The Beginning of Wednesday

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Camp 2008

Highlights:

We spent a ton of time all together as a family.
I saw my Pepe almost every day.
I watched my nephew swim in the same places I used to as a kid.
We had bats in our cabin (hence tennis rackets.)
My Brother-in-law waterskied in... JEANS!!
We hiked the beautiful Moxie Falls and I fell in!
We played Sequence almost every night.
We went on two beautiful kayak trips to spy on wildlife.
I went to the Skowhegan Fair with my family.
We went in the boat on the most gorgeous afternoon and I waterskied.
On Wednesday August 13, 2008 Aaron asked me to marry him and presented me with the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.
I said Oui.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy 49th Birthday Dad! Only one more year until you are half a century old!

I love you!

XOXO

J&A

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Wednesday, Oui... The Brady Bunch?

Growing up my father would always say..."Hey, we are just like the Brady Bunch." Anyone who knows anything about my childhood knows this statement is clearly delusional. My dad was no Mike Brady and my mom was far from good old Carol. We had no Alice and I'm not even sure we used a butcher. There certainly weren't minor problems ironed out within a half hour over milk and cookies.

Monday evening, after we came home from Aaron's parent's house, I was on the couch reading while Aaron was preparing for his first day of school when the following conversation happened:

A: I want us to be just like the Brady Bunch.

J: What?! (Scanning his face to see if he has lost his mind thinking I would actually have 6 of his babies...)

A: You know, like the parents.

J: Yeah, I know who they are... but, how?

A: I don't know... go to bed early together, and read a book at night and talk, stuff like that.

J: Oh! (whew!) Yes, I would like that.

I love that Aaron wants to be like the Brady Bunch with me. I can see myself with this man, growing old, having children (yes, Nicki, I said children.) I want Aaron to say to our children "We are just like the Brady Bunch." And although they will have no clue who that is, it may actually be true this time around.

Happy Birthday Wally!

Happy 33rd Birthday to my Wolfie, the very best brother in the world. I love you more than you will ever know and I'm so lucky to have you in my life.
XOXO,

Jessi

Monday, September 1, 2008

A Happy Labor Day

I must say this is one of the most relaxing weekends I've experienced in a long time. Aaron and I are always, perpetually, go, go, go. We never stop to rest. This weekend was quite the opposite. We have done very little, and have been outside most of the weekend; eating thoughtfully prepared dinners.

I have read a book and Aaron has kept himself busy around the house... but we've barely gone "out" and are truly enjoying the last of what summer has to offer. Basking in our newly engaged bliss and with the "first day of school" sneaking up on Aaron ready to rob him of his much deserved summer freedom, we were ready for this break.

What a great beginning to what will be an amazing fall.

Quotes that define my life:

"Now this is the Law of the Jungle -- as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back -- For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack." -- Rudyard Kipling
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." -- Dr. Seuss
"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." -- Unknown
"Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it." -- E. Lutzer
“There is pleasure in the pathless woods, There is rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep sea and the music in its roar; I love not man the less, but Nature more.” -- Lord Byron
"There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don't seem to help." -- Mr. Rogers
"If you don't crack the shell, you can't eat the nut." -- Persian Proverb
"Real peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mountains we climb

+ Currently: Life
+ Magalloway Mountain: Pittsburg, NH: 3,350 ft. Fire tower @ summit
+ Uncanoonuc Mountains: Goffstown, NH; Elevation: North Peak 1,324 ft. South Peak, 1,321 ft. *Indian Translation: "woman lying down" or "breasts"*
+ Mt. Major: Alton Bay, NH: Approx 4 mi. round trip; 1,100 ft. @ summit.
+ Monument Mt., Berkshire Area, MA: Approx 3 mi. round trip; *Beautiful waterfall* 1,735 ft @ summit.
+ Welch-Dickey- Loop Trail, Waterville Valley Area: 4.4 mi. round trip; 2,605 ft. @ Welch summit, 2,734 ft. @ Dickey summit.
+ Mt. Kearsarge- Barlow Trail, Winslow State Park, Wilmot: 2.8 mi. round trip; 2,937 ft @ summit.
+ Mt. Monadnock- White Dot Trail, Jaffrey: 4.2 mi. round trip, 3,165 ft. @ summit
+ Mt. Layafette- Old Bridle Path, Franconia Notch State Park: 8 mi. round trip, 5,260 ft @ summit.
+ Mt. Cardigan- East Side Loop, Alexandria: 5.3 mi. round trip, 3,121 ft @ summit. * some of the mountain was left bare from a fire in 1855
+ Mt. Morgan & Mt. Percival- Squaw Mountains, Holderness & Center Sandwich: 5.1 mi. round trip; 2,220 & 2,212 ft. @ summit
+ Mt. Osceola- White Mountain National Forest: 6.4 mi. round trip, 4,340 ft. @ summit

Mission Statement

This blog is much like my home. When you click on my blog you cross a boundary into my world; what I would like to be a judgment free world. You’re in my house now. Don’t come in if you want to pollute my environment with negativity.

As a guest in my home would you pick apart my style, critique my furniture, or want me to spend your entire visit complaining about my life's trials and tribulations? No. The same goes for my blog. You’re a guest here. The virtual world is a "boundary" between what I am going to post here, and what goes on in my “real life.”

This is my forum. Much like if you were a guest in my house, I would scurry around cleaning up, presenting to you my best self. I do the same with my writing. You come here for a smile, an anecdote, a laugh, or a oui. You don't come here to hear about the bad parts of my life. Just because I don't post about them, doesn't mean they don't exist. That part of me just happens to be none of your business.

I choose to blog about things that make me happy, things I want to look back on and relish. I am constantly recovering (on a daily basis) from things that are unpleasant, I need no reminders via written word. That is what my diary is for. If that omission makes it appear as though my life is easy, then you are more than welcome to turn back now, don't waste your time. I have an amazing group of people who I can vent to and get feedback in regards to those matters, I don’t have an overwhelming urge to hang my dirty laundry out to dry in front of strangers.

My greatest fear about blogging is that someone, anyone, would rob me of this right. To instill in me a need to gauge my every word, for me to feel intimidated to speak, to share, or to write. I would never take that privilege, liberty, or luxury from any one person. It’s not mine to take. If you're here for the taking, I hope you come up empty.