Canvas

A number of our friends and family have been asking for pictures of the printed canvas Bekah received from Mitch for Christmas. Well, you asked so here it is. Beautiful, huh? It was a picture taken while we were camping overnight on Grape Island this summer. Mitch had Dan print it on his really cool HP Designjet™ printer. He normally prints high-quality posters and had never before printed on canvas, but as you can see the print turned out crisp, clear and colorful. Mitch later stretched it over a wooden frame and amazingly was able to hide it in the apartment from Bekah till we celebrated Christmas.

Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our families and friends! Above is our small, but beautiful, Christmas tree. It has filled our small apartment with plenty of Christmas cheer for the past few weeks. We will be leaving Boston on Saturday to go to sunny Florida to spend a week with Mitch's family. Safe travels and a peace-filled Christmas season to everyone!

Thanksgiving

Although we didn't visit Indiana or Florida to be with family this Thanksgiving, we were able to spend the day feasting with good friends in Boston. We savored all the traditional foods, including a picturesque 22 lb turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, butternut squash casserole, fresh yeast rolls, salad, three types of cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. We are truly thankful for all the blessings God has given us this year. Happy Thanksgiving!

Team Brigham

Congratulations to Bekah for being selected to be part of Team Brigham 2010!  Team Brigham is a group of 100+ Brigham and Women's Hospital employees who commit to raise funding for the hospital's community programs by running the Boston Marathon.  That's right, Bekah will be running in the 2010 Boston Marathon! The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest and most prestigious marathon.  It is a 26.2 mile road race that begins in Hopkinton, makes its way through Boston College, Coolidge Corner, and Kenmore Square, and finally finishes in downtown Boston.  Bekah will spend numerous hours in the coming months training for the marathon.  In addition to the physical challenge of running a marathon, Bekah also has the goal of raising $3,500 to benefit patients and community programs at the hospital. Interested in helping Bekah reach these goals? Visit her fundraising page.

½ Marathon

Sweet success! After months of running, running, and more running, Todd, Kari, Bekah, and Laura's hope of successfully completing the Seacoast Half Marathon became a reality. The course was a scenic route along the coast, and with clear skies and the temperature in the 60's the weather could not have been better. Bekah enjoyed it so much she is already looking into other half marathons to run. Great job runners!

A Shower

Today four of us showered Jenny (center) with a party to celebrate the coming of her new little baby girl.  The afternoon included visiting with old and new friends, eating yummy treats, opening lots of gifts, and playing "Baby Memory." We wish Jenny and Qinhai all the best as they welcome a new little bundle of joy into their lives!  Jenny's due December 28th.

NYC

After a successful 24 hour vacation to New Hampshire the previous weekend, we decided to give it a try in New York City this weekend. With $1 Megabus tickets each way, how could we say no? After a small delay, we departed Boston around 11:30PM en route for NYC. We arrived at 3:30AM to a cold, yet still somewhat active NYC. To start off our epic adventure we filled up on breakfast at nearby Tick-Tock Diner. Then it was off to Times Square, Battery Park, Wall Street, the World Trade Center site, and Soho...all before our second breakfast at 9:00AM. At 10:00AM we were patiently waiting in line for tickets to a Broadway show. After successfully securing tickets for The Fantasticks, we resumed our sightseeing at Central Park, FAO Schwarz, Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, and NBC studios. We next headed to Kati Roll for a delicious lunch. With full stomachs, we made our way to the warm, dimly-light Snapple Theater to watch The Fantasticks and fight off the urge to sleep. Not only was it our first Broadway performance, but it was also an entertaining show to watch. We were even able to get a snapshot in with the star actress after the performance. With a few hours remaining, we saw more of Times Square, did some shopping, visited the Macy's store, and ended the trip with a delicious Mexican feast. We boarded the bus at 10:30PM and arrived back to our beloved Boston apartment around 3:00AM. It was an exhausting, whirlwind tour of NYC, but we had a truly enjoyable time. As always, we took pictures.

Monadnock

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but within a few hours we were in a ZipCar headed to Monadnock State Park. The combined factors of October being peak season for viewing New England's fall colors and both of us having Columbus Day off made for a perfect opportunity for a camping trip to New Hampshire. The drive to the park on various scenic roads was beautiful with the red, yellow, and orange leaves. After a campfire and then a chilly (28 F) night's sleep, we headed up the trail to Mt. Monadnock's peak. It was a 2.2 mile hike, which gained 1,815 in elevation. We were basically climbing over boulders for the majority of the hike. We were rewarded with breathtaking views of New England from the mountain's "bald" peak. Our trip was made complete with a stop at a roadside farm stand to buy fresh Fuji apples and apple cider. Yum! Due to having only a 24-hour ZipCar reservation, our trip was limited in time; however, it was an enjoyable outing from the city. As always, we snapped some pictures along the way.

Another Movie

Our neighborhood has been quite the spot for filming this week.  Today we watched part of the filming of a new movie, The Town, only a couple of blocks from our apartment.  The movie is directed by and starring Ben Affleck.  Although we did not spot Ben himself, we saw some pretty fancy action scene moves: helicopters flying (one as part of the movie, and one for filming), Boston Police cars speeding around corners, 12 cars simultaneously squealing to a stop in traffic jam-like fashion, and FBI agents shooting at the culprit (is it Ben?).  Considering that the scene was so expensive to shoot, we are expecting that it will make the cut and get into the final production, which is released on September 10, 2010.  We look forward to seeing our neighborhood Hollywood-style!

Movie

There we were, innocently walking home to our apartment on a cool October evening. As we approached our neighborhood we noticed several bright lights beaming down on some nearby buildings. We made our final turn down the street to our apartment and to our surprise the quaint, tree-lined Boston street we reside on had been transformed into the bustling set of a Hollywood movie. Apparently the producers of the movie Zookeeper thought our street was the perfect set for a scene in their upcoming movie. We even had a chance encounter with stardom when actress Rosario Dawson walked right by us. Who would have known we would live on such a famous street. The movie is set to be released October 8, 2010, exactly a year from today.

Season's End

After countless hours of hard labor, a soggy month of June, a couple of bug bites, a stolen garden hose, many delicious meals, and even more shared vegetables, the gardening season is sadly coming to an end. We are now eating what will probably be our last week of produce. We will certainly plant again next spring and are already plotting out ideas of how to better maximize our limited space and growing season. Check in next spring to see how our garden grows.

D.C.

How could we say "No"? A round-trip flight from Boston to D.C. and three nights in a hotel for only $72 a person. The deal included a hotel room for each of us, so we had a total of four rooms each of the three nights. Thanks to Todd for another super-slick deal! While in D.C., we enjoyed seeing all the sights: the White House (we saw Bo the dog playing in the yard), the Washington Monument, the National Museum of American History, the U.S. Capitol Building, the Library of Congress, and the Arlington National Cemetery. We had beautiful weather for strolling along the National Mall, snapping pictures, and visiting Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We flew back into Boston on Monday morning just in time for Bekah to get to work. It was an exhausting day, but well worth the experience!

Bike

09/09/09 will go down in history as the day Mitch got a road bike!  After months of talks and negotiations, Mitch finally convinced Bekah there was enough space in their apartment for a road bike (in the bedroom of course!).  After conducting weeks of research and test riding several bikes, Mitch narrowed down his search to a select few.  The season was ripe to buy a bike, with many stores discounting their '09 inventories to clear space for the new '10 models.  Mitch and his friend, Todd, both liked bikes from the same store, so they put their effort together to get a deal.  Combining the fact it was the end of the year, two bikes were being purchased, and Todd has impressive bargaining abilities; both Mitch and Todd left the store with amazing deals on super-sweet road bikes.  They both decided on the same model (great minds must think alike) with Mitch's bike having a silver paint job and Todd's white.  The bikes are thoroughbred racing machines with super-light full carbon frames, a geometry tuned for power delivery, razor sharp steering, and vibration dampening seat stays.  It's a fun bike that rides effortlessly along the flat stretches, cuts into curves, glides uphill, and rockets downhill.  Already Mitch has put close to 100 miles on his new ride.  Here's a sample video of him in action.

Grape Island

This Labor Day weekend, we and two other couples decided to camp out on Grape Island, one of the 34 islands speckled throughout Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.  While the island is only 9 miles from downtown Boston, the seaside island setting makes it seem like you are a world away.  It is a true primitive experience camping on the island with no running water or shelter of any sort.  Getting to the island is no easy task either. From our apartment, we walked to the T, rode two subways, walked to the ferry terminal on Long Warf, and took two ferries to the island (one ferry of which the driver appeared to have never driven a boat before); all while carrying our camping gear, food, water, and clothing for the weekend.  Lets just say we got a few interesting looks from our fellow T riders.  The trip, however, was well worth it.  Grape Island is a wildlife haven home to deer, fox, and several varieties of edible plants and berries (including grapes).  The island also hosts several grassy trails to explore, an interpretive trail highlighting the island's history, and daily wild edible tours lead by a ranger.  Highlights from the trip include exploring the island, stone skipping contests, taking pictures, wild edible tastings, watching the sun set over the Boston skyline, and building a fire on the beach.  We had a wonderful time and are already thinking about going back next year.

Rockport

This Saturday, Todd and Kari reserved a Zipcar with some of their remaining Low Car Diet miles.  Having heard good things about Rockport they decided to head there for the day and invited us to come along.  It was a beautiful day and considering the fact it was Labor Day weekend the traffic wasn't too bad either.  We made it over to Rockport in just under an hour.  Most of our time in Rockport was spent walking along the harbor and visiting touristy shops.  We went to Top Dog for lunch and enjoyed their fish sandwiches, tasty hot dogs, and several varieties of mustard.  We took a more scenic route back to Boston and made a few stops at local bike shops along the way.  Check out our pictures from the trip.

Maine

This weekend we and a bunch of friends went to Maine for a short vacation from the city. We stayed at Laura's family "camp" which she so graciously offered for us to stay in. The weather was not exactly ideal. Our uninvited guest, Hurricane Danny, brought in a cold, wet Saturday. Most of Saturday was spent indoors playing games, however, we did make a quick trip out to Reny's. By Sunday, Danny had made his way out of the area, and a beautiful morning greeted us. We enjoyed kayaking, paddle boating, eating, and basking in the wonderful weather. Check out our pictures of the fun times.

Tomatoes

Our garden has proven itself to be productive. We are now reaping a harvest of tomatoes from our hard labor. With all the plants ripening at the same time, we are literally swimming in tomatoes! We make sandwiches with tomates, salads with tomatoes, pizzas with tomatoes, and even eat tomatoes plain. Already we have given dozens away and still have plenty more to share, so come on by to claim some before tomato season is over.

Red Sox 14, Yankees 1

After an embarassing 20-11 loss to the Yankees the night before, we didn't know what to expect from the Red Sox in today's game. It was a hot, humid, and sunny afternoon as we entered Fenway Park. Our hard earned tickets were for right field bleacher seats up on the 50th row. As we baked in the sun from our sky-high perch, we watched as the Red Sox competed against the Yankees. The Sox took an early lead by scoring 3 runs in the first inning and 4 in the second. They maintained their lead with 7 additional runs in the following innings, while the Yankees were only able to put up a solo home run. The afternoon ended with a 14-1 victory for the Red Sox. It was an exciting game shared with Anna and Kristin at our neighborhood ballpark. Of the Red Sox games we have attended, we are now 3 for 3!

Year One

Today we celebrate having lived in Boston for one full year! So much has happened in the short time we have been here that we cannot believe it has only been one year. Mitch's classes and research are going well, Bekah is enjoying her work at the hospital, and we've been able to see so much of Boston and New England. Despite being far from family, we feel very blessed to be surrounded by a great church community and wonderful friends! Bring on another year!

Crabbing

This weekend, joined by Todd and Kari, we took a trip down to Buzzards Bay in search of blue crabs. Seeing as though none of us had ever crabbed before, we consulted the internet for crabbing advice. YouTube and bluecrab.info proved to be our most useful sources. They suggested we use eel, chicken necks, or bull lips as bait. After searching all over the city of Boston for eels, chicken necks, and bull lips, the best we could find was eel for $9.99/lb in a Chinatown grocery store. With eel so expensive it defeated the whole purpose of using it as bait. We decided to make one final trip to a shady butchershop near Haymarket. They didn't have chicken necks, but they did have about 300 lbs of turkey necks! We decided turkey necks would do and now had bait.

Excited to begin our day of crabbing, we zipped out of Boston in our Hypnotic Teal Scion xB Zipcar early Saturday morning. We arrived in Buzzards Bay an hour later and made a quick stop at local sporting goods store for rope and nets. Armed with our turkey necks, crab rope, and nets, we descended into the murky waters of Buzzards Bay in hopes of capturing crabs for dinner. After about 15 minutes the first crab was successfully pulled from the water! In a couple hours we had our cooler filled with over a dozen crabs, all over 4 1/8 inces long in accordance with MA regulations. It was a fun experience. What we learned: 1) crabbing is best at low tide, 2) crabs are slower and easier to catch than we thought, 3) crabs are agressive and can deliver a painful pinch, and 4) crabs are attracted by turkey necks. With our hunt successful, we left Buzzards Bay for Boston. We enjoyed a crab bake that night complete with Old Bay seasoning. There were more than enough crabs to share with friends.

Seymour

The first week of August was a good one: vacationing back in the Midwest. The main reason for our week-long trip was for the wedding of Bekah's cousin, Seth (above is my sister Rachel, Alicia, Seth, and Bekah). Added perks of the trip included meeting Calvin friends Jon & Jodie at Anna's in Cinncinati, spending a ton of time swimming and playing with Bekah's nephews (Carter & Cooper), eating fresh produce out of the garden, and chillin with the fam. As always, we have some pictures to remember the trip.

Produce

The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the heat of summer has finally made its way to Boston. For our garden, summer sunshine means abundant growth and production. The garden couldn't be happier. What used to be delicate little seedlings in plastic trays are now thick bushes that fill cages and cling to the side of our fence. Rapidly maturing zucchini, peas, cucumbers, and tomatoes now fill our plot (we took pictures for proof). In a couple of weeks we will be drowning in produce. Have great recipes for fresh produce? Send them on to us. Need produce? Stop by our garden!

Beach Boys

Bekah's childhood dream finally came true this past Saturday - she heard the Beach Boys live in concert! The free, outdoor concert was in Boston's Hatch Shell, an ampitheatre in a park right on the Charles River in downtown Boston. We arrived a couple of hours early in order to secure a good view. Prior to the concert, we enjoyed a delicious picnic (complete with pulled pork, fruit salad, Jello, and key lime pie) with friends on the lawn. The Beach Boys (including John Stamos, a.k.a. Uncle Jessie on Full House) played all their best songs: 409, Surfin' Safari, Good Vibrations, California Girls, Barbara Ann, Be True to Your School, Kokomo, Surfin' USA, and many more! We sang and danced throughout the entire performance, which was close to two hours long.

Red Sox 3, Orioles 1

We first helped the Red Sox beat the Yankees. This time, joined by Todd, Kari, Adam, and Katelyn, we put an end to a five-game losing streatch by bringing in a victory for the Red Sox. This time rather than sitting in bleacher seats, we opted for standing room tickets in left field. Thats right: standing room tickets. While standing for an entire baseball game doesn't immediately bring thoughts of confort to mind, the experience was suprisingly enjoyable with railings and tables to lean up against and plenty of space to move around. The game, admittedly, started off a little slow with the Orioles taking an early one point lead in the second inning. The Red Sox, however, came back in the fourth inning with two runs and an additional run in the fifth. The Red Sox held on to the lead, and despite Todd's wishes for an Orioles grand slam in the 9th, the Red Sox were able to walk away with a victory. Our next game is another Red Sox-Yankees game on August 22.

Katahdin

This past weekend we traveled to Maine to visit Baxter State Park. The park is about 6 hours from Boston and in the middle of nowhere. We headed out in the rain on Friday evening and spent the night in Maine at the Viens' cabin. Saturday we continued on in the rain to Baxter State Park. We set up camp and took a short warm-up hike to Little Abol Falls in preparation for our big Katahdin hike. Sunday we woke up at dawn to beautiful blue skies. We hurried over to the Katahdin trailhead, ate breakfast, registered, and were off hiking up the Helon Taylor Trail before 6:00am. We climbed our way upward and summited Pamola around 10:00. From there we made our way across the Chimney and South Peak on the Knife's Edge Trail. It was a hairy journey which included high winds, loose footing, narrow passages, and steep dropoffs. Bekah is quoted saying: "There wasn't a moment on the Knife's Edge when I wasn't 100% afraid for my life". The Knife's Edge Trail ended at Baxter Peak, the summit of Katahdin and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. It was cold and windy at the summit, so we briefly took pictures and continued on to the Saddle Trail. The Saddle rockslide quickly brought us down to Chimney Pond where we met up with the Chimney Pond Trail, which led us back to the car. It was an amazing hike that took up almost every hour of daylight! The next day we headed back to Boston, but first made a stop in Freeport, ME at the L.L. Bean store as well as at Sea Dog for dinner.

Tall Ships

They were coming, then they weren't, but they did after all: the tall ships sailed into Boston harbor for the weekend. The event was made possible after a prodigious effort by Sail Boston to raise enough funds to cover city security costs. The tall ships were docked in various locations around Boston harbor and offered spectators a chance to board the vessels and learn how a tall ship operates. Check out pictures from the event in our gallery.

Biking

July 11 was a day of biking. We woke up early and quickly readied our bikes for a long day. Our trip started off with a brisk morning ride downtown to the Park Street T station to meet Todd and Kari. We then loaded our bikes onto the T and headed to Alewife, the northern terminus of the Red line. After some scenic circling around the T station, we located the Minuteman Bikeway and were on our way. We quickly completed the mostly uphill 11 mile railway converted bike path through Lexington to Bedford, stoping only once for a brief water break. In Bedford, we celebrated the end of the first leg of our trip with a snack break. From there, we headed to Concord via the Reformatory Branch Trail. The pamphlet on the trail mentioned the possibility of some rough gravel patches, but never warned of the muddy mess we encountered. After a soggy, yet exciting, 4 miles of the Reformatory Branch Trail, we arrived at Minuteman National Historical Park. We checked out the Old North Bridge, famous for the "shot that rang around the world", and cleaned off our muddy bikes in the Concord River, before heading into Concord for lunch. Having renewed energy from our Italian feast, we headed to another section of Minuteman National Historical Park to ride along the Battle Road Trail. This trail traced the retreat of the red coats back to Boston and highlighted points of conflict along the way. The trail brought us back to Lexington where we made a quick stop for icecream before making our downhill return to the Alewife T station. In all we biked 36.64 miles with an average speed of 9.8 mph and a max speed of 35.5 mph. To finish off the day, we celebrated Slurpee Day, 7/11/2009, with a well-deserved, free 7.11 oz slurpee from our neighborhood 7-Eleven and baked homemade Flat Bread Pizza. Check out our pictures of the day.

Museum of Fine Art

Boston's Museum of Fine Arts is located just a short walk from our apartment. However, despite its close proximity, we had not yet visited the museum. Having recently learned that the museum offers free admission after 4:00 on Wednesdays and today being a rainy Wednesday evening, we decided to take a stroll on over to check it out. The building looks relatively large from the outside with its impressive columns and grand architecture, but inside it is massive. The museum is two entire floors packed full of fine art with collections spanning from Egypt, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Highlights include works by Monet, van Gogh, Picasso, Rembrandt, and Donatello. Besides collections of sculptures and paintings, the museum also showcases musical instruments, handmade furniture, mosaics, and weapons. Lucky for us, the museum has extended hours in the summer, but we still felt rushed trying to get in all the exhibits in under 3 hours. We might just have to come back on another rainy Wednesday evening. Interested in seeing what we saw? Check out our pictures.

Independence Day Celebration

For the past year we've heard stories of how Boston celebrates America's independence. The time finally came when the soggy weather of June cleared away, and we could experience the festivities firsthand. We joined in on the activities July 3rd to watch the full dress rehearsal of the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular complete with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Neil Diamond, cannons, church bells, and confetti. High points of the rehearsal included the Pops performance of the 1812 Overture, Neil Diamond performing Sweet Caroline (a Boston favorite) and America (twice due to some sound issues the first time around), and several other patriotic sing-a-longs. On the 4th, we took advantage of the sunny weather and rode out to the end of the T for a morning at Revere Beach. In the afternoon, we enjoyed a picnic in nearby Ramler Park. To finish the day off, we headed to the Charles River to watch fireworks. We were greeted with a flyover by the 104th Fighter Wing. An estimated 500,000 others joined us by land and by sea to watch more than 20,000 pounds of explosives illuminate the Boston skyline. This year’s celebration was the largest and most complex Boston Fourth of July pyrotechnic show yet. Follow the link to see our pictures.

Growth

Despite the fact that this June has been the cloudiest and rainiest June of the century, our garden is waiting out the soggy weather quite well. In fact, the garden has had some rather impressive growth. The tomatoes are filling their cages, the strawberries are running across the plot, the peas are climbing their trellis, and the basil is bushing out. Blossoms are speckled throughout the garden, letting us know that soon we will have several varieties of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. Click on the above picture to see photos we took of our garden growing.

Whale Watching

This weekend, we and a bunch of friends took a trip up to Gloucester, MA to go whale watching. Gloucester (pronounced: ɡlɒstər) is small seaside town about 45 minutes northeast of Boston. We enjoyed a lunch outside in the beautiful weather before heading out to sea. It was about an hour boat ride to where the whales were. The tour was a "guaranteed-to-see-whales" tour, and whales we saw! In total, we followed around 4 whales. We watched them breach, trumpet, splash around, and dive. One of the whales, named Niles, even had a calf that was nursing and following her around. It was a very memorable trip and highly recommended. Click on the above image to see more pictures of our trip.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day and the week following, we took a trip to Florida to visit Mitch's family. Severe thunderstorms diverted our flight down to Florida, but we safely landed at Palm Beach International Airport a few hours later. We spent the first few days in Beverly Beach with Mitch's extended family. Next, we went to St. Augustine to see the lighthouse, fort, and historic St. George Street. We also visited Ron Jon, Grassy Waters Preserve, Monkey Jungle, and MacArthur Beach State Park. We had a wonderful time. You can check out pictures of our trip here.

Neil Stops By

In celebration of Victoria Day, Neil and three friends left the Commonwealth for a road trip to Boston. While their time here was limited, they were able to see many of the popular sites in Boston. On Saturday, they made a trip out to Fenway and met up with us at our garden. Sunday, we caught up with them at Harvard Square for a walk around Harvard University. We saw Harvard Yard, the JFK School of Government, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and enjoyed a tasty Thai meal at 9Tastes. It was great to see you, Neil. Hopefully next time it will be sooner than 3 years.

Planted

After three Saturdays of work, our garden is finally planted. The garden was rather neglected when we got it, so we spent the first Saturday removing all the weeds, organic matter, and trash. We spent the next Saturday building a fence around our plot to keep the vegetables in our garden and intruders out. The third Saturday we built up the beds, tilled the soil by hand, and planted. We planted tomato, pepper, cucumber, and eggplant plants as well as seeds for lettuce, spinach, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, peas, butternut squash, and marigolds. With some good weather and beginner's luck we hope to have an abundant harvest this summer.

A garden with a view

Its a bit of a fixer-upper, but its our very own piece of land to do whatever we want with. The plot is nearly the size of our apartment, and for the super low price of $30 a year, its the best deal on land the city of Boston has to offer. The land is part of the Emerald Necklace, a system of parks along the Muddy River designed by the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted. During World War II, the Fenway Victory Gardens were created to reduce pressure on the food supply brought on by the war. While gardens like these were quite common during the era, the one in Fenway is now the last continually operating victory garden in existence. The Fenway Garden Society maintains the area and accepts applications for new plots. We were lucky enough to get one this year, and as long as we maintain it we can keep it indefinately. Our plot is Z25 in the center section north. It is a quiet plot near the Muddy River with a great view of the Prudential Tower (tallest building in Boston, and 26th tallest in the US). We plan to plant: tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, eggplant, summer squash, zuchinni, peppers, basil, cilantro, cantaloupe, and watermelon.

Jeff and Megan Visit

Lured by Red Sox vs Yankees tickets and the chance to spend quality time with us, Jeff and Megan made a trip out to Boston for a long weekend. Their timing was perfect: not only did they come at peak time for all the spring flowers and blooming trees, but also the weather was beautiful. They enjoyed the Freedom Trail, Boston's Waterfront, the Haymarket, Newberry Street, a walk along the Charles River, and a Yankees game at Fenway Park. The game was a great chapter to the famous rivaly with an exciting 9th inning 2 run homerun to put the game into extra innings. The game finished with another homerun in the 11th inning carrying the Red Sox to a well-earned victory. After leaving behind the jubilant celebration at Fenway Park, we celebrated the win in our nearby apartment with cheesecake. Meanwhile, the hoards of Red Sox fans fought traffic and long lines for the T to get home. We had a wonderful time with Jeff and Megan and hope they come back soon. Here are a few pictures from their visit.

Boston Marathon

The 113th Boston Marathon was held April 20, 2009 on Patriots' Day. Boston knows how to celebrate Patriots' Day. The city not only holds its annual marathon, but also declares the day an official city holiday by closing local schools and government offices. Ask any runner, and he will tell you the Boston Marathon is a big deal. All runners must qualify for the race by running a previous marathon. This year's cutoff qualifying time for 18-34 year-olds was 3hr 10mins for men and 3hr 40min for women. If I did the math right, that's about a sustained 7.25 minute mile. The fastest man finshed with a time of 2:08:42 (thats less than a 5 minute per mile average) while the fastest woman finished with a time of 2:32:16. Mitch was lucky to have the day off so he could take some pictures. Bekah, however, had to work. If the marathon didn't attract enough people and excitement by itself, Boston also hosts a Red Sox game and Celtics game just to make sure the day is extra festive.

Happy Birthday Bekah!

Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. Yes, today is Bekah's 25th birthday. She is now a quarter of a century old. Doesn't show it, does she? Her birthday happens to fall on Easter this year, making the day extra festive. While she will be far away from old friends and family this year, she still has many exciting things planned for the big day including two dinners with friends, opening all her birthday presents, a chance to try the famous Pink Cake that Todd and Kari made, and of course the opportunity to wear the greatly coveted Birthday Cake Headband. Hope you have a great birthday, Bekah, and many, many more!

New England Aquarium

This Saturday, Bekah's birthday wish came true: she got to go to the New England Aquarium. While the weather was cold and rainy outside, the aquarium was bustling with activity inside. Penguins, sea turtles, sharks, and sea dragons are a few of the things we saw. Check out our pictures to see it all for yourself. The trip downtown was made complete with a visit to Mike's Pastry for cannolis and later to the Haymarket. Happy Birthday Bekah!

Spring Break

After a grueling week of exams, Mitch booked a last minute trip down to Florida for spring break. His parents had no idea he was coming until he showed up on their doorstep. They were very surprised and happy to see him! Here are a few pictures of how they spent their time together.

Bekah's Parents Visit Boson

Until this past week, Bekah's parents had never been to Boston. They stayed with us for six days. We had a wonderful time showing them all around our neighborhood and Boston!


Some highlights of their visit include: cooking live lobsters, viewing Boston from atop the Prudential Center, meandering through Cambridge & Harvard Yard, witnessing our "initiation" into Park Street Church, enjoying clam chowder, walking the Freedom Trail from start to finish, touring a Naval ship, eating cheesecake nightly, climbing to the top of Bunker Hill Monument (an exhausting 294 stairs), strolling along the Charles River, playing the bean game, and riding the "T" (which both parents say was their favorite part). For more pictures, view our webalbum.

We enjoyed their visit and are looking forward to seeing them again in August, when we visit Indiana!

Members

As of March 15, 2009 we are now official members of Park Street Church!

Park Street Church is Congregational, Trinitarian, and Evangelical. The church building is located in downtown Boston, a beautiful 2.5 mile walk or a short T-ride from our apartment.

Park Street Church is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. It's hard to believe Park Street Church (center) was the tallest building in Boston when it was built in 1810. The steeple towered 10 feet over the State House, and the church remained Boston's tallest building until 1867. At the time it was built, cows were still being driven into downtown to graze in the Boston Common (large park area below church).

Historical facts regarding the church abound: Gunpowder was stored in the church's crypts in 1812. In 1819, Park Street Church was the first church in America to send missionaries overseas. William Lloyd Garrison gave his first anti-slavery speech at Park Street Church in 1829. The song "America" was first sung on the steps of Park Street Church in 1831.

We have become involved in a few of the church's ministries, including a small group that meets weekly, Union (a group for newly married couples), and toddler nursery (Bekah). We have been blessed by many wonderful friendships with people we have met at the church!

Mitch's 26th

Every birthday calls for a cake. This year Mitch chose a Boston Cream Pie for his birthday. It was, in fact, his first birthday celebration in Boston. After much laboring, we produced a... Boston Cream Pie. The cake made for a pretty Happy Birthday!

Lobster Dinner

Recently, we and some friends decided to take advantage of living in New England and visited the town of Marblehead, Massachusetts. While there, we came across a man named Paul, who was selling lobsters out of the back of his truck. He has been lobstering for the past 48 years, so needless to say he had some rather fine lobsters for sale.

We bought a live lobster for each of us, packed them on ice, and rushed them back to Boston. None of us had ever boiled a lobster alive, but Paul assured us it was a relatively easy process. All we had to do was bring a large pot of water up to a boil, place the live lobster inside, wait for the water to return to a boil, and allow the lobsters to cook for 12 minutes.

We followed Paul's advice without incident; no screaming, thrashing, or escaping! The end result was a delicious feast.

The Beginning

Welcome to our blog. For family, for old friends, for new friends... We hope that you enjoy our blog and the stories we share about our new life in Boston. Happy reading!