Spring Break

Well here we are...spring break. Not really what I was expecting, but nothing is anymore. Today was pretty lax across the board. I ran a few miles this morning while Matt did the breakfast routine which now includes weather and calendar discussion. Quinn and I worked on a birthday cake Lite Brite for her cousin's birthday today, and I listened to the DC Mayor's briefing while we were putting that together.

I still can't get over how ideal the weather has been for the most part. I actually got sunburn yesterday. Today was the same. We went out for our long walk before lunch. Quinn loves to go down to the creek that runs alongside our neighborhood now. I actually had to beg her to go home today. I'll take it.

Just wanted to throw rocks

This afternoon we had a previously scheduled appointment with Quinn's allergist. We were still able to keep the appointment, but we did a video call instead. Luckily, the appointment was just a follow-up/planning for how to proceed with allergies in the future and nothing major. After we played egg hunt in the yard, taking turns hiding eggs and finding them.

We are scraping together meals the next few days before going out for groceries. I haven't been full grocery shopping in two weeks. I'm planning to hold out another day or two, but want to get there because the news is that we should avoid grocery shopping in the next two weeks. We closed out the evening with a game of Sorry and scrubbing a nearly empty refrigerator. Exciting times continue.

How I entertained myself while Quinn threw rocks and sang songs at the creek

The Weekend

Church on the couch

I would call this weekend productive if nothing else. I feel like it was really no different than most weekends, except there wasn't the pressures of Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. We don't have to do all that prep work to make the week run as smoothly anymore, which is so nice. And when we spent ALL day Sunday trying to get our landscaping in control I wasn't as mad about it. What I am mad about is the amount of time we spent and our yard still looks like a hot mess. I guess this was the periodic reminder that I need to not upgrade my house or yard.

Yard trash...and it still a mess

Saturday we did a lot of miles. It was great weather for running, which I am trying to do more of with our current situation. Quinn is getting super close to her 26 mile goal. She is also LOVING some card games. We might be taking her to Vegas when this is all over. Current favorites include Go Fish, Old Maid, and War. We have also been enjoying some quiet reading time in Quinn's room. I get to read a little bit while she looks at books in her sleeping bag on the floor. Then we read a book together.

Reading time

Naturally for movie night we watched Frozen II. I've been developing a theory that this movie is actually the predictor of the Pandemic. Also, I'm serious. Think about it...there's people trapped in an enchanted forest, they couldn't go anywhere for 34 years, 5 months, and 23 days. Then there's Olaf singing When I am Older. Just google the lyrics to that...if we haven't all felt that way in the past few weeks, I don't know what to tell ya. Then there's the lyrics to Into the Unknown and The Next Right Thing. Honestly...tell me I'm wrong. Elsa is one powerful queen. And if I remember correctly she really set fire to the winter after the original Frozen was released too. Let's just hope it's not 34+ years until we are released back into the real world.

As predicted...

Thursday I was living the dream, minus the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic. Friday - not so much the dream, more the reality. We did get out for a lot of fresh air with lots of walking and talking. We walked 4.1 miles! It was 80 degrees and the cherry blossoms in our neighborhood are in full bloom.

It wasn't a very eventful day. We did have people enter our house...the cleaning people. I am not sure if that's within social distancing rules, but I guess cleaning is a good thing. Matt and I also had a long conference call with a financial planner. Super fun mid pandemic. The day involved a lot of arguing over things such as hair getting wet in the bathtub, the amount of cheese on a pizza, and why it's not a good idea to walk so close to the edge of a sidewalk on a busy street.

We also had a good time reminiscing/telling Quinn about "the 1900's" when there was no Disney+, not even Netflix! And how we use to have to go to a store to see if they had the movie we wanted to watch available for rent. We also tried to explain the concept of cassette tapes and CDs and walkmans. Tomorrow will be one week of quarantine/social distancing. It's still so unreal to think this is actually happening.

Annapolis

Navy Sailboats

When Matt and I were dating we brainstormed a whole bunch of things we both wanted to do, and then did them. This was when we were young, concerned with showing ourselves in public, and impressing each other. One of the things we never got around to doing was going to Annapolis. We finally decided to take a little getaway this past weekend. I was so excited to go, and now I'm very glad we checked that off our six year old list!

We both took the day off work on Friday and arrived at about lunch time. The room we had booked at a bed and breakfast wasn't ready so we took a walk down Main Street and then walked over to the Naval Academy. We opted for a self guided tour around the campus after watching a short video in the visitor's center. On our tour we found the Navy sailboats above, Memorial Hall, the Naval Academy Chapel, and the crypt of John Paul Jones. After all that, I needed something to eat. We walked back into town and each of us got a little snack, mine was more like a meal, at the Annapolis MarketHouse. After some eating and people watching we walked up to the State House. Matt was super excited about this. And he's probably really disappointed I don't remember all the reasons it's a very historic place. I do remember that it's the oldest state capitol and, and was the nation's capitol until 1784.

Maryland State House

After our visit to the State House we went to check in to our room. I was seriously tired from all our walking, so we just rested for awhile and chose a restaurant for dinner. We walked back down around town and then went to the Iron Rooster for dinner. Definitely a good choice. I highly recommend the fried green tomatoes. We ended the night with people watching and ice cream.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at Chick and Ruth's Delly. After breakfast we went to an exhibit on slavery at the Historic Annapolis Museum. This museum was very tiny. It was also an ideal museum for both of us. Matt got to read every single word, on every single artifact, without me bothering him because the museum was half slavery half shopping. Interesting combination, but it really worked out for both of us. Before heading home on Saturday afternoon, I dragged Matt through a few of the cute little shops on Main Street. 

Main Street

Overall, I really enjoyed our trip to Annapolis! I am so glad we made the time to go. We really had the perfect two days for our trip. The weather was ideal and it's not a far drive. Yay for a little Maycation!

Friday Love

Yay for Friday! It's been a crazy week of work and meetings. I am thankful for what looks to be a beautiful weekend ahead, and tonight we are headed to a friend's house for dinner. What are you up to? I hope you have a great weekend!

{ONE}

Cinderella. Last week, over spring break, I went to see the remake of Cinderella. I was very worried I wouldn't like it as Cinderella was my very favorite Disney movie when I was really little, but I was pleasantly surprised. And don't worry (cause I was worried) the mice aren't weird in the real live version.

{TWO}

Flat Shoes! I'm so excited. I do not like winter shoes! In the past few weeks it's actually been possible to not wear them. I am back to my favorite flats. Thank you spring!

{THREE}

The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. I have been slowly watching Netflix's new-ish original series. It's actually pretty funny and the episodes are quick. Give it a try if you are looking for something mindless and fun to watch.

{FOUR}

Chik-Fil-A Frosted Lemonade. Have you tried this? If you just said 'NO,' change that! Really these are so delicious. It's CFA lemonade blended with CFA ice cream. It's creamsicle like. Last week they were FREE everyday. I won't tell you how many times I took advantage of that.

{FIVE}

National Sibling Day. Facebook has informed me today that it's time to celebrate having a sister. Good thing my parents decided to have a second kid so I didn't get only child syndrome :)

Flaherty sisters on a cold Thanksgiving morning...sorry it was the first picture I could find. 

2014, In Review!

Oh 2014, what a year it's been!  We've had so many highlights. I went back through my blog to pick out a few of my favorites from this year. Enjoy this year's summary, and enjoy your last night of 2014!

A big theme throughout my posts from January, February, and even March was SNOW! We were lucky enough to enjoy many snow days last winter. I am beginning to wonder where they have been this school year. I hope they find us soon! During one of those early January snows I remember binge watching episodes of Orange is the New Black. I recently heard somewhere that Netflix is one of the biggest game changers of 2014, and I have to agree. Binging on OITNB and Breaking Bad were great breaks from reality. And our Breaking Bad finale party was a fun night to begin our fall.

Spring was full of big achievements! Matt graduated with his Masters in History from George Mason. It was a great celebration of a lot of hard work, late and stressful nights and weekends. Also in the spring, I completed my first ten mile race and half marathon! In the realm of big accomplishments might also fall my relinquishment of coffee, not to say there haven't been some cheat days :)

The summer of 2014 was my best in a long time. For the first time in a long time I chose not to work during my time off from school. We started the summer off with a trip to Dewey Beach for a few days. Soon after we drove to Boston to celebrate Matt's sister's wedding. The rest of the summer was filled with lots of funsies with friends around town and by the pool. I also very pleased with the amount of leisurely reading I did. There was also some time spent being tourists in our own town. Most recently, as DC tourists, we were able to get up close and personal with the White House.

Of course no year would be complete without our families or our friends. We had plenty of game nights and other events to keep us occupied on the weekends in Virginia. Visits to Massachusetts and Pittsburgh, or visits from our families, for holidays and other exciting times, are always our favorites.

Going back to school after a fun summer is usually a little bit of a drag, but this year I have had some exciting things going on to make my time at work a little more pleasurable. I was given my own classroom to use for my lessons! And I have also been enjoying holding some book clubs with my fifth graders. This fall Matt and I also found the illusive Bull Run Mountain and hiked to the top not once, but twice.

I am so looking forward to going through our Boston Baked Bean Pot tonight to find some more happy memories. I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us! If our plans for January are any indication, I know it will be a great year!

Burnside Farms

Last weekend, while my mom was visiting, we took a trip to Burnside Farms. We had never been before. I read about it on Facebook. I guess you would call it a flower farm. They have three main flower fields in the spring time; daffodils, tulips, and iris. They also have a sunflower festival in July. The concept is that you can go and pick your own flowers...apparently the other concept is everyone beings their toddler and tries to take pictures, with or without a professional photographer in tow, while trying to make it look natural. They also scream the kid's name every 3 seconds. It was good people watching.

I was a big fan of the tulips :)

When we visited, the majority of the flowers in bloom were daffodils. There was also a good amount of tulips in bloom, but no iris as of yet. The farm posts a picture on Facebook of what the current fields look like so you can see what is blooming that day. We stuck to pulling up the tulips. I would recommend this lovely, spring afternoon activity if you like flowers and nice weather. It's also a lot cheaper than traveling to the tulip festival in the Netherlands.

The tulips we took home