Memorial Day on Bantam Lake

Today we went fishing on Bantam Lake with Sarah's dad Mike. We didn't get out on the water until about 6:20pm but the timing was perfect. It seemed like every time Mike and Justin cast out, they were reeling back in a fish. They mostly caught Rock Bass, but Mike caught one Largemouth Bass and Justin caught two Pike (he wasn't too thrilled with those because of their very large teeth). One of Justin's fish even lept out of the water into the boat. You can see the wet fish outline on his shirt - too funny! We had a great time and finished the day off with a beautiful sunset.

Memorial Day Weekend in Bristol

It's Memorial Day Weekend and since we live in a house that faces the Memorial Park in Bristol, it's really hard not to stop and reflect on those who have served our country. Every holiday weekend in the summer, the City of Bristol closes Memorial Boulevard for the community to enjoy the park and the extra space without having to fight traffic. Each year during Memorial Day Weekend, several branches of the military set up booths and displays along the closed road. We are told that the highlight of the weekend is when a Black Hawk Helicopter lands in the ballpark of the Memorial Boulevard Middle School, but unfortunately this year they weren't able to continue this tradition due to the fact that the helicopter was called to be somewhere else. Nonetheless, we still had a great time and it was especially nice to be able to step outside and see everything without even getting out of eyesight of our own home!

Aaron's Visit

This past week we had the pleasure of hosting Justin's brother Aaron while he was visiting New England prior to his departure on a two-month long tour of Europe. Although our brief visit may fail by comparison to the exciting adventures that he will experience in Europe, we enjoyed our time visiting with him and showing him some of our favorite sites.

Aaron arrived in town Saturday evening so we still had the whole day Sunday for a beautiful drive along the coast. We stopped in Branford to view the Thimble Islands and then headed to Mystic before finishing the day at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville. Justin wasn't able to take off the rest of the time Aaron was in town so Sarah arranged to work half days Monday through Wednesday so she could have time to visit with Aaron in the afternoons.

Monday afternoon was spent making last minute preparations for his trip to Europe. On Tuesday, Sarah and Aaron visited Lamothe's Sugar House in Burlington and then headed to Canton for a hike along the Farmington River. Justin was able to get off from work earlier than anticipated so we all decided to end the evening with a trip to the movie theater to see the new Star Trek movie.

Aaron's plane to London was out of the JFK Airport in New York City on Wednesday evening and the original plan was to send him in on the train from New Haven Wednesday afternoon. Plans changed and Sarah decided to ride in with him and tour the city before his flight to Europe. Who would've thought that they could pack in a visit to Times Square, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and FAO Schwarz in less than three hours? Throw in a street vendor hot dog (NYC style) and a soft pretzel and you have the perfect New York City speed sightseeing tour!

Yes, the past couple of days were cram packed, but we thoroughly enjoyed the visit we had with Aaron!

Sarah's Weight Loss Update

Please excuse the bad hair (I was getting ready for bed), but I wanted to share my weight loss journey with those of you who have been asking how it's going. I've lost 62lbs so far since we moved to Connecticut and I plan on losing at least another 60lbs. Before you even ask, no, It's not because of some miracle drug or some new fad diet. I have been on Weight Watchers so I am making very healthy food choices. I also belong to the Gold's Gym here in Bristol and I absolutely LOVE it! I am turning into a gym rat. I'm even training for my first 5k which is coming up in June. I've cleaned out my closet and have donated most all of my clothes except for a few more recent (and better fitting) purchases. I will save this striped shirt for comparison though. Check back for more weight loss updates - I'm not through yet!!!!

~Sarah E. Rose~

Wordless Wednesdays

Thematic Photographic

Carmi, at his blog Written, Inc., has posted another interesting subject for his regular weekly thematic photographic project. This week’s project is "yellow" and once again I couldn’t resist participating and putting my own spin on my interpretation of "yellow."

So many things come to mind when I think of yellow: the sun, flowers, birds, primary colors, etc. If I were to just focus on "things," I could have captured just about anything in my daily life to participate in this week's challenge, but it wasn't the "things" that interested me. Yellow means so much more to us than the physical things that share it's color. Yellow can represent a variety of other intangible things, from bright to caution. Caution, being the inspiration and subject of my entry for this week's project.

I found this slow sign on a recent trip to Massachusetts. It was located on a park access road that was still closed for the winter season. At first all I could think about as I hiked past it was the irony in the fact that the only people to obey its command were those people wandering down the closed road. Usually only meant for vehicles and their drivers, I couldn't help but think this sign had another meaning for me as I walked by. Slow. So much is captured in this simple word of caution.

~Sarah E. Rose~

Mission Accomplished!

For some time now Sarah’s family has been trying to coordinate a visit for her Grandmother (Grandma Lo) in Missouri to visit her Grandmother’s brother (Uncle Ray) in Massachusetts. Obviously, since we now live closer to Massachusetts than Missouri, we too were anxious to see her come up for a visit. Grandma Lo and Sarah’s Aunt Denise arrived last night so we spent the night in Dartmouth and headed over to Rochester this morning for a visit. We started off the day with Mass at a darling little church nestled in the quite community of Marion just a few blocks from the coast. We then went back to Uncle Ray’s house for a nice Mother’s Day lunch. It has been years since Sarah had visited any of these relatives and Justin was meeting many of them for the first time. We had a nice, but brief, visit and were thankful that the family’s secret mission to get Grandma Lo to Massachusetts was finally accomplished!

Dartmouth Massachusetts

Today we headed to Dartmouth Massachusetts for a brief visit with our friends, Derek and Katie Christianson. Derek is the son of our Tennessee midwife Andrea and he and his wife Katie lease a farm in Dartmouth Massachusetts. Our hosts gave us a tour of their home and farm before the four of us headed to the neighboring town of New Bedford for lunch at Freestone’s Grill. We walked around downtown New Bedford (which, by the way, was made famous by the book Moby Dick) before heading back to Dartmouth for a stroll along the coast. It was a particularly foggy day, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a walk along the rocky beach or a hike into the woods.

OLM Youth Family Picnic

Today we held the First Annual Our Lady of Mercy Youth Family Picnic. This was an opportunity for our youth to invite their friends and family to an afternoon of fun, food, and fellowship and we were fortunate to have a very large turnout. Unfortunately, our original outdoor plans were rained out, but no one seemed to mind being in the church gym. Justin manned the griddle in the kitchen cooking hotdogs and hamburgers. Everyone came together by bringing a variety of side dishes – and with many different backgrounds, we had many different foods to choose from (our favorite were the Polish pastries). We played several fun games including a paper airplane contest, tug of war, hula hoop race, and musical chairs. We had a great time and are hopeful that we’ll see many of the new youth faces at other upcoming events.

Life Vest Blues

Sarah’s dad recently purchased a boat over the winter. In anticipation of summer water excursions we decided to go ahead and get Baden his own life vest. Now Baden is not new to wearing clothes – during the winter he donned several cute doggie sweaters, a Santa hat at Christmas, and his own little coat for cold walks outside. We didn’t think the doggie life vest would be any different. We were wrong. We’ve discovered something magical about his new water attire – it completely immobilizes him and puts him in an unusual catatonic state. Maybe because it is bulky and stiff, or maybe it’s because it’s new – we still haven’t quite figured out why it paralyzes him. We haven’t tested it in the water yet, but we are almost certain Baden is okay with the vest’s lack of use. As a matter of fact, we think he might be pleased if we never put it on him again!!