August 14

Celebrating three delicious meals for today :)

I mean, I post a lot of pictures of meal times (which should say something about my opinion of delicious food) but when you seriously win eating choices all day, that deserves to be mentioned ;)

August 13

Oh what a fun evening with the Kiersteads at the Nationals Game on the hottest day of the year!

It was so cool to see the stadium packed full despite the 108+ degree real feel even after the sun went down and the full on Stars Wars Day participation from the crew!!

There were Jedi's fighting, Star Wars music, and even the giant presidents got into the spirit for the big race (dressed as some of the characters...for example, George Washington was dressed as Rey and fought the giant bobble head Kylo Ren...you get the picture)

Who knew sweating for a consistent 4 hours could be so much fun!?

August 12

Thankful for a Mom who indulges apartment shopping with me on any given day :)

We basically live at Target and don't expect this to change for quite a while!

August 11

I lived in Maryland for 12 years and have never seen Western Maryland like this before!

My gosh it's a really beautiful drive!

Thankful for my road trip buddy who has now completed 14 (I'm almost positive) road trips with me this summer (not counting the legs of the trip she had to take without me!)

August 10

Spotted:

SnapChatting and Snuggling

August 9

Photo shoots are always fun, if I do say so myself.

And, second shooting with my mom is also fun getting to exchange pictures and see who got the best angle or the best look and whatnot.

But I will say we had some pretty cute models this morning as we made our way around campus :)

Obviously I needed two pictures of the day, one for each girl

because they are super hard to catch together right now :)

August 8

I love love LOVE time with these little girls!!

How could we pass up one more road trip of the summer to see these cuties!?!

Seriously, what a fun dinner picnic with The Little Mermaid and taco soup :)

August 7

#InstagramMom

(Not that this picture made it to Instagram...that's beside the point)

Thanks for a fun walk around National Harbor with super strong iced coffee and always looking so natural in my pictures ;)

Love summer with my mom!

August 6

Tulsa Ballet staff takes the grand driving tour of DC!!

While we managed to hit the walking part of the tour (to get a mandatory picture in front of the White House) during the 7 minute flash rain storm, it was still a fun day trip showing off the highlights and taking relief from the rain and humidity in the Renwick Museum :)

August 5

Afternoon goals :)

Also, loving how nice it feels here for August!!

August 4

Today was so much longer than I originally expected it to be.

First off,

I am so thankful for my week with Bess. It was so nice to get to just be together and eat delicious food and watch movies and go on adventures! Thanks Bess for letting me stay with you for the past couple of days!! I miss you already!

*Anecdote for the day*

Not the smoothest day of flight travel that I've ever had.

My carry-on got hand searched because the coins in my wallet put up a red flag on the monitor.

I decided to wear cute new shoes that my feet didn't really agree with for traveling. (ouch!)

My second flight of the day out of Charlotte was delayed because they didn't know when it would get in from the hanger. (Then thoroughly checked and prepped before we could board almost an hour later)

15 minutes into the 56 minute flight the captain said there was a crack in the windshield and we were going back to Charlotte.

Every little bump feels like something terrible is about to happen.

I hear the flight attendant say the words "Emergency Landing" from her seat that she's strapped into*.

As we land we are greeted with a swarm of emergency vehicles on the runway with lights and sirens running as they chase after us.

We are told to get off the plane and wait in the gate area for further information.

People take pictures of the crack, it's spider-webby and shattered looking.

A new plane with new pilots is located for us and we only have to shift over two gates where we wait for further instruction.

This new plane just landed from the Bahamas so it has to be thoroughly checked and inspected before it can travel again. The new crew also has to get paperwork approved and other flights in the area need to be adjusted.

We re-board a little under two hours after our Emergency Landing and eventually take off about half an hour after pulling out of the gate later. (After having to pull off of the runway and wait for more numbers to be sent in from the tower, we're finally cleared for take off again and can get back in line on the runway)

Around 50 or so minutes into the trip we begin our initial decent.

As we dip back under the clouds entering the Washington, D.C. area I am in awe of this crazy city from above. It's so vast and historic and perfectly grid-like. The neighborhoods melting into the high-rise complexes. Georgetown, the Potomac, and the city look incredible.

The sun was setting with sun burst shooting through the clouds. It was truly amazing.

It feels as if out of nowhere, I look out and see this:

It was captivatingly beautiful and so eye-opening to see it all from the sky.

Everything looks so small and it's so easy to forget how small we actually are in the grand plan of the world.

But you know what was the coolest part of all of it?

I was completely calm. I mean, I guess I was going through the motions in my head, but I didn't let any of it get to me (until later that night when I was safe and back home).

It was totally a God thing.

*I assume she was strapped in because of the circumstances, I couldn't actually see her all the way, but it was pretty intense and she was incredibly serious.

August 3

WOAH

Our sister adventure today started early with a walk along the trail to the overlook this morning. We didn't melt, we got exercise in, AND we got to admire this gorgeousness.

Thank you Bess for sharing this spot with me :)

August 2

So much fun getting to see these two ballerinas outside of the Ballet Mag performance stress time!

I loved getting to be a part of their hang-out time making brownies and sitting on comfortable furniture :)

August 1

I love this adventurous spirit!

Thank you for changing plans and driving to the adventure spot so we didn't melt into a puddle because of crazy Mississippi heat. And thanks for having so much joy!

Seriously, an afternoon spent in the "half-forrest" at the Rez with Bess in enos is the way to do it here in Ridgeland!!