lagom

We've Moved...

2011-09-23T09:01:00.002-04:00

I moved my blog a few months back.

Here is the new location: lagom today

Quick & easy dinner

2011-06-03T15:48:00.001-04:00

Yesterday afternoon I came back from Cape Cod. We had homemade pizza dough in the freezer, cheese, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms and spinach in the fridge. I whipped up a quick dinner: green salad and pizza with sautéed mushrooms & spinach as toppings.
Delish! More so than I was expecting! I mixed cheddar cheese & mozzarella cheese which added yummy flavor. Quite the hit. Even little Sammy had a few bites and liked it!

happy mother's day... in sweden...

2011-06-02T15:00:00.004-04:00

so, on the actual US mother's day. i was sick. to my stomach. ugh.

caleb and i had plans to hang out in boston together. we had a babysitter lined up. but then i was sick. so i cancelled. quite anti-climatic and not what i was expecting for my "first" mother's day.

so we rescheduled our date in the city. we rescheduled it this past sunday. i know, everyone leaves the city for memorial day. except us. we went into the city. and it happened to be mother's day in sweden. fitting, eh?

well, i didn't end up capturing any pictures IN boston. i wanted to get sandwiches at some small sandwich shop and walk boston taking pictures but i didn't know that's what i wanted to do (more on that in a minute). we ended up having lunch at stephanie's on newbury. have you heard of the place? it's yummy. i had french toast. caleb had a cobb salad. we sat outdoors. we people watched. we talked about architecture and church. we talked a little bit about being parents. then i realized i wished we hadn't eaten at stephanie's on newbury. not for any other reason than i wanted to walk boston w/caleb, my camera and some sandwiches and snap shots of life happening on a sunday afternoon. now i know. so next time we won't eat at a fancy newbury street restaurant. we'll find a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop somewhere in back bay, north end or somewhere else. we'll bring our cameras. we'll eat our sandwiches on a bench in a park and snap pictures of life as we see it. that's our next date. hopefully before caleb leaves for india.

ok, well, i promise. that wasn't complaining about mother's day. caleb and i had a date. it was beautiful weather in a beautiful city. sam was with my friend sam having a grand old time in a grand old city. life is good.

after boston, we drove to ipswich. we used to live there. i LOVE ipswich. i miss it. i miss my crane's beach sticker. i miss russell orchards being 5 minutes from our place. i miss walking to the train to go to boston. i miss walking to the library, to the bank, to the market. i miss the neck (those of you who know ipswich, know the neck). i miss our walks along the ipswich river. i miss bradley palmer being close. heck, i sometimes even miss the long windy drive down 1A.

anyway, we went to strawberry hill in ipswich. with sam. we had fun. walking. taking pictures. carrying sam. showing sam strawberry hill:

hanging from trees

chewing grass

sitting on rocks.

note: sam representing caleb's alma mater thanks kim :)

he loved it all.

we ended the day with ice-cream at downriver in essex.

as you can see, sam loved the spoons. and maybe there was a hint of ice-cream on the spoon.
overall, a fabulous day with my fabulous husband and happy-go-lucky little boy.

i'm a mom.
more on that later...
on that note, some more pictures.

timed shot w/our camera sitting on a rock

crawling around on strawberry hill

walking back sam gets a plane ride through the grass

a walk before dinner...

2011-05-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

These smell so delicious

Yesterday was a productive day at work. I messed up on Monday and it was straightened out yesterday (I took Tuesday off from what I was working on and worked on something different). After work I asked Sam if he wanted to go outside and play. He was so easy today. He played by himself, took two 2 hour naps and was just a happy boy. When I said, "Go outside and play". He got so excited, he knew what it meant. He was laughing, talking and smiling while I was getting things ready to go outside, and by "getting things ready" I mean getting my camera, cell phone and car keys because it was GORGEOUS out!

Sam pauses to take in the moment, or check out a passing car...

We headed to the park with the swings. Sam LOVES the swings, so I sat him in the swing and he laughed the whole time. I called my friend to come join us and she came outside. We sat on the grass near the park and then decided to take a little walk... well, it turned into a longer walk than expected, not distance, but meandering.

Laughing with Sam

I took pictures of Sam, she took pictures of Sam, and me (which is nice b/c I'm usually behind the lens).

Happy Sam

Figuring out his balance

I had a brilliant idea of taking pictures of Sam near a rock wall. I leaned him against it and started clicking. I heard this odd grinding noise and wondered what it was. I realized it was Sam's teeth and instead of scooping him up, I took "just one more picture". Then I scooped him up to bring him inside for dinner. I guess I finally got the memo: first grass, then lilacs, concrete and he finally got my attention with rocks!

Sam trying to eat grass, lilacs, concrete and a rock wall

You know it's bad when your kids starts gnawing on rocks b/c they're hungry and then you decide to take "just one more picture". I promise, I do feed Sam on a regular basis. We came inside, Sam had water, a rice-cake, lasagna, and pieces of my chocolate chip cookie. Gourmet, I know.

Next time maybe it should be a walk AFTER dinner, especially if my camera ~~decides~~ is forced to join us.

PS- Recently bought a 50mm lens for my Digital SLR. Such a FUN lens! Thanks Katie for the recommendation!

Said rock wall.

absentia

2011-05-25T10:00:00.002-04:00

ooh. big word.
i've been away.
not really away.
just worky work away.
i'm looking forward to finishing my work.
it's been an unproductive week.
and therefore no blogging allowed.
except to write a quick update.
to say that i'm in absentia.
did i use that correctly?
i'll leave you with this.

Source: missfixtrix.com via Sara on Pinterest

doesn't that look cozy?
i wish i had one to snuggle up in and read books when i was little.
heck, i'd like one right now.
they're fairly common in sweden.
maybe someday i'll (or the hubster will) build bunk beds like this for alpine & future kids
happy hump day.

ps- are you as into pinterest as i am? check it out. it's kinda cool. i used to bookmark sites i like b/c of images. now i can pin all the images in one place and then go back & find them. like above. awesomeness. in a website.

dinner for 3

2011-05-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday night we had one of ~~Caleb's~~ our friends over for dinner (thanks for making the trip Matt). He was Caleb's best man in our wedding, so now he's technically our friend. (what's yours is mine, what's mine is yours, right?)
Matt is a great guy and he's always there for you to back you up or if you need help. He's been wanting to get together with us for a while, but as you may know, Caleb's been UBER busy. This week Caleb had a little downtime and Matt drove out here for a little dinner, dessert and a visit.
I made a broccoli cheddar soup (courtesy of my coworker Julie, thanks).
Here's the recipe and a few pictures.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Soup
2 or 3 carrots (depending on size)
1 large onion
2 stalks of celery
3 small potatoes
2 bunches of broccoli (4 cups chopped)
3 cups water mixed with chicken stock cubes OR 24 oz chicken stock
3 tbsp butter or olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cheesy White Sauce
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (more if you want)
2 cups milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or mix cheese if you need to)

Soup
Wash all your veggies, chop celery & onions.
Add celery & onions to 3 tbsp butter to a large soup pot (I used a dutch oven). Cook on medium heat till the onions start to turn translucent (5 min). Stir every few minutes so they don't burn.
While onions & celery are cooking, peel & chop carrots, potatoes, and broccoli
Add them to the pot
Add chicken broth with a pinch of salt & pepper
Cover with a lid & bring to a boil. Once it is a full boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook till veggies are tender (10-15 min).

Basic White Sauce
Melt butter over medium heat
To add some flavoring, add a little spice (Mrs. Dash, oregano, all spice, etc)
Add flour to melted butter and stir. Cook for 3-4 minutes to take away the flour taste, it will have more of a nutty flavor instead of raw flour flavor
Whisk in milk, as it cooks it will thicken, add more milk to make it thinner, use less milk to make it thicker
Add grated cheese (if you don't have cheddar, you can use other varieties), stir over low/med heat till well blended

Once veggies are tender, remove from heat and add 2/3 of them to a blender. Mix till smooth and creamy, not too much or it will get starchy. Add back to 1/3 in pot (using an immersion blender will make it easier)
Add in the cheese sauce, stir over medium heat until well blended
Salt & pepper to taste

Note: Sam is concerned because his mamma is taking pictures instead of feeding him...

Then dessert. Dr. Oetker's Chocolate Lava Cake, Cookies n Cream ice-cream and raspberries. It was delish

We took some great pictures of Sam w/Uncle Matt (Caleb & Matt were best friends, practically brothers, growing up, therefore Matt is Uncle Matt). They will be posted shortly :)

feeding sam

2011-05-20T09:00:00.004-04:00

Have you ever researched baby equipment? Seriously, there is A TON of stuff out there!!

Anyway, you walk into any baby store and you are inundated with "the best" baby equipment. How do you know what to purchase? How do you know if the baby gear is going to work with your life style? How do you know if your baby is going to like it?

This post is dedicated to feeding Sam... you know, what we use to feed him... aside from the boob part. I won't talk about that. That falls under TMI. Or does it?

When we found out I was pregnant, I started researching all types of baby products. One of the things I WANTED to have, HAD to HAVE was a Scandinavian style high chair. If you've read previous posts, heck if you've read the title you catch a glimpse into my life. I LOVE Sweden and I appreciate the Swedish style.

Growing up visiting Sweden I recall a few things about babies in Sweden.
1) They have hot strollers. Seriously, have you seen the Emmaljunga? Talk about stroller lust. Well, emma was a tad above our price range and I didn't find any good craigslist finds, so I chose another stroller. More on that later.

{via}

2) They have modern, awesome high chairs. Practical. Clean lines. Pretty. Ikea sells a neat one, but my high chair lust was the Tripp Trapp by Stokke.
a) It's expensive (this usually happens with things I want)
b) It's wooden (read: easy to clean)
c) It can hold a 300 lb baby (you never know, we may reproduce fat children, kidding)
I tried to sell Caleb on it because it can hold a 300 lb baby. I meant to say 300 lb person. I'll never live that down. Basically it converts into a REGULAR chair for REGULAR adults.

{via}

Anyway. I didn't want a~~n ugly~~ big plastic high chair. We don't have space for a high chair. I looked into the highchairs that attach to chairs. I didn't want that either. I didn't like it, plus I didn't want to use one of our chairs for Sam. I wanted him to have his own. I know, you can call me a baby gear snob. It's probably true. I like the Tripp Trapp because it pulls up to our table. So, Caleb agreed we could get it. Then these lovely people (Sam's grandparents) bought it for Sam for Christmas.

They are amazing. I know. Sam knows. So, we got the chair delivered, put it together and Sam loves it.

So do we. It fits our lifestyle. It fits Sam. It's pretty. It works. To each his own.

note: We ~~have~~ had a Chicco high chair on the Cape when I work there and my mom watches Sam. I liked it, but she didn't. She bought a Tripp Trapp for Sam to use when he visits. She's Swedish. She likes Swedish things. Maybe she rubbed off on me.

A few complimentary pics of Baby Sam in his high chair. (sorry, I didn't take time to edit the red eye!)

Pros

Brings your child to the table with you
Grows with your child
Easy to clean
Modern looking
Ergonomic for baby
Doesn't take up a lot of space
Doesn't sit on a chair so said chair can be used for an adult
Easy to put together
It lasts longer than a standard highchair (ie no booster seat needed)

Cons

No tray - Sam likes to brush food off the table
Straps look tricky to use
Expensive compared to a standard highchair

love story part 1 (of many)

2011-05-19T08:00:00.004-04:00

it all began on march 21 2006... well actually it didn't. maybe i should rewind even farther...

it all began may 2001. yep, that's going wayyyyy back. like mariah carey, and backstreet boys, and spice girls... well not that far back... ok back to my story.

I was going to go to UMass Amherst. I was accepted into their Isenberg School of Management (a good school). I toured UMass, felt it was a good school and I was excited about their business program. I had dreams people, dreams of touring the world, speaking many languages, becoming an ambassador, or some other important person.

For some reason I took my time sending in the deposit for school. One morning in May I woke up and told my parents, "I have to go to Gordon College." At that time I didn't know why, but I KNEW I HAD to go to Gordon. It's funny because I was so set on UMass Amherst. My parents were both shocked. My mom told me to take the morning off from school to pray about it. I told her it didn't matter, I already knew I had to go to Gordon. The deposit to hold my spot was due the next day, so my dad ~~took charge~~ did what any dad would do, called Gordon and ~~told them what was up~~ explained the situation and told them the money was in the mail.

I then went about my business finishing my senior year, you know, Prom, Senior banquet, senior week, parties, hanging out w/my boyfriend (what?), you know, all the fun stuff... I worked during the summer and at the end of the summer had our pastor and his wife over for dinner. You may or may not know them, Guy & Tana Milller. They were new. I told them I was headed to Gordon and they kept telling me I had to check out Calvary Christian Church. Tana said I HAD to meet the cute youth pastor. Youth pastor? Heck no! My boyfriend and I had recently broken up. I was a single woman, hear me roar. I don't need no stinkin' boyfriend. I told her that too... So, I forgot what Tana said, packed up my belongings and headed to Gordon for my first year in college in the town of Wenham.

Wait, you want to know about my boyfriend? Well, we parted ways before the summer ended. It was sad, heart-breaking actually, but it's ok. Everyone experiences at least one heart-break, right? Right? No? Well, consider yourself lucky.

So, I arrive at Gordon and move into Wood (Wood Is Good!!) Seriously, OLDEST dorm on campus! I settled in and started enjoying the college life: ~~class, reading, lectures,~~ Singing Beach, friends, late night dance parties.

I meet a boy who says he likes me. He's cute. We talk. He has a jeep. He's fun to hang out with...
(to be continued)

mother's day reflections

2011-05-18T08:00:00.001-04:00

i know i'm a little late on this, but humor me...
my first mother's day i spent in bed... sick. talk about a downer...
caleb & sam wished me happy mother's day, caleb made me breakfast, but i didn't really want any.
i insisted upon going to church b/c i wanted to. we had plans to enjoy a lunch date in the lovely city of boston and walk around. that didn't happen. instead we came home from church and i laid on our couch watching CSI & Little Fockers (funny movie if you haven't seen it), then, i went to bed early. NOT what i was expecting for mother's day, but caleb & i decided to have a "redo". hopefully next sunday :)
this time last year i was somewhat a mother. baby "alpine" or sam as he's now known was baking in the oven.
1) i've found energy i never knew i had to keep up w/my energetic little guy
2) loved in a capacity i didn't know i could, seriously, my heart practically hurts b/c i'm bursting with love for baby sam.
3) appreciate my own mother so much more, how did she raise 4 kids and stay sane?! she was amazing and still inspires me to this day.
4) sleeping-in has a whole new meaning: if sam sleeps past 6am OR if he wakes up, eats and then goes back to bed till 8am or 9am
5) down-time is not the weekend, but when sam's sleeping or quiet

this past saturday morning, sam woke up and i fed him. caleb and i were wide awake and sam drifted back to sleep. caleb & i proceeded to watch "saturday morning cartoons" in the form of CSI. how is it that SAM was sleeping and we couldn't sleep?!

happy mother's day.

Can I have a cookie?

2011-05-16T22:17:00.002-04:00

So before "alpine" was born I had all kinds of "ideas" on the way he should be raised...
Key word: HAD
One of those ideas was no sugar until he turns one.
Well today on my lunch break I was feeding Sam egg yolk & asparagus (I promise he likes it) and I reached for an M&M cookie. Well, as I reached for it - so did Sam!
As if to say, "mooooommmmm! Why do you get the yummy cookie and I get veggies & eggs?" then he proceeded to stare longingly at my cookie. (note: he does eat well, he pretty much gobbles up everything I give him)
So I caved and gave him the cookie and wished him "happy eight months" and told him not to expect this as regular treatment.

Baby sam, I'm glad you are alive. You brighten my life. Your eyes are full of wonder. Today as you crawled on the porch outside just staring at the rain, I caught a glimpse of the world through your eight month old lens. Thank you for your giggles, your smiles, your conversations, your sense of adventure and for teaching me to approach life from a different point of view.

YouTube Video

Sam eating the cookie on camera...
Ps- I took a huge bite BEFORE I gave it to him and much to Sam's dismay I took the cookie away from him after the video.

an adventure for sam

2011-05-14T06:54:00.002-04:00

One of sam's favorite places is the playground.
He loves:
1) the swings
2) the slide
3) the wood chips on the ground
4) the steering wheel - as pictured below :)

Sam is such an adventurer. The moment we step out of our door he perks up as if to say: "We are going somewhere. Our adventure begins. Hooray for new explorations outside our house."

Maybe it's in his blood... His mom & dad's "first date" was snowboarding. After that our "dates" consisted of hiking, rock climbing, biking, picture dates (grabbing our cameras & going to a park to take pictures), rollerblading, walks, and eating dessert at the cheesecake factory... Maybe someday I'll type our "love story". For now we'll talk about my other love - Sam.

Ready for yet another adventure... Fishing with grandpa!

weekend celebration

2011-04-11T21:30:00.000-04:00

squeezin mamma

mmm... beets are yummy & messy!

eating my toes... tasty

playing in a box w/grandma

peek-a-boo!

I have not uploaded photos from this weekend, above are a few randoms from the past month...

We drove to Connecticut to celebrate Caleb's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. What an incredible story. They married when Henry was 21 and Lucille was 18. Our son Samuel's middle name is Henry after his grandfather and great-grandfather. It was an intimate family celebration at Caleb's uncle's house, and the house deserves a blog post in itself. It was built in 1750 and holds so much history. We got a tour of the "compound". The home was once where Yale students had class when the British invaded New Haven Harbor. If only the walls could talk.
Back to the celebration - Caleb's aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings, nieces and nephew were there for the celebration. We had dinner & dessert together and just had fun hanging out. Caleb's family hasn't seen much of Sam so he was passed from aunt, to uncle, to cousin, and back. Sam was a happy and smiley baby the whole day, until the end when he passed out in Caleb's arms.
It was great to be able to celebrate 60 years as a married couple. That's a feat seldom found these days.
Maybe I can get a few pictures up later.

Sunday we visited Calvary Christian Church, Caleb's former employer. Sam was in such a good mood and enjoyed meeting Caleb's former coworkers and parishioners. Hopefully we can visit again.

Today Sam and I went for a walk with some of my friends, Heather & Robin and with Sam's friends, Owen & Judah. Sam loves his stroller and talked away as we walked around the neighborhood. At the end of the walk I let Sam play on the playground. His favorite part was the swing and sitting in the wood-chips!! He's so fast, as soon as I put him down, he puts his fist to the ground, picks up wood-chips, sticks, leaves, dirt and puts it in his mouth... it was hard to capture on camera b/c I was worried he would choke since most of those items were of choking sizes. Oh well.

Tomorrow we head out on an adventure - Western Mass to stay with my sister-in-law for the night, Malvern, PA to visit with a college friend who had a baby girl one month after Sam was born, Washington DC to visit Shannon and Behr another college friend and her baby boy, Hershey, PA to visit Sadie - we miss her, she just moved from the North Shore, Wyomissing, PA to visit family friends, and then to the Cape to work and finally back home to Hamilton. It's going to be an eventful, whirlwind trip, but I'm looking forward to vacation after a busy work season.

This evening Caleb was working, so I made some baby food for Sam, yeah, exciting I know...
I found a recipe in a magazine, tried it one time and Sam LOVES it. It's called fruit soup.

FRUIT SOUP
approximately 1 ice-cube tray
1 ripe banana
strawberries (maybe 1-2 cupes)
pineapple (1/8-1/4 of cut up pineapple)
1/2 cup water

Put all ingredients into a pot and cook on medium high for 5-6 minutes or until all fruit is soft.
Strain fruit over a bowl, keeping the juice. Pour the fruit into a blender or food processor and add some of the juice. Add as much or little juice as you want. Pour the fruit puree into an ice-cube tray and freeze. Serve 1 or 2 cubes after a meal.
*If you have left over "juice" you can mix it with rice cereal for a delish treat. Sam loved it. Sorry I don't have any pictures of the process...

and a few obligatory pics :)

hanging out on Grandpa's reindeer skin

ooooohh... the mirror is fun!

hi Sam!

kissing the mirror.

I just LOVE this little boy!!

sam and the glass

2011-04-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

so i told caleb i was against the sippy cup. no real reason, i just thought it was silly to use a sippy cup and i didn't want a bunch of plastic cups taking over our cabinets. i told him we would start sam with a regular cup. and so i gave him a coke glass, which he found amusing... and dropped on the floor. i let him explore further... which you'll see in the pictures. ridiculous i know.

these make me smile.

thanks caleb for documenting :)

love you. and sam.

giving him water in his "coke" glass

a little love for baby sam

love how his mouth looks like the Joker!

mom, oops. i dropped it. can we get it? pretty please?

sam goes after the glass...

getting closer

he got it.

dad, dad, i got the glass!

but woops, it's stuck...

who? me?

ok, i've lost interest in the glass... let's move on to the highchair!

hi dad! do you have to document EVERYTHING?

ok. well, i guess i'll look happy.

mmm... tasty high chair.

weekdays

2011-04-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

a working stay-at-home mom... is there such a thing? well, that's me.
before sam was born, i worked from a home office. last march i had the opportunity to become the controller for my company. i decided to take the position, after disclosing to my boss that i was pregnant to make sure he didn't want to change his mind. the new position required i travel to the main office on cape cod two days a week. i accepted the challenge.
caleb and i had our lives turned upside down in a matter of months...

we find out i'm pregnant
i get a new job, travel required
caleb's working 25-40 hrs per week at REI
caleb's going to school full-time for his master's degree
we find out our landlord is selling their house... we need to MOVE! (which was obvious with a baby on the way anyway)

there was so much more going on in the background... but i won't bore you with it. after sam was born, caleb and i knew i had to go back to work - which as a mom is struggle. i love baby sam and would LOVE to stay home with him ALL the time, but i love my job - which is a career. sure it can be stressful, difficult, hard, and so forth, but my job is so rewarding. how can i give up what i love doing? well, i can't, because i have a husband in school... so therefore, hi ho hi ho back to work i go.
since my position was a "work from a home office" type of position i was "lucky" enough to be able to work from my home office once sam was born.
now i travel to the main office every other week and i'm in the office for 3 days. the travel is difficult, but sam gets to spend time with his grandma (my mom watches him while i'm in the office), i get to work in the office, and i get a break from 24/7 sam. don't get me wrong, i LOVE him and am so happy i'm his mom. but moms need a break... so they don't lose their marbles...
well, the rest of the time i work from a home office. i have to say, i'm lucky to not have to put sam in daycare, i'm lucky i could exclusively nurse for the first 6 months and not really worry about pumping (nursing moms know what i mean). i have a love/hate relationship with my pump. i'm so thankful for it... but ugh. just think about it... it's like "hello, my name is sara, and i'm a cow..." not exciting. not comfortable. but for sam, i do it because sam means the world to me. i love him unconditionally, most of the time ;)
so, i work from a home office, with a 6 month old. it has been difficult, challenging, rewarding, fun. sam is such a great little person. he's so happy most of the time. so no complaints in that department.
here's a quick synopsis of sam:
7am: wakes up and talks to himself for 30 minutes (i shower, eat breakfast, get ready for the day)
7:30am: go get sam and he's so happy to see me. breakfast for sam, get him ready for the day
8am: work begins, and sam hangs out on the floor or in the exersaucer (or w/caleb ie dad if he's not in class)
9am: sam goes down for a nap, literally, i put him in his crib and he goes to sleep, i continue to work
11am: sam wakes up and eats, he plays on the floor or in the exersaucer
1pm: i break for lunch; sam & i sit at the kitchen table and talk about the day
2pm: another nap for sam, i continue to work
3-5pm: sam wakes up, eats, and plays, i work
4-6pm: i take sam for a walk (no not for 2 hours, at some point from 4-6pm depending when he wakes up)
5-6pm: finish work
7pm: dinner
8pm: sam's in bed - for the night

now i know i won't have this schedule forever, but as a working from a home office stay at home mom... it works for now. and i have to take it day by day. sure life brings you curves balls, but you bring your bat and your A game and somehow at the end of the day, you've gotten it done. i'm so thankful for life right now.

disclaimer: for all three of you who read this blog... i'm terrible at keeping a babybook, so i blog, and then i can look back and see how life was. and since before this week, i hadn't posted since december, i guess i'm terrible at blogging on a regular basis too... but i'm cutting myself some slack since there are only 24 hrs in a day... and during non work time i want to spend with caleb & sam and not sit in front of a computer...

Swimming & Peyton's First Birthday

2011-04-06T12:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday was an eventful day.
Sam and I went to morning "swim lessons" - basically mommy & me swimming. Sam LOVES it. This past Saturday Katharine came with us and took Sam in the pool and I got a photo op. Here are a few highlights with Sam sporting his suit from his grandpa & grandma Mac. Thanks Katharine for swimming w/Sam and letting me take a bunch of pics :)

in the pool with Katharine

reaching for the ducky

showing the teacher i can grab the ducky

excited to jump off the edge

Saturday afternoon Sam and I loaded up the car (well, I did, Sam watched) and drove out to the middle of Massachusetts and then some to visit my friend Megan and celebrate her daughter Peyton's first birthday party. It was such a good time and Sam LOVED hanging out with all the kids.

addi checking out sam and sam checking out the balloon above her head

birthday girl!

sam's favorite toy

patiently waiting for cupcakes

happy birthday peyty!

lovin me some cupcake!

mom & dad with the birthday girl - excuse the poor lighting...

big sister addi

dr. drew

party hats

lovin me some paper, #iowntkerrrifitspink

sun hat

ready to hula hoop :)

Sam was so good. he played with the toys, hung out with the kiddos and even got crawled over... which we caught on camera and yes i was the mean mom who let it happen so we could get the great film clip.

a day at the Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary

2011-04-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

sunday afternoon sam, heather, owen and i headed to the ipswich wildlife sanctuary.

we had a great time looking for ducks, walking through a cave, hanging from trees and enjoying the spring weather. below are a few pics from our outing.

our fave tree, sam got a chance to hang from it...

heather and owen

sam having a good time in the ergo

sitting on the boardwalk

looking forward to enjoying more warmer days outside :)

day 2

2010-12-21T21:30:00.000-05:00

follow the 20 minute rule.
i posted something similar to this a little while ago.

{image}

instead of waiting for a long weekend to get your life organized, straighten your stuff in doable time frames. take 20 minutes to sort through the pile of mail, fold the clean pile of laundry, organize your linen closet, or put away baby clothes your baby has outgrown (in my case).
i like to keep a bag in my closet and if i notice i'm not wearing something for a while, it'll go into the bag to give away. i also keep a bag in my baby son's closet and once he's outgrown an item, it goes into the bag. once the bag is full, it is put into a bin and saved for future kiddos.
we had three boxes and one american eagle bag filled with stuff in a corner of our living room. i wanted to GET rid of the clutter, so i sorted the boxes and bag, threw out a BUNCH of stuff, donated some stuff and put the consolidated items in two crates to bring down to storage. i feel like we have a clean corner. that wasn't as bad as i expected!

day 1

2010-12-20T21:30:00.000-05:00

lately i've been feeling discombobulated, unorganized and cluttered. it's probably due to moving and having a baby so close together. i have hospital bills, baby clothes, baby books, magazines, regular bills, work stuff (i work from home), wrapping paper, diapers, and other stuff in one room! it's overwhelming. i want to re-organize my life, so over the next 30 days, i'm going to post ONE tip per day to getting organized and if i did it! i'll try to include images - either google or from my apartment. these tips are taken from the November 2007 issue of Self magazine (yeah, yeah, i have OLD magazines too). here goes!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

30 days to getting organized - paraphrased from self magazine nov 2007

make your bed! it's a quick way to make your bedroom peaceful and presentable.

when you walk into a room with a bed made, it looks neat and tidy, even if there are cluttered pieces nearby.

i use a washable duvet cover and have for years. it's something i loved while vacationing and living in Sweden, so i have amassed a collection of duvet covers. it's a fun way to switch up the decor of your room without spending an arm and a leg. they also make it EASY to make your bed in the morning. no sheets to fumble with, just straighten your duvet covet, fluff the pillows and you're done. ikea and crate & barrel have some great options. ikea is obviously for the tighter wallet and c&b a little pricier. if you're not sure a duvet is for you, pick one up at ikea for less than $30 to test it out.

{google images - can't remember - woops}

yes, i did make my bed today... i make my bed everyday because i LOVE crawling into a made bed at the end of a long day!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

2010-12-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

and we have our tree...

sam joined us cutting down the tree...

i have yet to upload the pics, so the picture of the tree must suffice.

and i LOVE the instagram app on my iphone.

it's HOW i got this gorgeous picture!

sam has two "first" ornaments - a picture frame and a tomte (sitting at the top of the tree with a white beard)

Lussekatt

2010-12-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

December 13th

Santa Lucia & My Morfar's Birthday

Morfar, Mormor, Mom - Summer 2007

It's coming up...

In honor of Santa Lucia...

I baked these...

With this wonderful lady...

heather "pensling" the lussekatt

and they were tasty...

I'm always afraid my Lucia buns won't rise, that I'll mess up the yeast.

But they did, and they nice, tasty and fluffy...

delicious with hot chocolate, or for breakfast or dessert or a snack... :)

for those of you wondering WHY they're special: they are made w/a saffron, an expensive, but delightful spice that makes the buns a golden color. maybe i'll tranlsate the recipe from swedish some day and post it on the blog, until then, the pictures will have to suffice

{note: heather, i'll get you the recipe even if it doesn't end up on the blog, thanks for baking w/me}

miss you morfar... thanks for teaching me the art of baking... you would be proud


Lucia buns fresh out of the oven

procrastination - at work or home

2010-12-03T19:00:00.000-05:00

there is something we all dread at work or home? you dread it, you avoid it like the plague, you procrastinate. you visit Google News, Google Reader, check Facebook, Twitter, update your blog... instead of attacking the problem at hand??? i know i'm a culprit whether it's cleaning out my email inbox, paying bills, filing, scanning, and other such mundane tasks...

you too can change... this method stems from the 5-Minute Room Rescue: you hate cleaning the house, so you set a timer for five minutes. you start clearing the worst room, stopping with a clear conscience when the buzzer goes off. not so bad. the trick is that once you start, you probably won’t stop. by scaling down the goal to 5 minutes, you overcome your own inertia.

Dread and inertia are the enemy. So set a timer for just five minutes and get to work clearing a path.

taken and slightly reworded from Fast Company

ps- i did this earlier and eliminated the box of miscellaneous papers i "packed" just before moving... and what do you know, i was done in an hour... more than 5 minutes, but now it's done and the box is not staring me down!

craving these...

2010-12-02T17:30:00.000-05:00

{image}

not really sure why... but i really want some cinnamon chip scones right now!

here's a recipe i posted last year: cinnamon chip scones

starbucks makes delicious cinnamon scones and i kinda want one right now, fresh outa the oven...

2010-11-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

how cute is this nursery?

found here and here

who said space dictates style and cuteness? the above nursery is in a corner of a bedroom and the closet now holds the crib

finding caleb...

2010-11-15T21:30:00.000-05:00

thursday, september 16, 2010
3:40pm
...i'm crouched under my desk i feel a strange feeling... i stand up and it feels like i wet my pants!
i think fast... i grab my iPhone, change of clothes and run into the bathroom, but not before i poke my head into my office where the comcast guys are and say "i think my water just broke, carry on!" in the bathroom i called the midwife... oh the memories that were made that day!!
i didn't end up speaking to my midwife, it was a nurse who answered. i told her my water broke, i had been at the office earlier in the day and my due date is monday, october 4, 2010. she asked me "are you sure your water broke?" "ummm, my pants are soaked and it's not pee..." based on my answer she said i had to go to the hospital right away. right away? my mind was racing: comcast was setting up internet and phone for my home office; they said it would take 3 hours, caleb was in class, my apartment was still in chaos, i didn't have a THING ready for baby alpine - the crib mattress was on back order and we didn't have the moses basket yet, my hospital bag was not packed... we did have the car seat, it arrived in the mail a week earlier and i took it out of its box the night before. seriously was NOT expecting baby alpine to arrive so soon! especially after my appointment earlier in the day resulted in the midwife stating "it's your first child and they are usually late."
i asked the nurse if i could wait an hour and she said no, i need to come in right away. this went against what my birthing class instructor taught us in class. we learned we can labor at home, even if my water breaks. we should call but should still be able to labor at home. caleb was in class, he won't be back until at least 5:15pm.
still in the bathroom, i change my clothes, freak out that i'm having a baby and calmly go into my bedroom to start packing, call caleb and then talk to comcast.
3:50pm i text caleb "call me!!!!!!! my water just broke!!!!!!! callllllllll mmmmmeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!" (sense the urgency? lol) i didn't want to "disturb his class" if his cell phone wasn't on vibrate. i go into my office and casually say to comcast, "my water broke and i have to go to the hospital. how long will it take for you to finish?" they look at each other frantically and say it'll be a while. they ask if the girl who helped them in the basement (accessing certain internet stuff) could stay here while they finish. "i'll check."
i walk back into my bedroom checking my cell phone. caleb hasn't texted me back. ugh. i try calling him. no answer. i try calling my mom's cell phone. no answer. i try my parent's home phone. no answer. i try calling caleb again. no answer. i'm starting to get nervous, starting to tear up. will i have to do this alone? i call my dad's office and reach him. "dad, my water just broke, i have to go to the hospital. i just wanted to let you know." i was trying to be real casual. his response, "is caleb there? did you call mom?" at those questions, my voice starts to waver and i'm trying to hold back tears. "caleb is in class and hasn't answered his cell phone. mom didn't answer her cell phone or home phone. it's going to be ok though, i'm going to get someone to help me. i gotta go."
i go downstairs and knock on jen's door. she's there. hallelujah. chorus of angels start singing as she answers the door. {joking} "um, jen, my water just broke and comcast is upstairs. can you please stay with them so i can go to the hospital and they can finish the job?" saying this as i hold my legs together, trying to keep my water from leaking {all you moms who have had your water break, probably understand where i'm coming from, if you haven't experienced this, don't judge}. jen goes into survival mode. "do you need anything? are you ok? where's caleb?" we hurry back to my apartment where i continue packing for the hospital...
there is a need for parts 3 & 4 - they will be coming, patience...

2010-11-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

my maternity leave is coming to an end and it's bittersweet.

i'm looking forward to the day-to-day of work, my co-workers and doing what i enjoy.

but i'm sad about leaving sam (although it'll be with his mormor). what will i miss?? first steps, first words??

{image}

during my maternity leave i've spent time w/my precious baby boy,

but i've also spent it UNPACKING my apartment. ugh.

here's hoping the last few weeks i'm able to soak up and enjoy w/sam :)

i'm also wondering HOW to manage work and taking care of a baby...

should be interesting.

tips WELCOME!

respect

2010-11-10T12:47:00.001-05:00

i have a new found respect for working moms, stay at home moms, homeschooling moms, alllllll moms... being a mom is HARD work.

this week's round-up...

sam spit up down my shirt
sam peed like a fountain... on the rug, on his changing pad, on his face, in the tub
sam pooped while taking a bath
sam had to wait for me to feed him... which resulted in many tears, mostly from sam
waking up early to feed sam and not being able to go back to sleep which turned into: doing the dishes, eating breakfast (often happens LATE or never b/c i'm taking care of sam), reading my bible
because sam woke up early, he had a nap and i had time to: shower, work, clean, unpack more boxes

but i can say, now that my life and schedule has changed, i love it even more.

i love...

sam sleeping on my chest
sam's heavy breathing when he sleeps
when sam snuggles up to me
dancing with sam
singing with sam - he loves him some music
bathtime with sam
reading with sam
his smiles and talking
his interactions w/his dad
and i could probably come up with a hundred more reasons... but i won't.

i am happy to say i have found more time and less sleep and can still function. i don't know how it happened.

2010-11-09T23:35:00.000-05:00

an awesome link...
found via Apartment Therapy
type in any name or word and find letters to go with it...
Spell with flickr

2010-10-19T21:00:00.002-04:00

still working on telling the world about sam...

it's a four part story

i know, you all are dying of suspense

in the meantime

little photo collage of sam :)

Sam - 1 month

he was just hanging out with me today, totally cooperating while mom had the camera in his face!

and he has such cute dimples

didn't capture them on camera yet

he smiles for me

but not in time for me to reach for the camera...

one of these days ;)

the beginning...

2010-10-12T21:00:00.000-04:00

so, our story of how sam came into this world is a little wild so i decided to share it... it's going to be a 2 or 3 part series because it'll take a little while... and to keep all my many readers (hah) in suspense.

as i posted previously, we moved on september 11.
wednesday, september 15 i came home from working on the cape. i came home to boxes upon boxes. our apartment was chaos. i remember thinking, ugh, i just want to be organized before this child arrives and causes MORE chaos...

From top left: living room; kitchen; kitchen; Bedroom 1; Bedroom 1; Bedroom 1; Bedroom 2; Bedroom 2; Living Room; Center: view from living room into kitchen w/a VERY preggo Sara

i pulled his carseat out of the box to make sure all the parts were there and everything looked good and showed it to caleb. i joked about how our apartment is going to have many baby things. caleb refers to this as my "nesting phase", pulling the carseat out of the box. i wanted to wring his neck when he makes comments like this. he laughs and does it on purpose because i get annoyed. lol. i ~~strongly dislike~~ HATE when people make comments to me about "nesting". i am not a bird... just because i moved into a new apartment and want things organized does not mean i'm nesting. that is just ~~human~~ sara to want things organized and a place for everything...

wednesday, september 15, 2010
anyway, i crawl into bed that night thinking about:

all the tasks yet to complete for work BEFORE baby alpine is born
comcast is incompetent because it has been almost a WEEK since i requested a transfer from ipswich to hamilton and they still haven't completed the transfer
all the boxes to unpack and organize - preferably before alpine is born

thursday, september 16, 2010
i didn't sleep well and chalked it up to pregnancy insomnia. i couldn't sleep past 5am. i decided to make use of my bathtub and soak in it before work. i roll out of bed, a difficult task at this stage of pregnancy, pad down the hall to the bathroom and fill the tub with water and bath salts. i slide into the tub to relax. heaven. well, almost. for a moment i forget i'm pregnant. caleb knocks on the door and asks if everything's alright... of course it is, i'm just relaxing in the tub. he tells me it's almost 8 o'clock. shoot. i have to go to work.

i drag myself out of the tub and get ready for work. i set up my computer and organize my desk in my home office. i contact comcast to ensure they are coming today to set up my work phone and internet. they are set to arrive at 12 noon. a friend of mine lets me borrow her wireless internet connection until comcast arrives so i can work. my brother peter calls from sweden (on skype) so i skype with him for a few minutes so he can see my belly (he's been traveling since june and won't be home until the end of december). his comment "wow. you are for sure pregnant." i hang up with him; get caught up on emails and continue working through my "to do" list. around 11:30 comcast calls to say they'll be their shortly and it will take 3 hours to set up. i tell them i have an appointment at 1:20pm and will have to leave by 1pm. they say it's better to reschedule and they will come over at 3pm. i relent still upset over the whole comcast process.

37 weeks - picture taken 3 days earlier

i have lunch and head to my appointment with the midwife. i ask her if she wants to check me to see if i'm dilated or effaced. she says she won't put me through that and we will wait until next week's appointment. we listen to baby alpine's heartbeat and i proceed to ask her many questions about labor & delivery, the hospital, etc. she said since it's my first baby i'll probably go late... but she answers my questions.

37 weeks pregnant

i leave the ob/gyn office and run a quick errand to target and go home to meet the comcast guys. i get back to the apartment and comcast shows up shortly thereafter. i have to rearrange a few cords and computer stuff under the desk - quite the task for a pregnant woman... as i'm crouched under my desk i feel a strange feelling... i stand up and it feels like i wet my pants! now i'm 37 weeks 3 days pregnant and didn't think i would be going into labor anytime soon...

Happy 30th Anniversary

2010-10-11T21:00:00.003-04:00

Mom & Dad

30 years

what a milestone

Dad & Sam w/the ducks; John Hancock Tower; Mormor, Mom, Sara & Sam; Dad & Sam in Boston Common; Mom, Dad & Sam; Mom & Sam; a view of Boston; Mom & Dad

THIRTY years ago today my parents were newly-weds.

they have been such an inspiration and role model to me - both as a child and now as an adult.

let me share a little bit about my parents and how they met. please note: this is the cliff notes version. :)

my dad spent his junior year of college in sweden as an exchange student. he met my mom in one of his classes. they became friends (my mom had recently returned from studying in the states and wanted to keep up her english, so she befriended the american lad). they spent a lot of time together at school, hanging out, playing sports, and enjoying sweden. my mom invited him home to her family and he was able to experience the swedish culture even more. they backpacked europe together and then worked for one summer in sweden. my dad came back to the states and realized he met the woman of his dreams. he decided to go to sweden over christmas break of his senior year and ask my mom to marry him. when over there, he did propose and my mom said yes. they decided to get married the following year. my dad came back to the states and graduated college, my mom came to the states in july and they were married in october. there's much more to the story, but we don't have time today...


it's hard work to get everyone happy and looking at the camera

sam's at least not crying here...

a few memories...

growing up my parents would exercise by running together in the mornings and then we would take family walks around the neighborhood in the evenings.

sunday was family day - we would go to church, come home, have a big family dinner and hang out together: go for a walk, go to the beach, go biking or swimming, watch football, play games, relax, watch movies, basically spend time together. growing up, i didn't think it was anything special, but as i got older, i began to appreciate our sunday family day.

my parents made sure we ate together every night at 6pm. of course sports, school activities, work and other events interferred occasionally, but we could always count on dinner at 6pm. we would let mom know in advance if we weren't going to be home for dinner. "mom, i won't be home for dinner, but can you save me some?" was a request in response to missing dinner. friends would joke about eating dinner at the macdonald's house - apparently it was something akin to a comedy act, maybe it still is...

these days, family dinner is farther and fewer between, i'm married living away from home, one brother is out and about doing his thing, the next brother is gallavanting around the world and the youngest is in college in florida... needless to say, looking forward to christmas when EVERYONE will be together (my world travelling brother comes in a few days before christmas)

i have digressed from the original topic...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my wonderful fabulous kind loving caring parents!!!!

you worked hard to take care of us kids AND keep your marriage in tact. there is something to be said about spending 30 years with the same person. thank you for being you, for being great role models, for supporting us, for loving jesus, for providing us with memories for many many years. i love you both and can only pray caleb and i will be able to have a similar partnership in marriage as you have.

sam hanging w/Grandpa and the baby duck

sam enjoying a sunday in boston

a crowd was gathering to see the little baby on the baby duck :)

yesterday we celebrated my parents anniversary at Toscano in Boston. it came highly recommended and we weren't disappointed. my mom and dad, mormor, grandmother, uncle tim, caleb, sam and i were all there. my dad had a great time showing sam around boston. (earlier in the week, sam spent time w/my mom and mormor - more on that later - so sam spent most of the day in my dad's arms)

mom and sam

she loves her grandson

dad and his grandson sam

"i can't wait" -sam giguere

2010-09-30T21:54:00.004-04:00

so we moved AND had a baby in the same week!!

i have not had time to ~~breath~~ blog until now...

there's so much to catch up on...

we moved into a bigger apartment on september 11 - we had friends and family help us move which was incredible. i took monday off from work to start to unpack our apartment and then headed to the cape tuesday and wednesday for work. wednesday i came back to the north shore... and decided to open the box which had our carseat in it (it had arrived in the mail a few days earlier, but i didn't unpack it until AFTER we moved).

little precious sam was born the next day.

first family photo minutes after little sam was born

mommy and sam

proud daddy sharing the news that's he a dad

Samuel Henry Giguere was born two and a half weeks early on Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 8:03pm - so we have ourselves a summer baby instead of a fall baby...

He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 18.5 inches long. We actually didn't name him until Monday, September 20, 2010.

moving...

2010-09-10T23:30:00.000-04:00

so, i've been MIA this week...

we're in the process of moving - oh so exciting

can i tell you, it's hard to move while 36.5 weeks pregnant...

i'm due in 3.5 weeks. i feel mostly helpless because i can't lift anything heavy. it's a chore for me to pack.

luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel.

tomorrow we move into a bigger place.

our apartment is almost all boxed up, caleb's finishing up some boxes now, i'm too tired to box up stuff...

i'll tackle more in the morning, when i can't sleep, since i have pregnancy insomnia around 5am most mornings.

my parents, caleb's parents, his sister and friends will help us move.

hopefully it'll all go smoothly & we'll be done by dinnertime :)

good news is we're only moving 10 minutes down the road!

and nick's roast beef is on the menu for lunch.

so, we'll see when i get to posting again since i know i'll be busy UNPACKING all the boxes i packed this week...

with that i leave you with this image...


hopefully we don't look like this tomorrow

image compliments of Google images.

hope you got a good chuckle.

i know i did.

school is here...

2010-09-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

i don't have kids yet... but i've been thinking about kids starting school again...

lunchboxes, back to school clothes shopping, school buses, homework, sports, hanging out w/friends after school...

so much excitement with going back to school.

i like this idea: Schultuete School Cones


{image}

it's a German tradition and i would love to do this when my kids reach school age - even though i have no German in me... although my husband might be part German

note: i take NO credit for this... i stumbled across the above link

sara's kitchen faves - numero cinco

2010-09-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

it's summer time...

and with summer comes...

ICE-CREAM!!

so, my one of my kitchen faves and staples is:

{image}

the ice-cream scoop

this is no ordinary scoop, it's a ZEROLL scoop, you know, the kind used by professional ice-cream scoopers.

go ahead, next time you order ice-cream at a little ice-cream shop, check to see what they're using.

i GUARANTEE you will see they have the same scoop.

it rocks. well, actually it scoops and it's easy to use.
i love it. i use it. a lot.
we don't have to go into detail how often i exercise my zeroll scoop.
especially now that ~~it's summer~~ i'm pregnant.
for those of you who know me, i LOVVVVVEEEEEE ice-cream.
for those of you who don't know me, now you know, i LOOOOVVVVVEEEEE ice-cream.
kinda like a fat kid loves cake.
but maybe a little more.

so a professional ice-cream scoop ~~was~~ is a necessity for me.

and maybe one of these days, i'll ~~get~~ invest one of these:

{image}

it's a gelato paddle, for those italian gelato lovers (i'm part of the club)...

and i'm sure it'll come in handy scooping ice-cream too...

but i already have an ice-cream scoop, so i can use this for gelato, when i'm in italy, or dreaming of italy.

one summer, i travelled to italy with some girlfriends

and we consumed gelato on a daily basis

and sometimes more than once

yum!

the end.

2010-09-01T08:00:00.048-04:00

{Boston Sunset: Sara}

{Boston by Sunset: Sara}

Posted the above images because I like them.

I came across the following as a recipe for a long life...

I take NO credit for it, but I can't recall where I found it.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner
like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less
food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did the year before.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk,
smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what
their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with
His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate
others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away
like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your
friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Hope this post was some positive encouragement for you today :)

2010-08-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

{image by me}

A Prayer for Peace, Growth, and Recovery

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred...let me sow love.
Where there is injury...pardon.
Where there is doubt...faith.
Where there is despair...hope.
Where there is darkness...light
Where there is sadness...joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled...as to console.
To be understood...as to understand.
To be loved...as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

(St. Francis of Assissi)

memory lane

2010-08-29T20:00:00.002-04:00

i am trying to find a baby book for alpine - you know, something to keep track of baby's firsts, cute pictures, hospital bracelet, lock of hair, baby's favorites and so forth...

today i pulled out my baby book... i am the oldest of 4 siblings and many of you may know what that means... a FAT baby book :) sure enough... my book is the fattest and it goes in order, my youngest brother has the skinniest baby book. it doesn't mean he was any less loved... it just means my mom was busy taking care of 4 kids to record EVERYTHING.

well, i browsed through my baby book and there were a few things that caught my attention.

1) favorite food: yogurt & banana, toast w/cheese, ice-cream and french toast: now for those who know me... i LOVE ice-cream (more about that in an upcoming post). i also really like french toast (ask the hubster).
2) i loved collecting and playing with rocks - even today when i walk along the beach, i pick up rocks and collect them... it makes things tough when moving... rocks aren't particularly light ;)
3) i loved playing w/malcom, a cairn terrier - i loved watching him and laughed when he barked :) (still love dogs to this day... although it's been a work in progress due to a traumatic event at age 5 involving a german shepherd, but we won't talk about that)
4) i laughed at 2.5 mos old and i still keep the giggles going
5) i took my first steps on a golf course at 8 months (too bad i didn't become a professional golfer - that would have made a good story) and i was walking around at 10 months - man am i in trouble when alpine comes along...
6) ET the movie and Larry Bird the basketball player were quite a hit
7) my mom was in labor for 3 hours (hope i luck out like that)
8) i went swimming for the first time when i was 2 months old - i still LOVE the water
9) my first "sleep out" (outside on the deck in a sleeping bag) was when i was 5 and my brother david was 3, i was afraid of getting sprayed by a skunk and my 3 year old brother agreed to protect me :)
10) my favorite songs at age 2 were "happy birthday" and "jesus loves me" - i LOVE birthdays & getting presents and i still know that jesus loves me :)

hope that didn't bore you... but it had me thinking about caleb's firsts when he was a baby and coming up alpine's firsts and the kind of child alpine will grow up to be... will alpine be more like me or more like caleb?

one thing is for sure... alpine's been so active in my belly, if that continues, well, caleb & i are in for it. ;)

now i've gone down memory lane and i still don't know what to do about a baby book...

here's one i found on etsy.com that i like...
and another...
and another...
but i want to see them in person before committing to purchasing... if ANYONE finds something cute, PLEASE let me know :)

i have also checked out amazon, babys r us, target and barnes and noble...

bedside manner, birthing and BABIES

2010-08-27T08:00:00.010-04:00

this is a partial vent...

but i'll end on a positive note, i promise...

today i went to my scheduled MIDWIFE appointment... i've been using essex county ob/gyn and so far my experience was PHENOMENAL!! well, today, the midwife i met w/was MISERABLE... terrible "bedside manner". typically i go to my appointment and the midwife comes in, introduces herself (if i haven't met her before - there are 7 so i have yet to meet ALL of them) asks how i'm feeling, how i'm doing, do i have any questions, etc... we talk for a little while, then she'll say, ok, let's check the heartbeat and will proceed to check the heartbeat...

nope, not today... the midwife comes in abruptly, says a brief hello, pushes me down on the table, lifts up my shirt and is about to listen to the heartbeat... i was in shock! no introduction, no asking how i'm doing, no asking what i have for questions...

i'm glad i can be assertive. i sat up and said, wait, can we discuss any questions i may have? the bummer was at that point i was flustered, i should have finished the appointment ASAP and left. alas, i didn't.
i started feeling emotional (i'm more prone to that these days w/all the hormones) and asked her a few questions. she was even rude in answering my questions, BUT the BEST news i heard all day was "i don't deliver."

i thought i misheard and asked her to repeat. "i don't deliver." fantastic, i thought, i'll NEVER have to have her at the hospital, where it really counts... relief!

i promised more promising news

and i USUALLY keep good on my promises...

see this picture

it's brooke, my sister-in-law, my nephew danny, little alpine and me

{Brooke, Danny, Alpine, Sara}

i'm so excited that they (danny & alpine) will be soooo close in age!!


{Danny & Alpine meet}

brooke's going in for a c-section tomorrow and i'll get to meet little danny in person. woohoo!!!

my due date is 10-4-10 - only 5 weeks after danny is born :)

caleb and i are headed out to western mass to meet danny, spend some time w/family and babysit for these adorable nieces - Julia and Hannah - who are going to be big sisters :)

{Julia cheesing it up}

{Julia & Aunt Sara ie me enjoying ICECREAM}

{Hannah cheesing it up OR being annoyed w/her aunt for taking a bajillion pics!}

{Hannah - the goofball}

{Hannah being well, Hannah}

yay for BABIES!!! and sisters who can experience this together. brooke is awesome!! she's been through pregnancy and babies two times before, so she's a pro and has been giving me all kinds of good advice. and we have been able to commiserate about braxton hicks, hiccups and baby kicks!

{Brooke & Sara}

can't believe our OWN due date is coming up... 5 weeks away...

{hubster, alpine and me}

hydrangeas

2010-08-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

they are one of my FAVORITE flowers...

my mom has a lot of hydrangea bushes... below are a few snapshots from the summer

she has both purple and blue

oh how i love them :)

don't quit

2010-08-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

check out this video...

it's based on the below poem.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Author unknown

i love it! my dad used to have it in his office... i took a copy of it and it's stayed with me since...

today i'm posting it for my buddy Ben, he's been through quite a lot this summer.
Ben, keep up your positive attitude, don't quit :)

saft: a swedish adventure in the states

2010-08-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

earlier in the week i posted about saft

now, i'll detail a little about making it...

first of all - saft is a DEEEEELICIOUS drink you can buy in sweden, and at ikea, but not online, only in the ikea store...

anyway, my mormor is awesome and she makes it from scratch - raspberry, strawberry, black currant, etc

one day i went to russell orchards and decided to pick strawberries... mmm... they were so yummy. i had so many strawberries on hand, i decided to eat some, freeze some and make saft out of some.

google translate says saft = juice - but it's so much more...

basically you use the juice from berries, boil it with sugar to make a concentrated liquid and store it. then when you're ready to drink, you pour a little saft into a glass and mix with water... voila, delicious, refreshing drink :)

here's a photo montage of my attempt. it turned out OK, but it's best to mix berries (strawberries and blueberries, or raspberries, etc) and i added TOO MUCH sugar (who would have thought?)

{first, pick berries and decide which ones you want to use}

i separated mine into eat ~~this week~~ now, freeze and make into saft ;)

{weigh your strawberries}

this is necessary to ensure you have the right amount of other ingredients

{wash your strawberries}


{slice off the green part}


{weigh the strawberries again, just in case}

{add water}

{boil strawberries in the water, stirring occasionally - approx 10 min}

{use the spoon to crush the strawberries on the edge of the pot to get all the juiciness out}

{i put a strainer in a bowl for this next part}

{put a cheesecloth in the strainer - this is for straining the berries from the liquid}


{pour the boiled berries into the cheesecloth and let the liquid drain into the bowl}

{let it sit for a 30 minutes to ensure all liquid is in the bowl and not in the cheesecloth}

{pour into a measuring container - i used a glass pyrex one - woo hoo! 500ml}

{pour the liquid BACK into the pot on the stove}

{add the sugar - this is what makes it tasty, stir until the sugar has dissolved}

{cook until it comes to a boil}

{towards the end, this is what you should see}

{there's "skumm" - swedish for foam - you don't want it - so take it off with a spoon}

{it's yummy though - strawberry sugary - mmm}

{i set mine on a plate - and then ate it} :)

{pour non skumm liquid into a container so you can pour into bottles; it's easier w/a funnel which i did not have}

{clean the bottles you're using - i baked mine in the oven, but you can also boil them}


{pour liquid into WARM clean bottles, put on the cap and let cool}

saft should be stored at a cool temperature (fridge, basement, etc)

{image}

when you're ready to drink, pour some saft into a glass and add water to taste. i don't know how what the saft to water ratio is... i just go by what tastes good...

for those of you who want to try it, here's the recipe i used:

Strawberry Saft

(500 ml of saft or approx 2 cups):

500 grams strawberries

2 deciliters water (a little more than 3/4 cup or 200 ml)

3 deciliters sugar (1 1/4 cup or 300 ml)

note: it should be consumed within a few weeks, if not, some type of preservative should be added - i don't mess with that, i just drink it!

morning rollerblade

2010-08-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

{image courtesy of google images}

earlier in the week i got up early and decided to go for a little rollerblade...

yup, you heard right... rollerblade... this 8 month preggo woman decided it would be nice to lace up her blades and hit the street.

let me tell you... it was AMAZING! i enjoy running, but running at 8 months pregnant is a ~~little~~ LOT difficult. so, i pulled out my rollerblades, turned on my ipod and hit the road.

it was so refreshing. i didn't feel large and pregnant. i felt light and fast. i rollerbladed a few miles; it was nice to get out there and go fast. it's a great feeling to exercise in the morning and get that boost of energy and get those positive endorphins flowing ;)

{image courtesy of hovey}

the above picture is along my rollerblade route...

thankful

2010-08-20T08:00:00.072-04:00

it's easy to get caught up in the day to day of life and forget about the big picture.

the other day i found myself thinking about all the problems in my life... i would list them, but that would defeat the purpose of this post. i really had myself feeling like debbie downer. what happened?

to offset the debbie downer, here is a list of what i'm thankful for.

1) I live in America - "land of the free and home of the brave" - we have many freedoms other countries lack.

2) A roof over my head - sure I'm moving in 3 weeks, AND it's 3 weeks before my due date, but I have a place to live (and room for visitors) :) There are so many people in this country and world who are homeless.

3) A great JOB with benefits - health insurance, vacation pay, 401k, and MORE (thanks Murray & MacDonald Insurance)

4) Family and friends who love and care about me

5) A WONDERFUL, amazing, supportive husband :)

6) We (the hubster & I) each have a car to drive

7) Good health, pregnancy is going well. I can walk, run, rollerblade, swim, ski, etc - many people are handicapped and can't do the above items.

8) I live in a beautiful area

9) I am not starving; I can go to the grocery store and buy whatever I want - some people can't afford to buy food, while others in the world can't buy food because there is no food on the shelves. I don't have this problem.

10) Clothes, shoes, accessories, etc, heck I could go through my wardrobe and give away many items.

Those are the big items...

Here are a few things I'm thankful for, this week...

1) Watched the Falmouth Road Race. Both my parents ran; I was able to cheer them on, as well as cheer on a few friends. My mom beat her time from last year. This is great news!! 

       a) Fall 2007 my mom became ill with idiopathic (don't know where it comes from) transverse (across) myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord)- yeah, what's that?! The doctors didn't know. She was semi paralyzed from her chest down. Semi b/c she had feeling and could move her legs, but she couldn't walk. It felt like pins and needles from her chest down. She has been in recovery mode since... it took a week to walk again; recovery has been slow, but she still has problems with her feet. She runs slower than before the illness - which is why I'm so proud of her beating last year's road race time!

2) Girl time with my friend Lia Sunday evening :)

3) Swimming at Chapoquoit Beach with my mom Monday & Tuesday evening - so refreshing

4) Rollerblading along Ipswich River Wednesday morning before work

5) Meeting w/Ken, Kim and the hubster at Starbucks before Ken left for school!

6) Going to Barnes & Noble Wednesday evening - relaxing to sit and read

7) My childbirth class w/the hubster Thursday evening - feeling more prepared for my upcoming hospital stay...

8) Dinners in w/the hubster

9) Baby shower in my honor this Sunday :) yippee!

10) Buying local produce - yum!

so, now my question to you is...

what are you thankful for? think BIG picture or just think for the DAY or the WEEK.

sara's kitchen's faves - numero cuatro

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

so... i haven't posted in a while about my kitchen faves, so i thought it was about time to post one.

{image courtesy of cuisinart}

caleb and i received a FABULOUS blue dutch oven from a friend as wedding gift. it's made by cuisinart and i use it alllll the time. (it's similar to the one in the link, but a prettier blue)

a few PROS
- it's blue (my fave color - if you haven't already figured that out)
- it's like a crock pot without a plug... plop it on the stove, put in some ingredients, turn the stove on, and let simmer, voila... a few hours later, dinner...
- it makes the best chili
- it makes the best spaghetti sauce
- it can be put in the oven
- it can be put in the fridge
- and many many many more...

i could go on... but i won't, i'll spare you.

disclaimer: the dutch oven doesn't MAKE the chili or spaghetti sauce, it has SOMETHING to do w/the chef, BUT i don't think my chili or spaghetti sauce would be nearly as delish without this dutch oven.

caleb decided to cook for me one day. i was gone and came home to a messy kitchen (ugh) but all smelled delicious (he was redeemed). i sat down to a delightful meal (i wish i had pictures). it was a green salad, spaghetti and homemade spaghetti sauce.
now this was my man's FIRST attempt at spaghetti sauce, and he used the dutch oven... mind you, he didn't even know what a dutch oven was... i swear his spaghetti sauce was possibly, maybe, probably... better than mine... i know, it almost hurts to say it. my hubster is a good cook when he wants to be, which i benefit from. he enjoys experimenting in the kitchen... which is ok too when it turns out as delicious as that dinner was.
anyway, i asked him WHERE he found the recipe... he googled it and in reading the recipe, he realized it called for a dutch oven. he thought, where can i find a dutch oven? so he googled "dutch oven" and realized, SARA HAS ONE!!! and put ol' blue cuisy to use :)
which i was extremely thankful for

a swedish adventure in ipswich

2010-08-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

here's a preview of what's to come...

sweet strawberries

made into...

this

saft
google it...
i'll be posting more about my adventure in the kitchen
complete with photos

sweet summertime

2010-08-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

a few things to describe summer bliss...

the beach
flip flops
sunny days & long nights
crane's beach
chappy
ice-cream
grilling outside
corn on the cob
strawberries, raspberries, blueberries... all things berries...

oh how i heart the summer

i could go on... but i'll save it for another post on another day...

tribute to this guy...

2010-08-14T05:30:00.001-04:00

happy birthday!

the younger days

learning how to play the piano...

boating on cape cod

gordon - may 2002

valentine's day 2005

my birthday dinner 2006 - being goofy

summer 2006 on the bike path

my birthday dinner 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

I love you. You are the best dad a girl could every ask for... Thanks for all you've done and continue to do for me... I don't have any "old" pictures to post... maybe I can scrounge up a few at a later date...

Thanks for the memories...

Playing with us kids: biking, soccer, kick the can, croquet, baseball, basketball... you always made time for us
Going to Dairy Queen in the summer and walking along Falmouth Harbor - Introducing me to my love of ice-cream
Building us a sandbox and kick butt swing-set (hope you'll put up some swings for Baby Alpine, hint hint)
Turning our basement into an awesome playroom at Brigantine
Sending us kids to Sweden many many many summers to spend time with family and enjoy the land of the midnight sun
Taking us on numerous trips to Florida
Driving to Florida b/c we begged you to drive
Buying us quality snorkeling gear inspiring my love for the ocean
Taking on snorkeling trips in Boca and the Keys
Taking us skiing... oh how I love to hit the slopes
Teaching me that life is short and I need to enjoy it... take in the views
Not accepting that your daughter is a better, faster skier than you and continue to race her every chance you get...
Building a bigger house for us kids so we could all have our own bedroom
Letting me get first pick of the bedrooms
Sending me to Ecuador to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins, FIRST CLASS
Sending me to Sweden for a year in High School
Supporting me at my sporting events
Putting me through college
Hiking up and skiing down Tuckerman's Ravine
Introducing me to hiking... which I LOVE!!
Taking the family to Maine many summers - spending time boating, wake-boarding, tubing, swimming, eating ice-cream and relaxing on the porch
Family bike trips to the Vineyard in the summer
Teaching me how to grill meat the right way ;) medium rare
Introducing me to sushi in Homeport... :)
Introducing me to "fine dining" at the Regatta
Introducing me to golfing & making me take golfing lessons b/c you never had the chance, you wanted your kids to have a chance
Providing a summer job for me - it was a constant learning experience
Teaching me about good customer service: answer the phone w/a smile - among others
NOT letting me work for you once I graduated college
Giving me the opportunity to work for you once I had JOB EXPERIENCE in the working world
Marrying Caleb and me - that was super special :)
Allowing me to work from a home office once I got married
Providing a company car to drive to and from work (I work 3 days from home and 2 days in the office)
Going to swimming with me at Chappy
Inspiring me to run the Falmouth Road Race... I've ran it 3 or 4 times and I would gladly run it this year, but the belly hinders me :)
Encouraging me to be wise with my money - live responsibly
Encouraging me to think outside the box
Making me write goals :)
Telling me it's VITAL to NEVER stop learning - which I witnessed as you were determined to learn how to play the piano at age 42 - you bought a piano and took lessons... 10 years later you are playing on the worship team at church and doing a great job :)
Teaching me about Jesus
Your love and respect for your faith

Dad, there are oh so many memories I have and the list above does not begin to express them. Thanks for all the memories. Thanks for the educational moments. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it weren't for you.

maine 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

norway/sweden 2006

hiatus

2010-08-13T18:30:00.001-04:00

so... i took a little blogging hiatus...

haven't really thought about blogging in quite some time...

here's an update since our big announcement :)

baby alpine incubating at 30 weeks.

i'm now 32 weeks pregnant - for all of those non-preggo peeps... that means i'm 8 months baked. i have 8 weeks until my due date... we'll see when baby alpine decides to make an appearance...

so far i've been feeling great. i've been hiking, walking, running (well, that was a few weeks ago), swimming A LOT and doing other exercises to try to stay in shape. my favorite is swimming at chappy. it's soooo relaxing, i feel weightless in the water (which is important for a pregnant woman, believe me), and it's good exercise.

one thing i learned since becoming pregnant is that my ligaments loosen up, supposedly makes it easier to pass a child through... well, having loose ligaments makes us (pregnant people) more prone to injury... so swimming is easier on the ligaments...

alpine hiccups ALLLLLL the time... it's kind of an uncomfortable feeling, but i can't complain... the whole pregnancy has been smooth and alpine is healthy! yesterday i counted alpine had the hiccups 5 different times!!! and it can last for 20 minutes...

anyway... not much more exciting to report...

healthy baby, healthy mama, loving summer :)

boston bound...

2010-05-20T17:30:00.000-04:00

yup, caleb and i are headed to the red sox game...

jealous?

i'm so excited to be here...

[image]

and then here...

[image]

and watch them play baseball...

[can't remember where i found the image]

and him score a home run...

[ image]

and hopefully eat one of these...

[can't remember where i got this picture either]

boy does he look like he's enjoying his fenway frank... :)

on a nice warm 90 degree may day

now let's hope for a good win for the red sox :)

2010-05-13T07:30:00.000-04:00

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

~Dale Carnegie

[just a little something for today]

oh baby!

2010-04-17T09:00:00.002-04:00

c & i found out i am pregnant as you saw from the previous post...
here's a little bit i wrote after a visit with the midwife

written: march 19, 2010

so to answer questions:

yes, it was a surprise, and we are both so excited.
today was my second visit to the midwife (yes, i'm going to use a midwife at the hospital, if necessary, we have a doctor on call).

the first visit went well and they gave me a due date of 9/25/10.

well, today i had an ultrasound... and it turns out i'm not as far along as expected... my due date is now 10/4/10 (as in roger that, 10-4... hahaha, cheesy, i know). who knows when baby alpine will decide to make an appearance though... you never know...

yes, our nickname for our baby is alpine, it's an inside joke b/w caleb and me - we were hiking (surprise, surprise) and we joked about names for pets & kids and how celebrities are naming their kids all kinds of strange names... (no, we won't name baby alpine ALPINE upon birth)

this is my first baby... and i wasn't quite sure what to expect. at the ultrasound baby alpine was moving his/her legs & arms like crazy... i guess it's in the genes!! haha

below is my favorite picture!

it's a little profile picture. i was slightly concerned about recognizing my child in utero... i remember a "friends" episode where rachel & ross go to the ultrasound. the doctor points out her baby and rachel nods her head that it's beautiful... the doctor leaves the room and rachel bawls to ross and says she can't see her baby... he finds the baby... it cracked me up...
i tried to find a link... but, couldn't find it on youtube.

anyway, that's kind of how i was picturing our ultrasound to go... happy to say, baby alpine cooperated and we were able to get a beautiful profile picture. woo hoo!

after the ultrasound, we went to my regularly scheduled appointment and heard the heartbeat for the first time! it was unreal!!! 162 bpm

so, everything looks good, healthy and it's real now... we're definitely having a baby!

changes...

2010-04-15T21:00:00.002-04:00

here's a fun little video... make sure your volume is turned up...

changes are a-coming ;)

sunset at chappy

2010-04-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

here is yet another shot at creating a timelapse...

i didn't hold the camera entirely still, hence it didn't come out so smooth...

this was actually my first attempt at a timelapse and oh do i love the sunset at chappy :)

2010-04-11T12:00:00.000-04:00

... i have an easter dress and i love to twirl in it...

my niece julia had a beautiful dress for easter and i just wanted to post a time-lapse video i created... i guess i don't have to be jealous... i can create a time-lapse too...

she loved twirling in the dress and i had a sony camera handy... i took a bunch of shots and put them together...

here she is in her dress...

and here is the timelapse... with her twirling...
now be kind... i'm a beginner!!!

it runs in the family...

2010-04-10T12:30:00.000-04:00

many years ago, i remember sitting at our dining room table with my grandfather, my dad's dad, on thanksgiving day. i was in fourth grade and learning to draw. art class was my favorite class back then... well, it always was a favorite of mine...

at the time i was at north falmouth elementary school, in fourth grade. my beloved art teacher, mrs. moran, asked me to paint a picture on the wall. i worked hard creating a drawing i could project onto the wall and to this day it is still on the wall... some day i'll take a picture of it, for keepsake purposes. it is a painting of pippi longstocking, tommy, annika and their adventures in the south seas...

one of my favorite child hood characters was...
pippi longstocking

since those days, i dabbled in art.

back to thanksgiving day... i was having a hard time drawing someone sitting. how can you possibly draw someone's legs showing they are sitting? well, my grandfather patiently sat with me; he drew on a napkin showing me how to draw someone sitting. i treasure that memory... i remember finding a scrap piece of orange construction paper and drawing family sitting on the couch in the next room over while my grandfather gave me tips.

so maybe art runs in the family?

my grandfather was able to create wonderful drawings, among other things...

my uncle tim builds gorgeous, beautiful furniture from hand. he creates designs on paper and then forms the wood into phenomenal furniture. in fact, he practically furnished my parents' house. (pictures on that later)

my uncle larry built us a fabulous swingset when we were younger. it was without a doubt the best swingset on the block. we had monkey bars, swings, two floors, a fireman's pole, a rope to climb up or down and a super fast slide. we could swing soooo high on those swings and the swing set would never rock. it was solid. the best thing about swingsets when you're a kid is to be able to swing soooo high - like the big swings at the playground. we had those in our backyard! he then built us a fun go-cart. it didn't have a motor, although he could have easily installed one... it had a brake and a steering wheel. it looked like a little red race car.

my uncle ray is the "artist". he can paint beautiful pictures. when we were little, he would paint us pictures. now, he dabbles in photography, computer generated art and continues with the painting...

i could go on about my dad's other five siblings and their artistic talent, because they all dabble in the "art" in some form or the other.

now, my brothers and i grew up encouraged to do what we love...

but this post is not about me, it's about two of my brothers - pete and phil. they are a senior and freshman at wheaton college in illinois.

they are both talented and have done photography, web design, videography, etc.
in fact, phil, designed my company's website: www.mmisi.com after his senior year of high school. mind you, he's been using a computer since he was 2 and that's no joke.
we had a computer in our family room and 2 year old phil would sit at the computer and play learning games and figure out how the computer worked. i thought i was young using a computer at age 8, but he was the first of the 4 of us to use a computer since he was able to use the keyboard and move a mouse by himself...

this semester at wheaton, pete and phil collaborated on a timelapse video. they took thousands of pictures and put them together in a video...
check out the video and let me know what you think.

(note: watch it at 720p if your computer is skipping, the video was created in high definition)

Wheaton College Time Lapse Video

i am a proud big sister, and slightly jealous of their talent...

this is my recent photo creation that i'm proud of... and pete helped me photoshop it! (a little)

(photo: Sara Giguere - Kiteboarder at Chappoquoit Beach - Sunset)

not quite as exciting as a timelapse video, but i'll be proud of my picture for now... there's always room to improve...

do you make time for doing what you love????
whether it's your job or a hobby?

familia

2010-04-08T22:00:00.002-04:00

back in october 2008 i got hitched to a man named caleb...

...i love him...

anyway, they say when you marry someone, you also marry their family...

this is what i was getting myself into...

but no, i wasn't scared ;)
love you k :)

their fam is great!

au contraire!

i was excited...

3 sisters and 2 nieces... i never had sisters before, only brothers...

don't get me wrong, brothers are wonderful...

but it's different to have sisters.

well, now... the family is expanding :)

brooke is having a little baby in august... she finds out next week whether it's a boy or girl!

i'm soooo excited for her, her family, me, caleb, the whole family, everyone... and caleb and i are going to be an uncle & aunt! yay! another niece or nephew to spoil!!!

can't wait to find out :)

congrats brooke, dan, julia and hannah!! we love you!!

bling bling

2010-03-05T17:30:00.001-05:00

my sister-in-law showing her proud new bling bling

(it looks like an antique but also a little modern)
the day after valentine's day... when she was LEAST expecting it... i think...

(isn't it BEAUtiful?!?!)
colin, proposed to kïrsten...

yes he did!!!

he got down on one knee...

(proposing in front of fenway - their first date)

he professed his love...

he asked kïrsten to spend the rest of her waking days with him...

and...

what did she say?!?!

well YES (of course silly)

(happy couple)
she loves him with all of her heart...

and i am oh so excited for the upcoming nuptials ~ june 2011

such big news... and on a long weekend... and on valentine's weekend...

(hope you don't mind me posting the pics kïrsten - xo)

oh... so did you want details? well, i'll give the short version... they planned to see eric church (country music artist) in concert... well colin sneakily put a little plan together to go to fenway before the concert... (their first date was a red sox game a few years earlier) - and so it happened. then off to a country music concert... how awesome is that?! a proposal in boston, by fenway BEFORE a concert... oh the excitement!!

2010-02-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

a few more vacation images...

skating adventures
one morning we woke up and decided to go ice-skating on Lake Siljan in Dalarna, Sweden. we bundled up, grabbed our skates and headed out to the lake.
"long färd skridskor" is popular in sweden - directly translated it would be "long distance" skating. you put long ice-skate blades onto specially designed boots. i've tried it in the past, but i don't own a pair. i had regular hockey skates, but almost everyone else had the long-distance skates.

my mom and jakob - he has the long-distance skates, and special poles, they both have ice-pick thingies around their necks; in the event they fall through the ice, they dig the ice-pick in the ice and don't drown... good to keep around :)

we skated alongside the shoreline... probably a total of 6 miles.
it was such a fun time and good exercise! we kept warm despite the chilly weather...

my amazing mom and me: ice-skating on a cold winter morning

beautiful views of a frozen dock from our ice-skating trip

close-up shot: my brother phil and me

----------------------------------------------

gallivanting in stockholm

walking the streets of downtown stockholm in the winter...

drottninggatan, stockholm
it's a "people only, no cars" street in stockholm that stretches for about 1 mile
there are fabulous stores on both sides of the street

drottninggatan, stockholm
i love the christmas chandeliers - so festive

my friends: emma, henke and petra

petra and emma goofing off in the street

henke...
it was soo chilly out...
i had a hard time taking pictures...
my fingers were FREEZING!

close-up: emma, petra, sara

goofy shot: emma, petra, sara

we met during my sophomore year in sweden. it's great that we still keep in touch.
emma, if you're reading this, i'm still sending you the converse :) xo

emma, petra and henke all live in stockholm, so it's great to be able to catch up w/all of them at once.

we spend the afternoon at a café - "fika" is what the swedes call it - basically taking time to drink coffee, tea or hot chocolate, eat a sandwich or yummy bum and catch up with friends. such a good word, wish it existed in english :)

we walked around stockholm while they helped me pick out a few wedding presents for friends in the states. then we decided to grab some dinner.
we went to a fabulous italian restaurant, that i can't remember the name of... henke, petra, emma, do you guys remember?
anyway, you walk into the restaurant and you are given a plastic card. you find a table, order your food, eat, spend time w/friends. when you're ready to leave, you bring your plastic card to the hostess. she checks you out and you pay. it's great for friends getting together - no one has to worry about splitting up the check. you each pay for what you eat.
the downside... you lose the card, you pay $100...

so there's another peek into my vacation that i WISH hadn't ended...

beauty

2010-02-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

i finally uploaded my pictures FROM my camera TO my computer from my trip to sweden.

here are a few images i captured that i wanted to post.

a christmas wreath on a woodshop door

a woodshop with frosted windows

a typical christmas chandelier
i want to have something similar someday...
i love the elegant simplicity :)

the sunrise from my mormors house around 9am

-------------------------------------------------

now if only we could get loads of snow the weatherman is predicting...

yoga

2010-01-22T19:00:00.002-05:00

a few months ago i decided to try my hand at yoga...

(image courtesy of googles images)

i had been wanting to get involved, but couldn't find a good place.

i went for a run one morning and ran by a house that advertised yoga. i took a brochure and stuck it in my shorts (hey, i was interested and desperate times call for desperate measures...)

when i got home, i took a closer look at the brochure and i could NOT believe my eyes!

yoga, monday evenings, 7:30pm, FREE

does it get any better than that?!

it took a few more weeks before i had a free monday evening.

i went in my old navy "yoga pants". i have to play the part, right?

it was the most relaxing, fabulous exercise i have experienced. i was hooked.
most mondays, i end up here - to relieve my body of the day's stress, exercise, and enjoy some "me" time that's really good for me.

if you have never tried yoga, i encourage you to try it out. it's a most wondrous exercise and way to relax your muscles.

Sven Jansson

2010-01-21T21:30:00.005-05:00

today i was thinking about my morfar...

so i wanted to write a post in memory of him...

Sven Jansson, my morfar is my mother's father - well, he passed away, but he will always be my mom's dad.

morfar = mother's father (direct translation from swedish to english)

where was i?

oh yes...

the memories i have of my morfar...

him teaching me how to drive his stick shift 1990 Volvo on a frozen Lake Siljan days after i turned 16
gardening with him; his favorite part of the garden were his potatoes
him driving me to and from Granberget daily to ski & snowboard
him driving me to the first day of school at Leksands Gymnasium because i was too nervous to take the bus
learning how to bake bread from scratch in an old-fashioned oven - my brothers and i called it pizza bread - it was only recently i learned it's called "mjukbulla" or "softbun"

learning how to bake many things delicious
building sandcastles on martha's vineyard on one of his visits to America
bodysurfing at Chapoquoit Beach, Marconi Beach and many other beaches...
always having candy in his glove compartment of his 1990 Volvo
my brother Peter stating Bompa Gigi = translation morfar candy b/c he knew morfar kept candy in the glove compartment oif his volvo
orienteering with my morfar
telling morfar about Jesus
spending as much time as possible with my mormor and morfar during summer 2007 because i had a feeling it may be his last visit to America
i was right, he passed away May 2008
morfar meeting caleb during the summer of 2007; so glad this happened
going into the woods early in the morning to pick blueberries for me and my brothers to have for breakfast in 2006 on our first morning in sweden; when he came in he said "ja, man börjar att känna man är gammal" (yes, i'm beginning to feel old)
celebrating santa lucia with morfar in 2003 with my family and friend Mary Beth because it was his birthday
him surprising me with a season pass to Granberget for my christmas present from him and mormor December 1998
him and mormor driving me to Karlstad Universitet where i spent a semester of college in Karlstad, Sweden
wishing he could have seen the picture of Caleb proposing on Granberget June 2008
wishing he could have accompanied my mormor to my wedding October 2008
knowing he would have been so happy that Caleb proposed in Sweden; that we had a candy bar at our wedding; that the wedding ceremony was so personal; he would have danced with me; and he would have laughed
wishing he would have been able to meet my kids... (no, i don't have any children yet; they're in the someday plans for now)
oh how i miss his laugh, i wish i had recorded it, he was such a wonderful person
he was kind, friendly, non-judgmental, athletic, outdoorsy, helpful, a team player, a caring father, a loving husband, a wonderful brother, an unforgettable Morfar.
morfar, you are missed.
my trip to sweden wasn't the same without you.
my previous trip to sweden for your funeral was strange.
i know you're in heaven; i look forward to seeing you when the time comes; i hope you're having fun orienteering, picking blueberries, growing potatoes, swimming and building sand castles. i'm sure you're having a grand old time. make sure you save a spot for mormor. she misses you.
don't worry though, i'm going to keep her company as often as i can.
we spent time together for my birthday this year. i'll never forget it.
you married an incredible woman.
i miss you.
i love you.
your barnbarn sara linnéa

[ps-this will be edited with pictures once i can compile a few; just wanted my thoughts to the keyboard before i forgot]

favorite game

2010-01-20T22:00:00.002-05:00

tonight caleb and i played a round of...

settlers

my favorite game :)

two people can play...

or as many as six people can play if you have the extension pack; which we do, since we are settlers enthusiasts...

i was introduced to the game YEARS ago...

in sweden; my favorite country, for obvious reasons... ;)

(granberget, sweden - where caleb proposed June 2008 - obviously it was much warmer!)

then my mormor (she's awesome, read this post) and morfar bought us (my brothers and me) the game for christmas one year...

not long after we got the game, i visited my friends shannon and mark and THEY pulled out settlers...

and then i bought the game for caleb for his birthday...

and now that we're married, we play it on date nights IN; we have a blast; i usually WIN

because i'm competitive like that...

and sneaky...

and because he's wicked good at RISK, he thinks he'll dominate at SETTLERS, and then i sneak up, and win the game... most of the time...

but i still love him, because we have fun playing, and occasionally he does win...

check out the game... you can get it here and i'm sure other places...

but make sure you get the expansion pack... if you ever think you'll play with more than 4 people...

oh, and happy settling.

twenty-seven

2010-01-13T17:30:00.004-05:00

i graduated high school almost 9 years ago; my ten year reunion is coming up... yikes
i graduated college almost 5 years ago; my five year reunion...
i'm married; does this mean i'm supposed to be more responsible?
i work a full-time job; i miss out on the summer, fall, christmas and spring breaks and look forward to taking a vacation and getting paid for it
i'm fully past 25 - is that considered over the 20s hill or will that happen when i hit 30?
however
january 7
i did have a birthday party in sweden and it was a darn good time
here's the set-up...

fläder tårta
kladd kaka
pepparkakor
lussekatt
saft
kaffe
tulpaner

translation: cake, more cake, gingerbread cookies and saffron buns. juice and coffee. tulips to brighten a winter day

back to the grind...

2010-01-12T18:00:00.002-05:00

it's back to work for me... i had a blissful 2 1/2 week vacation and now it's back to reality...

~a few highlights~

spending christmas w/caleb's family
johannes & rebecka's wedding on new year's eve
shopping w/my cousins (in sweden)
ice skating on lake siljan w/family & friends
having dinner w/friends at valpiano in stockholm
visiting my aunt and her family in uppsala
ice-skating w/linnea and my aunt anna
checking out the dom kyrka in gamla uppsala with my mom
shopping and spending time w/my mormor
birthday party for ME in sweden
cross country skiing w/uncle, aunt and mormor
spending time w/people i love
coming home to caleb...
celebrating "christmas" with caleb on jan 10

currently my body is functioning 6 hrs ahead of EST... so i'm off to take a nap!

pictures & videos of my highlights to follow... :)

skiing

2010-01-08T18:30:00.000-05:00

Åskaken

today was my last day in siljansnäs; the thermometer read -24C so we thought it'd be a good chance to go skiing ;)

many people say that once it's past -15C it's almost too cold to go outside; this can be true... but i wanted to go skiing before i left...

so my morbror Håkan, his wife, my 79 year old mormor and i went out on a "liten utflykt". we packed sandwiches, coffee, hot chocolate, and candy in a backpack, put our skis in a thule rack and sped away on an adventure.

it was almost tooo cold to take pictures - as soon as you took your mitten off to take a picture, your fingers almost hurt from the cold.

however, for your viewing pleasure are a few pictures from our little adventure.

cecilia . mormor . sara

our "fika stund" by the frozen lake

sara . cecilia . mormor

i must say, it was awesome to go skiing with my 79 year old mormor (grandma). she is fabulous. more on her some other post. she turns 80 this year and hopefully i'll be able to do something special for her 80th birthday.

mormor . cecilia . håkan

racing to the end

sara

trying to cross-country ski down a small hill...

here's a picture of my mormor

i am soooo proud of her!! it was -24C (which makes it -11.2 F) and she went out skiing with us.
it was such a fabulous memory and it was wonderful to spend my last full day in siljansnäs skiing with my mormor. :)

The Time Traveler's Wife

2010-01-07T17:00:00.001-05:00

I'm on a roll... I finished my second book of the year; The Time Traveler's Wife.

It came at the recommendation of a friend of mine... I was hesitant to read the book, mainly because the movie trailer didn't appeal to me.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a sweet book about companionship, love, and commitment.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, read the book first. Now I'm interested in watching the movie...

The Unlikely Disciple

2010-01-03T07:45:00.019-05:00

I just finished reading my first book of the year. It's a thought-provoking book by Kevin Roose.
In April 2009 I went to a youth leader event at Grace Chapel in Lexington, MA. The speaker of the day was Mark Helsel. Our group of youth leaders from Calvary ended up sitting on the steps of Grace Chapel eating lunch with Mark during the lunch break. Our conversation was about church, college, rules, etc and he started talking about The Unlikely Disciple, a book he started reading. After our conversation, the book was on my "to read" list. It wasn't until recently that I was able to get a hold of the book to read it for myself.

It's the first book of the year and it's already on my favorite books list. It was a quick read and roughly 350 pages. Kevin writes in a style that is easy for most people to understand.

Kevin hadn't graduated college and he already wrote a fabulous book... quite the achievement if you ask me.

After finishing the book, I started to think about my own life. What do I REALLY believe? Why do I believe what I do? Is it because of how I was raised? Did I choose for myself what I believe? What would life have been for me if I hadn't been raised in a Christian home? Would I even be a Christian? Do I approach Christianity the same way a "typical" Christian College grad would?

Maybe I should give a little background...

My parents became Christians during their college years and I grew up in an evangelical Christian home. We attended Sunday School and church every week. My parents were quite involved in church; as I got older my involvement in church increased. I wasn't one to attend youth group regularly, but I enjoyed helping out in the nursery, children's church and teaching Sunday School to younger kids.

As I looked into WHERE I would attend college, my three choices were UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management in Massachusetts, American University in Washington DC, and Gordon College in Massachusetts, north of Boston. As the deadline neared, I decided to go to UMass. The day the deposit was due, I decided, no, I need to attend Gordon College.

I graduated from Gordon College, which is considered a "liberal" Christian college by Liberty's standards.

There are coed dorms - not coed floors though
There is both a democrat AND a republican club.
The professors lecture AND then press us to THINK for ourselves 'WHY do we believe what we believe'.
Gordon is a dry campus, but you're not expelled for drinking off-campus.
Gordon does NOT limit male-female contact to hand-holding; although if you spend the night with someone of the opposite sex on campus AND are found out you will get in trouble.
They have mission's trips, but nothing like the mission's trip described in The Unlikely Disciple

Where was I? Oh yes, the book. It was a thought-provoking read and I highly recommend the book to anyone who would like to dig a little deeper into what they believe or who would like to know what it's like to spend a semester at a strict evangelical college.

Of course, as I wrote above, there were many questions I asked myself, but I will review those in a later post.

Read the book.

Happy New Year 2010!!!

2010-01-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

i can't believe it's twenty ten.

i remember ten years ago when people were nervous about Y2K - computers weren't going to work and the whole world was going to end...

this new year experienced a lot of hype as well... one of my good friends decided to "take the plunge", "tie the knot", "get hitched" - if you will...

johannes met a fabulous woman; they got engaged this past summer and decided upon a winter wedding in siljansnäs, sweden.

the last time i went to a swedish wedding was in 1989 - i was a flower girl in my aunt's wedding and the only thing i remember is my uncle having to change a baby's diaper to prove he could be a good dad... swedes joke A LOT at weddings...

anyway, i wasn't sure what to expect - i was told a LOT of speeches would be given...

the wedding ceremony was different than in the states, no bridesmaids, no groomsmen, no flower girls or ringbearer... they didn't allow ANY pictures to be taken during the ceremony, except by the photographer... this was a bummer for me b/c i have inherited a love for photography...

the ceremony took place at 6pm in the Siljansnäs Kyrka. there were candles everywhere, and white snow blanketed the outside world. it was breathtaking.

after the ceremony, the guests formed two lines and sparklers were handed out; we lit them as the couple headed out of the church to their get-a-way car, an old Volvo, quite classy

the reception was held at a restaurant at the top of Björkberget.
here's how the table was set and some of the decorations. it looked simple, classy and elegant. it was perfect for a mountaintop winter wedding.

the dessert :) yum - it was a mix between ice-cream and pudding - delish!

similar to the states, there was a table where presents could be left.
the theme for the presents was silver and gold.

a picture of Lucinha (Johannes' sister-in-law) and me. she's from brazil; she's friendly and beautiful. i love getting together with her! :)

my favorite parents :) unfortunately, my other (better?) half wasn't able to attend... he had school (he's going for his master's) and work... so i attended solo

ps- thanks for the dress advice kimmy :) i received quite a few compliments ;)

after appetizers, dinner, and dessert we went outside to ring in the new year :)
there was a beautiful fireworks display... more on that later.

at a swedish wedding, many people give speeches in honor of the bride and groom. i gave a speech, half english, half swedish. it was caught on video, so when i get back from the states, hopefully i'll be able to post it here (the internet connection is a little slow).

the wedding ended with a fun choreographed dance put together by johannes & rebecka's friends. it lasted until 3am - the longest wedding i've ever attended...

happy new year 2010!!!

airports, blizzards and the swedish language

2009-12-30T19:30:00.002-05:00

Monday afternoon when I stepped off the plane at the Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm, Sweden I felt a rush of excitement. I'm coming home. It often feels that way when I come to Sweden.

This time, I'm "coming home" to go to a good friend's wedding on New Year's Eve - quite the excitement compared to New Year's Eve in the past where I have been a "youth worker" contributing to a "safe, fun" New Year's for teenagers, young adults, crazy peoples. ;)

I felt "home" and I felt I was "playing the part". I stepped off the plane wearing a skirt, leggings tugged into warm Ugg boots, a down jacket, handmade mittens from Sweden, iPhone, and a handbag. As I hurried downstairs to the baggage claim I thought about the possibilities of my 2 week vacation in Sweden.

First, I changed my money from dollars to kronor and cringed at the exchange rate. Years ago the dollar was strong the the kronor was weak. $1 = 10 kronor - now the exchange rate is $1=7.15 kronor - here's a better way to show it... Approximately 13 kronor per LITER of gas OR $7/gallon. I remember when gas prices were high at $4/gallon - can you imagine paying $7/gallon?

After exchanging my money I looked for my bags. They didn't have a sign to show where I could find the baggage from my airplane. I walked over to an airplane official to ask him and couldn't get the words out of my mouth.

Side note: my sophomore year of high school and one semester of my junior year in college I spent in Sweden. I can speak it fluently most of the time ;)

At this particular moment, I found myself stumbling for words. Of course, many of the airport employees must speak English, however I don't feel right speaking English if I have a Swedish passport in hand

Another side note: My mom is Swedish, my dad is American; I have dual citizenship - maybe this is TMI for the internet?

All goes well and I pick up my bags and head for the doors. I walk outside expecting a blast of cold air, but to my disappointment, it's above freezing and RAINY!

My friend Jakob picks me up and we head for Dalarna (about a 3 hr drive Northwest from the airport). As we drive north, the weather drops from 3 Celsius and raining to -15 Celsius and snowy almost blizzard conditions. Much more satisfying. If I'm going to be in a cold country, I want it to be cold and snowy, not rainy and half-cold.

We took a slight shopping detour, something I didn't mind, and continued to my mormor's house, as all you loyal subscribers read in the previous post, where I was treated to a "riktig" Swedish dinner.

Yesterday was my first FULL day in Sweden and it was quite the day. The morning was spent in my mom's hometown grocery shopping and errand running. We had dinner in the evening and then it was off to a Professional hockey game. During my year in Sweden, I went to most of the HOME hockey games of the team Leksands Stars. They are a professional team and well-known throughout Sweden. The game was an easy win for Leksand 4-0. I took a video and pictures of it, those will come later.

I'm still adjusting to the time here in Sweden. I didn't fall asleep until 3am Swedish time OR 9pm EST. Tonight is proof I'm still adjusting? It's currently 1:22am and I'm not the least tired and I'm the only one awake in the cabin...

I can blame it on the time-change, but maybe it's my addiction to the internet? Aren't vacations supposed to be time away from electronics and such (with the exceptions of cameras as they record important memories). I have to admit, I am addicted to my iPhone and am experiencing severe withdrawals from not being able to access the internet, check facebook, twitter, the weather and other meaningless possibilities the iPhone allows for. Granted, I could probably access the above for a $3000 fee at the end of 2 weeks. At this point, I'm not quite that desperate; although I did sign up for the international plan for the month so I can send and receive text messages and call people; for a marginal fee of $0.50/txt or $1/min.

At this point, those of you who are still reading are most likely bored with the drivel and I should end the blog post.

Enjoy your New Year's Eve :)

Here are two pictures my brother took.

A little red house, typical for Sweden :)

It's so cold the trees are COMPLETELY frosted over!

My brothers put together a time-lapse photo shoot. Once it's posted online, I'll include a link.

PS- Maybe my next post will be about today - shopping w/my cousins - it was quite the experience.

sverige

2009-12-29T04:30:00.001-05:00

I arrived in Sweden, safe and sound. It was quite the trip, but I made it. ;)

My friend picked me up at the airport and drove me to my mormor's house (Mom's mom).

She had dinner waiting for me... Swedish meatballs and potatoes. :)

It was fabulous to see my family and friends. My parents rented a cabin on Bjorkberget; sitting here looking out the dining room window. It's beautiful. White & snowy, clear blue sky, deep snow. It's really cold outside, but it's warm in our little cabin.

I'll leave you with a picture of the sunset :)

picture by Peter MacDonald

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

May you all enjoy Christmas with your loved ones!

Enjoy the hour, the day weekend.

Here's a story that made my eyes tear up... (you know, one of those forwards you actually don't mind receiving)

The Tablecloth
- things happen for a reason

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn , arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had
leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall
of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity, so he stopped in...

One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church. By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later.

She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put
up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and
it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center
aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "where did you get that tablecloth?"
The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had
made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.

The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten "The Tablecloth". The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria . When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church.
The pastor insisted on driving her home. That was the least he could do. She lived on the other
side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.

One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the
pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike?

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was
supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten
Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on
the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

I am not sure if this is a true story or not, but it caught my heart...

christmas shopping & a talent show

2009-12-23T18:00:00.001-05:00

kim and i planned to hang out on dec 22nd since the beginning of november w/caleb, AFTER his studies were completed.

well, dec 22nd rolled around and caleb still had a paper to finish - no celebratory evening w/friends... :(

kim and i decided to keep with our plans of getting together and we went on over to danvers high school to see a talent show. we were there to watch isabelle garcia and her dance team. all i have to say it oh my goodness!!! it was such an amazing show. isabelle and her dance team were phenomenal! it was as though i was watching synchronized swimming on a stage. they were ALL in sync. i was so impressed. it was a high school dance team and they looked as though they could be professionals. granted, i'm no dancing with the stars or so you think you can dance judge, but they were fabulous. isabelle, i totally enjoyed your performance. keep up the good work. please let me know of any future performances!

here's a picture - from my iphone - i know, it's pretty terrible b/c it's from far away...

anyway, after watching the talent show, kim and i headed for some jolly old christmas shopping. i had such a fun time AND i found a gorgeous dress to wear for new year's eve - (big event this year!!! yay Johannes, sooo excited for you and Rebecka)

here's a photo of the newly weds to be...(courtesy of facebook, hope you don't mind J&R - i couldn't find a real good one of both of them, but i will be blogging once their wedding happens!!)

kim bought a few gifts and checked them off her list and i found a fun little present for caleb. then we headed to one particular store in the mall. let me tell you, it was quite the experience. being an individual who works in customer service, i was APALLED at the service. granted, it's christmas and the staff may be overworked AND underpaid... it was none-the-less horrible.
their attire was anything but professional, they were NOT customer service friendly and the employees kept sharing inside jokes with each other as if kim and i weren't there. to top it off, some of them kept letting the f-bomb slip. on the whole i'm not one to use obscenities, maybe in the comfort of my own home w/no one around, but come on peoples!! while WORKING?! if you hate your job so much, then quit, but don't inform the entire store of potential customers you hate your job...
part of me wanted nothing more than to walk out and say, "i'm sorry. this is terrible service and your store is not presenting themselves in a professional fashion" HOWEVER the employees would have probably been pleased had we done that. they're employees, not owners, their livelihood does not depend on the items sold in the store. as long as they show up, work their 8 hr+ shift they will get their paycheck.

after our disturbing experience in that particular store, we left the mall and i dropped kim off at home. we ended up talking in the car for a good 45 minutes. it was great. kim is someone i enjoy talking with and BEING REAL!! haha

why did our conversation have to get going AFTER all the shopping...

anyway... thanks kim for a fun night... i think i'm dead today... sooo tired, but i did get a nice warm shower, so i do feel alive.

for those of you who may not understand the above comment - our furnace blew and the plumbers, electricians, etc were here ALL DAY MONDAY AND TUESDAY. we had NO hot water for TWO DAYS!!!

sara's kitchen's faves - numero tres

2009-12-22T18:00:00.006-05:00

Here's another kitchen favorite!

Caleb and I registered for a waffle maker at Williams & Sonoma. We didn't receive the one we registered for; we were given an even better waffle-maker from my aunt Susan. (thanks Susan)
It is also a VillaWare and it produces delicious waffles with large squares to be filled with syrup, raspberries, strawberries, whipped cream... I could go on!!

VillaWare has been around for 100 years so I definitely feel as though they're qualified to make waffle-makers.

Anyway, Caleb and I routinely enjoy the waffle-maker; I WOULDN'T want to live without it! It makes Saturday brunch and Sunday morning snow days more delightful. Some weekends Caleb will make me breakfast - always waffles.

This past weekend, Saturday morning I woke up and said "Caleb, do you want waffles for breakfast? It's been a while."

Mind you, the last time we had waffles was probably the end of November.

Caleb obliged and I set about to make the batter. (oh do I have a great waffle recipe?!)

We sat down to waffles with maple syrup and orange juice for brunch. We discussed our weekend plans and we probably discussed something philosophical - such happens on a lazy Saturday morning eating waffles with nothing to do the rest of the day...

Well, Sunday morning rolls around; SNOW day! We woke up to this...

...and still snowing. Church was canceled, I was thrilled. Don't get me wrong, I love church, but some days it's nice to NOT go per a certain snow storm. I mean, no one wants to risk their life driving to church, right?

We got busy... no, get your mind out of the gutter... we set about making waffles, again. Twice in one weekend, two times in two days. Delish!

So you can enjoy homemade waffles - none of that box mix... here's a recipe I will leave with you. (this can also be used to make pancakes - just use a frying pan instead of a waffle iron)

Sara's Waffle Recipe (developed from my mom's fabulous recipe)

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

2 eggs

2 tablespoons oil (preferably olive oil, but any can be used)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2-1 teaspoon salt

some sugar (I usually use sugar in the raw - 2-4 tablespoons)

some cinnamon (a teaspoon?)

some vanilla (a teaspoon)

(Optional: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, syrup, whipped cream)

In a medium sized bowl mix the dry ingredients. While stirring, slowly add the milk to the mixture. Add the eggs, oil and vanilla; mix till the batter is smooth.

Heat your waffle iron, spray w/oil to avoid stickage. Spoon batter into the waffle iron, let waffle iron do the rest.

Pull waffle out of waffle iron, put on a plate and serve with syrup, raspberries, etc. ENJOY!

family

2009-12-15T23:00:00.002-05:00

caleb's been studying a lot lately... and to pass time i read, watch tv, waste time on the internet, visit w/friend, find things to do around our apartment... lately it goes like this...

i go to work 8am-5pm (sometimes later)
C leaves for work at 8:30am or 9am, C comes home from work at 6pm, we have a quick dinner and C goes to the library and comes home around 11:15pm...

so you can imagine my excitement today when my cousin invited me over for dinner... it's great having family nearby :) (her husband was meeting up w/a business friend and wouldn't be home)

she made enchiladas :) yum!!

she has two adorable girls...

this was taken september 2008 - we took a rainy trip to singing beach :)

one of the girls was our flower girl last year...

so we had dinner, i got to spend time talking with my cousin, and i got to hang out w/her adorable girls... much better way to spend an evening rather than wasting away on the internet...

when i showed up, her two girls RAN to the front door shrieking, they were so excited :)
they kept interrupting each other to tell me stories of their day and fighting to sit on my lap.
later after they were tucked in bed; my cousin and i got to relax on the couch and talk about grown up things.

sweden

2009-12-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

my friend's getting married on new year's eve...

right after christmas, i'm taking off to sweden...

i'll be there in TWO WEEKS!!! i cannot wait!!! sweden during the christmas season is magical!

this is what i have to look forward to...

Siljansnäs in the Winter

Sunrises and Sunsets like this...

Pepparkakor - Gingerbread cookies

Lussekatt - from Santa Lucia - which was Dec 13th - hopefully my mormor will still have some left for me :)

Ice-skating on Lake Siljan - December parts of the lake will freeze over and if it doesn't snow, it's beautiful to skate on!

Stockholm by Day

Stockhom by Night

not to mention... i get to meet up w/family and friends...

sara's kitchen's faves - numero dos

2009-12-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

back to the kitchen faves...

numero 2...
yes, it's a DISHWASHER!! it may be small, it may not look too powerful, but it does the job!!

this was a gift from caleb's youth group when he left his position as youth pastor... they gave him a surfboard... and me a dishwasher! needless to say, i was psyched.

prior to inheriting this lovely machine caleb did the dishes... just not every day...
since he started full time with his master's program, he doesn't have time to do the dishes, and i'm not really willing to do them (i hate doing dishes, i'll take laundry over dishes any day).

well, this little dishwasher sits on our counter where our drying rack used to sit. it works real hard so we don't have to. sure, we still have to wash the pots, pans, cutting boards and other miscellaneous items by hand, but we pop dirty silverware, plates, bowls, coffee pan, coffee mugs, glasses, etc into this small contraction, hit the start button and an hour later we have clean dishes! can't be beat since we have a small kitchen.
if you hate doing the dishes, this is a wonderful invention to have in the kitchen, no matter the size.

and that wraps up sara's kitchen faves numero dos :)

Water For Elephants

2009-12-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

Recently I finished reading a book called: 'Water For Elephants'

It was such an interesting read. It's about 350 pages long, but it's a fast, easy read. The author, Sara Gruen, wrote a page turner. She chronicles what it's like to be involved in a circus during the Great Depression. Growing up I attended a few circuses at the Barnstable County Fairgrounds and even in Siljansnäs, Sweden when visiting my grandparents, but I often wondered what it would be like to travel with a circus.

She writes about a young Polish man who jumps aboard a moving train to escape a painful life circumstance; the train he jumped belongs to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. He attended Cornell, but he left in the middle of his final exams in his fourth year. Call it happenstance, he ditched school and jumped upon a circus train in need of a vet. Benzini Brothers didn't care about his diploma, they were satisfied to say they had a "vet" as part of their circus. During a lonely time in his life, Jacob finds companionship and rivalry. He meets Marlena, the beautiful and show-stopping equestrian performer, however she is married to August, the charming but moody animal trainer. Another person Jacob ends up befriending is the circus dwarf who is forced to share a "train car" with him. He is the circus vet, he ends up caring for Rosie, the "stupid" elephant who was a ray of hope for the second rate circus.

It was such a refreshing and fun book to read. Opens your eyes to what circus life may have been like almost 70+ years ago... Recommend.

another day in another life...

2009-12-10T07:00:00.003-05:00

... seminary...
...caleb started seminary in september and there have been many changes...

1. less money
2. more bills
3. more time on my hands
4. less time on caleb's hands
5. more time for friends :)

and with that i give you my seminary wives group picture :)

...we met every tuesday for 8-10 weeks...

...camaraderie as our husbands go through school...