2014 RECAP

I haven't look at this blog in forever! Writing about finding my wedding gown and running a half marathon feels like forever ago!

The biggest event in our lives in 2014 was definitely our wedding!

We spent about six months planning our wedding... and we've taken almost six months to recover! July 19th wasn't just about the wedding... it was a build up over the last four years, lots of learning and growing together, praying about our marriage, preparing the house in Arlington for family visits and time together, endless "to-do" lists, making hundreds of decisions together, honeymooning in Savannah, setting up our crowded apartment at Sweet Briar, sharing closet space, and working together to combine our finances.

God's perfect timing brought all of these things together around our wedding, on July 19th, when we were surrounded with  O V E R W H E L M I N G  love and support from family and friends, near and far.

Top 2014 events:

1. Ryan and I were able to travel to Alabama this spring to support Fred Frickie, my granddad, when they honored him with having the baseball/softball complex named after him at Calhoun Community College. Coach Frickie is a big deal!

From Granddad's coaching days at Calhoun... me and Justin on the back, Kendall and Michael in the front.

2. My younger sister, Amanda, graduated from high school in June! My parents are now empty-nesters... and from what I can tell, they are loving it!

3. Martinsville for two Nascar races... one with freezing weather in March and a second with nice, sunny weather in October!

4. June was a busy, busy month. I enjoyed a special morning for my bridal shower in Arlington and a couple days at the Rehoboth Beach with my two lovely matrons of honor, Heather & Amy. Then we headed out to Illinois for our engagement party and spent some time with the Wildenhain family.

5. Our honeymoon trip to Savannah, Georgia. Including.... Leopold's Ice Cream, bike tour, nights walking up and down Market St., seeing all the iconic squares, fishing charter, beach afternoons at Tybee Island, and paddle boarding.

6. Weekend camping trip at Smith Mountain Lake. In case you haven't seen this picture... Wrigley is a camping dog. I was the camper that enjoyed having the air mattress and a book to read!

7. Amanda started at University of Virginia this fall. She's a member of the marching band (and being very successful in school and acting like a college student!). A couple of Saturday mornings, we went up to Charlottesville to watch the band practice before the football games with my parents. Ryan and I even got to go to a UVA football game!

8. Snowshoe, WV for some quality snowboarding with great friends! Some of our cool friends include some GREAT photographers... who documented our trip... http://bullossphotography.com/snowshoe-wv-monday-mess-12-9-2014/

9. Lynchburg College's Women's Soccer team winning the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!! This can also include the 2008 & 2009 women's teams being inducted into the LC Athletic Hall of Fame in October; Ryan and I were able to attend since we live so close.

10. Finally, Christmas in Alabama again! We love spending time with family, getting Gibson's BBQ, seeing the Decatur Christmas lights, and eating lots of yummy food. A few days after Christmas we went up to Arlington for a great day with all the Frickie clan.

You seriously cannot beat the house decorations in Decatur.

Rebecca Leigh, Justin, Jenny, Dad, Mom, Diana Grace, Amanda, Ryan, me annnnnd Wrigley

life in the creek

This past weekend, I traveled to Buies Creek, NC to visit my BEST friend in the whole world, and her new husband. I got out of town, just in time to miss the snow storm, but not in time to miss driving in the dark in the rain storm. It took way longer to get there than it should have, but Wrigley was a great sport in the car. Thursday evening, I watched DJ cook dinner while we waited for Heather to get home, and then enjoyed plenty of time catching up, looking at pictures, half exchanging Christmas presents (I opened mine, but I left Heather's in my apartment).

Wrigley and Puck chased each other and fought over toys, beds, blankets, etc. It's entertaining to watch them after observing Wrigley with other dogs. She LOVES to play with her friend, Fenway, a fellow cockapoo, similar in age. With Puck, it's funny because they obviously are tolerating each other and get tired of sharing space after a few days. Mostly Puck gets sick of having a smart, spoiled puppy around (yes, I know Wrigley is spoiled). Wrigley on the other hand does nothing wrong. And this picture.... 100% tolerating going on here. cuties.

Back to my trip to the Creek.... When Heather got back from clinical hours on Friday, Heather and I went on a jog-ride. Heather has a knee recovering from surgery, so she rode on a bike while I ran. I felt like the friend that needed a friend to make her run, and Heather felt like the friend that wasn't fit enough to keep up running. We make a good pair.

Friday night, we drove up to Raleigh for an art class. It's a great time... They provide all of the supplies for painting and the students bring whatever beer, wine, drinks or food they want. The teacher instructs the class step-by-step  how to replicate the painting. The instructions include how many scoops of each color to make new colors, brush technique, which brush size to use, when to rinse the brush, etc. Each painting ends up looking a little unique, but reflects the original painting. Such a stress-reliever! I can't wait to do it again!

Saturday morning we all slept in, even Wrigley. Heather cooked a mega-breakfast before we fought the crowds at the outlets. DJ cooked some delicious burgers for dinner. Saturday night we vegged out with popcorn and a movie.

I'm always so sad to leave Heather. Sometimes wayyy to much time goes by before we see each other again. I remember being dramatic whenever Heather would leave to work at camp for a summer, or during college before going back to school for the Fall.... or Spring semester.  Everytime.... "We're never ever going to see each other again." Well, I now know that's not true, and I can't wait to find a time for Heather to come visit me at Sweet Briar!!


P.S. Heather also wrote a story on her blog about our fabulous weekend. Check it out. http://robinsonrumblings.blogspot.com/2013/01/wrigley-and-company.html

happy new year

Good bye to 2012, I'm ready to see what 2013 brings. I'm not big on new year's resolutions. The things that I want to do have not just started today... they've been on mind and in the works.

I want to continue to work on calming down. Less worrying, less anxiety, more going with the flow, more living each day to it's fullest. My mind is always going a million miles a minute about how to survive in this adult world. How does anyone ever buy a house? Where will I be working and living in 5-7 years? What is the plan? How can I save money and prepare for the future? I go on and on, but really, I just need to take a chill pill. I need to enjoy the moment. The importance of working hard in my current life and work setting is what will set me up for the future.

I also want to continue to try new things and continue to enjoy being active. Over the past year I've started to cook. I want to learn to cook in new ways, new dishes and in a healthy way! In 2012, I've be really active playing soccer, squash, racquetball, running, trail running, playing soccer, spinning, tennis, swimming, lifting, circuits and doing the elliptical. I even tried Zumba. Once. And TODAY, Ryan and I went mountain biking through trails, puddles, streams, gravel roads, across grassy fields, mud, dirt paths, up big hills, and rocky downhills!!

Continuing on, the biggest thing for me is to plug into a church. I have been visiting churches in the greater Lynchburg area, on and off, for almost 6 years. Count them.  SIX  six  Six  six  years. To still be a church jumper after SIX years is not the ideal way to find the fellowship God desires for me in a church family. I know there won't be a church exactly like the one I grew up in, so I need to jump, with both feet, into the church we've been visiting more regularly and make the most of it. Here I go... jumping into 2013, no turning back!

bike owners!

I have been searching for a bike since I finished grad school and moved back to VA. I left my hand-me-down bike in California, PA, so when I moved down to the Lynchburg area for my new job, I HAD to have a bike ASAP. As I've still been searching for the perfect bike at the lowest price and best deal.... a year and half later... I've still been looking.

My search started at the local bike shop. In the Fall of 2011, I even made a list of my "dream bike," but by the spring I had come to my senses and deleted the list. I knew I had to keep my bike ownership expectations to the reality of craigslist. I was not going to be picky about color. I was not going to dream about disc brakes. I was not going to even care about year or specific model.

Here was my craigslist criteria: Less than $350, women's size, mountain or hybrid style, no flat tires, no bent wheels, no worn down chains or gears, and overall it had to be a well kept bike. This is actually still demanding list... hints why over a year later I was still looking for a bike.

In the process of scouting out craigslist ads (of all major VA areas and other cities where I have friends living), I realized that if I got a bike, I would also want Ryan to have a bike so someone would ride around with me.

A weekend earlier in December, I took Ryan to test ride an orange 2009 trek mountain bike I found on craigslist. The bike owner was really nice; he wanted someone to have his bike and enjoy it as much as he had. He told us about trails in the area should try, etc, etc. However, when Ryan test rode it on a college campus with lots of hills... the chain popped off. Ugh.

We decided to stop by the local bike shop (the same one that I originally went by when I first moved back to VA) to see the costs of fixing said craigslist bike. Low and behold, we found an awesome, green, XL 2012 Trek mountain bike 3700 with disc brakes... on sale for $150 off. It didn't take much convincing to scratch the craigslist idea all together. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Ryan, from me!

Through the local bike shop, I ordered a green, 2012, medium sized, Trek mountain bike 3500 with disc brakes, at a negotiated sale price! Exactly what I wanted. Happy Birthday to me! Today, I brought home my green Trek gem and rode it up and down my street with Wrigley chasing me. I can't wait to go biking around with Ryan, lots of possibilities lie ahead!

weekend wrap up

This past weekend was a lot of fun!

Friday night, Ryan and I went to a holiday party at Ryan's work! We planned ahead for Wrigley and Fenway to have a playdate during the holiday party since they have so much fun together! Fenway's parents, Alexis and Bryan, work with Ryan, and are friends of ours. I went down to Lynchburg early to get ready with Alexis, and watch Wrigley and Fenway run up and down 3 flights of stairs. We went to the party with several of Ryan's other co-workers and coaches. It was so much fun to dress up and hang out with some people we don't get to see a lot.

Saturday, Wrigley slept ALL day. She could barely hold her eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time. She didn't recover until sometime Sunday evening. Is this what I was like after sleepovers in elementary school?

Sunday, after early church (with lots of Christmas music!), we met Bryan and Alexis at the J.Crew warehouse sale. Imagine a fairly large warehouse, FULL of boxes. When you entered, you were handed you a large, clear trash bag, plus a list of prices for items. For example: Women's solid tees ...$5. Women's pattern tees... $8. Headbands ...$2. Swimsuits (per piece) ...$5. Tall Boots ...$100. The sale area had rows and rows of boxes sitting on tables, with another row of boxes underneath. Piles of shirts, pants, dresses, swimsuits, kids shirts, sweaters, shorts, cardigans, etc. No real organization at all. I thought the boxes would at least be labeled. (I wish I had a picture).

Going to college in Lynchburg, I've heard about these sales, but never been. The stories include women dressed in all spandex (to be able to try clothes on, since there are no fitting rooms), waiting in line before 7am and literally fighting to go through boxes before anyone else. To me, it sounded like a great deal of pain in order to come out with the great deal on clothes. This weekend, I'm glad that we went at 11, missing the crowds. There was also a sale a few weeks ago, so I'm sure the boxes had already been picked through. I got a few items, but next time I'll be better prepared (including eating before entering so I'm not hungry).

After J.Crew and lunch, Ryan and I drove to an antique store, window shopped for bikes and got groceries. By dinner, Wrigley started waking up from her coma and wanting to play tug-of-war with all her toys. And just like that, the weekend turned into the beginning of another week.

everything orange

The week of Thanksgiving we had a great time travelling to see family and friends.

Ryan, Wrigley and I met my parents, my sister, and the dog, Terra, at the cabin on Wednesday. Thursday - the whole day was about cooking - my Mom was in the kitchen and my Dad smoked a turkey on his bbq deck. My sister, Amanda, and I helped in the kitchen with pumpkin bread, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pies. Ryan and I went for a short run (wearing orange since it's huntin' season) to prepare for all the food we were about to eat, threw a football with Amanda, played pool downstairs and entertained the dogs (or maybe the dogs entertained us).

Orange orange orange. Running, carrots, fire, Terra's collar, sweet potatoes. 

By 5:30, we'd eaten the "big" meal, we decided to wait on pie. We all fell half asleep by the orange fire burning slowly in the fireplace. Eventually we mustered enough energy to eat the orange pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream and a chocolate leaf decoration that Amanda made.

Friday night, Ryan and I drove up to Maryland for Fallon and Charles' wedding! Fallon is one of my close friends/teammate/housemate from college. Saturday some of the girls got ready at Fallon's parents' house that included a delicious breakfast prepared by one of Fallon's bridesmaids, lots of "getting ready", and catching up with friends!

The wedding was early afternoon, in a gorgeous cathedral near Baltimore. Their colors were navy blue and orange! The cathedral didn't need a lot of added decorations, it was immaculate on it's own. Fallon looked beautiful, I LOVED her lace and sparkle dress with an open back. The reception was at a nearby old manison.... unique with a huge porch, grand foyer and a warm fireplace. The reception was full of traditional events like speeches, first dances, tinging glasses, smooches, bouquet and guarder throwing, cake cutting, picture taking and dancing. Fallon and Charles seemed calm most of the day and took the time to soak it all in.

The kiss, blurry sorry

Me, Amy, Fallon, Joanie and Kate at the reception. LC Women's Soccer represent!

dads visit

Another trip... a quick and meaningful trip. A weekend in October my Dad came to visit for the night!

He had been working for the day in Charlottesville (only an hour from me), and drove down to stay at Sweet Briar for the night. We caught up over dinner at the Briar Patch (everything is amazing there), we both had blackened salmon with a creamy, fluffy baked potato with toppings plus steamed vegetables. We watched the Nationals lose a heart wrenching game. On Saturday morning, he cooked me a DELICIOUS omelette with salmon and vegetable leftovers from dinner.

I also have been trying to grow basil in my kitchen. At walmart, buying fresh basil was more expensive than just buying a basil plant. The plant is on a shelf RIGHT next to the basil leaves... clearly they think we should just try to keep our own plant alive (which is harder than it should be). My dad took me to get potting soil, pots and pot trays - knowing that my plant needed more love than I was giving it. We came back to my apartment, and my Dad taught me how to re-pot plants, how often to give it water (not twice-a-day, everyday ...oops), how to pick the leaves to encourage new growth, how to spread out the roots so each plant has enough room and to find the sunniest spot in my apartment. Dad at his best! I was so glad he was able to come visit!

Here are before and after pics of my plant. It's doing better. I only water it every couple of days and I open my curtains so it gets plenty of sun on my bedroom desk. I know it looks droopy, but I think it's doing better!

Any other suggestions for my droopy basil?

fall trips

This fall we've had a few days here and there for trips. I was able to cheer on the Hokies at a horrible game at UNC with my best friend, Heather, and her new hubs, DJ! Heather is in graduate school at Campbell University, located south of Raleigh/Durham, NC. DJ rides on ambulances to save lives every day. On game day we met up with one Heather's classmates for a morning tailgate, went to the game, sweated it out, hung out in Chapel Hill and picked up Chinese food.

VT @ UNC football game

The rest of the weekend included events such as, trying to paint Puck's nails (which he nor DJ approved of), shopping at the outlets, eating baked brie (my fav), drinking muscadine wine (also my fav) and catching up with my bestest friend!

Pucky, who doesn't like his nails painted.

The very next weekend, I convinced Heather (and Puck) to come visit me in VA by enticing her with the VA Garlic & Wine festival. Ryan, Heather and I drove up the road about 15 minutes to Rebec Winery to fight the crowds! There were SO many people there, I didn't realize most of our time would be spent waiting in line for tastings. Nevertheless, the waiting was worth it. We found lots of wine we liked (of course), and sampled food, cheese and garlic items that were delicious.