Labor Day weekend

Phew.  I finally got to sleep in this morning, and it was glorious!  The last few weeks have been hectic, and every morning this week I would wake up and think, "I can't wait until Saturday morning when I don't have to get out of bed until I want to..."  I took this ambition seriously, and even though I woke up a little after 8am, I went back to sleep until 10:30.  It was glorious.

This relaxing weekend is a stark contrast from my weekend in New Orleans two weeks ago, and the whirlwind road trip Cori and I took last weekend.  Every Labor Day weekend, some of Cori's closest friends from Virginia Tech gather at a lake house in Tennessee, owned by one of his friend's parents.  We went two years ago and had the BEST time.  This was pre-marriage, pre-engagement, and this weekend was my first real introduction to his Tech friends.  It was so fun getting to know them and to see the ways they delighted in Cori.  Thankfully, I passed their inspection and was allowed to continue to date Cori. ;)  It was also a particularly fun getaway for me and Cori; we'd recently moved from talking about if we got married and started talking more confidently about it being a matter of when.

Unfortunately, due to the craziness of last summer- getting married, moving, starting new jobs- we missed out on this fun time.  This year, we were determined to make it happen. I wasn't able to get off work early on Friday, so we didn't leave Tampa until 7pm that night.  After a looong drive (and by long, I mean 7 hours, and Cori drove the whole way and I napped for a good chunk of it- oops!) we arrived in Atlanta.  Two of Cori's best friends, Seth and Tram, recently moved there.  It was great to spend the night with them and get some quality time the next morning.  Seth was one of Cori's groomsmen, and I'd forgotten how ridiculous Cori gets when he's with his college buddies.  This picture shows a glimpse...

Seth was the first one to put on this shirt, but when Cori realized he'd packed it, he excitedly put in on- and similar shorts- so he could match with Seth.  Let me tell you, it was REAL fun to go out to lunch with the Bobbsey twins. ;)

Dorchas (another VT friend who was visiting Seth and Tram that weekend), Tram, Seth, Cori, and me

We left Atlanta around 1pm, and made it to Tennessee by 6 that evening.  Unfortunately, we somehow managed to take absolutely NO pictures during this time, so you'll just have to imagine with me.  The rest of our group was already there- Paul & Cynthia, Cynthia's sister Julia, Gonzo & Sarah, Pete, and Jesse.  We drove into Nashville that night for dinner.  I really enjoyed walking around after dinner; Nashville reminds me of New Orleans in some ways- just a lot of culture and uniqueness there.

Sunday morning the boys headed out to play frisbee golf (which is pretty much Cori's favorite activity in the world) while the ladies lounged around the lake house.  It was so wonderful to spend the day relaxing amongst friends- I chatted with the girls, went for a run, read a good book (Divergent- it's a sci-fi young adult book, akin to the Hunger Games books- an engaging read, but not as good as the Hunger Games, in my opinion), and after the rain cleared up, played in the lake.  The boys played 'King of the Raft,' which basically entailed trying to be on top of the raft and throwing off anyone who got in their way.  This is an intense game for these boys, to the extent that Paul shared that he'd added to his workout routine over the past month in preparation.  SO hilarious to watch!

One of the funniest parts of the evening was our game of Balderdash.  I don't know what it is about this game, but every time we play it with Cori's friends, we just about die of laughter. 

Monday morning we said our goodbyes and took the 12 hour trek back to Tampa.  It was a long drive, but it was definitely worth it!