Officially Spring!!

As of Thursday March 20, Spring has officially arrived. Normally I would be thrilled about this.... if there wasn't snow in the forecast for Tuesday evening. I've heard reports of everything from mostly rain and possible light snow, to 2 feet of snow predicted. I'm really really hoping for just rain. I can deal with an inch or two of snow, but that's it, especially considering how beautiful yesterday's 70 degree weather was! We were already out of work last Monday due to the government being closed, and I do not want to have to miss ANOTHER day of work, especially considering I'm trying to work 10-11 hour days to make up for the first one! So here's to crossed fingers for no significant accumulation.

Morgan's birthday was March 16, but since she was with her mom that weekend, we went out for her birthday on March 8, with Josh's parents, at The Melting Pot. Yummy yummy fondue...of course ate WAY too much, but I guess it's okay since we only go once a year! The chicken and steak that I ordered was good, but the best part is always the cheese at the beginning and the chocolate at the end, that's for sure. We ordered spinach artichoke dip and fiesta for our two cheeses, then the salads and the main course, and for dessert was Bananas Foster for one pot, and S'mores for the other. Delicious! And hard to believe, Morgan is 15 years old now!! We gave her a heart-shaped necklace with a cross in the middle made of her birthstones, and of course the obligatory iTunes gift card that gets used in about 2 minutes! I cannot believe she can get her learner's permit in 6 months (I think it's 15 years 6 months now?? I can't keep up with the rules anymore. I just know it was 15 for the permit and 16 for the license when I was in high school), and then she can legally drive in a year! And who knows about boys and dating....could be any day now. Josh better get that shotgun out of the closet and start getting it ready!

I didn't feel as bad about everything I ate though, since that morning I finally got myself back to the gym. Been 4 months since I had gone, the last time was Thanksgiving Day, so it was definitely time. And to celebrate, I got myself a new pair of shoes from Potomac River Running. They watch you walk on a treadmill, and help you pick out shoes specifically for how you walk and how your feet are shaped. I got a pair of shoes there back in college, so it's been about 8 or 9 years. You are only supposed to wear them for 300-500 miles, and I think I definitely surpassed that YEARS ago, so it was definitely time! I love them, my feet can already feel a difference! I went to the gym that weekend, last Friday, and yesterday.....already starting to feel back to my old self. I always feel so much better when I'm able to work out, these months of cold and snow and sitting around had really been getting to me! Normally the weather wouldn't affect it, except that I walk to the gym, and walking 2 miles round trip in freezing cold weather just did not appeal to me. But now that's it warming up a bit, the walk isn't quite as bad!

Goodbye old shoes!

Definitely don't have to worry about someone hitting me with these on....

Last weekend, Morgan was in a play at her high school, or at least what we had been TOLD was a play. When we got to the school, it was pure pandemonium, and all I could think was, this reminds me of Odyssey of the Minds. And sure enough, that's what it was.....I was in the program in elementary school, and it was a lot of fun, we had to create a little skit to perform for judges, and if you're group wins, you go on to the next competition level. So Morgan's group performed their skit, it had to be 8 minutes or less, so it was very very quick. But they did a great job. I'm not sure if they won, we left before they announced the winners, which wasn't going to be for another 5 hours. I haven't heard that they won, so I assume they didn't but I'm not sure. They did a great job though! Afterwards, Josh and I went to get lunch, and then went for a walk since it was such a beautiful day out, 60 degrees! The wind made it much colder; it seems like every nice day ends up being really windy and feels much colder than it is, but I'm not going to complain as long as we can get SOME ounce of Spring-like weather! After our walk, we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

On Sunday, we headed into DC....I had surprised Josh with tickets to the Washington Capitals - Toronto Maple Leafs hockey game at the Verizon Center, as his Valentine's Day present. So we had lunch at a yummy restaurant called Nando's of Peri Peri, and then headed to the Verizon Center for the game. We were rooting for the Maple Leafs, and unfortunately they lost, but we had a great time! I love watching sports live, so it was a lot of fun. As soon we left, it started to snow, and didn't stop until Monday afternoon. We ended up getting about a foot and a half of snow, so work was definitely closed on Monday. Josh was able to telework so he didn't have to use PTO, but we don't have the option at my work unfortunately, so when the government closes, we are outta luck! But the roads were TOTALLY clear by that afternoon, so Tuesday there were no problems. I'm hoping that was the last big snow of the year, and this Tuesday's forecast is just a fluke that will either result in no snow, or very little.

Green warm-up jerseys for St. Patrick's Day:

This weekend has been pretty relaxing for the most part. We went to dinner Friday night and got some frozen yogurt for dessert, and then I passed out pretty early, I was exhausted! Saturday I got up and went to the gym....I wasn't planning to go to spin class, but I figured after 4 months, it was time to get back in the saddle (literally!). I usually go to one or two spin classes a week, and it's not going to get any easier the first time back so it might as well be now! And I am really proud of how much I pushed myself yesterday....I was there for about 3 hours, and felt amazing afterwards. The soreness hasn't kicked in too much yet, but I have a feeling tomorrow will be bad! After the gym, I got ready and we went out to get lunch. We had planned to go to the Pet Expo at the Dulles Expo Center; they had toys and treats and grooming and puppy play areas, and you could bring your animals if you wanted. But it was 70 degrees out, and we couldn't bring ourselves to pay money to stay indoors, so we ended up skipping it. We wouldn't have brought the dogs anyway, since we were going to be out at lunch, so we probably wouldn't have had much to do after an hour or two of being there. After lunch, we came home, and I had some errands to run, so I decided to enjoy the weather and walk into town! It felt great being outdoors again and being able to get a little more exercise! I hope we have more days like this, and SOON....and not just one here or there but weeks at a time. I am normally not a huge fan of really hot weather, but after this winter you will not hear me complain abut the summer temperatures! The rest of the night consisted of laundry and passing out super early, I was so tired.

This morning, we were up bright and early at 7am to get ready for church. Josh had been in the process of converting to Catholicism in the Fall, but he has already done a lot of research on becoming Catholic, and the classes he had to take in order to convert were just a repeat of everything he had already learned. Since I'm Catholic, I'm his sponsor so we had been attending the classes together, but it seemed to be an hour and a half every Monday night of learning nothing, so we stopped going, and he planned to convert after we move out of Northern Virginia, years from now. But with Easter coming up, which is when he would officially become Catholic, he decided to contact the ministry and find out if there was anything he could do. Turns out a lot of the classes had been cancelled due to weather and just people being gone for the holidays, so we really hadn't missed much. Long story short, they said we can return to classes (only a few left now), and Josh can complete his confirmation on Easter as planned! So today at the 9am Mass, they had a special prayer in the service for the Confirmation candidates. Josh had to stand with the other candidates and he received a copy of the Nicene Creed, so that was exciting. We had been going to the 10:45am Mass before, but I think we'll continue with the 9am Mass.....I didn't like it when my alarm went off at 6:45am, but we were up early enough to actually be productive! After Mass, we went to Clyde's for a delicious brunch, and then ran errands at the grocery store and the dry cleaner. Josh dropped me back off at home and is over at his parents' house helping Morgan with a project, and I'm finishing up the laundry and getting everything ready for tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend!