Thankful Thursday, Ren Faire Edition

 I doubled up on Ren Faire last weekend which was really fun and also exhausting!

I'm thankful for:

1. My villager pass to Ren Faire. It's meant I can go multiple times this fall and it's been easy to get tickets.

2. Lunch with Bec on Friday since they were in town for faire!

3. Ren faire. I love the music and the generally joy of faire. Saturday I wandered with my friends all day and Sunday I went by myself and just listened to music all day (and one Shakespeare performance). The weather was lovely- 60s and dry! I'm also really enjoying putting costumes together. Saturday was a peasant/Heidi look, and Sunday was my witchy look again (Temperance gave me another sinner clothespin because I threatened her with my wand.)

4. Skirt hikes and safety pins. I bought a dress online and the zipper broke the first time I wore it at faire. Luckily a vendor had safety pins they gave me for free to prevent a wardrobe malfunction, and then I bought skirt hikes later to cover the gap. 

5. Productivity! I've been hard at work on a bunch of paperwork I need to do for financial and medical stuff for mom, plus a bunch of girl scout paperwork and online trainings. It's so nice to check things off my to-do list!

6. An amazing book- 'An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography' by Paul Rusesabagina. He's the man the movie 'Hotel Rwanda' was based off of. Hard to read at times, but an amazing story of what one person can do, and how dangerous hateful rhetoric can be. 5/5 stars.

Happy Fall, how was summer?

 I meant to check in on my summer bucket list on the fall solstice, but how about on the first day of October?

My Summer 2026 Bucket List:

1. Go kayaking 2-3 times- I did this! Kate and I went to Fletchers Cove on my birthday, and then I kayaked twice in PA at the lake with Elisa.

2. Virginia Renaissance Faire- I did this! 

3. Go swimming- I swam at the lake!

4. See a movie- I did not see one in the theaters, but I watched several at the lake with friends. 

5. Eat down my freezer- I did throw a bunch of old stuff away, but I have not eaten it down. 1/2 a point.

6. Take a writing class- I did this, and it was really fun and interesting!

7. Read 5 books- Check!

8. Read in my hammock- Many times check!

9. Eat a giant ice cream sandwich- I did this with my cousins in June :)

10. Go to an outdoor concert- I'm counting the ones at the VA ren faire, check!

11. Go white water rafting- Nope

12. Wander a museum I haven't been to before- yes, I did this with Babs in September (it was before the solstice, it counts haha)

13. Hike 2-3 times- At least 5 I think, check!

14. Host a game night with friends- Wound up doing several as friends came to visit Luna.

15. Grill burgers- Somehow I did not! 

16. Do an escape room- Nope

17. Catch a firefly- Yup!

18. Eat a popsicle- Several!

19. Back up my photos on my computer- Nope

20. See fireworks- Are we counting my neighbor's shenanigans in August? 1/2 a point.

15/20?

Bonus points?

1. Went to the lake with friends!

2. Visited family on Edisto

3. Visited friends in Minneapolis 

4. Visited the Minnesota State Fair

5. Visited the Minnesota Ren Faire

All things considered, it was a great summer of fun activities, minus the heartbreak of saying goodbye to Luna. The few things on my list that I didn't get to do, are more than made up for by my August/September travels.

Onto fall adventures!

Thankful Tuesday, Nor'Easter Edition

 This has been a fun week, and I spent a lot of it outside, even with a nor'easter that came through over the weekend. I'm thankful for:

1. I got to hike before the storm on Friday. I went to Patuxent State Park, which is a lovely little park to hike 4 miles and change near a creek. It's very buggy in the summer, so its nicer in the fall/winter.

2. I went to Ren Faire again, this time for Celtic weekend! The rain held off until about 2:30, and then it was very swampy. 

3. There's something wonderful about dancing in the rain. I had a full change of clothes packed for ren faire, so I didn't mind getting soaked.

4. I had fun looking for some ren faire garb on the spur of the moment last week. I wound up getting some things at Target of all places!

5. My church had an amazing rally for Christian Men and Christian Women's Fellowship (CWF/CMF), with 600+ people in our parking lot for worship and a singing competition. It was a little rainy and gusty, but everyone stayed mostly dry and was fed, and the day was wonderful.

6. I got to spend some time with my cousin Kate yesterday as she was helping her dad in northern Virginia.

Thankful Tuesday, Fall Edition!

 Today is the fall equinox and I am so ready for cooler weather. Fall is one of my favorite seasons and there's lots to be thankful for!

1. A fun ministry fair at my church on the 13th. It's great to see all of the cool things my church is doing, and my friends pitched in BIG time to make the trifold for our Racial Justice Ministry when I was out of town (with no phone!).

2. My mom has a great care team. She had a rough week last week, but I was able to talk with her nurses, doctor, and health aides to make a plan.

3. I just finished a really good book, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. I'm in that afterglow of a good book when it kind of fills your mind for a bit once you've finished the whole story.

4. I got to go to the Maryland Ren Faire on Saturday! I went as a purple pirate for pirate weekend, and enjoyed lots of sea shanties and pirate music. The end of the day was also super fun.

5. I saw so many friends at Ren Faire! I counted 8 people from church, 3 from college, 1 from Peace Corps, and 3 that I've actually met through faire itself. It's so fun to see people in costume and enjoying the good music and vibes.

6. The temperature turned yesterday and its coooool. It's not quite cold enough for sweaters, but I'm so excited for hiking and sweater weather.

Thankful Saturday, 3 weeks edition!

 My summer had kind of a crazy end to it, and so I haven't posted regularly. I hope I can get back in the habit next week with less travel and more weekly activity stuff. So much to be thankful for!

1. I ninjaed down to Edisto on August 27th for an extended family member's funeral. It was wonderful to see so much extended family that I haven't seen in probably 10 years. 

2. I'm thankful for Okie, my dad's cousin's wife who passed away. She was 89, kind of like an aunt to me, and a very sweet lady. She had an amazingly full life and she would have loved all of her family getting together to celebrate her life like we did.

3. Family laughter. There were 7 of us staying at Betty's and even though the occasion was sad, we still had a lot of time to hang out and get to know each other better and laugh.

4. A dog fix. There were 4 dogs at Betty's including the 1 year old lab puppy Indigo. He is hilariously excited, clumsy, still in shark phase, and the best dog ever. At one point 10-year old Maddy tried to hold him when we opened the front door and he half dragged her outside. I had to physically pick up his rear end and pull him back inside. We were both laughing so hard and I really wish someone had that on video.

5. A quick visit to see Meghan in Charleston

6. Friends and coworkers willing to step in and take over some things so I could go to SC. Babs came over and coordinated a furniture pickup, my girl scout co-leader started the year without me, and coworkers worked around my travel schedule to get some things done.

7. I went to Minneapolis for a week! My friends Sandy and Stephen have been inviting me to come visit so I finally did. We went to the Minnesota State Fair, hiked around a lake near their house, went to the Minnesota Renaissance Faire, and visited some local parks. We also caught up on life and played some board games.

8. I got to hang out with my friend Deb that just moved to Minneapolis. She's now my MN mom, and it was wonderful catching up with her. We went to the arboretum, 2 indie bookstores, and a near cupcake place.

9. A new phone... So I lost my phone, got a new one, and then someone turned in my old one at the arb where I dropped it. I desperately needed a new phone and I'm very happy I have a new one, and I'm also very glad someone turned my old one in (which I picked up a few days later) so I can transfer things and not worry about identity theft.

10. Minnesota State Fair!

11. Minnesota Ren Faire! This is the 4th Ren Faire I've been to, at least of the big ones.

12. I got to see the Mississippi river!

13. I got to have dinner with my cousins who were in town yesterday.

14. I went to a cool local festival with Babs today, Boonsboro historical days. Lots of food trucks, tons of handmade crafts, and we toured a local museum. We picked up a bunch of info on Boonsboro historical sites and now have lots of things to explore in the future. We also stopped by another indie bookstore that I've been wanting to check out in the downtown area.

15. Life gets back to normal a little next week. I have loved gallivanting the second half of my summer, even though I'm still so sad that the reason I can travel is because I no longer have Luna.  That said, I've had lots of adventures the last 6 weeks and am looking forward to a little more routine for a bit. Girl Scouts, bells, church, maybe some regular board game nights. 

16. It's almost fall! Fall is one of my favorite seasons- it's crisp, its cooler, its festival season, and its great for being outside.