Our Trip Back to Virginia

At the end of October / beginning of November, we took a trip back to Virginia. There were a lot of things that we fit into this one trip. We hadn’t been back to VA since leaving on our grand adventure, so we wanted to make sure we got a chance to see some folks.

First off, we met up with friends M and A for dinner in old town Alexandria. That’s always a nice place to go and there are so many choices of good restaurants. We were able to chat and catch up, and very importantly congratulate them on their recent engagement! We got some more time to hang out with them at their place, and after spending the night there, headed up to Baltimore the next day.

Some of our friends from VA had moved up to Baltimore while we were away, so we got to see their new home and spend a couple of days with them. A and J are always fun to hang out with, and even the chore of removing the old dishwasher and the subsequent leaking water that ensued didn’t dampen the fun; if anything it only increased the hilarity! 🙂 We ate great food, played games, cuddled with puppies, drank beer, and had an all around good time.

Next up was one of the main events of the trip, the wedding of our friends S and E. S and E are two of the most fun, genuine, Christ-centered people I know.  I think it’s really great when weddings really reflect the individuals and the couple getting married. Many don’t have these personal touches. I think S and E’s wedding was the most reflective of the couple I’ve been to yet. The setting was elegant yet classically rustic, the dress and ring were vintage inspired, the program was self designed, the celebration included the traditional Korean Pyebaek ceremony, there was great beer, and of course they served a bacon appetizer that went like hotcakes! We are so happy to have celebrated with S and E and wish them a wonderful life together.

I’ve realized I absolutely love going to weddings of my small group gals, not only because I am so happy for them and their spouses to be, but also because it’s a great time to meet up with the rest of the group and have a great time together. At the first small group wedding (other than our own), K was jokingly known as the small group photographer, since it was basically the small group ladies and him, and we’d frequently request that he take group photos of us. 🙂 Since then though, the small group husbands group has grown, and this latest wedding now brings their number to three. So, maybe more small group boyfriends will soon become small group fiances and then it will be time for another small group wedding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, after K flew back home, I stayed in town for my first week back to work. For that first week, since I was already in VA, I worked from the main office. This gave me a good chance to see people again face to face, take care of all the administrative stuff related to starting to work again, and generally get back into the swing of things. It was nice to be able to see folks again and catch up on what had gone on while I was away. One of the funniest things though, is that I would occasionally come across someone who’d greet me and I’d chuckle and think that it seemed they had no clue I’d been away, just that maybe we’d both been busy and hadn’t seen each other in awhile! 🙂 While in town I stayed at my friend K’s house who generously offered to put me up. This was much better than being in a random hotel and gave us a lot of time to hang out and have fun together.

Once back in CO after that first week, I continued working from my new home office. I have to say that it has been working out great. I have a dedicated room that serves as my office, with all of the equipment that I need to work, and where I can close the door when I’m on a phone call or at the end of the day when work is over. The commute is incredibly short and that has to be one of the best parts!