I've Never Been to Boston in the Fall

But I have in the Summertime!  And it was fabulous!  I'm posting pictures now and text will come in the next few days.  

Edit:

Okay kids, it's a few days later.

Here we go.

First of all I have to explain that Hunter and I do not travel much because he is a student and I am a teacher.  We try to get a good vacation in every year but always know we have to be on a budget.
This trip was absolutely perfect because of my gal pal HOLLY KING.  So I would like to dedicate this post to her.

Holly has been going to school in Boston (At the Boston Conservatory) for the last four years and is the most talented, smart and capable young woman I know.  She just graduated in May and was a week away from heading off to NYC to start auditioning for Broadway when Hunter and I crashed her place for a week.

She's the best because she let us stay at her place, use her car and she was our personal tour guide for the entire week!  As she says- our trip was perfect timing because she is in transition and had nothing to do this week!  Plus- it was her last week in Boston so she got to go to all the sites and see her favorite shops and restaurants with us one last time.

So really she owes us.

Just kidding.


Holly and her bestie Sara were singing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the last few weeks.  So they had rehearsals at Symphony Hall a couple times and shows weekend nights.

Our first day began as we drove into the city and Holly went to rehearsal while we explored on our own.

Across the street from Symphony Hall is the Christian Science Center.  Sad to report, Tom Cruise was not around- probably because he's off getting a divorce.

But the center was super awesome-architecturally speaking- and had an amazing 14 acre campus complete with the largest splash pad I've ever seen.  

As we kept walking we came upon the Boston Public Library.  Cool looking building on the outside- but then when we went inside I was amazed!  THIS is their library?  We're totally getting jipped here in the West.  Gorgeous art, architecture and artifacts in this place.  Check out the courtyard too!  It was complete with a restaurant and cafe.  

My favorite part of the library was the domed study room.  Do you see that in the bottom left corner?  Real people were just hanging out there- studying, using the wi-fi, whatever.  

I especially liked how they kept everything pretty traditional.  Like the chairs in the large domed room were ladder back wooden chairs.  Not swivel kind. Cool. 

When we walked out- we were in Copley Square.  So beautiful! 

Holly and Sara caught up with us then- rehearsal was over.  She took us down the streets in the most beautiful neighborhoods.  We were on the Back Bay heading towards the Boston Garden.  As we walked in- George Washington rode up on his horse to greet us.  Hunter liked that.  

The garden was in full bloom.  Sara- the humorist- told us a funny story about how she hated gardens growing up and as a punishment her mother would take her on walks through gardens.  

PS- the weather was so fine.  We were really lucky our whole trip.  It had been rainy and dull the day before we got there- but then warmed up a tad and got nice and dry and crisp when we arrived.  The only day that kinda disappointed was beach day-  I'll get to that in a sec.  

We kept walking through the gardens, crossed the street and were in the Boston Commons.  Basically the Central Park of Boston.  But not as big- but honestly, prettier.  

We kept exploring and found Brattle Books.  The most affordable, versatile and homey bookshop we've ever found.    Hunter and I love books.  We ended up coming here twice in our trip and buying half a suitcase full of treasures.  Definitely a place to check out if you ever go to Boston! 

Our time in the City ended a little early that day because we were going to meet up with our other cool friend, Tyrel and his ward for Temple night.  Pretty convenient  if you ask me- because the Temple is a 20 minute drive away and Holly had a show that night.   

 But before we met up with Ty in Cambridge, Holly took us to this cemetery near her house in Watertown.   And besides being a very large, very beautiful cemetery, it had a public tower with 

THIS VIEW:

Now this is one of the reasons it's best to travel with friends who know their area!  We would have never known about this without Holly.  Truly one of my favorite parts of our trip was this view.  You could see the entire city, many surrounding towns and the Boston Temple!  Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.   The camera didn't do this justice.  

We met up with Ty and got to the Temple.  I love Temples.  

That evening we had some delish ice cream and pizza before heading to Holly's for sleepy time.  

Okay- time to insert how I love traveling to one destination for a long period of time.  I don't think I'm the kind of person who could ever do "20 European cities in 20 days!".  Hunter and I agree that we liked being able to slowly take our time in Boston and the surrounding towns- getting enough sleep, and knowing if we wanted to see something twice we had the time.  

Basically I'm saying we slept in the next morning.  

And then it was Freedom Trail day!  

The Freedom Trail is literally a brick trail that goes through the city connecting tourists with the historic sites within Boston.  

I must say too, that I'm really proud of myself for enjoying these historic sites so much.  I knew when we planned our trip that we HAD to see all that we saw but, when I was really there- I loved it.  Truly, I was more excited about exploring the modern day city with it's restaurants and shops.  But what I remember most are the historic sites and how great it felt to be there.  

I'm now about to butcher the names of all these plots along the Freedom Trial- but here we have the Capitol Building, a view of the brick laid path, a cemetery where cool people are buried and the statue of Ben Franklin at the Old State House. 

Here's an awesome site- this is where the Boston Massacre happened.   And I'm going to add more here later. 

From there we got a little distracted by the Hayes Street Farmer's Market, Sweets Bakery and Mike's Pastries.  This was all in the North End.  

A few hours later we were back on track and at Paul Revere's House.  SO COOL.  

Holly left us to get ready for her show.  We grabbed some chowda on our way to see her and Sara sing in "Visions of America".  

It was pretty awesome to get free tickets on the orchestra level- but it just so happened to be friends and family night for the musicians so it worked out perfectly.  The music was beautiful.  The second act was where the singers came in.  Holly even had her own solo that we kept singing throughout the trip.

"We the People....."

Day three was Saturday and after two days of walking in the city it was a perfect day for the beach right?  Well, sort of.  It was a beautiful day- but it was also a beautiful, cool, windy, cloudy day.  So beaching it up was a little awkward.  We were in blankets and sweatshirts.   Sara and Holly made the best of it by throwing the frisbee around.  I sat and ate Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn and fresh cherries in my two layers of blankets.  (I sound like a pig.)  Luckily, Ty showed up to join us and as boys will be boys- he and Hunter actually went for a swim.  Seriously, it was COLD.  I don't know how they didn't end up sick. 

That evening after showering up and warming up- we took the T into Harvard Square.  What a beautiful area and a beautiful campus.

That night there was a concert in the park hosted by a local radio station.  We met Ty and his date there for some Rook on the lawn while the Classic rock bands played away.  We were right on the Charles river which was amazing.  Hunter and I slipped away from the couple for a half hour to walk around the river.  I feel so deprived now that I'm back home.  

BTW- do you see how sunny and pretty it was now at the park versus the beach?  What the heck?

Next day- Sunday.  We went to the Single's ward with Holly which has enough stories to be a post all on it's own.  The church building is all colonial and pretty.  My favorite were the large windows in the chapel so you could see all the lush green outside while you were in Sacrament meeting.  

Across the street from the Church- yes right there across the street- was the Longfellow house where George Washington was stationed during the Revolutionary War.  Geez- all we have across the street from our Church building is a brick wall. 

Then Holly took us out to see Bunker Hill- we were actually on Bunker Hill the DAY OF THE BATTLE!  June 17th I believe.  

Here's a picture of her in front of her school's building.  And then to the right of that is a Boston garden- window pots.  They are everywhere are they are real and they are pretty. 

Some of my favorite shots of the trip are of us at Bunker Hill.  We were so LUCKY because they were about to close when we got there!  

Then a few minutes walk out to the S.S. Constitution.  These two sites are the last on the Freedom Trail but are across the Charles river in Charlestown.  And since we had a lady friend with a car we decided to skip the walk across the Charlestown bridge and catch these last two sites on another day. 

Again- we were minutes away from the Constitution being closed for the day.  We got to snap some good photos and get back to the T.

We got home and made dinner for Holly, her roommates and Ty came to hang again.  We were glad he was able to spend so much time with us while we were there.  He's a grown up working man. 

The next day Holly had a full day in Concord planned for us.  We started at first bridge.  

Then drove into Concord.  And let me say- I got my small town shopping fix.  The cute specialty stores were all I could ever dream of.  I am jealous of the locals who get to shop at kitchen hardwares, cheese shops and toy stores on a regular basis. 

We got ice cream at Kimball Farms.  This "small" cup of ice cream was like $3.00.  

Here's the farm- literally on the side of a country road. 

We took a quick stop at Walden Pond.  Next time we're there we decided Walden Pond would be an entire day trip on it's own.  People were swimming, fishing and hiking.  

That evening we took the T down to South Station.  I've seen it in like two movies since.

Then walked over to the Barking Crab for dinner.  Sorry no pics.

 But on our way we passed the Boston Tea Party memorial site.  Sadly, they were having their grand reopening a week from the date we were there.  Just got a picture of the boat and the museum.  It looked really cool.  

Our last day- Hunter and I took a trip alone down to Quincy where we spent most of the day touring the Adams Family homes and farms.  Truly, we almost didn't do this- but I can't imagine this trip without going here now.  These beautiful, historic, sacred sites were my favorite part of the trip.  

Abigail and John were inspired, courages and happy people.  The Adam's last house that you can see Hunter standing in front of below, is still furnished with all of the Adam's family's furniture, decor and possessions in all the same place that the last generation had them.  Nothing is replicated.  It was very special to see their own books, paintings, and even Abigail's kitchen table.  

My  favorite story was earlier in their life when Abigail was home with the children in Quincy (in their first home on the bottom right) and John was away.  In the middle of the night she heard thunder, but came out to the window to see there were no clouds in the sky.  She grabbed her children and walked out to a nearby hill where she saw and heard the Battle of Bunker Hill.  She soon found out that the rebels had lost that battle due to insufficient ammunition.   And that next day, Abigail started melting down all her metals in the house and forming bullets.  Her children recorded that they remember smoothing down the rough edges of the balls.  And as soldiers would walk by on the road, she would go out and hand them a bagful of bullets to take to war.  Talk about patriotism!  

We ended our trip with food in Little Italy.  Modern pastry was our favorite dessert find- that's their creme brulee!   This cute grocery store had the best homemade mozzarella- and check out that Italian Ferrari up front! 

Ty, Sara and Holly were all there with us for our last meal.  We had such a fabulous time- and really most of it was because of these three.   Thanks guys for taking time to host us, guide us and play with us!  

Hunter and I are so happy and grateful that we were able to take this trip.  It was our first plane ride just the two of us since our honeymoon.  We saw so much, ate so much, and laughed so much.  

Can't wait to go back! 

It's the fourth of July

How can you not love the USA?

 My respect, love and gratitude for this amazing country that I was miraculously born into has grown a ton this last month as we visited Boston.   A post about that trip is STILL coming.   I truly felt the Spirit as I walked through historic fields, churches, houses and other sites.  And the people who built our country!  They became real to me.  How brave they were- it never occurred to me until I was there- at the sites- of how these people were REAL people with real lives and how hard and dangerous that would be to rebel.  I am so so so grateful for their bravery- and their communication with God to know that their declaration for independence was the right thing to do.

My mother worked for the local school district for many years and now I am a teacher.  She and I just had a conversation about how wonderful it is each morning to say the Pledge of Allegiance or listen to the National Anthem.  She says she misses that a lot now that she's retired.  And even though I've only been out for the Summer for a few weeks- I too agreed that I really miss it!

 I always make sure my first hour class is up and at attention when the Pledge starts- and if there is any disrespect or dismissal of the Pledge we do it again.

 It's also awesome as a choir teacher to teach the National Anthem to my singers.  That song is so powerful!  I know it was inspired from each word to each interval that builds to the climax where you can't help but get goose bumps.   I also love how much the students love to sing that song!   They love how it makes them feel when they breathe those powerful words.

On a more modern and perhaps juvenile note- I love the fourth of July for it's Summer purity.  When you think of a perfect Summer day- doesn't it describe the Fourth?   Swimming, barbecue, friends, family, music, sunburn, water, popsicles, and perhaps for others like me- amazing shopping sales!  What a day!  Seriously one of my absolute favorite days of the year.  (Right up there with Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Christmas Eve.)

And fireworks.

FIREWORKS!  I am literally smiling right now at the thought.   I love fireworks sooooo much.   If I could do my wedding over again it would include fireworks.

Anyways- there's my thoughts this Independence Day 2012 at 12:41 am.

Here's a little patriotic tune for the day- sung by a British girl:

A day of no regrets

This has been an extremely busy, fun packed summer so far.

 I'll be posting soon about our week long stay in Boston.

 And each day in between get aways seem to fill up fast!

Today was the first day since spring break (that was last March) that I didn't have to do ANYTHING.

I slept in very late... Specifics are not important... And I've been a total bum.

It's been a great day.

Here's what I did not do today:

I did not purge unwanted items from our office closet:

I did not hand wash our swimsuits and clean the bathroom (it's getting gross):

I did not fix the bed or even open the blinds:

I did not hang Hunter's shirts:

I did not tidy up the spare bedroom that is currently my sew room:

This is the worst one... I did not wash the kitchen floor.  This is the one that kills me a little... I hate dirty kitchen floors.  And it's super hard to see it in this photo, but it's bad.  

I did not do the dishes:

I did not organize my desk:

Or Hunters:

It's all good.  This will all happen next week.  :-) 

Gracie & Ruby

When we got back from Puerto Rico, my best friend Stephanie and her husband Julio were in a predicament where they needed a babysitter for a couple days.  I gladly helped out!  

These two angels are amazing.  I had the BEST time watching them.  I always love when I get to play "mom" and tend children.  It brings such a sweet feeling into our house.  I can see how challenging it will be to do this day in and day out for years and years.  Here are some things I think I'm already catching up on:

- if you don't get up and get dressed and put your makeup on first thing, it won't happen.  And then it's 5pm and you are wearing PJS, smelling of sour milk, sweating and feeling like a bum. 

- you feel better about yourself when you are dressed and ready, but you still smell of sour milk and sweat.  But you feel less like a bum.  

-Sesame Street is the most tolerable children's show.  It's like SNL for kids.  

- Nap when the babies nap.

- Do the dishes and put away the toys only once a day otherwise that is all you will do all day long.

- Plastic bags from grocery stores really come in hand when disposing of a poopy diaper.

- your back and arms hurt at night and in the morning. 

- you bend down more times than you would ever imagine 

- kids really do the funniest things and you are smiling all day long

Gracie napping like a diva:

Gracie- she's bilingual and when I spoke to her in Spanish she looked at me like "how do you know that secret language?"

Ruby- has a reputation of being fussy, but was the PERFECT baby for me.  Thanks, girl. 

I love her profile, chin just like her moms. 

Puerto Rico

So.... we went to Puerto Rico.

My parents who are getting quite accustomed to spoiling us, decided the day school got out that they were taking us to Puerto Rico.  

We enjoyed it.  A lot.  

Why:

- I'd never been in the Atlantic Ocean.  It's warm, but not hot, and in PR it's SUPER clear. 

- Snorkeling.  Best coral I've seen yet.  Tons of fish, clear water.  

- Hotel right on the beach.   The hotel was amazing and had so many perks.  My favorite was the private beach where they'd set up chairs and umbrellas for their guests and serve you food and drinks to your seat on the beach.  

- Reading the Hunger Games trilogy on the beach.  

- Watching and hearing the waves from our room.

- eating coconut shrimp from a bar IN THE POOL. 

-  hot tub. 

-The food and culture on the street.  Especially Old San Juan.  Google this place to see how old it is.  And so rich in history.  

- Being able to practice my Spanish, and then being able to give up and speak English to anyone.  Everyone's bilingual.  I'm so jealous.  

- going to Church and loving the Gospel where ever it is.  And the generous family who took us back to our hotel.  

- pretty much getting a full body spa treatment from the saltwater, sand and humidity.

- sunburns that turn into semi-tans. 

- the fact that I didnt' see a Wal-Mart during my stay

- virgin Pina Coladas. 

-And of course, being with my wonderful family.  The trip was relaxing, stress free and fun.  And that's because I have the best family ever.  

Thank you Mom and Dad!  You are the best.   

Our hotel.  Two pools and that's the beach right there.

The Castillo de Cristobal in Old San Juan

Snorkeling.  See how calm the water is????

Mis padres at the Castillo

View from the castle.  It was a fortress during war.

Us:

From the fortress looking out into the Caribbean Sea. 

Now looking the opposite way into Old San Juan.

View from our room.

The streets of Old San Juan

Our first third anniversary

On May twenty- ninth,  Hunter and I celebrated our third anniversary!  

Go us.  

Here are my top three favorite things about Hunter:

1. His love and commitment to the Gospel.  This is first and foremost even before his love and commitment to me because this is why I married him!  Because of his love of the Lord, I know he will always love and respect me! Because of his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have the same morals, beliefs and goals in life.   Basically, we're on the same page.

2.  His love for me and us.  I put both me and us and I think that means more.  Hunter is SO PATIENT with me and my selective OCDness and my impatience with everything.  Yet, he doesn't take my crap which I love- it helps me calm down and grow in my weaknesses.  Hunter is always up for a hug or a conversation.  He supports me in all I ever do from setting up for parties to laughing at my crazy stories from being a teacher- laughing with me and holding me when I cry. And he loves us- nurtures our marriage in so many ways.  

3. His distaste in country music.  This means so much.  First, on our first date as we were chatting it up in the car we discussed music right away- as it is one of my favorites in life.  He quickly made it clear that he did NOT like country music.  At that moment I knew we would be together.  

Secondly, because of this dislike- Hunter has personality traits and views on society that I love and that I agree with.  It's hard to explain.  But if you know what I mean, you know what I mean.  And if you don't, you probably like country music.  

Okay now that I've offended my country-music-loving friends.....

The Third Anniversary is celebrated with leather.  (To find what each year's gift is  See here.)  

Hunter went traditional and awesome with this large leather photo album:

But the coolest part was he printed EVERY picture we have of us or one of us that we've taken since we got married.  And in this digital photo age, I'm super happy that we have hard copies of all these photos now.  

And then for kicks he gave me my favorite Burt's Bee's product with a charming note that says "I hope this will help your woman leather."  haha

I had issues trying to find something leather for him.... not sure why.  But I ended up getting him a waterpack that he's been wanting for a long time and definitely needs now that he's in Scouting.  He was quite excited.  

But then to cover my bases, I found this leather scented car freshener and attached it to my homemade card made with brown leather colored paper.... it's a stretch, I know.   

I love you, man. 

NYC from my iPhone

Went to NYC with the incredibly talented, hilarious, most awesome high school kids, chaperones and director. Hadnt ever seen this city from a completely tourist view. But I learned so much about new York that I would never have before. And it was a blast.