Cunningham Falls

I begged Corey to take me to the majestic Cunningham Falls today. It's just up the road from us and Corey has a special relationship with the falls. He and his friend, Alan, dumped a few bottles of dish soap in the mighty river for a senior prank. I always imagined a large waterfall with so many bubbles flowing freely down to the wading pool below only to build up feet and feet of bubbles. After the 4/5 mile cliff hike the elusive falls appeared...

Not exactly what I was expecting. It is fall and we've had little rain so I'm sure it gets bigger but I guess I was expecting an Oregon kind of waterfall. I loved the hike though. Also, Corey's greatest fear slithered across his feet at the start of the hike so we made it in record time. I like to tell him that he's like Indiana Jones. Brave but afraid of snakes. That made me want to watch The Last Crusade tonight but Netflix decided to be a butthead and not make it a play on demand movie.

I got back Tuesday night from visiting my family in Colorado. On Wednesday I got the ultra-rare opportunity of observing an autopsy at work! It was awesome. Sick, I know, but I loved each and every second of it.

 I also finished 1776 on cd so I was feeling very scholarly. Tomorrow I'm leaving for some pre-deployment training in Texas for 2 weeks. I'm not deploying but I volunteered for the extra TDY money ;)

3 Reasons to go to Colorado

Passport to Merriment

We went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival over Labor Day Weekend. Sorry to disappoint everyone but we did not dress up. I couldn't find my wench dress so we just went casual. I've heard a lot of good things about Ren Fairs and I was pretty excited. Mainly for the turkey leg and other amazing fair foods. I did tear up a turkey leg. That was the real passport to merriment. Corey's mom came with us and we met up with Jason, Christina and Liam. 

I noticed a few things I found odd and slightly frightening. A knife and metal star throwing booth?

 No, it'll be fun! 

WTF?! Seriously. 

Less frightening but still weird. 

I love people watching and if you share these feelings I highly recommend a Ren Fair. Not to mention all the great food, lots of stores (mostly containing Medieval accessories so you'll likely not spend a lot of money), they had some really good Celtic bands, belly dancers, jousting, knights in shining armor, lots of medieval cleavage and the list goes on. I'm not going to lie. If peer pressured just a little, I'd totally dress up. 

The Nationals

Sarah, Devin and Eva came up last weekend for a Nationals game. That same day Glenn Beck was having his rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and we figured we should check it out. Eva turned 2 the day before and somehow she knew it was time to turn up the sass in her life. She demanded that she get to walk in her plastic high heels almost a mile and a half to the Lincoln. I'm serious, she wasn't having it any other way. I have to admit that she was rockin' those heels and she probably walks better in stilettos than I do.

We arrived at the back of the rally and couldn't hear anything so we stuck around for 10 minutes then walked back to the US Marines Memorial. Sarah wanted to check out this Thai restaurant near Dulles because the cook beat Bobby Flay so we got some Pad Thai. It was really good but a little spicy. I can't handle spice at all so I couldn't really taste flavor, mainly just the snot that was falling out of my nose. I'm a wimp.

The Nationals killed the Cardinals so it was a pretty exciting game. Eva did amazing at the game but started to have a break down around the 6th inning so we stayed for the 7th inning stretch and busted outta there. It was totally bobble head night at the game so I have a new present for my nephews when I go to see them in a few weeks :)

7 Mile

I was born with the opposite of a runner's body. I have thick legs that don't move fast. A large booty that lovingly pulls all running shorts directly up my butt and into my crotch leaving my thighs exposed to rub and chafe. This forces me to wear spandex under any and all shorts. I have to pay more than you should for a sports bra to keep the girls in place. The list goes on. I suck at running. 

Nonetheless I have always tried to improve since it does burn a lot of calories, my job depends on it and one day I'm hoping the running will rub away the excess thigh fat. Lately I've been running 5 miles, 2-3 times a week and was kind of proud of myself. I decided to up it to 7 one day so I mapped out my new route and went for it. 

I was doing ok until mile 5 1/2 or 6. I started to get bubble gut and either had to stop running or let a little something out to relieve the pain. I weighed out my options but thought I could handle passing a little gas without stopping because I really wanted to say that I ran 7 miles without stopping. I remember in Anatomy class learning about nerves you have in your anus that allow your brain to distinguish between a fart and a crap. If you've ever lived in South America you know that those nerve endings aren't your most reliable. Well, I went for the fart but immediately regretted my decision because I was 95% sure I just crapped my pants.

I understand crapping your pants when running a marathon but this was 5 1/2 or 6 miles. I just kept running because I really had no other options and I wasn't totally sure what just happened. I ended up stopping at 6 1/2 miles because the route I chose was ridiculous. It was all uphill at the end and I am pretty sure I could have walked faster than I was running up that hill. I made it to the gym and am happy to announce that it was just a fart. 

This week I will attempt the 7 mile run again but am going to reverse my route so the hills are at the beginning. I'm also considering some kind of running diaper. I'm sure they have 'em. 

This picture was taken at the beginning of my first race ever. See how I am smiling. It was before before I actually had to run and before I came close to sharting.