Summer Thunderstorms

They say this is something that will become normal to me during the summer months. We're the red dot with five weather warnings. Looks like it's going to be another stormy night complete with rain, lightning and thunder. 

Maddie - Part Two

Today we said goodbye to the puppy Maddie. I am sure her owner is very happy to not only be home but to also have her company again. I have to admit it was fun having her for a few days but I think it was a good reminder of how much work a puppy is. It's been a little strange today not having my shadow following me everywhere but then again I haven't had to think about taking her outside for a walk in the rain.

Here are a couple of shots of Maddie from our photo shoot out in the backyard. I think this is my first "pet shoot". I think my subject was pretty photogenic.

Maddie

This week I get to spend a few days with this gorgeous girl.

Maddie is a five-month old English Cream Golden Retriever and she belongs to one of Marc's coworkers. So far she has been very curious in our home, going up and down the stairs but always checking in to see where we are.

This morning I took her on a 45-minute walk down the bike/pedestrian path near our house. She had a great time sniffing the grass, eating dandelions, greeting everyone who walked by and trying to get into the creek.

She had such a great time that when we got home she was plum tuckered out.

I'm hoping that the weather stays dry later today so we can go out in the backyard and play some fetch. I am also thoroughly looking forward to getting more exercise myself when I take her on another walk this afternoon.

Burlington

As I was downloading pictures from our boat trip, I came across a bunch of pictures that I took last week when I accompanied Marc up to Burlington. As you might remember from this post Marc's company has an office up in Burlington and occasionally he has to go up there for work. I have been lucky enough to be able to join him for both of these trips which means I get to spend the day exploring Burlington.

On my last trip I explored Oakledge Park which has both the earth clock and the forever young tree-house. I also made a trip to Costco and explored Church Street. This time around I knew I would be returning to Costco because heck, what's a trip to Burlington without a trip to Costco? I also had to run an errand for Marc, but the rest of the day was mine, all mine.

My first stop was Lake Champlain Chocolates for a tour of their chocolate making facility. It was really interesting to see their small factory and learn more about the process the chocolate goes through. This is a picture of their entire facility from the viewpoint of their store. To the right there is a long machine that can make and package 50,000 pieces per shift. This is usually where they make their bars of chocolate. On the left we could watch workers hand painting and molding chocolates. .

The lady here is hand painting the frog molds behind a wheel of white chocolate. She would dip her finger into the chocolate, smear it onto a specific part of the mold and then repeat. I think the guy behind her was in the process of boxing truffles.

After sampling the chocolates I headed out to Costco for some shopping and lunch. I didn't realize that Costco offered an Italian sausage sandwich at their snack bar but they do and it was absolutely delicious. Afterwards I had a few hours to kill before Marc was done with work so headed to the edge of Lake Champlain. Near Marc's office they have swinging bench seats you can sit on and admire the water. I did this for a good 45 minutes with this view.

Then I walked along the bike bath around parts of the lake. I did this for the rest of the time that I had before I had to pick Marc up. It was such a beautiful day.

After collecting Marc we headed out of town to meet up with Marc's cousin Christine and her husband Dave for dinner. They are the relatives who probably live the closest to us but, with both of our busy schedules, it's been hard to find a time to get together. Thankfully we were able to coordinate schedules and enjoyed a delicious meal together at the Harrington House Inn.

Side view mirror view as we were leaving Burlington

Boat Trip #2

As I alluded to yesterday, Marc and I spent all day Sunday out on Lake Champlain. After hearing about the boat from Marc's Uncle Billy for quite some time we were finally able to get out and enjoy a boat trip together. We were lucky enough to also have the company of Uncle Billy's wife Mandy and their daughter Heidi.

Amanda Mills on the Amanda Mills

Marc tried his best to pretend that it was his boat ...

My husband - the wannabe captain

 ... but it was obvious who was really in charge ...

The captain: Uncle Billy

... and who was having the best time on his boat.

I don't think we could have gotten a better day to be on the lake. Endless sunshine, temperatures in the 80s and a beautiful uncrowded lake.

After boarding the boat and leaving the marina we headed up the lake to the Basin Harbor Club in Vergennes. Here we stopped to have lunch at the Red Mill Restaurant.

Red Mill Restaurant

The restaurant is inside a renovated sawmill and as well as being able to arrive by boat you can also arrive by plane. Right behind the restaurant is a grass airstrip where we watched both a plane land and take off. Below is a small video of the plane we watched take off.

After lunch we spent the afternoon just cruising around the lake and back to the Marina. It was such a great day to catch up with Uncle Billy, Aunt Mandy and Heidi. I know Marc and I are both looking forward to the next time we can go out. Hopefully it will involve some swimming and more great family time!

Fun and Full Weekend

Marc and I have had quite the busy weekend. We started off with our friends Marion and Duke visiting us from Nevada on Friday night. It was great to catch up and enjoy the summer evening with a grilled Italian sausages and peppers for dinner.

Saturday morning we were up early for our 5K run. After which we headed over to our future home for a tour from the current owner. We learned a few things we didn't know about our house and we also had a chance to meet our future neighbors. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, enjoying the summer weather and grilling once again for dinner. I also entrusted Marc to trim my hair for me. He did a great job on the straight cut taking off maybe 1/4 - 1/2 inch. No more split ends for me!

Today we were really lucky to be able to spend the day with family on Lake Champlain. We were out of the house from 8:45 this morning until 8:15 this evening. It was an amazing day and if I had any energy left I would post the pictures right now. But since I don't you'll have to check back tomorrow!

Run for the Kids

This morning Marc and I completed the annual Tuck charity race, Run for the Kids 5K, which benefits Upper Valley Child and Family Services, David's House, and the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD).  This is our second race together. Our first race was during our honeymoon in Iceland. There we participated in the 3K fun run (it was our honeymoon after all) and had a blast.

At the Finish Line

As I was getting ready this morning I realized that the majority of my running shirts are from races I have completed with my friends back home in California. I also realized that in California races are held during the cool San Francisco mornings. Out here it was at least mid-60s by the time we started running which made this race a little harder then usual for me. Thankfully I had my loving husband by my side, high-fiving the race volunteers, whistling the rocky theme song (what? it was stuck in his head!) and cheering me along every step of the way. I surprised him at the end by putting on the turbo jets and sprinting to the finish line. Official results are still pending but unofficial results put us just over 31 minutes for the 5K.

Sweaty and tired but we finished! 

***UPDATE***
I have finally found the official results from the race. Marc and I placed 37th and 38th out of 70 runners at a time of 31 minutes and 29 seconds. Marc placed 23rd out of all men and 7th out of men in his age group. I placed 15th out of all women and 4th out of women in my age group. The fastest woman in my group ran a 28 min 13 second 5K which seems like it could be attainable for me next year . . . maybe.

Vermont License Plates

After getting all our paperwork collected, filled out and filed with the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Marc and I are now proper Vermont drivers; License plates and all!

You're probably thinking to yourselves what says newlyweds more then sequential license plates? I'm not sure, but when we come up with it, we'll let you know. And if you're worried that there are only 36 cars registered in Vermont don't worry it's not that rural. I just blurred out the other numbers and letters on our plates for our privacy.

Along with the sequential plates we also learned a lot about Vermont license plates:

• Vermont is one of 18 states (19 if you include the District of Columbia) that requires an annual inspection. So as soon as we had our plates we had to visit a local garage to get our inspection stickers. 
• Vermont license plate numbers are pressed into the plates by a process called debossing. California plates are embossed or have the numbers raised into the plate from the back. 
• Vermont registration stickers are placed on the bottom of the license plate, in California they are on the top. This means that we can't use the surround plates that we had from California on our rear plates anymore.
• Vermont registration stickers have your license plate number stamped on them. In California I was always told to slice my sticker after applying it to my car so no one tried to take it for their car, not a problem in Vermont! 

Boat Trip!

Yesterday Marc and I were invited over to a friend's house to help launch his boat for the season. After a tour of their beautiful house we helped wash the boat to get it ready for the lake. It felt really great to use a little muscle to get the boat shiny and clean. Afterwards we were rewarded with lunch on the balcony overlooking the water and then it was time to put this guy in the water. 

We drove over to the marina, boat in tow, and shortly there after the four of us plus one four-legged friend were on board and reading to go. As we picked up speed leaving the Marina

It was clear that everyone was enjoying the ride

The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out with our friends and cruising around Lake Sunapee. They took us by all three of the lighthouses on the lake. 

We drove by the restaurants and they pointed out the landmarks and houses around the lake. Some of these "houses" would probably be better described as "mansions". 

And they showed us Steven Tyler's (of Aerosmith fame) house on the lake. Apparently he grew up spending summers with his family at Lake Sunapee and met Joe Perry at the Anchorage restaurant in town. If you don't believe me just ask Oprah. They say the jolly roger flag flies when he is in town. It was flying this past weekend but I'm not 100% sure he was around.  

 Our friend's house is located right on the edge of the lake. 

In one of the quieter coves of the lake. 

It was in this cove that we dropped anchor and chatted while soaking up the sunshine. After a few hours we decided it was probably time to dock the boat and head home for the day looking forward to the next opportunity we'll have to spend some time on the water.  

Spring Saturday

On Saturday Marc and I decided to take advantage of the spring weather and visit the Norwich Farmer's market. By walking the 1.2 miles to the market we were able to not only enjoy the sunshine but we were also able to take in some of the spring blossoms along the way.

Being the first market of the season Marc and I had originally planned to arrive on the earlier side. But by the time we were out the door and made the 20 minute walk down to the market it was already noon. The market was still bustling but you could tell that some of the stalls had already done most of their sales for the day. For example, one farmer only had one bag of spinach left to sell. That was it. 

Norwich Farmers Market - Saturdays 9am-1pm

Marc and I ended up making two purchases at the market. Our first purchase was some sweet Italian sausages from Hogwash Farm. We haven't tried them yet but we are hopeful that they might be our local replacement for the sausages from our beloved Tip Top Meats back in San Diego.

We were also really hoping Sugarbush farm would be at the market as we had just run out of the cheddar we bought when we visited the farm. Sadly they were not in attendance but that allowed us to discover Ascutney Mountain cheese from Cobb Hill Cheese. This cheese has a sweet nutty flavor, similar to a Comte, and is absolutely delicious! 

The cheese was also the perfect afternoon snack while we were waiting for our ribs to cook. And that's basically how we spent the rest of our Saturday afternoon, enjoying the sunshine and watching/smelling the ribs cook. We listened to the Pandora Cinco de Mayo station for a little bit but all in all it was just nice to relax at home for the day. 

Marc's dry rub ribs - take one

Chain Saw 101

Yesterday Marc and I headed over to Casey's house for a little chain saw 101. Over the weekend, while I was in Connecticut for a bridal shower, Casey spent some time getting Marc acquainted with the chain saw and teaching him the basics of cutting down trees. From what I can tell, Marc thoroughly enjoyed himself and couldn't wait to show me what he learned. Good thing he has the enthusiasm because with 40+ acres of home in our future I'm sure we'll be using this tool quite a bit!

The man in action!

Thankfully chain saw lessons also included borrowed safety gear. In the above photo you can see Marc sporting some fancy Kevlar chainsaw chaps and a woodsman helmet with face screen and hearing protection. Guess we'll have to add those to our growing home depot shopping list! He's also wearing steel toed work boots which he purchased over the weekend before his first chainsaw lesson.