Christmas Cheer

We live in a neat little place and there is a park 2 blocks south of us that was having a big tree lighting. On Dec. 6 they were going to finally turn on all the lights that they had been putting up for a couple of weeks. We walked down and saw the streets were blocked off because there were a few hundred people milling about. Christmas music was playing, everyone had a Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and santa hats were in abundance. It was a cute little things to be a part of! Sorry my night pictures aren't so good.






Santa was sitting on the sleigh and kids could go sit on his lap.
A gigantic Santa!

Baby Jesus was missing! I overheard someone who said that they put him in on Christmas Eve.

What's going on?

Or so you may wonder, since I've been horrible about blogging. Every once in awhile I think I have something blog worthy, but for the most part, I don't think I have much of anything to say. The biggest event I wanted to blog about (Europe), I tried to do too much and got overwhelmed and quit. I also struggle with the pictures. So here is a brief recap of some of the things we've done since we've moved!

Jenna went to Canobie Lake Amusement park in New Hampshire with her dad and siblings that live at home. It was like a glorified fair/simple and kiddie Six Flags. It was fun for me to see them having fun, even if it wasn't my ideal amusement park. It was clean and family friendly though.



For Chris's birthday, we went to Providence, Rhode Island to see the River Fire. They light bonfires on about a half-mile of the river in down-town Providence . There were singers, actors, bands, gondolas, etc. There were probably a fe w thousand people walking around and enjoying the pleasant evening. It was really fun!

One of the many opera singers. They would light the torch when it was time for someone to sing.



Luminaries called a Starry, Starry Night. It was interesting to read the tags and dedications that people wrote on their luminaries.


Even though I don't have kids, I wanted to enjoy a New England outing of apple picking! I went with church's play group on their "fieldtrip". I got to pick some apples, and they were the most amazing apples I've ever eaten! Yum!


Chris and I have found a wonderful email group called groupon. They send lots of discount coupons for things around the city, so we bought tickets to take a sunset cruise on the Boston Harbor.



The apple picking field trip was so fun, that I went one the pumpkin picking one! The farmers showed us all kinds of plants and let us taste them too. I was amazed to see corn in all different colors, even like pinkish and purple corn! I tasted my first concord grape, which tastes just like welch's grape juice. My friend Eliza and I went after the biggest pumpkins since we don't have kids. Unfortunately as we were heading back to the hayride, we were told that we would have to pay extra for them. We hurriedly put them down and grabbed the first pumpkins that looked decent.

Grandma came to visit over the 3 day weekend in October. It was really fun to see her and it was a great time for us to become closer. Erica and Spencer came up for a couple of days to see Grandma and so we could belatedly celebrate Erica's bday. For our Saturday adventure, we went to Edaville Cranberry Festival near my parent's house. They had a few rides, shows, foods, train ride, museum, etc. It was kinda corny, but I had a blast with my family and seeing lots of church friends there.
We had a blast on this ride, the Tilt o Whirl. We rode it over and over and laughed hysterically. The lines were non-existent sometimes, so we didn't even have to get off! The last time on, I rode with Emma, m y youngest sister, and she freaked. It was actually really funny how scared she was. She kept whining for mommy.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of my grandma and my dad on the teeter totter together. It was so cute!

That night, Chris and I (thanks to another groupon!) went to an ice hockey game with our friends t he Fajens. It was the Worcester Sharks vs. the Lowell Devils, both minor league teams.Grandma, Dad, and I had plans to drive through New Hampshire and Vermont to see the pretty leaves. We didn't get very far like we wanted to, but we saw a town in New Hampshire that was filled with scare crows to celebrate the Wizard of Oz. There were hundreds of them. I still need to make it to Vermont sometime.
Chris and I wanted to visit Salem, the famous "witch city". We didn't plan our trip ahead of time, which I now know was a mistake. It was so crowded since it was the Saturday before Halloween. We really didn't see much, but now we know what we want to see. This is the only house we went into. I really want to go to the House of Seven Gables.

I've lost it

Have you ever had times where you think you misplaced your brain? Or that everything is a little off? You can't do or find things that you normally can? Well that's been my last few days and it's driving me bonkers. Here's what I mean:

I am painting our 2nd room and thought I did a pretty good job with the first coat. Then I did the 2nd coat...yea. I ended up with paint all over the wrong places! I ran into the wall and had paint all over me, hit myself with roller, got paint on other things, and did a much worse job overall. Thankfully I bought a very forgiving paint.

I have a very kind friend who has agreed to teach me to sew. I had a bag with beginner sewing essentials and notions, couldn't find it anywhere! I found everything but that!!! I searched everywhere and no such luck.

I couldn't cut fabric straight to save my life, even with a straight edge.

My phone died and my computer died.

I forgot my book and other things that I take with me when I work because I had an hour and a half of down time.

I got to the cash register at the grocery store and realized I didn't have my wallet. Thought it was stolen or in the car...well finally found it hidden at home, even though I was only at home for just a few minutes.

I was trying to collapse boxes and realized I had a cut a finger when I had blood on my shirt. But I cut myself, not once, but twice. Yes, twice. I decided to bandage my finger and keep going and lo and behold, I cut another finger. Geez.

That's just a sampling. I don't know if it's the time change or the full moon, but I have LOST my bearings. Big time. Hopefully my head gets put on straight soon.

A New Perspective

We have been living in MA for 2 months now! The transition has been much easier than I was expecting, but it's still an adjustment. One difference we've noticed here is the language. I heard foul language growing up, who hasn't, but maybe it wasn't too bad because it was the Bible belt. Here, the F-bomb is used so casually! I've been shocked!

I started a job recently as a PCA (personal care attendant) for a lady with disabilities. During the interview she asked me if there was anything in particular that she needed to be aware of since I'm LDS. I explained to her that I don't smoke, drink, etc. and that I don't use and don't like foul language. I told her that I don't like hearing the Lord's name used in vain and we talked about how the f-word is used way to frequently here. I really appreciated that she said she would try to watch her language around me.

After a few weeks of working, I could tell that she was making an effort to not use certain cuss words, but I was still bothered by the frequency of the Lord's name being used in vain. I had thought about bringing it up, but I was a little nervous too. Thankfully she started a conversation in which I felt comfortable to tell her. I was shocked to realize she had no idea what I meant by not using the Lord's name in vain. I had to explain to her that we only use certain words when we're respectfully talking to or about Him. I was grateful that she was respectful and she said she understood what I meant. She said she didn't even realize that she ever used those words! Not long after she said "Oh my..." and I felt comfortable enough to point it out and she was surprised that she had said it! She also didn't realize that he**and d**n are considered swear words. I thought it was so interesting that someone wouldn't know they are cuss words.

Thankfully, she is very kind and is really going to try to respect me and not use certain language around me. I learned a lesson that not everyone knows or understands the same things that I do. It was good for me to see something from another person's perspective and realize that they're not trying to be offensive or brash. I wonder what I do that I don't even realize, that bothers other people.

Family Pictures 2009

I have been awful about writing on here, so I'm sure you can guess that I'm awful about keeping a journal. I really dislike writing, but I wish all my thoughts just magically appeared on paper. Often I think about recording my thoughts and feelings in a journal and I really wish I did, but I don't know. Of course I regret not writing a lot of things and I still don't write! When I first started dating Chris, I wanted to write in my journal just in case the relationship went somewhere. Well the relationship did, but my writing didn't happen. Unfortunately, I have the worst memory ever so I really need to write! Well this blog has really little writing. We took family pictures for the first time in 6 years. Our family has 3 new people! Chris, Spencer, and Emma are all the newest members! We took the pictures at Horseneck Beach, MA on August 16th. Here's a few.











The family of no butts. Hehe


My siblings and me!
The few boys in the fam.

My one little brother...
All the girls and Marmee. (Yes we're all biological sisters!)

"New" England part. 2

So you know how I said it was diverse, well holy cow we really got a taste of it when we went to the RMV (the DMV everywhere else) because everyone has to go there, rich, poor, young, old, etc. Chris was there longer than me and he said he heard at least 9 different languages spoken while he was waiting! We saw lots of native garb from all over the world: African, Egyptian (we think), Orthodox Jew, Muslim, etc. There was definitely no majority there.

Things I disliked about the RMV: Massachusetts will charge you up the whazoo for anything and everything. It cost $100 each for driver's licenses plus $125 more to get the car registered. Yikes! Our car insurance doubled here as well. Ughhh. The lady helping was quite short (not height wise, but most people are here in both ways) and like to use the "f" word when she couldn't find her pen.

Things I'm learning about an old house, Mindy you're right, there are always repairs to be made! Our sink doesn't work, the plumber is coming tomorrow. Outlets don't get enough current to power electronics, very few switches and outlets, and no overhead lighting in the living room. It will be interesting having a house heated by radiators in the winter. We'll see how that goes.

Cool things: tomorrow we get to drive to my parent's house for a family BBQ and swim party. My sister and bro-in-law came up today from NYC, so we'll all be together. Then Sunday we get to take (for me) the dreaded family pictures. I hate pictures of me. But we get to take them on the beach! Yay!

"New" England

Yea! We have internet now! Life is so different in this "foreign" land. Here's some cool, funny, and interesting things we've discovered so far:

-Everyone watches the Red Sox, we were running errands and every store with a tv had it on and we could see it on in all the living rooms as we drove by.
-The Targets near us all have Starbucks in them.
-Everything is coffee flavored
-Breaking myths: People (for the most part) are extremely helpful and friendly in person. The drivers are really the only rude ones.
-I haven't heard to many accents.
-Everything is so close, yet seems so far. Maybe it's bajillion stoplights or just that everything is so close together, but it seems like things are much farther than the really are.
-It's not humid everyday. Only certain days, but I don't know the pattern yet.
-It is so diverse here! We live in an area with many Italians (some streets are painted with green, white and red instead of the normal white and yellow lines), Chinese, and it seems like there also quite a few Indian places too. Many of the signs in the area are Chinese. We found the coolest produce, bakery, etc. market owned by Italians. It has every kind of produce you can imagine for really cheap. We only tried the dried kiwi...interesting. I also felt like I was back in France when I saw their selection of fresh cheeses. They have yummy looking pastries, fresh pasta made on-sight, a salad bar and specialty meats.
-Within 1.5 miles from our house we've found a Trader Joes, Whole Foods Market, 2 Shaw's grocery stores, and 2 Super Stop and Shops!
-Our street is so quiet...no more interstate in the backyard and train-rattled windows!
-We live in an old place, well old for us, it was probably built in the 1910s or 1920s with original molding and doors. Cool charm, not cool smells or repairs or lack of AC.
-Streets are so dang confusing here! We get confused with the GPS and we would be utterly lost without it! Thank heavens for Mr. Tomtom.
-There are NO craft stores like the ones I am attached to in Utah. There are lots of paint and other types of craft stores, but Provo Craft in unknown here. No Roberts, no Hobby Lobbies, only 1 JoAnne's superstore in the whole state (and not close)...it makes me want to cry.
-I have never lived in a ward that is so incredibly on top of things. No one knew we were coming until Sunday and that day I saw a girl that I worked on a group project with back in my freshman year. She and her husband fed us dinner and let us hang out at there place Sunday night. I just found out now since I just got internet, but I had 4 emails from different people on Sunday! Including my new VT assignment!
Monday: My companion called and introduced herself, wanted me to help her move into her place on Tuesday.
Tuesday: While helping here, my VTs called me to come visit on Wednesday.
Wednesday: One of my VTers came by with pastries from an Italian bakery a couple blocks away. I like her.

Our ward has a welcome packet with recommended everything! Our ward has so many students, young professionals that are transient, that the ward has a turn over rate of 40% per year! The nursery has 30-40 kids! There are only a few families that have been here for a long time. We'll probably be one of those eventually. Everyday is a learning experience here! We definitely miss our Utah friends and favorite places, but we're loving our new home! We'd love for old friends to come visit our new place. More news to come and maybe when we finally get settled I'll get back to writing about our Europe trip.