A Fabulous Weekend!

Greetings to you all! I went to the airport this morning to see the ladies off after spending a glorious weekend with them. It is extremely difficult to put into words the kinds of experiences we were able to share, but I will attempt to at least give you an idea while sharing some pictures with you. It was so awesome to be able to share my new home with friends from Georgia and to watch them enjoy the area I have come to love.

On Friday, I took the day off and we went into Boston. Our day started by catching the train into the city.


We saw Cheers, and then we went to walk through the Public Garden and the Boston Common, which is the oldest city park in America. Here are some pictures from that.




Then we went on a Duck Tour of the Freedom Trail and other historic sites around the city of Boston. It was a great tour and one I would highly recommend. The tour also takes you into the Charles River. Here are some Duck Tour pictures - some of the sites we saw, and a view of the city from the water (the last one is an actual piece of the Berlin Wall).





After the Duck Tour, we went to see Harvard, had dinner in the Italian district and a pastry from Mike's Pastry, saw the oldest Pub in America, did some shopping at Quincy Market and caught the train back home for some much needed rest.





Yesterday, we saw the North Shore and had a beautiful day to experience our different adventures. We started with the Witch Museum in Salem, which was interesting and sobering. Then we headed to my area of town, and our first stop was Ocean Lawn.





After Ocean Lawn, we went to East Gloucester to see a lighthouse, and then we stopped by an apple orchard to get fresh cider and apple pie before heading to Crane's Beach, which is one of the most beautiful beaches here on the North Shore. There are sand dunes everywhere, and it was a glorious sight.





We finally finished up the day by eating at Periwinkles, which is a seafood restaurant where you can actually sit out on the deck on the water. A fitting end to a great time together..... Thank you so much ladies - I had a blast and hope that you did too!!

Friends!

I am SO EXCITED because I have friends from Georgia here to visit!!! Melissa, Peg, and Trinie came to visit me for the weekend, and we are going to have so much fun seeing the sights of Boston and the North Shore together. Perhaps when they come home raving about all that they have seen, it will inspire more of you to come and visit. :-) Anyway, a big thanks to Jeanne who sent the most adorable bear with them - isn't he so cute?? And a picture of all of us having dinner tonight at Tony's House Of Pizza, a cute little restaurant in my town. Tomorrow we're spending all day in Boston and then will see the North Shore on Saturday. Many more pictures to come!

Lots O' Pictures

Hi Everyone! Hope you've all had a great weekend. I thought I'd share a little of our lives today with some pictures, so here goes. Enjoy!

First up....my hilarious cat, who makes me smile everyday. Yesterday, she went out on the porch and proceeded to go jump in the chair that is our neighbor's and look all queenly. I also got her a new toy yesterday that she loves a lot. She has gone crazy with it. I'll try to get an action shot at some point.



The weather today was stunning. The description on weather.com was "abundant sunshine", and there was. It was about 75, breezy, and gorgeous. We decided to go to Ocean Lawn so Michael could study and I could read and take pictures. Here is a view from where we set up camp, Michael "studying" and then studying for real (in the background).




Some of the leaves are just beginning to change. A couple pictures of that, and a picture of me. :-)




Some of my favorite random shots...





Finally, as Michael and I were walking home, the sun was setting over the beach. Hope you enjoyed the pictures and have a great week! We miss and love you all....

A Beautiful Night

Hi everyone. (Thanks Aunties for leaving comments on my last blog. I miss and love you guys!!) The last couple of days have been absolutely gorgeous, and as I've driven home from work after running errands, the setting sun has made the sky the most glorious shades of color. Today wasn't quite as brilliant because it was slightly overcast, but it was still beautiful. I went for a walk and tried to capture some of the beauty on film. One thing I love about God is that there's no possible way to fully capture His beauty in His creation on film. You can take a snapshot, but it doesn't equal to seeing it with your own eyes. I am reminded to remain fully in the present - to be here now, and know that He will meet me in the now, and that will always be enough. Enjoy the pictures and have a great Friday and weekend!

I love the colors of the sky....





Here are some additional pictures from my walk that I thought were cool.

Tuesday Tidings!

Hi everyone! Greetings from the chilly north, where it's highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. It is Tuesday, and I am tired. :-) So this is going to be a random blog, filled with whatever comes to my mind. First of all, I totally loved church on Sunday, but I am thinking that I will probably end up going to a church here in Gloucester with Michael. The teaching and music is great at the place I went, but it's far away, and it seems as though it's going to be really difficult to connect with people. I'm really looking for a community to get plugged into, so I think going closer to home will help a lot. Michael has been to this church in Gloucester and really enjoyed it, plus there are lots of people our age there that we can hang out with. So that is probably where I will end up going.

I went to my first divorce care class last night. It was quite interesting. There were only 10 of us in there, so I think it will be a group that definitely connects. Most of the people are much older than me and have kids, but there are similarities in the grieving process and things you have to work through. I think it will be good to go through, just for reminders and encouragement. However, last night served as an encouragement that God is at work in my life and I have been and am moving in a good direction.

Four ladies from the staff at West Ridge are coming to visit me next weekend, and I am SO EXCITED! I can't wait to visit with people from home and see familiar faces and share with them the things that have come to be so special to me here. I'll definitely be posting some awesome pictures of their visit.

Speaking of pictures, I thought I'd give you some random ones. Here is one that I thought looks kind of cool of a fishing pole on the water from when we went boating. I like the sparklies. :-)


I have a stuffed lion, and one day it was extremely windy. Michael put my lion in the wind, and here is the result with its really fluffy mane...


Finally, here is a picture of the cutest kitty on the North Shore. It looks like she is doing crunches or stretching because she is getting fluffy. :-) Everyone have a great week!

Work Fun

Happy Friday to you all! I am so thankful that the weekend is here! I thought on this Friday I would share some work stories with you. Today was the president of the company's birthday. He didn't want us to celebrate his birthday and told everyone not to do anything. Well, for those of you who know me and know my love for birthdays, that was the wrong thing to say. Yesterday after work, my friend Rachael and I stayed and blew up 90 balloons and put them all in his office and hung a bunch from the ceiling. Below are two pictures of a sample of our work. This was later in the day today, and he had pulled a bunch of them out of the ceiling already, but you can get the idea (and can see his extremely messy desk).




I think our boss appreciated the efforts, and we had a good time. I don't think my office really knows what to do with me at this point. I am bringing some wacky southern fun and joy to the interesting north. Gotta mix up those office dynamics here and there! :-) Here is a picture of my desk...



I'm excited about this weekend. If the weather cooperates, Michael and I are going to go into Boston tomorrow afternoon with some of the people he has met at school. On Sunday, I am going to church, and that will be fun. I'll be sure and provide updates later this weekend. To end this blog, I shall put a cute picture of Ellie. Michael had this paper bag that his books came in, and Ellie has been living in it for the last 2 days. Have a great weekend!