March 2024:
Highs of the Month:
- Our family vacation to Puerto Rico with Ryan's family! This trip was supposed to happen in 2023 but was delayed about a year for various reasons, but it was so worth the wait. We visited San Juan for five days with Ryan's parents and his brother and girlfriend. Puerto Rico is such a cool island and truly the perfect vacation destination. I am trying to find the time soon to write blog posts reviewing the resort we stayed at and updating my San Juan Travel Guide from my 2022 trip.
- I had a lot of fun emceeing a local charity gala for work in March. Since last fall, my morning radio show has been teaming up with a wonderful local non-profit called Connect With a Wish. They do so much in Hampton Roads to support local foster kids, teens and parents. We got to emcee their annual charity gala in March. I had my hair done at Drybar, and got to wear a really fun and fancy dress (that I found for under $50!). I took my friend Bri as my plus-one, and we had so much fun dancing together after my emceeing duties were over.
- Ryan and I took our engagement photos in mid-March, and we got them back at the end of the month! I've shared a couple of the photos with friends and family, but I am keeping most of them private from everyone until we have designed and sent our save-the-dates. Don't worry, I do plan to share them here on the blog after save-the-dates have been received by our guests! 😊
Lows of the Month:
- Ooof. The biggest low this month was all of the changes at my work, which all began while I was in Puerto Rico. My morning radio cohost Cash quit our job unexpectedly while I was on vacation. Just a few days later after I was back from the trip, our boss was let go. To lose a boss and a cohost without any warning was a lot of sudden change at once. I've also been covering some additional work (separate from my morning show) for the past month or so for a coworker in another department on maternity leave, and all of that is continuing despite all the changes with the main part of my job. Work has just been... a lot. I am so thankful to still have my job and I have been giving it my all despite all the changes. And I'm really excited to see whoever my next cohost will be! But it has felt overwhelming lately. It also put a bit of a damper on our vacation to get bad news while traveling (but at the same time, being surprised with all the news when I got home would not have been great either!).
- My left front tooth got a small chip in it in late February, and it has persisted into March. I have had it fixed at the dentist *three* times in the span of a few weeks last month... and it has re-chipped within just a few days each time! I've spent a good amount of money now trying to fix a problem that hasn't been solved. I've decided I think I do finally need to switch dentist offices before spending money to fix it again. In the meantime, I am just dealing with the chip. To me, it's very noticeable and annoying, however thankfully Ryan and many friends have said they barely notice it and wouldn't notice it if they didn't know about it from me.
- Feeling really out of sorts from my normal home routines for the entire month. I ended up traveling three out of four weekends in March, and then having all of the unexpected work changes at the end of the month made life even more intense. I feel like I barely had time to cook dinner in March, and also got behind with cleaning and organizing our apartment as well. Being out of sorts on regular routines also affects my mood negatively.
March Weekend Recaps:
- 1st-3rd - My first trip of the month was a whirlwind 24 hours up in Charlottesville. I had to be up there for two reasons. The first reason wasn't very fun: my current car lease was coming due, and I made the decision to start the process of buying out the car. It was financially in my favor to do the transaction at the dealer in Charlottesville that the car was leased from in 2021, versus a local dealership in Virginia Beach. I headed up there right after work on Friday and spent my afternoon at the dealership handling all of that. Luckily Friday night was a lot more fun! I spent the night with my friend Emily, and we met up with our friend (and my former roommate!) Abigail for Mexican food. It was so much fun to catch up with both of them! On Saturday morning, Emily took me to an intense but fun workout class at a local studio. For the rest of the day, I headed to a restaurant and then a winery to celebrate my friend Caroline's birthday! I was glad to time out all of my car stuff around her birthday so I could do everything in one trip to Charlottesville. On Sunday after church, Ryan and I had an impromptu date day. We tried a new-to-us burger restaurant for lunch, went for a beach walk and then a trail walk, and then got ice cream.
- 8th-10th - I was in Charleston, SC from Thursday-Sunday for my friend Emily's bachelorette trip! We technically stayed in the nearby town of Folly Beach, but we did go into Charleston one evening. I felt so badly the weather was really not ideal for much of the trip! Friday was chilly and very windy, and Saturday started off with horrible rain (honestly it was more like tropical storm conditions). But we all still celebrated Emily all weekend despite the weather!! The main activity we did on Friday was a charter boat ride in Folly Beach with Water Music Charters. On Saturday evening, we dined at an incredible upscale Italian restaurant called Sorelle that's right in Downtown Charleston! I unfortunately had a really bad headache during dinner which put a little bit of a damper on the meal for me, but I still loved the food and the atmosphere. I would 100% eat here again on a future Charleston trip! I rode to and from Charleston (7+ hour drive) with my friend Megan. She's an old Charlottesville friend who recently moved to Virginia Beach for a new job. She was a really fun road trip companion, and I'm so glad I had a good friend like her to ride with.
- 15th-17th- Finally a weekend home after two weekends out of town! Ryan and I went to get Mexican for dinner on Friday with our friends Bea and Eric. We hadn't seen them since the holidays, so it was great to catch up! Saturday evening was the charity gala that I helped emcee for work. It was a lot of fun and a highlight of the month. On Sunday we watched church from home (I was so tired from the late night before!), and that evening we went on a dinner date at Legal Seafoods.
- 22nd-24th- We were in San Juan, Puerto Rico for Ryan's family vacation! We flew in on Thursday, and we did one main activity for the following three days. Friday was exploring Old San Juan, Saturday was an excursion trip to El Yunque Rainforest, and Sunday was the Casa Bacardi Rum Distillery tour. We also enjoyed lots of time at the hotel pools and beach! We flew back on that Monday. It was such an amazing trip and will be our last "big" trip before our honeymoon! I'm hoping to write some blog posts about this trip soon.
- 29th-31st - On Saturday morning, I went to one of my friend Bri's cookie decorating classes. This one was Easter themed and it was so much fun. I went to the class with a new friend from church. Saturday afternoon, Ryan and I went to the mall to try to find a belated birthday gift from me to him! He had originally wanted sunglasses and wanted to try them on in person versus me buying a pair online. He ended up finding a dress shirt he liked instead, and I was able to find something I needed at the mall as well. On Saturday evening, I grabbed drinks and apps with my friends Alex and Amanda at a new-to-me spot on the water called Buoy 44. On Sunday, we went to church for Easter with Ryan's parents, and then went out to lunch at Aldo's, a good local Italian restaurant.
March Purchases:
- It wasn't a big shopping month for me with a lot of travel expenses this month. One thing I did purchase was this cute floral dress for our Puerto Rico trip! I wore it the night we explored Old San Juan. It's perfect for tropical weather. I'm planning to pack it for our honeymoon as well.
- I've been making fitness classes a big priority in 2024 and I'm proud of myself! I treated myself to a cute matching workout set. This is the top and these are the leggings. I love both!! The fabric really does feel like lululemon, but for half the cost. Both pieces come in a ton of colors.
- I got this champagne-colored scarf/wrap to wear over my dress for my friend Emily's wedding. We also have a few other weddings on the calendar for this year, so I feel like I will get good use out of this!
March Blog Posts:
- Travel Diary: An Overdue Weekend in Charlotte NC
- Wedding Wednesday: The Full Story of How Ryan and I Met
God Bless,
xoxo Annaliese
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