Life Lately

Life's been coming at me pretty fast lately.

Memorial Weekend: We had an incredible time exploring Maine with some great friends. 
+ Ben and Sarah - not pictured :(

Beautiful Camden

To anyone that knows Andy: Doesn't this picture just put a big smile on your face?

A week later: I flew to Nashville for one of my dearest, bestest friend's wedding. I never thought I would say this, but it was so nice to be back in the southern, humid, sultry heat. It definitely helped that I got to spend time with some of my best friends and help Kayla put the finishing touches on a beautiful wedding.

Wasn't she just gorgeous?

I'm so excited that I'll get to see my sweet friend in Chatt. soon!

A few days after that: I found out that I'll be teaching 9th grade English at the school I student taught at in the fall!!! This makes me even more excited to move back knowing that I get to work along side of the teachers I learned so much from last semester.

THEN a couple days later: Patrick and I celebrated our first anniversary, and my mother and father-in-law flew in for a long weekend. We had such an amazing time roaming and hiking around Acadia, driving up the coast, and taking a long bike ride around the national park. It was an amazing Maine experience for us all. Plus, an Acadia hike was a prefect anniversary trip to celebrate an awesome year with my love!

I'm truly blessed to have these two as my in-laws!

At the first place to see the sun in the U.S. We weren't quite up for getting to the top of this mountain at 4 a.m. to experience the sunset, but he view was definitely just as impressive at 4 p.m..

Currently: I'm finishing up my last week of work, preparing for the movers, and packing for a trip to Vermont this weekend. Oh! And since it's a given that I'll be teaching Romeo and Juliet, I started reading it for THE FIRST TIME EVER. Yeah, I know every high school freshman is suppose to read it, but my teacher decided to spend the entire semester  reading The Odyssey instead. (Good job preparing the young minds of the future!) I think it's definitely works out in my favor though because I appreciate the text and comprehend it much better than I ever would as a 14-year-old.

Our time here in Bangor is quickly coming to a close and as I think back on our experience I'm filled with a sense of relief that we survived such a rough winter, joy that I found a fun, rewarding job, a bit of sadness that we're leaving at the most beautiful time of year, and a ton of incredible memories that I'll be able to share with future Hortons many years from now. South Carolina: here we come! (Hopefully to stay.) :)

A Special Visitor

First of all, I want to apologize for my hiatus. With Grandad being in town and the beautiful weather we've been having, it's hard to sit inside for too long. The long, cold, snowy winter has made me appreciate sunshine, flowers, and warm afternoons more than ever. Maine was beautiful when it was covered in snow, but the vivid blooms and bright green grass beats the snow on any day.

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Last weekend trumped all the beautiful days by far. It was partly to due to our company. Grandad flew up from TN all by himself. That's quite a trek for a 80-something year old, but he's no typical 80-something year old. He's the most active, hippest, fun granddad around.

I'm pretty sure the snow never truly goes away in Maine.

The majority of the weekend was spent in Bar Harbor and Acadia. The summer season is just beginning in Maine, which means stores and restaurants are actually opening and crowds of people are filling the streets and highways.

We acted like typical tourists by stopping at all of the souvenir shops, taking tours, and photographing everything in sight. For all of my TN friends wanting to know what Bar Harbor is like, Patrick described it perfectly. Picture a nautical Gatlinburg. Though I love a good trip to Dollywood and occasionally walking the Gatlinburg strip, it doesn't hold a candle to the views you get at Bar Harbor.

Lobster ice cream anyone? Yes, they put real, buttered lobster in vanilla ice cream. I know everyone says that you have to eat lobster when you go to Maine, but I don't think this is the way to do it.

Anyways, back to the views.

One of my favorite stops in Acadia is Jordan Pond. It is a massive pond in the middle of the island, and is one of the most serene, tranquil stops in all of Maine.

Maine is also known for its lighthouses. Unfortunately, most of them are not visible by land, and the lighthouse cruise doesn't start until the end of the month. But as luck would have it, a cruise ship was docking in Bar Harbor on Sunday, so the tour company decided to have a special lighthouse cruise just for the ship (and us). Besides getting sea sick halfway through the 3-hour tour, and it being 50 degrees and windy out on the ocean, it was one of the most remarkable sights I've ever seen.

One of the neatest parts of the day was seeing two bald eagles. To see them in their natural habitat trumps Dollywood's eagle exhibit any day.

Once we were coasting back to shore and my head stopped spinning, we spotted this lobster boat. For those of you who don't know, my first name is Stephanie, and though I have an "a" at the end of my name, this was pretty darn close.

Though all of the adventures and sight-seeing was incredibly fun, I would have to say our favorite part was just drinking coffee and talking about life with Grandad. It just doesn't get much better than that.

A Breath of Fresh Air

This past weekend was a breath of fresh air... literally. Not only did I need a break from work (which I know I just started, but it's been exhausting!), but I've been needing some warm, sunny, relaxing outdoor activity action for some time now.

Patrick and my friend, Will, decided last minute to drive up from New York this weekend, and I'm oh-so-glad he did. Since they both love to hike, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and venture on to Acadia. I went last month with my friend who came in town (which you can check out here), but it was still very cold and snowy, so we just drove around the island for some scenic fun. This time we decided to strap on our hiking boots and go to the top of Dorr Mountain (one of the peaks in Acadia). 

It started off a bit chilly, but the steep steps warmed up our legs in no time. As we climbed higher, we started to get warmer even though the ground was still cover in snow. It made for a very unique hike. One that none of us had ever experienced before. As we were hiking through the slick, deep snow, we could see the ocean the entire time. It was absolutely incredible and rewarding.

I've gone on several hikes in the South, but none compared to this. It wasn't that it was any greater than the southern Appalachian or Cumberland mountains that I've hiked, it was just a completely different kind of beautiful. One that I'm so blessed to have gotten to experience. 

This is one of the many times my slow, heavy foot fell through the snow. Patrick and Will are so swift and light on their feet that they didn't seem to have a problem, but I was falling through every few steps. It didn't take long for the snow to make its way in my shoes, which caused for one of my all time greatest annoyances, wet socks. 

Don't you just hate when you're walking around the house with your warm, cozy socks on and all of a sudden you step in a puddle of melted ice that fell from your ice maker, or the pool of water that your significant other left in the bathroom when he or she jumped out of the shower soaking wet on the floor and not the water absorbing rugs you specifically bought to keep the bathroom floor from getting wet...or cat pee. Oh, you've never stepped in cat pee? Just come visit us because Walter pees all over everything ONLY when we have company. He's extremely territorial and rules the roost at all times, so when someone new intrudes in his space, he'll show you who's boss by peeing on all of your belongings. 

Okay, enough about my wet sock frustration and cat pee. Here's a few more shots from our hike. 

After we made it back down the snowy trail, we decided to explore the rest of what Acadia had to offer. We seriously couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day...well, I wouldn't have minded if it was about ten degrees warmer, but the sun made all the difference. We stopped by Sand Beach and the cliff rock overlook area while we were taking a cruise around the island. 

Being the weirdos that they are, they decided to advertise their employer by wearing mesh and blue jean matching hats.

 Out of all the pictures Patrick and I took this weekend, this is my favorite. The hubs snapped this one on our final stop. I didn't need to edit it or anything. It definitely sums up the beauty of Acadia.

After an exhausting, adventurous Saturday, we joyfully celebrated Easter on Sunday. We worshiped at a local church and I prepared my first Easter dinner, ham and all! Though I wish we could have celebrated the risen Lord with our families, it was special to spend this Easter with just my husband, Will, and of course, Walter. 

What a breath of fresh air!

Back on Track

We all have a routine. Even the most free-spirited, go-with-the-flow kind of people typically start their day the same way...roll out of bed, go for a pee, pour a bowl of cereal, repeat.

Since moving to Maine, I've fallen into somewhat of a routine. I don't have a strict schedule (it's the least strict schedule since young adolescence actually), but I still have a few things to achieve on a daily basis. I do the dishes, apply for jobs, clean the apartment, cut coupons, go to the store, cook supper, go to the gym, watch The Chew. These things happen every week. Some may consider this boring...I consider this boring on many days, but it's life right now. That's why this week has been a much needed vacation from the humdrum routine I've adopted. 

Lyndsay was in Maine for the past 7 days, and we definitely took a tour of some amazing places. I would give you a day-by-day detailed journal, but unless you're one of our mom's, I would probably lose you by the second day. I'm not saying our week was boring, but I feel as though highlights are plenty good enough for your reading pleasure. 
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We started our week with a U Maine hockey game.

                                          

There were fights, pucks hitting the glass, the band playing in the background, and the crowd roaring. A typical hockey game for those hockey enthusiasts out there. 

Obviously, we're not one of them, but we really did have a great time. Don't let our expressions fool you. By the way, the game ended in a tie. What the heck?! Two and a half hours for no winners. Or, if your glass is half full, everyone won. That's the way I'm choosing to look at it. 

After some frivolous antiquing the next couple of days, we decided to check out Freeport on Tuesday. It's the LL Bean headquarters, and it has some great outlet stores...and I'm a sucker for a good outlet store. We made a detour to Cousins Island on the way home to check out some of the coast.

 It was basically a lake, but there was no need to be disappointed because the next day we got to experience this...

and this...

We drove through Acadia National Forest, and it absolutely took my breath away. There were snow-covered mountains on my right and a beautiful sandy beach on my left. Incredible! You may notice that we're the only ones on the beach. I'll give you a little hint to why...

                                                                  
It was around 30 degrees and snowing. This may seem miserable to some, but the solitude of the beach was well worth fighting the frigid temperatures. It was really neat to experience this place with no one else around. This  day was by far the highlight of the week.

I absolutely loved having a friend in town and a new face in our apartment, but after she left, I realized how much I missed my husband. He had to work all week, so the only thing he got to do with us was go to the hockey game last weekend and dig into a real Maine lobster (no pictures, unfortunately). I felt bad doing all these fun things without him, but it makes me appreciate his hard work that much more. So after cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and going to the store after Lyndsay left, we had a Batman and Breakfast night. (Breakfast for dinner and The Dark Knight Rises if you're wondering)

A boring Friday night fits perfectly in my routine. It's nice to be back on track. 

Maine Sneak Peek

This week has been a great change of pace. Patrick and I have had a first visitor to Maine, and I've loved it. My best friend, Lyndsay, flew all the way up from TN, and I've been trying my hardest to give her the real Maine experience. We've been so busy that I haven't had time to put a post together, and I don't really now either, so I'll just give you a little sneak peak of our adventures so far.

It's been a great week, and it's not even over with yet! Check back this weekend for more pictures and stories of our tour of Maine.