Field Trip - Burlington

On Friday I had the opportunity to join Marc for a field trip to Burlington. His company has an office there and since he had to go for work it meant that I got a free trip! After picking up Marc's coworker it was a short 1 1/2 hour drive to the center of Burlington. A few notables from our drive (1) bears live in Vermont and (2) April snow flurries.

Once in Burlington I dropped the guys off at their office and had the rest of the day to explore on my own. My first stop was Oakledge Park. Despite the cold windy weather I bundled up and headed out for a walk around the park. My first stop was the Forever Young Tree House.

Built as a handicapped accessible treehouse, it stands about 15 feet off the ground. Being the only person inside and having great views across the park it was an excellent way to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.

But since it wasn't exactly a warm day I decided to move on and keep walking around the park. Which brought me to the earth clock. Sadly the sun wasn't out when I was here so I wasn't able to use it to tell the time but it was fun to wander around and look at the rocks and the sundial.

After wandering around the park I decided it was time to head back into the city center for some shopping and lunch. I wandered through Burlington Town Center and then up and down Church Street. For those who have been to Los Angeles, church street is Burlington's equivalent of the 4th Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Basically a pedestrian friendly shopping area. The snow flurries started up again as I was wandering around which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The highlight of the afternoon and real reason for traveling all the way up to Burlington was to get a Costco fix. This is the closest Costco to our new home and we have been desperately wanting some salmon burgers. After trying 2 different kinds from the grocery store we realized that we just had to get some from Costco, along with some other items. I really can't wait until we move into our house and we can save money by purchasing more items in bulk from Costco. 

All in all it was a very delightful day up in Burlington. Next time I hope it's a little less windy and a little bit warmer so that I can explore more of the outdoor offerings. Or perhaps I'll head out of the city and go visit the Lake Champlain Chocolate factory or maybe the Magic Hat brewery.

Pub Trivia

Last night Marc and I met up with some of his coworkers at the Salt Hill Pub in Hanover for some pub trivia. In total there were seven rounds of trivia with 10 questions for each round. There was a different category for each round of trivia like literature, #1 hits, memory, travel, miscellaneous trivia and others. Our worst category as a team was literature. Our best was probably #1 hits or miscellaneous trivia. I was surprised that I knew the words to every one of the 10 songs played in the #1 hits category. Unfortunately I wasn't as strong on the identification of the singer and song title. All in all I think we ended up 8th out of 20 or so teams. Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

I was amazed by how quickly two and half hours passed by. It was really fun to stretch my brain a little to come up with some of the answers. I also really enjoyed being able to meet some of Marc's coworkers. I finally have some faces to add to the names I hear about and they were such a fun group of people!

Quechee Gorge

This morning Marc and I decided to take advantage of the 70F weather by heading out to Quechee Gorge for a short hike.

We picked up the trail behind the visitor center and headed down towards the bottom of the gorge. At the bottom we found some garbage and knocked over trees which we assume was a result of Irene. Next, we turned around and headed all the way up to the dam at the top of the gorge.  

It was a perfect day to be out but surprisingly there were very few other people around taking in the gorge. I decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet and take a little video to share. If you listen carefully you can hear the afternoon breeze and the birds chirping. 

This evening it is absolutely pouring rain. It's strange that this morning it was so beautiful and now it is a cold wet blustery evening. It's like they say in the northeast, "If you don't like the weather, wait an hour." 

Putting the "Home" in Homestead

We have big news, about 42 acres of big news.

Last week, Christina and I put in an offer on a house. It was accepted within hours.  I guess that means we are overpaying.

But this is not just any house, it is "the house that shall not be named" ala Voldemort.  Why?  Because I found it online last November before I had a job in the New Hampshire/Vermont region, and basically wouldn't stop talking about it.  The price dropped the first time when I was interviewing for my current job.  The price dropped again, and incidentally we were on our way to look for a short-term rental. 

I convinced Christina that we had to look at it, which wasn't hard because we wanted to look at stuff.  But within 5 minutes of walking in the door, she hated it.  Now, hate is a strong word, but I think it may be justified.  Sometimes my beautiful wife exaggerates, but in this instance she _really_ did not like it.

Yep, we have a pond

So I let it go, in the way only I can.  It was referred to as "the 42-acre house".  I referred to it as "that other house" and when she asked which, I gave her a look that said "you know which house".  And so, it became "the house that shall not be named".

And then, two weeks ago as we were getting discouraged with the rest of the houses we saw in the Norwich/Hartford area, they lowered the price again.  And we'd seen a dozen houses already and I *promised* that I wouldn't bring it up again if we saw it again and she didn't like it.  So we arranged a visit and upon arrival our realtor said that it already had 2 offers on it and one was acceptable to the seller.

Me: "Oh well, at least I won't have to keep thinking about this place, I hope they buy it so I can stop talking about it"
Christina: -nothing-
Me: "Where'd you go?"

And she was off exploring the place not paying attention so I hung out in the living room talking to our realtor about other places and making renovations.

See-through fireplace AND wood stove!

That was on a Thursday.  Friday my friend Casey was supposed to come over for drinks but had to cancel so Christina and I were forced to drink on our own, and we ended up talking about the house. A lot. And it seemed Christina was now interested in this place, and its potential, and maybe we had something going.  But it had 2 offers already.  So we talked about it some more.  Saturday went by, we talked some more and we talked to the realtor and he said we'd have to jump on it within a couple hours if we wanted a chance.

We weren't ready yet, but told him we were thinking.  We didn't jump, in fact we deliberated the rest of Saturday, Sunday, Monday and didn't put an offer in until Tuesday.  And I guess they liked our offer.

Winter is going to be pretty, plus we get a skating rink for free!

So, we think we're buying a house. It qualifies as a homestead in every sense of the word I can think of; it's got the "back 40", literally. It has a big fireplace, a wood stove and a screened in porch.  It needs a lot of work, we can have chickens and tap our maple trees (there better be some maple trees!) and there are endless things I can think of to have fun with it.  Did I mention 40 acres?  If not, let me say that I grew up on maybe a quarter acre lot and we shared our side yard with Mr. Hickey and his cat Goldy. Anyway, All that seems to align with "Homestead" more than "McMansion" and I hope it becomes our home. 

I have Christina to thank for it. ; )

We hope you'll visit us sometime, starting in July, when we hope to close.  Until then, fingers crossed that everything works out.  Enjoy the pictures and maybe you can see a little bit of what we want to make of the place.

Gile Mountain

Yesterday Marc and I went on a hike to Gile Mountain in Norwich. It was a 1.4 mile round-trip hike which took us up to the peak of Gile Mountain. Advertised as an "easy" hike, Marc and I were both a little surprised by how much our hearts were racing as we climbed up to the peak. At the peak there is an abandoned fire ranger's cabin and the fire tower.

Firetower on top of Gile Mountain

Marc climbed all the way to the top of the firetower to take in the full panoramic view of the Upper Valley. On the other hand I, with my fear of heights, made it to just above the treeline. Despite not being at the top the view was amazing.

I absolutely loved the contrast of the tower construction against the natural beauty of the woods. While I was up here I definitely made a mental note to bring whomever comes to visit next to this beautiful panorama. Maybe not during mud season but definitely during late spring, summer or fall.

Grace Adelajda Thieme

This past weekend Marc and I headed back down to Connecticut to meet our newest niece, Grace. It was so much fun to hang out with Marc's sister Effie and her husband Lukasz. It was even better that neither of them were annoyed by the fact that I had my camera lens stuck in their baby's face all weekend long. She is such a sweetie I just couldn't control myself.

And how can you not take pictures of all those cute little features? 

I was amazed by how light and cuddly she was, plus the little lady only sneezes in sets of three. I was even  able to capture the elusive yawn that I unsuccessfully always tried to capture with my brother's babies. 

But that doesn't mean that Grace didn't get annoyed by my picture taking. Being the sweet lady that she is she made sure I knew she was done.

Congratulations Effie and Lukasz! 

We Are Family

The past weekend was a whirlwind of family and friends. Friday night Marc and I were invited over to our friends house for a delicious home-cooked dinner. It's always nice to have a meal from someone else's kitchen but it's especially nice to be able to share our time with our friends.

Saturday morning my friend Michelle, whom I have know since high school, stopped by to say hello and see our new digs. This gave me the perfect opportunity to try out a new English muffin recipe, bake some bagels and make some apple cake. Although the English muffins did not turn out how I wanted them to they were delicious with butter and jam. It was also a great opportunity to take out our wedding serveware and have a grownup brunch. It was so much fun to see Michelle and hear about all the things she's been up to. Sadly our breakfast was brief because Marc and I needed to pile into the car and head down to Connecticut.

Our trip to Connecticut was to help out Marc's Aunt Sheila and Aunt Erin. They are in the process of fixing up their house so they can put it on the market to sell. We were one of the last people to arrive and siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins of Marc's were already hard at work fixing up the yard, removing stairs from the deck and spackling and painting inside the house. Coincidentally we arrived at lunchtime so we had a chance to chat and catch up then it was straight into housework mode. I raked while Marc helped his brother and cousin's husband figure out the stairs. Then I helped Marc measure and cut the wood for each step. We wrapped up the day with homemade lasagna and gluten-free mac and cheese surrounded by family. It still amazes me how much family I have married into and how amazing they are at truly supporting each other.

Cousin Lisa stripping the closet doors

Cousin Amy finding a new use for the wheelchair. 

Marc and Aunt Sheila warming up by the fire. 

Brother in law Billy helping Cousin Doug notch  the wood. 

the new stairs

After finishing up in Connecticut we returned to our home in Vermont. Thankfully we did not return empty handed but rather we returned with Marc's brother, his wife and their two children. It had such a great time hosting them in our home for the rest of the weekend. On Sunday we all piled into Marc's Brother's minivan and headed up to Rutland to visit Marc's mom. Then we spent the afternoon with Marc's Uncle Billy and Aunt Mandy catching up, playing with the kids and having an Aunt Mandy home-cooked meal together. Below is a picture of the elephant ride that the kids got to have.

Sadly Monday eventually rolled around. Marc headed off to work and his brother and family headed out the door to return to Pennsylvania. It was such a family filled weekend that not only was the house quiet on Monday but it felt empty. Well except for the big pile of laundry I had to catch up on.