Four years ago this week, my wife and I enjoyed a blissful 5 days and 4 nights in St Lucia at the famous Ladera Resort, which has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We needed this so badly. We had been through complete hell. We loved and cherished every second of this trip. Something about being in paradise and on island time helping you to get back in touch with the one you love, and getting your love and romance burning at full force again after so much hardship.

All of my secrets are here. :)

Our year in photos.

Old Rag Mountain is one of the most popular hikes in the entire mid-Atlantic region, and also one of the most strenuous and spectacular. It peaks at 3291 feet, has a total elevation gain of 2500 feet from parking lot to peak, and includes nearly a mile of rock scrambling to get to the top. It's an extremely challenging hike, but worth it for all of the spectacular views.

My old buddy Pete, whom I've known for 20 years, finally got hitched last year! I was super excited for both him and his new wife, Marnie, but just wasn't able to make the ceremony. As promised though, and a little bit later than planned, I was happy to finally deliver my wedding gift to them of a professional engagement style photo shoot!

A huge highlight of our summer was finally getting to go to the Joint Base Andrews Air Show on September 19th, 2015. I had been to the Andrews Air Show back in 2012, and thought it was fantastic. I couldn't wait to go the following year with the whole family, except 2012 was the year they went to every other year for this particular air show due to budget cuts. By the time 2014 finally rolled around, the sequester killed our DC area air show once again, and it took until 2015 to finally get another air show, and only for a single day. Thankfully the weather was perfect, and it was a picture perfect clear day. We went all-in and sprung for Flight Line Club passes for all of us so that we could enjoy the air show in style. Luxury trip. :-)