Lougee Pond

We made our first trip of the year out to Lougee Pond this past Saturday. I sometimes think that we like to go out there just to be sure its still there and still beautiful. And it always is!

I love that both Bob and I have these places that are so special to us. For me, its Georges Pond and I am so glad that Bob fell in love with it as well. And for Bob it is definitely Lougee Pond, which I fell in love with too.

A perfect iris on the edge of the pond - a little reminder of Jean who loved irises

Celebrations

The end of April into the beginning of May was a time of celebration and I attended some great parties!

On the last Saturday of April, I went down to Newton, MA to celebrate my wonderful friend Karen and the impending birth of her daughter.  It was so fun to see Karen's friends from all the different parts and times of her life and I was proud to be there, along with Rosemary, Kelly, and Corrie, to represent her years in Berlin.  And just a month later Karen gave birth to beautiful Maeve Audrey, who I can't wait to meet!
 

The Berlin Girls

The first weekend in May was spent in Boston, celebrating Sarah's 40th birthday!  She had requested a Girls Weekend in the city, so that is what she got.  We took a Duck Boat tour, had drinks at the Top of the Hub, went out for German food and beer, and ended the night at a piano bar with live music.  We had a great time!!

The Wanakee Girls

Nova Scotia

The day after we moved to our new apartment, we left for a six day trip to Nova Scotia with Bob's brother Rick and his wife Cindi.  It felt a little crazy to leave all the boxes in our new place with basically nothing unpacked and take off, but it actually worked out well.  It gave us a chance to relax before we came back to all the unpacking and we had a wonderful trip.

We spent the first two days in Bar Harbor with every intention of showing Rick and Cindi all our favorite spots, but it torrential rained the entire time we were there.  We still managed to have fun, but there are no pictures to show for it since we could barely see in front of us due to the fog and rain.

We drove all the way up to Nova Scotia and it was a lot of driving, but definitely worth it.  We spent time in Halifax, Yarmouth, and many smaller towns in between.  Here are some of my favorite photos:

Downtown Halifax

At Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

Brothers

Beautiful fishing village at Peggy's Cove

Sunset in Yarmouth

Lighthouse outside Yarmouth

St. Bernard Cathedral - we were driving along this little road and came across this amazing church!

The first of many overdue blog posts

My poor neglected blog... This spring/start of summer has been incredibly busy and I haven't felt a ton of motivation to blog, but each time I look at my blog lately I start to compose posts in my head, so I'm taking that as a sign that its time to get back into the swing of blogging. And here I am! I don't want to spend a ton of time catching up on the past four months, but there are a few things of note that are worth a few sentences and a picture or two.

We made a big change and moved into a new apartment at the end of April. It was sad to leave our old apartment - a lot of important things happened to us there. It was where Bob proposed to me and where we came home to after our honeymoon and started our married life together. We fell in love in that apartment and we definitely felt sentimental as we were leaving. But it was time to move on and we're excited to continue our life together in our new place. It is a beautiful apartment and we are so happy here! We have tons of space, including a three season (probably actually four season, but winter might be chilly) porch, an enormous kitchen, and a full basement where Bob has set up his studio. Its truly the perfect space for us and we love it! There is also a huge yard, which leads to our most exciting news...

WE'RE GETTING A PUPPY!!!! Our big motivation for moving, besides the fact that we wanted more space and to not be on the second floor, was to find a place where we could have a dog. The minute we got our new place, we set out to find a puppy. We found a breeder in Raymond who had a male black lab puppy who would be available June 16, which fit perfectly into our summer schedule. We really wanted to get a puppy right at the beginning of the summer so we could be home with him and train him throughout the summer, so the timing for this puppy was perfect! We got to visit the litter a few weeks ago and found out that this little guy was going to be our puppy. Meet Tucker Currier Duncan Jaques!

Stayed tuned for lots more pictures of Tucker and stories of our adventures with the newest member of our family!

My First Bento Box

I'm mildly obsessed with bento box lunches and regularly read the Wendolonia blog to check out the bento lunches she makes for her kids. I've wanted to start doing bento lunches for myself, but I just didn't know where or how to start. Last night I finally realized I had food that would work for a bento, so here it is:



Not the fanciest bento in the world, but I was very excited by it!! Some carrots and celery with light ranch dressing for dipping, plus some leftover cheddar cheese and crackers from the Superbowl party. And I had to include chocolate, of course, and the Cadbury cream egg fit perfectly! It was a great dinner to take to school when I went back last night for our first "Oliver!" rehearsal. And I was surprised at how filling everything was - I didn't even finish everything I packed.

I'm hoping this is the beginning of many more bento boxes for my lunches and to-go dinners. I'm definitely inspired and ready to try some other things. Yay for bentos!!

Friday night

Its been a VERY stressful, long week at school. It was so nice to finally come home this afternoon and know it is over. I went for a swim with Sarah, then came home and cooked, which always makes me so happy. On the menu on this cold Friday night: tortellini soup with beans and chard, biscuits, and wine. Now I'm curled up on the couch watching the Celtics, reading People magazine, and eating mini 3 Musketeers. A much needed good way to end this week. Life is good...

New Recipes

I've decided to start posting links to some recipes I've been trying lately. Its also a good way to keep track of the recipes I like. I've discovered how much I truly love to cook and it is so much fun!! It makes a big difference when you have someone else to cook for, especially someone as appreciative as my husband.

I made these Portabello Mushrooms with Creamy Artichoke-Spinach Filling for dinner last night and they were really yummy.



And for dinner tonight I made Broccoli-Cheddar Soup and Crusty Bread Bowls. Both were amazing, especially the soup!!