Disposable Wedding Cameras: Candid Characters

More treats from our disposable cameras. We are surrounded by interesting characters :)

The gold is in the lower row faces.

Sassifras

I'd recognize that bald head and quizzical face anywhere. 

So much personality. (Nancy, this kills me)

For some reason, I picture this as part of some Taylor Swift CD cover...

Hey girl heyyyyy!

Will's church buddies & their ladies with their youth pastor & his lady. So much history!

Was the party that draining, Mitch?

Excited!

Disgusted!

One guy on the right looks uncomfortable.

The other two are making me uncomfortable...

Um, THANK YOU for this gift of a picture.

Look at that FACE!

This was the only photo of my CCU girls! Y'all look good in not-scrubs :)

At least one person utilized those cameras...

The sassiest candid shot of them all. (I'm talking to you, Ian)

Note the amazing camera slung across his shoulder, but he's going in for the shoot with that dandy little disposable.

Strike a  pose, Mae Mae.

Wedding present for us, Caleb? 

GQ, we're ready. 

Eventually I'll put up some of our favorite professional wedding photos in a post or two. 

In other news, we had a splendid Christmas at home in Virginia, getting to visit with both of our families! When we returned, MA greeted us with a winter storm and mice in our pantry. Will is in the midst of his January-term class about World Missions, and I'm back at work, caring for the flu-ravaged Massachusetts residents. We are planning a few fun trips and adventures this semester, so you'll see some posts with those in the coming months.  

Disposable Wedding Cameras: New Perspectives

I finally took the disposable cameras to CVS to be printed. A few notes:

- The CVS near us didn't go to great lengths to do a decent job of these... but here they are, all the same.

- In general, I don't think I'd recommend using these to future brides. The lenses get scratched easily, finger prints are on a lot of them, and the only decent ones are those taken outside. I'm sure they're fun for the guests, but I don't think we gleaned a lot of "keeper" photos from these 15 cameras.

- Even though the quality isn't great, and there aren't a lot of photos I'd have printed and framed, I'm really grateful for some of the ones I've gotten. 

I'll have a another post with more photos, grouped into another category. These show a lot of parts of our reception that Will and I didn't get to enjoy or perspectives that we missed because the celebration was all such a blur!

Without further ado...

Friends signing the quilt squares my mom put together as a "guest book" for us

I never saw the large flower displays (on the left), even though there was much discussion about them with the florist. So pleased!

Cutting the cake! (view from behind)

I love this picture! Boololly (Will's grandmother) next to the table honoring Will's grandfather with his "3:00 Chocolates"

Close up of the table.

Sneaky groomsmen trashing/decorating Will's car. We STILL have that heart confetti in the car...

Oh dear...

Bringing out our cake!!

Get that topper up there.

People actually enjoying the party! We never made it the food tables, and we got to visit with so few people. Glad people were full and happy at the end!

Outdoor seating... never saw it, but it sounds like a lot of people enjoyed the perfect weather we had on our special day.

Get that iPhone in there.

Standing during toasts. Love those flowers again!

Dance dance dance

More to come!

Goober Family Visit Continues

I left off at Thanksgiving. But there was more fun to be had with Melissa, Mary Grace and Annabelle (aka the Goober Brigade) in tow.

On our way into the city

After looking at the weather forecast, we decided that Friday was a better day to traipse around Boston. We did part of the Freedom Trail, starting in the Boston Common, and making our way around the city. It was chillier and windier than just a few weeks earlier when my dad came to visit. I'm realizing that how we host visitors will greatly depend on the seasons and the weather up here. Walking around Salem or Boston on a crisp Autumn day is much more pleasant than walking around on a cloudy, windy, colder near-Winter day. We ate dinner in the city, in the North End, at an Italian restaurant we'd been to previously with some visitors back in August. After a lot of indulgent eating, we were more than ready to come home and relax.

In the Boston Common, near Park Street Church

At Paul Revere's House

A blurry picture of us at dinner in the North End

Saturday was a "tour our world" kinda day. We drove around Gordon College (we're still trying to convince MG that she should go to school there... and live in our spare room!). We walked around Gordon Conwell. We came home and relaxed a little until it was time to go see a movie-- Lincoln. Deciding on which movie was probably the hardest part of the whole visit. Wreck It Ralph? Lincoln? Twilight? (No Way) Lincoln won the vote, and most of us really enjoyed it. Will took a short nap. Mary Grace browsed Facebook. But Annabelle, Melissa and I were captivated.

Ready for church!

Sunday we ate at home and headed to church. We came home after church and had some leftovers for lunch before taking Melissa and Mary Grace into the city to catch the Amtrak back home. Annabelle, Will and I returned home. Will did some homework. Annabelle and I graded her high school students' tests while watching Home Alone. Perfectly restful evening.

Thanksgiving 2012

Sometimes, we have a "go big or go home" mentality around here.

Apparently, Thanksgiving was a good opportunity to adopt this mentality.

For our first Thanksgiving together, we hosted it for Will's mother and 2 sisters.

Now, a Thanksgiving meal for 5 people may not seem too extreme. Most families are around that size anyway, right?

Well, hosting Thanksgiving in a small apartment is a triumph in and of itself. Small kitchen. Minimal counter space. Small oven. Packed fridge. Making a complete meal is an accomplishment.

Add to that the fact that Will wanted to do most of the cooking. He wanted to brine his first turkey, so that was a new experience. He took some traditional Thanksgiving recipes and put his own spin on them. He did a lot from scratch (and let us talk him into a few short-cuts... for time/space/budget's sake).

And it was fabulous. The meal was outstanding.

Turkey in the bucket with the brine... and the Turkey in our oven with the electric thermometer ready to tell us when he's done!

Menu

Appetizers

Brie

Cheddar Crackers with Pumpkin Seeds

Hot Apple Cider

Hummus

Main Course

Turkey in a Ginger, Sage, and All Spice Brine

(Will dubbed this the "Wise Ginger Turkey")

Sides

Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

Green Bean Casserole

Crescent Rolls

Cranberry Sauce

Pan Dripping Gravy

Cornbread Stuffing

Dessert

Buttermilk Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Will did an outstanding job. It was all delicious, was presented beautifully, and made the apartment smell heavenly.

Will's family arrived on Tuesday. Melissa and Mary Grace flew in from VA Tuesday afternoon, and Annabelle flew in from Tulsa later that night. They stayed in a hotel in Salem that night because I was scheduled to work Wednesday & Thursday and Will had classes early on Wednesday. To keep the morning routine relatively intact, they stayed elsewhere that night.

Then, to my pleasant surprise, early on Wednesday morning, the hospital called and said there weren't many patients and I could stay home if I wanted to. This has only happened once before, and it was the same day my dad was scheduled to fly into MA for his visit! What excellent timing! Thanks God!

So after Will returned from his class, we all met up in Salem and had lunch there. Then Will and Mary Grace split off to do homework and college apps, respectively. Melissa, Annabelle, and I wandered around Salem, took a tour of the house that inspired Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, and did a little shopping. We all met up at home after that, and went out to dinner that night in Beverly.

I left for work that morning, and apparently Will's sisters helped themselves to our comfy bed 

I worked Thanksgiving day. I'm used to working holidays, but in the past my schedule had always been 12 hour shifts, so that was pretty much my whole day. Not so in my current job! I spent the day with my patients, wore my turkey scrub top, and had a little free lunch provided by the hospital. My shift ended at 3, and I was home before 4 pm. I came home to a beautifully set table, a luscious smelling kitchen, and a football game on our TV. I asked how I could help, and was instructed to change clothes, sit down and relax... it was all taken care of!

My coworkers were pretty jealous of my set up. "You still get to enjoy a home-cooked Thanksgiving feast, and you didn't have to cook a thing??" Yup... my amazing husband took the reigns and amazed us all!

Our First Visitor! Part II

See Part I for Friday's drama and Saturday's tourist traps.

Sunday, we went to our church in the morning, and then made our way to Karl's Sausage Kitchen for dinner. It's a butchery/cafe with a little German grocery store inside. Since Dad spent so much time in Germany, I thought he'd enjoy some familiar tastes and exports. Just being inside that place makes me crave The Sound of Music...

That night we drove out to Gloucester, the seaport where The Perfect Storm story comes from. We walked along the boardwalk for a while, then settled in at a little seafood restaurant, Latitude 43*, for dinner. The food was pretty good, but didn't knock our socks off. We really drove out to Gloucester to enjoy beer at Cape Ann Brewing Company. We walked over to the Brewery and chatted over a couple of beers.

Will and me at the memorial for all of the fishermen lost at sea.

Then came Monday... BOSTON DAY! We planned a trip doing a few of our favorite and most-anticipated activities. We took the T into the city and started off with a brewery tour at the Sam Adams brewery. I'd heard great things about this tour, and it lived up to every expectation. The tour guides were knowledgeable and hilarious. Will and I have done several brewery tours, and this was probably the most entertaining. And the tour is free!

Will pouring the first tasting... get that 45* angle, babe!

After the tour, they recommend heading over to Doyle's Pub for lunch and drinks. Doyle's was the first bar to sell Sam Adams when they were getting started in the 1980s, so they get a special shout out from the brewery. There is a free trolley that takes you from Sam Adams to Doyle's, and the trolley driver was out of control. He was hysterical. He decked out this old trolley with disco balls and flashing lights, blasted "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)", and made the trolley bounce down the road as we headed to Doyle's. He was full of knowledge about Sam Adams and Doyle's, such as citing several movies with scenes in Doyle's, and entertained us as we took a 7 minute ride over to lunch. Good food, good beer, and it put us all in a very good mood. I highly recommend this if you're in the Boston area-- a free brewery tour and a cheap lunch is one of my favorite parts of this weekend. 

DOYLE'S 

After Doyle's, we headed over to the waterfront to see the New England Aquarium. Will and I went to the aquarium last year when I came to visit and it was phenomenal. I loved it so much that Will scheduled an aquarium trip for us on our honeymoon in Denver (although that aquarium wasn't nearly as impressive as this NE's Aquarium.) Unfortunately, the massive 200,000 gallon tank in the center was under construction, and all of the penguins had been moved to another facility during the construction, so the aquarium was much less impressive than our last visit. They included free IMAX tickets with the admission ticket because of the construction, so we enjoyed the fish and jellies and headed over to watch a movie about the Arctic and polar bears. Will took a nap during the movie. Dad seemed reasonably entertained. I was stressed out for much of the movie (the polar bear mama and her 2 cubs are being pursued for a good portion of this movie... spoiler alert: they make it out alive, but my anxiety for them didn't subside when the credits started rolling...)

We headed back home and ate some take out Thai while watching Sons of Anarchy on TV. It was a restful ending to a jam-packed weekend!

We did a little Facetime action with John & Rylie on Dad's iPad. She wasn't really sure what was happening, but we were thoroughly entertained by her questioning eyes.

Dad flew back this morning and made it home safe. Such a fun time with family!

Next up: Will's family joins us for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see what Hotel Killmer serves up for the holiday!

Our First Visitor! Part I

Look who came to visit!

Apparently Will and I tend to just look at ourselves in the camera instead of the camera lens. Oops.

My dad flew into Boston to visit us this past weekend. It was a great time for a visitor-- I had 3 scheduled days off in a row (a rarity), the weather had warmed up from the Nor'easter so walking around was pleasant, and Will's reading break is this week, so his school work could take a little vacation for a few days. 

The plan was for Will to pick up my dad from the airport on Friday while I was at work, and I would just join everyone after I got home. At 5:00 A.M., the hospital called & said they were overstaffed and would  I like to stay home. Usually I would say no to this incredibly tempting offer (so I don't use up my vacation time), but this just seemed like the perfect time to take it. Best 5 A.M. call ever! So now, I had four glorious days off. Such a gift!

We picked up dad from the airport and headed out to lunch near our home. And that brings me to a very strange story I would like to share with you.

Dad and I at a beach near my home. 

 I wanted to take Dad for a walk around our little town for 2 reasons: to show him our area, and to give Will some time to work on school before the fun weekend began. We reached the crosswalk near our home that would take us across the busy street and over into the neighborhoods. I inched out and was looking both ways for cars before crossing... and then I was hit by a car. Or rather, I was run over by a car. There was an Audi parked along the street, and she started to reverse without looking behind her. The back tires on this car are so close to the bumper that by the time I felt the bumper hit my thigh, my foot was already under the tire and I was being pulled under the car. She ran over my foot, ankle and knee before realizing what was going on. She stopped (thereby saving my hips and important organs...), and I just kinda sat there stunned. My dad had a few choice words for her (although, to his credit, I was impressed by his restraint with this girl who just ran over his daughter...), and then I stood up to see how my leg was. It was fine. I could move just fine, no broken bones (that I could notice), and no odd feelings or nerve damage. So... I said we should just keep on with our plans for our walk! We crossed the road, she drove away, and we made it to the beach in the above picture. You'd hardly know I was just the victim of a vehicular assault by my cheese grin above.

My knee did start hurting & swelling a while later, so we made a quick-ish trip to the ER for xrays, which confirmed no broken bones, and then we went on our merry way.

Dad has friends in Boston, so we took the T into the city and had dinner with them at Nico's in the North End. Excellent food! My only complaint is that there was a massive flat screen TV in the dining room that was playing an old mob movie. I understand the idea, but eating a nice meal and sipping a smooth wine while seeing a sex scene and mass murder in the background didn't really "set the tone" for my meal.

When asked if we wanted to get any dessert, I said, "I was run over by a car today. I want a cannoli." So we walked down to Modern Pastry for a sweet end to our trip into the city.

Dad and his friends in front of the store.

 With full bellies, we waddled back to the T and headed home.

On Saturday, we headed up to Marblehead for brunch. When Will's family came up last year to drop him off at school, we ate brunch at The Landing and it was phenomenal! It is still our favorite bowl of clam chowder (and we order that soup everywhere so that's a big compliment... we've tasted many bowls!) Well, the brunch is only served on Sundays. Whomp whomp. So we ate our lunch and headed over to Salem for some tourist time.

Will and me at The Landing. 

Look behind Will and you'll see a massive crane that

 takes ships in and out of that warehouse!

 We walked all around Salem. There's a harbor side with a lot of historical displays explaining the evolution of Salem as a seaport.

Here I am reading about using the angles of the shadows created by the Sun to decipher the time of day. I look confused because Will is standing directly where the Sun should have been creating my shadows...

Salem is most known for the Salem Witch Trials back in the 1600s. Interestingly, the first Witch Trial took place in Danvers, not in Salem. A servant woman was accused of being a witch by two young sisters, and she was told if she confessed, she would be released from her job with the family. Instead, they executed her. She confirmed the names of a few other "witches" (other women these two sisters were accusing), and they were also executed. Those executions all took place in Salem, but it all started in Danvers. There is a beautiful memorial for the 20 or so executed.

Salem uses this little bit of history to really attract tourists. There are legitimate historical sites (like the memorial and museums), but there is a hefty amount of cheesey, shameless tourist attractions based on witches. Think... Harry Potter stores, wax museums with witches and wizards, and large plywood witches with holes cut out for faces... like so...

The Bearded Witch

The Distressed/Windblown Witch

The Jolly/Can't-Contain-My-Height Witch

Boo!

We spent the rest of the time walking around Salem's pedestrian mall, all around the harbor, and through the stores and alleys of the city.

We ended Saturday with going to see 007: Skyfall at our local theater. Classic entertainment.

Part II will tell of Sunday and Monday's adventures...