Connecticut & Boston trip

Last Tuesday I took the train to visit my sister, nephew, and brother-in-law in Connecticut for a week. My brother-in-law is in the Navy and attending submarine school in Groton. There's not too much to do in Groton, but I got to spend lots of time with my sister and nephew whom I don't get to see very often. The last time I saw them was when they came to visit back in October. We did end up going to their nice-sized mall, getting pedicures, and visiting the submarine museum (complete with tour on a real submarine!).

me & the nephew

Friday, my sister and I drove up to the Boston area to spend the weekend with my friends from Tech, Amanda and Josh. Amanda made us a great dinner Friday night and then we went to see the new movie Bridesmaids. Saturday, Amanda drove us into Boston to do some touring. We took a "duck" tour on a special bus that could also go in the water. It was one of my favorite things we did.

Our duck:

In the water:

We also did some walking around ourselves and enjoyed dinner in the 'Little Italy" section of town. The best eating was at Mike's Pastry. They have lots of different things to choose from but they specialize in cannoli. Between the three of us, we definitely got an assortment of what they had. Everything was so delicious and definitely worth waiting in the line that went out of the store and down the street!

Sunday we went back into Boston to walk around Harvard, MIT, and enjoyed some lunch before driving back to Connecticut.

waiting for the subway:

MIT

Monday I took the train back home. It was a great trip but I was glad to be home!

End of Another Semester and a Few Random Things

• A week ago, I took my finals, concluding the end of another semester. Last week I was feeling two things. First, excited because I'm done with another semester and that means there's only one left! Second, scared because I only have one semester left. Scared to start applying for jobs, interviewing, and taking the NCLEX.  Lots of things are passing through my mind right now. Will I get the kind of job I want? Will I have to travel far? Will I get a job at all? Will I pass the NCLEX? However, the excitement is still a pretty strong feeling!

• I'm also excited for the cruise we're going on that is coming up very quickly! We leave in two and half weeks and that is pretty much the only reason why I'm not severely depressed about the winter and snow that started ridiculously early this year.

• Friday my parents and brother are coming to my house for Christmas for the 3rd year. It's really nice not to have to travel and wake up in your own bed on Christmas morning. So I have to cook, but I don't really mind that.

• I am also coming up on a year of blogging! Wow- never thought I'd be able to keep up my quota of at least 2 blogs a month. But I think it's really been great for my friends far away to be able to keep up with my life (Niki and Amanda)!

• Merry Christmas ya'll and thanks for reading!

Halloween!

My sister and newphew came and visited me Thursday - Sunday morning and we had a great time hanging out and eating lots of chic-fil-a. We especially had fun getting all dressed for the Halloween party!

 Mom & baby robots

Caleb's gotten so big! (left in March, right current)

 

Summer's End

I guess I need to catch up on what we've been doing in August. The first week of August, Justin and I joined my parents, sister, and nephew at the Outer Banks of NC for a week of beach time. We had a cute little house that seemed to fit everyone. We were sad that my brother and brother-in-law couldnt join us, but my brother was working and Aaron is in bootcamp for the Navy. My newphew is now one and a half so he is up and around and learning new words. He loved the pool, the waves at the beach, and eating whatever anyone else was eating! He didn't so much like the sand though and I would have to agree with him on saying that it's "icky." Justin and I did lots of puzzles, read, and swam at the beach and pool. Justin even read a whole book! It was nice for all of us to be together since my sister lives so far away so we don't get to be together very often.

This past weekend, I went to one of my friend and roomates from college's baby shower in Virginia Beach. She's the first of my close college friends to have a baby so it is really exciting for all of us. We had a great time catching up and giving her cute baby clothes!

We love Rehoboth!

This weekend Justin and I headed up to Rehoboth Beach, DE for a little beach time and hanging out with my aunt and Coleen. We got there late Thursday night and then spent a wonderful day at the beach Friday. The waves were pretty big and the temperature of the water was very refreshing. Friday evening we played a little mini golf and had a delicious dinner that night. Saturday it pretty much rained all day but we still had a great day hanging out together and catching up along with a great lunch. The weather cleared up by dinnertime so we walked downtown where Justin got his salt water taffy and I got a shirt. We even tried some raw oysters that night at dinner (I think I like them better raw than the cooked ones)! This morning, since the weather was so crummy yesterday, we went for a couple hours to the beach before heading back home.

A Weekend in Richmond

This weekend Justin and I headed over to Richmond for a wedding and some July 4th fun. We spent Friday night at Justin's mom's house in Mechanicsville. Then Saturday for lunch, we met up at Texas Roadhouse with my parents and brother to celebrate my brother's 23rd birthday. That night we watched my friends Megan and JJ get married in Richmond, with a reception at the Science Museum of Virginia. We had fun hanging out with some of our Virginia Tech friends:



Sunday, we had a cookout at Justin's sister Lindsay and her husband's house along with Justin's dad and other sister Hannah. We headed back home last night and caught several fireworks shows on our drive home.