Nurse Mel

Next Door Mormon

2011-02-18T17:50:00.001-08:00

Check out the new blog I post at:

Next Door Mormon

Myself along with some other members of my stake write on a regular basis about every day life of being a mormon.

Our stake has two more blogs as well:

Mormon Perspectives

Real Life Answers

Tomalito! and Honey Lime Enchiladas

2011-01-21T07:51:00.001-08:00

This past Sunday I had friends over and made Honey Lime Enchiladas. I’ve made these before and they are my absolute favorite.

picture via http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com

My roommate Pam made Tomalito. I think it might be the VERY BEST THING I’VE EVER EATEN

picture via http://theepicuriosity.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/sweet-corn-tomalito/

This is not healthy! But please make it today

My first Blizzard

2011-01-21T07:25:00.001-08:00

A week and a half ago, I experienced my first real blizzard. I know I was here in Boston last winter and there were some snow storms, but nothing that compared to this one.

Everyone had work and school off except me, because I’m a nurse and someone has take care of the patients, right?

The snow started in the middle of the night. By the time I woke up, everything was covered. It was so beautiful!

Me being my smart self(or not so smart self) parked all the way deep into the driveway as possible, assuming that my landlord would be there bright and early to plow it. If any of you have been to my house, you know that my driveway is longer than most here in Boston.

An hour before work, me and Jan Marie from downstairs were outside shoveling the driveway. Apparently the landlord had more important business to attend to.

Whew. Shoveling snow is hard work!

Note to self: Park at the END of the driveway, closest to the street, to avoid unnecessary shoveling.

This past Tuesday we had another snow storm, followed by two days of rain. Today, it is snowing again :)

These pictures are from my first blizzard.

Pillow Project

2011-01-12T06:53:00.001-08:00

I started this project back in October and finally finished it this last week. It didn’t take me that long to make each one. An hour tops, for the more difficult pillows.

My favorite is the owl followed by the love birds.

Grandma Sandra: “Alli, what do you think of those love birds(referring to Shel and Brig)?”

Alli: “I love birds”

I don’t think she got the question, because at the time(while they were dating) she wasn’t too fond of the “love birds”

I have lots of new home improvement/fun projects on my mind for this year, we’ll see how many I actually follow through with.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/05/we-like-it-wild-bottle-gardens.html

I’ve had this project on my mind for quite a while now. Kind of cool, right?

p.s. I am experiencing my first New England Blizzard at this very moment. It’s pretty exciting :)

Hatch Shell and Mass Ave. Bridge

2011-01-12T06:35:00.001-08:00

I LOVE Boston! I almost wanted to say that Boston in the summer time is my favorite, but it’s not. I love all the seasons, except when it’s cold and there is no snow.

There is always so much to do.

One night, I got some friends together and we went to the Hatch Shell to watch UP. Everybody brings blankets and picnics and they start the movie at sun down. It was so much fun.

Me and Brooke. Pam

We met up with Annie and Allen. Afterwards Dave, Angela, Jake, Mike, Ted, Kendell and myself went out for ice cream at J.P Licks. Some of the guys were new in town and we HAD to show them the best ice cream.

Another Sunday afternoon. Me, Ryan and Pam walked over the Mass Ave. Bridge after church.

Mom and Dad come to visit Boston Part 4

2011-01-01T21:48:00.001-08:00

This is a long time coming. Mom and Dad came back in October and I am just finishing blogging the rest of the trip

Today we took the T downtown to walk to Freedom Trail. I think this was like my 4th time. I don’t mind it, because I usually don’t make it downtown unless I have visitors in town.

We started by taking the T ferry over to the USS Constitution

The tour is free and it is actually very interesting. I’ve already done the tour three times, so I sat and waited while mom and dad toured the boat.

We then walked over to Bunker Hill monument and climbed to the top. I make everyone that comes to visit me climb to the top and I climb every time too. Except when Cherish and Camilla came and that’s because I was running a marathon the next weekend.

We ended up in Boston Common, then Boston gardens then walked around a bit more.

Aren’t my parents so adorable??? I just LOVE them to death. I am so lucky!

Mom and Dad come to Boston Part 3

2011-01-01T21:44:00.001-08:00

This is a long time coming. Mom and Dad came back in October and I am just finishing blogging the rest of the trip

On Sunday, we went to church then we headed to Quincy to see the John Adam’s houses. I hadn’t been before and was so glad we decided to go. The John Adam’s house is now one of my favorite historical places to go.

The first house is John Adam’s birthplace and house growing up. The next is the house John and Abigail purchased after the war and after living in Europe

The incredible thing about this house is that it was in the Adam’s family for generations. Everything in the house is original to the Adam’s family.

The library was my absolute favorite! It was built by(I think) John Adam’s grandson. It was really interesting to learn all the about John Adam’s son, John Quincy and how intelligent he was. Most all the books are from John Quincy’s library that he collected all over the world. They wouldn’t let us take pictures in the library, so I had to take a picture of a picture. The library sits next to the house and is a separate building. I kept thinking how much Breck would LOVE this.

Next stop was the Longfellow house. I think George Washington lived in it during the war. It is in Cambridge, just across the street from our church building that was burned down and Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s house :)

Then we went to Mount Auburn Cemetery. The most beautiful cemetery you will ever go to.

This is the view of Boston from the top of that tower.

Me and mom in front of my house. Isn’t it cool? We call it the Nottinghill Mansion or the Nottinghill B&B. Take your pic :)

Maine!

2010-12-19T08:04:00.001-08:00

I finally made it to Maine. It’s been on my Boston bucket ever since I moved here. Maine was just as magical as I hoped, except there were no clams to dig :( This was back in October

Everybody got their Maine Lobster except for me. I’ve already tried lobster and am not a huge fan. I did get clam chowder, my favorite. It was good, but Boston Soup Factory makes a better one. I also had a scallops sandwich which was tasty.

We walked through Provincetown, which was actually pretty lame. I don’t plan on going their again.

My favorite part was the lighthouses.

Lighthouses are really magical. I like them.

This is Andrea, she is AWESOME

This was my favorite lighthouse. We made it right at sundown. The sky was beautiful

Let’s face it. Jumping pictures are cool, even if you have to take 20 before one actually turns out

Then I tried digging clams for clam chowder and it didn’t work :(

Then I thought about doing a back hand spring, because that’s what I do when I go to the beach, but I didn’t because I had run 20 miles the day before.

So, I tried to do a hand stand instead, and it didn’t work so well.

Ice Skating at Frog Pond

2010-12-11T22:31:00.001-08:00

This weekend I cooked dinner for a group of 20, then 10 of us went ice skating. I cooked Sweet Potato and corn chowder and beef stew. I also made dinner rolls, which turned out to be awesome. I wasn’t really liking the soup, but everyone else seemed to think it was edible. Skating on Frog Pond has been on my Boston Bucket since I moved here a year ago. I finally went with some of my best Boston friends.

Ted, Austin, Alison, Jenny and Tom

Stephanie, Jan Marie, Annie, Allen, Chad, Molly and Dema

Calvin, Me, Brent, Pam and Dan

Some people were WHIMPS and didn’t come ice skate ‘cuz apparently 25 degrees is too cold or something. Those of us who were willing to brave the cold had a great time.

I only fell flat on my face twice :) I am SO graceful

Brent Lacing up. Nishan is about to try and teach me his killer hockey skating skills. I fail miserably.

Andrea and Darin. Jenny on the Rink

I have silly friends. Brent and Jake being….Brent and Jake :)

Brent and I on the rink. He can skate with one foot and jump without falling.

I’m cool

So…remember when I ran the NYC marathon?

2010-11-19T18:18:00.001-08:00

Yah, that happened.

I still can’t believe it’s behind me now.

One of my RTB friends who also ran NYC posted this on my Facebook wall.

Classic. So true. Minus the last clip of the movie. Luckily, girls don’t have that issue.

Seriously felt like a 90 year old lady the day after.

But, I’m all recovered from the marathon, for the most part and have started back to routine running. It feels great. I’m addicted.

I’m alive!

2010-11-08T16:03:00.001-08:00

The NYC marathon was an emotional, exciting, painful, overwhelming and incredible experience. I feel so blessed that my body let me complete it. $26oo raised for The Barton Center and 1 more marathon checked off my small list of accomplishment.

Saturday morning me and Andrea drove down to Fairfield CT, then took the commuter rail into NYC. We met up with Shandi and Matt from RTB relay and Shandi’s mom at Grand Central Terminal then took the subway to the apartment we stayed at and met Dan there. After settling in, we took a taxi to the expo.

Oops, my number is sideways :)

Me and my personal cheerleader, Andrea.

After the expo, we carbo loaded on pizza then headed back to the apartment for some rest. I was SO nervous. I just wanted to hurry and run and get the marathon over with.

I got my jersey ready to go and made sure I would be set for the morning.

Shandi and I woke up early Sunday morning, got ready and headed to catch the Staten Island Ferry with Shandi’s mom and Matt.

headed to Staten Island…Statue of Liberty in the background On Staten Island…starting the marathon soon. yikes!

I started the marathon at 10:40am. The course was amazing, going through the 5 boroughs of NYC, over two bridges and finishing in Central Park.

The crowds of people cheering were incredible through the entire race.

Here I am at Mile 23. Andrea and Ryan caught up with me here. It was so awesome to see some familiar faces.

My finish time was 4:50. Not as good as I was hoping, but I’ll take it. By the end of the race, I was in so much pain, I didn’t care what time I got.

Here I am about an hour after the race when I finally met back up with Andrea and Ryan. Cold, hungry and exhausted.

Then, we met up with my Reach the Beach Relay/ESPN friends for an after party. Me, Steve, Shandi, Matt and Dan.

We went and got dinner, then headed home. Wow! What an experience. Did I seriously pay to torture myself this way? I’m so glad it’s over.

Thoughts I had while running the marathon:

1. "Wave 3, proceed to your assigned corral." What am I, a horse? There was even straw on the ground. I was so nervous and paranoid, I knew for sure they were really herding us to gas chambers.

2. Hills? This is what they call hills? NO. More like a very slight incline/decline. Reach the Beach Relay, Applefest 1/2 marathon, Boston and St. George Marathon have hills, but NYC definitely does not have hills, and I’m totally fine with that.

3. Wind? Everyone says race day will for sure be windy? I felt no wind. Again, not complaining.

4. Why do I want to cry every 10 seconds…is it because I am so proud of myself for running the marathon, sad because I am in so much pain, inspired by all the disabled athletes competing, missing my nieces and nephews like crazy, or overwhelmed by how incredible this whole experience is. Maybe….all of the above.

5. Why am I torturing myself?

6. Really? guys are already peeing on the side of the course at mile 2?

7. The course either smells like poop or food. why?

8. I kind of want to live in the Bronx, these people seem really cool.

9. Oh my, never mind. Big tall Pimp dressed up in shiny red, forget the Bronx, I’ll stay in Boston.

10. Wishing I was a guy right now because there is seriously a 7 minute wait for the port-a-potty.

11. What kind of people PAY money to put themselves in pain this way. Oh wait, I guess I do.

12. Intermittent thigh cramps from miles 18-26 are excruciating

13. I can’t listen to“Empire State of Mind” by JayZ enough times

14. Since thinking of my nieces and nephews make me cry, I’ll think of Dylan being at the finish line.

15. Ok, the marathon is over AND my legs still hurt like the dickens.

16. Where’s my chocolate milk?!?! Give me some now!

Thanks again so much for all of your prayers, donations and support. I’m so glad I could share this amazing experience with all of you.

20 mile killer

2010-10-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Seriously…am I out of my mind?? What on earth possessed me to map my 20 mile run around Summit Ave.? I think I was feeling a little invincible after my 16 miler and thought I would step it up. I mapped out a 5 mile run which included Summit Ave and Chestnut Hill Reservoir and planned on running it 4 times. After the 1st time around, I realized I made a big mistake. If the hills are as steep in NYC as they were on my run, I will die. I re-routed my course, added some mileage on more flat ground and ended up having to climb up Summit Ave 3 times instead of 4.

Have you ever eaten salt plain? It’s disgusting. I had horrible leg cramps starting at mile 13 to the end of my first marathon, St. George, 5 years ago. A runner suggested salt tablets another source suggested fast food salt packets. I had neither, so I took some salt strait from the shaker. It was gross, but I was cramp free.

My legs were hurting so bad after running though. I was still a mile away from home and had to walk. I wanted to lay down and die on the sidewalk. But I didn't.

Surprisingly, I felt pretty good the next day.

Summit Ave.

2010-10-21T09:17:00.001-07:00

My roommate introduced me to the best place to run hills…Summit Ave. Running up Summit Avenue feels more like a climb. I’m hoping it all pays off for the race :)

The leaves are changing here and it is so beautiful. The weather is getting cold, but I’ve found it’s been easier to run in than the hot humid weather.

Mom and Dad come to Boston Part 2

2010-10-14T09:03:00.001-07:00

On Friday, on our way home from Vermont. We stopped by Camp and Carl’s Diner…mmm.

Seriously, this place if OFF THE HOOK. My meal, 5 large pancakes, home fries and 7 oversized sausages…all for 7$. Mom and Dad both got omelets and home fries. This is soooo not on my marathon diet.

The bathroom is almost as good as the food :)

Next, to camp!

It was so good to go to camp. Mom and Dad met Steve, Camp Joslin Director and I ran into Josh, who I haven’t seen in over a year!! I miss camp….and all my camp brothers :(

After camp, we headed to Salem…which was kind of a disappointment. We were going to go on a trolley tour but they got our tickets mixed up. So, we just ended up walking to The House of Seven Gables then headed back to Boston.

The next morning, we headed down to Newport RI. Dad rented, a trusty scooter while Mom and I walked around the town and toured Breakers, one of the Newport Mansions. The weather was beautiful and the mansions and scenery was incredible.

This is probably my most favorite picture of the trip. Dad was so excited to get his scooter and had so much fun riding around town on it :)

Mom and I didn’t realize that there was parking right next to the mansion we wanted to tour, so we ended up walking 30min to get to the mansion…which we probably needed after eating at Carl’s the day before.

On the way home, we took the scenic route and stopped by a family farm and got a few fresh apples and cider. yum!

After we got back into town, we went to Bartley’s Burgers for dinner.

16 miles and chocolate milk

2010-10-13T20:46:00.001-07:00

This morning I ran 16 miles around the Charles River. It was perfect weather and I felt great! I finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes, which I believe is a 10 mile/min pace. My calves were hurting pretty bad half way through the run, I think they may still be sore from walking up to the top of Bunker Hill Monument. My body was covered in salt and I felt like my legs were going to fall off right after I finished, but I’m just feeling a bit sore now.

I tried the cliff bloks during this run and really liked them. They have the same consistency of gum drops. The only bad thing is that they are hard to chew and swallow while running. The gels are nice because they go down easy, but they taste so nasty.

I LOVE running next to the Charles River and over the Harvard Bridge.

It’s very possible that I drank 32oz of Chocolate milk(600 calories) today. Please don’t judge me :)

Mom and Dad come to Boston Part 1

2010-10-13T14:31:00.001-07:00

Mom and Dad came into town to visit. They spoiled me rotten while they were here. We had so much fun! I’m getting to be an old pro and giving tour guides through Boston and I haven’t gotten sick of it yet! So, come visit me and I’ll show you around :)

The night they flew in, we went to Barking Crab for dinner. yum!

Mom was sooo excited to get her fresh lobster :) I got the crab and corn chowder which was so delicious and Dad got fried shrimp. We all shared. I don’t think I can eat another frozen shrimp again.

The next day, we headed to Lexington and Concord

Our first stop was The Orchard House. The house where Louisa May Alcott wrote “Little Women”

The house is on the left and the school house is on the right, where Mr. Alcott taught school

Next we went to Walden Pond and found one beautiful tree that had fall leaves

Then we went to Old North Bridge where the first shots were fired of the Revolutionary war.

This beautiful tree was near the Old North Bridge

After Old North Bridge, we stopped by the Minute Man visitors center and watched a short film about the ride of Paul Revere and other riders who warned the colonists that the British were coming.

Then, we headed up to Sharon Vermont to the birthplace of Joseph Smith

It was so beautiful there. On the drive up, we were able to see lots of fall leaves. When we stepped out of the car at the visitors center, there was church music playing in the trees…I thought I had died and gone to heaven

Applefest

2010-10-13T12:43:00.001-07:00

Yay!!! It’s fall. I was kind of dreading the fact that Summer is over and Fall is here, but after running the Applefest 1/2 marathon and going apple picking, I’m embracing it! The weather is perfect, the leaves are starting to change colors and there are fresh apples everywhere. This makes for healthy snacking and perfect training weather.

Before the race…clearly I am happy because at this point, I don’t realize how hot it is outside ;)

Me and my new friend I met at mile 12.5 Pretty sure I wouldn’t have crossed the finish line without her :) Turns out she’s Mormon too…small world

Liza, Angela, Me, Jenny, Andrea

I recruited some friends to participate in the race with me so I wouldn’t have to drive up to NH all by my lonesome. These girls are fantastic! The registration for the 1/2 marathon was closed so they participated in the relay and each ran 1/4 marathon.

The weather has been nice…EXCEPT for race day. It was 86 and humid. All you people back in AZ probably think that 86 is nice, but adding humidity makes it horrible. I seriously thought I was going to die. My time was 2hours and 24 minutes which was disappointing. But I finished!

On the way home, we found this adorable family farm and picked apples and bought fresh veggies.

Brooke and Derek Engagement dinner

2010-09-25T20:07:00.001-07:00

I’ve always wanted to throw a dinner party, so when Brooke and Derek got engaged, I figured this would be the perfect excuse. Brooke has been my roommate since I moved to the Nottinghill house in January. I am so sad she is leaving, but so excited for her and Derek to finally get married :)

I planned to have it outside on our deck, but it was a little chilly that evening and got dark early, so we moved it to the dining room, nice and cozy, we barely all fit.

Guests visiting while we finished the dinner prep.

The girls

Molly(roommate), Chad, Pam(roommate), Nishan

Michelle, <3 Brooke and Derek <3, Nikki, Reed

Annie(roommate), Allen, Jenny(roommate), me, Eric

Leah, Brent, Annie

On the menu was steak(grilled by Chad), mashed potatoes(Brooke’s favorite), corn on the cob, salad, and biscuits

Raspberry lemonade made by Annie

Delicious cake made by Pam. awwww…look at the happy couple

I confiscated pictures of everyone and made them into place settings. They were a hit

Reach the Beach

2010-09-25T19:52:00.001-07:00

4 days before Reach the Beach Relay an email was sent out to all the LDS singles in Boston stating a need for two more female runners to join a team made up of people from CT and two LDS singles from Boston. I couldn’t help but reply to the email and inquire more this 200mile relay that starts in Franconia Notch and ends at Hampton Beach . Since I am training for a marathon, I figured this would be good practice. What was I thinking…practice? This race was INTENSE. I thought…no biggie. Run three different legs of the race over a two day period totaling 16miles. I can do that piece of cake. I joined the team and then almost dropped out the Thursday before thinking that it would cut too far into the ward campout, but then realized it would work out and that the relay team might hunt me down and murder me if I didn’t run since they were still short one team member.

I can not even tell you how incredibly happy I am that I didn’t drop out. This race was seriously so difficult but so awesome. I seriously had the BEST relay team ever! Even though they were all super fast, they still made me feel like a million bucks and were there cheering for me constantly.

These are my people :)

Mary, Laura, Shandi(race mom), Scott, Matt, Mike(race dad), Steve, Angie, Dan, Estiven, Me!

Shandi, Matt and Mary(if I’m not mistaken) are also running NYC marathon for charities just like me!!

Cheering for Matt. Leg 2

Shandi finishing her first leg(3), me starting mine(4). Don’t we look so hard core? I think at this transition we had day dreams of winning the race.

The relay can be difficult with factors working against you such as…

eating on the go…candy canes Shandi? really?

Sleeping in the car

running through the night

stretching wherever is convenient

and using these things. We were one of the last teams to run, so you can imagine, they were kind of full by the time we got to them. nasty. I know. AND no running water or showers in between runs.

So, I’m on my third leg of the race. I’ve already run 2.5 miles uphill on this leg alone. I am DYING…for reals. My fantastic team stops on the side of the road to cheer me on and give me our LAST bottle of water. Don’t worry…soccer mom decides the water is for HER. p.s. we don’t know her…she’s not on our team

She takes a sip…pores the rest over head, then throws the bottle with a few drops left on the ground while I attempt to grasp an imaginary water bottle, like if I hold my arm out long enough, a new one will appear. I then realize that a new bottle of water will not appear, I pick up the bottle off the ground with soccer mom’s germs all over it and savor the last few drops.

After my last leg of the race. I said farewell to my lovely team and got picked up by my roommate who took me to the enjoy the rest of the ward camp out which happened to be taking place just 5 miles away from my last run. Crazy right? So perfect!

Shandi finishing up the race…seriously, this girl is a super star!

So, I made it for the afternoon of the ward camp out and starred in this fantastic road show that you can watch here. I’m wearing the yellow, orange and green striped sweater.

Cross Training and Races

2010-09-23T11:05:00.001-07:00

So…apparently I should be cross training as I train for NYC marathon. I was playing tennis for awhile because I am in a doubles tennis tournament, but I guess that’s not the best sport for cross training. I’ve been wanting to pick up swimming. So I did. I stopped my membership at the lame Bally’s fitness(no stair climber…seriously? or classes or pool) and got a membership at the local YMCA. Note to self: Stay out of women’s locker room unless you want to see old naked ladies.

The staff is very friendly and the pool temp was perfect! I swam laps for the first time today. I swam 28 laps with 45 second brake after every 4th lap. Next item of business, buy goggles. My eyes hurt.

Last weekend I ran Reach the Beach Relay in NH. Killer relay, but I had so much fun. Pictures to come hopefully soon for that. I had a fantastic team and we took 137th out of 400 teams. Our average was an 8min mile. Not too shabby when you have me, miss slow poke on your team, running a 9min mile.

This coming weekend is my 1/2 marathon in NH. Wish me good luck!

Running update

2010-09-11T20:00:00.001-07:00

So, marathon training is going pretty well. I ran 11miles on Friday and it was a success! I came up with a new strategy that I had heard of before. You run 1 mile then walk for 1 minute. I calculated that if I ran 10min mile, then walked for 1 minute at 15miles/hour, I can finish the race in 4:30…which would be perfectly acceptable.

I used this strategy on my 11 mile run and it worked wonders. Either that, or this nasty energy gel I ate half way through is what kept me going.

Bleck! this stuff is so yucky, I almost gagged. It comes in chocolate? Seriously? ewww. Chocolate should NEVER be in gel form. I’ll have to say though, mile 10 felt better than mile 1, so it did it’s job.

I also bought these fancy cool water bottles that have a hand strap and a nifty little pocket on the side that holds the energy gel perfectly.

Would like to lose 10pounds by the race…but that is not coming at easily. All this running makes me so so hungry! I just want to eat all the time. I think I have lost about 5 though.

p.s. running is addictive

p.s.s. fundraising letter is coming soon.

Staff Banquet

2010-09-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

I got to head back to camp for the evening for the staff banquet. It was fun to see all my nurse friends and little diabetic brothers. Turns out, more staff are from NY than I thought and will hopefully make it out to watch me torture myself for 26.3miles at the NYC marathon. I LOVE camp so much and am SO SUPER excited to be representing them in the marathon.

Carrie(head nurse), me, and my very first lobster :)

All the nurses…and Gatti

I LOVE these boys so much!

Kitchen re-do

2010-09-11T19:31:00.001-07:00

Remember how our kitchen was this scab red color?

Not anymore.

Labor Day weekend proved to be…laborious.

I LOVE a bright kitchen and our new knife/s&p magnet. Cool, right?

More house projects to come :)

Family fun in AZ

2010-08-18T20:19:00.001-07:00

I made it home for a week to spend some quality time with the fam. The first half of the trip was spent in Heber at Mom and Dad’s cabin celebrating Pioneer Day in Snowflake.

On Saturday morning, we went to the races in Snowflake. I have memories of running in the Pioneer Day races when I was a little girl…now 2o years later, I competed in the races again, along with the rest of the family.

Do you see me there in the middle. Shelby Alli and Dad to the Left of me and Tara on the Right. It was a father daughter race. Unfortunately, we were going against our cousins the Flakes and the Evans girls and their dad and got third place. Better luck next year! They had a mother/son race and father/son race.

It was so funny watching Breck, Nate and Brigham drag mom through the finish line.

Do you see Dad and Nate behind Mr. BYU Idaho? I thought Dad might have a heart attack with that look on his face.

It was so cute watching the kids run. Trevin wasn’t sure at first if he wanted to run, but Grandpa D convinced him.

I have the cutest nieces and nephews ever!!!

Livy doesn’t usually like me. She only likes me when I’m either throwing her in the air or not holding her.

I ran into an old high school friend Jason, what are the odds?

Nate was sure to capture every moment of the parade, including an artistic picture of myself with the girls doing hair in the background and Maddix’s not so happy reaction to the fire truck horn

oh my goodness…don’t you just want to eat them up??

I think Trev was having a hard time getting the whole jumping concept down.

While I was in AZ, Tara and I met up with some friends from Scottsdale, The Capra’s, after hiking Camelback, then went to Last Chance.

Seriously almost died…so out of shape.

Tara with the goods…and this is just the beginning :) Luckily, Shel, Nan and Alli met up with us at Last Chance. We have better luck when all the sisters are together

Signs

2010-08-14T06:22:00.001-07:00

Dearest friends and family,

Do you believe in signs? I went to a running store for the first time today to buy my marathon shoes. As I was telling the store clerk about my marathon, another guy walked in and overheard our conversation. Myself and this guy were both sitting down on the same bench trying on running shoes and he congratulated me on signing up for the NYC marathon. I preceded to tell him that I was running for Diabetes Camp. He asked if I was Diabetic, I said “no, I’m a nurse”. Then he stated “oh, well I am”. What?!?!? Seriously? I met another diabetic while I was buying my shoes for the marathon I am running to benefit diabetics. This is NO coincidence. I think Heavenly Father was letting me know that this ridiculous thing I am doing is good

“Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people…Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Peace, Love and Insulin

Melanie

Words to live by

2010-08-10T20:54:00.001-07:00

Dearest friends and family,

T always has the best quotes and saying posted all over her refrigerator. I found this one and it has become my new “words to live by”

“If, at the end of the day, you’re not hungry, tired and vaguely sore in multiple places, you’re not living hard enough” –Jennifer Graham

Peace, Love and Insulin

Melanie

Sometimes being a nurse really pays off

2010-08-09T09:58:00.001-07:00

Dearest friends and family,

On my way to Vermont today, I got pulled over in NH. Dang it! Why can’t I just learn to go the speed limit. I was going 84 in a 65…ooops. I pulled the nurse card and it totally worked. No ticket for me :) I was going to plead my case by explaining to the officer that I had just signed up to run the NYC marathon for Charity and I was brainstorming ways to fundraise and thus was not thinking about how fast I was going, but apparently saying the word “nurse” did the trick. So, I have decided that the $250 dollars that I would have paid to the state of NH will now be the first donation to camp. That means, only $2950 to go. Baby steps right?

Peace, Love and Insulin

Melanie

p.s. have you ever been to Vermont? The maple syrup is seriously out of this world. no joke!

Dad’s blessing

2010-08-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

In 13 short weeks, I will be running the NYC marathon and raising $3200 for The Barton Center for Diabetes Education. Yep folks, 13 WEEKS. I mean really, who is crazy enough to train for a marathon in 13 weeks…I am, because I LOVE camp and apparently feel the need to challenge myself.

When I received the newsletter from camp saying they were still looking for runners to join the charity team for the NYC marathon, I couldn’t pass up the offer to help out a cause that I am so passionate about. Before I signed up, thinking I might be going crazy to think I could train and raise money in such a short time, I consulted with my completely logically and practical father who seemed to think it was a fantastic idea. So, here I am, in marathon and fundraising mode 24/7 for the next three months.

Here on my blog, I hope to give you a peak inside all my training and fundraising shenanigans as well as help you understand why I am so passionate about this organization.

Peace, Love and Insulin,

Melanie

Turning 25

2010-07-25T22:41:00.001-07:00

I decided to have a party this year because last years birthday was extremely-overly-uneventful. And, since I was feeling a little anxious about turning the big 2-5, not that I think 25 is old or anything, I felt that broadcasting it to all my friends would ease the pain. It worked!! 25 isn’t so bad after all.

We had people over on our fancy back patio, played music, had hot dogs and treats and just chilled. Plans for a movie on the big screen were nixed when that darn projector wouldn’t turn on. Thanks for hauling all the equipment over anyway Brent!

My sweet friends setting up the movie screen and me with one of my most favoritest people ever, Summer!

Molly even made me a special funfetti birthday cake. Yum! Holding the cake and standing back as far as possible so I don’t spit in his face is Chad, my new doubles partner for the tennis tournament!!! Yay! More on that later.

25 Reasons why I love life right now

1. I live in Boston, the coolest place ever

2. I have the most adorable nieces and nephews and best family ever

3. I am in good health

4. I have a good education and job

5. I just bought a sewing machine with a ruffler attachment

6. I get to play in a tennis tourament

7. I’ve been able to take lots of vacation time this summer

8. I spent a week at camp J with my boys(and nurses)

9. I just finished reading the best book ever, The Screwtape letters

10. I’m making lots of fantastic friends in Boston

11. I have a small garden on my deck

12. I have a car that can transport all the trash I find at estate sales

13. I get to drive by the Boston Temple on my way to work

14. I live near the beach

15. I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

16. I live in a really cool old house

17. I love the patients I work with

18. I get to visit AZ and my family twice in one month

19. I have a washer and dryer that is not coin operated

20. I get to drive down Memorial Drive on my way to church

21. I live in a place with four seasons

22. I just traded out my twin size bed for a full.

23. I have a window ac unit in my room

24. I have roommates that are fun to talk to and kill nasty centipedes for me when necessary

25. I have parents who support me in all my decisions

Cancun!

2010-07-22T07:20:00.001-07:00

I got the opportunity to go to Cancun with Annie and her two roommates Sarah and Rachel from BYU. We had so much!!

We stayed in a 5 start resort!!! high rollers we are…thanks to Annie’s parents, that is. We even had our own personal concierge named Fabian.

The first day we hung out on the beach, then took the city bus to Walmart. Yes, Walmart…complete with any kind of souvenir you would want and tropical fruits and veggies.

We had so much fun cooking our own meals. Aren’t we so domestic?

The second day we went to the Isla de Mujeres. While we were there, we went snorkeling, held a nurse shark and drove around in a cute little golf cart.

Waiting for our boat ride to the island

Isn’t it beautiful?

The spot where we snorkeled

Talk about scary! I almost wet myself….especially when the shark started escaping

Chillin on the golf cart

Waiting for our boat ride back. We were exhausted…obviously

On Wednesday we went to Chichen-Itza. It was pretty amazing…and our tour guide was hilarious. I actually think my favorite part of the whole day was jumping into the crystal clear water hole. It was disgustingly hot and humid out, I thought I might die.

Trying on some super cool hats at the market

We were having a bit of a timing issue coordinating the jump…clearly

This was the most refreshing water I have ever swam in. I don’t know if it’s because the water was so clear or because it was so hot and humid out.

Sarah and I jumping

On the way home, we ate an authentic Mexican lunch. Tell me why in Mexico, they expect tips when you use the restroom? When I went to use the restroom the “restroom ladies” were looking in the mirror doing their make-up. When I went to wave my hand over the paper towel dispenser, the little Mexican lady quickly reached her hand in front of me to motion the dispenser to dispense a towel. Really? I’m going to give you tip for that? No, I don’t think so.

Thursday was my birthday!! This birthday is definitely on the list of memorable birthdays. Annie was so sweet and secretly got a hold of sister Shelby to find out our birthday traditions. When I woke up, the girls whispering and giggling in the kitchen while blending up the German pancake mix.

Don’t we all look so fantastic at 8am? The pancakes were so delicious….mmm.

Today we hung out on the beach. Sarah and I got our first sailing lesson! It was a dream come true.

Our first time out alone, the boat may or may not have tipped over…oops. Good thing the water was like 4 feet deep. By the end, we were pros…kind of, not really.

I am pretty sure that a storm came rushing in while were out there alone on our little sail boat. So, the trip was cut a bit short.

We headed back to our room for a bit to let the storm calm…then came back out and played some volleyball with the locals.

We had a little trouble capturing the back handspring….after like 10 times, I think we got.

That night, we went out to eat.

Dinner was delicious

For dessert, Annie made my favorite cake. Seriously, Annie got like 5 gold stars in my book that day.

I had a little bit of a meltdown when I realized that this year, the amount of candles on my cake exceeded the number of candles in one box(24). Oh well, life goes on.

The trip was too short. I flew out early the next morning. Thanks girls!!!! For such a fun time and for including me in your trip. Where are we going next? Greece, please?

Camp Teaser

2010-06-28T17:57:00.001-07:00

Just stopped by camp for the weekend to help bring in the first round of campers. I can’t believe it’s already been a year that I first came to Massachusetts. Walking into the infirmary brought back so many memories of last summer. It was such much fun to see all my little brothers from camp and nurses that returned that I missed so much. It was hard to leave again…but I’ll be back in a few weeks.

Don’t they look so precious AND obnoxious. They are exactly that…and I love them for it.

25 isn’t so bad…

2010-06-26T22:34:00.001-07:00

and neither was Cancun. In fact, it was pretty much amazing. Way too short.

You’ll hear more from me after I collect all the pics from the other girls.

Headed to camp tomorrow. Can’t wait!

Then to AZ in a few days for “business”. Don’t worry all you AZ people…we’ll chillax when I come to visit at the end of July

Sayonara

2010-06-20T06:42:00.001-07:00

Next time you hear from me….I’ll be a Quarter-of-a-century!!!! Old right?

and

I’ll fit the description of my name

Melanie \m(e)-la-nie\ is pronounced MEL-a-nee. It is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "black, dark-skinned"

Yesterday was a little appetizer to the feast I am about to enjoy

Yes, I live near this fabulous beach. Just another awesome thing about Boston!! This helps remind me that all those parking tickets, somehow, pay off.

It’s a wonderful thing when you can wake up in the morning, get things done, go to the beach and be back in time for the annual ward canoe-b-que

Do you see me, poking my head out towards the back?

Did I ever mention how much I HATE Boston?

2010-06-14T11:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I don’t hate it. But I hate these…

For those of you people in the west….this is what a parking ticket looks like. I know you may not be familiar with them, because in the west, you can park wherever you want to, and not get a ticket. I swear, this is really cramping my style. I’ve paid almost all of them, but I have to finish paying the rest before I can change my AZ drivers licence to an MA one…and the license has to be converted before I can update my car registration to my new address…and my car registration has to be updated before I can get a resident parking sticker…and that has to be done so that I don’t get a ticket parking for parking in front of my house. Ridiculous.

Show and Tell

2010-06-12T20:34:00.001-07:00

I LOVE playing show and tell.

This morning, myself and two friends hit up some awesome estate and garage sales.

How adorable is this measuring cup/juicer. I love it! $3. Pretty sure they sell something like this at anthro for way more.

Picture frame $5. I smell a project in the air. This has potential for I’m thinking either a chalkboard or corkboard. Any suggestions?

File cabinet $5. I was looking forever for a vintage filing cabinet that I could paint and use as a bedside table. They go for $20 at the thrift store in the ugliest of colors. When i saw this one, already painted in one of my favorite colors, I couldn’t pass us the deal.

$4 necklace. Kind of hard to see the detail, but the big round things are actually shaped as roses.

Found these super cool glasses. Aren’t these back in style? If so, I don’t think I can pull them off and I’m not willing to risk it.

I was really loving this yellow door and had to have a picture with it….cuz I’m cool like that.

After hitting up 5 sales, we were famished {Thrifting uses up lots of calories ya know, sifting through all that junk} so we stopped by Darwin's. My new favorite sandwich shop. You should go there some time.

Thanks Andrea and Kiersten for helping make my rainy Saturday full of sunshine :)

In one week…

2010-06-12T14:09:00.001-07:00

I will be here

Wearing this

Reading these

Try not to be jealous

Arizona friends

2010-06-08T21:50:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I had some friends from AZ visit for a few days. They started in NC and made their way up the coast. Boston was their last stop. We fit a lot in a few days. I haven’t laughed so hard in awhile. I’ve been a little home sick lately so it was perfect to have some AZ friends to visit.

Camille, Jeremy and Kris drove into town late Thursday night. We stayed up til 2am visiting, then woke up at 9am for a delicious breakfast of burnt bacon, Jeremy’s delicious eggs and stuffed peaches and cream french toast. Then we returned their rental car, parked my car in East Boston and took the T to the North End to start the Freedom Trail. Above is a pic of Camille, Jeremy and I at Paul Revere’s house.

Jeremy with his super cool glasses. Jeremy, Kris and I in front of Old North Church

Next, we headed over to the USS Constitution. This was my third time going, still not sick of it.

We walked over to Bunker Hill Monument and climbed the steps to the top. Then, took a rest on the grass while we ate lunch.

The nice icecream truck guy informed us of the T ferry that takes you from the USS constitution to Aquarium T stop. AWESOME!! How come I never knew about this? For $1.70 and a beautiful view of the North End and harbor+ it saves you a long walk.

Jeremy was so dead set on seeing the site of the Boston Tea Party and Boston Massacre. After walking a billion city blocks to find the Tea Party site, we found out it burnt down. Fabulous. Jeremy was also a bit disappointed when the site of the Boston Massacre was simply a small plaque.

We ended the Freedom Trail at Boston Common for a nice nap, then Jeremy and Kris insisted on joining the Protest.

We took the T back to East Boston, hopped in my car and drove to Harvard Square, my favorite place! We walked around old Harvard Campus and got a picture with the Harvard Statue..Can you believe we had to wait in line to get our picture…seriously?

Then we ate at Bartley’s Burgers…my new favorite place. I think might even be better than Joes Farm Grill

On Saturday, we went and toured Fenway Park

Next, we stopped at Walden Pond and had a picnic. My first picnic with my picnic basket…yay!!!

Then we stopped by Old North Bridge. I got harassed from my Boston friends for not taking Tara here when she came, so I made sure to come this time.

Ooops. I told Jeremy that size small is actually HUGE too late…and he ordered a large before I could tell him. This ice cream is to die for. Mine is actually the smallest size you can get, and it’s huge.

On our way home from Concord and Lexington we stopped by the temple. Isn’t it beautiful? I get to see it on my way to and from work…all the time.

I convinced the guys to change my headlight and reverse light which had been burnt out for a few months now…oops.

My new favorite flower. Peones. Isn’t it beautiful. It’s actually a lot more beautiful in real life.

Bright and early Sunday morning, I took my friends to the airport :( So sad. I wished they could have stayed longer.

It’s been awhile

2010-06-07T21:47:00.001-07:00

I know, I’ve been horrible at posting. Here’s somewhat of a recap of this past month.

Feeding the Sis. Missionaries. I LOVE having them over. Gives me an excuse to cook! BBQ pizza. Try it sometime. It will knock your socks off. First, make your pizza dough, divide in individual size, roll it out, throw it on a greased grill for a few minutes, flip it over when the bottom gets brown, top with bbq sauce, bbq chicken, red onion, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, let the cheese melt, by the time the cheese is melted the other side of the dough should be cooked, take off the grill and top with cilantro.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY Mom, Grandma Nena, Grandma Sandra and all you other moms out there, and Happy Mother’s day to ME!!! apparently. I ended up going in to work on Mother’s Day so another mother could have the day off and was presented this card from my precious 54 yo handicapped patient. I LOVE her sooooo much! and I guess she loves me too, since i am “like her mom”. awww presh. I love my job. made my day.

Made salt and pepper shakers. After my roommates stewed over the fact that their obnoxious roommate would not put her empty soda bottles away, they realized, that “oh, they are in fact, salt and pepper shakers”. silly girls.

Last but not least, I got the opportunity to go to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park with this little dude. Again, LOVE my job!

Can we all just take a moment to admire my beautiful sisters?!? I am so lucky! Mr. Maddix is getting chubby without his aunt melly there to watch :(

and my other nieces and nephews are growing too fast!! The end of July isn’t coming soon enough.

Tara visits: Last day :( Bunker Hill Monument climb and shopping in Quincy Market

2010-05-11T20:22:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe how fast the time went. Tuesday morning, we got up and drove to Bunker Hill Monument to climb the tower. I kept telling Tara, “This will take a lot fast than you think” she wouldn’t believe me. I win. It took no longer than 5 minutes. She thought it would take 30. I didn’t say EASIER I said FASTER. My heart was racing by the time we reached the top…and I’m embarrassed to say, my calves still ache. After we finished, Tara said, whoa, that was really fast. Want to go again? Are you kidding me? NO I’ll lay on the lovely grass, while you go climb it again. I already saw the beautiful view and don’t see the need to climb AGAIN. Tara wouldn’t do it alone, so we left and went shopping in Quincy Market

Don’t I look so thrilled to be there?

It really wasn’t as bad as I am making it sound. and the view was AMAZING

I miss you already Tara. Come again soon. I can assure you there is plenty more to see.

Tara visits: Shopping, Sofra Bakery and Mt. Auburn Cemetery

2010-05-11T08:22:00.001-07:00

Monday morning started out rainy, so we decided to head to the mall to go shopping. We hit up Cambridge and Burlington Malls. After that, we headed to a middle eastern bakery called Sofra. We got the sesame cashew cookie and chocolate hazelnut baklava. Both were to die for, although the baklava was a bit rich. I would eat this over Mike’s Pastry any day. My roommate Brooke is always talking about Mt. Auburn Cemetery and told us to go there, but we didn’t really plan it into our schedule. Luckily, we passed by it on our was to Sofra which was just down the street and had time, so decided to stop by. I am so glad we did. The cemetery was amazing.

We climbed up the spiral stairs to the look out point, to prep for the bunker hill monument climb

After the cemetery, we went to Harvard Square. I love Harvard Square. We did some shopping there, then went to Border Cafe for dinner. Note to self: next time, don’t order TWO deep fried dishes to share. Through almost the whole trip, Tara kept insisting that we share meals. Finally, I put my foot down and said, let’s order two meals and she graciously agreed. After dinner, I was wishing we would have stuck with her idea. Big sister always knows best…apparently

That night, we rented The Young Victoria and watched it with Brooke and Derek. Fantastic movie I might add

Tara Visits: Church and Winthrop

2010-05-11T08:17:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we went to church where Tara got to meet all my church peeps :) Above is just a lovely house in Cambridge. Cambridge might just be the loveliest place on earth. I love it.

After church we drove around Winthrop, and adorable town near East Boston that not many people know about. Cute homes, beach front property, and unfortunately, horrible air traffic.

Tara visits: Freedom Trail and Sailing

2010-05-07T17:45:00.001-07:00

Today, Saturday, we went to downtown Boston to walk through the Freedom Trail. We took the subway and started at Boston Common.

The Massachusetts State House

The Park Street Church

The Granary Burying Ground

Kings Chapel

Old State House

Faneuil Hall

Near the Harbor

Sailing

I got to help. I practically sailed the boat on my own. Not really. But I kind of want to take up sailing this summer now.

Time for lunch…at Mike’s Pastry

A famous pastry shop in the North End that was delicious, yet slightly disappointing. Tara and I both prefer pastries from another bakery which I will blog about soon.

Paul Revere House

USS Constitution

by this time, we are exhausted, feet are hurting

Bunker Hill Monument

Inside this tall monument is a spiral staircase you can climb. Unfortunately, it was closed by the time we made it there. What a shame…I guess we can’t climb up a million flights of stairs after we’ve been walking all day. Don’t worry, Tara is a health nut, she insisted that we drive back two days later just to climb the stairs…she can’t back down to a challenge such as this

Who knew the Charlestown area of Boston was so adorable….I could live here

Tara visits: NYC

2010-05-07T13:28:00.001-07:00

We got up early Thursday morning to drive to NYC. Yay!!!! I was so excited…and Tara was too. It took us about 4 hours to make it in to Manhattan where our hotel was. Wow! New York City is BIG. I am little embarrassed to say that before I laid eyes on NYC, I thought I lived in the “big city” of Boston. Are you kidding me? Boston is to New York City as ant is to elephant. I just kept looking up and couldn’t believe how tall the buildings were. One other fantastic thing about NYC is the grid. Take note of the two maps below

Notice how Manhattan on the Left, has a gridline. Boston, on the right, is ridiculous. I still love it though! My point is, NYC was very easy to get around.

We arrived in NYC around 11am. We dropped our car off at a parking garage for a nice price of $40 a day. Nice, right? We walked down to central park, which was only a few blocks from our hotel and were already exhausted. Pathetic, I know. Our first stop was to the American Museum of Natural History. It was really neat. I would say a well $16 spent.

The dinosaur bones were a highlight

As well as all the collections of bugs, creatures and sea life

We thought it was pretty nasty that a mosquito this large actually existed until we realized it was a larger than life model.

After the museum, we went and checked in at our hotel Belleclaire. It was cute, and super super tiny. We laid down for a few minutes, then headed back out to explore the big city. We took the subway down to Time Square

Tara kept saying “aren’t you worried the city is going to blow up or a tidal wave is going to come? You know, like you see in the movies.” and I kept saying “Seriously? you seriously worry about this happening?” don’t worry, 2 days later a car with a bomb inside was found right in Time Square. Luckily we were back in Boston and luckily they were able to detonate it before it went off.

It wouldn’t be a trip to NYC without going to a show on Broadway. We stood in line at TKTS and got half price tickets to South Pacific. Our seats were four rows from the front! On the way to the show, we were looking to find a place to eat. Note to self: don’t be fooled into thinking a restaurant is good just because the Italian lady with an Italian accent who works at the restaurant says it is. She tricked us into eating there and practically forced us to order the “papardelle pasta” with pesto, which was ok, but a bit watered down.

After dinner, we continued walking to Lincoln center where the show was and accidently ran into the LDS Manhattan Temple. What are the odds? It was really cool to see an Angel Moroni right in the middle of the city. We walked in to take a look around and use the bathrooms. The temple and church building are side by side in the same large building

Across the street from the temple was where South Pacific was playing.

The girl who played the lead was so adorable. We loved the show

What a day.

Friday morning, we slept in.

Then we took the subway down to Battery Park where you catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The line to take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island wrapped around the park…it was so long. I waited in line while Tara went and did a bit of shopping. There were interesting street performers such as the guy below.

The line moved a lot quicker than expected and Tara made it back just in time to go through security.

The view on the ferry looking back at Manhattan was beautiful.

After the Statue of Liberty, the ferry takes you to Ellis Island.

It was interesting to go through the museum and see what the immigrants had to go through to enter the country

Are those children odd looking? or is it just me? After the museum, we took the ferry back to Manhattan and walked to the 9/11 memorial near ground zero. Right now they are in the process of building a memorial on ground zero. Then, we walked up town through SoHo then took the subway back near our hotel. We stopped by Shake Shack for dinner, a burger place that would put In-n-out to shame. We took our dinner to central park and ate there. Then, we were headed back to Boston.

But, it couldn’t be a complete trip without stopping by McDonalds for ice cream in memory of Grandma Sandra.

Tara made it in to McDonald’s wearing non-matching shoes. Something, I might add, that I could picture Grandma Sandra doing as well. Love ya gramsies ;)

Tara Visits: Lexington, Concord, MFA and North End

2010-05-07T11:46:00.001-07:00

Tara came to visit. I can’t believe it’s over. We had so much fun! I picked her up at the airport Tuesday night April 27th. On Wednesday, it was rainy and 48 degrees. I couldn’t believe it. The weather has been so beautiful lately.

First, we stopped by Lexington to the visitors center to pick up a map. At the visitors center, they said the minute man visitors center and movie was a must see. The video was interesting and showed the ride of Paul Revere and the events of the beginning of the revolutionary war. After that, we drove to The Orchard House in Concord which was the home of Louisa May Alcott author of Little Women. She wrote the book while living in this home with her family. It was interesting to learn about her and her family’s lives. I just ordered a book written by her entitled Hospital Sketches. I can’t wait to read it. Apparently, Louisa was a volunteer nurse during the civil war and wrote about it.

Following that, we wanted to stop by the home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond, but both homes were closed and it was too chilly to hang out at the pond. Did you know that the Alcott’s, Emerson and Thoreau were all neighbors and friends? How is it possible for 3 neighbors to all become famous? I thought that was interesting.

After that, we did a little shopping(of course), then headed over to the Museum of Fine Arts. It is free on Wednesdays!

The museum has much more than just paintings. It has artifacts, really old statues, musical instruments and other stuff.

After the museum, we met up with Annie, Brooke and Brad for dinner in the North End. The North End is a part of Boston that has a lot Italian culture. We went to Giacomo’s. The butternut squash ravioli was delicious, the salad, not so much. Love the North End, hate trying to park there. We ended up spending $17 to park in a parking garage. Booo.

60 degrees and sunny

2010-04-02T08:22:00.001-07:00

I’ve never been SO excited about sunny 60 degree weather than I am today!

I hope my plant clippings with eventually sprout roots so I can replant them. Got the idea from this post

Luckiest Aunt

2010-04-01T21:28:00.001-07:00

Pretty sure I’m the luckiest aunt on the planet….anyone willing to try and argue that?

Chalk board and thrift stores

2010-03-30T09:38:00.001-07:00

My roommate Brooke and I have been on a project kick lately. I found this super cool and ugly mirror in our basement and thought it could use a transformation. You know when you start a project and imagine it being so fast and simple and it turns out taking much longer and more difficult than you expected? That happens to me ALL the time. Anyway, here it is! Not perfect, but I think it looks great.

Before

During

After

Amazing what a little spray paint can do, right?

Next small project. An ikea frame that came free with that problem dresser I bought awhile back. The frame with the ugly pictures sat outside my room forever and Brooke, being the clean person she is, kept wondering if I was going to do something with the darn thing or throw it out. So, we decided to put some new prints in it and hang it in the house, since our house needs some serious help, the walls being bare and all.

Before

This frame was made to be hung as is. It’s not one of those “open up the back and insert your personal pictures in it” kind of frames. Brooke had to pry off the staples on the back to get it open. Anyway, fun, easy, project

After

On Friday, I made it to my favorite thrift store of all time. It’s kind of far away, so I only make it there when I happen to be working in the area.

First, I got this amazing painting for $8. Goes perfect in our living room

Then, I got this fantastic picnic basket. I’ve always wanted one…and now i have it. Probably one of my best finds ever…only $4!!!

It’s it cute? It’s in perfect shape and it came with a set of four plates, cups and utensils. And some day, me and my true love will have a picnic with my picnic basket. If you find him, will you let him know I’m waiting??

Bruins Game

2010-03-29T07:29:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Dylan, Tom and I went to the Bruins game. It was lots of fun…and we won!! We met up with Molly and Janey during one of the breaks.

Contempt for Facebook

2010-03-23T08:40:00.001-07:00

LOVE this. Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I pulled it from :(

Spring must be near

2010-03-23T08:35:00.001-07:00

The weather this past week was BEAUTIFUL. It put me in the best mood ever. It felt just like an AZ winter. The sun was shining, it was 60 degrees. I couldn’t get enough. I had Thursday off and so did my roommate Brooke, so we took advantage of it and had some fun.

First we went and got manicures for FREE at a place that needed volunteers to practice on. The girl that did mine did a fabulous job and now I have beautiful bright red nails to show it. After that we took our roommate Ashlie to the airport then stopped in East Boston so I could get gas, avoid the annoying $3.50 toll at the airport, and show Brooke my old stomping grounds. East Boston = ghetto…and i LOVED it. kind of.

Next, we stopped by this amazing Danish pastry bakery. HEAVEN.

Then, we stopped my Home Depot to pick up spray paint or a project we are working on(more on that later) and some herbs and plants to beautify our home.

We came home, went on a walk to find rocks to go in the bottoms of our plant displays…and here is the final product.

please excuse bad photography. someday, I will learn from my amazing sis-in-law

I love them. Lets hope they grow in the jars we put them in

Friday morning we went and played Tennis. Let’s just say I was a little rusty. It’s been awhile

Meeting Maddix

2010-03-23T08:17:00.001-07:00

This post is well over due. A few weeks ago I made it home to meet my new nephew. He is so adorable. I forget how tiny newborns are. It was a quick trip, but so nice to my family. I hardly took any pics. The ones below are compliments of Shelby

We also had a girls night. Tessa was so adorable. She was so so excited about “Girls Night” and made these little party favors. Complete with toothpicks, jewels and sprinkles.

We also gave each other pedicures. Too much fun!

Don’t I have the two cutest nephews ever!?!?!? I am so lucky!

I can’t wait to see my family again. Tara is coming in a month and I can’t wait!!!!

p.s. this was my first trip home without going to Last Chance. What was I thinking?? Oh right, I came home to see family, not shop.

Feminism is SO overrated

2010-03-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

"You were not created to be the same as men. Your natural attributes, affections, and personalities are entirely different from these of a man. They consist of faithfulness, benevolence, kindness, and charity. They also balance the more aggressive and competitive nature of man. The business world is competitive and sometimes ruthless. We do not doubt that women have both the brain power and the skills to compete with men. But by competing they must of necessity, become aggressive and competitive. Thus their godly attributes are diminished and they acquire a quality of sameness with man. The conventional wisdom of the day would have you be equal with men. We say, we would not have you descend to that level."

-President Ezra Taft Benson

Stole this quote from this blog, who stole it from another blog

Before and after: dresser

2010-02-17T14:38:00.001-08:00

This project has been the most time consuming project I’ve ever accomplished. I bought this dresser on Craigslist for $20 and thought I could have some fun giving it a new paint job. While I was contemplating what color to paint it, I ran across a before and after on this blog and thought how easy it looked, to just strip the paint off and keep it a natural wood color. I was definitely wrong. What a nightmare.

I applied coat after coat of paint stripper. Then sanded it down…in my room. oops, saw dust EVERYWHERE

Here is the dresser after I sanded it

The final product. I would say it’s a little rustic. I didn’t quite get all of the white paint off…but I think I like it that way

I just spray painted the old knobs blue. I’m not sure how I feel about them. I think it kind of makes it look like a little boys dresser.

Happy Valentine’s Day

2010-02-14T05:48:00.001-08:00

Who says you have to have a boyfriend to enjoy Valentine’s Day? I have 5 sweet little Valentine’s back home and am missing them like crazy. In fact, one of them I haven’t even met yet.

I’m the luckiest aunt on earth! In Mckenna’s words “I miss those little bum bums” :)

Love this quote by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations. Love is the power that initiates friendship, tolerance, civility, and respect. It is the source that overcomes divisiveness and hate. Love is the fire that warms our lives with unparalleled joy and divine hope. Love should be our walk and our talk. When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden.”

http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1117-7,00.html

Estate Sales and other favs

2010-02-13T10:05:00.001-08:00

One of my new favorite things about Boston are Estate Sales. I love them! I’ve been to one in Arizona, but they have them here all the time. It’s so interesting to me to peek into someone else’s life. Also, what I’ve found is the same stuff is way cheaper than going to a thrift store. I’ve been wanting to hit up some Estate Sales for awhile but they are usually on Saturday mornings and I work a lot of Saturday mornings. I finally had this weekend off and went to one in Newton. I also happen to find a few that were going on yesterday that I went to as well. The people you meet at Estate Sales are interesting too. Kind of weird. But interesting. I drove all the way to Hingham to one yesterday and was slightly disappointed. The guy selling there was so weird. I saw this really plain metal standing lamp and asked him the price. He preceded to give me a detailed history about the lamp, then told me, he would price it at $350, but that he would give it to me for $150. Are you kidding me? Excuse me sir, I shop at thrift stores. If I wanted to spend THAT much on an old ugly standing lamp I certainly wouldn’t be sifting through your trash. I couldn’t drive all the way there and not buy anything so I did leave with this cute little piece of art with a Boston scene on it for $2 and the wicker basket filled with yarn for $8(which I believe was overpriced). I have a new hobby, crocheting :) more on that later

The other 2 estate sales were pretty neat. I bought a $20 desk that needs a new paint job(pictures of that another time) and some other fun things

Some adorable vintage table clothes $1 a piece

Sweet camera $2 I think it might even work if I buy film for it

Lastly, some thrift store finds

material for potential aprons $2

silk scarf? $2 I’m going to make a pillow out of this

Art work $2

Cannisters $4 for the set

Some other fun new things I got

My new yellow rain boots that I am absolutely in love with(not a thrift store find)

My new fantastic shoes from Aunt Elaine. Thanks Aunt Elaine. She had the “M” put on the side especially for me ;)

And the curtains I so proudly sewed(is that a word?) while I was visiting AZ. Material is unsurprisingly from Goodwill

I think that sums it all up.

bragging rights

2010-02-11T18:54:00.001-08:00

I have a new nephew!!!! I wish I could see him right now so bad. My little sister Shelby delivered him this past Tuesday. His name is Maddix. Is he not the most adorable new born you’ve ever seen? Maybe I’m partial, but I’ve seen many newborns working in L&D and I know that all babies are not created equal as far as looks go, but this little guy is just too cute! He looks just like his daddy, but has his mom’s coloring. I want to fly home right now and hold him…and give Shelby a big hug too :( He was 6lbs12oz and 21 inches long.

Carrot Cranberry Walnut Bran muffins

2010-02-03T19:08:00.001-08:00

Looking for a healthy delicious snack? Try these….they are my fav. I add craisins instead of raisins and I throw some walnuts in too. Go ahead and add what you like. I’ve tried blueberries, but they didn’t do it for me. The picture is horrible…but I’m telling you. They are so so delicious. I eat them plain…no butter or anything. I got this recipe from recipezaar

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-bran cereal (such as all bran, bran flakes)
2/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup brown sugar (I often add only 1/4 cup for breakfast muffins)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups skim milk, with
2 teaspoons lemon juice (or 1 3/4 cup buttermilk)
2 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (or pumpkin, or just margarine)
1 cup carrot, grated
1 orange, rind of, grated (optional, but recommended)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cereal, raisins (you may add the raisins in with the wet ingredients if you prefer), sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.
In a large bowl, combine egg, milk, margarine, applesauce, carrot and orange rind.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spoon into sprayed or lightly greased muffin tin (for 12 muffins) - Do NOT use paper muffin liners.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until tops are firm to the touch, or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean

This is why…

2010-02-01T06:14:00.001-08:00

I LOVE BOSTON

So…I’m waiting at the T stop with all my luggage to catch the subway to the airport and I see two guys walk off in boxer shorts. Yes, winter coat, beanie, shoes, socks…and boxers. No pants. Mind you…it’s probably 30 degrees outside. Ok, that’s weird, whatever. I hop on the T, get myself situated and look over, only to see two guys removing their pants. AWKWARD. What is happening? Are they changing into other pants? This is so awkward, who does this? So…I look farther down in the subway…what do I see? You guessed. A middle aged man standing nonchalantly in his boxers like nothing is wrong. Ok, I get it. Obviously, something is going on. Maybe a Boston “run-in-your-underwear-in the-middle-of-the-winter” race or something. But I couldn’t understand why the people in their undies were getting on and off at different stops. Wouldn’t they all be going to the same stop if there was a race? It wasn’t too disturbing until two chubby girls in their mid twenties removed their pants…that’s when I realized something was definitely up. Come to find out there is this website called Improv Everywhere(warning: don’t go to site unless you want to see multiple pics of people in their skivies) that organize these spontaneous events. In Boston, this happened on the specific subway the “Red Line” that i happened to be taking. Oh Boston, how I love you so so much! Always a surprise around every corner.

snapped this at one of the stops on my cell. good times.

Home Sweet Home

2010-01-30T17:37:00.001-08:00

I took a trip home this past month to visit home. It was much needed and unfortunately didn’t last long enough. I love my family so much! I feel so blessed to have them in my life. I’m the luckiest aunt, sister, daughter and grand daughter.

I flew into Phoenix Sunday January 10th in the evening. It felt so good to be home.

On Tuesday Mom, Grandma, Papa, Shelby and me went to Joe’s Farm Grill for lunch for Papa’s birthday. I also got my Christmas presents from Gma and Papa. Two beautiful tea pots! I’m so excited to start a new collection. It was a bit sunny…obviously

We had a baby shower for Shelby Tuesday night. I can’t believe my little sis is having a baby. I am so excited for her. She is going to be such a great mom. Thanks to Nan for making the shower amazing! The decorations were ridiculously cute.

Tessa digging in to the cupcakes. I can’t blame her, they were delicious!

Breck and Nan went out of town and left the girls with us. I LOVE Livy’s messy hair, double chin and big blue eyes. Isn’t she a doll. I’m so lucky!

No pics of Kenna, not sure why. She’s just as precious.

On Friday, we hung out at Grandma Nena’s while Tara did her hair. Then we brought all the grandkids home with us to play for awhile.

Trev was trying to hide his face…

My trip to AZ wouldn’t be complete with out a trip to Last Chance

Top New Years Resolution

2010-01-07T08:06:00.001-08:00

"Men & women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends & pour out peace. Who ever will loose his life to God will find eternal life." –President Ezra T. Benson

Top New Years Resolution: Turn my life over to God

So, you always hear those stories in Sunday school about people paying their tithing before other bills and miraculous things happen. I’ve always paid tithing, not hoping for a miraculous thing to happen, but because I have a testimony of the church and my Savior and I know if I do it, He will bless me, not necessarily in monetary ways, but in other aspects of my life. I’ve never been in the situation where I had to choose between paying a bill or tithing, until this past Sunday. Since being out of work for 3 months and making the move to the city, things have been tight, and the money is finally starting to come in. I hadn’t paid tithing for two paychecks because the Sunday before, I worked and the Sunday before that church was canceled due to snow. After adding up the amount of tithing I owed and adding that to the amount of rent that was due, I realized I would be around $100 short. I kept going back and forth deciding which I should pay. I kept justify thinking that I could just pay tithing the following week, because my paycheck comes in tomorrow. The thought kept coming to mind that I had heard in so many Sunday school lessons “always pay your tithing first”. After consideration, I paid my tithing. I’d rather be late paying my dues to my renter than to God. On Tuesday, I was going through all the things that the girl who I replaced in the house I now live,left behind. She left lots of goodies for me, ugg boots being the jackpot, and a ton of school books. My other roommate suggested I just take them all to Goodwill. Me, being frugal decided I would sell them on Amazon, not thinking they would be worth much. Turns out, they aren’t worth much individually, but all together, they add up to being roughly, and I mean give or take a few dollars, the amount of my tithing that I paid this last Sunday. No coincidence.

Heavenly Father is real, and he is definitely there, ALL the time. He knows us each individually, so much better than we know ourselves. He knows our needs and our wants and above all, he wants us to be happy to live fulfilling lives. When we sacrifice even the smallest of things, he rewards us so much more that we could ever image, surely more than we deserve.

ChRiStMaS

2009-12-28T17:55:00.001-08:00

I didn’t make it home for Christmas this year :( It was still a good Christmas though. I worked Christmas day from 8:30-3:30. Work was great. The patients opened their presents from each other and we got take out. Straight from work, I drove 1.5hours to Tom’s house and spent the rest of Christmas with them. I finally got to meet Tom’s sister Vicki, she has been in London the past few months. Being with the Bozek’s was the next best thing to family. They have been so good to me. I stayed over night and we went and saw “Sherlock Holmes” the day after Christmas. Very good movie! Then I drove back to Boston that day so I could be back for work on Sunday.

Everyone opening their presents. Me and Ms. G had fun playing her new board games.

Tom making breakfast and the basket I made for Tom’s family…pathetically the only pictures I have of Christmas with the Bozeks

My new place

2009-12-28T17:40:00.001-08:00

The Tuesday before Christmas I moved to a new place. Goodbye little apartment…hello BIG house. The last of my roommates left Wednesday morning for Christmas, so it’s just been me the past week. Still working on getting my room put together.

I promise…my room is cleaner now.

The house is actually a duplex. 5 girls live in my house and next door are 4 more girls.

My first Snow Storm

2009-12-22T07:11:00.001-08:00

This past weekend we had a big snow storm. It was kind of exciting. We got about 10in. It snowed all morning and part way through the afternoon on Sunday. Church was canceled, but I had to go into work at 3:30pm. My housemate gave me lesson on snow shoveling so I could shovel and brush all the snow off and away from my car. Snow shoveling is a lot of work! I was nervous to drive to work because it was still snowing a little. I gave myself lots of time to get there and drove 30 mph the whole way. The snow looks so beautiful all over the houses.

this is looking outside my window

The parking lot behind my apartment and my apartment building from back

The finished product. The street behind my house where I usually park my car

some houses on my way to work

Gingerbread Men and Houses….and my Christmas wish fulfilled

2009-12-22T06:57:00.001-08:00

This past week I made gingerbread and the pieces for my gingerbread house. This recipe is so good….i seriously must have eaten 20. Last night, we went to my housemate’s sister’s house(does that make sense?) to decorate our houses. I have seriously been so excited about this night for a few weeks now…and it was all that I imagined it to be, and more:) Her sister’s house is in Marblehead(the most adorable town in MA) and it is a historic home. I think built in the late 1800’s. The house was beautiful, and her sister was a fabulous host. She was making drinks for everyone and made this delicious tomato and spinach pizza. Then, we got a tour of the main floor…AMAZING! 20 room house…used to be 40 rooms. She is still in the process of renovating and decorating it to the time period. Makes me want to buy an old house so bad and fix it up. But, I know it’s tons of work and a lot of headaches though.

Gingerbread

3C flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs ginger

1 3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

6 Tbs unsalted butter

3/4 C brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest(or any citrus really)

1/2 C molasses

Combine dry and wet ingredients separately then mix together. Roll out and cut into shapes, or gingerbread house and bake 375 degrees for 7-10min.

my favorite part are the huge white doors on the right, they open up completely. Each door is probably the size of 1 1/2 doors together.

I can’t stop!

2009-12-14T13:45:00.001-08:00

I just can’t stop baking this Christmas season. I guess it helps makes the Christmas season more enjoyable since I am away from family. No worries though, Boston is treating me well this Christmas seasons. Lots of concerts and parties and a little bit of snow and PLENTY of chilly weather(and getting colder) which means lots of soup! I’m always looking for any excuse to bake.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

1 can(s) (15-oz. solid-pack) pumpkin
2 cup(s) (packed) brown sugar
1 cup(s) vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
3 cup(s) flour
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
11/2 teaspoon(s) ginger
1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 teaspoon(s) (ground) clove

Filling

8 ounce(s) cream cheese
1 stick(s) butter
2 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
4 cup(s) confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or grease with vegetable shortening. In large bowl, beat together pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract with electric mixer until blended.
In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cloves. Add to pumpkin mixture and beat until smooth.
Drop batter by tablespoons onto prepared pans. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until tops spring back when lightly touched. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, beat together all filling ingredients with electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Spread 1/2 tsp. filling onto flat side of one cookie and top with another. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling.

I added some cinnamon and cloves to the filling…just because. They were tasty little boogers…and they were a HUGE hit at the parties.

Gophers

Don’t make these unless you plan on eating the whole lot…they are soooooo delicious. My mom usually makes these every year around Christmas.

2 Cups Butter( I only used 1 cup…still turned out great)

1Cup peanut butter(I like crunchy)

1Cup nuts(your choice, I actually left them out of this batch due to budget reasons ;)

3Cup crushed graham crackers

2Cups powdered sugar

1Cup coconut flakes(I used plain unsweetened)

Combine above ingredients and mix well. roll into tablespoon size balls, then place in the freezer for a few minutes to let them harden so they will be easier to dip in chocolate.

Heat up a 1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips(or baking chocolate) in double broiler. Dip into chocolate, lift the ball out of the pot with a fork and tap the fork on the side of the pot to let the excess chocolate drain back into the heated chocolate. Place back on greased pan(or wax or parchment paper) and place back in freezer or refridgerator to let harden.

I sprinkled a little coconut on top just for fun. With the left over chocolate, I dipped in graham crackers and sprinkled some extra butterfingers that I had in the cupboard.

I bought some cute Christmas cookie cutters and a decorating kit for myself for Christmas :) Next up is a Gingerbread house and cookies…yum!

p.s. please excuse the horrible pictures

p.s.s I’m in need of some cheap/semi-healthy meals. Any suggestions?

UpDaTe

2009-12-07T12:38:00.001-08:00

Thought I should post about the latest and greatest in the life of Mel…for those of you who care to know the minor details in my life.

I love my job. Did I just say that? I LOVE my job…I really do! I love the environment i work in. I love the people I work with. I love my patients. I love the flexibility I have. I love the minimal amount of stress.

I work at a group home, where I provide nursing services to 3 disabled/handicap people at a time. There are always 4 nursing care assistance and 2-3RNs total, to care for 7 people. It’s so great. It’s such a neat environment. It is a nice home in a nice neighborhood. I think it is so neat that these people have the opportunity to live in a regular home and having nursing provided to them there, so that they don’t have to go to a nursing home.

We had our first snow fall here in Boston…yipeeeeee!!! It’s kind of fun right now…but I know it’s gonna get real old. real soon. The snow looks so beautiful on the trees and houses though.

first pic is looking out from where I work. Second is out my window at my apartment

It’s kind of hard to tell…but the bridge opens up on either side for the ships to come through…like on the movies :)

And last but not least, I got my first flat tire here. It couldn’t have happened a day earlier when it was sunny and 65 degrees outside. It had to happen when it was cold, rainy, and 35 degrees. 6 different men as well as help from roommate(who made all the difference) and it was finally fixed. I am now scared to death if anything happens…so I’m putting lots of emergency equipement in the back of my car…just in case.

P.S. Saw this at Target. Seriously? Snuggies for dogs? If the adult version wasn’t awkward enough, they had to make one for dogs. Don’t they have a fur coat for a reason?

P.S.S. Talked to my neice Tessa and it made my day.

Tessa: Aunt Melly!!!! Is it snowing there?

Me: Yes, Tessa. It snowed Yesterday

Tessa: Oh my goodness…it’s like snowing where your at and it’s Christmas…that is sooooo crazy.

Purgatory Chasms and Carl’s

2009-12-04T14:46:00.001-08:00

Tom and I met in Worcester and went hiking and out to eat at the most amazing Diner ever, Carl’s. We’ve tried to go a few times before, but it was closed. They serve very large servings for cheap. Our meals were each $5. I’m so mad I didn’t take more pics of hiking. It was the PERFECT day! 65 degrees outside…in Mass…in December!! So crazy, but this AZ girl is loving it.

Not sure why I didn’t take pics of the beautiful parts of the hike.

Jogging

2009-12-04T14:34:00.001-08:00

I’ve finally decided after being here in Boston for 2 months that my body could use a little physical exercise…And the weather has been amazing, so I need to take advantage while I can. I started jogging the past few weeks. Below are pictures of my route.

Ghetto or Gorgeous…take your pick.

I say both

Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T13:30:00.001-08:00

This was my first Thanksgiving away from home :( Luckily my second family here in Mass took care of me. Tom and I had way too much fun cooking.

Tom’s gonna kill me when he sees this picture. I couldn’t help myself though. He wouldn’t stop talking about this amazing baseball game that him and his dad play. They ordered new cards for it and he was like a kid at Disneyland when it arrived. Wouldn’t be a complete game without the Yankees hat nearby.

Tom was in charge of the turkey and he helped me make pumpkin pie and stuffing too…yum! Sorry, Mom and Grandma, it was the best turkey I have ever had. And I’ll have to say, I make a mean pumpkin pie as well. Sweetened Condensed milk is the secret and Sis. Nelson’s pie crust, it’s the best around. It was pretty delicious.

We also make gingerbread cookies…mmm.

Hood

2009-11-23T15:34:00.001-08:00

Something I’ve become fond with while being back East is the brand Hood. Any staff member from camp knows what I mean when I say…Hoodwhich.

What more does a girl need than 4 different types of eggnog? My favorite is gingerbread…pumpkin was good too. Tom says sugar cookie is the best, I haven’t tried it yet.

Disliking eggnog, should be a sin.

This ones for you Breck…wish you could partake in these divine creations.

My holiday season is complete.

Boston with the Bozek’s

2009-11-22T18:00:00.001-08:00

Tom and his parents came into Boston for the day. We had so much fun! It was a BEAUTIFUL day. In fact…it’s been a beautiful November. So much sunlight and nice weather. Heavenly Father knew the winter couldn’t start too soon or I might get too depressed. I have a feeling though that winter is just around the corner.

First we went to the New England Aquarium

Can you see the fish in each picture? Much more cool in real life.

After that, we walked to Quincy Market. It was all decorated for Christmas. Lots of fun shopping and food there too.

Then we walked to the Old State House where I bought some post cards…and Tom tried on a hat.

After that, we walked to an old cemetery where some of the founding fathers are buried. I’ve been reading a book about the start of the revolutionary war called Rise to Rebellion, thanks to big brother Breck who let me borrow the book. It’s been so interesting to learn more about the start of our country. The grave stone below are body parts of the victims of the Boston Massacre.

Below is my man Paul Revere …and the wealthy John Hancock.

Then we stopped at Boston Common…the oldest park in the country. I thought this statue looked new…until i realized that they were real…and I look so cool in Tom’s black fleece.

Possibly my most favorite pic of the whole day. This guy was mesmerized by the brass ladies. He seriously was holding that face for like 5 minutes…it was so hilarious.

Thanks Bozeks…for a wonderful day in the Boston!

The movies and my car story

2009-11-14T06:35:00.001-08:00

I flew back into Hartford, CT on Tuesday and Tom picked me up. On Wednesday we went to the movies. We were going to see either Where the Wild Things Are or Amelia, but instead saw Encounters of the 4th Kind. I would recommend to NOT see this movie. It was disturbing.

We may or may not have stolen the 3D glasses from the recycle bin and snuck in to 2 min of The Christmas Carol.

So, I bought a new/old car. The man I bought it from lives near Tom and still had a loan out on it, so when I went to buy it, I paid a portion of the car, then the agreement was, when the title came in, I would pay him the remaining amount. So I drove it back to Boston with it registered under his name and insurance. I apparently had a black cloud following me because I ended up getting a parking ticket…AND got rear ended! What could be worse! Actually, a lot could be worse. I could have caused the accident and it would have been a horrible mess. So, long story short, the insurance company of the woman who hit me cut a check for $645 for the car to get fix, which was of course, issued to the man I bought it from. When I went to pick up the title and pay the remaining amount, I had to be firm about getting that $600. It was such a pain, but I was relieved because I needed the money. Come to find out, when I go to register the vehicle, they make me pay sales tax on the car….which was $600. There is no way I would have been able to pay that money, had I not had the extra $600 from the fender bender. Wow….what a blessing in disguise. Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. But seriously, what state makes you pay sales tax on a private party purchase…that’s ridiculous…it’s thievery. Go Arizona!!!! Arizona is #1. I will forever be an Arizona girl.

Not my car, but it pretty much looks like this.

Happy Birthday Tara and Trevin!

2009-11-14T06:17:00.001-08:00

I got to go home for Tara’s bday!!! Ok, actually, it just so happened that I was home on Tara’s birthday. It was so much fun to see my family. I love and miss them so much. For Tara’s birthday we went to Joe’s Farm Grill, the most amazing hamburger you will ever have. Trev’s bday was the 31st of Oct, so I just missed it. But Tara’s bday was the 9th and the left to come back to Boston the day after. Tara is so amazing! I am so lucky to have the best big sister ever. Tara is so beautiful and is the most amazing hair dresser ever, I don’t know what I would do without her. Other awesome qualities Tara has includes, so much fun to hang out with, always eats healthy, great mom, gives good advice such as “you live and you learn” and great shopping buddy…she always finds the best deals. My favorite lesson from Tara is probably the “expensive lessons” lecture. After venting about different situations, Tara would just say “Mel, you got to look at it how I do, just think, that wasn’t “$2000 dollars wasted, it was just a $2000 lesson, you learned something right? Sometimes, lessons can just be expensive”. Love ya, Tara, so much! And then Trev…he is pretty much just the most amazing nephew ever! Just look at his smile…isn’t he the cutest thing you ever saw.

Sorry Grandma, Shel and Nan. I don’t know whats up with the pic. weird

We also had a big LeSueur Family Reunion that I was able to go to. I love my nieces an nephew!!

YSA conference and visitors!!!!

2009-11-03T19:01:00.001-08:00

This past weekend there was a YSA conference in Boston on missionary work. My friend Becca and her cousin flew in from Phoenix to come to the conference and to see Boston. Tom also came into Boston for the weekend as well. It was so much fun having visitors in town. Becca fell in love with Boston, just like I knew she would ;) Tom and I picked up Becca and Rachel at the airport in the morning then drove to Lexington to tour an elementary school for Becca.

For lunch/dinner, we went to Santarpio’s. This is Tom’s new fav pizza place and it happens to be in the ghetto…East Boston, just down the street from me. Yes, I do live in a slightly ghetto area and am proud of it. The conference started out on Friday evening with a two hour meeting at the Trinity Church. This is a beautiful chapel in downtown Boston(mormon church burned down awhile ago and so the church rents out other churches to have meetings in). This meeting was actually the adult session of our stake conference. Elder Ballard was there as well as Elder Eyering of the Seventy.

After the meeting we went to a Harvard square to a delicious little ice cream place. Best cookies and cream ice cream I have EVER had. The hot chocolate was delicious too. All day Saturday was the YSA conference on missionary work. Again, Elder Ballard was there, along with Craig Christensen of the Seventy and Brother Neelham. Bro Neeleman is the founder of JetBlue and and More Good Foundation…lets just say, he knows how to do business. He did an amazing job. He talked all about missionary work through technology, it was really quite informative. Go to the website to find out how you can be a member missionary in the on'-line world. Elder Christensen spoke about face to face missionary work and spoke about his experiences and lessons he has learned. It was really inspiring . It was really neat to see Elder Ballard in a more casual setting. He spoke about different experiences he has had and gave lots of good simple advice. He is so adorable. After the speakers, we were in groups of ten and were to come up with a way to help spread the gospel and present it the other conference attendees and then vote on the best 10 groups. Some groups came up with some really interesting programs. There was 600 YSA at the conference.

That evening we took the T to Quincy Market and ate dinner. Us girls had mac and cheese and Tom had a “Thanksgiving” sandwich.

I’m creepily excited about this yummy dessert.

I couldn’t help but finish dinner off with a very large whoopie pie. Sunday morning was stake conference at the Marriott where we listened to Stake Leaders along with Elder Ballard again. Then, we took Becca and Rachel back to the airport to catch their flight. What an amazing and fun weekend!

Tom was so kind to hold my jacket…and then, I guess, felt the need to put it on. So silly.

Fall Baking

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I LOVE to bake, especially in the fall and winter. This afternoon I went a little crazy and baked a few of my favorite things. Here are a few recipes from Mom that I couldn’t help but share.

Banana Bread(Sis. Wyeth’s recipe)

6 bananas(mashed)

4 eggs

1/2 C oil

1C sour cream

2 tsp vanilla

Mix together and set aside

2 C sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 C white flour

2 C wheat flour

Mix and add to wet ingredients

Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips, or whatever you desire

Bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours. I used the mini bread tins and let them bake for 40min.

Pumpkin Bread

4 1/2 C sugar

5 C flour

1 1/2 C oil

1/4 tsp salt

6 eggs

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 C water

2 Tbs cinnamon

1 Large can pumpkin

3 tsp baking soda

Combine sugar, oil and eggs and beat well. Combine dry ingredients. Alternate adding dry mixture and water to wet mixture. Add pumpkin and mix. Pour into greased pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

*mix in walnuts and chocolate chips or whatever you desire

also make my caramel apples…yum!

*For all you pumpkin fanatics*

combine 1 can of pumpkin and 1 box of spice cake mix…and you have, cookies, bread, muffins or whatever…oh and add chocolate chips. I heard of this recipe from a friend and haven’t tried it yet, but i’m anxious to.

Another weekend in Western Mass

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I ended up in Western Mass…again. Tom and I helped out at Camp at a benefit/silent auction they were having to raise money for camp. It was fun to see everyone again and eat lots of good food cooked by Ray Ray. Can i just say that Tom has been so awesome. He has bent over backwards for me. Thanks Tom, a million. As well as going to the silent auction, we also picked up my new/used car. Yay! I have a car now. No pics yet, sorry. I also got a GPS and….a JOB! Yes, you heard it! a job! I start on the 13th of November. It’s through a home care agency. I can’t wait to start. Things are falling into place…my Boston dream is slowly becoming a reality. I’m fearful that things may become quite miserable with the winter ahead though... I know I’m in for a big surprise.

It was so much more beautiful in person :(

Some of my peeps from summer camp

Josh, Deb, Chris, Ray Ray, Dylan, Tom…and, a guy

100 calorie packs!

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what do you do when camp gives you an unlimited supply of chips ahoy 100 calorie packs?…

You make yummy little delicious smores….don’t forget the milk…and chocolate on the face is really ok.

I think I’ll make these every night for as long as I live…or until the supply runs out

Nurse Mel

Next Door Mormon

Tomalito! and Honey Lime Enchiladas

My first Blizzard

Pillow Project

Hatch Shell and Mass Ave. Bridge

Mom and Dad come to visit Boston Part 4

Mom and Dad come to Boston Part 3

Maine!

Ice Skating at Frog Pond

So…remember when I ran the NYC marathon?

I’m alive!

20 mile killer

Summit Ave.

Mom and Dad come to Boston Part 2

16 miles and chocolate milk

Mom and Dad come to Boston Part 1

Applefest

Brooke and Derek Engagement dinner

Reach the Beach

Cross Training and Races

Running update

Staff Banquet

Kitchen re-do

Family fun in AZ

Signs

Words to live by

Sometimes being a nurse really pays off

Dad’s blessing

Turning 25

Cancun!

Camp Teaser

25 isn’t so bad…

Sayonara

Did I ever mention how much I HATE Boston?

Show and Tell

In one week…

Arizona friends

It’s been awhile

Tara visits: Last day :( Bunker Hill Monument climb and shopping in Quincy Market

Tara visits: Shopping, Sofra Bakery and Mt. Auburn Cemetery

Tara Visits: Church and Winthrop

Tara visits: Freedom Trail and Sailing

Tara visits: NYC

Tara Visits: Lexington, Concord, MFA and North End

60 degrees and sunny

Luckiest Aunt

Chalk board and thrift stores

Bruins Game

Contempt for Facebook

Spring must be near

Meeting Maddix

Feminism is SO overrated

Before and after: dresser

Happy Valentine’s Day

Estate Sales and other favs

bragging rights

Carrot Cranberry Walnut Bran muffins

Ingredients

Directions

This is why…

Home Sweet Home

Top New Years Resolution

**ChRiStMaS**

My new place

My first Snow Storm

Gingerbread Men and Houses….and my Christmas wish fulfilled

I can’t stop!

UpDaTe

Purgatory Chasms and Carl’s

Jogging

Thanksgiving

Hood

Boston with the Bozek’s

The movies and my car story

Happy Birthday Tara and Trevin!

YSA conference and visitors!!!!

Fall Baking

Another weekend in Western Mass

100 calorie packs!

ChRiStMaS