Dunstable & Ticks

We went for a hike today in a little town called Dunstable. (The names of the towns here are pretty ridiculous). It was absolutely beautiful and almost completely secluded. The dogs had a great time and we let Trouble run off leash the entire time. Nick and I kept saying how much we wanted to come back again.

Fast forward a few hours when we get home. Nick was taking a nap on the futon with Trouble and I let Gillie up on our bed. I suddenly realized there was a bug on me and I discovered it was a tick. YUCK! I immediately began search for more on Gillie and we found about 5 of them on her. We didn't see any on Trouble but I knew there would be some since he was roaming off-leash. After giving Gillie two baths, I headed to Petco and got tick shampoo and some tick meds for both dogs. Nick and I are both paranoid about lyme disease so we are being careful and searching the dogs constantly. Now Trouble and Gillie are both passed out and will probably sleep the rest of the day. Hopefully we have sufficiently killed the ticks, or I may go into a complete panic over the threat of lyme disease issues. When I was in the car headed to Petco I heard a public service announcement about ticks and this did not help my paranoia.

It is technically a holiday tomorrow but I will be working most of the day. I am already looking forward to our next outing, which will probably be next Sunday. This week is filled with about 55 hours of work and baby-sitting, and somewhere in there Nick and I will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary! I am hoping this involves an Italian restaurant on the North End...

We LOVE our car! Having a wagon is amazing.

Mint and Basil

It officially feels like summer here. This week we topped 90 degrees and it was toasty in our apartment. The dogs were sprawled out on the hardwood floor and panting non-stop. Monday the weather was absolutely perfect and I got out for a nice run along the Charles. Then Nick and I went to dinner and had some frozen yogurt to top off a perfect afternoon/evening.

I started a new baby-sitting job yesterday and I think it will be a great fit. I will be over there about 20 hours per week, so my days are going to be very long. I got my first taste of that yesterday when I worked in the lab starting before 7am and babysat for two different families from 11:30-9:30pm. By the time I got home I was completely exhausted. (It will be worth it once the paychecks arrive!)

Nick was sweet enough to buy me two new sets of herbs for our kitchen. He bought mint and basil- two of my favorites!

This weekend we are planning to take the dogs hiking. We are loving our car and it has made my life so much easier with baby-sitting jobs. I would have to take two buses to my new job, but it's only 6 miles away and driving is so much faster. I will be sure to post pictures from our weekend, and we are expected to have perfect weather!

Rockport, MA

Our first major trip with our car was to Rockport. It was a sleepy little town on the coast (or at least the part of town we were in) but it was a beautiful day. We walked around for a bit and then headed to Salem, which turned out to be less exciting than we anticipated. To be fair, we didn't go into the museums or anything, so I'm sure those are more interesting. It has been a great weekend and we are looking forward to many more trips in the car this summer!

These photos are all from Rockport:

Vroom Vroom

We bought a car! We bought a '98 Subaru Outback last week and we have been driving all over Boston and surrounding areas this weekend. Friday we took the dogs to the dog park and Trouble was in the very back of the wagon. There is a dog-gate just for him! I never knew how great life would be when Trouble isn't able to bound into the front seat of the car. He is isolated in the back and Gillie sits on my lap. She was great and just sits quietly while you drive around. When we got to the park, Gillie was overwhelmed by the other dogs and would run to Nick and I and beg us to pick her up. Trouble had a great time and it's obvious he's out of shape after almost 9 months of not being able to sprint.

We are feeling even more excited about summer now! Nick officially finished his semester last week and got 2 more A+'s in his classes. He is ridiculous. One year from now he will be done with his Masters degree and will be beginning his phD. Time has flown by and it's hard to believe we've almost been here a year.

My half marathon is just over a month away and I am starting to get nervous about it, but I know it will be a good stepping stone for the full marathon. Now that we have a car it will be much easier to get to both races on-time and not have to worry about train schedules, etc.

We drove to Rockport, MA today but I will put that on a separate post to make pictures less overwhelming.

Trouble, in his jail cell:

Gillie, on my lap, looking out the window

Extreme Mustang Challenge

My grandpa won the Extreme Mustang Challenge this weekend in Norco. This is the second time he has taken part in the competition and our entire family is thrilled for him! The mustangs are wild and are gathered up and given to various horse trainers. They have about 3 months to train them and then they compete in various contests. He won the entire competition! I wish I could been there to cheer for him, but my cousin watched him compete and snapped this picture:

Congratulations Grandpa!!

My First Week of "Summer"

It is still hard for me to grasp the fact that I really don't have any required reading to do for the summer. No tests to study for. No lab practicals to prepare for. It's wonderful! Nick is still a few days away from the end of his semester and we are looking forward to having laid-back evenings with no homework. He is on track to get an A+ in both of his classes again. Crazy over-achiever!

I worked quite a bit this week and spent a lot of time baby-sitting Oskar and spent all day Friday baby-sitting Tommy and his little brother and sister. I have decided that 3 children is too many...They are exhausting! I went out to lunch Thursday with 2 friends from school. We went to a great Vietnamese restaurant and then got much-deserved pedicures. We all ended up with excellent grades for the semester and went to celebrate. Ahhh I wish I could get a pedicure every week as they are completely relaxing!

I took a trip to Whole Foods this week and spent over an hour there. I ended up buying about 6 items, but I am in love with the store and spent most of the time smelling the flowers and looking at all the amazing fresh food possibilities. I am so weird. I have been addicted to fruit, granola and yogurt and crave it every second of the day. I would rather have that than ice cream. That's just strange.

The last two weeks I've had a cough that has prevented me from running. Today I finally got out and went for a nice run. Only 5 miles, but it was a leap from the zero miles I've been running because of the cough. I'm sore, but I am hoping I can be back up to 7-9 miles by next weekend. My half marathon is only about 6 weeks away, so I need to do some catching up on my workouts.

Oskar and I spent a lot of quality time wandering around Brookline and going to the park this week. This is what I have to show for it: =)

Luke and Lily

I have been baby-sitting Luke and Lily since we moved to Boston. They are 14 months old, and I have photographed them before, so I thought it was time for an update. =)

Fenway Park

Nick and I went to the Sox-Yankees game Sunday night and it was entertaining to see the fans taunt one another. It was a much more friendly rivalry than the one we are accustomed to (UCLA-USC) so it was mild taunting for most part. Fenway Park is a cool venue and although we were in the bleachers, we still had great seats. We got hot dogs and then sat and tried to stay warm. It was incredibly cold, but the Sox ended up killing the Yankees 9-3 so it was worth the cold!

Outside Fenway:

Yankees fans and Sox fans teasing each other:

My first attempt to get a picture of Nick:

Nick and I are convinced that this is what every photo of our children will look like. (Since I am the paparazzi....)

I Might Be Crazy

It's true. I may have completely lost my mind. I registered for a full marathon. Yes, all 26.2 miles. I have been running consistently for the past few weeks (minus this week when I got sick) and I have been feeling great. This week I will be up to just over 10 miles for my long run and I am confident that I can do the full marathon. I also have several months to prepare for it, so I am in no hurry. My race is October 31st in Cape Cod. It is suppose to be a beautiful marathon course and I think it will be an incredible experience. Although once in a while I think, "Can I really do this??" It will take a lot of hard work, but one of my life goals has been to run a marathon, and what better way to cross it off the list than just before my 24th birthday??!

I am done with spring semester and it feels great to know that next semester I will be starting the nursing classes. Two semesters down, five to go until I am an RN. In addition to finals, I worked 46 hours this week. All of this probably contributed to me getting sick this week, but I am feeling much better today. I got home from work today and Nick asked, "So how long until you go on the Mo cleaning spree?" It made me laugh because whenever I finish a semester, I tend to go on a massive cleaning spree at home. It makes me feel organized and I can relax after I'm done cleaning. I guess I'm more predictable than I thought! haha

My cleaning went well, so now I plan to take the rest of the evening off to spend with my three loves who I have not spent nearly enough time with lately. Tomorrow night Nick and I are going to our first Red Sox game when they will face the NY Yankees! Should be a great night!