First things first.......You ever have those days where you want to pull your hair out, yell, scream and cry all at the same time!?!? I know all you girls know exactly what I am talking about. And for all you men out there no it's NOT that time of the month.

With that said, I really don't feel like blogging today but I will. And only cause Andrea asked oh so nicely to tell her about living here in the states etc...

I really honestly don't see a lot of significant differences, not anything life altering anyways. A lot of the little things I noticed and still do are the things like say asking for a side of gravy in a restaurant. They first of all look at you like your retarded and second when you ask for a side of gravy here 9 times out of 10 they will bring you the kind of gravy you put on like country fried steak or something. I have found this to be the same all over the USA. They cannot phathom the idea of putting gravy on their french fries. Or vinegar for that matter, pretty much any restaurant in Canada you will find a bottle of white vinegar on the table or near by. Americans seem to find this odd and they more likely have white vinegar in their closet with cleaning supplies. Not all Americans call pop soda, but out here on the east coast they pretty much all say it. So when I order "pop" I always get looked at funny. But in the big scheme of things, it's all the same to me. Before I ever moved here I always thought Americans in general were not nice, that they thought they were all better than Canada etc... While I am sure there are plenty of Americans who do think this way I have learned its not the majority. I have yet to meet someone with the obnoxious we are better than everyone attitude. And it makes me sad that so many people have it all wrong and think most people here are that way. Sure maybe I am bias because I live here now....Too me though, its all the same. It's all the same people just trying to live life.

Boston in general is a great place to live. Expensive mind you, but as for the city itself I like it a lot. I had no idea what to expect when we came out here last year. But it is BEAUTIFUL here. Boston is a very very OLD city. Most of the buildings and houses are old and gorgeous. The churches here are incredible because the majority of them are HUGE and brick and completely breathtaking to look at. New England is just amazing in general. For those of you who don't know New England consists of 6 states. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Fall is like nothing I have ever seen anywhere.

The thing that is so different here from Seattle is that in Seattle, other than Portland, Oregon you generally need to drive a really long time to get to another major city or state for that matter. Here you can pretty much go any which way and be in another state in an hour or less. Whether it be Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut etc... New York City even is only a 4 or so hour drive from us.














For the most part Boston is great. It's beautiful here.

** I don't know why these pics are so off after I posted them, I tired to fix it so they didn't look so out of place but got tired of fighting with them**

So Shelley was asking how I met Chris and ended up moving to these here United States...and when I thought about it I realized that a lot of you probably don't know. So I figured hey what a great idea for something to blog about.

So I will give ya'll the readers digest version, or at least I will try to. I myself grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and Chris grew up just outside of Seattle, Washington. I decided to move to Vancouver BC in June 2001. After I had moved there I met Chris on a christian dating site. We started talking and became friends really more than anything. That was around November and then in December he drove up to Vancouver to meet me for the first time. It was fun, we went to movies, played mini golf, hung out with my friends, went out for dinner, played pool and drove lots and lots. But after 2 days he had to go home and I was playing miss shy and so he went home with the thought that we were going to be just good friends. A few weekends later a friend and I went down to Seattle to see him and I think we figured out then that we actually really did like each other. And that was that....we "officially" started dating in January 2002. Got engaged Valentines day 2003 and married Sept 2004. And here we are almost 4 years later. The decision for me to move here as opposed to him coming to Canada was really about his job with Starbucks. Had an opportunity come up in Canada like the one in Boston we probably would have taken that. But nothing showed up and here we are in Boston. It's a long way away from home but we like it here. So there you have it, the condensed version.

Chris got home from Seattle on Saturday night and I was SO happy to have him home, as was Belle. Sunday was an awesome day we stayed home and did nothing but watch TV and movies ALL day. It was great to just be together after not seeing each other for 6 days.

Today I had a much needed day out with a girlfriend. We went and saw "Just Like Heaven" and it was SO good. I knew I was going to like it but I didn't really know if it was something I wanted to see in theatres. But it was totally worth it. After the movie we went to good ol' Starbucks and enjoyed some drinks and a loooooooooooong chat. Refreshing, you know the ones I'm talking about. Just good "girl time" to talk about life. I haven't really had a lot of that since I moved here so it was wonderful to have that little breath of fresh air. And I have to say how PROUD of my doggie I am. Belle is one big ball of energy, she has some bad habits we are trying so hard to break her of such as jumping on people cause she is so darned excited. Anyways when Carolynne came over today before the movie Belle was surprisingly good. Sure she was excited but she only jumped a little, she was just so darn good it made me happy.

This one was my favorite!! 

Attack time 

You gotta love Gavin's fake cheese smile!! 

Hockey Time With Uncle Chris

Check out that jersey and they aren't even Canadian:) His parents are raising him right!!

Storytime with Uncle Chris...he tried to make a face, but too me he just looks like he has no teeth! lol 

Storytime with Grandma 

Alright....Shelley needs entertainment folks and I am not one to let down. Although I cannot guarantee the entertainment value of this post I can guarantee some form of ramble about something:)

Well only two more sleeps till Chris comes home....YAY! It really hasn't been so bad, I just miss him. My doggie misses him.....actually, we have this cement step (I don't know why) that is carpeted in the middle of our hallway leading to our kitchen and most days Belle will sit on it around 5 or 6 because she knows that is when Chris usually gets home. And sat there she has...everynight this week. After sitting longer than normal she gives up and heads back to the laundry basket to curl up. Awwww! My puppy misses her daddy. She is going to pee ALL OVER the place when he gets home Saturday night. I however will not pee all over the place, I am pretty good about that;) Anyways he is having a good time, heck I would be having a good time if I got to stay at The Westin for free!

He has had some quality time with his fam. Tuesday he was over at Shawn (his best friend) and Celeste's for supper and today he will be spending the day with our good friend Jen and her fiance (whenever he gets off work) Ryan. Tomorrow he has the joy of going through some of our stuff that is at his parents and packing it into his hockey bag to bring back. He is also super excited about bringing his golf clubs back with him so can get golfing again. I think tomorrow night he is hanging out with Shawn again. But I will let him tell you about his week when he gets home.

I thought I should mention a new blog that is on our links....Ich bin ein Londoner. This is our friend Chris from our church out here who just recently moved to London, England to work with a homeless shelter there. Check out his blog, leave him a comment. He's a good guy and doing some awesome things.

This also reminds me of my dear friend Tania. To make a very long story short Tania went to India during university on a work program, she ended up meeting some children while she was over there who totally changed her life. Tania has pretty much lived in India since....only going home to Canada for a few months a year. She had this amazing vision of helping these children living in the slums on the streets. Through a lot of hard work and a lot of heart she founded a non profit organization called One! International. Please check out the website to learn more about what they do over there. She has worked so hard and made so much happen since she has been there. She runs a school where they teach street children who are sponsored. It really opens your eyes to what one person can do. Anyways just thought I would tell ya'll about that cause I think it's awesome and she has had such an awesome impact on SO many lives.

This is a pic of Lori, me and Tania a loooooong time ago. I thought I would post it since we were talking about T!! Lori do you remember this pic??

Alright....I think that is ALL for now. I hope Shelley that this brought some form of entertainment to your day:)

Boats, Planes and Anniversaries!!

First things first....Our first blog post was a year ago today! Sept 19/2004. It's a little insane how time flies. We have been in Boston a year almost. I sit here and try and figure where it all went, a whole year and it feels like yesterday! Anyways.....

We had the most amazing time last night on out cruise. For those of you who forgot or didn't read my post about it last week....Chris and I went on a Spirit of Boston dinner cruise last night to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary which was on Sept 12.

First we found a sweet parking spot which made us super happy cause it was at a meter. We thought we were going to have to park in the lot and pay. So I was very happy with the FREE parking spot:) We got there a little before 5:30pm, got our boarding passes. While we were waiting to board Chris took some pictures of the boat which I will post as soon as I get them back. The boat has 4 levels. There is the bottom level which I think is where the kitchens are and where all the cooking and prep happens. The main level there is tables all around the interior and in the middle is a dance floor (and DJ) and at the front is the buffet and in the back is the bar. There level above that has a staircase leading up to it just off the dance floor and there is a bunch more tables up there. The 4th level is the outside deck on the top of the boat.

Once we got inside and were showed to our table we went out to check out the top outside deck and took a few pictures and then went back inside and sat and munched on the rolls and breadsticks etc.. that were on our table. It was about a half hour or so when I all of a sudden noticed we were backing up. It was a pretty weird feeling at first sitting on a boat at a table. I was convinced my water and everything else was going to go flying. When we we were done backing out and facing the right way we were off. Within about 5 minutes our waiter brought us our salads. Which were super yummy by the way. Reminded me a lot of Olive Garden salad. As we were eating our salad 2 of the hostesses and another guy were on the dance floor singing their hearts out and sending us on our way. At the end of the song we had these streamers we were all to throw in the air and yell "Bon Voyage". Well let's just say I TRIED but my stupid streamer didn't want to be part of the fun.

The boat sets off right near Logan International Airport...so we went out to the top deck again after our salad and watched the planes fly over to land. And when I say fly over, I really mean FLY OVER, like RIGHT above us. Chris took some pics of how close the planes were, and they too will get posted once I get them back.

Dinner was AMAZING!!! Roast Beef, ham, teriyaki chicken, rice, vegetables, muscles, crabmeat, potatoes, lasagna. I didn't eat any of the seafood (cause i'm sorry but muscles look WRONG) or the ham (since I am allergic) but the rest was SO good. There was some more stuff, but off the top of my head I cannot remember. After dinner we decided to have a few drinks. Chris of course just went with beer, he had a Sam Adams and I had a YUMMY drink called Raspberry Fusion. If I remember correctly it had Absolut Raspberry vodka, some citrusy stuff, sprite and one other thing I forget. It was very good! Soon came dessert which was just as good. I had the Creme brulee Cheesecake and Chris had the Chocolate Truffle Layer Cake. By the time we ate those we were both stuffed. So we sat for a while and watched as some of the staff sang and put on a show for us. Afterwards Chris ordered himself another beer and I had a Hpnotiq Cosmopolitan. It has been probably a year since I have had a martini of any kind and I love Cosmos. It was SO good, it better have been good...it was 10 bucks. lol.

Anyways it was a wonderful night...singing, dancing, beautiful weather, great food, great drinks. We also purchased the picture they take of you as you are boarding and got this great little folder/frame thing with it.

On another note. Hubby is now on his way too Seattle. Curtis picked us up at 8 this morning to take us too the airport. I waited with Chris while he checked in and until he had to go through security. I was very sad to see him go. It's funny how once you live with someone for a certain period of time you are so used to having them around, it makes me wonder how I lived alone! ha. Anyways I gave him a great big hug and watched and waited when he went through security. I then headed over to the other terminal to get some Starbucks and wait to watch his plane take off. It ended up being delayed....but I waited anyways. Every since I was a kid I loved just sitting and watching the planes land and take off. Yet I am terrified to fly in one! ha! So anywho he called me when they landed in Chicago and they are set to land in Seattle now in about 2 hours and 20 mins. Fun times! I miss him, but so glad he gets to go and have some time with his fam (especially his nephews) and his best friend Shawn.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Other than the cruise we watched Fever Pitch with some friends Friday, Saturday in the day we grocery shopped, did laundry, went shopping for clothes and stuff. The went out to dinner and a movie with friends. We saw the Constant Gardener. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but it was such a good movie.

Alright that is all....sorry this was so long, but if you have suffered through it all leave us a comment, let us know you stopped by! Have a good one!

Oh and here are some pics I found of line of the inside of the boat and stuff.

My Husband the Coffee Bean

My husband cracks me up sometimes....this was a good one so I had to share. As most of you know Chris has worked for Starbucks for the last 3 1/2 years. The first 2 1/2 was spent in Seattle working at the Corporate office directing calls between the technicians and the stores. This past year he has been here in Boston as a technician. Anyways, among our family and friends Chris and I are known as the "coffee" people. People generally know that where we go there is a good chance a pound of Starbucks coffee follows. Anyways I was signed into msn messenger, he signed in from work and I hear my computer telling me someone is trying to talk to me. And this is what he said....

Chris says:
hello. it is i, the great macchiato.

LOL.....maybe its just me...but I thought this was super funny!

Stuff Stuff n more Stuff....

I forgot to mention the other day that when we were out watching the Seahawks game that we ended paying TWELVE dollars for pop. I know I know, living on the east coast I am supposed to say soda, but I refuse to give in;) Now I understand that some places charge for refills, what I don't understand is why our waiter never told us that. Usually when you ask for another pop if they charge the waiter will be like "just so you know we charge for those", well I was so mad. 12 bucks......that's madness. Had we known we would have only had one pop each instead of three and drank water.

Have I mentioned how super excited I am for fall. Don't get me wrong, I love summer...BUT I love fall. I love how all the trees look, especially here, I love going for walks in parks and crunching all the leaves when you step. I especially love the cold and crisp air on some fall mornings. I cannot wait to take pictures of how beautiful fall is here. I remember when we drove out here last year it was right at the end of September and all the trees were already turning gorgeous, it was amazing. People had always told me how beautiful New England was in the fall, but I never really fully knew what they meant till I saw it for myself.

Have I also mentioned how super excited I am for hockey to start!? Pre-season starts tomorrow night with the Oil at home against the Flames. And we finally re-signed Ryan Smyth which I was starting to get really worried about. But all is good.

I need to go out and by something new to wear Sunday night....AND I forgot to blog about the Old Navy gift card I found in the pocket of a coat I haven't worn in sometime. Christmas 2003 I received a CD and a gift card for Old Navy from Chris's aunt and uncle. I spent some of the gift card and then I lost it. I was so mad....well the other day I was going through some stuff and I decided I wanted to try on my leather jacket to see if it fits me again. And wouldn't you know it, I put it on and when I put my hand in the left pocket there was that darn old navy gift card! I called the number on the back right away to see how much money was left on it. $10.50, yipee! It's like finding lost money. As far as the coat goes, I still have a little ways to go before it fits...BOOOOOO:(

Hope everyone is having a great week!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

To me and my wonderful hubby! Yep it's true, today was our 1 year anniversary....and I still haven't killed him so that must be a good sign right!? ;) But really he is so very very wonderful and I am SO BLESSED to have such a wonderful man in my life and I love him with all my heart!

For our anniversary we decided to go on one of those Spirit of Boston dinner cruises that Chris went on with his work a little while ago. But it turns out if we wait till next week we can get a 2 for 1 deal, who wants to pass that up?? Not me! So we are going on that next Sunday night (the 18th), I am SO excited. It's a 3 hour cruise in and around Boston harbor, dinner and dancing etc. It's going to be a good time! But we still wanted to go somewhere for dinner on our actual anniversary so we decided to go to Red Robin in Manchester Connecticut. They don't have any in Massachusetts and it sucks cause it's one of our fav restaurants. Manchester is right on the outskirts of Hartford and is about an hour and a half drive from us. So might not sound very romantic but like I said we don't get to go there often and we are going on the dinner cruise next week. After dinner we headed to Starbucks (go figure) and I tried a Pumpkin Spice Latte and it was SO yummy. I think that may be my new favorite for a while.

My weekend did end much better than it started.....Saturday night Chris and I stayed home and watched some movies. If you are a wine drinker I highly suggest watching Sideways. It was so good, much better of a movie than I thought it was going to be. We watched it while we drank a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. We also watched Hitch which was pretty funny. Kevin James is always good for a laugh!

Sunday after church we headed out to a sports bar called the Sports Depot
to watch the Seattle Seahawks game. This place was cool...they have like 63 big flat screen tvs. There was about 10 different football games on and fans of all sorts. Fun times! Well aside from the fact that the Hawks turned the ball over FOUR freaking times and ended up losing 26-14 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. But the food was good and at least we got to watch the game. That may be where we end up most Sunday afternoons for the games unless we find somewhere better.

With that I am off to bed!!