Blue Ridge Mountains and the AT

 Burke and I had the great pleasure of spending a little time in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. I'd been wanting to go camping for a long time but we just couldn't fit it in. I had Thursday and Friday off school by some miracle, so west we went. After several mishaps and delays and changes of plans we made it to a campground in Lexington, VA. Our campfire was roaring in no time, foil dinners cooking, and tent set up and ready. It rained a little just in time for us to go to bed. We slept pretty well considering the cold November night. It was fantastic. Much needed.

The next day we drove a little section on the Blue Ridge Parkway, parked, and hiked a few miles on the Appalachian Trail. It was a little late for the peak fall leaves, but we didn't care. It was gorgeous anyway.

It was cloudy so when we got to the top of Bluff Mountain it was a pretty dreary view.

Regardless, it felt amazing to be hiking a mountain again. I loved that we were able to do this and I think a fall camping/hiking trip will have to be an annual tradition.

Oh and, we also happened across a unique site...

It's called FoamHenge. I think some crazy man just had too much money. Whatever, it makes for some fun pictures.

It's Merlin. ?? Don't ask me.

We must be getting old

Friday night was the much anticipated Gavin DeGraw concert with my dear cousin Aimee. (Meanwhile, my dad entertained Burke with a basketball game at Wake Forest.) Anyway, love this girl. And loved this show. So fun. I loved that it was at such a small venue that we could be super close. Unfortunately when we picked our seats we didn't notice where the speakers were. As soon as the opening band started playing we looked at each other and simultaneously put our hands to our ears. Aimee said, "Oh dang. We're right by the speakers. And we must be getting old." The first two bands, Carolina Liar and David Cook, were really guitar heavy. It was still great but I was starting to worry about my hearing. Like she said, old. I didn't seem to notice my ears by the time Gavin came on, but I think it helped that he only had 2 guitars instead of 4. I tried to take a few pictures for proof but they all mostly turned out blurry. It's just because he's such a dynamic performer!

We had entirely too much trouble getting a decent picture. Even so I hope you can appreciate the amazing cuteness of Aimee's haircut... which haircut I've decided is to be my next haircut.

Aimee and Gavin just helped me kick off a fantastic weekend at home, busy with basketball, movies, playing the wii, church, and delicious Mom-made Sunday dinner. 

Pumpkins

Neither Burke nor I are very big into Halloween. I think dressing up is fun but I'm really not great with ideas. So usually it doesn't happen. And we both pretty well hate all things scary. But one thing we do love about this holiday is pumpkins! Picking them, carving them, lighting them, and especially eating them......!!!

Last weekend we went to the handy-dandy pumpkin patch. It was an hour away. I'm sure there are closer ones but it had a corn maze too and we got groupons with some friends from school. And it was just so much fun! Can I tell you, I go to school with some lovely people that I just adore.

To be honest, the corn maze was a little bit lame, but it's alright. Like I said, I'm not a fan of the scary kind.

We carved our pumpkins the other night and I was wiped out so I was just anxious to get them done and go to bed. But it was fun and I still think they turned out nice! 

As for eating pumpkins, that's probably another story. A really yummy story.

Oh and, I bought a ton of candy yesterday. But, last night we had to leave the church Halloween party before the trunk-or-treat! And seeing as how we don't really live in the most trick-or-treating friendly neighborhood, I'm getting a little worried about where all of that candy is going to go. All I have to say is that if any neighborhood kids do knock on our door, they'll be hitting the mother-load. 

Happy Halloweekend!

Good things to come

Last weekend I was with the sister missionaries at a lesson and we watched this video. Today I taught a lesson at church about hope. They kind of go hand in hand.

As I prepared my lesson I realized something. Hope is just like every other gift of the spirit. Many of us are not perfect at it all the time. Sometimes we may struggle to feel hope, just as sometimes we lack in faith. Yet, just like the other gifts of the spirit, we really must seek to develop it. Without it, we truly "cannot be saved in the kingdom of God," (Moroni 10:21).

If we are down and despairing, we can develop hope by exercising faith, learning more about Jesus Christ, and trying to develop Christ-like love for others. Hope in the Atonement of Jesus Christ can bring light to our life that will help us face all our trying times.

"Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. And some don't come til heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God, and believe in good things to come." -Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Navy town

Burke and I live near the largest navy base in the world, Naval Station Norfolk. It makes for an interesting dynamic in this town. Last weekend the base hosted "Fleet Fest," a festival on base with ship tours and a car show and live entertainment. We caught the tail end of it and were able to tour the USS Eisenhower, a big aircraft carrier.

Those things are seriously massive.

This is me on the elevator. They move the airplanes out onto the elevator and then it takes them up to the top deck.

It was pretty neat for Burke and I to be able to just drive on base for the festival. It's usually a little more complicated than that. Some friends of ours from church live on base and they invited us over for dinner one time. We pulled up at the gate, Burke handed them his ID, and we had to pull around and wait for our friends to drive up to the gate and escort us to their house. I visit teach this same lady, and it's a bit of a challenge because if I were to go by myself it would be terribly inconvenient for her to load up her 3 kids and come to the gate to get me.

When Burke was gone to Wisconsin for a whole week and I was utterly lonely, I could most certainly not complain to anyone. More than half of the people at church are navy families, and they say goodbye to their husbands/fathers for deployments that are usually no less than 6 months. Besides that they often have other things that take them away for a week or 2 at a time. It's a different world, that's for sure. Recently some ladies at church were talking about when they gave birth while their husbands were deployed. One lady said, "You're not a navy wife until you give birth without your husband there!"

It's super enlightening to see what these servicemen and women and their families go through. It has really helped me appreciate more the sacrifices of those in the military. It's a whole different lifestyle, and it's not easy.

Every once in a while Burke talks about joining the navy. My new response is, "Don't do it! I don't want to have a baby without you!"

Thanks to you all for the sacrifices you make.

Secrets

On Sunday I was informed by my dear friend Sarah that if her friends don't update their blogs at least weekly she is sure they are keeping secrets from her. So, for Sarah, here are the secrets I have been keeping the last few weeks.

-I am no longer in nursery at church. I am the new 4th Sunday Relief Society teacher. This is going to be interesting! Oh but on Sunday during conference I learned a lot of great tips for teaching. Good thing. I don't even know what to do with that talk I'm supposed to teach a lesson on.

-Burke has been promoted! They added the word "advanced" to his title and gave him a raise. How about that?!? It doesn't sound like much, but I am so excited for him... he did that within a year even while working from Virginia! They sure like him.

-When the weather cools down I'm more motivated to run. I had the best-feeling run ever today.

-Burke and I went home to NC last weekend. It was awesome. On Saturday morning my parents babysat some kids (it was their donation to a service auction) so we got to join them at the zoo! It was super fun. And even though my parents used to wrestle 6 children, I think they were sure grateful to have a little help with those 3. I got some great pictures, but I will refrain from posting them since they are of someone else's children. 

-I absolutely love the place I grew up and the people there. It is even more perfect in the fall. I haven't been home in the fall in quite some time. Burke and I climbed the chestnut tree that is the best climbing tree in my parent's huge yard. It's a great feeling... you should try it. We decided maybe we'd try to climb a tree every week.

-Yesterday we went to the park and played tennis. And climbed a tree.

-I am learning to suture. It's really fun, but I don't know how I'll feel about it when it's on a real person. So far I've just practiced on pig's feet. Yep. Delicious.

-Burke and I are looking for a new apartment/house. I made a pros/cons list about this apartment and seeing as how the cons list is like 6X longer than the pros list, the beach factor has been outweighed. However, we have so many factors to consider in a new place that we can't decide what the top priorities are! Plus we are having a very hard time finding time to look. But it's in the works, anyway.

And in other news, we are happy. How could we not be? Did you hear that fantastic general conference? I'm excited for October. I loooove this time of year.

There. 

Secrets out.

Comfort zone

Tuesday evening I came home to my empty apartment (after a crazy embarrassing time at my first kickboxing class) with a bruised and swollen arm and my first parking ticket. And I got to thinking, "Man oh man is it hard to be outside of my comfort zone." 

Most recently my comfort zone has included things like: driving the same way to school and home every day; parking in the same wide spots in the parking garage; attending lectures for 4-6 hours a day; studying the same way for every test; going home, making dinner, and eating with my love; doing yoga in my living room and jogging for exercise.

Things that are outside of my comfort zone are things like: having to drive a different route or to somewhere I've never been; parallel parking; sticking a needle into someone for a grade; getting needles stuck into me for someone else's grade; not being able to successfully study the same way for a test; trying new ways to exercise that I have never done before (and/or that I'm horribly bad at); and being home alone every night this week. 

Sometimes I would much rather just stick to what's comfortable.

I have to keep reminding myself of how amazingly good for me getting outside of my zone really is.

The whole grad school thing really doesn't give me much room to get comfortable. It's a continuous challenge. There have been many-a-day when I look up from studying and say "Why am I doing this to myself? School is HARD!" But whatever. Now phlebotomy, on the other hand, was an extra challenge! (I got it first try for the test, by the way! However, my friend, who drew my blood, had a little bit of a harder time..... resulting in that bruised and swollen arm I mentioned.) 

I've been trying to get exercise other ways too. Trouble is, I'm no good at any of it. Swimming, racquetball, cycling, Pilates, kickboxing, etc... but I've decided to keep doing them anyway because it's so rewarding to see improvement every time I try! (That's easy to do when you've got such a long way to go!) And I do think that all of those things are fun, too. Just... embarrassing.

And the parking ticket... I suppose I should know the parking laws in the state/city I live in, but the only other place I've really parallel parked was Provo, and in Norfolk there are no red painted curbs to tell you where you can't park. Trust me, I looked for it. I saw that blasted fire hydrant. I just didn't know you had to be a whole 15 feet away. The whole situation might not have happened, though, if I was comfortable with my parallel parking skills ('cause actually, I have none). I would have parked long before I even got to that "spot" that put me within 15 ft of the fire hydrant. So what I'm saying is, it's time for some dreaded parallel parking practice. Practice practice practice.

But as for the home alone thing? I could really do without that one and be juuuuust fiiiiine. No more business trips for a while, hon, okay?