House Ownership: The Project Edition

After almost two months of owning a house, I've discovered that I enjoy house projects a bit too much for my own good. Since we moved in on May 14th, we've painted two rooms, laid flooring in one room, hemmed some curtains, made other curtains, made some pillows, and put together a photo wall. My next project in line is to make a dining room table, although I'm a little concerned that in attempting that, I might bite off more than I can chew, as they say.

Noooooo more mustard yellow for us!

The projects might be more impressive if I said that we'd managed to put all of our stuff away, but I can't - half of the garage is still full of boxes, and they won't be moving in the very near future as far as I can tell.

A rather unimpressive photo of the photo wall...

Of all the projects though, the least visible one takes the cake as my favorite: the laundry room! With the exception of moving the washer and dryer, I did all the work myself: two coats of paint, moisture barrier, flooring, and curtains (don't assume too much: I bought the curtains!). One day I'd love to redo the ceiling...but one step at a time, I suppose.

The room started out as an ugly brown with cement flooring and a messy original paint job. I was determined to rid the room of ugly brown at the very least, so I got some seafoam green paint and covered it all up.

Work in progress

As soon as the paint was dry, I decided that wasn't enough to make it look good, and that it needed some nice new flooring to make it better. So I Google until I felt like I had enough information, and then I went and bought some fake wood laminate flooring that would withstand any water that might spew from a washing machine we were planning to hook up ourselves.

Overall, I was very pleased with how it turned out. This particular flooring was really easy to use. It was tongue and groove, which meant that each piece snapped into the others and as long as I cut it right, everything lined up perfectly. But despite being pleased with how it turned out, I took zero pictures of the final product, so you'll have to live with this oddly-colored, poorly composed, boring picture of mostly just a floor with the remaining moisture barrier poking out and a little violent turquoise thrown in for good measure:

What a tragedy. I'll taka another picture soon to put everyone out of their misery.

Here's to home improvement.

The Best Blueberry Muffins

For years and years, my dad tried to find the perfect blueberry muffin recipe. It was rather unsuccessful. He made a lot of muffins with a lot of different techniques, but sadly...they never quite tasted like bakery muffins. It's not that they were bad, but they just never quite reached the golden standard: the muffins at the Cottage Street Bakery in Cape Cod. 

Fast forward until now, when Google is everyone's best friend. 

We found the perfect blueberry muffin recipe, and all our years of searching are over. All it took was a search for "best blueberry muffin recipe" (using "best" in my recipe searches have always yielded excellent results), and EUREKA. There it was. I texted my dad, and now both the Woodstocks and the Griffins have experienced the muffin victory.

All that nonsense and I only took one lousy picture of the thing. Enjoy.

Since these muffins will absolutely make an appearance in our home again sometime soon, I'll do better next time. This picture was solely to text to my dad to show that we were both going to be eating them at the same time. 

And in case you want in on the secret, here's the recipe. They are magical and you must make them right this instant. Go.

The Office Pepper

I really like gardening. It's pretty satisfying to grow something from a small seed (or in my case... seedlings; let someone else do the really hard work) all the way up to a REAL plant, with vegetables and stuff. I also like bell peppers. Preferably green, but red, yellow, orange, or any other variety is also acceptable.

Last year, I bought three pepper seedlings from Home Depot - two that would produce green peppers, and one that would produce red peppers. One seedling died in my car, because it fell over. I carried the remaining two up the stairs to our apartment, and then placed the second green one on the steps while I fished out my keys. It was only after a week that I realized that my second green pepper was missing. I had never picked it up from the stairs, and apparently the upstairs neighbors decided it wasn't the perfect adornment for the center of their second to last step and disposed of it. I secretly hope that they felt bad for the poor pepper, took it in, and fed and watered it, but I don't know that for sure. Nevertheless, I use that scenario to comfort myself when I start feeling bad for abandoning it to the wilds of a second-floor landing.

The third pepper survived. Red must be heartier than green. Or you could conclude that I just started taking better care of my plants. Whatever floats you boat. I brought it into my office, and I put it in a pot, and I watered it every day. It grew big and tall, though it was plagued with horrible gnats for awhile. Eventually, it grew its first pepper.

The first pepper got to be about two inches long. Then, one day, I went to squish one of those godforsaken gnats, knocked the pepper's stalk, and broke off the pepper's stem. Alas.

Over time, it grew another pepper. This one grew to be about an inch before it just gave up on life, and stayed as a one-inch pepper until it loosed itself from its stem and fell to the abyss of the pot beneath it.

Finally, we moved offices. The pepper plant LOVED its newly discovered exposure to sunlight, and it happily grew a third pepper. It was a hardy pepper, and it outlasted all its other brethren, until one day it was ripe. I picked it, brought it home, and turned it into part of a fajita. It was delicious.

And that is the story of the office pepper. It has also become about 4.5 feet tall and has more buds, so stay tuned for more riveting updates as the plant becomes bountiful once again.

How to Handle Itinerary Changes Like a True Type B

About a month ago (or so), I won the business trip lottery and got to go to Norway. Norway has been on my countries-to-visit bucket list for approximately 21 of my 26 years, starting when I learned that my great grandmother had been born there. Since she married another Norwegian, I get to call myself a quarter of a Viking.

Since it was a business trip, it almost meant I had to travel by myself. But despite that, I decided to leave on Friday instead of Sunday so that I got to spend an extra day and a half touring around. My original travel plans went like this:

• Fly to Oslo through London (1.5 hour layover)
• Catch a train from Oslo to Bergen (7-hour train ride)
• Spend the night in Bergen
• Spend the morning in Bergen until noon
• Catch the train back to Oslo from Bergen
• Eat dinner
• Sleep
• Work

Due to a number of various things (extra-long security in Heathrow, getting up early, missing a train), my actual trip went like this (overlaps highlighted):

• Fly to London
• Stand in a useless security line for .75 hours
• Miss flight to Oslo by a single minute
• Realize there's no possible way for me to catch the train
• Tell the customer service person to fly me to Bergen instead
• Realize I now have an 8-hour layover in London
• Head into London for the morning/afternoon
• Fly to Bergen
• Spend the night in Bergen
• Resolve to get up early and get an earlier train to Oslo
• Miss earlier train to Oslo, but realize there's another an hour later stopping at Myrdaal
• Hang out in Bergen for an hour
• Take the train to Myrdaal
• Realize I have three hours between trains
• Find out I have just enough time to take another train to a town at the bottom of a fjord (Flåm)
• Go to Flåm for 20 minutes
• Return to Myrdaal
• Wait for 40 minutes to catch the Myrdaal - Oslo train
• Make it to Oslo
• Eat dinner
• Sleep
• Work

As a result of my ultra-spontaneous route, I ended up being REALLY thankful I was traveling by myself. Going solo also meant that I had no one of my personal acquaintance to witness when I totally wiped out while standing up on the train resulting in bruises for weeks, so...#blessed.

I know what you've really been waiting for is pictures, so I'll stop waxing eloquentish here and just put those up instead.

Brief stop in Notting Hill...

...with a run to Portobello Road Market.

The train to Flam...

...where I caved on my loose no-selfie policy.

Back in Myrdaal, waiting for the train to Oslo.

On the train to Oslo...

...over the very top of mountains!

Sometimes there were houses up there.

And I finally made it Oslo, where there was an ancient fortress.

The end!

Lately in the Woodstock Household...

...we actually have a house in which to have a household! How 'bout that.

This whole shindig went down pretty fast. We started looking at houses sometime in March, and for about two weeks, we didn't see anything. One Saturday we sat down, took a look at Zillow, and found this one. There was an open house the following day, which was the first "showing." The pictures looked pretty nice, but based on others we'd seen so far, we didn't get our hopes up too high.

On Sunday, we went to the open house, and we just KNEW. We called our realtor on the way home, had an offer in that afternoon, and had it accepted that night. After that, we wrote a check for what felt like our life savings, moved out of our little apartment and across a few towns, and as of May 14th, started calling this new place our home.

Moving itself was a four-day-long extravaganza. My arms were sore for days afterward, but I guess there were SOME exciting moments. Chaz learned to drive a big truck, for example:

We also had some very gracious helpers, and they successfully acquired and moved a piano:

We spent a good number of hours cleaning:

And after that we spent more hours putting things away (an on-going project, if I'm being honest):

We've also spent an unmeasurable amount of time at Home Depot:

But despite all of that, we're exceptionally grateful to have a more permanent roof over our heads, a place to host family and friends, and a lovely domicile to transform into a home..one emptied box at a time.

A Resolution

It seems like everyblogger and her (or his?) mother jumped on the Whole30 train at the beginning of January, if not sometime earlier in 2014. Late last year I had looked it up, read about it, got mostly convinced, sorta half started, and then quit when I realized I wanted potato chips when Chaz and I grabbed a sandwich for lunch. None of this Whole30 stuff for me anymore! I said.

But then January hit, and everyone ELSE started doing it, and I felt especially full of post-holiday-eating-distress (aka...beached whale), so I gave in, rolled my eyes, and jumped in with no pre-planning. So far, I've managed to keep up eating no sugar, dairy, gluten, or carbs for a full seven days, and I've now been forced to admit that it does indeed actually make a difference. Consider me humbled.

Now, I BY NO MEANS consider myself a naturally healthy eater. I love cookies like nobody's business. I'm also a somewhat picky eater, and I despise/loath/abhor seafood, which ruled out a whole category of things that I could eat for 30 days. So I guess the only thing I'm here to say is that this whole business is entirely doable for anyone with a rather...stereotypically American palate like me. Here's what I've been eating:

• Eggs. A MILLION eggs. Literally. A million (aka 17 in seven days).
• Bacon.
• Taco salad with guacamole.
• Beef stew.
• Pork chops (delicious... just discovered a new recipe!).
• Roasted vegetables.
• A sad, last-minute attempt at chicken curry.
• Salad.

And there you have it. I love eggs, so the egg thing is not a problem for me. But I suppose if you're not a big egg fan, breakfast would be a lot more difficult.

Chaz is not doing this with me. Therefore I eat eggs, and he eats pizza, and I am jealous. BUT. I will say that it has significantly improved a) feeling less whale-ish, b) having more energy, c) sleeping well, and d) overall well being. So there you have it. I guess it's worth it and what everyone else is saying is true. Who knew?

The Seahawks Conversion

An age and a half ago, I wrote a post about traveling for work. It wasn't even on this blog. In re-reading it now, I think it sounds pretentious. My apologies. 

All that was an intro to say that I'm currently sitting on a plane en route to Washington for another business trip. I lucked out on this trip: I got through security in five minutes or less; I had enough time to grab a chai latte before hopping on the plane; I have a window seat with an empty middle seat next to me (extra space: win!); it's a direct flight; and I'm surrounded by Seahawks fans. 

Proof!

Though I've lived in New England for 302 out of my 310 months of life, it's time to make a confession: I've become a dedicated Seahawks fan myself. Sorry, Pats. I guess you're my backup team, if there can be such a thing. But rest assured: if the Super Bowl comes down to Seattle vs. New England, I place my loyalties solidly on the West Coast, and I FEEL NO SHAME. Here's how my conversion went down.

Stage 1: Start dating someone who likes football. 

If you grow up in a family that cares nothing for sports, chances are that football is going to be your least favorite. Baseball is understandable - you hit the ball, run around the bases, and try not to get caught by the other team. Basketball, though tedious, is comprehensible - you bounce the ball, you pass it to your teammates, you toss it in the basket. Hockey is intelligible - you hit the puck with a stick, you aren't allowed to hit people with the stick, and you knock the puck into the net. 

Football, on the other hand, is unfathomable unless you know what's going on. The players line up in a bizarre formation until someone yells. Play goes on for about five seconds, teams try to murder each other (basically), and then everything stops for longer than it started. Sometimes the ball gets kicked to the other side of the field. Sometimes someone runs it to the end zone. Occasionally, it gets kicked through the goal post. WHO MADE UP THESE RULES?

However, if your spousal prospect is into football, you're going to be much more likely to watch it than you would if you were on your own. Such was the case for me, anyway. And over the course of a season or two, you will inevitably start to catch on to the rules of the world's most nonsensical sport. Especially if someone is explaining it to you. In addition, I'm inclined to root for his team, because true love.

Stage 2: Who doesn't like rooting for the underdogs?

Historically, the Seahawks were not the greatest of teams. They lost badly most of the time...until they didn't anymore. Suddenly, watching them was extraordinarily akin to watching history in the making. If you count football victories as the essence of history, of course. At this point, you could have accurately called me a fair-weather fan. 

Stage 3: Discover good character in unexpected places.

Russell Wilson is the greatest. 

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Stage 4: Live-blog the Super Bowl.

Chaz had to go to Abu Dhabi on the same weekend as the Super Bowl last year, and it was the first time in forever that the Seahawks had made it past the playoffs and had a good chance at winning. As a result, I suddenly became fiercely devoted on his behalf to the idea of them winning, and I was therefore abnormally excited when they succeeded. Plus, I blogged the entire thing Twitter(ish)-style so he could get the highlights. 

Stage 5: Absolute devotion comes naturally.

Between a now-husband from Seattle, several Seattle-area clients, and friendly Seahawks fans, I'm officially a convert. Every time I'm in the city, I'm tempted to buy another Seahawks shirt and it requires actual effort to restrain myself. #embarrassing. If there's a game on - which is rare, considering networks around here just show the East Coast teams - you'll likely find us on our couch, each wearing Hawks paraphernalia, possibly enrobed in an Accipitriformes-themed blanket, vainly hunting for blue and green-colored mixed drink directions on our phones during commercial breaks, and cheering loudly when Richard Sherman makes some ridiculous play. There's no turning back now.

Here's an entirely unrelated, blurry, odd picture of us. Just because.

2014: The Play by Play

Well, here we are, a good two months after my last post. I told myself, "Eh, I don't have anything to post today," and then today turned into "this weekend," which unintentionally turned into "the holidays" and I realized how long it had been. Here are a few things that have happened since October 25th:

• Halloween (though we didn't dress up or anything, so no news there)
• Thanksgiving (we went to Seattle! It was fun!)
• Christmas (we went to Vermont! It was also fun!)
• Numerous other things that were not holidays

All of those things probably merit posts of their own, but instead of doing that I figured I'd do something entirely unique (sarcasm) and review 2014.

It was a good year for the still-rather-new Woodstock family. In a way, I feel a tiny shred of trepidation when considering the thought of next year because this one was so good, overall. Here are some highlights!

In January, we had a gathering of the college friends in Freeport, Maine. It was just for an afternoon, but it was so very nice to catch up, walk around a cute town, do some shopping, and eat doughnuts.

Lauren bought her yellow shirt while there and liked it so much that she put it on right away. Good choice, Lauren!

In February, I turned another year older, and Chaz took me to Newburyport to celebrate. We ate at a diner right in the center of town. We talked over our sandwiches about the wedding and how excited we were.

In March, Chaz turned a year older as well! Somehow I don't have any pictures of that, but if I remember correctly, we had Mexican for dinner with friends and enjoyed ourselves. My wedding dress also came in, so I got to try it on for the first time!

April was a quieter month. I had gotten Chaz a beer-making kit for his birthday, so we took an afternoon and mixed it up. That all happened while the Catholic church down the road was holding Mass, so we were really hoping that the smell of hops didn't carry over that far...

The instructions stressed the importance of sanitizing like nothing else.

In May, my mom and a friend from home organized a beautiful bridal shower. I was so blessed to have such a wonderful celebration with all the ladies from church in Vermont, and several people (including some bridesmaids!) traveled from afar to be there.

My friends are the best!

June brought Beth's wedding! She was a beautiful bride, and her wedding was chock full of joy and lots of laughter. Plus, it was a gorgeous day, which is always appreciated for a wedding!

Wedding selfie!

I was also lucky enough to get to go to Amsterdam for work, and it was really fun to explore a new European city.

I am the orange spot posing somewhat awkwardly while wearing an Amsterdam soccer jersey over my work clothes. #trendsetter?

July was the highlight of the year, thanks to the fact that we got married. You've already see wedding pictures, so here's a picture from our honeymoon instead!

August is always a busy month at work, and it means taking more trips to train schools how to use our software. So August found me in Seattle, this time with my mom! Seeing as I've now been to Seattle quite a few times, it was really fun to show her around and see all the sights with fresh eyes!

September brought another wedding, because 2014 was evidently the Year of Weddings. This time, it was Sara getting married up in Vermont! Her wedding also took place on a gorgeous day, and the service was lovely. It was followed by a reception in a beautiful barn.

In October, another business trip took me and my friend/coworker Steph to NYC. It was only the second time there for me, which meant that there was lots of ground to cover in the two evenings that we had free!

November contained Thanksgiving, of course. This year, Thanksgiving meant another trip out to Seattle! This time, though, no business was involved, which was a nice change.

The Woodstock brethren displaying their gratefulness for technology

And finally, December held Christmas in Vermont as well as an opportunity to take my brother's senior picture.

A picture where everyone looks just a little bit funny!

Green grass! In Vermont! In December!

Clearly, that list represents what has happened over the past twelve months for us. What it doesn't represent is how much that we've been able to savor all the goodness that God has blessed us with this year. I can safely speak for both of us when saying that we feel so grateful for this past year, and we're looking forward to what 2015 has to offer.

Happy 2015 to you and yours from us and ours!

A Wedding in Review

It's a well-known fact that we had a wedding three months ago. Since it has now been an acceptable period of time, I figured I'm overdue in posting some wedding photos. Caution: this post is almost entirely pictures, so don't expect anything prosaic, witty, or long-winded (the standard) in this particular edition of The Blog. And on that note, here are about 1,293,872,045,618,273,648,237 visual depictions of July 26, 2014!

Lovely flowers from Garden Designs by Kristen!

My favorite "dress shot" is not of the entire dress. Go figure.

Gettin' ready. My mom did an awesome job with all the buttons! 

Those flowers smelled good!

Getting in the car required some assistance. It was a big dress.

Handsome groom!

First look!

More looking...

And... we're ready to go.

We walked in.

We said vows.

We got blessed times two.

And we walked out singing a good hymn.

Next we went to the reception and took some celebratory pics.

The lovely bridespeople!

The dapper groomsfolks!

There were some games, which the kids and adults both liked.

We also danced.

And I danced with my dad too!

And then we ate some GOOD cake.

And we were surrounded by lots of people that we love.

Our caterers were literally the best.

And then we danced some more.

Then we took pictures with everyone...

And that was that.

I thought about recapping everything with words, but then I realized that everyone does the wedding gushing thing. Thus, anything I write you've probably heard before. So now you know what transpired on our favorite day of 2014. So far! The rest of the days have been pretty great too.

All photos by Leighanne Evelyn Photography through George Street Photo & Video.

A (Personal) Note from Scott Brown

I'm sure everybody is getting these emails seeing as how it is less than a couple weeks until the upcoming elections. And certainly Scott Brown isn't the only one whose campaign sends these 'personal' emails asking for contributions, but what a strange email.

"I'm heading back to my truck, but wanted..." Wait, why do I care where you are headed right this moment, let alone that you are walking toward your extremely relatable truck? And it just occurred to you to send me a personal note right at that moment. And why are you calling me 'Chaz' like you know me? I want you to run the state, not be my friend.

I'm sure there is hard data behind methods of political communications showing that people buy it and are convinced. Me, I'm typically just baffled and often feel like campaigns don't understand that their methods of communication often have the opposite effect on me than I'm sure they would like. 

Are you convinced when you get emails from politicians (even ones you like)?

How many times will you see your parents over the next year?

As someone whose parents live on the other side of the country (and have for over a decade), I have on occasion thought of how few times I've seen them over that period of time. Lifehacker linked to a website a few guys put together called 'Seeyourfolks'. The site tells you roughly how many times you have left to see your parents based on their age, life expectancy and average number of times per year you see them.

Sad yes. But a sober reminder to avoid allowing the busyness of life to crowd out relationship with parents.

It also got me thinking about the average number of times we see our parents per year. I wouldn't be surprised to find out if we see our parents far less that we used to 50 or 70 years ago. With long distance travel so much cheaper in real terms, cost doesn't keep people from pursuing opportunity farther from home. On the other hand, wouldn't those same lowered costs also increase the number of times somebody could travel home?

Actually I'm guessing the biggest change in average has come from the lower numbers of parents who live with their kids. Going from seeing them every day to... once a week? Less? would have a big impact on the number of times per year kids see their parents. But putting that aside, and speaking strictly about people who live close or far from their parents, I still think the average has probably changed.

In any case, whether things have changed or not, you should go call your parents. And I'll call mine.

Tacos: a Guide

Compared to the rest of the more all-natural, holistic-living world, I was late to join the "#ohmygoodnesswholefoodsisthebestthingever" train. But when the granola gods saw fit to install one less than a mile from my office, I hopped on that train pretty quickly. Even if I was hopping on the caboose.

Almost everything about Whole Foods is good. The pros: tasty food. Close to work. Organic. Concerned about animal welfare. The cons: relatively expensive. The people who make tacos.

Let me elaborate a bit. The tacos are delicious, but I think the people on the line have never made tacos even once in their lives. I put forth this statement based on not one experience, but multiple, so you can be fully assured that it's an indisputable fact.

Note the lack of lettuce.

I hereby present you with the step by step guide that I presume WF team members use to instruct themselves on how to make tacos:

1. Ask the customer if she wants soft or crunchy tacos.
2. If crunchy tacos are desired, look puzzled, and then check for shells under counter.
3. Make sure that only one crunchy taco shell is present.
4. Go search every aisle in the store for 10 minutes to find a new box of taco shells. Make sure to only grab one box so that you'll be equally prepared for the next time a customer wants the same thing.
5. Attempt to open the taco shell box and interior plastic wrapping with food gloves on for a full minute before using your knife.
6. Ask how many tacos the customer desires.
7. Take another full minute to remove the shells from the recently opened plastic wrapping.
8. Ask the customer what kind of meat is desired.
9. Proceed to stuff the taco shell with as much meat as will fit to make sure that there is absolutely no room for other toppings.
10. Look extremely confused when the customer asks for more toppings.
11. Attempt to force cheese and salsa to stay on top of stuffed taco for at least two minutes.
12. Inform the customer that you don't have any lettuce in either the taco line or the sandwich line, and ask if she wants to substitute spinach or arugula.
13. Attempt to put the lid on the to-go box by tipping the tacos on their sides. Carefully spill as many of the toppings as possible.
14. Wish the customer a nice day, just to make her feel like the 20-minute wait for her three tacos was worth it while her husband stands by with his now-cold lunch.

So there you have it: how to make tacos according to Whole Foods in Lynnfield. Definitely pick some up next time you have a spare hour!

Topsfield Fair 2014

The Topsfield Fair has taken place every year (with a couple of exceptions during wars) since 1818. And every year since I arrived in the area in 2007, I have missed it. Year after year I've told myself that I'll go next year, and year after year I fail to uphold that promise to myself. So last week, I decided that THIS WAS THE YEAR. We would go on Saturday, and it would be great.

We woke up Saturday morning to the sound of raindrops. So much for that.

Fortunately, Sunday dawned bright and beautiful, so the plan wasn't dead.

This fall has been one of the most gorgeous in the past few years.

As it turned out, every single person in all of New England had the same idea, and it was jam packed with folks of all varieties. At one point Chaz remarked, "I've never seen so many strollers in my life!"

The last time I was at a fair was probably...oh, sometime in early high school. I've decided that over the years and even in different states, fairs are pretty much the same: rides, games, junk food, animals, and huge pumpkins. And that was true for this fair as well.

Don't YOU want a huge puffy animal to take home?

And while walking around, we discussed the fact that there was simultaneously a lot to do and nothing to do. Regardless, we had fun, ate some deliciously unhealthy food (dude, the whoopie pies?), and spent too many ride tickets to go on the swings. What's not to love?

Not being from around here originally, it's nice to check one of the major attractions off my list. Extra Massachusetts points for me, but who's counting? Plus, I had a handsome date, which just made the whole experience better.

So far this post really doesn't have much of a point except that it's recapping. Thus, here are three things to give it automatic purposefullness:

• Don't ever go to the fair on Columbus Day weekend the day before it closes, or you will be among thousands of other people.
• If a performer almost dies when doing aerial stunts, walk away before you have a heart attack/he actually falls from a 30-foot rotating circle while blindfolded.
• Make absolutely sure to get yourself a warm apple cider doughnut before you leave.

That's all, folks!

Reading on the go...

I'm about to go on a long car ride, decide that opposed to starting a new audible book I want to continue the book I just started reading on my Kindle. I pull up Audible, get the book, have it automatically sent to my Windows Phone Audible app, and done, I’m ready to go.

Upon getting into the car, I plug a million wires from my phone into my car (sadly no Bluetooth audio), pull up Audible and I’m completely surprised to discover that the Audible book that downloaded started off exactly where I stopped reading.

I rarely have ‘favorite’ things (ask Jillian what my favorite anything is), but this is definitely a favorite thing. Something that complete changed a completely reasonable expectation. Would it have been horrible to have to fast forward through the audio book to get to where I had left off in the written book? Not at all. But the type of innovation that takes a reasonable user expectation, sets it aside and tells the user that they won’t be doing that anymore, that is the type of innovation that I find so exciting.

How do they do it? Best I can tell, they use their so called ‘Whispersync’ technology to communicate the Amazon reading location across devices (the Amazon reading location is a more granular piece of data stored throughout the book that is more useful than just 'page number'). This must mean that they somehow track the Amazon reading location even in audio books.

Way to go Amazon. Now if you would just put the same intentionality and care into how you treat your employees.

Expect something... different

For those of you who have followed Jillian's blogging for a while, the interjection of my blog posts may come as a bit of a shock. An interruption in the middle of a larger narrative. Sort of like Production I.G.'s anime sequence in Kill Bill part I. 

So this will most likely be a bit of an experiment. The question: Can a single blog support two vastly different styles? Will the dissonance between very different topics cause a sort of ‘reader’s whiplash’?

I guess we will find out.

A Big Apple Excursion

Last week, my friend Steph and I got to go on a business trip to NYC. A few eventful things happened just on the way there:

1. Flight delays. Always a good time.
   
2. Delicious airport food. I didn't think that was possible, but Cosi pulled through for us. Look for it next time you're in Terminal B in Logan airport, and make sure to get the personal pizza.
   
3. I managed to get motion sick and for the first time in my life I threw up on a plane, but not until after we landed. Gross. At least I now know that air sickness bags work.
   
4. I paid $4.00 for a pack of gum in the airport after we got there, which led to a new appreciation for the "mall prices guaranteed" signs that I saw in Boston's airport. However, I've also now essentially boycotted buying things in airports, so I will never test their guarantee.
   

We took a taxi to get from JFK to the hotel. Our driver was particularly friendly and gave us all sorts of tips for getting the best taxi deals in the city, and since he was so outgoing I decided to ask him what his strangest passengers had been like. Turns out, he'd driven Maria Sharpova in his cab, and he'd also had someone offer to pay for a ride with... favors. He dropped that particular passenger off at the police station.

Eventually we made it to the hotel, and between the delays and the air sickness, I was never so happy to see the 15th floor of the Holiday Inn.

Taken about five seconds before I crawled in and fell asleep immediately.

And of course, there's always time for a hotel bathroom mirror selfie.

The next day, fully recovered on my part, we headed to the school for training. They were fairly easy going, so we finished at 4:00 and had all evening to roam the city. Since I've only been to NYC once (!), Steph was our navigator for the day. She'd already proved herself by mastering the map to get us to the school in the morning. 

NYC. Conquered.

We headed back to the hotel briefly to get changed, and then we found the nearest metro station to avoid paying exorbitant taxi fees. As it turns out, you can cover quite a lot of ground in five hours, especially if you know where to start! We hit up Times Square and immediately got sucked into a conversation with a guy advertising a comedy show that night:

Guy: Where are you going this evening?

Steph: Uhhh... just touring around... we're from Boston!

Jillian: (points camera at tall buildings to avoid conversation)

Guy: Well, you should come to our comedy club! It's totally safe. Just come, have a couple drinks (you have to have at least two). And seriously, so safe. It's full of comedians and gay guys. I'm gay so I'm allowed to say that.

Us: Umm... we'll consider it...

Guy: I'm never going to see you again, am I?

Us: (awkward shuffling away)

Evidence that I tried to take pictures to avoid talking to the comedian club solicitor.

After we weaved our way through the thousands of tourists taking pictures of Times Square (as well as a few street performers, several of whom were wearing only body paint), we found a good Italian restaurant for dinner. It was delicious. After that, we moved on to Bryant Park, which included a view of the top of the Empire State Building and the entire New York Public Library.

We didn't stop there! We headed back to the metro and took it further out to Battery Park, where we could see the Statue of Liberty.

Complete with cranes and other construction equipment.

The park was strangely deserted, so we just took a few pictures and then scuttled away for fear of being alone in a dark park in the middle of a huge city. Perhaps not our best work.

We'd been walking for quite a while at that point, so we decided that our final destination would be the new 9/11 memorial, with a brief stop at the charging bull statue on the way.

Some nice people took our photo with my super legit iPhone 4 camera. I'm sure you can't tell the difference in photo quality.

The memorial was a good last stop, but a sobering one. The structure itself was magnificent, but simultaneously achingly sad. Whoever designed it captured the perfect sentiment. For those of us that remember the event but who lived a very safe distance away, it hammered home that this wasn't just something that we watched on TV, but rather something that cost hundreds of lives and left scars on survivors that are still there today.

The 9/11 Memorial. Names are listed around the sides of the fountain, which is built on the space left by one of the towers.

On that note, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for day 2.

Day 2 was much less eventful. We trained, then got right on to the metro back to the airport. Flying through JFK always means delays, so we passed the time with a People magazine (guilty pleasure confession over here!) and eventually made it back to Boston and our respective homes by midnight.

Until next time, New York!

Recent Pursuits

I think that after graduating from college, I sort of assumed that life was pretty much over. That was a subconscious sort of thing - obviously life was not over just because school was finished. But I didn't really know what to do with myself. I had lots of interests, but because school was done, I figured learning had to be done as well.

So I went along with that for awhile. But it didn't feel particularly fulfilling. I wasn't content with feeling like I was now doomed to a life of unfinished accomplishments and mediocrity. Plus, there were things that I had wanted to learn during the schooling years that I never pursued as much as I would have liked.

I've coveted "fancy" cameras since the first time I had a point and shoot of my very own in high school. I had been enamored with photos for ages before that. My mom used to get prints of all the family's shots, and I'd get inordinately excited whenever I saw that a new package of photos had come in the mail. I'd pore over the 4x6 double prints right when they were fresh from the envelope, and then for many cumulative hours after my mom had put them all in albums.

So I made a decision. We went to Costco a few weekends ago (because Costco is the start of all great things) and picked up a brand spanking new Nikon camera. That was great all by itself, but it didn't quite satisfy my combined love of photography and my unconquerable need for academia. Thus, I signed up for a photography class. 

I can't say that I'll ever be really good. I know some really great photographers and that's actually a little intimidating, because I will perpetually feel like an amateur. But no one ever started out being awesome at anything (unless we're talking about Mozart, and even he took lessons in the beginning), and I have to start somewhere. So that somewhere is here. Let's hope my "after" picture is significantly better than this one.

Marriage and Culture

In the months leading up to and subsequently following our wedding, Chaz and I often found ourselves informing people in our very extended acquaintance that we were going to be getting married. The majority of them were enthusiastic about the news, or at the very least convincingly feigned excitement. But there were a few whose reactions were more what I would consider reflective of the culture at large. 

Exhibit A (pre-wedding):

Acquaintance: So, what do you have going on this summer?

Chaz: Well, I'm actually getting married! I feel like I'm joining a club.

Acquaintance: Yeah...it's not a very happy club.

Chaz: ...

Exhibit B (post-wedding):

Jillian: Marriage is great! And the bonus is that I never have to plan a wedding again!

Acquaintance: Well, you don't know that.

Jillian: ...actually I'm quite certain there will only be one...

Acquaintance: Ha! You might as well start calling him your first husband!

Jillian: ...

In both cases, we ended up sort of awkwardly laughing it off and moving on before the conversation went further South, but we were both taken aback by the comments (respectively). 

First of all, I think we were both a bit surprised at the lack of tact. You wouldn't walk up to someone on his or her college graduation day and say, "Well kid, welcome to real life. You won't get a job, everything gets worse from here on out, and there's really nothing to look forward to. You'd be better off without a degree!" Why would anyone consider saying the same type of thing to someone as he or she gets ready to walk down the aisle? I suppose that's a rhetorical question...but one that should be asked nonetheless.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, that is not the expectation I want to feed into my marriage. Granted, it was someone else who said it, not me or Chaz. But I do not appreciate the cultural expectation that marriage will always fail, that it's always miserable, and that even if I don't think so now, it's inevitably going to get worse. 

No, I'm not so naive as to think that marriage will always be a cake walk. No one goes through life without a care in the world, and no one is perfect. But I am perhaps naively optimistic enough to believe that marriage, overall, is good. And I know for a fact that I love it now. 

Before the wedding, one of my biggest fears was the subtle lies of the marriage statistics. More than 50%, they whispered. But our pastor gave us good counsel, and pointed out a verse that I especially needed to hear in light of my anxiety: "the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth." (It's actually in a passage in Malachi that's talking about divorce, but in this instance that's aside from the point.) It was a timely reminder that what we've established is a holy endeavor, and God is the witness and investor. Most comforting of all is that we serve a God who is bigger than any set of statistics.

So I hereby defy this culture of sad statistics and the expectation of failure. I'm not afraid to have higher expectations, and I trust in a God who is incapable of failure. 

Homecoming

This weekend, Chaz and I headed up to Vermont to attend a friend's wedding. I think it's funny that no matter how long you've lived somewhere else, the place you grew up will always feel like home. I stepped out of the car when we pulled into the driveway, and the night air suddenly smelled crisp and clean. Massachusetts has its own set of fall-ish smells, but those don't compare with Vermont autumnal scents.

On Saturday, we had a few hours before the wedding started in the afternoon. So we got dressed, grabbed my youngest brother, and headed out on a mission to find Starbucks. Considering the nearest one is a good 30 minutes from my family's house, that's no small feat. Nevertheless, we made the trek, and Chris turned into a happy camper in the back seat with his chocolate chocolatey chip frappacino. He also insisted on wearing Chaz's sister's mislaid pink sunglasses that we've had in our possession since our wedding in July.

Sorry, Kara!

After Bucks, we hightailed it back home to get ready, and we somehow managed to all arrive at the wedding 10 minutes early. Considering my track record for getting places on time...be impressed.

The wedding was lovely. It took place in our small country church, and the sanctuary was filled with all the people Sara and David knew and loved. For awhile I worried about people passing out, since that happens at weddings sometimes (I mean...it happened at ours!), but everyone stayed upright the whole time. And the service itself was lovely.

The reception was in a beautiful barn in the next town. The food was great and the atmosphere was fantastic, but the best part was being able to catch up a bit with some long lost friends from high school!

Lane, Brianna, and two people you already know.

Elizabeth and Kayla looking lovely.

Ben and Greg, enjoying being photographed.

But above all, probably the most impressive part about the reception was that Sara made all the cupcakes herself. Three days before her wedding. Having done a wedding recently myself, I can safely say that baking and frosting that many cupcakes while figuring out all the last minute details is quite an accomplishment. And they were delicious to boot! I ate two...back to back.

There were even two different flavor options!

Long story short, it was a highly enjoyable wedding.

Table 14...that was the place to be, I tell ya!

When it was all done, we headed home happy and tired out. But we sat down and watched a movie (Red! So good!) with popcorn (Kettlecorn! Can't be beat!), so we clearly weren't too tired to continue a fun evening at home.

So there you have weekend part 1. Weekend part 2 involved church in Vermont, followed by a very scenic drive to Connecticut. If it hadn't been quite so scenic, we probably would have ended up a lot grumpier. Thankfully, the loveliness of our surroundings eased all botheration at driving an extra 30 miles. 

Come back later for the next installment of Tales of the Woodstock Road Trip.

The Beauty of Slow

Since...oh, probably before the wedding, Chaz and I have had a total of about two weekends where we didn't have something going on. Whether that "something" was a business trip, church events, celebrations, or running tons of errands, we've been both consciously and subconsciously longing for rest. This weekend changed that, and with the beginning of the turning of the seasons, it felt like finally turning a page.

Saturday only half-counted. We got up late, headed to Starbucks, and worked on various projects for a few hours. After a run to Target to pick up some general supplies (no one wants to run out of toilet paper!), we headed back home, ate some lunch, and then got ready to make a voyage to Worcester to see my brother in a production of Les Miserables. I took exactly no pictures of him on stage, but I did get this nice shot, complete with my blurry finger. High quality.

We got home at midnight, so I can't say that was relaxing. But it was fun to see the family and to see Jonathan up there singing and playing an excellent drunk. Good job, kid!

On Sunday, we woke up and headed to church. And for the first time in months, I felt like my soul was quiet enough to listen, and I needed that. We didn't have anything planned for the afternoon, so I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up the materials to make a pot roast. Any day with enough time to incorporate a pot roast means a lazy day to be sure.

Chaz suggested a walk to the beach while the pot roast was in the oven. Since the oven has so far proved itself to be reliable, I figured it was safe enough to leave for a short while and we headed the half a mile down the road.

If nothing else, what should tell you the most about this summer is that we live literally five minutes away from the beach, and neither of us had been there even once this year. I'm not a huge beach person, but I've never had a summer where it's been avoided entirely. As a result I'm glad we made it there once before the end of the season. Even if we were wearing jackets.

It isn't often that we get the opportunity to savor the beauty of being home and having time. Our lives certainly won't be that way forever. We'll have children someday and they'll fill our slower hours with all of the things that come along with children. The beauty there will be present, but it will be a different sort. Even before that, there are so many distractions to fill our lives up with noise. So I like to have days like this recorded, so I can remember that these days are necessary, they are refreshing, and they are good.