Fall Festivities!

The last day of October isn't too late to write a Fall post, right?! Believe it or not, it STILL doesn't feel like Fall down here. With a steady high of 85 degrees, it's a bit confusing to have not even reached for a jacket on the eve of the first day of November.

I went home the beginning of the month to do the Seagull Century so I guess I'll consider that my taste of Fall. The leaves were changing and there was a crisp breeze in the air. This should have been our third Seagull (and I guess it kind of was) but last year's was cancelled because of a hurricane. IRONICALLY the same day of Seagull this year they were calling for Hurricane Matthew to hit. Then the weather gods intervened and sent Matthew back down South leaving us with a gorgeous bike ride day! PHEW!

Fueled up with coffee and McDonald's brekky, ready to conquer 100 miles!

The downside of Assateague Island is the giant bridge to get there, but the plus side is the cute stray ponies! We actually saw one walk in front of a car and just stand there for a few minutes which was pretty funny. 

 

I pride myself at posing for the camera men! Team Knieriem hanging in there on the second half! 

The parents found us at mile 84! Just the motivation we needed to finish strong! 

About 8 hours later we crossed the finish line! We're most certainly never the FASTEST, but hey, we always finish! My 4th century in the books, and Brad's 5th! I'll never be able to explain how spending the day on a bike is so much fun, but the company you do it with is most certainly a big part! The whole pre-ride and post-ride carb feasts aren't terrible either! 

The other exciting reason we've been looking forward to October all year long is the STATE FAIR! Since it's only our second year with the fair maybe that's why it's still so exciting. We went, we ate fried foods, and we conquered. Perks about it being our second year is knowing where all the must-haves are! 

Two new things we tried this year were fried chocolate covered strawberries and fried Jell-o. They tasted oddly similar, but I'm guessing that was just the deep fried goodness surrounding them. 

Although we passed on riding the ferris wheel this year, it was still super pretty to look at. 

Of course, October is nothing without Halloween. And when I say Halloween I mostly mean Halloween for the pup. When I found out one of our favorite bars was doing a dog costume costume contest I was 100% in. We REALLY wanted Shiner to be a shark, but after realizing she's just a little larger than what we thought, her shark costume turned into looking more like a shark attack. Regardless, she was still adorable and we had a fun night filled with Halloween drinks, pizza, and tons of cute doggies. Shiner even snagged a bite of my piece of pizza in typical shark fashion. At least she has good taste!

We had to have our own night of Halloween fun so we took it Texas style and dressed up as Mr. and Mrs. Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights the T.V. show. Now the real question is, what can we do Maryland themed next year to share the love?!

Well I guess that's it for now. Before we know it, it'll be the holidays! Until then, you Marylanders make sure you enjoy the Fall weather for us! 

Kendra

Never Ending Summer

The end of summer is actually really sad. So that's why I'm in denial about it. But at least it's still nice and hot so it feels like summer is nowhere near over. A lovely storm rolled in a few weeks ago and it hasn't been super hot since. That same storm also cancelled a flight home I had booked, but I guess I'm not bitter about it anymore. I mean who doesn't love spending an entire Friday night in the airport?! :) 

The second half of summer consisted of the yearly trip to Deep Creek Lake! Heading back home to the lake was so incredibly nice. I had almost forgotten what mountains looked like! And it had been a while since I felt weather below 90 degrees. Not to mention it's always the best when you get to spend a week under the same roof as a ton of family! 

We spent the week staring off the deck at this gorgeous view, and swimming in the pool. We also tye dyed and had a water balloon fight! There was even a bear spotting in true DCL fashion.

We also played countless scrabble games. And I actually won once!

Then it was time to head back to the Big D. Shiner was excited to have me back since it was her 2nd birthday. She got to celebrate with a trip to Mutt's Cantina! It was about 100 degrees and I don't think I've ever seen her so excited. She picked up just about every ball in the park and found strangers to throw them for her. She's clearly too cool for Sam and I...

Before I knew it, it was September and time to gear up for Maroon 5's tour! First stop, San Antonio. We lucked out that the first show of the tour was so nearby. Snubs flew in and we road tripped with the pup to The Alamo City. But first, I had her come by Grit and spin with me! I felt pretty victorious when she was sore the next day. 

Shiner had no clue where she was going, but bright-eyed and busy-tailed she hopped in the back seat. It was quite the drive consisting of ridiculous traffic, a hundred cars stopped on the side of the road, and a 45 minute Whataburger adventure. 

But we eventually made it to San Antonio AND to the concert! So fun being back in our favorite spot for another show! 

Some of my favorite pictures from the night!  

And there's also this gem which Maroon 5 posted in their album from the night. I've always wondered what we looked like! I've also always wanted to make it on the jumbo tron, but I guess this can suffice for now. 

We couldn't be in San Antonio and not explore, so we headed to Austin for the day and checked out Barton Springs. Let's just say the water was not what we were used to. 68 degrees?! What?!

After 3 hours of motivating ourselves, we finally braved the icey waters and got in the shallow end. Yay us!  

We took a wrong turn while driving through Austin (surprise, surprise) but we ended up driving past this wall! So cool! I wanted to add "Meet Taylor Swift" but somebody beat me to it. Instead I added "Hold a sloth" which is basically second best.  

The next day we checked out The Alamo and the Riverwalk! It was Anuva's first time, and who doesn't love going back? 

We did the riverboat cruise and I was clearly lucky this time as I didn't get pooped on! Check back a few posts to see what happened when my parents came down and we did this same cruise...

Third time's a charm to realize that this is the stage from Miss Congeniality!  

Sadly, Labor Day weekend had to come to end. But the fun doesn't stop there. This week, we're heading to Baltimore for Maroon 5 2016 Tour show #2! Woohoo! 

Hope everybody else has had a great summer! 

Kendra

Another Dallas Summer

This post is so overdue it's not even funny! I'm not even sure where to start, but let's just say summer is officially here. It's back to being 100 degrees almost everyday and obviously very sunny. Sam has been busy and away for work, but Shiner and I have held down the Dallas fort. She's not a fan of the heat unless in involves the lake at the dog park. Can't say I disagree...

So far this summer, I've turned 26! And let's just say that adulting has never felt more real. Two days before my birthday a lady pulled out in front of me, leading to an accident. It seemed easy to resolve and wasn't a huge deal, until they called and told me that Delilah was totaled. I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry. That car was with me every moment of my life for the past 8 years and I remember buying her with every penny I had in my bank account. It was a sad last visit to clean her out, but I'm happy to finally say I've purchased the ultimate upgraded 2016 version of her and I'm adapting pretty well. Fittingly named Blue Bell (just think Texas ice cream). I already can't WAIT for her first trip to Maryland. :) 

Also, exciting news in the midst of the car chaos, I officially became an instructor at Grit (aka the best gym to ever exist!) and I now teach a Revolution cycling class there on Thursday mornings! It is so rewarding to help people achieve their fitness goals and let them know that they CAN be strong and push through even when they feel like they can't (and have FUN doing it!). Here's a pic of my lovely first class ever who totally rocked it! 

  

After hitting age 26 it was time to start making serious moves on my list of things I wanted to do. Visiting another country was one of the first items on there! Being so close to the border, Mexico seemed like a pretty prime option to start out with. Sam and I headed to Puerto Vallarta for the fourth of July weekend, and to say it was amazing is an absolute understatement. 

A view of our hotel from the beach. Not a far walk! 

A view of the coastline from the 5th level of the hotel. Hello, beautiful. 

Sunsets were no joke. The sky actually turned pink!

We had the best weekend ever laughing, swimming, relaxing and indulging. Our days consisted of waking up, lathering up with sunscreen, hitting the beach/pool, and enjoying never ending food and drinks along the way. 

Another thing I've always dreamed of doing whenever I made it to a tropical paradise was swimming with dolphins! A few days before the trip I looked it up and low and behold it was totally a thing. We signed up and got to swim and play with our new friend, Nakai! I wish I could describe how he felt, but let's just say it was very smooth and not as squishy as you'd think! 

Dolphin ride!

Sadly, our trip had to come to an end, but not without one last selfie. 

Adios, Mexico!

So now it's back to regular life, but I guess Dallas isn't too bad. Can't wait til Sam returns for good and our little family is back together again. <3

Until the next adventure, 

Kendra

One. Year.

WOAH. Seriously. Where does the time go? Exactly one year ago was my last night at home in my bed in my room. Everything was in bags and ready to be put into my car and my room was the cleanest and messiest it had ever been all at once. It was such a weird mix of emotions and I still remember it like it was just yesterday.

A year ago on February 10th I packed up all (just kidding... more like a fraction) of my things, filled Delilah to her capacity (and then some) and started a crazy journey I never would have even imagined I'd start. What I remember about the first day is a lot of tears. It was sad saying "bye" and not knowing what laid ahead of me. After the sadness of goodbyes it turned into the excitement of an adventure. Driving 20 hours through new states and on new roads with Jason was a journey in itself! Stopping for snacks, eating whatever we wanted, ordering room service, sight seeing, finding new hotels, eating sushi in Arkansas, walking around Nashville, etc. It was such a great start to something even greater and made for some of the best memories from the last year!

It's crazy to think it's been a year, but it's even crazier to think that I still wake up every morning (minus my visits home and to Disney :)) in Dallas. I'm not sure what I expected when I came here other than I just wanted to have an awesome adventure, but everything that's happened has definitely been pretty awesome.

Some days I miss home more than others but I've come to accept that's just life. My family and friends will never be replaced and they know just how much I miss them. And I'm so thankful for everyone who makes these 1,300 miles feel like nothing. If anything, adventures like this strengthen relationships and that's probably why saying goodbye becomes even harder.

Regardless of every time in the past year that I've embarrassingly cried saying goodbye at the airport security line, and even in the middle of Hollywood Studios in Disney World, I wouldn't change any of it. I love where I came from, the people in my life, and where I currently am. If you had asked me a year and a half ago if I'd be living in Texas (let alone the home of the Cowboys) I would have probably laughed out loud and assumed you were joking. So now I can't help but wonder where the next year will lead. You really never know what's coming just around the corner...

What I do know right now is that I have one adorable dog who is pretty happy I came down, and one happy boyfriend who just got Capitals tickets for his birthday this Saturday (YAY!).

Now let's see what's next on this journey....

Love,
Kendra

 

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Happy 2016! Where did the time go?! Christmas flew by and so did Disney World! To say I miss it would be an understatement! Spending time with family is my favorite.


It's amazing a family trip to Disney World actually came together.. but it did! Other than Jason & Jen, I landed first and got to the hotel. Looked out the balcony and boom! Magic Kingdom is right there! You can see the castle and Space Mountain!

I remember the castle from being younger.. but I swear it's about 100 times more impressive when you're older! And maybe also when it's decked out in icicles. We could see it glowing from our hotel room! Pictures don't do it justice... but it was basically just magical.

On our first days exploring the parks Jason got us our very own VIP tour guide who basically took us wherever we wanted to go. Here we are walking to his van, matching shirt and mouse ears in tow. We park hopped to all the parks and arrived in secret entrances. Brandon was Knieriem #7 for the day and even ate with us!

Here's a photo from when we rode Everest... You can tell that Brad, Jason, and I didn't know the twists and turns (mainly me)... but also notice Brandon sitting next to Jason who rides these rides with newbies everyday and couldn't be more calm and laid back. A true Disney pro! Also not a shabby job to have.

It's ironic that we're smiling after just riding the Tower of Terror. Some of us enjoyed it more than others... :) But nontheless, just our family enjoying some quality time at the happiest place on earth!

We ventured to The Animal Kingdom the next day and met Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba. Just KIND of a big deal.



The next day we spent on the Backstage Magic Tour! They take this photo of you before the tour and before they tell you everything else is secret and you have to put your cameras away... Got to learn tons of Disney trivia and go backstage at some of the rides. One of the greatest parts was our BBQ feast. Knieriems are easily pleased with food.






 More Disney magic! Walking down the streets at Hollywood Studios and we came across Stitch!

What would Disney be without meeting the mice?! Had to cross that off the list! Not to mention Woody and Buzz! Childhood dreams coming true right here!

And here's one of my favorite pictures from the trip... Tower of Terror! AND we got the front row. Going in regular elevators now will take a while to get used to! 

And that concludes the Knieriem's trip to Disney! Aka the best Christmas present we all could have ever gotten from Jason. Such a fun week spent with my favorite people!

As Mickey says, See you again real soon!

Kendra