Rocky Top Tennessee

This past weekend, Andy and I traveled South to Knoxville, Tennessee to celebrate his college buddy, Dustin, as he married his fiance Brooke. Dustin was a groomsman in our wedding and about a year after our wedding in the fall of 2011, Andy somehow convinced Dustin to move up to Northern Virginia to work with him at his former job. Dustin then somehow convinced his awesome girlfriend at the time, Brooke, to follow him up to Virginia. We have been so lucky to have them living only a few short miles away for the past 2 1/2 years. They are such a fun couple and a perfect match for each other. It was an honor to help them celebrate their big day!

Andy and Dustin at our July 2010 Wedding

 Andy and I began the 7 1/2 hour drive South on Friday afternoon. We got to the hotel and went immediately (even our luggage didn't make it into the hotel room!) to a local Buffalo Wild Wings, at 10:30pm, to catch the Dallas Stars hockey game. We made it in perfect timing for Andy to catch his team in the playoffs. After a few cold beverages and an unfortunate loss, we headed back to the hotel to actually check into our room and get some sleep after a long day.

We woke up early on Saturday to head out and check out the city of Knoxville. Andy and I had never been before so it was fun to get to check out the downtown area and then head over to the University of Tennessee's campus. Our first stop was at Calhoun's On The River for some food. If you ever head to Knoxville, DEFINITELY stop and eat on the outside deck. The food (BBQ is all the rage) was all delicious, the atmosphere was fun, and the views of the river with Neyland Stadium in the background under the bridges was pretty. Then we headed into downtown Knoxville to check out Market Square. There just happened to be a Dogwood Arts Festival going on during our trip so the area was all set-up with tents selling cute little goods, artwork and delicious snacks. It was a great afternoon to walk around in the sunshine and check things out. Afterwards, we headed toward Tennessee's campus. We really wanted to see the football stadium and to check out the basketball arena. It was neat to see the Pat Summitt memorials and see the big football stadium on the river. We also got to see where they tailgate and park their boats on gamedays- a very cool tradition!

After seeing the city, we headed back to the hotel to get wedding-ready. Dustin and Brooke had their wedding at a beautiful estate overlooking the mountains. We got to drink sweet tea out of Mason Jars, dance to country music and enjoy the gorgeous afternoon with their friends and family. It was definitely worth the long trip to help them celebrate! Sadly for us, Dustin and Brooke are going to be moving back down South very shortly. We miss definitely miss them in Virginia but will love to have an excuse to head back to Tennessee sometime for a visit! Congrats Robinsons!

 

Home Sweet Saulitis

We Bought A House! (Last July- but whatever). Last spring was spent scouring realtor.com, driving through endless neighborhoods on the weekends, and scrolling MLS listings hourly to find the perfect starter home for us. Needless to say, it was stressful and exhausting... but also very fun. We worked with the same realtor who sold us our townhouse style condo back in 2008 and he was just as amazing this time as he was back then (seriously, if anyone needs a realtor, we highly recommend him!) After lots of walk-thrus and debates, we finally found a home for us. We closed on July 5th, 2013. However, the previous owners rented back for a couple months so we didn't actually move into our home until Labor Day weekend.... right before the first day of school. Needless to say, one of my reasons for slacking on the blog writing was due in large part to this massive move during the craziest time of the school year. Tack on some other unforseen events at my elementary school and I was pretty much borderline losing.my.mind. As winter fades into spring though, we are finally putting our stamp on this house and making it "ours".

So, without further ado: Our New House! (Disclaimer: the front already looks slightly different than these pictures- think red front door. Future blog posts sharing the new curb appeal to come!)

  

Spring Break!

We officially began Spring Break last Friday and my school is VERY *happy* to enjoy a week off in this gorgeous spring weather! Click the link below to see just how happy we are :) Enjoy!

Brookfield is HAPPY!

5K Fun

One of my 30 before 30 goals (which I promise to do an update on before my 30th... in a month!) was to run my first official 5K. Well, been there, done that... a few times actually. This past Sunday, Andy somehow convinced forced me to run a local 5K with him "just for fun". He took the liberty of signing me up, completely covering my entry fee, and driving us to and from (clearly he wanted a buddy!). So, being the ever so compromising wife (HA!) that I am, I agreed.

Now, just for the record, I do actually run frequently. I typically run anywhere between 3.8 and 5 miles, 3-4 days a week. You would think with my competitive spirit and actual tendency to run, I would be all about 5 K's. Not so much. I put way too much pressure on myself to have great runs when it is an organized event like a 5K- particularly when my friends are also running. My competitive spirit comes out and I literally get anxious about my performance- who I should be faster than, who should beat me, what my time should be, etc. It's ridiculous. So I typically avoid running these races and just stick with my personal, leisurely running routines. But Andy really seemed to need a running buddy, so to the 5K I went.

I was honestly shocked at what a great time I had. As with my previous 5K's, I expected to dread every second of my run, running curse words for Andy through my mind as I trotted along to the finish line. But I was very pleasantly surprised with how much fun I had (seriously, don't tell Andy- he'll make me do another one!) The weather wasn't too hot or too cold, the course was ideal- not too many hills, not too many straight-aways to get bored on, and my time was phenomenal for me. I got a personal record by almost 2 minutes, finishing the race in 25:43. I felt great when I finished- accomplished, productive, and not like I was about to drop dead.

After the race, we grabbed some free food (honestly, I might just do another 5K if I am rewarded with a Krispy Kreme glazed donut) and waited for the awards. My hubby is quite the runner and almost always places in his age group. So no surprise, Andy got 1st place in his age group. The most shocking thing was that I would have gotten 2nd place had I been in the 30-39 age group, but because my birthday isn't for another month, I got 7th in the 20-29 group. Still a very proud moment for me! All in all, it was a really nice Sunday morning with Andy... and it didn't totally suck to be done with my exercise for the day by 9:30am :)

25 Things You Don't Know About Me

Hello, my name is Heather and I am an Us Weekly addict. One of my favorite things to read is the lists that celebrities do of 25 things people don't necessarily know about them. Since it appears Us Weekly is not going to ask me to complete one of these questionnaires anytime soon, I figured I'd try to make my own. Here goes:

1. I had no name for the first 2 weeks of my life. I was simply know as "Baby Girl McDonald".
2. One of my greatest guilty pleasures is theme parties. I LOVE any excuse to dress up or wear a costume.
3. Another is obviously reality TV shows and Gossip magazines (ahem, Us Weekly). 
   
4. I never received anything below a B in my entire schooling career. Yes, I'm bragging- but I am very proud of my hard work.
5. I prefer salty snacks and foods to sweets. Give me chips and dip over a cookie anyday!
6. Andy and I dated long distance for 4 years in college while I received my undergrad degree and masters at Virginia Tech and he finished undergrad and his MBA at Clemson.
7. I am a certified sports-crazed, fanatic. I love football, soccer, baseball, basketball, and volleyball.
8. On that note, one of my biggest dreams for the future is to see my Hokies win a national championship in person.
   
9. Cheeseburgers are my absolute favorite food. I could eat them anytime-morning, noon or night!
10. My favorite author is Jodi Picoult. I love the way she write stories from multiple points of view.
11. One of my favorite books, however, is The Godfather. I was shocked to have enjoyed it so much when I was assigned to read it in my first English class at VT as a freshman.
    
12. I am a homebody and would prefer to stay in most nights in my pj's with a good book.
13. If I could have any job on the planet, I would be a professional athlete. 
14. I have an obsession with organization and things always being "put in their place". 
15. I also make lists for everything. And I mean ev-er-y-thing. I even have a daily to-do list in my planner that includes things such as "Work 7-3" everyday. Serious OCD tendencies.
16. One of my biggest challenges is being spontaneous. I am such a planner.
17. My husband, Andy, is my biggest running motivator. He runs every single day and inspires me to push myself.
18. There is nothing more valuable to me on this earth than my family and my friends. 
19. I am the youngest person in our group of friends and am therefore, the last to turn 30. Makes it a little more bearable since they already hit the milestone :)
20. I am a big fan of living in an area that experiences 4 distinct seasons. I love the cool, crisp air in the fall, the beautiful falling leaves and football season. I love cold, snowy winters that include snow days and fires in the fireplace. I love seeing the flowers poke out of the ground and the warm sunshine beating on me in the spring time. I love vacations and long-hot days poolside in the summertime.
21. I had my tongue pierced during college. Clearly my rebellious stage of life.
22. One of my biggest flaws is that I continuously compare myself to others. I'm working on it everyday.
23. I am terrible at confrontation and conflict, but absolutely love watching the crazy Housewives on Bravo go at it!
    
    
24. My go-to beverage of choice is an ice cold beer. Although, I've never turned down a nice glass of red wine either.
25. I wasn't even sure I could come up with 25 things about me for this list. Cheers to that!

I'm baaaaaaack!

Wow. I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. I could come up with a million different reasons and excuses for my lack of updates, but let's be honest- it just hasn't been much of a priority lately. It's been a long, exhausting, crazy, stressful 6 months. But, I finally feel like the light is at the end of the tunnel and life is beginning to get back into some sort of routine for us. I promise to catch up on most of the big things I've neglected to share, such as our new house, but first I'll start my next full-post with something fun to re-introduce myself :) Enjoy!

Our 3rd Anniversary

Today, Andy and I celebrate 3 wonderful years of wedded bliss. I guess I can no longer even attempt to claim that we are still *newlyweds*, huh?! Just another old, married couple.... and we couldn't be happier about it :)

It is always so wonderful for us to spend our anniversary looking back and reminiscing on what we were doing 3 years ago on our picture-perfect wedding weekend. I still remember the mild summer sunshine we had for our gorgeous outdoor ceremony (amen, because with the heat we've had this summer- I'd be freaking out!). I remember the unconditional feelings of love and support we received from all our friends and family who joined our celebration. I specifically recall waking up on my wedding day and feeling like every little thing was right in the whole wide world. Our day was the most perfect we could have ever hoped or wished for and we are so lucky to be able to look back at all of our wonderful memories.

 For our 3rd anniversary, we are having a pretty low-key celebration.We have had a very, very busy summer and have a lot going on in the Saulitis household -er- households?! Instead of finding cute little gifts to meet the 3rd anniversary "leather" tradition, we bought each other a house! I promise I will post more information (and definitely pictures!) as we transition into our new home in the not-too-far future! Since we are in desperate save-all-the-money-mode these days, we plan to celebrate our anniversary by Andy going to work and Heather packing boxes at the condo. Romantic, huh?! This evening we will have a nice dinner at home while watching our wedding video together and looking through our wedding album. Sure, we'd love to go out and spend tons of money on a romantic night, but we are content with a nice evening in as we reflect on all the fabulousness of our wedding weekend 3 years ago and look forward to many more anniversaries together in our new home!