So I've become a blog slacker. Which is ironic considering I'm a bit of a blog stalker and the first to nag my friends when they don't update theirs. I've been meaning to do it, but I'm finally sitting down and adding posts from our adventures the past month or so. 
The first weekend in September Dave completed the Blue Ridge Relay Race. It's a 208 mile race from Greyson Highlands State Park, VA to Asheville, NC. He was a member of a 12 person team (creatively named "12 Pack") and each member had to run 3 legs of the race. His friend, Mason & his wife Shannon organized the whole thing. They did a great job not only renting vans and getting supplies but also charting out each leg of the race for the runners. Dave's first leg was the middle of the day on Friday and only 4.6 miles. Then his second and hardest leg was at midnight and a little over 7 miles. But he said it was uphill and downhill the whole way which is what made it hard. Then his final leg was supposedly 9.4 miles but he doesn't think it was that long. He ran a total of 21.5 miles! It wasn't exactly the easiest race to be a spectator for, so Arden and I drove up to Asheville and stayed with our friend, Becky, Friday night. Dave's group was on schedule to get into Asheville right after lunch time so we headed to the finish line to wait for them. Dave wasn't actually running the final leg, so he was there a bit earlier. Need less to say, after they had all been running for 31 straight hours with limited sleep the whole team was pretty beat. But the goal was to finish and they did! Here they are crossing the finish line behind Luke, who ran the final leg.
After the rest of the team packed up the vans and headed back to Raleigh, Becky, Dave, Arden & I went to the Mellow Mushroom for some food. Dave got about 1/2 way through his beer before realizing he was exhausted and almost fell asleep at the table. We got him back to Becky's where he slept from 6 pm to 7 am without moving. And he was just a little sore the next day or two ;-) But it's been two weeks now since the race and he's back to running and has his sights set on running the Raleigh half marathon in November.
It's a good thing we love Asheville, because we headed back there for our second weekend in September! This time we were invited to a wedding at Claxton Farm, which is where we got married almost three years ago. We thought it would be a great weekend to enjoy the setting of our wedding without the stress of it! And best of all, my parents offered to watch Arden so we'd have our first baby-free weekend! I was worried about being upset, but I didn't cry at all. We of course missed her, but it was time for some couple time. 
We spent Saturday sleeping in & getting a big breakfast and walking around Asheville shopping. We found we got more stuff for Arden then we did for ourselves, including a adorable tie-dye skirt that she will eventually grow into. 
The wedding itself was very nice. There were some similarities to our own wedding which was almost exactly three years earlier. I still love the uniqueness of this location and it suited not only Dave & mine, but the bride & groom- Neill & Cori's personalities very well. Dave had lost his wedding ring while we were at Shakori back in April so I got him a new one and gave it to him at the same place that he received the first one. Hopefully, he won't lose this one! 
.JPG)
