Sunday Spent in the Mountains

Road Tripping.

After an amazing Saturday of flying back to the city,  catching up on sleep, and beating the Aubs we talked with the guys (Joseph, Micah and Malcolm) about taking a trip to the near by mountains for a day of adventure and hiking. The guys so sweetly offered to take us in Josephs new car. Joseph is one of my guy friends who lives in NY as well as Micah's best childhood friend. Malcolm is a new found New York friend we made. So needless to say, we all grabbed an amazing brunch including our friend Schaffer from UA around noon on Sunday in Chelsea at the Grey Dog Cafe and then off we went. We headed across the George Washington Bridge past the Hudson. 

Bear Mountain, NY

Our first stop was Bear Mountain which is about 45 minutes away from the city. We sang our hearts out to some old school country and took hundreds of pictures. The guys were such great sports about the three of us girls taking non stop pictures. We stopped at two different look outs and enjoyed the freedom and some peace and quiet.

Kaaterskill Falls, NY

The next stop was Kaaterskill Falls which is about 2 hours away from the city. We made a few junk food stops along the way and enjoyed every moment of riding in a car with a radio (the small things you miss not having a car in the city). We wanted to make it to the falls by sunset and were racing against the clock since sunset here is around 4:45. We made it with about 20 minutes to spare and climbed our way up the falls. We got some amazing pictures and a great post Thanksgiving workout. We had to use flashlights to find out way back to the car and decided to pack it up and head towards the city. We stopped for some Moes for dinner and a quick Wal-Mart grocery shopping trip. We were beyond thrilled to not spend $100 on milk, bread, and coffee for once.

A trip to the mountains was absolutely the perfect way to end a great week with some amazing friends. Standing on top of the mountains feeling so small and knowing God is so big is a comfort and always a great reminder!!

Miss & Love you all!

XOXO- Morgan

(SB is asleep beside me, she sends her love)

A Week Full of Thanks.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;his love endures forever!
1 Chronicals 16:34

Sight Seeing 

You will soon see we have been extremely busy for the past week! Our Thanksgiving break began EARLY Tuesday at 3:30 in morning when Morgan and I boarded a plane and headed to Washington D.C.  Morgan has a wonderful friend, Christy, who she met at Camp Ozark last summer and has been best friends ever since.  Christy and her family invited us to come be with them for Thanksgiving since Alabama is just a little too far away.  Christy lives in Ashburn, VA which is 25 miles right outside D.C.  Christy picked us up from the airport at 8:30 AM and we hit the ground running from there.  We started the day off shopping....typical..Morgan scored some new Nike's and I ended up buying a new outfit.  We ended our day by going to see Breaking Dawn Part I while drinking numerous cups of coffee due to the early morning.  Her parents were beyond precious! They greeted us with open, loving arms, and made sure we ate the ENTIIIRRRREEEEEE time we were there...I'm not complaining :)  Christy introduced us to the wonderful world of Wegman's.  If you have never heard of it, google it! It is the most amamzing grocery store/bar/restaurant/fresh market/bakery ever.  Morgan and I thoroughly enjoyed shopping for Thanksgiving dinner.  Morgan was also introduced to Costco and I am pretty sure we sampled our way through the store.  After our grocery store trips, Christy drove us to the cutest little town named Leesburg, VA.  We picked out our future homes and had a late lunch at a local cafe.

Wegman's

Leesburg, VA

 Going out in Ashburn


We were able to meet some of Christy's friends, as well as her sister Rachel and brother Michael.  We all loaded up and went to one of the 2 bars in Ashburn.  Who would have thought Fennigan's Bar would have been packed a "one-n-one-out" kind of night.  Good music, great friends always makes for a great time!
                       

   

Thanksgiving with the Coleman's

Our morning started early! Morgan woke me up ready to watch the Macy's Day Parade since we couldn't be there.  We were in charge of cooking a squash casserole, which turned out delicious if I do say so myself.  Our day with the Coleman's was full of food, picture taking, cooking, and laughter.  We ate heavy hor d'oeuvres  for lunch and then official Thanksgiving meal that night.  We followed up a full day of eating with some Just Dance on the wii. What fun entertainment.  Overall, the day was wonderful with so many things to be thankful for!

Washington D.C.

We told you this trip was packed full and we definitely meant it!  We did not participate in Black Friday shopping.  Instead we headed to D.C. for the day.  We started in Georgetown, which I highly recommend to visit.  It is where Georgetown University is located along with some fabulous shopping, markets, and a water front view.  We waited until the afternoon to head over to the White House.  Since Christy's brother is in the Secret Service we figured who better to show us around! We started at the back lawn of the White House where we spotted Beau, the President's dog playing.  Michael took us by the building where he checks into every morning for roll call.  He was able to badge us through the White House security gates where we walked along side of the house and spotted some snipers on the roof. Can I just add that we felt super important while walking with a Secret Service agent around D.C.  After being a complete tourist, we ate at a historic restaurant next to the White House called Old Ebbitt Grill.  We finished our trip to D.C. by visiting the Lincoln Memorial due to Morgan's request.  

We had a complete blast on our mini vacay and are already planning our next trip. The Coleman's were a  blessing to us. We loved spending our Thanksgiving with their family since we couldn't be with our own. Many memories were made and we couldn't have asked for a better week!!

*A blog on our trip to the Mountains yesterday, lighting of the tree in Rockafeller, and Morgan's family visit will be coming soon.