Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Garden
"The prophet said to plant a garden, so that's what we did!"
We tried back in Utah, but failed miserably. Probably lack of sun and not the best place to plant. We decided to plant a garden here, which the Bergs generously let us use some of their space. We planted snow peas, beans, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and pumpkins. We wanted to do green peppers too but couldn't find starts for them. The nice thing about gardening in Maine is you don't have to water the garden. So the only thing needed is to pull weeds, which we failed on the corn. The weeds grew in too much while we were away in NY that our corn died. However, we've been surprised with what we have gotten. We went over last week and got some beans; enough for dinner for 2 nights. We went over last night, a week later, and this is what we came home with
Sweet peas from the Berg's section, TONS of zucchini, beans for a week, and snow peas. Now I've gotta find a recipe for zucchini bread and see how to cook it. We have to go back over probably Thurs to pick more beans. It's fun planting a garden.
We tried back in Utah, but failed miserably. Probably lack of sun and not the best place to plant. We decided to plant a garden here, which the Bergs generously let us use some of their space. We planted snow peas, beans, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and pumpkins. We wanted to do green peppers too but couldn't find starts for them. The nice thing about gardening in Maine is you don't have to water the garden. So the only thing needed is to pull weeds, which we failed on the corn. The weeds grew in too much while we were away in NY that our corn died. However, we've been surprised with what we have gotten. We went over last week and got some beans; enough for dinner for 2 nights. We went over last night, a week later, and this is what we came home with
Sweet peas from the Berg's section, TONS of zucchini, beans for a week, and snow peas. Now I've gotta find a recipe for zucchini bread and see how to cook it. We have to go back over probably Thurs to pick more beans. It's fun planting a garden.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Egg Festival
Well it's that time of year again for the Egg Festival.
Last year I did enter the cheesecake contest, but compared to the winners...there's no way I could compare to their gourmet, 5 inch tall cheesecakes! So this year I bailed on that part of the festival. Also last year Jaycee was in the Little Chick contest, but with no family around or many people who know us to vote for her, it'd be a slim chance on winning. So this year I bailed on that part too.
Instead Jaycee and I spent Thurs and Fri afternoons at the pool. Being 5 months pregs in this heat is MISERABLE! You know it's hot when your standing in the water and still feel hot. I didn't think being this far along in the summer would affect me, but I also didn't expect this "Maine weather" Afterall, this isn't typical "Maine weather"...so they say! I'm very grateful for the pool. It's really nice, Jaycee loves it and it's free. Looks like we'll be spending more time there the next few weeks.
We did however walk over to the park to enjoy the festival Fri night. They had "bracelet" night where you pay $17 to ride the rides as much as you want. But they only had 3 things Jaycee could ride. So we just bought a couple tickets for those rides. She had a blast on the Merry-Go-Round, the train and the super tall, long slide. Our friend Julie and her son Wyatt found us at the park and Jaycee and Wyatt ran off together to ride the slide. It was adorable because they held hands (he's 7) and ran off together. I wish I had a picture taken! *Is there such thing as arranged marriage?* We ended the night getting some cotton candy for the walk home and then watching Monk next to the A/C. Sat morning was the parade and I was quite impressed with how many people came and it was actually a decent parade. Jaycee loved it too because she got a bag full of candy...especially suckers. She loves suckers! Tonight they have fireworks around 9 but we have a dinner & lesson with the missionaries and an investigator so we won't be walking to the park for them, but you can see them really good outside the windows upstairs. What a great week it's been...well except for the heat!
Jaycee has been into playing with my old barbie dolls. The other night she begged Daddy to help her and I just had to snap a quick picture before Craig noticed. I think he enjoyed playing barbies ;)
Egg Festival Rides
Friday, July 15, 2011
My new hobby
The other day I took a 9 year old investigator to the church for Faith in God. That night they were teaching how to crochet. I've always wanted to learn. I picked it up and got excited to have a new hobby. It is addicting though. After our 18 week apt we stopped at Joann's so I could buy some yarn and a needle. My first project was going to be a hot pad/washcloth, but I got distracted and didn't count. So needless to say it went from a rectangle shape, to an arrow, which then frustrated me, so I continued to shape it to a point. So I now have a hot pad that looks like a hat. he he he. Craig and I got got a good laugh out of it. I'm still proud of it though.
Ever seen a hat shaped pan holder? ha ha! Now you have!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Tears
If anything will make me miss Utah, it's seeing these pics. I miss my family!
My mom is the best! And how can I forget being an Aunt to all of those kids! I ache for their hugs.
This pic got to me. It seems like all the grandkids come in spurts. This was one of the spurts that Jaycee came in. Haylie in Feb; Wyatt in April; Tanner in October; Jaycee in March; Kenna in October. She'd have 4 close cousins all around the same age to play with.
And how can I forget our silly family moments.
And last, the pic Jaycee and I should be in. Oh how I love all the girls.
I LOVE MY FAMILY! Where would I be without all of them?! I hope and pray...literally...that we can return near them again SOON! I love you all and miss you so much!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Christmas Shopping
Call me crazy, but Craig and I have already started shopping for Christmas. With a baby coming, vacation to NYC, parents coming in town, car A/C breaking down and having to pay to repair it; I've felt a little stressed as of money for Christmas. I'm hoping if I buy a little here and a little there it won't be as big of shock.
I learned last year when I bought Jaycee's Elmo doll in the summer that it was a bad idea to shop too early for her. Although she does love the Elmo doll, but other things consume her (backyardigans!) But this year I feel confident in what we already have bought. At the end of Christmas we snagged a kitchen set for about $35 which was $80 to begin with. The other day we bought some cute little stainless steel pots to go with it. That'll be her big present. She is going to absolutely love it.
Remember being little and getting a cabbage patch kid doll! I loved my baby dolls! I was always excited to see the birth certificate and see what her name would be. Jaycee got her first one last christmas from Grandma Parker but it's a snuggle one so it's body is all cotton and doesn't really bend. She loves playing with my old ones. Craig makes fun of it because it's a little tattered, but hey, for being about 20 years old, I think she looks pretty good. This doll Jaycee loves. She loves to put clothes and shoes on it and take it around the house. My other one is a swim doll so she mostly goes in the bath tub or outside in the pool. But I can't believe how much she loves those dolls. She has another baby doll, but hardly touches it. So I decided it'd be nice for Santa to bring her very own CPK. K, since when could you not buy them ANYWHERE! Luckily, I found the website cabbagepatchkids.com and can buy one there. I can't decide between 2 of them. What do you think?
They both are blondish curly hair and brown eyes like Jaycee. I like the pink outfit, but the teeth on the purple one are cute. I can't wait to buy her this.
I learned last year when I bought Jaycee's Elmo doll in the summer that it was a bad idea to shop too early for her. Although she does love the Elmo doll, but other things consume her (backyardigans!) But this year I feel confident in what we already have bought. At the end of Christmas we snagged a kitchen set for about $35 which was $80 to begin with. The other day we bought some cute little stainless steel pots to go with it. That'll be her big present. She is going to absolutely love it.
Remember being little and getting a cabbage patch kid doll! I loved my baby dolls! I was always excited to see the birth certificate and see what her name would be. Jaycee got her first one last christmas from Grandma Parker but it's a snuggle one so it's body is all cotton and doesn't really bend. She loves playing with my old ones. Craig makes fun of it because it's a little tattered, but hey, for being about 20 years old, I think she looks pretty good. This doll Jaycee loves. She loves to put clothes and shoes on it and take it around the house. My other one is a swim doll so she mostly goes in the bath tub or outside in the pool. But I can't believe how much she loves those dolls. She has another baby doll, but hardly touches it. So I decided it'd be nice for Santa to bring her very own CPK. K, since when could you not buy them ANYWHERE! Luckily, I found the website cabbagepatchkids.com and can buy one there. I can't decide between 2 of them. What do you think?
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Vacay-Part 3
...Now the fun begins...
Friday morning we all were feeling great and rested. We had to check out of the hotel by 11 and thought the car could stay until about 2 so we could go see some more things. Craig went down at 10 min to 10 to ask about the car. They told him he had to take it out by 10 since it'd been almost 24 hours or pay ANOTHER $20 to leave it until 2. There's no way! That'd make it $60 to make the car for a measly 28 hours! Oh and did I mention the hotel also charged $15/day to use the internet! They were out to make money. So Craig called and said to hurry and get things together while he got the car. He parked RIGHT OUT IN FRONT of the hotel for about 15 minutes while he came up to help get bags and Jaycee and I. We hurried and loaded the car and to our surprise.....A PARKING TICKET! SERIOUSLY! I didn't think much of it until I opened it and saw $115! Are you freakin kidding me!
We headed from the hotel to drop off Don and Malorie at the airport. It was about 5 hours early but we didn't have anywhere to park the car and do things. And by this point, we all were frustrated with the high prices and people everywhere. Luckily, Craig and I bought a GPS about a month ago so that came in handy for driving through the streets of NY. We drove about 35 minutes until we got stopped by a toll. I was expected maybe $2 or $3. NOPE...$6.50! Sheesh. We paid it and about 20 minutes later got to the airport. Craig was pretty hyper and in a good mood, but I was just onory with the day so far. We said our good byes, which was really sad and felt bad for making it hard on family. I guess they both were crying after I had left them in Boston. Jaycee really attached to them and for days has asked where they are. After we said goodbye we left the airport to get the he** out of there!
We tried really hard to get around the $6.50 toll and ended up driving a lot through Queens. It reminded us of the show King of Queens.
So finally we barely got on the right road to get out of the city...FDR for those of you who've driven NYC. People are jerks though and won't let people in or anything and almost got in a wreck. I was super stressed. The sound of horns honking at us or cars butting in didn't even phase us anymore. So we dropped them off at 11:30 and by the time we even attempted to be on a freeway it was 1:30! Oh and had to pay another $6.50 toll upon leaving. We got going and thought it'd be the same as when we came that we'd get a little traffic then it'd thin out. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. It was stop and go nearly the WHOLE WAY HOME. I am grateful that we did stop at a rest stop in CT for some food or else I would've been miserable. So finally about 3:30 we got to New Haven, CT to stop for gas. Here is a pic on map of where that is....Remember it took 4 hours to get there!
We get out to use the bathroom and it's about 84 degrees and humid and I remember thinking how nice it felt in the car. I MUST HAVE JINXED IT. We get going on the freeway again and I notice the AC isn't blowing cold anymore. You've gotta be kidding me! Now something was wrong with the car. Could anything else go bad?! The windows went down and hoping that we could get out of the stop and go so we could at least get some air on us. IT WAS HOT! By this point I was even more onory and knowing we now have to spend a lot of $ to fix the car. FINALLY, we hit the Mass border and the traffic thinned out and was able to go fast again. We decided on the way to Dathan's to not go to Burlington, VT the next day since now we didn't have A/C and it'd be another 6 hour drive. No Thanks. I was a little bummed because that was supposed to be the day to celebrate our anniversary. We just wanted to get to the house and out of the car at that point. At 7:30 PM we arrived in the driveway...8 freakin hours! All of us were starving and ready to be done! We ended up cooking quick frozen dinners and watching Inception to end the night. I was so glad to be back in NH and never to return to NYC. I been there and done that and have no desire to return. And we have ties (stupid parking ticket) to NYC.
Friday morning we all were feeling great and rested. We had to check out of the hotel by 11 and thought the car could stay until about 2 so we could go see some more things. Craig went down at 10 min to 10 to ask about the car. They told him he had to take it out by 10 since it'd been almost 24 hours or pay ANOTHER $20 to leave it until 2. There's no way! That'd make it $60 to make the car for a measly 28 hours! Oh and did I mention the hotel also charged $15/day to use the internet! They were out to make money. So Craig called and said to hurry and get things together while he got the car. He parked RIGHT OUT IN FRONT of the hotel for about 15 minutes while he came up to help get bags and Jaycee and I. We hurried and loaded the car and to our surprise.....A PARKING TICKET! SERIOUSLY! I didn't think much of it until I opened it and saw $115! Are you freakin kidding me!
We headed from the hotel to drop off Don and Malorie at the airport. It was about 5 hours early but we didn't have anywhere to park the car and do things. And by this point, we all were frustrated with the high prices and people everywhere. Luckily, Craig and I bought a GPS about a month ago so that came in handy for driving through the streets of NY. We drove about 35 minutes until we got stopped by a toll. I was expected maybe $2 or $3. NOPE...$6.50! Sheesh. We paid it and about 20 minutes later got to the airport. Craig was pretty hyper and in a good mood, but I was just onory with the day so far. We said our good byes, which was really sad and felt bad for making it hard on family. I guess they both were crying after I had left them in Boston. Jaycee really attached to them and for days has asked where they are. After we said goodbye we left the airport to get the he** out of there!
We tried really hard to get around the $6.50 toll and ended up driving a lot through Queens. It reminded us of the show King of Queens.
We get out to use the bathroom and it's about 84 degrees and humid and I remember thinking how nice it felt in the car. I MUST HAVE JINXED IT. We get going on the freeway again and I notice the AC isn't blowing cold anymore. You've gotta be kidding me! Now something was wrong with the car. Could anything else go bad?! The windows went down and hoping that we could get out of the stop and go so we could at least get some air on us. IT WAS HOT! By this point I was even more onory and knowing we now have to spend a lot of $ to fix the car. FINALLY, we hit the Mass border and the traffic thinned out and was able to go fast again. We decided on the way to Dathan's to not go to Burlington, VT the next day since now we didn't have A/C and it'd be another 6 hour drive. No Thanks. I was a little bummed because that was supposed to be the day to celebrate our anniversary. We just wanted to get to the house and out of the car at that point. At 7:30 PM we arrived in the driveway...8 freakin hours! All of us were starving and ready to be done! We ended up cooking quick frozen dinners and watching Inception to end the night. I was so glad to be back in NH and never to return to NYC. I been there and done that and have no desire to return. And we have ties (stupid parking ticket) to NYC.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Vacay-Part 2
On Thursday morning at 4 am we headed from NH to the big NYC. It's about a 4 hour drive from Dathan's house to the hotel we were meeting up with Don & Malorie. We ended up finally getting there and parking the car at 10 am. The first 3 hours was wonderful and Connecticut was beautiful. The last hour made it a long drive with traffic, traffic, traffic!
We had to park the car in 24 hour parking for $40! I can't believe how much they can charge and feel okay about it. We had tickets to see the Statue of Liberty and the ferry left at 10 am, but we were late getting into the city. So we packed up our stuff from the hotel and headed for the subway to see if we could still go. That Statue of Liberty was one of things I wanted to see.
Driving next to the Hudson almost to the hotel
One of the many streets we had to drive through to finally get there. What a mess!
The "color" of NYC should be yellow! They're everywhere!
We had to park the car in 24 hour parking for $40! I can't believe how much they can charge and feel okay about it. We had tickets to see the Statue of Liberty and the ferry left at 10 am, but we were late getting into the city. So we packed up our stuff from the hotel and headed for the subway to see if we could still go. That Statue of Liberty was one of things I wanted to see.
Jaycee was really excited for the train to come and ride on it
We got to Battery Park and walked around and luckily they got us on the next ferry going out. I was very grateful Don bought the tickets in advance. I had to take a Zofran before we went-me and boats don't mix well. They had high security, like an airport, to go out to the park and there were security helicopters flying around the whole time.
Riding on the ferry out to the island
What a beauty! Did you know she's made out of steel and copper?
Looking out to the city from the island
SO MANY PEOPLE!
Hanging out in the shade. It was a really hot day but luckily the humidity wasn't too bad
Ellis Island
Don & Mal
Our little family LOVING the big city. he he
Such a cool place to see and go to
The Statue of Liberty from the ferry ride
After we spent time on the island and eating lunch we headed back into the city to do some sightseeing.
A pic of the bull from Wall Street. That's the best pic we could get because there were so many people around it.
Looking down Wall Street
Walking on Broadway. The church on the left was the coolest looking church I've ever seen.
Craig thought it was cool to see the cranes on top of the huge buildings.
Isn't that crazy? A walk-way aka "sky bridge" between buildings.
We were at ground zero and there were army people everywhere with their guns out securing the sight. I had Craig try to take a pic of them without them noticing it was of them. He's in the background with his loaded gun.
Ground zero! They're working on rebuilding there and making a museum.
I can't imagine being there when the buildings went down.
Sitting next to ground zero.
We thought the building in the back was pretty neat looking. It looked spiraled-if you can notice it
After we walked through the city we went back to the hotel to relax for a little bit and get some meds. We all were really hot and needed a break to cool off. Our hotel was about 1 mile from ground zero in the middle of the city. It was nice to take a break from all the people and sit in an A/C building for a bit. Then we headed back out into the night to get some dinner.
We went to Union Square where a bunch of different restaurants were. We decided to eat at Max Brenner. It was really exotic tasting food and delicious. For dessert we HAD to get the famous chocolate pizza. It was devine! Pizza made with chocolate, carmel, some white chocolate that looked like cheese and bananas. I would go back just for that! Jaycee didn't eat anything at the restaurant so we had to stop at McDonalds on the way back to get her some nuggets and a yogurt. We were going to go to Time Square but by the time we got done with dinner it was 11 and still had to walk back to our hotel. I was exhausted, had a headache, and started feeling crampy so I was glad we decided to skip it and go back. And plus we had been up since 4 am that day! Right when I hit the down comforter pillows, I was out cold! By far it was a fun day and things went well. Little did we know the next day would be horrible!
....TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)