And in other news...

Today is the last day of school, and it finds me wondering where this year went. It feels like we have been preparing for our move to Boston all year, but then I realize we’ve had a really great and exciting year. So to fill in the near five month gap in my posts, here’s a little bit about the first part of 2011.

In December, Joel and I celebrated our 7th anniversary, and I can’t believe we are halfway to number 8. Whew! After spending Thanksgiving with Joel’s family, we headed to the ranch for Christmas. This was the first time in many years that we were able to spend both holidays together. Joel and my dad were with me when I took this nice 8-point. Joel and I spent an entire day making jerky and filets out of the backstrap and tenderloin. We’ve grilled several samples and absolutely love it.

In April, my folks came up to Denver and we took my mom to see George Strait for her birthday. We had a great time at the concert, and I even caught Joel tapping his toes every once in a while.

Continuing our tradition, I went back for turkey season. Dad and I hunted hard, but didn't have any luck. The birds were quiet and not responding so when we got impatient we blew our cover. We had a blast, and I was able to spend a lot of time with the new horses. A few month back, mom and dad adopted two Aggie Cavalry horses who were retired. Joe and PJ had great years in College Station, and PJ was my cousin Randall's horse while he was in the Cav. My folks are the greatest Aggie fans I know so it's extra special for them to have to Aggies horses. Both horses are gorgeous, but have very different personalities. PJ is an instigator. He will unlock gates, shut the tack room door, and hold in closed while you are fixing his oats. Joe is so sweet and loving and graciously puts up with all the PJ has to offer. This is Joel and me getting ready for a ride.

We attended our very last Rockies game on Tuesday. We left just Dallas just as the Rangers started making a comeback, and we arrived in Denver just as the Rockies made a World Series appearance. We love both teams, and attending games has been one of our favorite things to do here. We are excited about going to Fenway, though I don’t think we’ll ever love the Red Sox like we do the Rockies and Rangers.

I hope to do a much better job of posting after the move, especially once we get moved in!

A Home At Last!

Joel and I have been in Boston since Thursday looking one last time for our future home. It has been an incredibly long and frustrating process for us, but the last four days have been a blessing beyond what we could have ever asked.

We had five meetings set but after our first two, we had seen two perfect properties and confidently canceled the other appointments. We decided on a completely renovated three-family home in Jamaica Plain. It has beautiful windows and tons of natural light. It’s a three bedroom, but because of the layout we are able to convert the dining room into our master bedroom, as it is the largest room in the house. The kitchen is large enough for our dining table, and we are turning the smallest bedroom into a storage room so we can bring our camping gear and large freezer.

The best part for Joel is that it is just four T stops from the hospital and about 13 minutes to our church. For me, I have a beautiful kitchen with laundry and a community garden just across the street. Joel and I have already begun sketching plans to fix up the back patio area, where we will be able to keep both of our grills and the patio furniture from Basse Road. I was confident our needs would be met because we have always been taken care of; however, I never thought all of our little wishes would be fulfilled. We are blessed!

Jamaica Plain is an interesting place. Joel describes it has eclectic, and the realtor says it is “up and coming.” But I am stuck on sketchy. I suppose the truth lies somewhere in between. We met and saw a variety of folks, but many young professionals and families are nearby. Centre Street is the main drag and has a large variety of family-owned restaurants from Cuban to Scottish. I’m nervous, but very excited to get to know a new community of folks.

Main square in Jamaica Plain

 Looking down Centre Street...Many of these houses are actually businesses.

 Use your imagination. This is going to be a beautiful patio in just a few weeks. We will be entertaining folks and firing up the grills back here. We are going to bring our own flavor to Jamaica Plain!

This is Boston-style three-family house. It seems like the Pilgrims landed, built, and their descendants have been refurbishing their original buildings since then. This is our building, and we are on the second level. Unless you have 1.5 million to invest in an estate, you live in a multi-family home...just like us!

My future community garden. I can't wait to get my plot ready!

Kitchen with laundry. This is by far the most beautiful and modern kitchen we saw in our search. It's rare to find a new kitchen and almost impossible to find a place with laundry. We are blessed with both!

Looking from the front door into the kitchen. Bedrooms and bathrooms are along this hall.

This is a large amount of storage from what we've seen in other bathrooms. We never did see a house with more than one bathroom, but this one is more than enough.

Plenty of space for the dining table so we can have an extra room for us.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

This has been a busy fall and winter for us, but I absolutely love this time of year. I wish we could see our family as much as we do during the holidays.

We went to Rockdale for about five days over Thanksgiving. We spend most of our time with Joel's mom, and we were able to spend time with both of his brothers. We even got to meet our new niece, Josie, in Dallas. She is precious and very, very sweet. While in Dallas, Joel was able to spend time with his Luke and Noah. We all played in the leaves; the boys had fun burying each other and jumping in the piles.

Most of Joel's extended family got together at his grandmother's house on Thanksgiving day. We had a nice gift exchange and a wonderful meal. We never go hungry when his family get's together! All of his cousins are married now so we were able to meet all of the spouses. Everyone is healthy and doing well!

Back at his mom's house, the girls took on making tamales while the boys watched endless football and basketball. We made chicken and pork tamales, and they were delicious! It's the first time any of us had made them, but it sure was fun. I enjoyed working on a project while sitting around chatting. We also went out to the farm and fed the cows. Jackson and Andrew seem to love the outdoors, and we all had a nice hike up the "mountain."

In early December, we learned we will be moving to Boston in June. Joel will be starting his Peds EM fellowship at Boston Children's. Last week we received the official letter offering him an Associate Professor of Pediatrics position. Wow! We've finally made it to last stage of this journey.

We had a great trip to Boston at the end of October when Joel interviewed. We were able to tour almost all of the Freedom Trail, and my favorite part was going to the Old North Church to see where Paul Revere's

lanters were placed. The city is full of so much history, and I'm looking forward to exploring it more once we move.

It turns out that crew is one of the biggest "sports" in the northeast. The Head of the Charles Regatta was happening the weekend we were there. We took the T out to Cambridge, toured Harvard and MIT, and then walked along the Charles River to watch the Regatta. It was a huge affair, where all kinds of people set up picnic areas to watch the race. There is a lingo we have never heard of, and we both decided we will have to study up.

While there, we also enjoyed a delicious dinner in Little Italy, where we swore we saw cigar lounges made just for the mafia. As we walked to our restaurant, we could hear lots of Italian being spoken on the streets. We twice visited an authentic Italian bakery and ate several cannolis. I also got Joel to have a dim sum brunch in Chinatown. I was so proud to be able to order dumplings and treats that I remembered from my trip this summer. The look on Joel's face was priceless! He even got brave and tried to order some things on his own, but neither one of us could eat them. After we left the restaurant, I told him what he actually ordered. :)

I've started the paperwork to transfer my teaching license, and I have applied at two different charter schools. The public schools won't post positions until February so I will have to wait a bit before the real job hunt begins. The hospital is located in Brookline (look west and a bit south on the map), and the T runs right out there so we will have easy access to most places. It's going to be a huge culture change, but it will be a fun adventure for us! 

 Today we went down to the Denver Museum of Art to see the King Tut exhibit. It was fascinating!! The actual coffins and mummy have never left Egypt, but we were able to see amazing busts, vessels, and statues - some of them had traces of the original colors. I just couldn't believe we were seeing original artifacts that are over 3000 years old.

On Tuesday we are heading to the ranch for Christmas. This will be the first time since we have moved to Denver that Joel and I are able to travel together for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will get to stay through the following Monday. I'm looking forward to our Christmas hunting and seeing my family. Hopefully, Joel and I will have some hunting luck, even though the weather will not be cooperating.