Valentine's Day Surprise

For Valentine's Day this year, Trent took me on a surprise day trip on Saturday.  We got into the car and he typed the address into the GPS. I had no idea where we would end up.  We headed south so I figured we would be somewhere in Virginia.  A few hours later we ended up at Bowling Green, VA, which is a town of 936 people.  We stopped to get a look at the Bowling Green Farm mansion.  The farm house was built in 1741 and has continiously been lived in since that time.  The house was beautiful and built by bricks brought over from England.

After looking at the home, we headed to Hanover, VA.  We looked around town and saw the old court house and a few monuments. 

I love the shout out to the women!

Trent stated that the purpose of the roadtrip was to go to an activity.  He directed me to the Hanover Tavern.  It is one of the oldest taverns in America being built in 1733.  As we walked into the tavern, the first thing I noticed was a sign that said "National Tea Party Movie".  For a quick second, I thought that Trent had brought me to a Tea Party gathering, which is definently not my cup of tea.  The lady asked me "are you here for the movie?"  I looked at Trent who must has noticed my nervousness about the situation so he quickly replied "no."  I heartedly shook my head and giggled as I said "no."  He ushered me over to another sign-in area where we promptly signed in for a candle making activity.  Awww....much more my style.  We made chunk candles in a room that used to be the taverns bar.  They had exposed some of the wooden bars that made up the bar area. 

Mandy's Candle

Trent's Candle

Exposed bars of the old bar

After candle making, we went into another room and had lunch.  The she crab soup was excellent.  We sat and talked with the executive director of the tavern who joined his wife and daughter for lunch.  He told us some of the history of the tavern and recent ghost activity! 

It was a great roadtrip!

On Sunday, I made dinner for Trent.  The menu included Brocolli Swiss Stuffed Chicken, Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce, and a side of Spinach.  For dessert we had Heart Shaped Brownies.

Spending Valentines Day with Trent is always wonderful. 
 I love you, my dear.

Fun with Continuous Shooting

Snowed In...again.

When Trent and I were looking for our first apartment as a married couple, we came across the basement that has become our home. We were excited about the fireplace, mature trees, and deer that would walk in front of window as we eat breakfast in the morning.  There were two drawbacks - 1. it was further from the metro so I would need to drive Trent every morning and 2. it was situated on a steep hill with an even steeper driveway.  We agreed and said "this won't really be a problem because D.C. does not get much snow."  It was true.  In the five years I have lived here, we would get a few snow flurries a year that did not amount to more than 2 inches. 

This year has been very unusual. This past weekend we had 25 inches of snow.  In DC, that is a big deal.  It shut down the city, shut us in the house, and shut off our power... for 18 hours.  The next day came the digging out.  Then the next day brought digging out the Alero. In a few days we are supposed to get five inches more. 

Scraping of the Alero while standing on the packed snow

Compare this to the last post abou snow...so much snow.

Luckily, we have a neighbor who owns his own bobcat and shovelled our snow throughout the day. 

So what did we do to keep the cabin fever away?  We ate chocolate trifle, played games, watched movies, read books when the power was out, and went outside when we could stand the cold.  I also made treats for the beginning of LOST.  To top it off, I decorated for Valentine's Day.