Tuesday, October 31, 2006


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Chris and I were on our way home tonight after running some errands and stopping in at our friends Joy and Brians. We were driving now far from our house when we saw this toilet leaning up against a light pole. It was funny, so we took a picture.

We also stopped in at Starbucks on the way home, it was about 9:45 pm and we were sitting in there visiting with the people who worked there when this rather big lady in her 40's at least came in carrying a back pack and a mask on and was like "trick or treat" in a thick mexican accent. And the girl behind the counter was like "what, where's the kids" and the lady was like "huh? no kids, just me, no treats?" It was SO bizzare and so weird and it took all we had to hold our laughter in until after she walked out.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Happy Monday

First of all I cannot believe how many of you have not heard of the book "Bridge to Teribithia." Perhaps go here and read about it and you will remember it, maybe you just don't remember the name. Either way I will go being excited about the movie all on my own.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I wish I had exciting stories to tell you of all our adventures this weekend, but we really didn't do much. Saturday morning we got up and went out for breakfast and did some shopping at Costco etc. I love costco, I really do, I could spend hours there. Saturday night of course was Hockey Night in Canada, we sure miss our Saturday nights with Jen and Ryan.

Sunday morning we met our friends Joy and Brian for breakfast at this little cafe. It was one of those tiny little hole in the wall places that was really crowded and the food was super good. We had a nice time and it was fun to hang out with their little guy Josh, go check him out here....How cute is he? After breakfast was church, Chris and I have been "testing" out a new church lately, we like it but we still miss our old church on some levels so we are still in a waiting and decision process. We will just go with it and know when the time is right we will know where we are supposed to be. After church was the football game where we got to watch the Seahawks lose AGAIN, tough times with key players out with injuries.

After the game we did some shopping, had some Subway and that was our weekend. Now for those of you who have not blogged about your own yet, get to it!!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Bridge to Terabithia

Who else out there is excited as I am for this movie? This was one of my favorite books when I was growing up and I cannot wait to see it.

http://movies.aol.com/movie/bridge-to-terabithia/25017/trailer
Chris and I had lunch at our favortie burrito joint, Anna's Taqueria. Anna's is by far the best burrito place I have ever been. If you are ever in Boston you must find an Anna's and see for youself, I promise you will not be dissapoitned. We even took pictures for you all to enjoy.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

My favorite client

I love this guy. He is about 8 months old and is getting SO big. I started walking him when he was right around 3 months. He is the most mellow puppy I have ever met. Isn't he gorgeous though!? He is going to be a big big boy, he is a Lab, Great Dane, Boxer mix!!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

I am challenging myself to blog at least once a day from now on, even if it is just a photo or something. I know how annoying it can be to continue to go to someone's blog and not see updates and I decided I don't want to be one of those people anymore:)

I was watching the Today Show this morning and they had a segment on a 23 year old woman who had a preventative double-mastectomy. 2 family members had died from breast cancer and her mum also had it. She went and got tested to see if she had the specific gene that put her in an even higher risk category and she tested positive. So 6 weeks ago she had both her breasts removed. It got me thinking and I thought I would throw it your way to see what your thoughts are on something like that. My mum had breast cancer in her early 40's and later passed away from another form of cancer. I suppose that puts me in a place where I should probably be more active about being checked etc. But I am not sure how I feel about someone having a double mastectomy "just in case" they get cancer 20 years down the road. I don't think she was wrong at all for what she did, it is her life and her decision and I assume it was something she thought long and hard about before she went through with it and I applaud her courage. Just something I thought I would throw at ya this morning to get the wheels turning in your active little brains;)

Kirsten I wanted to let ya know I am thinking about and praying for your mum today, I hope all goes well and she is as good as new asap.

Oilers game tonight, GO OIL! They continue to play well and are off to a 6-2 start on the season. Here's hoping they play well tonight.

In football news the Seahawks starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is out for at least 3 weeks with a knee sprain. He was hit early in the 3rd quarter on Sunday. It was a definite late hit and there should have been a penalty on the play. Of course there wasn't and the questionable reffing in the NFL continues week after week. Here is hoping the Hawks can hang in there until Matt gets back. Little tidbit for you....Matt Hasselbeck is the brother-in-law of View host Elizabeth Hasselbeck:)

Also I am looking for some new books to read, so please leave me your suggestions.

Have a great day!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Sports Weekend

Friday night Chris and I decided to go out to grab some dinner since I didn't feel like cooking. We went to Old Country Buffet since it is generally quick and cheap. As we were paying the host lady at the front she asked if we liked hockey. We told her yes and so she asked if we wanted tickets to the Boston University hockey game. Of course we said yes. I guess some lady who came in for dinner and has season tickets couldn't go to the game so she left the tickets for the lady to find someone who wanted them. Along with the two tickets was a parking pass for the underground parking under the arena. Nice!! So we ate a quick dinner and hopped in the car to try and get there before puck drop.

We ended up being about 10 mins late. When we got there BU was already down 2-0....yikes. The tickets we had said "club access" and we were like I wonder what this means. As we were walking around the arena checking things out we saw the Club area where we were allowed into since we had the fancy "club access" tickets. We had already eaten but apparently those tickets get you a big ole smorgassboard of food, beverages, snacks etc. There are a bunch of tables almost like a cafe setting and big screen TV's to watch the game while you eat and stuff. It was pretty cool.

Anyways we went to our seats after we hung out in the club area for a bit. The game was so much fun. I had never been to a college hockey game before. Actually I have never been to a college sporting event in the United States before. College sports is huge here, its crazy. Anyways behind both nets were the student sections and they were filled with people wearing red and white and chanting all sorts of things all game long. The band was also in one of the student sections, between play the band played. It was pretty cool, I guess I always thought bands were totally a football thing, I guess not. The game itself was exciting and fast paced. Some of those guys were pretty good, especially the goalies. BU was down 2-0 after the 1st but made it a one goal game in the second. They tied the game up early in the 3rd period and then took the lead in late in the 3rd to make it 3-2. Northeastern however scored 41 seconds later to tie it up 3-3. BU then scored with 56 seconds left to once again take the lead and won the game 4-3. It was a lot of fun and we are already looking at the schedule to see which games we would like to go to.

That was our Friday night, it was a fun time.

Yesterday we went our for breakfast and Costco but other than that it was a stay at home and chill kinda day. Last night of course both the Oilers and the Avalanche played so that was our evening.

Today we are off to watch the Seahawks take on the Vikings at home. GO HAWKS!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend:)

Thursday, October 19, 2006

I love fall. Today was a perfect fall day. The sun was out and it wasn't too cold or hot. Just perfect.

My dog is eating like a pig lately, I don't know why. Can dogs go through growth spurts at the age of three? LOL

Chris's birthday is in 2 weeks and I need to figure out what to get him. Actually I have a pretty good idea now that think about it, but I can't very well tell you since he reads this and all.

We are dog sitting for our landlords this week, we took them to get haircuts on Tuesday, it amazes me how much smaller and younger and CUTER they look when they get all that shaggy hair shaved off, I wish they would cut it more often.

Hockey season is in full swing and I love it. Lots of yelling at the TV this time of year. Fun times!

GO OILERS!!

Friday, October 13, 2006

We're Baaaaaaack

So the reason we went to NYC was to see my very good friend Tania who is from back home in Sherwood Park but now lives in India. We go back about 10 years, she went to India about 7 years ago on a university work program and ended up meeting some street kids who changed her life. She went back a year or so later and has been there ever since. She started and runs a non-profit organization called One! International. Check out the website to read more about what she does. She was in New York City receiving an award from Childrens Hope India. We did not go to the awards banquet she was at as it was a 200 dollar a head event. We did however spend all day Monday in the city with her and her mom and we had a wonderful time.

Chris and I left here around 5:30 am Monday morning and arrived at our hotel in New Jersey around 9:30am. NYC is only about a 3 1/2 hour drive from us which is really awesome, I love being so close. We stayed in New Jersey because its WAY cheaper and then drove to the Staten Island Ferry (about 20 mins from our hotel) and took that into the city. It is definitely the way to do it because who wants to look for or pay for parking in New York City.....NOT ME! The Staten Island Ferry is free and has an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty. It takes about a half hour and it is really cool. I love watching the city get bigger and closer. The ferry docks right at the tip of lower Manhattan.

When we got off the ferry we had about an hour to kill until we met up with Tania and her mom so we putzed around lower Manhattan for a while. The weather was AMAZING. For October on the east coast it was unbelievable. It was at least in the mid 80's and the skies were clear, it was the perfect day.

We met up with Tania and her mom around 1:30 pm and immediately set out to look for somewhere to have lunch. We were happy to find a TGI Fridays not too far away and figured we could enjoy a relatively cheap lunch. We had a great time visiting and catching up. After lunch we decided to wander down to Water Street where there was a Columbus Day Festival going on. There was hundreds of vendors....Food, clothes, jewelry. Anything you can think of you could have found it there. All the food smelled so good, too bad we had already eaten. We ended up walking around and having some ice cream on the South Street Seaport. It was beautiful, on one side of us was the city, on the other was downtown Brooklyn across the water and on the other was the Brooklyn Bridge. It was awesome. We also met up with one of Tania's friends who lives in Brooklyn and is a real life British nanny. LOL. Just like Supernanny, accent and all! We headed to Starbucks for a little "break" before we headed for the subway to go up town to Rockefeller Center.

I have been on the New York Subway before but this time I really noticed how clean and somewhat nice it actually is. The subway here is way older and way crappier looking in parts. I guess one just always assumes that the NYC subway is dirty and scary and it totally isn't.

We had really wanted to go up to the top of the Empire State Building but were advised by locals that the line would be LOOOOOOOOONG and even more so considering it was a holiday. They told us that Rockefeller Center now had an observation deck appropriately called "Top of the Rock." It was a dollar more than the Empire State Building but we had no line and actually had a view of the Empire State Building as opposed to being in it. I am scared of heights and I HATE elevators so it was a little nervewracking for me getting in the elevator to go up 66 floors. The roof of the elevator was clear and the elevator shaft was all lit up with lights and stuff. I only looked up a few times but it was kinda cool to see the elevator moving up. The elevator goes up to the 66th floor but there are 4 more levels above that. So it is actually 70 floors and there is an escalator and stairs to go up the last 4. I was scared at first but once I settled in it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The view was like no other, it was unbelievable. You can see everything, The Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Times Square, Empire State building etc. In some ways I wish we had gone up when it was still full daylight but at the same time to see all those lights for miles and miles was amazing. It was worth way more than the 17 bucks to go up there. I am not sure how long we were actually up there for, it was quite some time though and we took a ton of pictures. New York is such a bustling city and to be that high up and see it from that view point is so peaceful.

After we headed back down to the bottom it was time for some supper so we headed to Subway. After we ate we headed to meet another friend of Tania's at a rooftop bar called 230 Fifth. When we got there the guy standing outside informed us there was a dress code and that no hats were allowed. Chris and I were both wearing hats that day so I was mortified when I had to take it off. I also had a sweater tied around my waist and the doorman looked at me and pointed to my sweater and smugly said "your going to need to do something about that." It was actually really funny (although I was mortified at the time.) He wasn't being a jerk, just doing his job. Oh well, once we got up there it didn't matter. It was amazing, it was dark except for candles on all the tables. We were on the 20th floor and outside on the roof in New York City. So as we sat drinking our NINE dollar Heinekens we chatted and enjoyed the clear beautiful sky and the amazing of view of the Empire State building directly in front of us.

After we enjoyed our drinks we headed to Penn Station to get on the subway where we went our separate ways. I was sad to say goodbye to Tania and her mom, it was so good to be able to spend the whole day with them just enjoying each others company. I sure miss Tania but I am so excited for all the amazing things that are happening over in India.

The next morning we slept in and didn't check out of our hotel until after 12pm. We headed over to IHOP for a late breakfast. After breakfast we headed back towards the city, this time to Queens to do a little more sight seeing. I am not sure if any of you watch The King of Queens and in the opening credits they are at a park with a globe behind them. Anyways we wanted to go see that and get some pictures of it. It was really cool and really big.

After that it was time to head home. On the way we decided to stop in New Haven, Connecticut to check out the Yale campus. It was so pretty, the buildings were so old and all stone. It was fun to walk around and take some pictures.

And that was that. We had a nice little 2 day adventure. I love going to NYC, it fascinates me. I highly recommend that if you haven't been that someday you go, you will not be disappointed.

Staten Island Ferry

Lady Liberty

Coming into lower Manhattan on the ferry

Brooklyn Bridge

on South Street Pier

Our AMAZING city views

Our view of the Empire State Building from the rooftop bar

Chris wanted to be part of the statue

A cemetery near the Yale campus

All the buildings were stone

Monday, October 09, 2006

We are off....

To New York City for a couple of days. We will be back Tuesday night! My friend Tania who some of you may know is in New York from India for a few days so we are heading over to spend the day with her. I will tell you all about it when we get back:) Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

The Battle of Alberta


I love fall for many reasons, but the one reason that really stands out right now is that it means hockey is back. The 2006-2007 NHL season kicked off last night with 3 games. One of those games happened to be Colorado (Chris's team) and Dallas. Dallas won in OT which left me with a very disappointed and crabby hubby. Oh the joys of hockey season. Tonight the Oilers kick off the season at home against who else but the Calgary Flames. Battle of Alberta....I love it. Lets hope Chris is not left with a crabby wife tonight! GO OILERS!!!!

A belated congrats to Tammy and Jeremy on the birth of Maya Marie Williams. She's beautiful and I am so happy for you guys!

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

All Good Things Must Come to an End.......:(

And finally we have come to the last day of our trip recap. We were so busy when we were in Seattle, but it was never really meant to be a vacation where we sat around and did nothing. It was worth all the driving around etc that we did. We had a great time and enjoyed every second with all the friends and family we saw.

Our last day there we got up in the morning and I started doing laundry so we didn't have to pack dirty laundry only to have to do it when we got home. Most of the day was spent doing that and packing. It was nice to spend the day just relaxing at the house with Chris's mom before it was time for Andrea, Bryan and the boys to come over to go to Bullwinkles Family Fun Center.

Andrea and the boys arrived around 4pm and Bryan not long after and we headed out around 5. When we got there the first thing the boys wanted to do was Go Karts. Andrea and I watched while Gavin and Trevor "drove" with Uncle Chris and Bryan. They had so much fun.

After they were done with that it was time for some mini golf. I don't remember who won but I do know I had a hole in one and I am pretty sure Gavin did as well.

We headed inside after min golf to have some supper. The boys had cheeseburgers and we had pizza. It was actually pretty good pizza, I was impressed. You see I have turned into a pizza snob ever since moving to Boston. Anyways we got two large pizza's between the 4 of us, they messed up one of the orders so ended up making us a third pizza for free which we sent home with Bryan and Andrea. After we ate we got a bunch of tokens and we all got to play games and stuff. It was a really fun night. I am glad Chris and I decided to take them all there for our last night in Seattle. We sure miss you guys a lot.

We left Bullwinkles around 9 pm and when we got back to Chris's parents it was time to finish packing and get ourselves ready to head to the airport. Bryan and Andrea headed home and not long after we were on our way to the airport. John and Linda dropped us off around 9:45pm. We were sad to say goodbye, we really enjoyed spending time with them. Thanks for having us all week and feeding us and letting us rack up the miles on your cars. We really appreciated it!

Once we got checked our bags and went through security we got some drinks and sat in our boarding area just waiting. I had thought that since we were flying out so late (11pm) that our flight and the airport itself wouldn't be very busy. I was shocked when our flight was full and other flights boarding from the same area were also jam packed. I guess flying red eye is probably cheaper, maybe that's why. Chris let me sit in the window seat on the way home. For some reason I freaked out a lot more during takeoff than I had when we left Boston just 12 days earlier. It was weird, I mean I really freaked out, my heart was racing, my eyes filled with tears and my hands were shaking. Yet as usual once we were in the air and the flight attendants started moving around etc I was fine.

I swear the flight attendants were baking cookies during takeoff. LOL. When they came around for our first round of drinks etc they gave us chocolate chip cookies that were warm and the chocolate was melted. After we settled in with our drinks, Chris and I got a digi player which costs 10 bucks but has like 10 movies on it, TV shows, sports etc. We ended up watching The Fantastic 4 which was a pretty good movie. At least it kept my mind occupied. After it was over I splept for about an hour while Chris watched an old college football game. Chris who usually sleeps like a log actually only slept for about an hour as well.

My favorite part of the flight was when the sun started to rise. We were on the wrong side of the plane to see the actual sunrise but it was still beautiful regardless. I have never seen anything more amazing or beautiful. It sure makes you appreciate God's wonder and beauty in a whole new way. I am not sure my camera did it justice but you get the idea.

We landed at 7 am. By the time we got home and got our car and drove all the way up to Salem (about 40 mins) to pick up Belle and do some dog walking and got back home we could barely keep our eyes open. I was SO excited to see my puppy and she seemed just as excited to see us. Apparently she was a pretty good girl while we were gone. yay! Thank you so much to John and Elisa for taking such good care of her, we really really appreciate it, you guys are awesome.

As if it will be a surprise to know blogger doesn't want to post anymore pics, I will go ahead and post them below. Enjoy!


My favorite picture I took from the plane