3 States in ONE weekend...

You couldn't do that in Texas...

My friend Wes came up to visit this past weekend. It was a whole lot of fun and we did so much that it felt like he was here for a lot longer than just the weekend.

Friday afternoon we walked around the monuments and met my friend Lauren, her cousin and roommate at Paolo's in Georgetown (a fabulous Italian restaurant that you must try if you're ever in the area!!) and then, we headed back to see the monuments at night time (the way I prefer them most! There is just something so amazing about seeing them lit up - and that's all you see.

"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light."

These monuments were built to stand out, and not to be hidden. As Christians, we are called to stand out, to be the light in the darkness. I know for myself, far to often, I'm willing to sometimes go into the darkness instead of really proclaim the message of Christ.

We finally made it back to Falls Church about 12:30...and we were rising early to head to Assateague Island, Maryland - right on the Atlantic Ocean, to watch the wild mustangs run. The island was beautiful and the horses, well - you can only imagine an animal placed in it's natural habitat - it's just beautiful, and simply freeing.

From there we headed north along Hwy 1, driving through Ocean City, MD up to Dewey Beach, DE where we ventured out and went Parasailing - which is just incredible. After parasailing we continued north to Rehoboth Beach, DE where we had dinner at Big Fish Grill - as suggested by most of the people on the parasailing boat! (Also reccommended if you're in the area any time soon!) I had blackened mahi mahi with mango salsa and mashers - and it was quite excellent. Wes had swordfish and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed his as well.

We headed down to the boardwalk on the way to the beach where we took a few pictures and headed back to the car - it was about 10 pm at this point, and we still had a 3 hr drive back to Falls Church ahead of us.

Thankfully, we made it back home safe just before 1:30 a.m. and were up bright and early the following morning for church at The National Cathedral....followed by my first experience of Greek food where we met up with Lauren and her cousin again.

We drove to the White House, Capitol, Georgetown Cupcakes and then to Iwo Jima before I dropped him off at the airport!

It was a super fun weekend and I'm so thankful that we had a safe, fun adventure!

I'm heading to Texas on Saturday - spur of the moment - and I'm pretty excited about it. Flying into S.A., staying with my sister in Fredericksburg, going to Houston to see all my nieces and nephews of whom we're taking to Galveston for the day, College Station on Wednesday, Austin on Thursday - to see WICKED! And Friday I'm flying back up here.... only to be flying back to Texas the next Saturday (8/29) for a previously planned vacation!

Side note: listen to how sweet my little nephew is: So his Granny came over tonight and asked him, "Is your A-squared (aunt ashley) going to come see you this weekend?" and He points to the sky...because I'll be coming in an airplane, just like h...ow he came to see me! Makes you wish he was your nephew I bet!

So blessed.