Celtics vs Pistons

Last night we went to the Celtics home opener at the Garden and it was great! Its the second game we've been to and we loved every minute of it. The Celtics won by 11 points and it was a fun game to watch. I was worried that our tickets were way up in the nose=bleed section, but they were fabulous! We had a great view (I'm not sure there is really a bad view in there at all) and we brought the binoculars so we were able to see whatever we wanted.



We're hoping to make it to at least one more game this season. They obviously play well when we're there, so they need us. ;)

Looking Forward

I thought about doing a post about all we'd done in 2011 and while I love looking back on the year we've had (celebrating our first anniversary, wonderful trips to Maine, kayaking adventures, a good year at school), I decided instead to look forward to what we're anticipating in 2012. So here's what we're looking forward to in the year ahead:

:: A puppy!! We've put a deposit on a lab puppy with a breeder in Epsom and are eagerly waiting for our puppy to arrive in the spring. We've put in a request for a yellow male, but we're also open to whatever puppy is best for us. The mama dog is being bred this spring and we can't wait for word that the puppies are on their way. We've been dreaming of a dog for a while and are definitely ready to expand our family.

:: A new apartment. The possibility of a puppy means its time to find a new place to live (we can't have a dog in our current apartment). We'd love to find something on the first floor so I can have my piano (and so it will be easy to take the puppy out) and we'd ideally like to stay in Concord, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll find something great when we start looking in the spring.

:: "Our" land. We are desperately in love with a tiny piece of land on Georges Pond and are trying to save money to make it a reality for us. Anyone want to loan us $10,000 for a down payment?? Did you know you have to put down 20-35% when you buy land? Crazy!! We met with a real estate agent and looked at the land when we were in Maine for our anniversary in October and have been dreaming about our land ever since then. We spent most of October talking with mortgage brokers and banks and basically finding out that we can't proceed with anything until we have $10,000. So, we're saving and crossing our fingers that the land will still be for sale when we finally have the money to make an offer.

:: Celebrations. Two of my best friends turn 40 this year and I'm looking forward to celebrating with them both. Sarah's 40th birthday "Girls Weekend" will be in Boston in May and Michelle Upstairs, Karisti and I are planning to meet in Vegas in July to celebrate Karisti's 40th.

:: Traveling. We've going to spend April vacation in Nova Scotia with Rick and Cindi and we can't wait! It should be a fun road trip and we're really looking forward to it. And hopefully we'll make it to Berlin in 2013, but that will be part of next year's post... :)

Happy New Year my dear friends! Sending you wishes for a wonderful 2012!

Update

I've been quite the blog slacker lately, so here's a little update of what we've been up to...

... School, of course. November was a blur and I truly don't know where the month went. Now we're in the thick of getting ready for the Winter Concert on Dec. 15th. I'm also guest conducting the New England Wind Symphony at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Dec. 18th and Bob is recording the concert, so we're both looking forward to that.

... I started my new gig as organist at the United Church of Warner this past Sunday and it went really well. My choir is 12 people with an average age of about 75, but they are sweet and exited to have me there. Its nice to be playing regularly again, and the extra money is nice!

... Dreaming of the new addition to our family. No, not a baby (never!!), but a puppy! We've decided we're ready to get a puppy, so now we're just waiting until our current lease is up in May so we can move to a new apartment where we're allowed to have a dog. Sarah helped us find a wonderful labrador breeder and we're looking forward to picking out our lab puppy in the spring! We can't wait!!!!

That about sums up the last few weeks. We did spend a day at the coast a few weekends ago and it was great to be at the ocean (see post below). And we're planning on spending a night in Boston over Christmas vacation, but otherwise we're staying close to home for a while. Time to save some money and just hibernate. :)

Sunny Sunday at the beach

The day we went to the beach was incredibly beautiful - mild, sunny and just perfect. And there were really big waves!! We drove along the strip at Hampton and walked on the beach for a while. It was great!

How many pictures do we have of us like this? We've perfected the self-portrait.

We also went to Short Sands and walked on the beach for a bit. We stayed at the Union Bluff Hotel for the first night of our honeymoon, so it was fun to see a bride and her bridesmaids having their photos taken out in front of it. She was lucky to have perfect weather for her wedding - it reminded us of how perfect the weather was on our wedding day too.

Thanks

I am a lucky girl and while I'm pretty good about being aware of it most of the time, it is good to step back and reflect on this day of thanksgiving.

So, here are my top 5:

1. My husband - I truly never knew I could love someone as much as I love this man. I want to spend every second of every day with him and I am so blessed he feels the same way!

2. My mother - we may fight and challenge each other, but I love her so very much and I'm incredibly thankful we are both so committed to maintaining and growing our relationship.

3. My friends - how did I get so lucky to have these people in my life? They are truly the epitome of your friends being the family you choose and I love my chosen family!

4. Dreams - the land on Georges Pond, a dog named Tucker, traveling to Berlin and Ireland... all the things Bob and I are dreaming of right now. Its nice to have some goals to be working towards... and its so fun to dream!

5. My job - I'm very lucky to have a job, period... and especially to have one I love. I get to work with great kids and amazing teachers every day (with the exception of one) and it feels good to be doing this job.

Ani DiFranco

We went to see Ani DiFranco on Sunday night and it was a great concert! I haven't seen Ani since Reg used to tour with her and Bob had never seen her, so it was fun to be at her concert. She played a great combination of new and old songs, including "Angry Anymore", which is one of my favorites. Here is just one short verse:

A beautiful November Sunday

The weather was perfect today, so we decided to take a drive and go to the coast. I hung out with Sarah last night and she was baking bread in her bread maker, which got me thinking about how much I would love a bread maker. She said she saves tons of money on bread and she is able to make super healthy bread with no preservatives. So I also wanted to hit the outlets and see if we could find a bread maker. Lucky for us, we found the exact one I wanted, and got it for 10% off!

Bob has wanted to go to Bob's Clam Hut since we saw it months ago on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, but it was always super packed when we drove past it this summer. Today was not nearly as bad, so we were finally able to stop. Bob got his lobster stew and I had a veggie burger, so we were both happy. And we got to sit outside in the sunshine, which was perfect!

After Kittery, we headed to Odiorne State Park in Rye and walked around for a while. the weather was truly perfect, so we walked around a bit, then sat on the rocks for a while and watched the lobster boats go by.

It was a perfect day! I love sunny, warm fall days in November!

Birthday/Halloween Snow

Bob is a Halloween birthday baby, so we had plans to celebrate his birthday with friends on Saturday night. Never did we ever imagine that we would be dealing with a huge snow storm! Luckily some of our friends were still able to make it for dinner and we had a great time at the Indian place with Sarah & Reg and Rick & Cindy. And we never lost power at our house, so that was an added bonus. Snow in October... crazy!!!

You must check out this album...

I'm not in the habit of giving music recommendations on my blog (with the exception of my undying love of Josh Ritter) but this album is amazing and you should really check it out. Three of the band members are friends (and former students) of mine, including Jim Rudolf. The album is incredibly well done and the songs are beautiful. I'm so proud of the guys, especially Jim, and I love that they are getting such a great response and positive reviews about the album. They are even listed in the most recent issue of NH Magazine as one of 12 artists who aren't household names yet, but who they think should be. I've known Jim since my very first summer at Wanakee in 1996 and I'm lucky enough to still call him my friend. Its been wonderful watching him grow as a person and as a musician and I love that he, and Tan Vampires, are on the verge of what looks like a big break.

Check out their first video, shot in Portsmouth:

Dreaming...

We've found a beautiful little piece of land for sale on Georges Pond and we're dreaming pretty big these days. 50 feet of waterfront and just enough space to build a little 2 bedroom chalet for us to live happily ever after in...





Now if only we could come up with a 25-35% down payment and get approved for the loan... It stinks when reality sets in pretty hard core. But we've decided to play the lottery too, so maybe we're not quite done dreaming just yet...

Anniversary Trip

Bob and I spent a wonderful Columbus Day weekend at Hancock Point to celebrate our anniversary. The weather was perfect and we loved every minute of being up there. Heather and Don Parker were so generous to give us their home at the Point for the weekend and it was beautiful!

This beautiful beach is right across the street from the Parkers house and we went hunting for sea glass every day. The views are beautiful and we happily poked around the beach, collecting treasures.

On Saturday we finally went to Schoodic Point. We spent some time at Schoodic this summer, but I never took Bob to the actual point. It was much quieter this weekend than it would have been in the summer and we climbed over the rocks and sat and watched the water and the fishing boats. So beautiful!

On Sunday we took the mail boat out of Northeast Harbor to the Cranberry Islands. It was warm and sunny and we loved it!

We took this our last morning at the Point. We sat on the stairs (it was high tide) and just enjoyed this little piece of heaven. We're so lucky to be able to spend time at Hancock Point and are so thankful to the Parkers for sharing this amazing place with us.

Our First Anniversary

Wow, we've been married for a year!! A year ago we had a wonderful wedding day and we've loved looking back on it today and remembering all the beautiful things about our wedding.

I'm lucky to have a very romantic husband who likes to send me flowers at school. These were delivered to me on Friday, along with a box of chocolate covered strawberries and a "Happy Anniversary" balloon. The flowers are beautiful and everyone at school was very impressed with my wonderful husband.

Our first anniversary photo, taken as we were getting ready to go out for a late lunch/early dinner of Indian food.

The top layer of our cake survived the year in our freezer and actually didn't taste too bad... a little freezer burned, but not horrible.

Bob and I have had a wonderful first year of marriage and are so thankful for the time we have together. I fall in love with him more and more every day and I realize how lucky I am to have such an amazing husband who loves me.

The last few weeks...

School started 4 weeks ago, hence the lack of blog posts recently! The year is off to a good start, but summer vacation feels like it was forever ago. Its great to be back with my kids and I love the classes I'm teaching this year. I have over 20 new kids in band this year, which is amazing, and a big challenge. I can't believe I'm already in my third year in Bow - it definitely gets easier every year!

Last weekend I took a personal day on Friday and went up to the Highland Games with Sarah and Judy. They have gone for years and Sarah keeps asking me to go with them. I was finally able to make it work this year and I'm so glad I did! I can't wait to go again next year!!

The big highlight of the Games for Sarah and Judy is seeing Albanach perform. I heard them in Manchester in the spring and liked them, but seeing them at the Games made me a big fan! And small world... the bagpipe player is the cousin of my friend William (who is Scottish but lives in Berlin).


We managed to snag a front row spot (literally right up against the stage) at Albanach's first performance on Friday and they were amazing! I never thought I would like pipes and drums, but these guys are incredible to watch.


I had to leave the Games on Saturday morning to get back to school for my band to play at the Homecoming football game, but I'm looking forward to staying at the Highland Games for the whole weekend next year.

We've been so busy with school and all kinds of crazy family stuff that we haven't done too many other exciting things. But we did decide to trek down to IKEA for some fun stuff and stopped in Faneuil Hall to have dinner at Wagamama on our way home. Some of you know my overwhelming love of Wagamama and understand what an exciting thing this is for me! I first experienced Wagamama in Europe and was beyond excited when I found out that they were opening a couple of restaurants in Boston. I still don't get to eat it as often as I'd like, but I'm always very happy when I have a chance to go there. It was a beautiful night in Boston and we were able to eat outside. It was a perfect way to end a lovely afternoon!



And on a final note, Bob and I are looking forward to our first wedding anniversary next weekend! We're planning on going to the Deerfield Fair at some point over the weekend, then going out for Indian food on Sunday (our actual anniversary - October 2). We have a long weekend off from school over Columbus Day weekend, so we're heading to Bar Harbor, of course! Heather and Don Parker have offered us their house at Hancock Point for the weekend, so we're looking forward to being there and enjoying the beach. And going to Rosalie's Pizza at least a couple of times - it is the last weekend their open until the spring, so we need to eat there as much as possible!

I'll share more pictures and stories in the next few weeks!

Hopkinton State Fair

On Saturday we spent a very, very hot afternoon at the Hopkinton State Fair. Neither us had ever been to Hopkinton and it was the first time we've been to a fair together. Lucky for us, Bob and I found that we both like to do the same thing at fairs - avoid the rides, check out all the animals, and eat junky food!

Huge sleepy cows - they had fans on them in the barns, but they still looked so hot!

I love the giant pumpkins! The one on the right is 1076 lbs!!!

The vegetable barn - it looked like a huge, wonderful Thanksgiving feast!

Bunnies!! These are Mini Rex bunnies and they were so cute!

We only spent about 2 hours at the fair, but it was the perfect amount of time, especially with the overwhelming heat and humidity. Now we're looking forward to the Deerfield Fair! I hope its nice and cool so we can bundle up and really enjoy all the cozy fair things.

Old Home Day

Bob and I spent today at Old Home Day in Wilmot Center with my grandparents. My Papa grew up in South Danbury, NH and South Danbury celebrates Old Home Day with Wilmot, the town next to it. I've always loved going to Old Home Day - it is like stepping back in time... people bring lawn chairs and picnics and sit on the lawn of the church, listening to the Kearsarge Town Band play and catching up with other members of the community. It is always a small but dedicated group of "old timers" and I'm often the youngest one in the crowd. I love listening to the stories and watching my grandparents reminisce with people they've known since they were children.

My Papa was born in 1928 and my Mimi was born in 1929 and they lived in the South Danbury area until a few years after my mother was born. Both sets of my great grandparents remained in the Danbury/Salisbury area (in the big old farmhouses they had raised my grandparents in) until their deaths in the 1980s. Our family history is firmly ingrained in this place and I feel a very strong pull to this area. Papa has a wonderful memory and Bob and I spent this afternoon listening to his stories and having him explain who was related to who and where they lived and how everyone was connected. I have always loved family history and I could listen to Papa tell me these stories forever. I feel very lucky to spend this time with my grandparents and for them to share with me the places that they love.

Happy Housewife

I spent a happy day in the kitchen yesterday, cooking and baking to my heart's content. Its still amazing to me that I enjoy cooking as much as I do - I NEVER used to cook. But the minute Bob and I got together, I found my inner domestic goddess and now I love it! I've gotten really good at trying new recipes and experimenting. Yesterday's menu included vegetarian taco salad for lunch and Italian parmesan bread and fresh eggplant parmesan for dinner. In addition, I tried these orange creamsicle biscotti and they turned out great!!

I also rearranged the kitchen and cleaned out the cupboards (I have a bad habit of holding onto things after their "use by" date). Now everything is organized and I'm happy. We've begun to think about buying a house or condo next summer when our lease on this apartment is up, so its fun to dream about a better kitchen with great storage, more countertops, and a gas stove. Oh, the fun I could have in a good kitchen!!

Our Favorite Place

I am so lucky to have grown up spending my summers on Georges Pond and to now be able to share this place with my husband, who has fallen in love with it too.


I never get tired of the view from our deck. It makes me so happy!


We had campfires three of the nights we were there and it was beautiful. We made smores and hung out with the ducks while enjoying the fire and the sunset. Heaven!

Summer Lovin'

Oh Yeah, There Was Nature Too...

The coast of Maine is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world... and cruising around Northeast Harbor, the Cranberry Islands, and Sommes Sound is a lovely way to spend a beautiful summer afternoon.

Dream Houses

On Friday the weather was perfect so we took a boat ride out of Northeast Harbor. The boat is billed as "nature cruise", but for me its really a chance to see all the beautiful mansions that sit along the ocean's edge. What I wouldn't give to actually see inside some of them!! Here are a few of my favorites. Its always fun to dream, right? :)

Make Way For Ducklings... and Loons

I'm not usually a bird person at all, but the ducks and loons at Georges Pond last week were particularly endearing. I've always loved listening to the loons call to each other across the pond and every summer that we come to Georges Pond, we always try to figure out how many loons there are that summer. I can't remember a summer when there hasn't been at least one loon on the lake. This week we saw three, but only saw all three of them together once. We were able to get pretty close to them in the kayaks and they even came right in front of our house a couple of times. This guy appeared in front of us as we turned the corner of the island, heading home in the kayaks. They are such beautiful animals!


For the last few years, we've also had ducks on the pond. They were quite friendly last year and we spent lots of time on the beach feeding them bread. This year we decided to see if they would come up on the lawn to the house. We found that they are HUGE fans of Cheerios! Anytime they heard our voices on the porch, they would come running up onto the lawn and look up at us, waiting for Cheerios. Needless to say, we bought lots of boxes of Cheerios over the course of the week!


I often felt like I was living in the book "Make Way For Ducklings". It was great! The ducks were super cute and we loved watching them.

A Midsummer "Afternoon's" Dream

My dear friend Becky was Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Prescott Park in Portsmouth and Sean, Victoria, Lisa, Bob and I went to see her on Sunday afternoon. It was a perfect day - a nice cool sea breeze and we found seats in the shade. We packed a lovely picnic lunch, including Victoria's yummy margaritas, and we had a lovely afternoon. I haven't been to a show in Prescott Park since I was a kid and my parents and the Phelps would bring all of us kids to shows - we would camp out and run around the park until the play started.

Becky truly stole the show. Her Helena was hilarious and she was just amazing! I got to hear her running her lines while we were at Wanakee last week, but I had no idea she would be so funny. We were super impressed!

I've never seen A Midsummer Night's Dream live and I really loved it. The actors were great and I love how they used physical comedy to move the storyline along.

The best part of a show at Prescott Park is that you can enjoy ocean views from the pier during intermission. It was so nice!!