Its getting out of hand.

So, I'm still thrilled about the road trip, and actually its only getting worse. I am becoming obsessed. I think about it constantly and want to research 24/7. I am pumped. The biggest thing right now between just doing research and actually planning is dates. There are a few big events this summer that will dictate when we can actually go. So I'm praying those things will be resolved quickly. But, here's an update of our current route:

Boston to Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls to (quick stopover in) Cleveland
Cleveland to Chicago
Chicago to ???
*Maybe camping a night in Great River Bluffs State Park (great views of Mississippi River Valley)
??? to Badlands & Mt. Rushmore
Badlands to Yellowstone
Yellowstone to Boulder, CO
Boulder on Home, with some stops we haven't decided on.

The trip home will be quicker I think. Most of the beauty is on the way there.

Check out the map: http://tinyurl.com/co5q4t

The triggy-trag's excellent adventure

I am sooooo excited right now. Chris and I are thinking about taking an (almost) cross-country road trip this summer. He has mad amounts of vacation days and I have the summers off. I have loved the idea of an extended road trip for a long time and he has always loved them with his friends. I am really hoping this dream become reality.

Right now we are thinking our ultimate destination will be Yellowstone. This could change, but right now that's the plan. I love Yellowstone. My favorite vacation was there. Its endless beauty. Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons combined make your brain want to explode. Its incredible. So, I'd love to go there and share in the awesomeness together.

I would also love to see the Grand Canyon. I am thinking, however, that the points along to way TO Yellowstone are more interesting. I am open-minded, though, so we shall see.

I am so excited that I hurried to the library this afternoon to get a few books. These are the titles I selected:
For research
1,000 Places to See Before You Die
Eat Your Way Across America (Diners, lobster shacks, pie palaces (could it be true?!) and more!)
National Parks of the United States Scenic Highways & Byways
Long Way From Boston
Pumped about this one; published in 1946, its about two girls who make it cross-country in a
Model T Ford- whoa.
Storyville, USA

If you have suggestions, please, please send them my way. The biggest decision, other than destination, is how many miles is feasible in our given amount of time. I want to see as much as possible without rushing through everything we get to see. So, here's to planning! yay!

Exciting things of today

1) Making chicken noodle soup, homemade-style, for the first time :) Perfect for a frigid winter's evening.

2) Going to NYC with my mom for February break, officially.

3) Bought our tickets to see Wicked!! So fun :)

4) Chris begins his last full semester of college tonight! yay chris!!

**Any New York City suggestions? I've been before, but would love to do a couple new things :)

Crossroads

I feel like I am at a crossroads of sorts. I can see my life going in two directions at this point. I think feel content with whichever one works out, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

On the one hand, I would love to finish this school year, enjoy this summer (Chris graduating, traveling and getting tan!) and then start trying to have a baby. We have been doing a good job saving for the past couple months and will be ready to buy a house in the next year or two. This would be wonderful. I can't wait to be a mommy.

On the other hand, I definitely have an itch for travel. I would love to spend a year abroad somewhere. I think it would be super cool if Chris could get a job somewhere for a year or two and we could enjoy getting to know a new place. Similarly, I would be very open to the idea of moving somewhere new in this country. Either here or abroad, I don't have a specific place in mind. California, or some midwestern city sound interesting as does Australia. I would love to experience this adventure- getting to know a new place and new people, kind of carving out a place for ourselves.

So, right now I feel excited about either path. Both would be an adventure, though of different kinds. I am hoping that God will make it clear. In the meantime, I am enjoying my little (tiny) apartment, my job, my husband and my friends.

What I love about Kindergarten

I love my job. There are days that I hate and weeks that drag on forever (this one in fact), but even then I love my job.

I love that my little girls bring me pictures they've drawn with messages to me that only I can decipher. I love that my little guys try to be tough and steer clear of me, but every once in a while, I catch eyes with them and I can tell they really love me and my class. I love that each morning in devotions at least one of them thanks God for their wonderful teacher. I love when they sob into my shoulder over a bonked head or hurt feelings. I love when I have a moment with one of my kids from last year that reminds me that even though they have a "new favorite teacher" they still remember me and want my approval. I love that they say I am the greatest teacher they have ever had in spite of the fact that I am only their second or third teacher and also in spite of the fact that they will say this every year about every teacher they will have until at least 7th grade. It still makes me grin.

I love the academic moments I share with them- when you see them get it for the first time (oh! there's a 13 between 12 and 14), when they sound something out so phonetically and yet so incorrect you want to burst with pride (ie. chraganos, spidr, bedr to name a few).

Being a teacher is hard. I am tired most of the time. Being a teacher also is incredibly special. I get to share in some big and some little moments of these precious little lives.

obsession

I have a new obsession.

Baby photographer blogs. I could spend entire days looking at professional baby pictures. Newborn photos are my favorite. I used to be obsessed with wedding photography, but because that's behind me I've moved on to babies. Interested in joining the craze? Here are a few I love.

http://shannonholden.com/blog/
http://www.paulaswift.com/blog/
http://blog.michellecarrphotography.com/

And, seriously, if you happen to follow any of your own, please share :)

young love...

So, one of my little guys (see first post...) is adorable. I love him. He has been on the funniest kick lately: marriage.

Last week, waking up from rest time, he announces to me, I'm marrying 'Sally' (one of the girls in our class). And I acted very surprised and asked him a little more about. He proceeded to say, 'Yes, I'm marrying Sally on September 9th.' He is so funny- where did he come up with this!?

He has continued to talk about the impending nuptials, much to Sally's embarrassment. Today, while we were having our morning devotional, he asked if we could pray for him to move to Alaska. I asked why he would want to move to Alaska and he replied that he just really, really wanted to move there. I am thinking that most five year olds haven't heard of Alaska and I was really curious where this was coming from. So I asked him what is in Alaska that he wants to see so badly. He quickly told me, "Sally's grandparents live there!" AAAAmazing. My little guy is dying to move to Alaska so he can live near his future wife's grandparents.

To be five again would truly be amazing.

politics

So, I teach at a christian school and while most of the time i would say it is a really great experience, there are times when i am confronted with very close-minded ideas. This morning at devotions (we start our mornings praying together), one of the teachers mentioned getting the children together next Tuesday to watch the inauguration. I'm thinking, awesome idea- hadn't thought of that. One of my coworkers is looking on dumbfounded. She asks, "Wait, I'm confused, what are we talking about?" We all respond, the inauguration, next week, etc. She remains confused, thinking the Presidential inauguration is aired at night. Once she realizes what we are talking about, she replies, "Oh, the Presidential inauguration!? I want to see nothing that has anything to do with that. I am having a very hard time with this whole thing."

My blood was literally boiling, as was hers apparently. I was really upset by how close minded she was being. I understand that the majority of conservative Christians vote Republican, and in the past I have too. But, to be so disgusted by another human being and his election to high office seems un-Christian. Has she forgotten how powerful our God is? God could have either prevented Obama from being elected or he will continue to work through the office in spite of, or because of Obama.

The Bible says, in Romans 13, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." I could admittedly be taking this out of context, though that is not my intention. I understand this verse to say that God has established our governing authorities and apparently Barack Obama is this country's, in this time.

I, personally, am very excited about President-elect Obama. I hope that He will help to further the gospel is ways Republicans don't- in bringing about peace, seeking care for those less fortunate. I don't want to be judgmental of this woman that I work with. It just makes me sad to see people who are so convinced of their way of thinking that they can't possibly see that another way could be right. Sure, Republicans are pro-life, but do we really think God wants the nations waging war?

Clearly, as you've figured out from this post, I know very little about politics. All I've learned from this past election is that God is bigger than all of this, that both sides have pieces I can agree with and that I don't want to be close-minded.

Irresistible Revolution

My brother gave me The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne for Christmas. I just started to read it today (during my snow day!!!). I have only read the Intro and Author's Note, but I really like it so far. There was a line that resonated with me and what I have been trying out this past year.
"There is a generation that stops complaining about the church it sees and becomes the church it dreams of. And this little revolution is irresistible. It is a contagious revolution that dances, laughs and loves." p24

I know that my little house church is not even a blip on the radar, but it means so much to me. It has allowed me to stop complaining, stop being to cynical and stop being so discouraged by what I see. Like Claiborne says, I feel like I can help create a church I have dreamed of. A church that is a community. A church that seeks to be spirit-led after prayerful consideration. A church that is a family.

I am excited to read more in my book. I love that God is bigger than any box we try to fit him into and that loving Him can come in many shapes and sizes.

happy anniversary!

So, yesterday was non-stop, so I couldn't post until now. Yesterday, January 6th, was our second wedding anniversary. I have loved being married. He is a wonderful man. I am blessed to get to spend my life with him. To celebrate, we went to dinner at Not Your Average Joe's. When I picked Chris up from work, after the world's longest manicure, he had a gorgeous bouquet of enormous red roses as well as two cards for me :) We then headed to dinner. It was so much fun. We had great conversation, good people-watching and a stressful, though ultimately good waiter. We enjoyed loads of food- their delicious bread and dip, calamari, chicken piccata (me), mustard chicken (him) and then we topped of the meal with "the peanut butter thing" which was heavenly. i can home sufficiently stuffed. This simple evening with him only further reminded me of how right he is for me and of how much I love our relationship.

Here's to many more years as good as this one!

back to life.

seems i wasn't the only one who put healthier living on the new year's resolution list this year. the gym was PACKED today. i was so annoyed and was dealing with some entitlement issues (even though i can count the number of times i've gone to the gym this fall on one hand). i'm guessing in about a week's time it will be back to the empty gym i know and love. hopefully i'll still be there.

New Years Resolutions.

Resolutions are very cheesy and lame to me typically. I find them hard to keep and usually a bit far-fetched anyway. But, 2008 was a tricky year for me. Lots of good and lots of hard things. I had another year of happiness with my husband. Being married to Chris is the best thing in my life. He makes me laugh daily, he helps me to lighten up, he is an incredible provider and works his tail off daily. We traveled in 2008: to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to a B&B in Vermont, went skiing for my first time, went to Newport, RI, went to Beer festival in Burlington, VT, went to NH on Chris's family vacation. I got to visit Joe & Amanda in Athens. I went to the Cape with my sister for a few days. We went camping several times.

2008 was a year for me to find spiritual freedom. I feel fixed and healed from the past. House church has been a great blessing in my life. 2008 saw the end of a wonderful first year of teaching and the beginning of a second.

2008 also saw the end of a lot of friendships. Those that didn't end were markedly different. That was the hardest part of 2008. Chris and I have been very lonely. We know much of it is based on decisions that we've made; decisions that have consequences. It has still been hard.

Lydia moved away in 2008, leaving me as the last sibling here in Boston. I miss them both very much.

I'm looking forward to a happier, more full filling 2009. So, at the risk of embarrassment if I fail, here are my hopes and dreams for 2009.

-Travel!
Montreal
Washington, DC
Road trip to Atlanta
Shreveport, LA for my cousin's wedding
Asheville, NC
Disney World :)
-Make new friends
-Keep (rekindle) the old
-Lose weight (10lbs)
No dieting, but instead healthier decisions
Working out 3x/week
-Less facebook, more reading
-Get pregnant (late fall/winter)

Cheers to you, 2009!

Fun Newport Memories

The weather was freeeeeeezing on Monday. Chris thought making me into an egghead while we waited for the bus (FOREVER!) would be a good plan. It was quite warm in there :)











On Monday, we did the Mansion tours. We saw the Breakers, the Marble House and the Elms. This is us at the Breakers. It was gorgeous. I cannot imagine living in a mansion like that. They were exquisite, down to every last detail. I enjoyed the tours much more than I thought I would. It felt like living in the Great Gatsby!






This is my favorite picture of us from the trip. I like our color coordination. It was such a wonderful trip. It set the entire Christmas break off on the right foot. It was another lesson in relaxation for us. We rarely just relax when we're together, so that was my favorite part of the trip- doing nothing.