Hello October

Heyyyy y'allllll!
My poor little blog is being neglected. I have been failing with teacher talks and commenting and posting in general. Grad school & marathon training are both NO JOKE! Plus work & internship.   Anyway, it is now October and I am going to try and post more often! I don't want to lose this little memory keeper.
Here's what I'm looking forward to this October:  

1. Double weekends with my boy! Steven is coming HOME to visit me next weekend!! He surprised me last week on the phone letting me know he is coming.  My heart is happy. The following weekend I am going to see him in PA. I am also running a half-marathon there - Runner's World Half & Festival. There is something about that area of PA in the fall...it's dreamy!
2. Pumpkin patch goodies! I seriously love going to our pumpkin patch. Pumpkins, farm animals, kettle corn, ice cream, HOLY SMOKES I can't handle it. I want to live there.
3. Running 20 miles My big 2-0 is scheduled for the last weekend in October.  I ran 16 last weekend and don't think I could stomach running another 4.  However, I will have three more long runs in before it so I'm confident that I will be able to do it! Just 6 weeks until the marathon!!
4. 4th grade field trip! We have our first field trip this month! OH my word, I am loving my class of 4th graders. Let it be known it's 15 boys and 3 girls......definitely never a dull moment.  We're going to some barns at Virginia Tech.
5. Substituting in Kindergarten I have one scheduled sub day in my kindergarten class from last year coming up.  Although it's different kids, I have a sweet spot in my heart for kinders. So excited to spend my day with them!

Hope y'all have had a wonderful start to October! I say bring on the crisp air and crunchy leaves - seriously though...it was in the 80s here today!

Weekend Recap; Welcome, October!

I'm back from my trip to Pennsylvania! I had so much fun, as always.   I'll admit -- it isn't easy being 6 hours away from Steven all year, but it's worth it. Our LDR is something I've come to accept and live with. It isn't ideal but at least I always have something {trips to see him} to look forward to.
All day Saturday was spent here:

The baseball field. Surprised? Me neither. They had a triple header which was so painful, but at least we made it home for the second half of the VT game. SIGH -- don't get me started on that game.
We made sure to go to my favorite place for lunch on Sunday:

"The Shiny Place", as we call it, is our favorite diner. There are lots of diners up there, but this is our favorite. They have the best food & desserts! We got a slice of carrot cake but I was digging in to that SO fast I didn't even have time to get a picture...whoops!
We didn't do anything super special or out of the ordinary, but honestly, that is okay with me. I would rather order pizza & watch Puss in Boots {yes, that happened} than drive somewhere because being together is all I really care about.
Enough mushy relationship talk for now.
Now, it's time for OCTOBER!

I am so happy it's October - although I wish it hadn't started off with rain. I officially feel "fall-ish"...I'm going to go buy 3 Leaves candles for the apartment and go to the pumpkin patch this weekend!!
We only have one home football game this month. Kind of weird, but I'm okay with it since I have lots to get done!
It's also officially only 35 days until this ship comes home from her final deployment with my big brother on it... :) :) :)

EXCITEMENT!


Happy Monday!