Hunt's CatchUp

6 awesome years

2010-06-10T11:26:00.000-04:00

Six years ago, at the ripe old age of 21, I walked down the aisle and said 'I do' to my best friend.

We were very young, yes - but very blessed.

On that day, quite a few things went wrong: the flower fiasco, missing tablecloths at the reception, family members running late, crazy mosquitoes and heat at the chapel and the photographer disappearing....but one beautiful thing - the most important thing- went right: we were married!

Our life together is amazing and beautiful; even with the barking dogs and meowing cat and laundry and research and all the other trivial things that steal our time away. Through it all, I couldn't ask for a better partner in crime.

I love you, chief.

Starting the day off right with heart-shaped spelt pancakes and a shot of maple syrup...yum!

Is it too cheesy to say these were more delicious because of who I shared them with? :)

pardon me

2010-06-10T00:24:00.000-04:00

excuse the mess while I change up the blog design...could get messy over the next few days...yikes!

sunday funday

2010-06-02T22:09:00.032-04:00

Sunday was our last day in Philly so we decided to spend the morning and early afternoon randomly walking around.

We stopped for brunch at Cuba Libre - let me just stop here and say that I had some of the best food of my life during this trip. This place was just plain fantastic. Look at how cute it was inside!

We ordered a sampler of tropical juices (yum!)
and they brought out this wonderful bread (double yum!).

I had a brioche stuffed french toast crusted with hazelnuts -- wow.
The only bad part was that it was too big to finish; it was so sad to have to leave any of it on my plate :(

We followed up with what was quite possibly the best coffee I have ever had: cuban coffee with steamed coconut milk (!)

Afterwards we roly-polied our way around for awhile, taking in the sights and sounds of downtown Philly
(I felt like a giant slug after eating so much rich food -
but definitely worth it, haha)

We eventually made our way down to Rodin's sculpture, The Thinker.

(yeah, I know, I have a boring pose)

It was a fantastic weekend and I look forward to going back to Philadelphia for more exploring - it's a fascinating city with a lot of history and, in case you haven't noticed from my obsessive focus on our meals,
amazing food.
It was nice to get back home to our dogs (only one thing destroyed,
whoo hoo!) but the travel bug has bitten us full force - yikes!
Guess we'll have to buy some lottery tickets, haha...

Birthday Shenanigans!

2010-06-02T11:41:00.021-04:00

Our amazing dinner Friday night sent us into a coma-like sleep
and we woke up on Saturday pretty well refreshed.

We headed back to the downtown area to La Colombe Torrefaction,
an awesome coffee shop - no menu, no crap littering the counter screaming "Buy me!" - just delicious coffee. Their cafe au lait was excellent (and cheap!). We took our coffee over to the square and bought some fresh pastries from one of the mini farmers market vendors. Yum! (sorry no pics of the pastries - they didn't last long :) We strolled around downtown for awhile then headed out to the U.S vs Turkey soccer game via the SEPTA (Philly's subway)....scccaaarrry! nah, not really but it was dark and dingy and seemed a prime setting for Law and Order SVU

The US took their time getting into the game but overall it was a good match-up.

You might be noticing the guy that's almost doing a split but check out the yellow shoes on that other dude - awesome!

Kind of funny that scarves made such an appearance given it was in the upper 80s but hey, I don't question Jamal's fanhood :)

This guy was all over the place

Excuse our bedraggled look - we survived the subway and massive crowds pressing to get into the stadium and then baked in the stands - but worth it!
We made it back to the hotel and cleaned up before heading out to my birthday dinner at Farmicia, a fantastic restaurant that focuses most of its menu on local and sustainable foods.

These were ferns.....they were so tasty!

Strawberry Rhubarb crisp for dessert - yum!

Andrew did a great job organizing the evening - I've got a keeper :)

All in all, a great birthday!!

Get outta town!

2010-06-02T11:01:00.025-04:00

We did it - we finally made it out of State College (alive, I might add). Despite research and responsibility reaching out their long poisonous tentacles to hold us back, we escaped and made it on the road to Philadelphia last Friday at the early hour of .... noon
(hey, only 3 hours behind schedule).

We listened to a Sue Grafton book on the way - abridged though because the fabulous Judy Kaye narrates all of the abridged versions, and Andrew and I really just listen to these books so we can hear her voice - she's A.MAZ.ING.

We were soooo close to our hotel, obediently following the commands of our GPS when we ended up trapped on a straight path into New Jersey over the Benjamin Franklin bridge. There was much screaming in the car (and maybe some profanity) as we were forced to enter New Jersey and then turn around and pay the $4 toll to get back into PA....absolutely ridiculous. But we managed to escape without ticks, haha; although, there was a lovely arrest in progress by the tollbooths.

We finally made it to the hotel and
(after checking out the cheesy brochures in the lobby)decided to head to a nice area of downtown Philly called Rittenhouse Square. We lucked out with a free parking spot right off the square and decided to try a charming open-air French restaurant, Parc. It was one of the most incredible dining experiences I've ever had -
no exaggeration.

The atmosphere was perfect: just the right lighting, music, ambience.
Our waiter was incredibly friendly and helpful; everytime we ordered something, we'd ask him how to pronounce it and he was sooo nice about teaching us
(no snobbiness!)- although, he didn't seem to have any knack for photography
(see blurry pic of us at the end)

I had a spinach ravioli with a lemon-based sauce - yum!
and Andrew had trout amandine - also yum! -
and we enjoyed a bottle of simple ugni blanc wine.

Dessert was even better: strawberry glace profiteroles for me
(it came with its own little carafe of chocolate sauce!!) and pot de creme for Andrew- kind of like a chocolate mousse with a mint chocolate wafer and whipped cream. Ohh, and a deeeeelicious cafe au lait. We were in foodie heaven :)

It was so great to have a competely relaxed meal - no worries about getting home to let the dogs out/feed them/tend to their every need; no worrying about heading back to the lab to take readings; no worrying about laundry or dishes or vacuuming. It was fantastic. I think we spent over two hours at that meal.

Andrew and I just....talked, and it was so great to just feel like ourselves again. Those moments have been kind of few and far between lately with research pretty much consuming most of our time and the pets, the house and working out eating up the rest. It was honestly just one of those great moments in life -
funny how something as simple as a meal together can make you feel so close
and like all is right with the world :)

Stay tuned for the rest of the birthday weekend in Philly!

Couldn't the weekend last a little longer?

2010-05-17T23:37:00.017-04:00

I know, I know....I've been away for awhile - but now, classes are done and I'm finding time to actually include enjoyable things in my life again (take that, school!)
This past weekend was A-MAZ-ING.Yep, that good. On Saturday, Andrew and I embarked on a bike ride to the next town over and enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch.
I've never been much of a biker but I'm really starting to enjoy it. The ride was about 10 miles and felt good (except for those 2 hellish hills that were agonizingly long). Picnic time in the middle was perfect: blue skies and sunshine - I can't ask for more!After we lazed around in the sun (that's right, the sun actually came out in Pennsylvania!!), we explored the town a little bit. Then we began our journey back home (and those stupid hills were still there-bleh).
For dinner, we made up some "burgers" - black beans, peppers and a little corn meal & flour. We topped them off with a roasted red pepper spread I made and they were soooo delicious. We roasted some parsnip "fries" in the oven, and all in all, Andrew and I agreed it was one of the best meals we've ever had - yes, it was that yummy.Andrew did his manly job of building a fire outside and we enjoyed a glass of wine before calling an end to a much needed happy day.On Sunday afternoon, we were finally able to get our garden planted. Pennsylvania weather is so crazy - you never know when the last frost date will be. Pictures coming soon of the garden, promise!
This weekend was such a nice break from the pattern of rain and WORK WORK WORK we've had. Of course the work is still around, but a sunny weekend was just what the doctor ordered.Hope everyone else had a great weekend and started off the week happy :)

2010-03-02T23:16:00.010-05:00

Well helloooooo there! Long time, no write. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've written on here - well, never fear; I'm back in action
and I'm just going to jump right in.

Last week I decided I was going to change the way I eat. I decided that I want to eat to feel GOOD - and I don't mean, oh man that sugar rush was so good.....and then crasssshhhh; I mean food that makes me feel good, not guilty; food that is fuel; food that is all those words that sound great but never quite register: wholesome, nutritious, powerful.
Andrew being the ever supportive husband he is has decided to go along with me.

My first adventure: the green monster.I stumbled across this on another blog (ohsheglows.com) and decided,
hey I want to try that!
Basically, it's a smoothie made of milk, bananas, flax seed, and SPINACH (that's right...spinach!) There are many variations but this is what I decided to start with.

Andrew got in on the action

After pouring our concoction into our fancy little glasses, Andrew bravely took the first sip (or chug, actually). He deemed it tasty so I cautiously tried mine.......mmmm. MMMMM. It was really good! I was expecting all-out spinach but it just tasted like a smoothie. It was great!
I've had one just about every day since then, usually in the morning for breakfast; it's great to start off the day feeling good about what I'm putting in my body.
Spinach is a vegetable that does a lot of great things for us but I don't generally eat it unless it's in a salad. This is a wonderful (and delicious!) way to get all of its benefits. You can add in other ingredients - Andrew tried strawberries and enjoyed it; he's also tried kale instead of spinach but I'm not quite ready for that.
Alright, I know this was kind of a short post for my first time back but I'll leave you with promises of future posts, including a wrap-up of the past year, the winter wonderland of PA and my new favorite foods to make.
Hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

And the winner is...

2009-03-30T09:51:00.005-04:00

This past Friday and Saturday, I participated in the 12th annual Environmental Chemistry Student Symposium at Penn State. It basically consists of poster presentations and oral presentations. I submitted a poster about my research, and lo and behold, I won first place in my division! It was so exciting! Actually, the really exciting part was that I won $150, and as any grad student can attest, that's a lot of money in our world. Here's an image of my poster so you can get a little idea of just what it is I'm researching:

California Dreamin' - Joshua Tree

2009-03-28T09:30:00.032-04:00

On Wednesday of our CA trip, we went to Joshua Tree National Park - it was awesome!

It was such a different experience being in a desert landscape

At Wonderland Ranch

a dash of color in the desert

out in the middle of nowhere we found this old car

there's probably a pretty interesting story as to how it ended up there

this might have had something to do with it

or this :)

an ocatillo patch - they look so soft and fuzzy from a distance

but up close, they look pretty painful

an oasis that turned out to have the tiniest little trickle of water

an old mine site that we hiked to

Sydney and I joked that Andrew looked like a German tourist

I kept calling him Hans and Frans

microscale view of desert life

California Dreamin' - Joshua Tree cont'd.

2009-03-28T09:24:00.016-04:00

As the day wound down, we drove to Keys View, elevation 5185 feet.
there were some magnificent views

it was so cold up there!

After watching the beautiful sunset, we headed back to LA. One day at Joshua Tree was definitely not enough - we have to go back! (I sound like John Locke now--sorry, it's a Lost reference:)

California Dreamin' - Part Three

2009-03-17T23:26:00.019-04:00

Day 4 - Tuesday

Before Sydney went to work, the three of us ate breakfast at a little French cafe (does an eclair really count as breakfast? it just seems too delicious). Then she dropped us off in Santa Monica. We strolled around, looking at the beautiful houses, and then walked up the beach to the pier. On the pier, there was a small amusement park, restaurants, fishermen, and random musicians playing music. It made for a really nice atmosphere. We had lunch at a British pub and both ate fish croquets - as far as we could tell, these are just crabcakes with fish instead of crab. They were...interesting.

After lunch, we spent the afternoon walking around Santa Monica. It's a very pretty place, and all in all, it was a nice relaxing day. We met Sydney for dinner at a place called the Counter where you build your own burger (like a sophisticated Fudd-ruckers). It was delicious! Then we finally made it to the grocery store (I missed you, Trader Joe's!) and I couldn't believe how cheap fruit was. We got a bag of clementines for $2 - it would have been $8 here!
Then we headed home and got ready for our next day.

Here are some shots taken as we walked around:

the Santa Monica pier

one of many beautiful houses

it had Tiffany lamps on the porch!

why don't they build houses like this anymore?

a nautical twist

Paradise Park

I don't know what kind of trees they are but I really liked them :)

California Dreamin' - Part Two

2009-03-15T22:56:00.014-04:00

Day 3 - Monday
Sydney had to work, so Andrew and I explored around a little on our own. We walked to this really cool place called Amoeba Music that had tons of records. We got a Cannonball Adderly record for $5! Then we ate lunch and headed back to Sydney's apartment where we met up with Andy. He took us over to Runyon Canyon Park where we hiked up to see the Hollywood Sign.

It was a pretty nice place - there were tons of dogs off leash which was kind of unexpected. Some weren't very nice to Frodo - some were :)

We were able to get a good view of the city AND some huge houses in the hills. (the arrow points to Sydney's apartment building).

After Sydney got off work, she picked us up and we initially headed out with the intention of getting some groceries. We decided to grab some dinner first and settled on Bob's Big Boy in Burbank.

When Andrew graduated high school, he came out to CA to visit a friend who lived in Burbank and they had eaten at Bob's Big Boy. As we're driving, he tells me and Sydney about it, mentioning that Drew Carey supposedly frequents it.

When we arrive, they seat us in the back, which is relatively empty except for this guy who's kind of overweight and wearing thick black glasses. Andrew jokingly says, "Look, it's Drew Carey," and we all laugh.

THEN, a group of people kind of dressed up head over to this guy's table and say, "Hey, Drew!" I immediately slide to the other side of the booth so I can get a better look, and lo and behold, it really is Drew Cary. Well, then we really had a good laugh at the irony of the situation. Sadly, I did not have my camera to snap a picture of the iconic Big Boy sign to commemorate our memorable dinner :(

But we'll always remember our (very ironic) "celebrity sighting."

California Dreamin' - Part One

2009-03-15T21:57:00.013-04:00

First of all, sorry for the incredibly long gap in posts. Graduate school has been keeping me far busier than I'd like :)

Last week was spring break, and for the first time ever, Andrew and I actually took a trip somewhere. For Christmas, Andrew's parents gave us plane tickets to visit Andrew's sister Sydney in Los Angeles. So, we decided to use them for spring break. Tales of our trip will be divided into multiple posts because I don't have time to do it all in one!

Day 1

When we arrived on Saturday, we were pretty tired so we just grabbed dinner at In-n-Out and headed to Sydney's apartment. After eating, we accompanied Sydney while she walked her 2 dogs, Frodo (a big black dog) and Coco (a chihuahua). Well, about 3/4 of the way through our walk, a skateboarder came up behind us AND some dogs in a window next to us started barking. This scared both of the dogs and sent them running- Frodo right out of his collar and down the sidewalk and Coco right into traffic - LA traffic. I chased Frodo down while Sydney and Andrew ran after Coco and all I could hear was yelping. I thought for sure poor Coco was a goner. Amazingly, she was perfectly fine. Her leg had gotten stuck in the sweater she had on, causing her to fall just short of where tires would have run her over. It was pretty much miraculous. She had trouble keeping her eyes open though, so we went with Sydney to an emergency animal center to have her checked out. THREE HOURS later, we left (Coco was fine - just needed some drops in her eyes). Needless to say, Andrew and I were exhausted. And I won't even get started on the crazy lady/alien that came into the vet center while we were waiting....ok, maybe I will. This woman (at least I think she was a woman - the only clear shot I got of her face put her more in line with ET) comes in all hysterical holding her dog (I think it was a Westie). She's freaking out and the vet tech can barely understand her. She just keeps saying that the dog's hair is all matted down and his skin is pink. Umm, yeah? The vet tech keeps asking her questions, trying to figure out what the heck is really going on and the woman/alien starts whispering. From what Andrew and I could pick up on, we're pretty sure she said that the dog took crack. As in cocaine. The dog actually seemed fine to me, a little frenetic, but otherwise fine. His owner was just nuts though. The vet tech checks the dog out to make sure its stable then has this woman/alien fill out some paperwork. She took the entire time we were waiting on Sydney to fill out that paperwork. She disappeared into the bathroom for about an hour and I'm pretty sure she was using the sink to bathe herself. The whole episode was surreal/hysterical/really sad.

On to Day 2: Sunday

Andrew and I woke up fairly late given our late night at the vet center, and our bodies were totally mixed up on what time it was. By the time we were up and had taken showers, we could hear the church bells ringing -oops.

Sydney took us to a little sidewalk cafe for brunch and then we walked down Hollywood Blvd. to the shoestore that Sydney used to work at and her friend Andy works at now. I decided I needed a good pair of shoes to walk around in so I got a pair of shoes (p.s. Andy, you need to work on your salesmanship !)

Then, courtesy of Andrew's parents, we went to Disneyland. Sydney's friend Chris came along with us. One thing you should know: I love Disneyworld and by default Disneyland - so does Andrew - so does Sydney. And, surprisingly Chris turned out to be a Disney aficionado as well, so it was a great time.

We ate dinner at a restaurant called The Blue Bayou which is actually inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was awesome.

Then we figured out that in the top of the restaurant resides Club 33 - an elite secret Disney club.

We thought we were so cool to have figured out where it was until we saw this:

guess it's not as secret as we thought.

All in all, it was a fun day.

to be continued...

Just Married!

2008-11-15T22:10:00.026-05:00

Last Saturday, we were in Wilmington for the wedding of Andrew's sister/my sister-in-law Nicole and her fiance (now husband!) Robbie. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, and Nicole was completely radiant. It was wonderful to see everyone, and we had a great time. We were sad our visit was so short but luckily we'll be back down for the week of Thanksgiving :)

Sorry this post is pretty long - there's a bunch of pictures.

Nicole's hair being "dressed" by Sarah

The beautiful result

Sarah works her magic on Sydney

Nicole getting ready

Such a beautiful bride

The whirlwind after the "I do's"

A nice-looking group of people - wonder who they are :)

The gorgeous cake Michel made

It tasted great, too!

Dragonflies just for Nicole

Cutting the cake

The father-daughter dance to "Sweet Child O' Mine"

All dressed up

Good ol' Kevin - always debonair

With the soon-be-famous Sydney

First dance as Mr. and Mrs.

Congratulations to the bride and groom, and welcome to the family Robbie! We love you!

Halloween

2008-11-01T15:10:00.013-04:00

This year, Andrew and I had a Halloween party to go to, so we decided to actually put some effort into our costumes. What could we be as a couple?

Well,

2 pieces of colored foam

1 giant roll of foam

1 huge pile of red felt (turned into a poncho)

some hot glue and burned fingers later....

Voila! a giant can of Raid and a ladybug:

(we even won a prize!)

Andrew passed!

2008-11-01T15:03:00.005-04:00

So, this posting is a little late but last Friday (Oct. 24), Andrew passed his Master's thesis defense at NC State. He gave his exit seminar and then defended before his committee. He did a great job and we're all very proud of him!

Of course, I forgot my camera - thus, the picture of a "fence" - the closest thing I had to "defense."

It was wonderful to be in NC again and feel warm weather - although a tad cruel since it was freezing when we came back!

Blue light special: Two Seasons for the price of One!

2008-11-01T14:43:00.011-04:00

Fall has been beautiful here.

The leaves have been a mix of gold, crimson, & auburn - very New England-y.
So, we've been enjoying the gorgeous scenery here.... but it comes with a cost - cooold. We had kind of adjusted to it, then BAM - it snowed this week!

GO WOLFPACK!!!!!!!

2008-09-20T15:27:00.008-04:00

Today 3-0 Penn State played Temple at noon and 1-2 NC State played ECU at noon. Both games were televised up here. Which game did we watch? NC State, baby! We got to see a NC State quarterback actually throw TOUCHDOWNS (imagine that), NC State defense make a goal-line stand against ECU and succeed AND force a fumble in overtime, then top it all off with a hard-fought touchdown to win the game. It was an awesome game, way more exciting than watching Penn State steamroll their fourth team in a row. We wish we could have been there with our fellow Wolf-packers but it was enough to see NC State actually PLAY an entire football game. I'm so proud of our team!

A penny earned...

2008-09-07T18:44:00.006-04:00

Today, Andrew and I have embarked on a makeover of our finances. We have never been very good with money and are not financially fit. So, we are starting our money makeover. We have a book that we've been reading (by Dave Ramsey if anyone's interested) and it gave us the kick in the seat that we needed to make a change. So, we sat down, drew up a budget, and made a plan. Then we cut up every single one of our credit cards. It felt so great! I did not realize just how much I despise Capital One until I took the scissors to that evil little card. THEN (drumroll please) we paid off one of our credit cards and now that debt is gone completely. Of course, there's other debt ready to step up to bat and it will be a long process to paying it off, but we're committed to getting debt free. Since we truly are poor graduate students, that is the lifestyle we will have. So, please, if anyone has any tips or advice on how to save dollars here and there, we welcome the comments! Also, encouragement will be greatly appreciated. It's never easy to admit that you've made mistakes, especially when it comes to money but enough is enough. Hopefully, one day, we will be a success story about getting out of debt.

Mount Nittany

2008-08-21T17:40:00.014-04:00

Last Saturday we decided to hike Mount Nittany. It was a beautiful, clear day and was actually fairly warm out. When we arrived at the beginning of the trail, there were no maps left to take, so we tried to memorize the one posted as best we could.

There are two trails that go up the mountain and then kind of loop around at the top, sometimes running together, sometimes diverging. The bulk of the hike was on top of the mountain as the trail went to various scenic viewpoints of the surrounding valleys. Since the trees all still have their leaves, the views were a little obscured and the sky was a little hazy but it was still very pretty. It should be gorgeous in the fall when the leaves put on their autumn color.

Our hike ended up being - really just seeming- a tad longer than we thought it would because we weren't entirely sure where the trail was going when we got to the top. The hike itself was very nice - there weren't very many people out so it was quiet and peaceful. It was a somewhat different experience walking among so many hardwood trees after being in North Carolina where it seems like every 2 feet there's a pine tree.

While we were hiking, Andrew got hungry and decided to eat a protein bar he had brought with him:

His professional opinion:

Luckily for Andrew there were lots of wild blueberries along the trail, and he was able get some tasty antioxidants:

August = Autumn in PA

2008-08-14T11:44:00.006-04:00

The other day we came up with this great plan to visit one of the local lakes and go swimming and canoeing. So we packed up a lunch, put on our bathing suits (with fleece jackets on top of course) and headed to Black Moshannon Lake just a short drive away. When we arrived, the temperature was a steamy 60 degrees (approximately). So, we decided to go canoeing first, in hopes that the clouds would part and maybe, just maybe, the sun would add 20 degrees. So we rented a canoe and paddled around the lake for about an hour. It was very quiet, very peaceful, and very black. It was pretty much just us and about a billion lily pads. When we returned the canoe to the rental shop, the temperature had indeed warmed to a tropical 64 degrees. So, we headed over to the beach area and ate our lunch, with Andrew sitting with his knees up to his chin so that his fleece jacket covered all of him. We stared in amazement at the poor saps swimming in the black water in, gasp, swimsuits, NOT wetsuits. This outing, while very nice and peaceful, made us miss the heat of North Carolina. We've been told it gets hot here...yeah. Based on the fact that we wake up shivering most mornings, we just don't quite believe that. Allegedly it will be 80 degrees on Saturday - one can only hope!

Extreme Makeover Hunt Edition - Part 1

2008-08-10T22:00:00.014-04:00

We've been working on the house (it seems like constantly) but this weekend we shifted our focus from working on the house to working on the yard. So here's some before and after pics.

Before: lots of untamed ugliness along the fence

Andrew working hard

After: We planted black-eyed susans, coreopsis, asters...

lavendar, purple fountain grass...

Delphinium, hostas, pink coneflowers, and New England Asters.

The dogs were kind enough to keep us company and keep us amused:

Sherlock has deemed this paint roller his new favorite toy- he carries it everywhere.

Sawyer loves to jump up and snatch apples off of the apple tree. It's hilarious and I promise I will post video of this soon.

Greetings from Pennsylvania

2008-08-02T10:30:00.005-04:00

Sorry no pictures this post. We have been in Pennsylvania for over week and a half now. We are still trying to put stuff away and give our house some order. Hopefully next week I'll have some pictures up.
We managed to make the move up here without too much trouble. We loaded up the moving truck, and against all odds, fit everything except one item of furniture in the truck. We got a fairly late start out of Raleigh that Saturday night and pulled into our luxurious accomodations at Days Inn in Ashland, VA. A warning to all: please do not EVER go to this motel - it was a dump. When we arrived at 3 am, there were quite a few people just kind of milling around outside which didn't exactly give it that safe and secure vibe. That Sunday we rolled out of there and pulled into State College, PA in the early evening. On Monday, we closed on our house and started moving in. My mom and Andrew's dad were with us to lend their helping hands and I honestly don't know what we would have done without them.
While they were here, Andrew and I got our Pennsylvania drivers licenses - it took FOREVER! You don't have to take a test; you basically just trade your old license in. But it took a ridiculously long time. Now Andrew and I are official PA residents and registered voters. Andrew's dad flew out that Wednesday and my mom left the next morning. We were pretty sad to see our last links to home leave.
We're adjusting to life here though. So far, every single person we've come across has been really nice. And it's beautiful here. Everything is so green and lush. The grocery store here is awesome - they have everything. And we're pretty sure that we live in The Land of Ice Cream. The grocery store has this ice cream (only $2.50) that is unbelievably good. Then the school has a creamery that is absolutely delicious. And we've heard there's a place that has ice cream even better than the creamery. We're trying to pace ourselves.
The only flaw we've found is that people have lead feet here. It's ridiculous. The speed limit on our road is 25 and I know there are some people going at least 45 on it. It's a very residential area with a school and a church and kids - you'd think they would slow down. Oh well.
We miss everyone back home and we definitely miss the beach, but we're liking it here. Of course we'll like it more once we're done with all the little projects around the house.
Our project for today is to put a shed together whose instructions included a warning "Do not attempt unless you have many hours." Wish us luck!

Come Sail Away

2008-07-17T09:41:00.014-04:00

Before we move to "The North" this weekend, we're trying to get in all the beach time that we can since it will probably be a long time until we can go again. So yesterday we took my kayak and Sydney's Sunfish (small sailboat) out. I went kayaking while Andrew sailed. The ocean was really calm and it was a great day to be out on the water. We're both going to miss the beach a lot, and it's been so nice to have this mini-vacation toward the end of our stay in Oak Island.

Everybody's gone surfin...

2008-07-08T15:26:00.017-04:00

Yesterday, I finally let Andrew teach me how to surf. We've been together for almost 8 years now and I had only gone with him once or twice. It was awesome! I do have a bruise or two and I had a close encounter with a jellyfish but other than that it was a lot of fun. I actually managed to stand up which I considered a huge personal accomplishment. Andrew had to push my board into the waves but tomorrow we're going again and hopefully I'll be able to paddle and catch them on my own.

Of course, it will be awhile before I can look like this:

and I will NEVER be able to do this:
yeah...he's pretty awesome

Down on the Farm

2008-07-01T13:59:00.011-04:00

This past weekend we took a trip to visit Andrew's grandmother in the bustling metropolis of Lattimore, NC. It's a beautiful place, and the dogs LOVED it - they ran around for hours while we picked blackberries. It was nice to get away to such a relaxing place - I'm pretty sure time stands still there. I think it's pretty much Andrew's favorite place on earth and probably mine, after Disney World.

Sawyer was completely in his element, galloping over the fields.

Sherlock ran and ran and ran and finally decided to lay down right in the middle of the creek.

A little visitor while we were out picking blueberries.

The end of the day

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

2008-06-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

The vocabulary word for this summer is....transition.

As of May 29, we sold our house in Raleigh, NC, and as of June 3 we made an offer on a house in State College, PA. We close on that house on July 21. In the meantime, we are visiting Andrew's parents in Oak Island. Andrew is putting the finishing touches on his thesis while we prepare to head up to Penn State. Life is slightly hectic but we'll try to keep everyone posted as we move around and get settled.