Spontaneous Mini-Vacation!!!

This is our last weekend here in Virginia that we will be "without puppies". They have been staying with Dustin and the Bro's for most of the summer. I miss them so much! At the same time it's been VERY freeing. We can do whatever we want, for however long we want. It's been hard because we don't have anyone to watch the puppies or check on them here in Virginia. So no day trips for us unless we take them along.

So Travis had Friday off. We were trying to think of what we could do for fun and Travis mentioned that he still had some points for a free hotel...so why not go to Ocean City, MD and ride our bikes up the coast? YEA!! Why NOT? So we booked the hotel, packed and took off! It was great!

Friday evening we just took a bus over to Ocean City to walk around the boardwalk. It was a little rainy, but not bad. I hit all the spots on Penny Collector and got quite a few! Sadly, there was one I didn't get at Ripley's Believe it or not. The lady even let me go in without paying to get the penny, but sadly it was out of order. I guess she didn't realize.

Also, I got to meet a SMURF!
I think it was a fake... especially since he was taller than me. :p

Saturday we rode our bikes all the way up to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was about a 29 mile trip.
Never did I think I would even GO to Delaware, let alone ride my bike there. LOL! 

 

Can I please brag about my husband a minute? He is seriously the best. My best friend. What guy would offer to spontaneously go on a little vacation? He totally catered to my penny smashing fantasies and constantly put up with my weirdness the whole time. He's sooooo amazing. I love that we can ride our bikes all over the place together and just hang out. It's total bliss. What a blessing he is to me! 

 

We got to eat at a nice place out on the deck. The wind actually made it cold. 

 

Travis cutting a coupon out of the little welcome booklet with a pocket knife. That's my kind of man!

 

Penny pressing!!! 

 

Nine new pennies this weekend! Woohoo!

I plan on getting one on the way home to PA this week in Breezewood,

and then a couple on our bike trip. 

Did I mention we were going on a sweet bike trip next week? Starting one week from today, Travis and I are riding from Point State Park in Pittsburgh all the way to Washington DC and straight to our home in Alexandria, VA. It's a 5 day trip doing around 60-70 something miles a day!

SO EXCITED! 

"more overflow..." my other blog.

Once again I have resurrected the "other" blog. It's strictly for sketches and drawings. Practice and fun type stuff! If I don't make a conscious effort to practice and sketch for fun, I simply won't do it. For the most part anyway. I just get so busy with daily duties, I end up only sketching on "special occasions". Not cool. So anyway, I've been at it again. Follow me on my other blog "more overflow".

I recommend using bloglovin!

Smashed Pennies!!

I've always loved smashed pennies. I've gotten a few through the years here and there. Just in the last few months I realized that you can get a little collector book and everything! It's on, let the hardcore collecting commence! After a little research, I realized there is a Smashed Penny website and an app for your phone!! Dustin and a few friends came to visit last weekend, so you know we had to tour around DC. Woohoo! I went nuts!


These are just a few that I got. I saved only the newest, shiniest pennies for smashing! My collection grew by 10 pennies on Monday! Woohoo!


These two were interesting to me. They are super old and retro looking. On the website, it says that there are plans to redo the Old Post Office in 2014 and they are not sure if the penny machine will still be there or not. Good thing I got to stop by!


This is my entire collection so far. Not that big. Sigh! I've been to SO many places through the years. If only I would of known! Oh well. I'm sure I'll get plenty of opportunities for more. :D


This is a screen shot of Washington DC from the PennyFinder app. When you collect a penny and mark it off, the pin turns green. So you can see how many you have, and how many you still need to get. Ugh! A lot of these museums are places you have to pay to get into, so I'm not sure if I'll get to them or not.

Tour De Frederick

Travis and I spent the weekend in Maryland having our first group cycling experience with "Tour De Frederick" It was a fun experience for sure!!

Friday afternoon was a "leisurely 20 mile ride". Ok so 20 miles in itself is no big deal to me, but it was not leisurely whatsoever! Travis and I of course were the only people there without road bikes, which was pretty funny. I expected it, but still. It was all I could do to keep up with at least someone else in the ride. HAHAHA! It didn't work out too well. 

Saturday was the 62 mile metric century ride. The most I had ever done was 45 miles until then. It was great!!! Travis and I ended up breaking off from other people and just riding with the turn by turn directions ourselves. I liked that a whole lot more. I felt so much anxiety trying to keep up with people. I just wanted to enjoy myself!! Anyway, I did it and it felt great! My quads in the end did not feel great. LOL! There were a LOT of hills which I was not used to. Travis and I usually ride the trails which are relatively flat. So now I know that I will definitely be able to do the Pittsburgh to DC trip in a few weeks. Woohooo!! 

All in all it was a super fun time. I especially loved the "all inclusive-ness" of it all.

Loads of free snacks, pop, beer, dinner...margaritas. Yus.

Introducing: Axis of Evil

I'm excited to present to you my newest painting:

"Axis of Evil"

12"x12"

acrylic on canvas

Print available HERE.

Original sketch here:

"Morning Problems" Original Now Available in my Etsy Shop!

Painting available HERE.

Rainbow mug available HERE.

Currently

Reading: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. This book is fantastic!
I'm realizing I'm NORMAL...for an introvert. ;D

Eating: Same as usual. Eating clean and healthy during the week...then ruined on the weekend. Sigh!

Thinking about: My creative blaaaaa that's been happening. I go to sketch and nothing comes out. What is going on?!?! I need something. Some sort of change. A new medium. Something to light the spark.

Enjoying: Records. New Converse Shoes. Iced coffee.

Watching: Hopefully I'll figure out a way to watch Breaking Bad here in a few days. I don't have cable and I don't have any friends around here that do either! AH!

Loving:  Biking with my love. Travis and I ride the trails together so much. Preparing for our Pittsburgh to DC trip in September and loving it!