Lizards and BBQs

Happy Memorial Day!

I want to preface this post with a giant THANK YOU to all of those that have or are currently serving out country, and for those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. Growing up so close to Washington DC and Arlington Cemetery, Memorial Day is definitely an important reminder of just how many soldiers have been lost in the pursuit of protecting our nation.

So thank you, for all that you do and for all that you give.

On that note, on to the weekend recap! Even though it’s Monday, it certainly doesn’t really feel like one since it’s a holiday weekend. I almost forgot that it was Monday entirely until I passed by a Chick-fil-a and realized it was open. No joke.

So here is what my weekend looked like!

Friday

Because of the holiday, I actually got off work a little early, which was awesome! The traffic on 95 thanks to all those going out of town was NOT awesome, however. I got home about the same time I would have on a normal day, despite the fact that I left work more than an hour early. Bummer.

Chris and I had a ton of errands to run in preparation for our Saturday plans, so after 2 trips (and 2 car loads) back and forth to Lowes, our tummies were growling. Enter Panera.

It was also pretty cold, so I was really feeling soup. I know, it’s a strange spring. For whatever reason I was also feeling super carby, so I ended up with the new pesto pasta (just meh, in my opinion) and french onion soup (always a winner).

Chris and I then proceeded to come home and curl up on the couch with some season 1 Game of Thrones. Yes, we are WAY behind on good TV shows. It’s kind of an issue.

Saturday

We were up early on Saturday morning for a giant project: Landscaping our front yard!

Here are some before pictures (some slightly blurred for our protection):

Yea, not so good. Sadly the garden was not very well maintained by the previous owner, and the plants and weeds just kind of took over.

After pulling up ALL the rocks (wheelbarrows full), trimming all the plants and pulling out any unwanted ones), we were able to place some new plants in their new spots.

We also ran into this fellow while pulling up some azalea bushes:

There may have been some squealing on my part. I also have to note, that those aren’t even my hands – they are giant man hands. That salamander/lizard thing was seriously a good 10 inches long.

Sadly I don’t have a “finished” picture yet, because we still had a few small things to do today (Monday), so once it’s totally done I’ll share it with you all!

This project took us from about 9:30-3:00… so needless-to-say, we were pretty pooped afterwards. However, we had plans to attend a housewarming/Memorial Day party for one of Chris’ old friends. So buffalo chicken dip in hand (my go-to potluck dish now), we headed over.

And proceeded to play several games of yard jenga, cornhole, and drink way too much. All that sun clearly got to me, and I had a nasty headache by the time we left. Doesn’t help that I’m a total lightweight.

So after 1 episode of Game of Thrones, I proceeded to pass out and didn’t even wake up when Chris came to bed. I was that out. haha.

 

Sunday

We were up early on Sunday morning was well, because I was playing with the bell choir at my church for the Memorial Day Sunday service. So we skipped our normal Sunday evening church, and went to morning church instead.

Chris needed to spend some time studying for his GREs, so I headed to the basement and did a couple different Barre3 workouts. Emily paired with Barre3 to offer a 1 week free trial of their online database. I have only ever taken a barre class once before (with a bunch of other VA Bloggers), so I thought this would be fun to try!

(Don’t mind the mess in the corner – I’m still working my way through all of our wedding stuff).

I set myself up with some small handweights, a mat, a chair and a “ball” (I used one of Chris’ old smaller soccer balls, because I’m cheap and haven’t invested in a pilates ball). Let me just say – these workouts are killer. They are all about micromovements, and boy was a shaking like a leaf at the end. In a good way, of course.

Afterwards, we headed over to his family’s house for a pre-Memorial Day BBQ. What? Memorial day is like the biggest BBQ weekend of the year! You’ve got to take advantage of it!

We had a nice spread of shrimp, filet (which sadly I couldn’t partake in), grilled broccoli and snow peas, and corn. It was amazing and I definitely left super full. The wine-margarita drink that they had (no idea what it actually was…) also may have contributed to me being super full. That stuff was dangerous.

…And now that this post makes me sound like I have a drinking problem…

 

So tell me: What did you do this weekend?