Our First Year in Boston

Nick and I have been talking all week about how surreal it is that our first year in Boston has come and gone. One year ago we arrived in front of our new apartment with everything we owned, including Trouble (although I think Trouble owns us most of the time). We had no idea what we were in for. I was terrified of winter (and rightly so), had no idea where I would be going to school or when, I had no prospects for jobs, and Nick was embarking on his first year of grad school.

Nick convinced me to apply to the nursing program and a few weeks later I was accepted! My job situation was rough for a while, but now I feel as though my jobs are perfect for the time being. I completed all of my pre-requisites for the nursing program and this fall I will officially be a "nursing student." Nick had an incredible first year of grad school and he received A+(s) in every class he took. We found Gillie and brought her home in September. I had wanted a dachshund for so long, and I definitely got one. She is stubborn, loyal, and the most loving creature ever. Trouble loves having a play mate, and although it can be frustrating and time-consuming, we love having two dogs.

In the coming year, Nick will be finishing his masters degree and taking the most difficult exam(s) he has ever taken, along with starting his phD! I will be working in hospitals with patients and this time next year I will be less than one year away from being a registered nurse!

The Four Seasons:

Museum of Science

It was another hot day Sunday, and since we didn't have our car to escape the city, we decided to visit the Museum of Science. We could have spent all day looking through the various exhibits, but we definitely focused on a few spots. They had an alternative energy section that we looked through, and they had up-to-date information on the wind mills operating on top of the museum.

They also had an exhibit about Escher, who Nick is currently reading a book about. His artwork was fascinating and Nick brought home a small print of one of his pieces.

We had fun with mirrors:

A great horned owl. He was not happy to be there, and who can blame him? It was sad to see such a gorgeous creature tied to a string inside a building.

Nick found this engine toward the end of the day and he was hooked. He spent quite a while trying to figure out what each part was and how it worked.

Poor Subaru

My hope of taking the car in just to get the hood replaced was quickly shattered Friday. The new hood fits great, but it turns out that whoever hit our car managed to bend the frame of the car and now the hood won't close. The mechanics are going to attempt to bend the frame back as much as they can, so now we are anxiously waiting for the call to find out whether or not it worked. Stress!

The family I am working for is amazing. Before I took the car to the shop. they gave me flowers to thank me for all of my help. Their little boy is almost 4 months old, and they constantly let me know how much they appreciate my help. I actually feel like apart of their family, and I enjoy going to work everyday.

Gillie had a rough week last week. She was spayed and she has had to wear a cone to make sure she doesn't disturb the stitches. Nick picked her up after her surgery and he said she was the most pitiful sight he'd ever seen. She is healing quickly and hopefully the cone can come off once she's off the pain killers.

We spent last night with good friends and today we went to the Museum of Science. I'll post another blog about the museum. :) Overall it was a nice (but very hot) weekend. It's hard to believe we've almost been here one year, but we are feeling more at home as time goes by.

Car & Motorcycle Repair

I haven't blogged in over a week. It's hard to believe July is almost gone, and summer is quickly vanishing. The next 6 months will be busy for Nick, as he is taking two classes while researching and preparing for his phD qualifiers. I will be working full time and taking two classes, so it will be a rough few months, but it will be over before we know it.

Nick came home Monday morning! It feels so good to have him back here. He had an amazing time in California, and we both keep talking about how exciting it will be to move back eventually.

I dropped Gillie off at the vet this morning to get spayed. Poor Gillie. Nick is picking her up this afternoon, and she will be on some good pain meds, so hopefully she'll sleep the rest of the day. I hate the idea of her being in pain, and I think I purchased every pain medication available to avoid seeing her in pain.

Tomorrow the hood of the car is being replaced. We still don't know who backed into it, and we probably never will, but luckily I found a good deal on the hood, and the only other thing we need to replace is the headlight. Nick dropped his motorcycle off this morning to get some things worked on so that he can sell it before the end of the summer. Boston is not a motorcycle friendly city, and it is pretty miserable to ride on some of the roads around here. The weather is another issue here. It rains, or it's freezing, or it rains and it's freezing.

My marathon is less than 3 1/2 months away!!!! I need to be much more dedicated about running if I am going to accomplish my goal of running the whole thing. I need to be running 20 miles by mid October. This is a terrifying thought, but I need to take it one mile at a time so that I don't get overwhelmed.

Ouch

Yesterday was somewhat of a rough day. I worked at the lab in the morning, and then went home for a bit in-between jobs. I walked up to the car as I was leaving to babysit and saw that someone had smashed into it and no one left a note. Not a good start for a Monday, but I tried to tell myself that the damage could have been worse, which is true. They crunched the hood of the car and busted the headlight, but luckily the bumper was fine and there doesn't seem to be any damage other than cosmetic stuff.

I called the insurance company and the police. yada yada yada. They can't do anything. There's really no way we will be able to find out who did it and we are going to have to pay out-of-pocket for repairs. This morning I have already called several salvage yards and found a hood to replace our crunched one, and hopefully they'll be delivering it tomorrow.

I realize that this is a minor bump in the road, but I've worked so hard this summer and spending hundreds of dollars on cosmetic car repairs was not exactly what I dreamt of spending money on. Life goes on. At least I have the money to fix it, or we'd be driving around in a very beat-up looking car.

Ikea

It was a productive weekend, to say the least. I worked Saturday morning and then came home to continue deep-cleaning the apartment. We have more books than our bookcase can hold, so I decided to head to Ikea to look at bookcases. After missing my exit and going 10 miles out of the way because of the lovely Massachusetts highway set-up, I arrived. I had no idea what an institution that place is. It was the biggest single-store I have ever seen, and looked more like a mall than a "store." The fact that it had a food court and a daycare seemed a little ridiculous, until I walked around. I spent almost two hours inside and by the time I left I was starving and there's no way you could haul small children around this place without losing your sanity. The trip was a success and I found a great deal on a bookcase.

Nick is the designated "builder" in our home, but since he's gone, I decided to take on the task myself. It was fairly straight-forward, until I realized that there were extra pieces after it looked fully assembled. It looks good...but Nick will have to re-inspect everything when he gets back to make sure it doesn't collapse on the dogs.

Sunday I went for a run and then met a friend for lunch and pedicures in a town about 20 miles outside Boston. Once I got home the cleaning and organizing continued. I scrubbed the oven, the floors, and did laundry. I moved Nick's binders and notebooks around and tried to make the apartment appear less cluttered. It is looking great so far, but I'm disappointed I didn't take "before" pictures of the old shelf. Oh well. I'm probably the only one who cares anyway, and I know how bad it looked before.

This week is a busy one. I am working 50 hours, and I have 8 hours of CPR and first aid training. Our poor dogs will have a lonely week since Nick is gone and I'm busy, but they have an air conditioner now so at least they won't die of heat while we're gone.

I will post pictures of my furniture building skills soon.

Roasted Asparagus

I had to post pictures of my dinner from last night. If you know me, you know I am typically terrible about eating vegetables. I love fruit, but veggies were never on my plate if I could help it. In fact, the black lab we had when I was younger must have had several servings of vegetables every night for dinner. My taste buds must be completely changing because I've been craving veggies. I made roasted asparagus last night and I loved it. I also made trout and roasted potatoes, which both turned out great. Yummmm....

Erin turns 11

Tonight I am home on my own. Nick left for California this morning and I worked all day. I came home and made myself an amazing dinner of trout, asparagus and potatoes and then went on a crazy cleaning spree. I have some of my favorite songs playing and I am re-organizing parts of our place. As I was singing along to the music I realized that I can't remember the last time I felt this happy. I have been working hard this summer, but I finally booked a trip to see my family in a few months and things are finally "clicking." Nick and I have had fun together this summer, and it's so nice to have so much time with him on the weekends. I am in the middle of planning a camping trip to New Hampshire and I'm hoping it works out. Our 4th of July was great and his friends from MIT are becoming good friends of mine. We both love this city, despite the weather, and we feel like we belong here for now. I dream of where we might end up next, but for now I love our life here. I love our dogs and the craziness they add to our lives, and I love that I get to live side-by-side with my best friend.

Today is my little sister's 11th birthday. The years go by so quickly and I want things to slow down a bit. I remember seeing the ultrasound and hearing them say that little creature on the screen was a little girl. I remember so many little moments and I treasure them all. So sentimental, I know, but I can't help it. I am getting a small glimpse of what it must feel like as a parent to see your kids grow up. *Sigh*

Happy Birthday, Erin! I love you!

Cool Air

When Nick and I moved to Boston, we never thought we'd need an air conditioner. Yes there were hot days when we moved here, but we thought we'd tough it out. Monday night was my breaking point. It was probably over 90 degrees in the apartment around 11pm and the dogs were equally as miserable as Nick and I. There was no breeze outside, and it was intolerable. Yesterday the temperatures topped 98 degrees and the dogs were home alone all day, and the guilt tore me up. It's not just the heat, it's the humidity that is a killer. I did not sleep because it was so miserable, and I woke up yesterday determined to buy an air conditioner to make the apartment less miserable. After only one night of using it thus far, I can say that it was a priceless investment! I slept like a baby! Installing the air conditioner was a little frightening, since we are on the 3rd floor. We kept imagining the whole thing plummeting down and crashing on the sidewalk below, and that made it stressful.

The next few days are expected to be hot and humid, and now I can look forward to going home instead of dreading it.

July 4th- Boston Style

June came and went, and so did the 4th of July. Summer is quickly flying by and I need it to slow down! Nick and I went to a BBQ at MIT yesterday afternoon and then headed to the Charles River to claim a spot for the fireworks show at 10:30pm. We waited for 6 hours in the 90 degree heat, but we had good friends with us and plenty of drinks and snacks to keep us busy. The crowds became ridiculous around 9pm, and the Boston Pops began performing soon after. We were on the opposite side of the river than the music, but they had speakers so that we could hear the concert.

The fireworks were well worth the wait! They were spectacular and unlike anything we'd ever seen before. They played music as the fireworks show went on, and it was incredible. The Prudential Center acted like a giant LCD screen and the fireworks reflected off of the building and I could not even capture it in the photos. I took more pictures than I have space to post, but I was in love with the color in the photos. We came to the conclusion that it was an incredible show, but the absurdity of the crowd made it less likely we'd wait that long again for a spot like the one we had. Hopefully next time we can find a spot a little further away where you don't have to fight for 3 square feet of space. Or maybe we'll rent kayaks next year and watch it from the water like the people in the pictures! That would be an unforgettable view.