So as you all know, I’ve been failing majorly in the blog world lately. I actively took time away from posting and reading blogs to focus on schoolwork for awhile. Most of the time I can balance both, but when I had midterms coming up and a stressful week, I knew blog reading would quickly lead to hours burned in front of my computer and homework pushed to the wayside.
Anyway, now that midterms are over and the wedding is done, I’m settling back into a normal routine. I did take some time to fully relax this weekend though, and it was great!
I went hiking on Saturday for a good two and a half hours with Andrea and Logan (our puppy). I’ve been too inspired lately by Natalie’s posts, so I had to do it!
I’m a self-proclaimed “woods kid” so I had a little trouble narrowing down which pictures to share…I’m sure none of you mind looking at some pretty New England woods, right?
Needless to say, Logan had the time of his life 
The coolest part was when we came across an old cemetery in the middle of the woods.
The history nerd inside me wanted to know more about the cemetery and who was buried there, but a quick search turned up few results. All I discovered was that there are 16 people (or horses?) buried there, some of the stones are unmarked, and ones that are marked belong to the Wilcox family, dated 1836 through 1865. Kinda fascinating to me, sorry for that nerd outburst.
More pretty foliage to make it up to you.
After hiking, I went home, showered, and left for my sister’s house to spend some quality time with the niece and nephew. They wanted to make Frankenstein brownies (we did the same thing last year, thanks to something I saw on Pinterest). It’s becoming a tradition!
Super cute. Then I made a request to carve pumpkins, so we got to work!
I ended up making the happiest pumpkin ever. It reminds me of Logan.
After finishing up at my sisters, I headed to a friends house to celebrate Jen’s birthday. We kept it low key, just played some drinking games and hung out.
Too bad I’m terrible at drinking games, because I ended up drinking way more than I planned to :-/ Oops. Don’t follow my example. I woke up feeling pretty rough on Sunday (I’m still sick btw, or on round 2). Matt ordered us a pizza (with gluten free crust!) so we just hung out watching Catch Me if You Can.
Sunday was my little cousin’s birthday, so I went to my aunt’s to celebrate. For dinner? More pizza with gluten free crust. I’m pizza’d out now. But it was delicious.
I actually opted not to have dessert on Sunday. Weirdest moment of my life, but I didn’t want any. I was all over the salty chips and dip instead. Don’t know what that’s about but I’m sure my sweet tooth will revive itself quickly.
I went back to Matt’s after the party, and we played this for 3 hours straight.
Can you tell that’s Super Nintendo – Donkey Kong Country?
BEST GAME EVER. I basically freaked out when I saw that Matt had it. We made it to World 4 before deciding we needed a break haha.
So yea, I chose playing Donkey Kong for three hours over blogging Sunday night. I mean, can you really blame me? 
I thought I only had one homework set due this week, so I took a break from it this weekend. Only to find out on Monday afternoon that I do have two sets this week. And another due Monday. Oof. Thankfully, campus is stunning right now, so I’m not too upset about it.
Can you tell orange is my favorite leaf color?
This post is becoming a bit of a beast, so I think I’ll wrap it up with some words of wisdom from country music:
“When you’re sitting around thinking about what you can’t change, and worrying about all the wrong things, time’s flying by, moving so fast. You better make it count ‘cause you can’t get it back.”
Speaks to my soul.
Have a fabulous Tuesday!
what a great balance you have of taking time away to finish up work but then giving yourself a much needed weekend break. I am so happy to hear you had a relaxing weekend, but boy did you make me miss new england!
Thanks Alex! Yea, I’m trying to find a balance over here, I’d go crazy without the down time that’s for sure! Sorry to make you miss New England. It’s beautiful up here right now, but DC is such a cool city I wouldn’t mind being there!
I definitely don’t blame you for choosing Donkey Kong over blogging – that’s seriously one of my favorite games of all time and I’m pretty sure I still have it buried somewhere in the basement
You had such an amazing weekend, I don’t even know what to comment on! Love all the gorgeous Fall shots… you’re making me really jealous because here it’s been nothing but doom and gloom in the weather department and most of the trees have already lost their leaves
But that pumpkin you carved brightens my day a little because it kind of looks like Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas, which is one of my favorite movies and I’m pretty sure I’m going ot have to bust it out this weekend.
Hope your week is off to a great start!
I’m a little obsessed with DK haha, it’s such a great game. I think Matt was either impressed by my skills or afraid of them..I took that game seriously back in the day!
And thanks! Sorry to hear about the doom and gloom weather you’re having. We had a pretty bad stretch too last week but it’s been beautiful for a few days now. Definitely getting a bit of an Indian summer, I’m not complaining!
Ha! My pumpkin totally looks like Jack Skellington! Thanks for pointing that out! I love that movie.
I am SO jealous of your gorgeous Fall! I’ve never been to New England… ever! The brownies are SO festive! I carved pumpkins recently too! Yours is cuter than mine lol!
You need to visit New England at least once..especially for the foliage. It’s even prettier in person! The brownies came out pretty cute, the kids had fun making them, and yay for carving pumpkins! I’m sure yours came out just as cute! haha
Those brownies are absolutely adorable!! I’m a history nerd too and I think I would do the same thing in an area liek that!
Thanks! It was a fun little baking project to do with the kids. My history nerd quality definitely comes from my dad. New England (and the eastern coast) is a great place to explore random historical things, I love it!
Natalie has totally inspired me to take up hiking as well!! She’s so persuasive. It’s a good thing I love her, otherwise, I might have to hate her for being so awesome.
I’m glad you took time for yourself. It’s an important thing to do, and I’m learning to appreciate it more and more.
Agreed–I really want to try hiking; it sounds like so much fun! Gorgeous fall pictures, Meghan!
Thanks Carrie!
Haha glad to know I’m not the only one getting inspired! I wish I had some awesome mountains to hike, but I’ll take some trails through the woods for now. And thanks, taking time to yourself is so important! More important to some than others, but I know for me, I go crazy without it!
Ah! I freaking love finding random stuff in the woods, even cemeteries! Did you know that somewhere in Exeter a woman is buried who was believed to be a vampire?! Crazy stuff, and apparently distant members of the family guard the tombstone on Halloween night because kids have always tried to vandalize or wreak havoc. Love, love history nerd stuff, of course!!
Isn’t the foliage so beautiful right now? We’re getting our engagement pictures done this weekend and I can’t wait to include some pretty foliage shots in there!
Oh my gosh, I haven’t heard about that vampire woman in Exeter but now I want to look it up! That’s so freaky and kinda sounds like an awesome thing to look into, especially around Halloween! Thanks for letting me know about it. And the foliage is so beautiful right now, it has to be close to “peaking” or whatever they call it. Perfect timing for your engagement photos! I’m sure they’ll be beautiful!
Pingback: WIAW #8 and How I Survived Three Weeks Without Exercise | After the Ivy League
I love old cemeteries myself – so I guess you’re just as weird as I am
Gorgeous pics! They remind me a bit of our local Metroparks here in Cleveland- lots of great hiking opportunities, especially in the fall. Thanks for sharing!
Also, your dog is too cute
Pingback: Hurricane Sandy to the Rescue | After the Ivy League
Pingback: WIAW #10: Then and Now | After the Ivy League
Pingback: Fall Bucket List – Revisited | After the Ivy League