Recently my blog has been hijacked by throwback race recaps and skin cancer posts.  Seriously, how have you survived without knowing my every move?

I’m not sure why it’s been so important to me to chronicle every marathon; but it has, and it’s been a blast digging through my old race pictures, talking to Bill, Miles, and the Cruisers and begging them to help me remember detailed accounts of our race shenanigans.  Perhaps I just answered my own question!

This past weekend started out with a tornado warning at 3:34 AM on Friday that I peacefully slept through thinking the awful alert sound on our phones was just Bill’s alarm going off.  I got up at 5 AM only to realize that the tornado warning had been lifted and that we hadn’t blown away.  As soon as it got light enough, I rushed outside to take a picture of the creek beside our house.  Here’s the picture  I took at 6:30 AM on Friday…

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Friday morning flood

And here’s another picture that I took this afternoon for reference.  Check out the bridge railing for comparison!

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Today from same spot

By 7 AM on Friday, the torrential downpours moved east just in time for us to hit the road for Blacksburg!  The Virginia Tech graduate commencement was at noon and we didn’t want to miss seeing our future daughter-in-law Julie receive her master’s degree.  Julie has a job lined up to teach math at a middle school near our home this fall!

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Joseph and Julie

Bright and early Saturday morning at 5:30 found Bill, our son Joseph, and Julie shivering in the mid-30° temps back on the gorgeous Virginia Tech campus while I stayed snuggled toasty warm in bed.  Any VT student or alum will tell you that Blacksburg has crazy weather, and they totally lucked out that it was such a beautiful morning.  Cold, but beautiful.

My husband is quite the photographer and we’re so happy with how Joseph’s and Julie’s engagement pictures turned out!  My two favorites include an artistic picture and a close-up.

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War Memorial / Torgersen Bridge at sunrise

I know I’m extremely biased, but aren’t they just the cutest couple!

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West Eggleston Arch

While in the area, we visited my mom and I ate way too much!  When I go visit Mom, we eat really healthy; but when Bill and our sons are with me, she cooks all of their favorites.  On Saturday night we had fried chicken and gravy…  and for dessert we had brownies topped with ice cream, strawberries, and homemade hot fudge sauce.  Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious and I indulged!  I wouldn’t want my mom to think I didn’t like her cooking, would I?

  • Questions:
  • Married readers: Did you have engagement pictures taken?
  • What dishes does your mom or grandmother make that you can’t resist?
  • Random question:  What did yo have for dinner tonight? ~ roasted asparagus, mushrooms, and red peppers with shrimp