Life Lately- September

How is it already time to write my end of the month Life Lately post for September? Time is truly flying at a scarily increasing rate! I'm loving the hints of fall sneaking in...although I'm more than ready and still waiting for that daytime cooler weather here, that's for sure. We've had mornings/evenings of cool weather at least...so cool in fact, that Shane and I can't remember the last time we experienced a fall like this. When was the last time I could wear long sleeves in September?! (I’m sure I’ll be complaining how cold I am sooner rather than later, hah!)

Cozy up with a warm cup of coffee or warm drink, and make it through September with us!

September was a tough month for us as we were going through the uncertainty of our second miscarriage, but we were intentional about finding some moments of light throughout the month, for sure. This month started to pick up with some activity for us. At the beginning of the month, we did our quick trips over to Alexandria and Washington DC (which I did their own posts about!), at the end of the month we made the short drive to check out downtown Fredericksburg, and the rest of the month was full of some activities for mostly me and Shane together, as you'll see below. Moving to new states together provides lots and lots of Shane+Jen time.

We're currently sitting at #3 on the housing waitlist (as I write this on September 22), so we are moving right along. When this all started, we were #49 on the waitlist. Soooo, hopefully next month our Life Lately will be coming at you from our new house!

Anyways, one Saturday in September, Shane and I went to a restaurant and the movie theater for a little date night. We got a few selfies outside our home sweet home apartment before heading that way!

After dinner and before the movie, we had a little bit of extra time...so we ran into Marshalls to make a return and of course, we had to walk around and check everything out!

Oh gosh, these next pictures crack me up. My mom's best friend, Linda, lives 2 hours away from us now. She texted me when Shane and I were at brunch and said she would be 15 minutes away from us at her granddaughter's soccer game. Shane and I quickly finished up, and we headed to Harper's soccer game to see Linda, her daughter Chrissy, her son-in-law Andrew, her granddaughter Harper and her grandson Campbell. Chrissy and her family live 45 minutes away from where Shane and I are now.

My mom was working when I called her beforehand to tell her I was going to spontaneously see Linda, so I wasn't able to tell her. Therefore, Chrissy and I had the idea to send her a selfie of me and Shane with Linda naturally and nonchalantly far away in the background...to see if my mom would notice. Well, hilarious Linda doesn't do anything naturally and nonchalantly...so here are our results...hahaha!

When we told her to naturally look off to the side...hahaha. I can't look at this one without laughing, each and every time.

We finally got her to back up, but when we told her to blend in the background...she poses against the tree and throws up a peace sign. Makes me crack up so much still! That is so Linda in a nutshell. Needless to say, my mom immediately noticed that we were with Linda from this pic we sent to her.

It was so fun chatting with them as always as we cheered on Harper! I hadn't seen Chrissy and her family since Linda lived in Vernon Hills for a few years and since Chrissy and Andrew were visiting with Harper was a baby...Harper is in 6th grade now, so it was great to see them! I of course hear about them all the time though- via my mom. Here's Andrew and Chrissy intently watching. Linda was having me laughing on the sidelines the entire time, of course.

Another fun event for the month of September? Just 2 days after Shane and I went to Old Town Alexandria for my birthday, we went back there to get lunch and walk around with his family friend and his wife who live there. It was a fun way to spend actual Labor Day!

Since it was officially Labor Day and therefore the unofficial end to summer, we just had to stop for ice cream to celebrate. I thought this ice cream place sounded familiar and sure enough, it was the same chain that Shane and I got a few times in downtown Wilmington too. Not my very favorite but you can’t really go wrong with vanilla or strawberry! 

On the Saturday after our recent miscarriage, I wasn't in the best mood, so we decided to get out of the house and enjoy a first day of truly fall weather by walking the dogs around downtown Fredericksburg. We stopped at the dog park on base on the way, walked around a bit, got lunch outside there, and stopped at a g-free bakery on the way home before making dinner and curling up with a movie together (after 2 more dog walks, of course...sigh)

It's another old Virginia town with lots of Civil War and other history.

We made it to nearby Prince William Forest Park for our 2nd or 3rd time another Saturday morning. This time, we walked the dogs many, many miles there. I got my 10,000 steps (usually my goal for the day!) all in one fell swoop...and all by noon.

We ran some errands after and Caylor fell asleep sitting up, tongue out...so exhausted haha. I said they'd still be up and at 'em at 4PM ready to go again. Was I right or was I right?!

After all that swimming and hiking, it was bath time! I saw a guy giving his dog a bath at our apartment "car wash station" and since they do much, much better with outdoor baths...we found ourselves there, with very minimal howling from Cash, thankfully!

Shane has been spending a lot of time doing research and filling out the appropriate forms for his student loans from college. We've also been looking into the GI bill...stating that since we're military, either Shane could get his master's for free, I could go and get my doctorate for free (uh, no thanks), or our first kid will get to go to college for free. So glad that Shane takes on all of this confusing/stressful financial stuff. He had a few phone calls with my dad during this to chat it out with him! Don’t mind me just sitting on the couch with my book as he does this…

We mixed up our grocery store trips and went to Wegman's. We had been there years ago when I was visiting Shane and his family in Virginia, but oh. my. gosh....the amount of gluten free items they had. Here are some that I just couldn't resist. Mozzarella sticks! Donut holes! Croutons! Some things I've been craving and hadn't had in years and years. It's definitely getting easier and easier...especially with a mindblowing selection like theirs. I went g-free haywire.

My fav. September pics of Brecky?! Here they are...such a big boy.

Shane and I randomly went to iHop one weekend morning because #glutenfreepancakes...and here are the side eyes we got before leaving. Whenever I'm about to go somewhere, or even if they just think I'm about to go somewhere because I've touched my keys, a hat, sunglasses, or a fanny pack, they immediately assume this position...and throw me some guilty, depressed attitude as well. Our poor neglected dogs…insert eye roll here. 

It's not a month without my sweet Caylor girl!

Or my Cashy boy!

Thanks for following along with our month. Here's to an October full of all the things below! Yay for these comfy, cozy fall feelings. I'll be back here tomorrow with my September Book Roundup! It was a great month of reading with some good book recs coming your way!