the friday happy list: best of 2013

You know you're a subpar blogger when you steal most of your ideas from other blogs. I got this one from Kat's blog - you may remember her from yesterday's post: married to Jon's cousin, mother to the adorable Elliot, superior blogger to me.

Here are the top things that made me happy in 2013. If you were on our Christmas card list, you can probably already guess a few of these. :)

1. Jon started a new job. This was the scariest change of 2013. I'll spare you the details of how "Big Law" works, but it wasn't an easy decision and it wasn't without risk, but we felt it was the right decision. I'm happy to report that so far, so good. God is good all the time.

2. We bought a house...not that you would have noticed from my obsessive blogging about it.

3. We celebrated 5 years of marriage. You can read more about what it's really like to be married to Ginger here, but the condensed version is that it's been 5 really great years.

4. We learned how to cook lobsters and finally put those skills to use on Christmas day.

5. We started our ballparks of America tour. I have no idea how long it will take us to visit every MLB stadium in America, but I'm looking forward to the adventure. We had quite a few inspirations for this idea: 1) I've visited 48 states. Since that milestone is almost complete, we needed a new challenge. 2) My mom got Jon a map of all the MLB ballparks for his 30th birthday. It came with handy pins to mark visited ballparks - all the more reason to start crossing them off our list. 3) We love baseball. 4) We love to travel. 5) I love hot dogs.

6. Megan turned 30. I'm not sure she'd call it a highlight, but she's in my top 5 favorite people (along with the Ginger, Mom, Dad & both Aarons - Rodgers and Kendrick - they count as one since they have the same first name) and celebrating with her was the most fun. Also, Aaron (Kendrick, not Rodgers) was baptized that Sunday. It was really special to be there for both big events.

7. Turks & Caicos. Self-explanatory why this was a favorite of 2013.

8. Going to a Packers game in Baltimore. I relish any opportunity to wear my cheesehead in public, and we won. Success.

9. We caught the end of cherry blossom season when the slightest wind gently blows the blossoms off the trees. Snowing cherry blossoms is a new favorite - right up there with munchkin cats.

10. We went to see Show Boat at the Kennedy Center exactly 15 years after I saw it in with my family at the Kennedy Center during my first visit to D.C. One of those really weird moments where life comes full circle.

11. I learned how to arrange flowers. I was so proud of my first effort (and we all know that pride cometh before the fall) that I haven't dared a second attempt.

Wow. I didn't realize we had packed so many fun memories into one year until I finished writing this post. And the list could be so much longer. If that's not a great exercise in remembering God's blessings, I don't know what is!

Anniversary Weekend

I need to start coming up with more interesting post titles.

Thank you so much for all of the love for my last post. It was fun to write, and I'm glad at least a few of you had fun reading it.

We had a great time this weekend. Not only was it our anniversary, but we really needed a break. Escaping to a secluded resort in the mountains was just the answer.

We drove down to Primland on Friday, our actual anniversary. Part of the drive took us on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was breathtaking. There are a lot of reasons we got married in October, but it's a fun added bonus that it gives us an excuse to travel when a lot of places are at their most scenic. It's also fun because our anniversary always falls during the World Series - hopefully someday we'll celebrate with a Nats World Series win.

Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

At the Mabry Mill, we ran into a couple that asked us to take their photo. They were celebrating their 27th anniversary. How cool is that?! I didn't have the heart to tell them they were married the year I was born.

Mabry Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

About six hours and lots of bad radio later, we arrived at Primland. It's legitimately in the middle of nowhere, and it was expansive. It took several minutes just to drive from the main entrance to the main lodge where we checked in. Apparently it's over 12,000 acres. There is a golf course, spa, hunting, fishing, 3 restaurants and countless other activities, but let's be honest, I was mostly there for the view.

We stayed in the Barn Owl treehouse... 

...and this was our view. It was ok. ;)

This was our other view. It was also ok.

And these were our sunsets. Swoon.

We went on a hike.  

We rode horses. This is Daisy. She was stubborn just like someone else I know. 

One of our favorite dinners at the resort was the casual BBQ buffet. It was a big reminder that we were in the south South. There was a live bluegrass band, and while it's not a style of music I typically enjoy, it was SO GOOD. We stayed almost an hour after we were done eating just to enjoy their music. Here's a little video Jon took:

We also went to the spa, ate a lot of food, and just enjoyed the beautiful views. On our way back to D.C. we stopped at Monticello because when we're not eating or relaxing on vacation, we're probably doing something nerdy and/or historic.

Who doesn't love a Presidential house tour?

Just a little proof that we were on this little vacay together. Jon always makes me ask other people to take our photo. 

We got home just in time to watch the Packers destroy the Vikings. It was pretty much the perfect weekend.