Boston teaparty

My hubby and I just returned from a delightful trip to Boston, MA! It was kind of a dual purpose trip...Jason was attending a medical conference there, but my sister and her husband live there as well! Our hotel turned out to be only about a mile from their apartment, and so I was able to simply walk down there everyday and visit my little niece, Addie.

There is so much sightseeing to do in this great city! The first day there, we took a walk along the Charles River and watched crew races...what lovely scenery! We also took Addie one day to the Boston Public Garden which happens to be the oldest park in America...thank you to the Founding Fathers for their insight in preserving land where people can watch ducks and hang out!

Another day, I went by myself to the Museum of Fine Arts and spent several hours there. Even after these couple hours, I feel as if I barely scratched the surface! There is a massive Ancient World section with art, sculpture and artifacts from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. I particularly enjoyed the Egyptian exhibits as I've always been interested in Egyptology! I also spent quite a bit of time in the European section where they have several paintings from Monet and Van Gogh. Monet's garden scenes of waterlilies and poplar trees are so serene and calming...they just remind me of perfect, happy summer days. I skimmed through the American Arts section as my feet were starting to ache by this point, as you can imagine!

Jason was able to take a morning off from his conference for us to walk the Freedom Trail. I loved this part of our trip the most, because we were able to see so much of Boston. The Trail takes you from the starting point of one of the oldest cemeteries in America where notables such as John Hancock and Samuel Adams are buried, past the Old North Church where Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride warning that the British were coming and ending in CharlesTown with the monument remembering the battle of Bunker hill.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. I love that Boston has such an incredible history...where the fight for our independence began! Oh, and I can't fail to mention the wonderful New England seafood it has as well ;).

Sweet Adeline

My adorable baby niece, Addie, was born on March 18 in Boston! She's healthy and just the cutest thing since sliced apple pie hehe! I'm an extremely proud aunt and live to see pictures and videos of her :). Sometimes I sit around and think of ways in which to spoil her...I have spoiled her a little bit already by sending some clothes and books her way!

In any case, I can't wait to meet her at her baptism which is coming up in either June or July and kissing and holding that sweet baby for the first time!

Addie, your Auntie Rebecca is so excited to get to know you and be there for you for all the important events of your life...baptism, graduations, seeing your Daddy walk you down the aisle etc...I love you, little girl and thank God for you :).

Book Review blog

I've been terrible about updating this blog...and it's mainly due to the fact that I've been developing a new blog. A book review blog! The URL is www.readingwithrebecca.blogspot.com ...check it out. I hope it will continue to develop into something cool and fun! I will be very consistent about posting there and also with this blog as well. Have a great rest of the week!

Thanksgiving Fun!

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my hubby and I made the perilous 13 hour (give or take an hour) journey to Ohio! It was so wonderful to see my parents and to finally get to see my sister's baby bump! :) She's a cute pregnant girl haha. When I felt the little one give a gentle kick, I knew I was experiencing a miracle. And who said miracles don't happen everyday?! I tried very unsuccessfully to find out what the options are for the baby girl's name. Sarah wouldn't even give me a hint! I will have to console myself in the meantime with checking her baby registries every now and then to see if their are any updates ;).

Over the laid back couple of days, my hubby and I went to see two movies (Unstoppable and The Next Three Days...at least I think that's what the second one was called! It wasn't exactly my type of movie!). We also brought along some of our favorite genuine Oklahoma wine. We discovered this delicious wine (a semi-sweet red called 'Maria' and a sweet white simply named 'V') at a vineyard outside of our city after going there the past two Valentine's day for their special romantic V-day wine and dinner event! After going out to dinner at one of my hometown's fanciest restaurants, we all went home to imbibe and play Trivial Pursuit. Alas, the wine did not help Jason and I to victory in either game that we played! But it was still so fun and made me cherish my family even more...which I didn't think was even possible.

For the actual Thanksgiving celebration, we drove up to Ashland, OH which is actually several hours from my hometown to spend the day with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. My mom's youngest brother's family live in the cutest house...it is small, but still seems spacious somehow and very cozy! My cousins love the Lord of the Rings fantasy series, and their small town home of Ashland reminds me very much of The Shire :). We had fun catching up with all of them.

A great holiday/mini vacation...and I thank the Lord for all of the blessings He has given to me in my life in the form of my family and my husband. I am so grateful.

Tuscon

Recently the hubby and I took a trip to the beautiful city of Tuscon, Arizona! We were there for one of Jason's medical conferences and we stayed at an amazing resort and spa in the middle of the desert! While Jason attended his conference, he encouraged me to treat myself at the hotel spa. Very relaxing, ahh :).

Fortunately, while we were there, we were able to do some sightseeing as well. We drove a couple of hours outside of the city to Tombstone, AZ where some famous gunslingers (Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp) had some of their last "stands." Jason and I both love history, so this was a fun side trip. Many of the buildings there are historic, and you can almost just imagine people from the past strolling through the streets still of this little Wild West town.

I have been to the Grand Canyon before, but this was my first time seeing other parts of Arizona. I didn't realize how beautiful it was!! One evening, we went hiking on the trails around our resort, and it was breathtaking to see the sun setting over hills covered with cactus.

On another day, we visited the San Xavier Mission. It is a Catholic church that was built by Spanish missionaries and restored later by the Franciscans. It is known as the "White Dove of the Desert" and it is easy to see why. It stands alone on a stretch of desert surrounded by the Santa Catalina mountains, gleaming like a white flower.

What an amazing trip! A glorious experience of the Southwest.

Thanks wonderful hubby for lettin' me tag along ;)

Through the Rocky Mountains

Recently we went to the "colorful" (as they call themselves) state of Colorado for one of my husband's medical conferences. It was colorful and beautiful!! We decided to make our sojourn into a roadtrip so we had a lonnnng haul across Kansas. I never thought Kansas was going to end!! I loved it though...roadtrips are so fun! Kansas was field after field of wheat and huge windmills...truly the land of "amber waves of grain." I drove across the state line into Colorado as my hubby napped and I felt truly awed and blessed to be getting to see more of this beautiful country. At one point, we passed a field where cattle was grazing on a hillside by a sparkling pond. The scene took my breath away with its peacefulness and simplicity.

I kept waiting for the Rockies to appear, and finally, as we drove into Denver, they finally arose out of nowhere. They were so majestic and green. Breathing in the fresh mountain air was wonderful! We had the opportunity to visit a ski town called Breckenridge while we were there, which is about an hour and a half away from Denver. We took the most scenic drive through the mountains to get there. Not any ski activity going on yet, but we strolled through the center of town, which is literally the cutest, most quaint small town I have ever seen. Little art glass shops mixed with western shops mixed with cheese, chocolate and wine shops dotted the whole area. All of this nestled in the Rocky Mountains. An absolutely wonderful and glorious day!

I love Colorado!!

1st anniversary bliss :)

This past weekend, my wonderful hubby Jason and I celebrated our very first wedding anniversary!! I can't BELIEVE it's already been an entire year...time flies when you are living the life of your dreams!! :) And Jason has made my dreams come true...he makes me feel like a princess. Every day I count my blessings that God led me to the most incredible man in the entire world.

He told me that he can't wait to celebrate the next fifty anniversaries...so sweet, I love you baby :).

What did we do to celebrate our special day? Well, right now we are trying to start building a nest egg and save some money for rainy days and so we did it up low cost! In the afternoon, we went antiquing and had sooo much fun! I absolutely love anything that's vintage or "old" and so it was wonderful to see and pore over all of the unique items in the stores. We saw old birdcages, hats, furniture, dolls, coins, dishes...you name it! I love thinking about the people who used to own these things...what their lives were like and how the item was maybe important to them. Now, a piece of their lives is sitting in a store waiting for someone else to admire and perhaps even buy it...it makes you nostaglic for the past and for the people and things that you have loved and lost.

Anyways, later in the day we packed up a delicious picnic of cheese, crackers, fresh peaches, and sandwiches and headed to a beautiful park in our area. It was so refreshing to feel the cool evening breeze and relax amidst trees and families enjoying their free time. We didn't stay too long as bugs began eating us up, but it was long enough for us to have had a wonderful time!! When we got home, we shared a bottle of wine and pieces of cake...no, not our original cake unfortunately (which was delicious!!) but my amazing mother thought to save some of the intricate sugar flowers from off our wedding cake. They were so sentimental to me that I decided to save the ones that I had placed on my piece of cake, but Jason asked if they were edible! I thought he was kidding, but I had replied that yes, I was pretty sure they were made out of sugar. Next thing I know, I hear a loud crunching sound haha!! Definitely illustrates how men aren't always too sentimental about things lol :).

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Jason sent me a beautiful huge bouquet of pink roses...my favorite flower. Breathtaking. Fragrant. Gorgeous. They are the most beautiful flowers I have ever received. He did a good job!! The roses opened beautifully and have been filling our house with their sweet, delicate fragrance. I told Jason the other night that I think God created roses especially for women, because he knew how much we would love them and how much enjoyment we would get out of them. His reply? That God created flowers so men could have a way to get out of trouble when they are in the doghouse hahaha! My hubby makes me laugh all the time, he has such a great sense of humor.

Anyways, I do love roses though...the symbolism of beautiful, fragile petals combined with the sharp thorns always reminds me of what life is like. There are happy, peaceful moments interspersed with pain and sorrow. But in the end, you still have something that is beautiful and meaningful.

Happy anniversary baby...thank you for an amazing first year and for making me the happiest woman in the world...I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you...

love,
your wife