Here are a few pictures from our adventure to Boston this past weekend!

Here’s when we were happy and idealistic about our room. What this picture doesn’t show is the no heat, no hot water, remote that doesn’t work, phone that doesn’t work… etc. Good thing we can have fun anywhere under any situation (well, you know what I mean) 🙂

Love him so much!!!

Breakfast in bed!!!! YUUMMMM… and because our stay was so craptastic – this meal was paid for by the hotel! Sweet!

Casey was beat by his cheesecake! He couldn’t finish it (first time EVER!)

Casey’s sad that he was beaten by cheesecake. Maybe it’s because his was an estimated 1,200 calories and mine was only 700? lol

To add to the joy of our hotel stay…we were woken the second morning by the fire alarm and were evacuated at 6:30. It was a false alarm. This did not set well with me after being worken up the previous morning at 4:00am because they felt the need to do plumbing work on the (empty) room above us.

Me sad that I’m awake so early. On a Sunday. On “vacation”

But, it was all made better because we hit the Boston Museum of Science! YES! And here is my favorite place on Earth…

I LOVE THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN. If you haven’t been – go go go!!!

Here we are in the Planterium getting ready to see “Undiscovered Worlds”… pretty awesome!!!!!

Don’t mess with this dude.

Casey doing logic things… ehh.. yeah, I don’t understand it, but he does (and I’m sure my Dad does too!)

I looked hard for this in the Computer Science wing. The giant Esc key!!!!

Geeking it out…

Casey and a Model of Mt Everest. He could totally climb it, look he’s even taller than it!

Want to wake up to this every morning? Yeah, me either.

This dude is from my home state of Vermont!

Casey in front of the river. He’s handsome, no?

Goodbye Boston, thanks for an exciting weekend!!!

I really don’t have one…there are quite a few to choose from, especially over the last three-and-a-half years.  But I will say that the photos of me improve dramatically when Jenn is in the photo with me!  ;-D

Pardon my disappearance. I came down with some sort of weird flu-ish thing that left me EXHAUSTED and nauseous on and off. I seem to be feeling better yesterday night and today so you get to be entertained by my ramblings once again (lucky you!) I’m going to catch up on the days I’ve missed all at once….

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat

I am not really a huge OHMYGODIMUSTEATHEREORIWILLDIE type of person. I enjoy going out to eat primarily because I don’t have to cook or clean up afterward. This past month, we’ve reduced our going out to eat to maybe once a week (down from 5 times a week at Subway- so this was a big deal). I most often eat out at Subway (for some, it is not classy enough for them to consider eating out – but I do, because again I don’t have to make it and I can throw away a wrapper for clean up). The only real sentimental place to eat out is Applebees, only because Casey and I went there on our first date! For ones I love? Olive Garden, Thatchers, IHOP…they all make the list, but generally I can find something to eat anywhere.

Day 19: Something You Miss

I hate to “copy” Casey, but I would say that my grandparents are people I miss very much. I hate that they weren’t at my high school graduation, didn’t get to see me get married, and will never know that I became a social worker and help kids. I have so many incredible memories that involve them, from going “upta Camp” riding in the back of Gromp’s jeep (sitting on the cooler – trying not to get hit by tree branches going by), or talking to everyone at deer camp on the radio with Grammie, spending weeks in the summer with Grammie reading, gardening, cooking, and soaking up sunshine (and being determined that if watered my rock collection enough they would eventually grow), driving into the “big city” of Newport for grocery shopping and lunch out. I remember them driving down to my house for my birthday parties and giving the best hugs. I remember how Grammie used to put her hair up with combs and I was convinced I needed to put my hair up with them too. I remember Gromp (in his own gruff way) encouraging me to try new things (and by encouraging, I mean, notlettingmegetupfromthetableuntilIhadatleasttriedtheonionsonmypizza). I remember one specific talk I had with them both when they told me how proud of my Mom they were, because she was working hard at her job and advancing. I hate that they both died so young, and that because I was so young during my time with them that my memories have faded. I treasure the pictures I have of them, but I wish I could still hear their voices, visit on weekends, and be a pen pal with my Grammie (who taught me to always give a weather update in any card you send to someone). I am so thankful for the time that I did have with them both, and I hope that wherever we go when we leave this Earth, that they are there, and happy, and proud of who I am because they helped to shape me.

Day 20: Nicknames

This is pretty easy – Jenn. A name that my Dad and Mom still call me – Munchkin, or Munch, or Snugs (that one goes way back). My Mom will call me Jennifurry, and my husband and best friend will through a J-Dauwgh out every so often.

Day 21: Favorite Picture of Me

This is hard because I typially do not like pictures of me… period. So I’ll just choose one and go with it.

This one is more of a someone than something, but it is technically a bunch of somethings.  See, there are lots of things that I miss: Pepsi Vanilla, Saturday Morning Cartoon premiere mornings in September (kids today have no idea), Mark Waid writing Fantasic Four….but these items are trivial in the grand scheme of things, and something else that has popped into my head that I miss is days spent with my Grandmother.

When I was young, I spent many Saturdays over to Grammy Gilman’s house.  I can remember going to visit in the morning with my parents and I’d ask them if I could spend the day, and they would tell me not to be rude and invite myself, yet Grammy was always happy to have me.  We used to take walks in the neighborhood, or in the big apple orchard behind her house (now a housing development and something else I miss), or dance around like goof balls to her Jim Reeves records and crash onto her bed and bounce right back up and dance again.

As my sister got older, we started spending the night.  She’d tell us stories, and we’d shine flashlights on the ceiling and “chase” each others’ light beams along the ceiling.

We spent all of our Thanksgivings there, and there was always an annual Christmas party…Gram’s house always seemed to be the gathering place for our family.  Our family doesn’t gather much these days, but it was fun back then.  As an adult, we’d watch old John Wayne and Shirley Temple movies, eat ice cream sundaes, and play rummy.

I wrote an essay about her in college years ago, and I’m starting to feel like I’m just rehashing it, so maybe it’s time to stop and maybe I’ll post the essay sometime.  Something more recent that I will add is that she had two strokes late in her life, and I find myself wondering what it would be like to talk with her about our now-common ailment.  I guess it’s probably best that she wasn’t around when I had the stroke; Grammy was a worrier.

Well, I’ve rambled on enough.  Night!

Like every “favorite” this is a hard one for me to nail down, and it doesn’t help that there are about 9 zillion places to eat in the Greater Portland Area.  Here are a few of my top favorites…

Subway: This is the place we eat out at most consistently.  You have the convenience and lower price that fast food has, only you can eat healthy.  And we’re addicted to their buffalo chicken!  Even in that dark year or so that Subway was not officially carrying it, the “sandwich artists” at several of the subway locations around here would make them for us.  Jenn and I even, jokingly credit ourselves as the reason they brought it back!

Applebee’s: Jenn and I ended our first date here, and we also surprised her parents in Vermont by showing up at their local Applebee’s the weekend after I proposed.  We eat here a few times a year, and it we definitely have some memories associated with it.

The SoPo (formerly known as “Beale Street BBQ”): Even after we went last weekend and saw the scary name change, we were pleased to see they still have great BBQ!  I didn’t even know of this place until I was dating Jenn, but we’ll go once or maybe twice a year and get some sort of BBQ meat; tehir various types of chicken and pulled pork are excellent!  And we always get jalapeno cornbread!  Yum!

Olive Garden: Everyone seems to love this place, and everyone seems to be there trying to get a seat whenever we go.  This is our “fancy night out” place, reserved for our first date anniversary, proposal anniversary, Valentine’s Daybirthdays, and sometime’s birthdays.

Those are probably the places we go to the most…we used to hit Panera Bread, but they got rid of some of the stuff we like.  We also used to go to Tim Horton’s because there was one right by the gym and you can eat fairly healthy, but a lot of those are gone now.

Speaking of eating, it’s about time for me to go start making supper!

I am very fortunate, because my life with Jenn is such that I have lots to look forward to.  There’s some small stuff exclusive to me like the next Heroclix release or some new movie hitting theaters, and then there’s bigger things like heroclix nights with Justin, or dinner/karaoke nights with both Julie and Justin, and then there are really special things that involve Jenn like our date nights and Sunday date days.

All of these great things are regular and routine in my life; like I said, I’m very fortunate.  We also seem to manage to have roughly one big adventure a month throughout the year, including trips to Vermont, beach days, road trips, camping trips, etc.  This year’s highlights include a weekend trip to Boston in a week and a half or so (my gift to Jenn on the third anniversary of our first date) and two trips to Islesboro in August and September where we’ve rented a cottage near the ocean (it’s a small island…hard to not be near ocean, which is one reason why we love it).  In August, we’re going up with Jenn’s Mom and Stacey for the week, and in September it’ll be just me and Jenn for our second wedding anniversary!  I’m looking forward to two seperate weeks of relaxing, fluffernutters, bbqs, camp fires, and kayaking!

Then there’s the big one.  The trip of the year lifetime.  Jenn’s birthday present to me–a 9-day cruise in Central Europe, namely Spain, Italy, and France!!  We dock at a new place in one of those three countries every day but one, and we’ve already bought two excursions, which include an 11-hour tour of Rome (including the Colosseum) and a tour, and trip up into, The Leaning Tower Of Pisa!!  I’m very excited!!

As a bonus, we realized that the day the cruise ends is July 2nd, so we’ve decided that with July 4th being a day off for both of us, not to rush back and spend a day in Barcelona before we fly home!!  Everything about this trip rules!!

So, that’s a few of the things I’m looking forward to.  It’s hard to narrow down, because, as my wife will tell you, I am very easily excited and usually looking forward to many things!