Last Few Weeks of Summer

I've been soaking up what little free time I've had with Brett for the last few weeks and we've been up to some fun things! Last Saturday (July 26th) we woke up early and headed over to Foxboro to watch Patriots practice! I've never seen any NFL event in person, so it was really cool to see the guys we watch every Sunday up-close and personal. Aside from the other spectators being obnoxious (a story for another time), we had a blast!

The sun got pretty intense, so we stopped into Bass Pro Shop to wander around and cool off for a little bit. There's a shooting game in there so we had to try it out. We even made it a little interesting by placing a wager on it - whoever got the least amount of had to do pushups in the middle of the store. Check out the vlog from that day to find out who won! (You can probably tell from the thumbnail... but you should watch anyways! ;) )


Last week I took a Creativity in Counseling course as a summer elective. It was a week-long intensive, meaning I went to class for 7 hours a day for 5 days, and then it was all done! (I have the rest of this week to finish the course work, but the class is all done meeting.) I have to say it's one of my favorite classes I've taken... ever.



I went into the class with no real expectations of what it was going to be like, and came out of if with such a better understanding of myself and how to connect with the people around me. If you have the chance to engage in art therapy in any way, I highly recommend it. It has the potential to make you see things in a multitude of different perspectives.

Saturday, Brett and I went out to lunch with his friend Kyle at Szechuan Garden (#chinesebuffetlife) followed by some delicious Black Cow ice cream (which I successfully spilled all over myself when I crunched the end of the cone... typical) and a marathon Mad Men sesh (We're so close to being all caught up with the series! This is one of the only shows we'll sit down and watch together without one of us skipping ahead). It was a solid way to spend a rainy Saturday!

Brett accompanied me and acted as support crew at my race(s) on Sunday (which I will post about later in the week) which was LIFE SAVING because I was basically falling apart as I crossed the finish line at the end of the day. It was good to spend the morning with him because he had to move back to his place closer to his work in the afternoon. We won't see each other until next week at some point which is sad :( but we had a wonderful summer together with lots and lots of memories! <3

Work life will be seriously ramping up soon with trainings, retreats, and beginning of the year prep. I'm going to try to sneak in a beach day or two before retreating inside for the season, and eat as many ice cream cones as I can before the homemade ice cream stands close for the winter. I wish summer would never end, but I guess we have to have the winter (UGH) to appreciate the summer, right?

How have you been spending/how will you be spending your last few weeks of Summer?

Don Draper, Quadcopters, and Bonfires

Wow, it's Wednesday again already? This past week flew by!

I'm writing to you live from my temporary apartment at BSU! Because we work a lot of late nights during Orientation, they're putting me and my coworker Kelly up in a student apartment for the duration of the program so we don't have to worry about driving back and forth on little sleep. The rooms are pretty tiny (though to be fair, my room at Dean is HUGE so I'm a bit spoiled), but we're the only ones in our apartment that houses 6 people which is awesome!

Anywho, this past weekend was spent with Brett and my parents up in NH - a much needed escape. The weather was pretty gross the first few days, so we spent the majority of it vegging on the couch and watching Mad Men, as we often do when we're at my parent's house. (We watched the entirety of season 6 and are now all the way caught up to the current season. Now we have time to catch up to the mid-season break and be ready for when the show returns!) We also went out shopping with my mom on Saturday, and since I had some birthday money to spend I decided to splurge. I'll have a whole haul post and video ready for you guys in a few days! :)

When we weren't being so lazy, Brett and I spent some quality time outdoors. I got my dad a quadcopter for his birthday, so we decided to take it out practice our piloting skillz.

We were pretty crap at the beginning (I may or may not have roofed it...) but with some practice we got pretty good at it. Afterwards, I showed Brett the Phantom and how awesome it is and now it's on our mile-long wish list. One day, when we're rich, we'll get one. ;)

Sunday it started to brighten and warm up, so we took the pups out for a walk to the pond so we could throw sticks for Kiwi (her favorite pastime).

Because it rained the majority of the weekend, I was a little nervous that we wouldn't be able to have a MDW bonfire. Luckily, my parents are in the process of completely gutting out our kitchen so we had a surplus of dry wood to burn, and I got my obligatory first s'more of the season! :) (And my obligatory second s'more of the season. :X)

Before headed back to MA, Brett and I made the pilgrimage to La Festa - the world's greatest pizza place. ;) I had my usual cheese slices and cinnamon knots while Brett got a little experimental and tried out 2 new slices in addition to his usual pesto slice. He's much more adventurous than I am when it comes to pizza! 

I also brought him up to another place that my friends and I frequented in high school - Cafe on the Corner. I had told him about Cookie Monster Smoothies, but he had never tried one before and we always stuff ourselves too much at La Festa before we get the chance to grab one, and though that was still the case this time around, I insisted that we at least get one to share. Brett, who was stuffed to the brim with pizza and knots, reluctantly agreed, and we made the trek up the hill to "Cafe".

The smoothie was better than I remembered it, and even though Brett was super full he couldn't resist sharing pretty much half of it with me! Imagine a Oreo chocolate cream pie, but in drinkable form. That's a Cookie Monster Smoothie. They're amazing.

After rolling back down the hill with our food babies, we headed back to MA and chatted all the way home. The weekend was definitely something that I needed - delicious food, quality time with Brett & the fam, and some good ol' NH fresh air. It's nice to know that I have a place to escape to every so often! Please never move, Mom & Dad! ;) 

I hope you all had a fabulous start to your summer like I did!