But for this, I will just say - Nevada is my home state and while I didn't know anyone at the concert, Nevada is strong and I am proud of how my home state came together.

Skyping with the adorable Smith boys!

I am going to be an aunt, again! My brother and sister-in-law are expecting a daughter in February of 2018 - little Raelynn Nicole!

I love the simplicity of this photo of Hay walking with the animals.

And Mr. Eli is such a character and such a boy.

I had brunch with a friend and on their wall was Lewiston, Idaho! How crazy is that?!?!

Brunch with Liam and Whitney is always fun!

After brunch, I went into DC to hang with Melissa. We were walking around adorable shops in Dupont and came across this awesome shirt!

Princess is so photogenic!

 

On Sunday, October 15 - Tuf and I went to the 4th Blue October concert in a year. I love Blue October!!!!

We love you Justin. We were standing next to the sound stage and I saw the play list! I felt like an insider :)

 On Friday, October 20, I had Pho with my friend Jennifer and her adorable son David! It is always great to catch up with friends! 

 In preparation for Idaho, I am bringing Christmas gifts (so I don't have to mail them - yep, I am that cheap!). Princess was helping me with the gifts.

Next up - Boise trip! I can't wait to see what Idaho holds!!!

The Little Things of September

So, what happened in September? Doesn't seem like much could have happened since I was only home for about 10 days. 

I had my first pumpkin spice frap of the season! Oh how I have missed you, my amazing drink!

 

Karen and I have been friends for our entire life. I wish I had more of our younger days photos on my computer. I made this little collage to post on Facebook for her birthday. This is what I wrote, "Happy Birthday to the most amazing friend a girl could ask for. I am beyond thankful that we have been friends since we were young children. You are my travel buddy, my confidant, my best friend, my family, I love you!"The photos are as follows from left to right starting on the top row - Northern Ireland 2017, Northern Ireland 2017, Northern Ireland 2011. Next row - Northern Ireland 2011, New York City 2007, New Haven, Connecticut 2007. Bottom row - Northern Ireland 2011, Northern Ireland 2011, Tyler, Texas 2010. Just a glimpse at some of the things we have done together.

The perfect meme for me.

My baby is so precious!

Pup Pup loves me so much!

My niece and nephew are so adorable and doing so well with their animals.

 I had my one year anniversary at work on September 26. My new boss (I was recently reassigned to a different manager) gave me a nice card and a Starbucks gift card (she knows how much I love Starbucks). While I have been there fore a year, I still haven't made friends...well I have two and one of them has been with me since almost day 1 and she gave me a coffee cake!

 GG would have been 81 on September 28. This was her 5th birthday in heaven. How has it been 5 birthdays in heaven?!?! I miss you so much GG! Always in my heart. 

Happy Hour with my friends at a new place in DC!

Beach Life - Virgina Beach - September 22

The beach! The ocean! YES!!! 

There were some storms in the Atlantic, so the waves were pretty rough close to the shore. We went into the water and it was still pretty warm! yay! but the waves pushed us around. I think I fell flat on my butt at least 5 times. But it was so worth it. I love the beach life. I love the water. I love playing in the ocean. I love laying on the beach. I just really, love it all!

First steps into the water.

Don't worry - there is always some jumping going on!

We hung out on the beach until the sun went down. Then when to the hotel and washed the sand out of the many parts that sand can get into. We had a very nice dinner at our hotel. While we were waiting for dinner and dessert we played Phase 10. We love Phase 10!

The restaurant was airing the BSU game - because University of Virginia was playing in Boise. I don't follow BSU football anymore (it's way to hard to hard to watch games at 2am when they are aired in my network). BSU lost this game... :(

After dinner, we walked along the boardwalk in the opposite direction we had walked earlier in the day.

Have I mentioned that we play a lot of Phase 10... this time we played it at 10pm on the boardwalk!

Back in the hotel we played a quick game of Ticket to Ride.

A nice summary of our day.

It was the perfect day on the beach, with my best friend! I love that over the last month I was able to spend a lot of time with Karen. We played on the beach in Northern Ireland and then a month later we were on the beach in Virginia Beach. I don't know when I will see her again, but this past month has been amazing! We had to leave Virginia Beach about 5:30am on Saturday morning so that Karen could catch her flight from DCA, so we didn't see the sunrise again cause when we left it was still dark.. :)