Lichfield Cathedral

Our first adventure in the Midlands found us at Lichfield Cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.  Tony and Amelie showed us around the area along with another cousin, Nigel, and his daughter, Bailey. 

We toured the cathedral upon arrival to this neat area.  The cathedral was massive so we barely skimmed the surface as we looked around.  The exterior was very impressive with so many intricate details in the design. 

The interior was stunning as well.  There were lots of side rooms with displays and various activities.  I was impressed with a few of the very interactive stations set up in a few rooms.  This was definitely a place you could spend a couple hours just checking everything out.

The Lichfield Cathedral is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires.  It also houses the St. Chad gospels and the Lichfield Angel.

After spending some time in the Cathedral, our group headed over to the nearby shopping area.  We browsed around in stores and checked out the farmer's market before settling on an ice cream snack.

Our treats were the perfect way to end such a fun day of exploring in Lichfield!

Have you visited cathedrals in Europe?  What do you find most interesting?

Andrea :)

Love, Football, and possibly too much Sun

Chris and I have been to multiple weddings since we started dating roughly three and a half years ago.  We've been to at least one every year, but typically we attend 3-4 over the course of a year.  The wedding we attended this past weekend wasn't like all the others though.  It was our first family wedding.  Chris' cousin was the groom.  It was totally different to be attending a wedding AND meeting lots of Chris' family as well!

The wedding was a lot of fun.  It was held at a resort in Howey-in-the-hills, Florida, where the evening ceremony took place just before sunset.  The flower girl was adorable especially when she ran out of flowers halfway down the path.  Too cute! 

During the cocktail hour, family photos were taken.  Chris has a very large family as his parents are both 1 of 8 children.  There were so many family members at the wedding that I couldn't even see everyone's face when I took a picture of the group!  I had met a handful of the family members previously so it was fun to see them again...especially the trio of British folks that I met most recently.  We had a good time chatting and dancing the night away.

Bride and Groom with his parents and three brothers.

I liked so many things about this wedding.  The buffet style meal was delicious.  The cake was very tasty.  The favors were great - the candle smells unbelievable!  And the sparkler send off for the newlyweds was super neat.

The next day, Chris and I were up early to head over to Tampa for some football.  I managed to squeeze in a quick three mile run before breakfast at the hotel.  Then, we were on our way!  I collect NFL stadiums so we planned to make the trip dual purpose and watch a game as well.  I'll do a full recap of our stadium experience on Sunday (check out #1 on my bucket list for previous Sunday stadium reviews), but the most unforgettable part of the afternoon was the SUN.  It was blazing hot...and I got scorched.  Boo for that!

It was a quick two day trip to Florida for us, but we were glad to be there for all the fun!

Andrea :)

JFK to LHR for two, please!

Chris and I talked about going to England together for a couple of years.  We were both excited!  He'd been many times before to visit family there.  I lived there for a few months when I was completing my master's degree.  It was going to be fun visiting there together.  We sort of planned the trip, but mostly had a plan to play things by ear.  Our main goal was to relax.  Our main event was a weekend trip to Bulgaria for my college roommate's wedding.  Otherwise, the plan was to visit with his family, take a few steps back from the stress of everyday life, and - most importantly - spend some quality time together!

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Our journey began when we met at JFK after one last pre-vacation day of rushing around and tackling all those last minute items that pop up.  Our gate happened to be right beside Shake Shack - score! 

Our flight wasn't too bad.  We went overnight so we both slept off and on before arriving at Heathrow.  I was able to watch Admission on the plane.  I was a little disappointed by it though.

Upon landing, we headed off to the tube.  About an hour (and one nap for me) later, we arrived at Euston Station where we waited for our train to the Midlands....Litchfield Trent Valley stop to be exact.

We spent the first half of our trip in Burton upon Trent with a truly lovely family - the Seniors!  Tony and Chris are cousins.  Tony and Louisa have two adorable little girls - Amelie and Cecily - along with a very big puppy, Hugo.  We had SUCH a fun time with them!

The first night we got ourselves aquainted and settled.  We also had some tasty kebobs.  Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of those massive treats.  We slept in a bit the next day as we were still adjusting to the time difference.  Once we were up, we headed off for a run at a nearby park.  It was pretty there especially when all of the swans were out on the water.  Chris entertained himself with sudoku games from the newspaper while I did my training runs for the marathon.  Surprisingly, I was able to get in quite a few runs while we were there.

While visiting the Midlands area, we split our time about equally between family and visiting local and nearby attractions.  I'll cover our time spent at Lichfield Cathedral, a League Cup soccer match, the Chatsworth House and Gardens, and Bass Brewery in separate posts since they were all very worthy ventures.  For now, let's focus on the fun with family!

Tony and Louisa hosted a portion of Tony's family for dinner one night.  Chris was able to introduce me to his Aunt Millie and two more cousins - Deleita and Rose.  We had a delicious meal followed by a few hours of laughter, story-telling, and looking at photos.  A fun night for everyone!

The next night, relatives from the paternal side of Chris' family were hosting a Bank Holiday get together.  Chris introduced me to several more cousins - Edney & Eileen, Denton & Millie, Corinne, and Jennifer & Bob - along with his Aunt Gwen and Uncle Eric.  There were also lots of little ones running around playing games and jumping on the trampoline!  We had another tasty meal followed by games - multiple rounds of a movies only version of hangman - and roasting of marshmellows over a fire pit.  We had a great time!

I'll cover the rest of our adventures in the Midlands soon.  Then, it will be on to Bulgaria!  Stay tuned!

Andrea :)

Friday Letters

 

Dear Marathon -
I have less than a month to feel prepared for you now.  I am close, but not quite there.  I'll be ready though.  Don't you worry!

Dear 20-mile run -
Please take it as easy as possible on me.  Your 18-mile counterpart wasn't super kind so I'm hoping you show me a little more hospitality.

Dear Weather -
You can be warm for a little bit longer.  Just not on the morning of my 20-mile run.  I only need a few hours of moderate coolness so I don't become overwhelmed by the heat like last weekend.  Oh, and don't even think about any precipitation, please!

Dear Boyfriend -
I know today will be a good day for you!  I look forward to seeing you tonight!

Dear Bengals -
Please win.  As of last night, the Browns lead the division.  This is unacceptable.  I'm really counting on Andy Dalton you to come through this weekend!

Dear Niece and Nephew -
I can't wait to see you both at the end of the month.  Don't grow up too much between now and then!  Oh, and please beg your daddy to stop dressing you in that dreadful Browns gear!  We'll work on learning how to say "Who Dey, Daddy!" when I come to visit!

Dear European Adventure Recaps -
I promise I'll start posting you this coming week.  If only running all these crazy miles for the marathon wasn't taking over my life then I would've had you finished weeks ago!  Sorry about that!

Dear Readers -
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea :)

Love Makes A Family

Family.

What does that word mean to you?  It means the world to me.

To be honest, I'm not sure where I would be without mine.  My parents have been wonderful examples of success, love, and fun for me over the years.  My brothers are two of my very best friends even if they've both done their share of driving me crazy.

But today, I want to tell you about another family.  This family has been a part of my "extended" family for as long as I remember.  Christella and I practically grew up together.  Her mom babysat Jordan and I back in the days before McKinley arrived on the scene.  Christella and I played dolls when we were younger, celebrated Christmas' with game nights when we were a little older, and I served as a bridesmaid for her when she married the love of her life, Jon.

Today, as you can see, Christella and Jon have three children.  And they are in the process of expanding their family through a special needs adoption.  Currently, they have a fundraiser going on that I would ask you to prayerfully consider.  It is super simple AND you could possibly win some prizes, too!  It's a win for everyone!!

They have numbered envelopes from 1 to 150.  All you have to do is request an envelope that matches the amount of money you would like to donate.  It's that simple!  Let's say you want to donate $37, then chose envelope #37 and you're on the way to making an AMAZING difference in the process of helping them bring home their child.

Now, about those prizes! Just for taking part in the fundraiser, you will recieve one entry into a drawing for either $300 or an iPad mini*.  WOW!!  For every $20 you donate, you will recieve an additional entry. And if you share about the fundraiser via a post from their facebook page (check it out HERE), you will recieve an additional entry. So for that $37 donation, you could recieve a total of three entries into the drawing!

I hope that each of you will really consider helping this wonderful couple through their process of adoption. They are truly amazing people that are working to make a difference for children that currently don't have the same sense of family that I grew up knowing. They started their adoption process needing to save and raise $28,600 of the over $41,000 in expenses. They have already raised over $10,000 by the provision of God, and if all 150 envelopes are claimed, they will have collected nearly the balance of what is needed at this time. This family is a true inspiration. Please check out their blog - Love Makes A Family - or contact me directly if you are interested in donating to this great cause!

Andrea :)

*At least 100 envelopes must be claimed in order for drawing to occur. Envelopes can be claimed until December 20, 2013. Additional prizes (gift cards, t-shirts, autographed items) will serve as secondary prizes for the drawing.

Wedding Fun + One Windy Run

Like many weekends over the past three years, I made my way to Albany via Greyhound last Friday evening.  Chris met me at the bus station and we decided to grab dinner at Red Lobster since I had a gift card that we've been meaning to use for ages now.  Dinner was good, but didn't even come close to comparing to the yummy cheddar biscuits or the pineapple upside down cake I had for dessert!  SOOO good!

On Saturday, we were up early to run some errands before we headed to Oswego for Shannon and Mark's wedding.  We arrived just in time to change and catch the shuttle over to the venue. 

Shannon looked fabulous in her dress, and both Mark and Shannon were SO happy.  It was a lot of fun to be there for the big day!  Chris and I had a great time dancing at the reception, too!



 

Chris and I have attended numerous wedding over the past 3+ years, but none have been quite like this one. This is the first wedding we have attended where we were both friends with the bride and groom.  It made the wedding THAT much more fun!  Mark and Chris worked together for a number of years along with the other two fellas in the photo below.  They also watch a LOT of soccer together.  As a result, over the past couple of years, Shannon and I have become friends.  One of our favorite things to do together is find ways to occupy ourselves while the guys watch soccer!  We've gotten pedicures, shopped at Target, and most recently even went looking at engagement rings for me!  We always have a fun time together!

All the fabulous ladies from Shannon's bachelorette party at the wedding!

The next morning, Chris dropped me off at the park to run a few miles.  I anticipated running 10 miles, but as soon as I stepped out of the car I wasn't so sure I'd get that far.  The wind was unbelieveable especially right on the water.  The first couple of miles were almost unbearable.  I thought about just calling Chris to come get me then, but I toughed it out.  I started to warm up a little bit after the next couple miles and managed to churn out seven before it was time to head back to the hotel so we could make our way down to Albany.

On the way back to Albany, we listened to the Bengals game which was equal parts fun and annoying depending on the quarter.  Luckily, I fell asleep for most of the second and third quarters when they were playing so terribly.  We made it back to Albany just in time for me to see the last few minutes of their awesome win!  Then we watched the very poorly played Jets-Bills game before I boarded the bus for New York City.  What a weekend!!

Andrea :)

Finger Lakes Fun

When Shannon first mentioned she wanted to have her bachelorette party at the Finger Lakes, I knew it would be a blast!  I'd never been to a bachelorette party before, but I was excited from the start.  It definitely did not disappoint.

The bachelorette party weekend kicked off just a couple of days after we returned from our European adventure - recaps coming soon...I promise.  A group of us were planning to meet up at Shannon's apartment around noon to begin the roughly three hour journey to our fun little house on the lake for the weekend.  We managed to somehow fit everything for four girls into the trunk and were on our way.  A couple of pit stops later, we arrived at our destination.

 

That Friday night, we all got settled into our rooms and then headed out to The Crow's Nest for dinner.  What a great little spot.  Perfect for a low key night!  Throughout dinner, we all got to know one another a little better and had a lot of laughs.  Plus the fried pickles were DELICIOUS! 

We spent a few hours back at the house just chatting and watching tv before we all turned in for the night.  We had a fun day of wine tasting ahead of us!

 

The next day, we headed out to some wineries on Cayuga Lake.  Our first stop was Swedish Hill.  We loved this place!  They gave us a tour of the winery before we did the tasting.  They weren't in production since it was the weekend, but we were able to see all of the equipment and learn lots about the process.

Then it was time to taste the finished product!  Yum!!  I think we all found something we liked at this spot.  I really liked the Svenska Blush - so tasty!

We were ready for lunch next so we headed down to Knapp Winery and Vineyard Restaurant. 

Lunch was delicious, but we weren't as impressed with the wines at this spot.  The decor and atmosphere was much better though.  The ice wine at Knapp was fantastic!  Definitely my favorite!

We stopped in a couple of other wineries on the way back to our house, but I didn't try any of the wines there.  One that we stopped at had a phenomenal view on the back porch.  We definitely took lots of pictures there!

The rest of the afternoon everyone just relaxed and rested.  I managed to get in my five mile run.  It was actually pretty nice.  I was literally surrounded by nature.  So much so that two deer ran right out in front of me on the trail at one point.  Kinda scary, but thankfully it was toward the end of the run and I made it back safely.

That night we capped off the weekend with an awesome dinner at a CASTLE!!  So fun!!  We had a great night talking and eating delicious food.  Our only regret is that it was too dark outside by the time we arrived for us to get a good view of the exterior of the castle.  Maybe next time!

Overall, my first bachelorette party was a wonderful experience!  It was relaxing and fun.  Exactly what the bride had in mind!  I'm off to Oswego with Chris this weekend to celebrate the nuptials of the happy couple!  It is sure to be a great time!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea :)