Packing up Beacon Hill
Since Matt was working around the clock to finish his dissertation, we flew my Mom in to help me pack up the house. We are so thankful that Mom was able to help pack. There was NO WAY I could have done it all myself.
Here we are taking a rest in front of our ever growing stack of boxes. We are thankful to our friend Rick for all the boxes. Rick worked at Stubbies, a beer bar in downtown Gainesville and every time the bar got new beer he saved the boxes for us. Beer boxes are perfect for packing because they are small, almost all the same size and super sturdy. We are also grateful to Josie for the paper towel boxes and Chauncy for the copy paper boxes. Those boxes were awesome.

Later on that day Matt came home from writing with some Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee for us. It was the perfect treat!

One night during the packing week the Suttons and Merrells joines us at Big Lou's for pizza and live music. We have some great memories of eating dinner here!

We had so many great friends helping us pack up the truck. It was a fun day of moving. Mom even made cappuccinos for everyone.

Matt and I wrapping up our mirrors and pictures for the long haul across the country.How many men does it take to move this TV? Matt was really hoping that this TV would "accidentally" break on our move and we'd have to get a new one! Unfortunately we still have the big old thing. :)GO GATORS!!!!! Here is our moving crew with the truck all packed up.

Moving from Gainesville, FL to Menlo Park, CA

Last July Matt and I packed up all our stuff and made the long trek across the country. Actually, I should clarify that it was my mom and I who packed up all our stuff. Matt was working on finishing and defending his dissertation. It took my mom and I three whole days to pack the house. Once that was done our amazing friends helped us move all our stuff into a storage unit and then move it all again into the moving truck. Here is our empty truck - 24' long.

We towed our car behind the truck so we ended up being as long as a semi truck. Here is what our truck and trailer looked like when they were all hooked up. It was so long. I was not able to drive the truck because the front seat did not move forward and my feet did not touch the ground. So, Matt had to drive the whole trip and I was the co-pilot.Leaving Gainesville was one of the saddest things we had to do. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone. Before we left Matt and I prayed together asking God for protection and courage as we embarked on our journey. We had not gotten very far on our trip when we blew a tire on the trailer. It was truly amazing how God was with us the whole time. When the tire blew we were only a couple hundred feet from an exit with a rest stop. In addition we had just started out on our trip. I cannot imagine blowing a tire in the middle of the desert. Matt pulled the truck into the rest stop and we called Penske to get another trailer. It took 3 hours for the new trailer, but we played cards and ate our dinner to pass the time.



We moved across the country at the height of gas prices. Here is one fill up that was $202. Diesel was super expensive. We spent over $1600 in fuel to move. YIKES!
Along the way we spent 2 days with Matt's brother, Mark and family in Dallas, TX. Then we drove on to Lubbock, TX and spent a day with our friends Sean and Laura. It really helped to split up the trip by staying with friends and family along the way.

Some of the roads we drove on were one lane going each direction. It was crazy having semi trucks going the other direction so close to us without a barrier between us. At one point there was not even a shoulder on the side of the road. Again, God's protection was amazing. I was so excited to see this sign. Matt did remind me though that we still had lots more to drive since the state of California is so big. I am not used to a state taking 12 hours to drive through since Massachusetts takes about 3. Still I was glad we were in California.
Finally, we saw THIS sign. We were both super excited after driving 2,900 miles across the country. After this trip we decided that we never wanted to move this way again.
In this collage you can see our new address, a lot of the boxes and blankets after unpacking, our garden as well as the only thing in we had our fridge for the first few days in Menlo Park - ice cream!!

Boston - Summer 2009
Matt and I went to Boston to visit my family. It seems like we get there about every 6 months. It was so much fun to be there and catch up with family and friends who we have not seen for so long. I especially love being there in the summer when the weather is warm! (I feel like I have turned into a total weather snob.)

Boston! (view from Hyatt Harborside)

While in Boston we did lots of our favorite activities...

Mini golfing and ice cream at Richardson's Ice cream.

Working out with my mom at her gym. I took 2 weight training classes with her!Dinner with my family at Skipjacks in the Back Bay to celebrate our anniversaries and the fact that we were all in the same state for once.

Candle Pin bowling (hadn't done that since I was a kid). We were all a bit rusty.

Buying fruits and vegetables at Hay Market from Cheryl and Orlando
(2 vendors we've been going to for 15 years).

Eating all our fresh fruit!Drinking Cappuccino in the North End.

My brother Patrick and I.

Playing Bocce.Looking at the Tall Ships with Patrick and Katie.

Seeing the Green Monster at Jordan's Furniture. The entire thing is made out of jelly beans. See the Yankees player being held?! Gotta love it!

Getting a pedicure with my mom.

Enjoying Gluten Free carrot cake muffins with cream cheese frosting!!
Having a cookout to see family and friends.
Great Aunt Flo Flo makes her famous cookies and biscottis. Yum!

Jacki and I posing for our annual picture! Friends for 27 years!!
Can't wait to meet JT when he is born. :)

Joel, Rachel and Jude Hartter - friends from Gainesville who now live in NH. Garrett (far left) is a former student of mine and Jenn, his mom, taught with me at Abundant Life Christian School (the first school I taught at)

Bryan and Bri Doo!
Great Aunt Flo Flo always making something for someone.
She made Jacki a sweater, hat and booties for her baby (JT) who is due in September.

Spending time with the Aunts.

Watching Flo Flo make braciole.Visiting Meadow Breeze Day Camp (a camp that I worked at for 14 years). Some of the counselors there were once campers of mine back in the day.
I've stayed in touch with them all these years!