Thursday, January 31, 2008

The neverending month

Is it just me or does January drag on interminably? Maybe it just seems long because December flies by with all the festivities and Christmas busyness. Am I ever glad January is over!

Not much to report here, so I just thought I'd ramble a bit.

It is cold. I hate the cold. I'm a summer girl. But I've got a pretty awesome husband who gets a toasty fire going every night. He's got it down to an art. I asked if he wanted his fire-making skills to be featured here on the blog, but he humbly declined.

Our usual shows haven't been on TV, so we've re-watched every season 3 episode of Arrested Development. Funny stuff. If you like The Office, you'd probably like Arrested Development. Oh, and Comanche Moon. That was really good stuff. If you missed it, you can watch the entire mini-series online. Gus McRae is one of my all-time favorite literary characters.

Our church choir is working on the Easter portion of Handel's Messiah. It is beautiful music. The text is taken from Isaiah 53. I just think it's so incredible that Isaiah foretold Christ's life hundreds of years before Jesus was even born! God's plans are so amazing.

Speaking of God's plans... Kevin is waiting to hear from one more fellowship program before making a final decision. Pray for God's guiding hand to lead us in a direction of His choosing.

Caroline is great. She has made these cold and dreary days much warmer and brighter. Here she is, ready to go. She insists on carrying her "purse" (diaper bag) wherever we go now.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Dancing with Daddy

That nasty virus is on its way out and everyone is perky again!

Daddy is starting to show Caroline all of his great dancing moves. (You do know that Kevin and I are pretty decent ballroom dancers, don't you?)
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Sunday, January 20, 2008

Parenthood

Least favorite thing about being a parent: catching the church nursery virus du jour from Caroline.

On the plus side, being sick means that my strongly independent girl is extra snuggly and lovey. And that's one of my favorite things about being a parent! It pretty much makes me forget about my scratchy throat...

There's not too much else going on around here. Kevin just got back into town from his last interview. We girls are happy that he gets an extra day at home tomorrow for MLK, Jr. Day. He's been doing a great job of keeping a toasty fire going this weekend!

I hope this week I have some new photo ops. Here's a picture from a few weeks ago. Caroline is practicing for Swan Lake.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Come on in

I think my new front door display is rather welcoming. I love playing with flowers, especially when they are lilies!

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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Garrett travel guide: Beantown edition



We just got back from Boston, MA - kudos for another great interview, Kevin! We took Caroline with us this trip. She was such a trooper. She had her cranky moments, but who doesn't? The girl goes and goes and goes. And then she (sometimes) crashes. It's really quite amazing. The weather was wonderful for our weekend - upper 40s and lower 50s during the day, which is unheard of this time of year in Boston.

We started out Saturday morning by heading over to the Samuel Adams brewery. We love Sam Adams. We got to sample an Ale, the Winter Lager, and the Double Bock. We highly recommend the Winter Lager. We headed down to Fanueil Hall and found some delicious seafood at McCormick and Schmick's. Then we walked along the Freedom Trail.

Sunday we went back down to the Qunicy Market area and hopped on a bus tour (they called it a "trolley"). We got off in the North End and found a fantastic, kid-friendly Italian restaurant called Antico Forno. (The North End is Boston's "Little Italy".) The food was delicious, the setting was cozy, and the staff doted on Caroline. We spent some more time touring on the bus and then went to the Boston Children's Museum. Caroline had a great time in their play area and we had a great time watching her. She completely crashed in her stroller on the way to our dinner destination - Legal Seafood.

Monday was girls' day since Kevin had his interview. Caroline and I rode the subway (called the "T") and went to the New England Aquarium. That was tons of fun - they have 4 types of penguins, 2 types of seals, and a gigantic ocean tank in the middle with a huge sea turtle. Caroline and I watched a worker feed the turtle lettuce and she hasn't stopped talking about it since. And last night, we said goodbye to Beantown and headed back south.

The "T" is the main way to get around town in Boston. We sing a song at music class about the train - rolling down the track, clickety-clickety-clack - and Caroline gained a new appreciation of it. I don't think she cared for the noise of the trains too much. They are kind of scary, even for Mommy! She would hear the train from a long way off and cover her eyes while we waited for it. It was so sweet.

Most surprising thing about our trip: Bostonians are really, really friendly. We never expect to go somewhere and find mean or rude people. But everyone everywhere we went was so very kind - to us and to others. It's just not something we expected to see in such a large city. And it was a very clean city, too. We never saw any garbage or litter.

We wish Caroline had been about one or two years older - there were some very fun ice skating ponds. And I think a spring or summer trip would be fantastic - you can take harbor tours and go whale watching. I hope we get to visit Boston again someday.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

The girls

I couldn't believe I got this great shot out of all the fooling around Caroline and I were doing with the camera yesterday. She loves to have her picture taken so she can "wook" at it on the camera. We look like two peas in a pod...
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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy 2008!

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.
-Numbers 6:22-24
I picked out the Numbers passage to wish you a Happy New Year. And then I saw the verse of the day, which I thought was appropriate as well.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
-2 Corinthians 5:17
Praying that your 2008 will be filled with blessings, grace, peace, and the newness Christ!