The Hartmans' Highlight Reel

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

October and November Update

I can't believe it has been a whole month since my last blog posting - sorry I have waited so long! Here's what we've been up to...

Mabry Mill
One Sunday a few weeks ago we took a trip south on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mabry Mill in Meadows of Dan, VA. We went there once last year and it was so great that we decided to go back again this fall. I believe the mill there is one of the most photographed places on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Apparently there are even post cards for other states that have pictures of Mabry Mill on them. There is also a great restaurant there that serves delicious pancakes, among other things. The wait for the restaurant was an hour and a half (totally worth it!) so we got to walk around the grounds there while we waited. The drive on the parkway was beautiful, too. We stopped at almost every overlook to take pictures and enjoy the view. Here are a few pictures from that day.

The mill

A pretty shot of some of the changing leaves

The flumes that bring the water to the mill

Us in front of the mill

PANCAKES! It was a stack of one cornmeal pancake, one buckwheat pancake, and one sweet potato pancake. They were so good!

On the way home

Did I mention it was beautiful?

Cows!

At another overlook

I think the mountain in the distance was called Buffalo Mountain

Halloween
Last blog post I talked about us going to Layman Family Farms to pick out our pumpkin for Halloween. Even though we didn't have any trick-or-treaters last year, we still carved the pumpkin and got plenty of candy, hopeful that this year might be a little different. But alas, we didn't have any trick-or-treaters again this year. I don't know why we never get any. I would think it would be a prime location because the doors are about 15 feet apart (we live in a townhouse development). Oh well! We still had fun carving our pumpkin...and eating all the candy (we made sure we got candy that we liked because we had a feeling this would happen).

Andrew getting ready to carve the pumpkin (the neighbor's cat wanted to help, too)

Didn't he do such a good job?

All that candy and no kids

Landon
On November 3rd at 5:31 pm, my sister and her husband welcomed little Landon into the world, weighing in at 6 pounds, 14 ounces. He is such a cutie and I cannot wait to meet him! Congratulations, Sarah and Brian!

Today
Today is Veterans Day and I have the day off. Although I help veterans everyday at my job, I think it is really important for us to always remember all veterans and those actively serving in the military. They have sacrificed so much for us, and we should be forever thankful for that. At work we got an e-mail with a link to a website sponsored by Xerox where you can send a personalized postcard to US military personnel who are serving overseas for free (you don't have to know anybody specific). Just go to http://www.letssaythanks.com/ and follow the directions on the website.

Layman Family Farms

Last weekend Andrew and I took a trip to Layman Family Farms just to have a fun time and pick out our pumpkin for this Halloween. After all, it is way more fun to pick it from the field than from the big box at Kroger. While we were there we also got to do the big corn maze. I had never done one before and it was really a lot of fun trying to find your way out. With a little help from a map and the "hints" along the way, we finally made our way through the maze, mostly thanks to Andrew. They also had some barnyard animals, pumpkin and corn cannons, a hayride to the pumpkin patch, and delicious kettle corn. After a little deliberating, we finally picked out our pumpkin. At just 36¢ a pound, it was a pretty good deal! After we had our fill of the farm, we took the parkway on the way home to take in some of the pretty views and we also stopped at the Roanoke Mountain Overlook (the last picture below is the view from there). It was a really fun day and definitely got us in the mood for fall. The leaves are just beginning to really change and it is absolutely beautiful around here. Anyways, here are a few pictures from our day.

In other news, Andrew has already gotten two deer since archery season opened last Saturday. I'm so proud of him! And thankful that we'll have plenty of meat to stock the freezer. My dad took this picture with his cell phone of my big hunter with his kill! Sorry if this picture is offensive, but there are dead deer on the side of the road all the time, so I know you'll get over it (and don't worry, we eat everything we kill).

Well, that's basically all that's new for us right now. We are looking forward to going to Mabry Mill right up the road in Meadows of Dan, VA either this weekend or next to really take in the breathtaking fall colors...and some of their yummy pancakes.

Summer's Ending

It's so hard to believe that tomorrow is Labor Day - the unofficial end to summer. I must say, it was a great one, but it sure did go by too quickly as usual. However, that means that the best season is right around the corner...FALL! We love fall - cooler weather (but not too cold!), beautiful trees, hunting season, football, fleece jackets, fires, and apple cider, just to name a few of the wonderful things about the upcoming season. Well, I thought I would just update everybody on a few of our recent end-of-summer activities...so here we go!

A Nephew on the Way!
My sister, Sarah, and her husband, Brian, are expecting their first baby this coming November (November 3rd, to be exact!). This will be my parents' first grandbaby and my first nephew, so we are all VERY excited for them! His name will be Landon Tyler...and I know he will be a cutie pie! Last weekend I traveled up to Northern VA with my mom and two grandmothers to visit with Sarah and Brian and to attend a baby shower for Sarah. It was great to see Sarah and Brian again and also to see all of the cute things that Sarah got at the shower! We also got to see Sarah and Brian's new house! We didn't get to go inside, but what we could see from peeking through the windows looks really nice...I can't wait to see it once they are all moved in.

The grandmothers, mom, Sarah, and me

Opening presents is hard!!

This is a pamper cake that my mom made. Isn't she so creative?

This is their new home! So nice!

Back to School!
Andrew went back to work two weeks ago and has been working hard preparing for the upcoming year and getting his classroom all settled for his third year at Patrick Henry High School. This year he will be teaching AP US History as well as Academic US History, so he will have all 11th graders. The school year officially starts this coming Tuesday.

Mr. Hartman!

GO PATRIOTS!!
This past Friday we went to the first PH home football game. Andrew and I can get in free since he is a teacher there, so we are going to try to take advantage of more of these games as something fun and free to do this fall. We have gone to games in previous years, but this was the best game that we have been to yet, mostly because they won and it wasn't raining. PH took the win over Basset, 21-11. It was definitely a great way to start the year and set the school spirits high.

Gone Fishin'
Today after church we spontaneously decided to go to Smith Mountain Lake to go fishing, since this may be one of the last opportunities before it gets too cold and before our weekends are all booked up. We had a very relaxing time down there, as we always do. It was cloudy for most of the time and it was actually a bit cool and breezy (it was just perfect!). Andrew caught a sizeable catfish and a big carp. I, on the other hand, just caught a few sunfish and a lot of sticks. Oh well, I still had a great time!

My awesome stick fish

James says "Hi" too!

How did all of this trash get on the floor?? I don't know!!

Litchfield Beach 2009

Andrew and I had the pleasure of vacationing with my family this year in Litchfield, SC during the first week in August. As I previously mentioned, Litchfield is about 45 (ish) minutes south of Myrtle Beach, SC. It is a lovely little place with nice, quiet, uncrowded beaches. The place we stayed in was a beautiful oceanfront condo that was rented from a family friend of ours. We had such a great week! As usual, most of our days were spent relaxing by the pool or the beach and our evenings consisted of delicious dinners and venturing north to the "wonders" of Myrtle Beach. I really loved getting to spend quality time with my family and Andrew, as well as the opportunity to really relax and get away from all of the stresses of everyday life here at home. It was so hard to come back home and go back to work, but it leaves me really looking forward to the next beach trip. Here just are a few pictures from our trip.