a week of surprises

^^ guess the frizz days of summer are here to stay, as well as wrinkled linen clothes ^^

^^ boys. it seems to be understood that they would both lean against this wall {right before the docent told them to step away from it haha} ^^ 

^^ goosebumps always when I see this wall. No, I'll never forget ^^

^^ kinda made us miss Dudy Noble even more when saw how small it was. That & the wooden benches? Thanks, but no thanks

^^ beautiful tulips from sweet friends ^^

Last week was one of those spontaneous types. Due to a change in schedule, a friend had to bump up his trip to DC to midweek, & thanks to the fighting spirit of our alma mater Monday night, our weekend plans were immediately spoken for once the Bulldogs clinched their regional win {& did I mention the rained out Nats game Thursday night & all-day air conditioner replacement Friday?}. So in the space of 24 hours our week outlook went from low-key to full of activity.

On Tuesday afternoon the Drew Napier our friend Drew rolled into town, & we spent a great night catching up while eating husmate's yummy homemade pizza & Trader Joe's cookies {I wasn't lying when I said those are all we eat now}. The next day we all took off to see the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, whose footprint is simplistic & beautiful. One hundred and eighty-four people were killed that day at the Pentagon, & each has a bench dedicated in his memory. If they were inside the Pentagon that day, their name inscribed on the bench faces the building, & if they were onboard the plane, it faces the sky along the path that the plane was flying that day. Sometimes it's hard to imagine that a building whose very design is reinforcement & strength could be the site of something so tragic. Just another reminder that nothing in this life is ever certain.

Then we were off to the Newseum! This was after we were approached by someone on the metro who automatically assumed we were lost just because of our accents {Richard, wherever you are, thanks for looking out for others}. So for all of you who wonder if we have turned into yankees yet, no we haven't. Sigh of relief, right? Or is it just a matter of time...?

Anyways, the Newseum, a personal favorite of mine & a requirement if you're ever in DC, if you ask me. The downside: it costs money, compared to all the Smithsonians; the upside: six floors of the history of news. The highlights include the front pages of newspapers throughout history, the gallery of Pulitzer Prize photographs, & the tribute to 9/11. Of course, I'm a nerd so I suppose this was to be expected. Also, the food at the Newseum: delicious. Seriously one of the best salads I've had in awhile. Who knew that museums could serve yummy food?

After a great dinner at Founding Farmers {we had to... I mean Drew had never had it before} and a brief night's sleep on our couch, Drew was headed home. And next on the crazy train was supposed to be a Nats game for us, except it got rained out so that turned into a guiltless dinner of Papa John's pizza with our friends, Emily & Josh, who were our dates to the game ;). 

But no worries, fast forward to Saturday & we got in our needed dose of baseball at the UVA-MSU Super Regional in Charlottesville. Now I'm not going to lie, I thought that we would play hard but come up short. I know, I know... terrible fan. But hey! we pulled out a win that day {actually in many ways: MSU won the series, we dragged the devout Ole Miss fans known as Emily & Josh to watch a State game, & we grabbed Sonic on the way home} & everyone lived happily ever after. The end.

And as an epilogue, we enjoyed a lovely dinner Sunday night with our future lawyers/protectors/defenders of all things requiring legal needs, also known as the witty Forrest & lovely Julie, over {now that I think about it} homemade pizza. Call us Americans. Now I'm off to inhale any & all fruit in our refrigerator to offset the pizza thrice in one week.

P.S. Anyone else notice I used the word "thrice" twice in one week? I'm on its comeback campaign.

virginia beach weekend

 ^^ Wouldn't it be grand if all city halls were this pretty? Meet Alexandria's City Hall, a stop we had to make before we drove south to the beach^^

^^ He beat me by one shot. ONE. Next time, husmate, next time...^^

So what does one do if they succumb to beach fever but are unaware of what Atlantic beaches are on the approved list {as one has always been accustomed to the serene Florida beaches}? Take a stab in the dark & try one, of course. How else would we ever find out the truth? 

Two weekends ago on a whim, husmate & I took a trip to Virginia Beach, VA. Not exactly what we tend to like in beaches, but it was fun nonetheless. It was an air show & concert weekend for the VA Beach Oceanfront, so there were people of all walks of life everywhere. But hey, watching a harrier hover out over the stretch of water in front of you? Pretty cool & totally worth it. 

When we weren't burning our feet crossing thrice the depth of sand that we're used to or getting slightly sunburned {because surprise! we're of the pale variety}, we were wandering the strip & boardwalk majorly people watching {note: modesty isn't a thing here, but bikini tops, unbuttoned shorts, & basketball shoes are} & watching Mississippi State's Regional baseball tournament {accompanied by late night runs to Sonic for cherry limeades, tater tots, & corn dogs}. Also, after two games of mini golf {a required beach activity in our book} in which husmate putted into the water twice, he still won both. Lame. I expect a rematch will come out in my favor {fingers crossed} & I think next on our list of beaches to try is the Outer Banks in North Carolina or perhaps a beach in Delaware. Any suggestions are welcome!

remember the time... {vol. V}

{lately}

+ we ran a "fast mile" together {fast for pitiful me & slow for husmate the pacer} & then split up for our own paced mile. Husmate ran his best time in a few years {that cause of lengthened time was thanks mainly to moi & the beginning/duration of our relationship} while I huffed it out on my own. Just call us the tortoise & hare team from here on out...

+ Monarch the Mouse made his fifth cameo in this little condo of ours, & husmate was in the room AND STILL DIDN'T SEE HIM. But it's okay. I'm not hallucinating...

+ pretty sure the woman at the post office thinks I'm a bit weird for knowing about a new release of stamps that apparently hadn't made it to her branch yet... & that she had never heard of. I definitely blushed a little as we went through all the flowery stamps that she had to offer, none of which looked anything like the seed packet stamps I've been sorta coveting. #nerdalert

+ we walked to Trader Joe's for cookie dough & milk... & got called out by the cashier on it. "Will that be all for you?" "Yep, just those two..." [chuckles at us] "So y'all walked down here for cookies & milk?" We're just revolutionizing dessert over here at the Berry residence.

{auld lang syne}

+ husmate stuck around after Bulldog Bash our senior year in college & helped his then over-involved girlfriend pick up trash along her route in the Cotton District so that she {& her best friend, Sarah, & their SA committee} could get to bed earlier than 4 am. Proof #48 then that he was a keeper :)

a very happy birthday to one of the best of friends

To the loud girl two doors down in Griffis Hall,

Thank you for being the first friend I made at college. Despite our terrible first impressions of each other {you the loud & annoying girl on the hall, me the shy & snobby bookworm}, we still managed to form an incredible friendship that I am blessed by everyday. Thanks to you, I actually developed a love for Mississippi State that finally put to rest my childhood adoration of Auburn {that first picture was from freshman year, give me credit...}, learned the proper way to perform a pageant walk/turn on stage {at 3 am in the dorm hall, making us both the loud girls on the second floor of Griffis}, found a friend who would side on the greatness of Harry Potter over Twilight any day, interviewed for one of the greatest groups I have ever been a part of- Alumni Delegates, created the best wake-up alarm game ever: peekaboo! - the many faces that could haunt the first few seconds of your day {as well as the many adventures we had on that dying inflatable twin-sized mattress}, discovered that there's more to college than good grades & studying even though we spent the majority of our college life in Mitchell Memorial Library, survived Dr. Mead's Organic Chem I & II classes relatively unscathed, realized that medical school was never meant for either one of us, & came out of my shy shell to become who I am today. Even in college I knew that our friendship was going to be one of the great ones because we never considered each other our competition in class but rather our cheerleader in life. I am so thankful for you, and even though we're separated by 985 miles {I looked it up, some bookworm habits never die}, I still feel like if we both walked into Mitchell Memorial right now we could pick up where we left off & procrastinate on our studying by talking for hours :)

happy birthday, sweet Sarah! you, my friend, are one of the greats of my life.


love,
the shy bookworm hiding behind her desk, waiting for you to barge in & ask your question about our class assignment

Random musings for a Friday

- Husband is ironing a shirt for work and the iron is making its typical steamy sounds (as in the H2O variety, and not the promiscuous kind), and I have this automatic need to say "Luke.... I am your father...." to which my husband continues with "Daddy???" We're a funny nerd couple, as if you didn't know.

- If you haven't gone to see Argo yet, GO SEE IT. While yes, I love a good movie, you will not catch me often these days headed to the local theater to shell out $25 dollars for this husband-wife team to see a newly released film (especially when the DVD release is on the verge in 5 months). All that to say, go see Argo in theater. It is incredible, and you won't regret it. Truly one of the best movies I've ever seen. For any who need a refresher on the plot, here you go:

- I read in an article today that 2/3 of all undergrads in American colleges and universities are in some sort of debt, AND that student loan debt will total over a trillion dollars. Wait, what??? You guys, this is a major problem. I also read that around 75% of senior administrators in those institutions think a college degree is worth over $25,000 in student loan debt. While I'm a huge advocate for higher education, if you're not getting a degree that will pay a decent entering salary... $25,000 is a big hole to climb out of. Something's got to give here people. You can read both articles on the subject here and here, and please note the beginning paragraph about the inflation of tuition versus the inflation of milk over the years (Disclaimer: imagine paying $15 for a gallon of milk. Sorry, I think I'm lactose intolerant...).

- So in case you missed the debate this past Tuesday, one of the best one-liners was Romney's "binders full of women." And while I'm not making fun of his intentions, his choice of words have caused a good bit of laughter in all the satire that has ensued since. And for the record, I love a good play on words. I mean let's be honest, one of my favorite movies to this day is Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, and my father and I still reenact the "Walk this way" line from the movie. As is the norm, I've digressed... The funniest reactions to Romney's line can be found in the customer reviews on Amazon for their binder selections, and one of my favorites happens to be this one. And the funny thing is... I read that one aloud to husband... and he asked if I wrote it. No, I did not. I'm not clever and gutsy enough to write a witty review on binders. But I did love the reference to Big Bang Theory with the Bazinga username. Kudos to you, fellow satirer (yeah, not a real word.... I know). And in case you were wondering, I already have our DVR set to record SNL just in case a skit comes to life involving binders and women...

- Fingers crossed that this time next week, Mississippi State will be 7-0 going into its game against Alabama (who will undoubtedly be 7-0). Helloooo, how cool would that be??? Hail dear ole State...

VA to KY: football, fall leaves, and good food

 

 

Husband and I took advantage of the long weekend last week and packed our bags for a road trip to Kentucky to see Mississippi State play (and beat) UK in Lexington. We left after husband got off work on Friday and drove all the way to Charleston, West Virginia that night before waking up way too early on a Saturday to make it to the game. We saw a beautiful sunset on Friday before everything got dark, and we literally climbed a few mountains before reaching our halfway point. I had never before seen signs warning me of 9 and 10 degree descents, and needless to say we were both very glad that husband was driving during that portion.

Being displaced bulldogs, it was quite a treat to see our team play in person rather than on tv, and we're only hoping their good fortune of winning continues this weekend against Tennessee! I will say that even though we knew that UK was a basketball school, never have either us seen such an empty stadium at kickoff (and we were there for the rebuilding years at MSU). It was a little sad, but maybe that's what happens when the team is 1-5 and there are horse races around to entertain you otherwise on a Saturday afternoon...

In regards to the super cheesy picture with the broom, let me say two words: Harry Potter. That's right. That is in fact a broom from the filming of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and yes I realize that I have a major Cheshire Cat smile going on there. But eeeeek it was from the movie!! And some cool people totally used it!! Let me explain: husband and I visited our good friend, Leigh Holland (see awesome friend below), in Wilmore, KY, home of Asbury University and Asbury Seminary. And who knew, but Asbury has an incredible media communications program there, and a lot of their alumni have gone on to work on some pretty notable projects (like the Olympics). All over their building are movie props, posters, awards, and cameras donated from alumni and their projects, and I totally geeked out on seeing most of them... No shame. 

And side note, they made my heart even happier when I saw a sign for Welton Academy from the film Dead Poets Society... favorite. movie. ever.

 

 

On a whim, Leigh's suggestion for dinner that night took us to the Windy Corner, this neat market/restaurant, in the middle of nowhere horse farms. We might have thought that we were majorly lost for at least ten minutes, but the confusion was well worth it for this sweet little cafe. It was truly a unique and delightful experience, and oh, the food was divine! We knew we couldn't go wrong with some of their homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (it is fall after all), and they definitely did not disappoint. If you're ever in Lexington for a game, you should try out this wonderful little nook!

 

 

And other than the last one, the pictures above were of the scenery on our drive back through West Virginia. That state may have nothing but small towns and cities, but it certainly has some beautiful countryside. It also didn't hurt that our first impression of our western neighbor occurred during the beginning stages of the leaves changing color. The last picture was taken during our drive through Middleburg, VA. This little town has a main street of stone and brick buildings, and its outlying areas are full of rolling hills and beautiful farms. In short, it's gorgeous and totally worth a drive to see. 

So recap: football. harry potter. friend reunion. food. fall. Yep, a wonderful weekend for the books.

Midweek Musings

I know, it's Tuesday so it's not quite midweek... but I'm allowing it since I'm including Saturday in my update. That makes it okay, right? Right. 

So Saturday was epic. Only in the sense that if you're a Mississippi State fan like husband and I are, you experienced something that hasn't happened in a looooongggg time (try since this married couple was in the 4th grade. whoa). MSU won its second game of the season against Auburn making them 2-0 (I know that to other teams, that's not a huge deal, but to us it totally is). And if you know me well, then you know that I grew up an Auburn fan (season tickets and all), so the win was extra special to this girl. 

This was also the first MSU-Auburn game that I've missed seeing in person since I was in middle school. While the rest of my family was in Starkville battling for a win (or a loss if you're my Auburn alum parents), husband and I were stuck up here trying to soak up the game as best we could from a mere 15 hours away. The best I could come up with was to buy these lovely mums to mimic the beautiful flowers on Starkville's campus.

On another note of this memorable win, Saturday was the first MSU game for this cute little boy (my sweet nephew)! As you can tell, Tyler came very well prepared for those loud cowbells, and his crazy Aunt Kitty is super proud of his school spirit at only 10 months.

Sunday was quite possibly the most surprising day of all. On our way home from church, husband informs me that he wants to go shopping. Um, can you repeat that? Surely I misheard you... This is a dream come true! So we drove to an outlet mall nearby and we (meaning I) picked out husband some shirts and belts and a total swoon-worthy sports coat (yes, I have an unhealthy obsession with menswear... No, husband's friends, I will not be turning him hipster or indie. His best interest is at heart, promise, even though I totally saw an Avett-like plaid vest in the store and joked about buying it for him...). This picture doesn't do the herringbone justice (blame the weird fluorescent store lighting), but doesn't husband look dashing in it? 

A total mom move to take his picture in the store, but the coat was begging
for its debut picture. Can you blame me? I didn't think so.

Also, we saw this impressive vintage car in the parking lot. Whoever owns this car must love it a lot because it looked to be in mint (clever choice of words, non?) condition... Looking at it, doesn't it make you want an ice cream cone? Or is that just me? 

Today's exciting bit of news was that the new Avett album, The Carpenter, came out. And yes, I'm already listening to it over and over again... No shame.

Ah, it's nice to see artwork that isn't as frightening as the last cd.

And finally, today husband and I are joining a local gym. I'm strangely excited about it, even though I haven't done any regular weight training since high school sports. So fingers crossed I won't do anything embarrassing or awkward (but let's be honest, it's most likely inevitable)... You're welcome, husband, for being such good entertainment.