fall break

fall break has never been needed more than it was this year. with all of Layton's studying and my working... it was time for a BREAK. we went to virginia beach with three other couples and had such a blast. the weather turned out to be beautiful! we swam in the ocean, flew a kite, went hot tubbing, crab catching, layed out for hours on the sand, and just relaxed! at night we ate delicious food, played games, watched movies, and laughed our heads off. it was such a fun crew and my only complaint is that we didn't stay longer! i feel so grateful for all the amazing friends we have made in charlottesville already!

mama's in town

my wonderful mama came to visit this past week, which was the best thing in the world! it was so much fun to show her around my new home and life. it was a weird feeling picking her up at the airport, driving her back to my place, where i had bought her groceries... it was like the roles had switched for a second! we laughed about this, and also about how after being together for 2 seconds, it instantly was back to normal and like we had never left each other's side. we had so much fun exploring Charlottesville together.  She came into Anthropologie to visit me working, which was so fun

 ... and then we shopped till we dropped!

we went apple picking at carter mountain orchard to get in the fall spirit. we laughed as we used "apple pickers"to get the high ones, failing majority of the time, but by the end we had an impressive bag of delicious fresh apples.

Afterward we sat looking at the incredible view of Charlottesville and beyond. with apple cider donuts in hand, we were happy campers!  

We went on an amazing hike one day up to humpback rocks, which looks down into the Shenandoah valley for an amazing view. We sat up there forever with our arms around each other. above the world, next to my mama, and felt so happy.

We watched movies, went on runs, explored campus, you name it! She washed our whole apartment, fixed our vacuum, put warm light bulbs in for the florescent (which literally saved my life) added her motherly touch to things, and was wonder woman as she always is! my favorite part of having her here was to just be able to talk face to face again, and really have our deep conversations we love so much. we were laughing because we always give the same advice to each other back and forth, and its always what we need to hear. there is a lot going on in life, living away is hard sometimes! and for my mom to come and visit and tell me that I'm doing a good job, that my apartment is cute, and that she thinks my life is great... means the world to me. the week went by way too fast and goodbyes never get easier! but i am so grateful she was able to come and that i got to hang out with my mama for a week. i think we both needed it:)