Winter is coming

"Winter is coming", so my husband tells me. He says we must prepare for the months ahead of us because "nothing burns like the cold". For it is during the winter "when the snows fall a hundred feet deep and the ice wind comes howling out of the north" that we wish to be warm in our castle. So we prepare.

On Tuesday we received two cords of wood. The stack was taller then my car.

On Wednesday we started to stack it. 

On Thursday we continued to stack it.

And by 8pm Thursday evening we were done stacking our 2 cords of wood. For some perspective this stack is 17 feet long, 3 feet wide and about 4 1/2 feet tall. There are two rows in the back and one mini row in front.

Today we get two more cords. "Winter is coming." 

***In case you aren't a reader of Game of Thrones by George RR Martin, the quotes originate from the book series which Marc and I have slowly been making our way through. 

Our New Bridge

Last Friday Marc came home from work and exclaimed, "I have a plan!" I wasn't sure whether to be excited or scared so I timidly asked, "and what is that?" His response, "I'm going to build a bridge!" And so it was.

You see we have a creek that runs from the bottom of the pond down through the valley. The majority of our land is across that creek. Not such a problem when the creek looks like the picture below. But when water fills up that 16 foot span or when you want to take a lawn mower or tractor across the creek, it becomes a little bit impossible.

So on Friday night Marc spent his evening coming up with a plan to build a bridge. I'm not sure how he came up with the plan but what I do know is that by Saturday morning he had a sketch and he was off to home depot to buy supplies. A few hours later this is what was in our driveway. 

Probably not the safest way to transport building supplies but somehow my husband, the wood and the truck all made it home in one piece. Thankfully I wasn't at home depot for the purchasing and loading of supplies but from the stories I hear there was an endless supply of comments from other home depot patrons. 

"Oh, I've lost loads transporting them like that."

"I see you are going the daredevil route."

Stares, points and whispers

"You might want to tie it down from both sides so it doesn't slide."

The last comment I believe was actually a helpful one. Now we had wood it was time to start building. On day one Marc had attached all of the joist brackets to the end of his frame and had fully assembled the frame of the bridge. I give all the credit of this bridge to Marc but I did come out and hammer in some nails for a half hour or so just to keep him company. I was surprised how fun that was.  

By the end of day one I had a tired but excited husband. Sunday morning I knew that from the second he woke up he was itching to get outside to finish his bridge. And that's what he did. One more trip to home depot and by the end of the day we had a fully finished bridge. All the boards had been cut, screwed and nailed down to the frame and the bridge was evenly positioned where he wanted it. 

I'm so impressed by what he was able to accomplish in one weekend. Now we just need a few friends to come over so we can make sure that it will support the 446 pound lawn mower. Who's in? 

***Side Note: I wanted to label this post with lyrics from a song about a bridge. Sadly the majority of the songs I could find were pretty sad. Bridge Over Troubled Water had a great message but I didn't want to stir up talk about our marriage. Then I came across the poem The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole. If you haven't read it you should look it up. It has a great message and I feel like Marc was building this bridge for our family and friends as well as for himself. ***

Thank You Uncle Paul

A couple weeks ago Marc had to make a day long business trip to Long Island. Somehow we were able to turn that last minute day trip into the acquisition of a lawn mower.

Huh? Say what? Exactly. You see we drove from Vermont to New Haven, Connecticut where we were able to catch the train into New York City. We spent a little time doing things we can't in the upper valley ie taking public transportation, eating delicious ethnic food (Tue Thai Food, Dumplings & Things), hanging out with friends and family, dodging cab drivers, enjoying a beautiful evening in New York City just the two of us and eating some more (Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Lucali, Joe's Pizza, Penelope, Murray's Bagels).

Then on Monday Marc headed to Long Island while I shopped in New Haven (yay for Target and Ikea!). Monday evening we regrouped at Uncle Paul's house. After catching up with Marc's Grandma Peach we left with this beautiful lawn mower courtesy of Paul.

The mower spent its first week being fixed at the John Deer dealer. But by Saturday afternoon, with a lush lawn awaiting, we were ready to rock and roll. I can't even begin to express how much this changes things for us. It used to take Marc 2 hours to mow the front lawn. Then another 2 hours to mow the back lawn. That meant that two nights out of 5 during the week this boy was mowing. And I was so grateful I didn't have to do it especially in the heat of the summer. He would come home from a full day of work, spend a full evening in the yard and then be wiped out. Now it takes him 1 hour to do it all.

And the best part ... he enjoys it. It's actually fun. That's definitely the best part. So thank you Uncle Paul for your generosity. And thank you husband of mine for being such a trooper. I now get to watch this happy guy from inside the house knowing that he will be done in time for dinner. 

Curtain Call

My dear husband has been very hard at work on our house. I have to admit his hours after work are limited but he does make the most of them. So to show my appreciation this week I am going to post some of his latest adventures at our house. A few weeks ago I had him help me hang some curtains in our bedroom. Bear with me on the pictures, the colors aren't that great because it was after dark when we took on this project and I also took these pictures with my phone.

The first step was going to TJ Maxx and picking out curtains. Being the indecisive shopper that I am, I ended up coming home with 6 options. I figured whatever we didn't like we could take back and it was probably better to compare them in the light of our bedroom instead of just choosing one under the lights at the store. Immediately Marc eliminated two and we were left with these four.

The three on the right had a pretty cool circle pattern on them, the one on the far left was the only thermal curtain. After comparing the colors to our bedroom and talking about the benefits of thermal curtains (heat in, noise out) we decided to go with the ones on the far left. Although in reality the color is a little more grey then how it looks in the above picture.

The second step was having my sweet husband do the hard part of measuring and hanging the curtain rod on its brackets. He was very patient with me and listened to exactly how I wanted them to be and took the time to measure to make sure the brackets were all placed evenly. Here's a great shot of him in action.

The last step was hanging the curtains, quite possible the easiest step, which I happily stepped up to the plate to help out with.

Good Morning! 

Good Night!

 Tomorrow we'll head outside and see some of the fun stuff he's been up to out in the backyard.

Things We've Been Wanting to Share

Now that the cat's out of the bag there are a few things that I've been wanting to tell all of you about my pregnancy thus far.

• Father's Day Yes, Marc was able to celebrate Father's Day this year. We found out we were expecting at the beginning of June which left plenty of time to pick out a gift. I gave him a card and the bun in the oven gave him a ceramic bun warmer (get it?!). We also bought him a Father's Day book at Barnes and Noble

• Nausea
  We found out I was pregnant at about 6 weeks. Up until that point I hadn't had any morning sickness or nausea. I was just feeling a little tired but on the whole pretty good. A couple of weeks after we found out I started feeling unsettled but nothing too crazy, kinda like spending the day feeling car sick. I count my lucky stars that my first trimester was very mild.
  
• Brewfest
  Yes I went. No I didn't drink, I had a designated driver ticket which got me a free bottled water. Yes I posted things on facebook and our blog that said I attended and intoned that I enjoyed the brewskis, but alas I just enjoyed the excellent company.
  
• Heartbeat
  Marc and I were very lucky in that we were able to schedule our midwife appointment to coincide with my parents visit. We ended up telling them we were pregnant in the morning and heading to the midwife in the afternoon. It also meant that the four of us were able to share the excitement of hearing the baby's heartbeat for the very first time. I can't tell you how amazing that little sound was. Thankfully we have a strong little heartbeat in there. Here is a looped clip from one of our appointments.
  
  

• The Belly
  Before I was pregnant I thought I was going to be one of those moms-to-be who would take pictures of my belly every week or month. In reality, I've taken two sets of pictures. One set when we found out we were pregnant (7 weeks) and one a few weeks ago (16 weeks) when I thought I was starting to show a little bit of a belly. Perhaps I'll take them more frequently when there's more showing but for now this is all I have. 

And Then There Were Three!

We are so happy to share our latest, most exciting news . . . 

   

One Year Anniversary

One year ago today I married my best friend. What we didn't know is that it was also the start of a year full of adventures. We started on our honeymoon in Iceland which was our first international trip together without any family. It was awesome. After our honeymoon we returned home to San Diego where we made the most of the end of summer with the Del Mar Horse Races and camping in Utah, experienced the San Diego blackout, and watched the ocean glow.

We celebrated our marriage in London, Thanksgiving in Vermont, Christmas in San Antonio with our newest niece and nephew, and New Years on the beach in San Diego. Somehow, in between all that travel, we even squeezed in a half day of work approved hooky at Sea World.

The biggest change of the year came in February when we announced we were moving to Vermont. During our first few weeks in Vermont we experienced the mobile DMV, our first time downhill skiing together, hiking Gile Mountain and Quechee Gorge, and a getaway to Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Since then we have been to Pub Trivia, Burlington (twice), Lake Sunapee, and Lake Champlain; ran in the Run for the Kids; and have spent lots of time with friends and family. 

And if that wasn't enough we bought our first home together.



So how do you celebrate a one year anniversary after all that? Well, this morning Marc and I slept in. It's been an exhausting year. We then headed out to Market Table for a delicious breakfast in the sunshine. Marc had french toast with blueberries, I had a mushroom and cheddar savory tart with a side of bacon and we both shared some toast with apricot jam.

Then we visited our local nursery, Long Acres, for our anniversary presents to each other.

After roaming the aisles of trees and talking to Russ, a friendly and knowledgeable employee of the nursery, we picked out two trees to plant in our yard. It's about time we finally planted some roots, right?

We selected one Macoun Apple tree which is Marc's favorite type of apple. The apple is known as one of the tastiest eating apples but it's also difficult to grow, producing a good crop one year and barely any the next. We were also warned about various diseases and animals that might affect our tree.

Since we needed a pollinator for the Macoun and we are first time apple growers, we decided to also go with one Liberty Apple tree. The apple might not be as tasty as the Macoun but the tree should be relatively easy to take care of since it resists a lot of diseases that are common to apple trees. 

Tonight we are staying in our new home and enjoying a beautiful dinner of steaks, baked potatoes and steamed green beans. 

After writing this I have to admit I am really excited to see what adventures we have to tell you about on our next anniversary. While I don't know what that will look like I do know that with Marc by my side it is bound to be amazing.  

Weekend Wrap-up

This past weekend was so much fun. Sadly I don't have any pictures to share of what we did but I do have lots of words. On Friday Marc's cousin Heidi came down to visit us. In a show of what it's like to be a homeowner Marc decided to tackle replacing the glass in the storm door with a screen we found in the basement when we were showing Heidi around. Luckily it went relatively smoothly and now we can get some air in through the front door.

After that we decided to sit outside and enjoy some dinner from the bbq followed by s'mores off the fire pit. This also meant that we were outside and ready to welcome Michael and Kate when they arrived from New York. It was such a beautiful evening to sit outside and catch up on each other's lives and so nice to have a house full of people.

On Saturday Uncle Billy invited all of us to join him and one of Marc's other Uncles, Big D, on the boat on Lake Champlain. So after a large breakfast of blueberry pancakes and waffles we loaded into the car and headed up. As much fun as it was to cruise Lake Champlain it was a little warm on the water so we pulled into a swimming location and dove right into the water. There were some shenanigans of how to jump off the boat and also some splashing in the water, but mainly we just floated around using life vests as our kickboards. It was a great way to spend the day and allowed us all to sleep soundly that evening.

Sunday Michael and Kate graciously offered to help us with some home improvement projects. So after sleeping in and having a delicious home cooked breakfast we packed up and headed off to Home Depot. With their help we were able to get our guest bathroom prepped for painting and also painted half of the dining room walls. Pictures of the full reveal to come soon but I can't even begin to tell you how much of a difference it is to not have pink walls in the dining room.

Sunday evening Michael and Kate also treated us to dinner at the Norwich Inn and then all four of us watched a thunderstorm roll in from the picture window in our living room. After the oohs and aahs died down we ended up heading straight to bed.

It has been so much fun to spend weekends with our friends and family lately. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people near us and also so much extra help with the house. I can't wait to see who comes to visit us next!

What Didn't We Do This Past Weekend?

This past weekend Marc and I traveled south to Cape Cod for a weekend away. We have been looking forward to this mini-vacation for a while. It allowed us to escape the moving boxes and house "to do" list and just relax and enjoy the weekend with good friends.

We left Friday night after packing up the car and somehow attaching a surfboard to the roof using half a surfboard roof rack, a yoga mat, rope and some ratchet tie downs. I really wish I had taken a picture of it because although it worked, it definitely wasn't the most ideal way of tying something to your roof. Once we arrived in Sandwich we knew it was going to be a great weekend. We had a gorgeous house to stay in, great company and plans for lots of outdoor activities.

Saturday morning we headed out to the beach for some surfing. Marc was super excited to get back in the water with Bill who was his best surf buddy back in San Diego. I on the other hand was super excited to catch some of the surfing on my camera. You know the good and the bad.

Best Picture Ever. (1) Marc's position (2) The laidback surfer  (3) The seal

After surfing we headed to Cafe Chew for lunch where I had a delicious chicken salad stuffed half avocado. It was delicious and it was the perfect temperature to sit outside and enjoy our lunch. Not too hot but just sunny enough with a cool breeze blowing across your shoulders.

Bill and Jess waiting for the slow riders. 

Fueled up for the afternoon we briefly stopped back at the house to pick up the bikes and then headed out to the canal for an 8 mile bike ride. I can't think of the last time I was on a bike but it quickly became apparent that Marc and I were weekend riders while Bill and Jess were more the century ride experienced bikers. I mean a quick comparison of our calves alone said it all. The canal was absolutely gorgeous and we rewarded ourselves at the end with a stop at Joe's Lobster Mart to purchase some lobsters for dinner.

The rest of Saturday evening was spent eating, drinking, walking to the beach, more eating, more drinking and lots of relaxing. We indulged in lobsters, steak, 5 kinds of sausage, and baked potatoes. It was phenomenal. Although I do believe we were all in some sort of meat induced coma when we rolled into bed later in the evening.

Our favorite East Coast treat. 

Kinda hard to see but that's 12 sausages and 1 steak cooking. 

The beach walking distance from the house we stayed at. 

Definitely enjoying ourselves. 

Sunday morning we were able to sleep in a little. When I asked Marc if he was ready to get up his response was "Only if they don't make me exercise more". But we had already decided the day before we were going to spend the morning stand up paddle-boarding. So after a delicious breakfast of local pastries and muffins we headed out to rent our SUPs. We headed out to Town Neck where there is a canal that is perfect for stand up paddleboards. After a brief tutorial on how to use the board, we headed up the canal. I was a little wobbly when I first stood up and had a brief moment of fear that the entire hour was going to be like that, but once we got moving I found it to be a lot easier then I had expected and thoroughly enjoyed gliding through the canal. The way out we headed against the current which made for a few tricky parts where I felt like I wasn't even moving but it only made the way back easier as we glided with the current.

The canal snaked back and forth through the wetlands/march area. 

The canal has shallow edges so we had to make sure we stayed near the center of the water. 

In the top left you can just about see the beach where we started from. 

After paddleboarding it was time to pack up the car and head out of town. The traffic off the cape gets pretty terrible on weekend afternoons so we decided to hit the road around 1pm. Since we hadn't had lunch yet we decided to find a Chipotle, our favorite place to stop when we're not in Vermont, and ended up finding a shopping center. We spent the last of our crate and barrel gift cards from our wedding, bought some Icelandic yogurt from Whole Foods and found out that we had a dividend check waiting for us at REI. It was quite possibly the best way to avoid traffic through Boston on our way home.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend and we really can't wait for our next trip with Bill and Jess.