The Homers

Christmas

2012-01-02T18:51:00.000-05:00

Rich and I got to go home for Christmas, and we were so stoked to be able to spend the holidays with our families. First we flew out to Cali and spent some time out there - hit up some shopping, our favorite prime rib joint, and Disneyland too.

This was at The Grove in LA. They had everything decked out in Christmas and I was LOVING it!!

Disneyland was decked out in Christmas decor as well. And California definitely beat Boston weather

Nightmare Before Christmas

fish eye lens. My dad said "you wouldn't want to run into that in a dark alley"

i look like tweedle dum

this has Disney written all over it

you can't see it in this picture, but during the fireworks they start letting all of this faux snow out and you feel like a kid in a movie

Sully

really neat to see - "world of color" in California Adventure

Kare and Nick on the Matterhorn

So, the rest of our vacation when we got home to Utah I was HORRIBLE with picture taking. We were so busy running around that I guess I forgot how to take a picture, but at least I got a few.

Spent time over at Nikki and Steve's on Christmas Eve (Rich's sister and her husband)

Ian opening up a present

These guys are the cutest (niece and nephews Ian, Caitlyn, and Alex) Always a great time

Dializ and Bob fed us to our heart's content with Rich and my favorite foods on Christmas Eve. mmmmmmmm!!

And I didn't even get any pictures of Christmas Day. What.

Hopefully we will be back to Utah sooner than later

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Holiday Fun

2011-12-10T13:50:00.001-05:00

Rich and I decided we were going to not be hacks for Thanksgiving and try to cook everything for real this time. We for sure thought everything would be a disaster. If anyone knows anything about us, cooking is not our forte.

Good news for us, everything was edible ;)

grandma hawker's cherry pie

Rich took the reigns on preparing the entire turkey and stuffing from scratch. He cut up all the bread for the stuffing and even bought fresh herbs and the whole shabang. See that little can on the counter? That was Kensi's savory turkey dinner with gravy. Oh yes we did

Rich's stuffing. It was soooo good!

our tree - we can always hardly wait to put this up

if you look closely you can see a little black and white fuzzball underneath

Boston Opera House

At the Nutcracker

Man, I love the holidays!

L & J in Boston

2011-11-15T22:12:00.001-05:00

Linds and Jared came to Boston to visit us at the end of October - it was such a great time, and although the weather was freezing our faces off, it was still beautiful fall in New England.

Boston Common

The "Chahls"

candid photos

waiting for the T

tickets to Salem

miss this girl!

type of folk you see scrappin around Salem on Halloween

Whitey ;) what a good costume

Witch Dungeon Museum

eerie, wouldn't you say?

Joker. And, I see you Linds

Jared and Rich

good costume pointers for next year

one of our favorite memories of Salem was when we took a stroll around the neighborhoods while people were celebrating Halloween night and kids were running around trick-or-treating. It was straight off a movie set - I'll never forget it

crowds poured in to downtown salem as the night crept further

Jared and Linds takin care of business at the subway station

Another Halloween thing we tried was the jack-o-lantern spectacular in Rhode Island and it was unbelievable. Thousands of illuminated pumpkins and all of these brilliantly artistic carvings. I was in awe

All of these were really carved by hand - no joke

this jack-o-lantern could have smashed me it was so big. all of those tiny pumpkins around it? Those are an averaged sized pumpkin someone would have on their porch - just to give you an idea of scale

same with this one

thanks again you guys :) Such a great time!

Plum Island and Tendercrop Farm

2011-10-16T21:51:00.003-04:00

Hooray for fall weather on the east coast! This was mid-September when the foliage really hadn't started turning yet and summer was just wrapping up. It was nice knowin' you, summer. We'll see you in 8 months.

This is Plum Island Reserve - a wildlife refuge at the northern tip of Massachusetts where fanatics can go birdwatching and see the famous endangered piping plovers.

cutest little cottonball on a stick

gorgeous marsh

in front of the beach

protected marshes

kind of felt like a scene from Lion King ;)

are you KIDDING me

Tendercrop Farm - delicious organic produce in Newburyport

This is Salt

Clarabelle

There are so many farms around here that have apple picking, raspberry picking, peach picking, etc. around fall time and it is a favorite of Massachusetts locals

pretty, but also kind of creepy at the same time

Hawker Clan & Captain Chowda

2011-09-09T22:23:00.008-04:00

The fam came out to visit over labor day weekend - as always, it went way too quickly! And, I sucked at taking pictures this time.

classic Rosie

Nick & Kare

Sinatra Sundays anyone? Yes please

Hadn't seen my sis for 7 whole months!!!

the squirrels in Boston are as big as Kensington

Mikee's Pastry

Kari calling the shots at the counter

eclairs, cannolis, cupcakes + coffee = great time

Beacon Hill

It was pouring rain the last couple of days Nick and Kari were here so what do we do? Make the best of it

action shots

I struggled jumping into the air at the right time

all the other good shots are on my sister's camera - Kari and Nick had some real good ones

thanks for coming out, guys!!

and of course, K bear

Dializ comes to bean town!

2011-08-07T19:34:00.007-04:00

Rich's mom (Dializ) came to town for her first trip to Boston and we had a blast. We walked all around for miles and showed her all of the great stuff that Boston has to offer. The weather was beautiful too.

One of the places we went to was the museum of fine arts to see the blown glass exhibit by Dale Chihuly. WOW!

everything in this exhibit was glass - some of the most beautiful art I've ever seen

that in the background his his green icicle glass tower

this one was probably my fave

glass on the ceiling

chandelier glass

we went through some of the other exhibits in the museum - the egyptian, roman and some of the european. They were amazing!

I took a picture of this egyptian sculpture because it reminded me of Kensi when she gets hyper

Rich and I for sure are going to get an egyptian curse

we took Dializ to Rich's school and he showed us how he practices drilling on teeth

I couldn't help but take a crazy dentist picture while wearing these glasses

Dializ comes to bean town continued

2011-08-07T18:57:00.008-04:00

this last week, we finally got to go to the much anticipated Alison Krauss & Union Station Band concert - it DID NOT disappoint. Cannot believe how much talent these people have! I have a new found love for blue grass music. If they come back to Boston, we are definitely not going to miss it.

here are some pics of the stuff we did

reflecting pool

copley square

Dializ has mad photography skills ;) she has an awesome camera and she took a bunch of sweet pictures while she was here

Aquarium

after taking this picture of this lobster, I realized it closely resembled something you would see in disneyland

sea horses

kissin' penguins :)

old state house

Sinatra Sundays at Lucky's

we checked out this restaurant called Lucky's that has sunday brunch with a live band that plays Sinatra music and we ate it up. It was a good time!

north end

this dog was killing me - we walked by a liquor store and this critter was just giving us the cutest puppy dog eyes ever

boston summertime, we love you

2011-07-13T19:44:00.009-04:00

Wow, a post?

First and foremost, Rich wrapped up his first year of dental school!!! So proud ;)

we have been hanging out all over Boston since Rich got out of school, and we are LOVIN this weather.

these are the old school swan boats that have been a running tradition since 1877 in the Boston Public Garden. $2.75 per person. Score

Boston Public Garden - in the middle of the city. First public botanical garden in the nation

Kensi in her "beef frank" box we brought home from Costco

Kensi's first encounter with a caterpillar

out celebrating 1 year down, 3 more to go

evening of the 4th - how sweet is the red, white and blue sky over the Charles

Happy 4th ;)

out looking for a new apartment - these neighborhoods are amazing. I basically feel like a beggar when I'm walking through them

We took a day trip up to Northern Massachusetts - Rockport - a little beachy town with a bunch of boutiques, coffee shops and a kickin' lobster shack

fresh lobstah

first lobster rolls were everything we hoped they would be

happy :)

chillin in the city

Visit from Rose n' Jeff

2011-06-05T20:44:00.005-04:00

My parents came into town last week - always a good time to have Rosie & Jeff out.

Some memorable points of the week:

guitar lessons with dad
italian food in the north end
1st game with the red sox!!!
fenway hotdogs... oh yeah
pigeon dropping a hot one on my mom. true story
PAUL SIMON!!!
mccormick & schmick's
kensi's random charleston shuffle she busted out one night

Paul Simon concert - wowwww words cannot express how sweet this was

I love this theater - it is just stunning

we took the train out to Salem to get a better dose of it when the weather was more, well, habitable. Too bad the weather was a windy mess when we went up; nevertheless, we still had a good time in witch city. This is my favorite coffee shop, "the coven" (a gathering of witches)

candid shot

thanks to my mom and dad, Rich and I had our first Sox game - well what can I say? It rocked!

Fenway is beautiful - so rich in history and Red Sox culture

playing with camera features

old school!!!

what an awesome week ;) thanks mom & dad!

Spring!

2011-05-29T20:26:00.005-04:00

we bought Kens a window perch and it is her new found love. She is on it 90% of the time either meowing at birds or napping.

these last couple of days Rich and I have been walking a lot around Boston and taking in the great weather we've finally been having. When we first moved out here, it was a rough transition just getting used to a whole new culture and new area, and most important, being without family. I missed Utah a lot and longed for the simplicity of driving everywhere and parking for free almost everywhere you went. Everything in Boston just seems a little bit more difficult and takes more planning. The winters are rough too - not because of snow but because of the raging wind and scathing cold and at times it was almost unbearable. Not to mention the crazy CRAZY people running loose around here - I thought I had seen some absurd, out-of-their-mind people but I really had no idea. However, we are really beginning to love Boston and feel more comfortable here. Now that we feel like we have a better grasp on orienting ourselves in Massachusetts, feel like we have an idea of how things work and are familiar with more of the neighborhoods, it has been much more enjoyable and welcoming. We also love that we never feel bored - there is always something new to go see and although it is difficult to not spend money, there are so many free or cheap things to do out here.

This is us right around the North End - Italian District

the north end gets really busy on the weekends - there are so many amazing italian restaurants and bakeries that we will just walk around a choose a random one. You can really never go wrong.

Sometimes you feel like you're in an episode of the Sopranos when you walk by a group of old guys, that have been born and raised in the italian district, having a heated conversation. The heavy accents are incredible

we hung out by one of the harbors below the north end for a while and just listened to the live music - it was such a nice day!! Later on we ate at this place and had some to-die-for burgers

Christopher Columbus Park

It wouldn't suck to live there

shot of downtown Boston

color inspirationals

2011-05-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

while soaking up my laziness this weekend and browsing the internet, I came across some pictures that I loved and reminded me how stoked I am for summer

manchester.by.the.sea

2011-05-05T21:32:00.001-04:00

We drove up North this last weekend to a little town called manchester by the sea - we had heard there were some pretty good beaches to be had up there and it was definitely true.

Even though it is early spring and everything was pretty dead-looking, it still was a beautiful town and we can't wait to go back when everything is in full bloom.

don't mind the haunted mansion set behind us

some of the houses around "singing beach" - unreal!

mine!

it was still pretty chilly and breezy but the picture could have fooled you, right?

this sand is silky smooth

It is so great to finally live next to the ocean!

Kensi and Easter

2011-04-26T21:55:00.000-04:00

First, a few words on Kensi - here are a couple reasons why we are in love with this little furball:

she loves ice cubes and is endlessly entertained when we throw her one from the freezer. After the ice cube sits for a while and melts, I will put a paper towel on the floor to clean up the puddle before we step in it. Every time she sees a paper towel on the floor, she leaves her print on it and it makes me laugh so hard

we bought her a nice little soft hut in the background that we thought she would love - she went into it once or twice to check it out, never went into it again, and then made this raspberry box we threw on the ground from Costco her go-to bed. She LOVES this box

whenever we sit at our tiny little table for dinner, Kensi hangs out right underneath - usually on her back

at night she will jump up on my pillow once in a while and wrap herself around my head like a little mink

......EASTER.....

Rich and I made a traditional Danish breakfast called ebelskivers. DELICIOUS. We got the idea from Williams Sonoma and they did not disappoint. They are basically a mini filled pancake and we filled them with Nutella & bananas, raspberry jam, blueberry filling, etc. We will definitely be doing these again

Then, since the weather was unexpectedly nice, we chose a random beach that was 15-20 minutes away from our apartment and drove there to check it out. It was soooo nice to be on the beach again!!!!!

candid shot of Rich testing out the temperature of the water - freeeeezing

it's not very difficult to see that our whitee skin hasn't seen the sun in months

aaaaaahhhhhhh toes in the sand

Happy Easter everyone! And cheers to spring weather!

Lately

2011-03-26T16:34:00.001-04:00

As the weather has been warming up (sort of), we have been trying to get out more and explore what Boston has to offer besides all of the incredible historic sites. We found a Starbucks that we love going to 1. because of it's "clover" brewer, and 2. because of all the crazy people-watching that comes along with it.

We just discovered the clover brewed coffee - it is basically an individually brewed cup instead of a pot of coffee, and wow it is delicious.

me attempting to take artistic pictures of our coffees

sitting here in the corner of the window, we see some wiggity wack people - one guy was just walking around yelling random thoughts and trying to dance with people that walked by. Endless entertainment

When we first came out to Boston, we bought a really cheap couch and hoped that it would last us the 4 years. Well, that didn't exactly pan out as we had hoped. The cushions were all uneven and it started hurting our backs, so we went out to get a new couch. This is the one we ended up with. We got a killer deal on it at Macy's

On our search for a new couch, we came across "Jordan's Furniture" which is a whole little world in its own. It had a Fuddrucker's in it (I forgot how good their burgers are)

the red sox green monster

trapeze lessons - looked sooo fun

"Beantown" made literally of jelly beans

Richardson's Ice cream - that whole thing on top is made of jelly beans too

water show

all the madness together

We've never seen anything like it! It was insane - I told Rich that we should definitely go back and get trapeze lessons ;)

Family in February

2011-03-06T21:08:00.000-05:00

My family came to Boston last weekend - we traveled around to various historical spots and different Boston neighborhoods. It was a blast!!... except for the weather. Pouring rain 50% of the time, the other 50% spent freezing our butts off. Nooooooooooooo!

Here is Faneuil Hall - meeting hall since 1742 where historical speeches have occurred such as ones from Samuel Adams.

Lunch at Parish Cafe - one of our favorites we've found so far

Rain concert (Beatles tribute band) - this theater was gorgeous

"Mike's Pastry" in the Italian North End. We went in the middle of the day and it was jam packed - people love their cannoli's

words cannot express how cold it was!

Dropped by the old North Church where Paul Revere saw his lantern signal in the 1775 midnight ride

Riding the T (subway)

Breakfast at Aquitaine - French Bistro

Went to the aquarium - this is in front of the harbor

Kari and Nick

Random fact: these two have the exact same birthday. Same year and all

Thanks for coming out guys!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2011-02-06T21:38:00.000-05:00

Supposedly this has been one of the worst winters out here. I decided to go to work - even though we were sternly warned of "treacherous commuting conditions". It was the best commute I had had in the last 3 weeks - the subway was a ghost town because the majority of people didn't want to deal with the snow.

Here is a picture I took walking to work from the subway

The snow wasn't terrible. The weather conditions that seem sketchy to me are after the fact, when the temperature drops and a lot of black ice forms on the roads. It is a lot colder out here than Utah.

Here are a bunch of snow piles around our apartment complex - a lot piles up because there is nowhere to put it

Me n Kens

In the light of snow, I wanted to share these really cute cookies I found while searching aimlessly on the internet. I think these are awesome!

I have been ridiculous about taking pictures these last couple weeks because mostly we are just chillin in our apartment - hopefully I'll have something more riveting to write about next time.

Blizzard and Aquarium

2011-01-17T19:10:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, we had a nice "Noreaster" and we got some blizzardy snow. Every single school in Boston was closed, and a good amount of the city was shut down. At first I couldn't figure out why everyone loses their mind when we get a little snow out here, but now I understand that there is nowhere to put the snow, since the city is so condensed, and the roads are so narrow, old, and crazy that it makes things difficult for plowing. Even so, the chaos in Boston on a snowy day does not lose its entertainment aspect for Rich and me.

We decided to venture out into the brutal cold (the wind will turn your head around) this weekend and go to the New England Aquarium - we had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants "Chart House" that we stumbled upon. Can't get enough of the clam chowda out here

penguin exhibit :)

"little blue" penguin

Happy Holidays, etc!

2011-01-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

Our laptop was becoming overloaded with pictures about a month ago and as we made an attempt to alleviate the situation, we almost lost all of our pictures - luckily we had them backed up. Unfortunately, most of our pics since we have moved to Boston only saved in tiny KB formats, so .. yeah.

Dan and Megan came down to Boston the weekend after Dan's birthday and we bummed around North End. We did a tour through Paul Revere's house and got a taste of the harpsichord and traditional clothing of the time. Here we are in front of Paul Revere's house.

Christmas morning Kensington

The east coast got a "huge" snowstorm (nothing Utah couldn't handle ;) around Christmas and everyone around here flipped out like their lives were surely to end that day. Rich and I went to Costco and this is how dead it was

New Year's Eve, we walked around the Boston Common, did some sight-seeing of ice sculptures, ice skating, a parade, some fireworks and Boston madness

orka ice sculpture

The Christmas decorations around Beacon Hill (one of the nicest neighborhoods in Boston - if not the nicest/most expensive) so gorgeous!

Beacon Hill

Egyptian ice sculpture

Happy New Year!!

Happy Happy

2010-11-06T21:55:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Kare!!

Love you ;)

Salem

2010-11-06T17:06:00.000-04:00

Halloween weekend, my parents came into town and surprised me by bringing my sister out with them - I was totally shocked and so excited to see her. I haven't seen her since we left Utah, so it was definitely a good time!

When they first got to Boston, we decided to do a duck tour

Kensington's Halloween costume ;)

This is the stop for the T (subway) that Rich and I go to school/work from everyday

We bought train tickets to go out to Salem because we knew it was going to be crazy out there - SO many people

This is me trying to look like a Salem witch

There were a couple of old houses that were still standing from the 1600's

Jeff n Rosie

We went into a costume store because we felt out of place with no costume on - 85% of people walking around had a serious costume on, so we tried to find something to throw together. This hat was like a Dr. Seuss witch hat

This was going to be Rich's costume

By the end of the costume shopping, we ended up not dressing up as anything because we didn't want to fork out $25 for a witch hat. Boo.

This witch was great

The weather was gorgeous, except for the wind that had a mean bite

Look at these twilight werewolves

We were loving the festive nature of the entire town - it was so incredible

Check out this costume - crazy cat lady

We also took Kare up to see Fenway Park

Salem did not disappoint :)

Makes Sense

2010-10-24T21:28:00.000-04:00

If I were IKEA, I think I would try to choose a creepier man holding a baby than this to represent my advertisement

Also, if I were to choose a cartoon child to be on a flat iron tag, I would definitely choose a kid that looked like he was going to murder someone or torture small puppies.

Autumn in New England

2010-10-13T21:08:00.000-04:00

Rich's sister came out to visit us last weekend, and it gave us the excuse to get out and sight-see. The weather out here is stunning right now, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day. We had a really good time, and it was so fun to catch up.

as we were strolling along the historical cobblestone streets next to the italian district, I happened to notice something interesting in the windows of a pub

only in Boston would you see this

busted. They caught me

We chose a random restaurant in the italian district, and Rich's all time favorite italian dish is anything with linguini, and any seafood you can possibly imagine. To his delight, the waiter listed some specials, and among these was a dish exactly like this. He ordered the special without a doubt in his mind (he had ordered a similar dish a couple weeks ago from a different restaurant in the North End, and it was just like a normal-portioned dish you would expect to see)

The dish arrived, and it was a glimmering medley of the most gorgeous seafood display we have ever laid eyes on. It looked like someone had gone out and raked the sea floor and put it on his plate (and it included a half of a lobster underneath as well). Now we were nervous because we had a feeling it was going to be a lot more expensive than we thought. We figured that if all of these were market priced items, this dish could easily break $70. Nikki and I couldn't stop laughing, but Rich was sweating bullets at this point.

The check came, and it turned out to be pricey, but not nearly what we were fearing (it was "only" $46). Here is Rich showing his gratitude that it was not $75. He felt terrible, but I thought the whole thing was hilarious! Besides, he deserved it ;)

Later, the three of us waited in line to grab some pastries (yes, waited in line - about 35 min). People go crazy over pastries in the italian district

How I felt after eating our pastries

Thanks again for coming out, Nikki! We had a blast!

Kensington's Rough Week

2010-10-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

This kitty had no idea how trying her week would be

She experienced her first trip to the vet to get her shots/check-up
*side note, she now weighs 5 lbs

We couldn't believe how good she was - not one peep out of her the entire time, and you could tell she was so scared (especially when we took her into the vet's room). On the ride back home, we let her out of her box to see if she would be ok in the car and she hopped onto the backseat like a dog and sat there the entire rest of the way home (20 minutes)

She then experienced her first fire alarm - our apartment building had to evacuate. Kensington was put in her box again, and had to tolerate alarms, fire engines and multiple dogs barking

poor Kensington ;)

lounging after an eventful couple of days

Never a Dull Moment

2010-09-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

A fundamental concept I have learned being on the east coast this far, is that not a lot makes sense. This leads to endless entertainment, no matter how small.
The other day, we noticed the apple tree vigorously shaking outside our apartment window across the street. Rich and I peer out to find a random guy who found it necessary to climb someone else's fruit tree and help himself to a variety of apples. We watched as he stretched over the fence and pulled himself up onto the lower branches, and into the tree (by the way he was struggling up the tree, I don't think it would be a stretch to assume he had hit the bottle before his brilliant idea played out)
A car drives by, notices the random guy in the apple tree, and apparently tells him to get out. Because he then proceeded to jump down, lift his shirt up to display to the driver that he was not carrying any of the apples, and stumble down the sidewalk into the horizon.
Slightly different from what you would expect to see in Holladay (and awesome that this type of entertainment is right outside our window).

p.s. do you ever wonder how a search engine comes up with pictures like this when you are searching for "apple tree"?

B-town with Jeff and Rosie :)

2010-09-09T21:54:00.000-04:00

My parents came out to Boston over labor day weekend, and it was so great to hang out with them for a couple days. It went way too fast!

USS Constitution was a must

Lovely brownstones next to the Charles. I loved just walking around the city with my parents - my mom had never been to Boston before.

walking by the Charles

We couldn't have asked for better weather

They took us to Smith and Wollensky's. this restaurant was AMAZING. This medieval building is an old armory - originally the headquarters for the First Corps of Cadets. The architecture was breathtaking

Granary Burial Ground in the middle of Boston - oooooooold tombstones

We saw Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock's gravesites

Took a stroll into the Italian District in North End

Rich and I both want cobblestone in our driveway one fine day

Paul Revere statue, and the old North Church in the background

I need a door like this for Kensington

We love you two!! Thanks so much for coming out to see us!

and, finally, the post wouldn't be complete without a picture of this little fuzzy face

or a fish lens of Kensington

Tufts Orientation

2010-08-31T21:42:00.000-04:00

We went to the Tufts Family Orientation, which was an all-day event for students/spouses/parents, etc to meet and mingle as well as for the families to get an idea about where the students will basically live for the next four years. I was loving the opportunity to get to see Rich's school, his class, and random things like this simulation lab. Really neat stuff!

The views at his school are just breathtaking

I got a kick out of all of the heads on the monitors

staircase inside the new addition at Tufts

Not too shabby, huh? :)

Right outside their main lecture hall, they have an old school display of sketchy dental tools

How about the foot-powered drill?

I liked this picture of the class of 1942 - look at that woman in the middle. What a rebel

It was funny/interesting because I would dare say that at least 85% of the people at the family orientation were parents and not spouses, and it is crazy to people out here that we are married. So in the family group tours, they kept saying that "your kids will be spending a lot of time in this lecture hall, and your kids will be doing this, and your kids will be doing that".

The orientation was really nice, as well as the entire school and the faculty. I was really impressed! I am so excited for Rich, and so proud of him - he starts his classes next week and it is going to be quite the ride!

Other than that, we have still been exploring Boston every chance we get before Rich starts school, as well as hangin out with Kensington

It's always great to get a little slice of Erin and Matthew when possible :) So glad they stopped by

We all had dinner in the North End (Italian district), and then stopped by Mike's where the line flows out the door on a Tuesday night

Rich and I went to the Museum of Science - they had an optical illusion exhibit and this was our favorite:

up close

the whole picture

airplane engine

We went to the North End again for dinner because there is some good Italian to be had - we then stopped at Modern Pastry, where again, the line was out the door. We just hung out and admired the city lights

downtown architecture

The Old State House
Where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the Bostonians from a balcony in 1776

USS Constitution, Red Sox and Kensington

2010-08-19T21:50:00.000-04:00

We did some touristy sight seeing last Saturday and we are falling more in love with Boston. We went to take a look at the USS Constitution which is about a mile and a half away from our apartment in the Charlestown Navy Yard - this beauty is 212 years old and is the oldest commissioned navy ship still afloat in the world. Talk about some history!

I think this is how they clean and maintain the bottom of these ships? Really interesting to see - and how much of a sharp point the front of the ship comes to. Smelled like rotten fish

Took a brief trip through Beacon Hill - really ritsy area - can you tell by the 7 eleven??

Or the caliber of Starbucks??

All of their fire houses out here rock - they are all so beautiful

Red Sox Nation!

Dad, Rich says this is for you

First day we brought Kensington home

You can see her little shaved belly because she had to be spayed the morning we got her

she is the sweetest little peanut we've ever seen

Introducing...

2010-08-15T12:15:00.000-04:00

The newest member of our family

Kensington.

We get to bring her home tomorrow :)

Shout Out

2010-08-14T00:06:00.000-04:00

Love you guys! We miss all of you very much!

New in the Neighborhood

2010-08-10T22:15:00.000-04:00

So here it is!

A long road trip across the country (2,300 miles) ~38 hours finally brought us and our tired jeep to Massachusetts. Along the way, I took random pictures of the scenery and we both felt like Iowa was the most surprisingly beautiful and green (but mainly flat). Nebraska was really painful to get through - corn fields, hundreds of bug splatters on our windshield, and not a whole lot of anything else.

Iowa

We took pictures of every single welcome sign that brought us into each state, but I will spare everyone of all of those pictures

rest stop :)

On day 3, when I woke up in the morning, my neck decided it would be appropriate to tweak out and not cooperate for the next couple of days. I have NO idea what happened or what was even going on - all I knew was that I couldn't tilt my head to the left, and there was no way I was going to be able to look to the left either. Here I am with a hot pad on the back of my neck with my sweatshirt wrapped around it to brace it. awesome.

Rich being a champ driving the entire rest of the way

FINALLY!!

This is a picture of a ship that we could see right at our parking spot in our apartment complex - such a big change. That big "T" sign is where the subway station is (right around the corner)

1st day in our apartment. Our remaining furniture came the next day on the ABF truck that we bought 6 ft of space on to move our bed, dresser, clothes, kitchen stuff, etc. So glad we didn't rent a Uhaul because that would have cost about $3500. Yeah.

Dunkin' Donuts ;)
down the street

So here is a snapshot of my new work - AIDS Research center at Mass General Hospital. I can't explain how excited I am to get involved with this research. It's in the Charelstown Navy Yard, literally right on the ocean - about 1.5 miles away from our apartment.

Picture Issues

2010-08-10T07:15:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to upload our pictures for the past couple of days and our internet out here is not cooperating very well - we have an internet network with the apartment building that comes free with the apartment. Well, too bad the "free" internet (I say "free" because rent out here is absurd) is as slow as molasses. We will be getting some pictures up probably by the end of the week.

But, thus far, we love Boston and we really love our apartment. The only thing we are pretty much over is driving around this city. Instant heart attack. Tiny, old, confusing streets with 72 million pot holes (there were a bunch of sink holes on the main freeway the other day - safe?); gigantic round-abouts with no lane lines - just madness; basically only 30% of the streets actually have street signs and if they do, there is a good chance it is covered up by an overgrown tree. The joke is that you can see exactly where you want to go, but good luck getting there.

With the exception of driving nightmares, this place is so full of life - so much to do - we just can't wait!

Away We Go

2010-08-01T11:02:00.000-04:00

We will be arriving in Boston in 4 days

"when we walk to the edge of all the light we have
and take that step into the darkness of the unknown,
we must believe that one of two things will happen....

there will be something solid for us to stand on.
or, we will be taught how to fly."

July in Review

2010-07-20T15:42:00.000-04:00

On our journey driving across town to move stuff back into my parent's house until we leave to B-town, we came across a couple of amazing individuals

Take a look at this dude driving his truck with stuffed animals adorning the trailor he's pulling

just in case you need a closer look:

Rockin the 70s

At first glance, you may not notice the outstanding nature of this picture. Take a closer look at the left of the image. Yes. This guy is incredible

Held a garage sale to get rid of every last belonging Rich and I could stand to let go of

getting set up

This is discouraged and frustrated Ellie, wondering why on earth we would put her in a cone.

Little Ellie had an eye infection. Poor thing. But so hilarious at the same time - it is so hard not to laugh at the sight of it.

Nick n Kari husking corn - spending time with the fam

We went to a Real soccer game over the 4th weekend with our friends Amanda and Clay - my sister did some hosting during half time and at the end of the game with the fireworks and such. Go Kare!

There was a group of die hards that would play the same beat drum the entire game, wave flags and throw off smoke bombs. It reminded me of the baricades in Les Miserables

Clay and Mander

Yes, We Witnessed It.

2010-06-29T23:16:00.000-04:00

Probably the most amazing license plate ever

Random Happenings

2010-06-28T09:31:00.000-04:00

First of all, Happy Birthday to Rich about 2 weeks ago!!!! (I am so good at keeping up, I just can't believe it)

love you, Richard! Had to sneak in some Beatles rockband, of course

We took a short trip to B-town, to take care of some business, and let me tell you it was the most scrambled trip I've ever been on. Apparently, school had just gotten out for the 15.7 billion students that are in Boston, so that made for a really easy trip flying stand by (ha ha ha ha ha ha.. not.)

We were at the airport from 8 am until about 5:30 pm trying to catch a bunch of flights, and we were getting desperate - trying to get even to Atlanta or Baltimore just to get closer to Boston. We were such scrappers the whole trip - just trying to get whatever flights we could and whatever sleep/shower possible.

We finally got into Baltimore late at about 12:30 in the morning, and had to pay for a full night at this sweet hotel that we couldn't enjoy because we had to get out of there at 4 am to get back to the airport to get to Boston. This is pretty much how our whole trip went - it definitely made for a good ol adventure

This shower was so awesome, and I couldn't even use it!!!

It looks like I photoshopped Rich into this picture

We finally got to Boston the next morning and of course came by some reasonably priced parking

This is at their shopping center

We had a blast just walking around, soaking up the Bostonian culture - it is so different from Salt Lake, I can't even begin to explain. So interesting to people-watch. We took a stroll down the vibrant Newbury Street and just sat down on some old brownstone steps. There was a group of about 25 kids (junior high-high school age) clapping a beat and break dancing in the middle - then there was a group of other kids in a classical band on the corner with every instrument you can think of (cello, violin and all). It was seriously like a movie. Everyone is so eclectic and such an individual - and everyone seems to be really nice, just fast-paced.

old school firehouse

the architecture here blows my mind - I'm going to go picture crazy

To get home, had to peel ourselves out of bed at 3:30 am. Wahoo!!

The trip was a lot of fun, needless to say, I was happy to get home after the schedule we had put ourselves on.

Rich trying to get a pic of me at the airport at 4 am - after we had just waited in line to get some coffee at dunkin donuts for a half hour. Not exaggerating. There was a string of high school students in front of us..... WHAT? Hyper high school students getting coffee??? And then coming on OUR flight? Right. Seems about right to end our trip this way.

St. Regis - Oh my

2010-06-13T14:51:00.001-04:00

This resort is one of 20 in the entire world and they chose little ol' Park City to plant one of these gems. My sister did a show on this place (she's a co host on Home's Today Utah Edition) - and was begging me for months to come see this place. So my mom, Kari and I went up and I finally understood her urgency - this is one of the most ritsy snitsy places I've ever been. So, then I convinced Rich to come up with me last week to witness the madness.

This is a "funicular" - it basically is an outdoor elevator that climbs up the mountain in order to get you to the resort. Snob appeal - yes?

Here's the lobby. How about that chandelier?

This patio in the back was to die for - there is a fire pit in the middle of it

I couldn't even imagine what kind of scenery you get from up here when it is a winter wonderland - it is right on the Deer Valley Ski Resort, and skiers can literally just ski into the back of the hotel

honestly best coffee I've ever had.

Random Story time: we went into their bar/grill that was open for lunch and I did not see coffee on the menu- only cocktails and wine. I asked if they possibly served coffee, and the guy said "oh yes of course. Please order anything you feel like and if the kitchen cannot cook it, we have a problem." ........ there are no doubt some high rollers up here

how cool is this beaded chandelier?

The spa at St. Regis ruined me. I obviously will not have the opportunity of enjoying a spa like this for a long time, and I had never seen anything like it. Rich and I decided to splurge and get a couples massage, and the only way we were able to do it is because of their 35% locals discount. Thank you remede ;)

ladies' whirlpool in the relaxation area

drinks and truffles of course (felt like a kid on christmas morning)

this fireplace was a modern masterpiece

Their pedicure/manicure room is even unbelievable

Regardless of the fact that we felt entirely out of place the whole time, it was so much fun! What a place

Yeah I'm Going There

2010-06-12T13:29:00.001-04:00

Alright, since I'm really classy I am going to post a couple of items that we are trying to sell before we go to Boston. I have posted these on KSL, but if anyone would like a Bosch washer and dryer, or a dining set, or knows anyone who would be interested, let me know ;)
I'm dying that we have to sell these, but given the fact that we will be living in a scrapper apartment; not much choice.

Our W/D are under a year old and have only been used since November. We have loved this set, and we wouldn't get rid of them if we didn't have to. We are selling them for $1400 together (someone has taken a look at these, and might be buying them but haven't heard about a definite answer yet)

This is a counter-height table set (4 chairs and table) $305

6 pc Antiqued Ashley dining set - $675
There is an extra leaf that is not in the picture

New Camera = :)

2010-06-01T23:57:00.000-04:00

Apologies for the drawn out post, however, Rich got me a sparkling new camera for my birthday and to say that I am excited about it is an understatement. I am in l.o.v.e.

My birthday 'week' was great - I definitely had a good time. Especially trying out the new cam

My mom and sister surprised me by taking me to the afternoon tea at Grand America - it did not disappoint. I loved every minute of it

I want a reflecting pool just like this

love you guys ;)

Ummm.... yeah. Need I say more?

my cup of tea

This camera (I just have to say - Canon's rock the house) has a feature on it that = my new obsession. You can choose one color in a scene and the camera will turn everything else into black & white. Here are some examples of this little genius feature:

Before:

After:

I made Kare be my model

And, my favorite....

This little gem was a sweet tooth's worst nightmare

Grand America was a blast!

The rest are randoms of time spent w/ the fam

cute sisters- Patty and Rose

Ok - the almost favorite feature on this camera is the fish lens = endless (and I mean endless) hours of fun.

see for yourself ......

Thanks Rich!!! LOVE this new camera - if you couldn't tell yet. Best purchase ever :)

.randoms over the last couple months.

2010-04-30T19:56:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to spend some time with Sara, who has practically been my sister since I was six - when she came into town for a mutual friend's wedding. She moved to California and I hardly get to see her anymore - sometimes I really hate growing up!

Rich and Kari at Finn's

Finn's is a really great restaurant in sugarhouse that re-opened with all of their original recipes from back in the day. My mom and dad went on a date here when they were youngsters

Our German friend, Florian, came to Utah to get married to a girl he met from here (random!). We have known this German family for years back when my dad went on a mission to Germany. We have been in contact with them and they have stayed with us in Utah several times.

Look how grainy these pictures are! Nikon coolpix are NOT good in low light. At all.

Rich and i went to a drill showcase of Jordan high - my sister coached the team this last year and I can't believe how much has changed since I was in high school - they have so much more money invested into their drill activities it is unbelievable - including professional individual photos of each girl, a personal D.J. for their showcase, custom made cards with their group picture, etc. wow. I didn't get any pictres of this madness

Venturing out and attempting to cook more seafood.

Note to self: oysters smell. They smell up your entire apartment. and clothes for a couple days. It rocks

My aunt and cousins decided to go to Cali/Disneyland and asked us if we wanted to go - I had a really tough time deciding because that meant I had to leave Rich behind. He had to work, and had two huge midterms coming up. I decided to go since I won't have a lot more time with my fam once we move across the country

my favorite disney character as a kid

jeff and rose - kids at heart

I had to post this picture solely for the girl in the background. How pissed she would be if she only knew ;)

I found this in a random corner of Disneyland - it was my shout out to Rich

My cuz Matt and I

My uncle Greg and Jan

my favorite part of this picture is the random cowboy joe in the back... and my mom's expression

Mike and Matt

Yesterday, I woke up to this - what? Really? I thought it was spring but I guess I misunderstood

snowy days of april

Unreasonable Request?

2010-04-19T12:50:00.000-04:00

Dear Boston,

Please be a little more accommodating to our budget. I know that you think $1400-$1800 is a reasonable amount for a one bedroom apartment per month; I don't really feel the same. Yes, you are definitely a great city full of US history and culture, but $1800 a month?? Also, is it really necessary to charge an extra $100 to $200 a month just for one parking spot? I am thinking we will probably be living in a shoebox if we want an apartment for under a thousand a month, but I am hoping that you will be willing to compromise.

Sincerely,
me

Wow!

2010-04-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

Browsing around about interesting vacations, I came across "Tree house Point" in Washington. How cool is this! And the lodging inside of these tree houses looked unbelievably nice too.

And then, I came across this hobbit house that a guy from Wales built for his family - I can't believe how cool this house is. Imagine growing up here

This is the article about it:
http://loveforlife.com.au/node/5917

Things that Inspire

2010-03-30T15:34:00.000-04:00

mine!

l.o.v.e. this kitchen

cute, random cupcake shop

I love how simplistic this bathroom is

Shout Out to my Hubby

2010-03-08T13:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, Valentine's was quite some time ago, and I am not punctual with this post at all, but I did want to write a couple things about how fortunate I feel to be with my valentine. I was digging through some old pictures, and I found this first one which was the first picture that was ever taken of the two of us - it was taken before we had even really started dating. I love this picture for that reason - earliest record of us

Rich and I are like two peas in a pod for many reasons, but one of these reasons is we love to laugh. There is rarely a moment when he is not cracking me up, and I absolutely love this about him. One of his many attributes is his incredible sense of humor, and his smart wit (really keeps me on my toes!)

I cannot imagine living a single day without him

He makes me happy beyond belief, and most importantly, always has my back. He roots for me, and is an incredible motivator for me (and many others around him). Right now, for example, he hasn't had a single day off since the beginning of January, and this will continue until the end of the semester. I am just in awe of his strength. The way that he has worked so hard in his life and gotten to the point that he is at now makes me want to work harder and reach the goals that I have always wished to reach in life.

Meanwhile, he of course makes time to enjoy life and humor - he'll always be my funny valentine

I love that I never have to question anything about our relationship and that it just works. I love that he will always look after me and help me up when I have stumbled upon some rough patches in life, and that I will always be right there for him in return.

Sundance

2010-02-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

If you know anything about Rich and me, you know that Sundance Film Festival isn't exactly our thing. However, this persuasive sister of mine talked us into going up. We actually had a fantastic time :)

Kari's friend invited us to a dinner 'event' for one of the movies. Well, these are some of the individuals that the dinner was actually for:

Orlando Bloom, Mark Ruffalo and Juliette Lewis
(I took this pic from about ten feet away, where we were sitting down for dinner)

Random nights make for a really good time

Kari sent me these pictures and admitted to going a little overboard with black and white

Richard putting out the vibe

Good times with my sister :)

The dinner was unbelievable - sushi platters, and various foods that we pretty much had no idea what we were eating but it was all good. It was a celebratory dinner for the Sundance film 'Sympathy for Delicious" - what a night!

Clam Chowda

2010-01-30T23:22:00.000-05:00

Home.sweet.home as of fall 2010........

Congrats, Rich!! We're packing our bags and moving to Boston!!!!

Rich interviewed at Tuft's Dental School in Boston this last week, and we just received word that he has been accepted

Dan and Megan were nice enough to get work off in Maine, drive down to meet us and take me around the city while Rich was in his interview - thanks so much you guys - means so much to us

notice anything strange about this picture?

no idea what sort of dramatic situation we happened to capture in the background

Top of the Prudential

our camera having focus issues - not cool

I couldn't be more proud of Rich. He has worked so hard to get into dental school, and it has been a trying process to say the least. He is finally getting his reward for all of the intense studying, invested time and tremendous efforts. Congratulations, Richard!!!!!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

2009-12-28T21:46:00.001-05:00

Christmas Morning

I'm turning into my mom with my must-have holiday decorations

Our Christmas tree honestly was 1/4" shy of hitting the ceiling with the star on top

Rich did quite the job with awesome gifts - here's two of them - Very impressed :)

My attempt at being wifely and domestic on Christmas day

Em, Heid, Trace and Kim, does this remind you of anything?

elle

My dad and Rich playing the new, addictive playstation pinball game

sisters :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! Miss you Dan and Meg!

Beloved Maui!

2009-12-20T22:21:00.001-05:00

Oheo Gulch

Hula pie goodness

Ho'okipa - large waves and usually a lot of wind surfing goes on here - right before we arrived, they had surf warnings for ridiculously high waves but we barely missed it. And, this was the first day we got there - as we were taking one of our first pictures (this one), Rich stumbled on a rock and sliced open the side of his foot. Poor Richard! It started bleeding a ton, and for a second I thought we maybe needed to take him to get stitched up (and a possible tetanus shot). Fortunately, it wasn't as terrible as we thought and he was able to keep a bandaide on it for the duration of the trip :)

Outside of Mama's Fish House

Rose n' Jeffrey

Leilani's - Kaanapali Beach

First day in Hana

Hamoa Beach

Our sea cottage view - feeling like you're at the edge of the world

Hana-Maui Hotel

Hamoa Beachin'

This bag is made from recycled sails that have been around the world - love it to pieces
Thanks for the awesome sea bag, Meg and Dan!!

Kare bear, we missed you!!

the end.*

(*last picture may have been staged)

Happy Halloween!!

2009-11-07T23:00:00.001-05:00

jack had way too much fun

Kari and I got as creative as possible with our supplies on hand

my vampire cupcake

Losing a camera charger = no pictures

2009-10-29T14:16:00.000-04:00

When you misplace your camera charger, it makes it difficult to keep up with pictures :)

We have been less than fabulous at picture taking, but here are some of the pics we managed to get.

Rosie had a birthday

Demolition Derby - a must in the summertime (actually Rich's first)

Awesomeness behind us at the demolition derby

Kari and bo in a beret

the end :)

Happy Anniversary! 8.9.09

2009-08-13T21:09:00.000-04:00

I know a tad late, but I still had to put it out there :)

Love you Richard!!!

Here's to a magical 2 years, and many more to come our way :)

... V E G A S ...

For our anniversary, we decided we needed a good dose of Vegas. We made this decision the day before we left and it was awesome! Random, last minute road trips are golden. We also went to see Mystere, and my jaw was on the floor for the duration of the performance. Mesmerizing. Here are some snaps of us taking in good ol' Sin City

We ate dinner on our anniversary at a restaurant called "Olives" right on the water at the Bellagio. Best idea ever....

Tahoe!

2009-07-21T13:53:00.000-04:00

My parents took off to Tahoe last week, and I tagged along with them for a couple of days because Rich needed to stay home and study. Poor thing! It was a bittersweet couple of days because I love a good Lake Tahoe trip, but it was not easy being there without King Richard :)

Kurt McNeeley invites us every year to come out on his boat in Tahoe - so generous. Him and my dad are longtime friends and used to be boat partners back in the day

We, of course, had to stop by in-n-out when we got into Reno

Here she is, the beautiful Lake Tahoe

This picture does not show exactly to scale how these waves were, but we got stuck in a storm on the lake (which is extremely rare for Tahoe), and the waves were similar to the ocean. Our boat was flyin' and we finally, after about 20 minutes, got to the dock safely. It was actually a lot of fun - I was in the front of the boat with Kurt's kids, and we were getting worked by the waves slamming into our faces. The kids and I were absolutely drenched once we got back to the dock

me n' mom

Kurt's kids (such well behaved, amazing kids)

This was a mansion we came across on the lake - how would it be

This was my dad's getup the first day out on the lake, by the way. I had to sneak a picture. Kurt is to the right of him.