30 April 2009

It's still April in New England!

The quality of this picture isn't that great, but I had to document how HOT it was in Northern New England this past tuesday and all I had was my cell phone.

Not sure if you can see the temperature, but it says 102!!!

Last year we still had snow on the ground and our last snow fall was in May. Now we've had a number of days with late summer temps!

29 April 2009

Saturday May 2...

...I will be assisting a photographer at a dual ceremony wedding in Boston!

I was hired this morning!

My responsibilities at this wedding, along with assisting the photographer, are to photograph the groom and groomsmen getting ready, take wide angle shots upstairs during the catholic ceremony and to take candid photos during the Hindu ceremony and reception!

I'm not being paid for this job, but the fact that I get to work with a professional photographer and learn from her is AMAZING! I also get to keep all the pictures I take with my camera :-)

I am traveling down to Boston with the photographer but I am not needed until the afternoon, which means I have the morning to myself on Charles street. I need to remember to look up some stuff to do on Charles street.

I'm charging up all my batteries, clearing out my CF cards and practicing using the manual settings! Oh, and did I mention that I'll be shooting in RAW format?? Yeah, those image files are HUGE!!!

I will post some pictures from the ceremony but probably not until Monday as we'll be getting home well after 11pm Saturday night and Sunday I think we're painting the bedroom and celebrating Danny's grandmother's birthday (which I need to bake a cake for - Nana's wackey cake with peanut butter icing!)

27 April 2009

Our weekend in a nutshell...

We cleaned.

And no I didn't take any pictures, but I should have done before and after pictures. But then again, who wants to see yucky stuff not cleaned? I'll spare you - but this blog is long and doesn't contain any pictures. None.

Friday night I scrubbed the bath tub and shower curtain (they were orange. Praise God for Clorox!) and the toilet. Now the toilet is broken - Saturday morning it started to make funny gurgling sounds after the tank filled up with water. So the toilet was always running. I didn't take anything out of the tank or move anything, just used my trusty scrub brush and some soapy water in the tank. Now the latest chapter in the broken toilet saga started this morning - after the tank is filled with water the water line is shaking and makes a horrible rumbling sound.

But being my mother's daughter I've started turning off the water once the tank is filled so we don't waste any water :-)

My Mom has been "green" even before it was cool. We made our own library bags instead of using plastic bags. We used the washing machine's grey water to water our plants outside during draughts. We always had an organic garden and we ALWAYS used the compost pile. We even let neighbors put fresh food into our compost pile. One time a neighbor put brand new fresh fruit in the compost...uncut cantaloupe!!! So my Mom went out and picked it out of the pile, washed it and cut it up. Dad never knew!


Saturday I did all the laundry (I even folded the clothes right out of the dryer! This is amazing since I NEVER fold clothes as soon as they are out of the dryer. I just hate folding and putting away clothes. I don't mind washing them), cleaned the kitchen and ran the dishwasher a few times. Also donated an IKEA blue bag over flowing with shirts that Danny doesn't want anymore. I should have spent time outside on Saturday since it was 90 DEGREES out, but I didn't. We did go to a local park to watch the sun set and walked around where the Bellamy River meets the Piscataqua River (which then goes out to the Atlantic Ocean). The Piscataqua River is pretty awesome. Apparently it's current is rated as one of the fastest in North America and true to it's testament, there are a TON of freighters that use Portsmouth, NH as port! For more info about the Piscataqua River, take a look at this Wikipedia page.

Sunday we went to church but didn't go back to the Wiggly bridge - nope, we had to get home to do more cleaning. Yes, we finally cleaned our mold infested windows and sliding glass door. It took hours. Now we just need to paint using special paint so the mold won't grow back. I'll be painting the window grills tonight (hopefully at the same time my father-in-law is working on our toilet). I never heard of window grills until I moved to New England and I know that I DO NOT want them on the house we are going to build in the future (even if they are now placed between the window panes, I still hate them). Until then, I have to contend with removing the grills every time I want to clean the windows. And sometimes the grills stick to the glass which makes it an oh so fun time!

Phew, this post isn't fun to read, but I had a lot to say. If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me.

And if you did read this whole post, then why don't you sign up to be one of my 7? I only have 1 lucky volunteer, but I could use 6 more :-) (ahem California Williams's!! You guys are the only people I know that read this blog other than my blogger friend Jessica).

24 April 2009

80 Degrees?!?!?!?!



Can you believe that it will be 80 degrees tomorrow? It's still April. Last year at this time we still had snow up to our bedroom window!!!!

Looks like the summer weather is coming in today and this 80 degree weather will stick around until next tuesday...but then next wednesday it will be in the 60's.

Oh flip flop season is so in!

20 April 2009

Michaels 20% off Martha Stewart Crafts Coupon!

Hi all,

I found a coupon online to get 20% off your entire regular price purchase of Martha Stewart Crafts that is good through May 17!!!

http://www.michaels.com/coupons/8340010064292420/coupon.html?cm_ven=2009AprilMayBanner&cm_ite=20EMSCCoupon

I hope you all are able to use it!!!

14 April 2009

Twins!

I have visited with my friend and her kids a few times since the girls were born. The first time was when they were 1 week old (March 31, 2009) up in Maine Medical Center. I stayed for about 6 hours with Nichole so her husband could go home (New Hampshire), pay some bills, get clean clothes and say hi to their 5 year old son (Collin). I took some pictures with my phone, but since it was Nichole who was the patient in the hospital and not the twins, I had my hands full with feedings, cuddling and diaper changing.

Then I got to spend an afternoon at their house on Good Friday, and what a Good friday it was!

I want to introduce you to the twins!

Allison Michelle (17 days old)


Jillian Irene (17 days old)


Big Brother Collin snuggling with Jillian


I was able to catch a small nap after the girls had their 4:30pm bottle, and I got to cuddle with them both! They LOVE to be all snuggly!

What a special treat - I hope to be able to share more pictures as these precious girls grow!

09 April 2009

Wiggly Bridge

Sunday Danny and I had some time between the 2nd service at church and a gathering at a fewllow church choir member's house so we decided to go down the street from our church to the Wiggly Bridge.

I knew my camera battery was low, but I didn't know how low until I got home and downloaded the pictures. I took a ton of pictures of 2 seagulls but they weren't great at all. I won't even share any here. They were that bad.

The tide was going out, and I really liked how the water flowed from one side of the bridge to the other and so I started snapping away. This was my favorite picture of the day.

I think I may print this and get it framed. I'm also thinking about making 4x6 prints of that image to put on the front of note cards.

What do you think - would you be interested in note cards with this photograph on the front?