Heading Home

First, I must announce on our blog that we are pregnant! We told our families around Easter time and then started spreading the news among friends when we went back home in April. Our trip back to California was the first one since November 2010!! It was so nice to be home, but it was a quick weekend trip for a wedding. We were so busy with wedding events and visiting friends and family that the time flew by too quickly. Our first stop was to In-N-Out since we don't have that on the East Coast (who knows why!). The wedding was on Saturday the 19th and it was a gorgeous day in Orange County. The bride, Kimi, was a bridesmaid in our wedding and I was one in hers. It was a beautiful wedding! That same day was my sister's baby shower, which I was sad I had to miss, but we spent the night at her house that night and got to see all the gifts she got.  It was great to spend time with my sister who was about 33 weeks pregnant at that time and I was around 12 weeks.Our last day there was spent with our families. It was a great, busy trip!!

 

Springtime

Boy do I have some blog-catching-up to do!! We'll start by backtracking a little to April. Springtime is such a beautiful time - it's quite amazing watching the trees go from bare twigs to full greenery! And all the flowers that bloom just add to the springtime beauty. 

On Easter Sunday I had to work at 3:30, so we went to church in the morning and then had a few friends over for lunch. Brian made Ham and Fontina cheese sandwiches, which were quite amazing. It was a nice little Easter celebration considering my time was limited. 

The Chen family (I used to housesit for them in CA - they had the mastiff) was here visiting, so we joined them for the afternoon on our first Duck Tour. The tour goes around Boston on land and then we get to view Boston from the Charles River when it turns into a boat. We had an awesome tour guide, which made it extra fun.  Then we wandered around the North End, of course getting some Mike's Pastries along the way. It was so nice catching up with them while touring the city.

To end April, Brian and I went to the last showing of Riverdance in Boston - I've always wanted to see this show and I had the night off from work so we went! It was fantastic!!! I loved every minute of it! It was showing at the Boston Opera House, which is an impressive, gorgeous historical building. We had such a nice time.

Gronk!

How could I forget to include meeting Gronkowski in my February post?! The Thursday after Super Bowl, when Patriots lost to Giants, Rob Gronkowski stopped by the VA to say hi to the patients. I was supposed to leave at 4pm that day, but decided to stay and help for overtime. He showed up around 7ish (glad I stayed!). I didn't recognize him (especially since I didn't watch the super bowl since I was at work), but someone asked me if I wanted my picture taken - I thought it was for the newspaper or something, so I said no (it was a long day and my hair was a mess - HA!). But then people were saying "You don't want your picture taken with Rob Gronkowski!?" Then I slowly figured it out and asked a bunch of co-workers to get in the picture with me. And here it is! He was very tall, quiet, and nice. My co-workers in the picture, from left to right, are Craig, Lauren, Ilia, & Merideth.

Our 1st Trip to New York City!

In February, we joined Angel & Dan and Amanda & Josh in a trip to NYC! Friday morning we met at South Station and took an early bus from Boston to NYC, about a 4 hour trip. Once we arrived, I realized that I forgot my camera charger and the battery light was already flashing low. I was so bummed! We, first, headed to our hotel to drop off our bags and freshen up. Then we started wandering around town to Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the impressive Lego Store, NBC studio store...and stopping along the way to buy a camera charger. There was just no way I wasn't going to take pictures all weekend! Friday evening I let my camera charge while we went to dinner at Landmarc in the Time Warner Center. After dinner we went to see the play War Horse, which involved several horse puppets that were incredibly impressive. It was a spectacular play!

Saturday morning, we went to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) with Amanda & Josh, while Angel & Dan went and met up with a friend. I got a little sick that afternoon, but thankfully felt better by evening. We went to Times Square and waited in the TKTS line for discounted tickets for a play that night. We then decided that we wanted to try a Ramen noodle restaurant, but the one we had been eying had a really long line. Joyce, Angel's friend, knows the city pretty well and she knew of a Ramen place that would be opening around 5 (it was about 4), so we hailed our first cab and headed across town to the other place. There was already a line forming outside (a good sign I suppose), but once they opened we still had to wait over an hour because we had a party of 7 people. We all thought it was worth the wait because it was some good food! We didn't have much time after dinner, so we quickly headed to where our show was. We saw Avenue Q, which was a funny musical, also with puppets. It was another good show - the actors were all very talented. Afterward we wandered around looking for a good dessert place - we found a place with amazing, giant slices of New York cheesecake! Yum!

Sunday morning we woke up early and headed across town to a well-known breakfast place, Clinton St. Baking Company. They definitely had the best pancakes we've ever had. They were amazing! We felt the need to burn some calories after breakfast and did a lot of walking that afternoon, browsing through stores and stopping for snacks. We had lunch at Katz's Deli, which is a completely unorganized, busy sandwich place, but well-worth it. Brian says it was the best Pastrami sandwich he has ever had. This is also where the famous scene from When Harry Met Sally took place. We rested a little that afternoon and then went to dinner for some New York Pizza. Then we walked around Times Square more, going in the Hershey's and M&M stores. Times Square at night is quite extraordinary!

Monday we went to the Chelsea Market and the High Line, which is a raised park made from old railways. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the market, headed back to the hotel to grab our suitcases and got on the bus back to Boston. It was a fun trip! We didn't do too many touristy things because our friends have already been to NYC many times and we figured we can do the touristy stuff on our next visit. We are so happy that we got to go on this trip together, especially since Dan & Angel moved back to California just after returning to Boston.

Now for the pictures!! Click on this link: New York Photo Album

February

February consisted on more housesitting, resulting in us living at our own home for only 15 days of the month. We enjoy housesitting - I love spending time with the furry critters. :)

I forgot to mention in January we met an old friend at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). Katherine, a girl I grew up with in Girl Scouts & Confirmation, lived in Boston for a few years before we moved out here. By the time we moved here, she was already back in California. Anyway, she was back visiting with her boyfriend so we met up at the MFA, browsed around and caught up on the past 10 years. It was wonderful to reconnect. Since we didn't see a whole lot of the museum that trip because we were talking so much, Brian and I used our tickets (within 10 days for free) and went back at the beginning of Feb with Brian's classmate, Joe. This was our 3rd time there, but Joe knows a lot about Ancient Egypt and gave us an awesome detailed personal tour of that entire section of the museum.

On the first Friday in Feb, I went to the South End with my co-worker, Roni, to browse around art galleries and vintage shops. Some of the art was very interesting (and odd) and the vintage shops were fun, but almost like a big garage sale. For $5, I bought an old Alice in Wonderland book from 1963.

We met up with Christina (my cousin Ian's girlfriend who is at Boston University) and her roommate Erin for dinner and then came back to our place for some cookie baking. Since it was right before Valentine's day, we decided it would be perfect to use my "L-O-V-E" cookie cutters that I received a few years ago at a bridal shower. The cookies turned out great and ended up making a ton! The girls took a bunch back to their dorm and I ended up taking the rest to work because they were really yummy and I didn't want to eat them all! haha. They were a hit. :)

Also in February, we learned how to make Lefse, a Norwegian flatbread made out of potatoes. Lefse making is a family tradition for our friends Ben & Tara and they taught us how to make it using their new Lefse griddle. It is quite a process, but super fun and they are so tasty with a little butter & sugar! Mmmm!

That just about sums up February (except for our trip to NYC, which will be in the next post)! Another fun-filled month! :)

January 2012

Since it has been so long since my last post, I will do a little catching up over the past couple months. January was spent mostly housesitting for my co-worker, Roni, and also for our usual 2 Beagles. We celebrated a few birthdays of friends, starting with our friend Patrick (left), who is someone we knew in CA, but recently moved out here and is also going to BC.

Brian took me on a surprise date night to a Catholic worship event called Lift Ministries. It was held at a school about 45 minutes away. It was just like old times! There was an amazing pro-life speaker, adoration, and praise & worship (right). I was in tears within minutes just by being there because it brought me right back to our youth ministry days, reminding me so much of the retreats and events we were involved in. There is something so powerful to me when I hear Christian music being played and the feeling of singing along, praying the words as loud as you want. We haven't found anything like this in Boston yet and I realized that night how much I missed it. (Although, one of the churches we attend regularly has 24-hr adoration, which is definitely awesome, but that's the closest thing we've found. -picture to left). It was the perfect date night!

There were a few snowy days, but this winter has been very unique in that we hardly had any snow on the ground! I was a little bummed, especially since I didn't get any pictures on the days we did have some snow. Brian, on the other hand, was super happy that it barely snowed and wishes every winter was like this one. We have now experienced the extremes of winter in New England!!

Blessings of 2011

Brian and I sat in adoration the other day at church and wrote down many of our blessings of 2011.

We have so much to be thankful for that happened in 2011, one being Theresa's job. The job hunt was interesting, frustrating and challenging, but I ended up starting 4 jobs, which was thrilling not to mention an amazing learning experience. However, at this point in my life, I am looking forward to just having 1 full time + 1 per diem.

Another blessing has been our car ~ we were a little reluctant to get it, but now that we have it, we love it and are so happy we have it. We still haven't driven in the snow yet, but I think that day will be just around the corner.

More thanksgiving for 2011:

• The health of ourselves & family
• Friendships - those in Boston and back home
  
• All the wonderful people who came to visit us this year, making 2011 so memorable
• Exploring many new places, including Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, as well as Cape Cod
• Housesitting opportunities
• Theresa's 1st publication

To celebrate the end of a fabulous year and start off 2012, we went to our friends' Cory & Stephanie's party in the Seaport District of Boston. We didn't know anyone except them, but they didn't know most of the people there either (I guess one of the guests invited like 20 people). It was nice to have something to do...we also picked up dinner from a great Chinese restaurant that night before the party. We like to say Chinese food on New Years Eve is a tradition now. :)

We are looking forward to another wonderful year - we can't wait to see what God has planned for 2012!!! Happy New Year!!

December 2011

A stuffed animal Christmas Tree at the Four Seasons Hotel

December happenings for Brian & Theresa:

• Theresa started off the month with a lovely eye infection - I could barely open my eye for two days! It was bright red and pouring out tears, not to mention painful to open. I spent my two days off with my left eye closed, doing pretty much nothing. I finally went to the eye doctor as an emergency case (the day my insurance card came in the mail!) and I was started on antibiotic eye drops. The doc told me to use 1 drop every hour while awake and every 2 hrs while asleep - I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. I had to set an alarm to wake up every couple hrs, but that was only for a couple days. I guess eye infections are followed very closely, so I had to go back the following day, Friday, and then again on Monday, Thursday, and then weekly for follow-up appointments. In addition to the antibiotic drops, I started a steroid drop for a couple weeks. So, throughout most of December I got to wear my broken glasses (that Brian accidentally stepped on last Xmas), but just before Christmas, the Dr. told me I can start wearing contacts again and my eye was pretty much back to normal! Yay! I really liked the doctor (Dr. Hu) and have arranged for my next appt on Brian's bday next year. :) Sorry I forgot to photo document this event. ;)
  

• We spent an evening at the Four Season's Hotel Lounge with Ben and Tara. They had a gift certificate there and treated us to a spectacular evening with some outstanding food! Not to mention that our server was pretty awesome. Below is a pic of the 4 of us with a giant chocolate cake we had for dessert - it was amazing!! :) We had a wonderful time.
  

• We dogsat Callie in Cambridge. We watched her (and her sister Cassie who has since passed away) last January in a gorgeous new apartment, but last time there was a ton of snow and we didn't have a car. [However, Brian was on winter break from school and I didn't have a job last year, so we didn't have a lot of need for the car at that time, but it is essential now.] I got to park in the underground parking garage, which was so awesome - I would leave work when it was freezing cold and only have to walk outside for a few minutes while walking to the car, and then be indoors upon my arrival home. It was great. Brian really wants our next place to have covered parking, but that's not easy to find around here. Since this apartment was right behind a giant Whole Foods, we spent lots of time in there, browsing around the non-food sections and this was one of my favorite findings, Nose Frida
  

• We went Candlepin Bowling for the first time! This type of bowling started in 1880 in Massachusetts, about 15 years before the standard bowling. It involves smaller pins (much skinnier) and a small, light ball. It was a lot of fun, but much harder! We went with our friends Dan & Angel and Josh & Amanda.

• I hosted a girls afternoon tea Christmas craft party for some wives of classmates of Brian's. There were 6 of us and we made Christmas Trees out of buttons - they all turned out so nice!This is a picture of my tree that I made (left) and a sample tree (right - I used colors that might not have been used)

Deviled Eggs, Cucumber Mint Sandwiches, Scones, Cookies, & Tea

Pictured here from left to right: Deb, Tara, Cate, Kate, and Susanna

• Christmas - I had to work Christmas Eve evening and Christmas Day day, so that meant about 5 hrs of sleep in between. But I got Thanksgiving and New Years off, and I told my manager I was really flexible, so it wasn't a problem. We had a potluck lunch on Christmas day - we had a ham, mashed potatoes, vegetables, salad and lots of sweets. I came home Christmas day to a wonderful dinner made by Brian. On my way home from work, I saw this in the middle of the road:
  

• Then there was Brian's Golden Birthday on the 27th. Some friends of ours (John & Susanna) were housesitting in Wellesley for a professor, so we went over there for dinner and dessert. Ben & Tara joined us too! The house was gorgeous - I think there were 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, 3 stories including a movie theater in the basement. The owners actually asked them to have people over because there was so much food left over from the holidays, so we were happy to be able to partake. I ordered a blueberry cheesecake from Finale for dessert and it was delicious!! Afterward we watched a movie in the theater - fun!
• I went to The Clayroom in Brookline for some crafting time with some co-workers. The Clayroom has all sorts of clay items to paint...but because it was right after Christmas, there were a lot of items out of stock. I decided to paint what I thought was a vase, but can also serve as a wine chiller. It's a pretty cool place and I will pick up the finished product next week. In the picture on the left is Roni, who painted a square bowl - she lives about a block away from us and we occasionally help with her dogs. Rosalind is the blonde in the other picture, she is painting a quiche dish.

What a fun and eventful month!!!

November

Some catching up for November:

• We visited the Pompeii Exhibit at the Museum of Science. It was pretty neat. In case you want to know more about it: Mt. Vesuvius volcano erupted near Pompeii, Italy in 79 A.D., covering the whole town in layers of ash and debris. The city of Pompeii was lost and forgotten for 17 centuries; the ash also preserved much of the city "as if in a time capsule", which is what was on display in the exhibit, including body casts of the victims.

• We went on The Spirit of Boston Harbor Dinner Cruise, courtesy of Chris and Cate. They had tickets to go for their anniversary, but weren't feeling well, so they gave us their tickets. It was a 3 hr dinner cruise around the harbor, which was really nice - we found ourselves talking a lot about our time here in Boston and what a beautiful city it is. :) The waiter thought it was our anniversary, so we played along and celebrated.

• Fall went by too quickly! Now that I am working 40 hrs a week, I didn't have many opportunities to go out and take pics of the foliage. However, I did manage to snap a few shots - I truly love the 4 seasons!!