Catching up... Boston, Part 2

Friday morning we got up and loaded everyone in the car for the trip to New Hampshire. Kara & Mike have a vacation condo in the mountains there that has brought them a lot of enjoyment and outdoor fun. I had been there before when Kara tortured me with her own brand of Boot Camp. However, it was Brad's first time to NH and we had plans to go somewhere new for me... The Polar Caves. To this day, Brad and I both agree that this was one of the highlights of our entire trip!!

The Polar Caves are a series of caves and passages in the White Mountains that were formed by glaciers. We crawled in and out for hours enjoying the challenges each cave brought and marveling at what a fun attraction nature had created. Plus, it was still quite warm, even in the mountains, but every time you crawled into a cave, the temperature drastically dropped... like natural air conditioning! 

I BEGGED to be able to to the Children's Walk... however, I am happy to say I survived the Devil's Turnpike instead!

At the entrance of the park there is a small animal area. It provided us with many laughs as we all took turns feeding the animals and, of course, chasing the ducks!! 

When you are one and you have just learned to walk- no one is safe! Even cute duckies!!

 

Even Dylan was along for the ride on Mom's back. Sometimes this meant Kara contorting her body so his little head would clear and a few times the squeeze was so tight, we had to just pass him though. He was sport through the entire excursion. 

At the end of the pathway there was a covered bridge. When we saw the name of the bridge, we couldn't pass it up and asked Kara to take our picture... She humored us but complained and made barfing noise the entire time! Oh, how I love her...

Then we enjoyed some family pictures... or an attempt at them anyway! Trying to photograph a one year old next to an oh-so-tempting Polar Bear is not easy!

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

We'll take it!

After the fun in the caves, we headed to the condo. 

 We showered and enjoyed some yummy homemade pizza and a HEATED game of Trivial Pursuit. I am both amazed and disturbed by the amount of Sponge Bob knowledge Mike has. 

Midway through the game, it began to rain. We checked the news and our gamble had paid off... the Sox game had been rescheduled to the next afternoon!

Catching up... Boston, Part I

As promised in my earlier post, I wanted to write about our trip to Boston this past Labor Day weekend. As you know, one of my very best friends, Kara, lives there with her husband Mike and cutey-patooty, 1 year old son Dylan. I try to make it up there at least once a year. It has been a place of relaxation and fun for me for a long time. It doesn't matter if we are just laying around watching a marathon of "Project Runway" or are busy seeing new things... I always enjoy being there. This particular trip was definitely not the "laying around" type of trip!  Plus, I brought along company... Brad!

This was Brad's first time to New England so we packed the weekend full of tourist stuff for us and fun times with the Hines family. Day One was devoted entirely to the tourist stuff. After a quick breakfast with Mike & Dylan, we were dropped at the train station and headed into downtown. 

Dylan bring playful at breakfast.

We started the day with a Duck Tour. It was a great way to see the city as a whole and drive by the highlights. Even though I am familiar with Boston, it was fun for me and I even learned a few things!!

 

After the Duck Tour, we got lunch (Clam Chowder for me- yum!) and then walked around downtown Boston. It is one of my favorite cities for good reason- it is SO pretty. Unfortunately, on this particular day is was unusually and oppressively HOT! (Not all the sweat on Brad's shirt!) 

We enjoyed a Swan Boat tour in the heart of Boston Public Garden.

Where everybody knows your name...

We made several attempts at a self-portrait with the famous Indian at the entrance of Cheers. This was the best we got... I am sure the patrons of the bar thought we were nuts!

 

We ended the day with a surprise I had booked for Brad... a Sunset Cruise/Tour of Boston Harbor. Then we caught the train back to Kara's and FELL into bed exhausted.  

Our plans for Friday had kind of been up in the air due to Hurricane Earl off the East Coast. We had Red Sox tickets and we weren't sure how that would impact the game. We also wanted to go the Hines New Hampshire condo, so we needed to decide. After checking the over-exaggerated news reports we decided that at most we would get some rain that night and cause them to call a rain-out and play a double header on Saturday. So, with that in mind, we decided to gamble and bit and go ahead and head to NH with the hopes that our game would be rescheduled to Saturday...

A + B

As I teased in my earlier blog, there is a new man in my life… Brad. He has become a huge part of my life and made Amycita one happy girl.  

Even though we were both part of the same Singles Group at church since the beginning of this year and saw each other every now and then at events, we didn’t officially meet until June. MY version of the story is that he caught my attention at a movie night one Saturday night. The next day I “happened” to sit next to him in church and then again that day at lunch. (He sees it differently and we even have a couple of friends that CLAIM they set us up. I know the truth.) Lunch that day was at Chipotle, a place that neither of us like but it now reminds us of when we “met”. I left lunch that day knowing there was something about that guy and I needed to have him in my life. However, the day after that lunch I left for a 3 week business trip to California, so I wasn’t sure where it would go…

Thanks to Facebook, email and texting, we got to know each other while I was gone. We spent hours doing all of those things and by the time I was heading home from the trip, we both knew there was something special there. He offered to pick me up from the airport (at around midnight) and those feelings were confirmed when I arrived at baggage claim to find him holding this sign…

(Yes, I still have it on my fridge!)

That night/morning we ate at Kerbey Lane and have been inseparable since.

We keep each other very busy in addition to our already busy lives. When we first started dating, we made a list of things we wanted to do together. Some of them we very simple things, some of them were day trips and other things were “some day in the future”. We have had fun marking those things off our list. We plan weekend adventures, go to lots of movies and enjoy each other’s company. Here are some highlights of our adventures…

Our first "official" adventure was a trip to Inner Space Caverns which happens to only be a few minutes from Brad's house in Georgetown. 

Brad is ready to go spelunking!

Zilker Hillside Theater with Singles Group

Round Rock Express Game

UT vs OU Watch Party with Singles Group (yes... he went to Tech. Something I have chosen to overlook!)

Trip to Boston over Labor Day weekend to see my friend Mike, Kara & Dylan. We went lots of places, one of them was the New England Aquarium.(More on this trip in separate entry.)

We toured Fenway Park.

We explored downtown Boston.

Hiked in the New Hampshire mountains. 

And went to a Red Sox game.

Just last weekend we had a FULL weekend of adventures and surprises. I will write about that in its own entry. 

Brad has been a light in my life. He constantly surprises me, spoils me and supports me. He is a strong man of God, a great leader and confidante. He loves his family, is a great friend and loving boyfriend. He is patient with his stubborn control-freak of a girlfriend and lets me be me. 

I know that some of you haven’t spent a lot of time with him yet. So, trust me when I say I am in good hands.

It's alive!!!

That’s right folks… the blog is back!! I have been away a while but I have really missed writing this blog. After having comments from several of you about how you missed it as well, I decided it had been far too long. So, here we are! A lot has happened since my last post in May, so let me give you the “Reader’s Digest version” of the last few months…

MAY

After returning from my Grandmother’s Memorial Service in Atlanta, I settled back into life. Just before that trip, I had moved into a new condo. So, lots of time was spent hanging things and unpacking things. I owe HUGE thank you’s to Kitt, Kasi and Sally for all of their help. I would have been an absolute basket case had it not been for them.

My dog, Cheyenne, had been living with a friend of mine but after I moved, we were reunited. We began to start our new lives together and begin a routine.

I started getting more involved in the Singles Group at Hyde Park Baptist Church which introduced me to some new friends and provided me with fun social events!

JUNE

June brought my 35th birthday. I was surprised by flowers sent to my office by my friends Kara & Mike (in Boston). I also enjoyed a nice dinner out with friends at a fun Austin spot- Trudy’s. It was definitely one of the most quiet birthdays I have ever had. However, it was a nice day and I am thankful for my friends.

This month also included my “formal” introduction to a guy named Brad. More information him in a coming blog entry. Stay tuned… :o)

In late June, I went back to California for work. This time was a bit different because I had company! A long-time friend and former Samsung co-worker, Melinda had recently joined my team at work. She also had to be in California because it was the end of our fiscal year and she was still training. It was nice to have someone to ride back and forth to work with and gave me company for dinner. Then on the weekend, we got to play! Melinda’s girlfriend, Kristine flew out and we ran around San Francisco. We had a lot of fun.

JULY

For the July 4th holiday, I did a round trip from business in California to see my parents in Mississippi. Not only was I there to enjoy the long holiday weekend but we had some important family plans to attend to. When my Grandmother passed away in May, she had been cremated with wishes of being buried next to my Granddaddy in my Mom’s hometown of Leland, MS. We met my Uncle there and did just that. It was a very quiet and simple moment with just my Dad, Mom, Uncle and me. It was just as she would have wanted. We also took advantage of being back in Leland and visited some old family friends and saw some of the old “stomping grounds”. One of those family friends bought my Grandmother’s house when she moved to Atlanta, so we went inside. I hadn’t been there in a VERY long time and I was flooded with memories. I am the only one of the grandchildren that spend a good amount of time there. I have lots of treasured childhood memories with my Granddaddy and Grandmother there.

After a long day, we fulfilled Grandmother’s last wish… she treated us to a family dinner at Doe’s Eat Place It is a hole-in-the-wall place in Greenville and has little ambiance but a TON of character. There is no need for menus because they only do one thing… steak and, boy, they do them well. It is the best steak I have ever had and has yet to be topped. We reminisced and laughed. We all knew she was looking down on us and was pleased. 

At the end of July, friends celebrated with a baby shower for my friend Kasi. She was expecting baby #2 and we were all thrilled that it was a boy!! I just adore Kasi, her little girl Troy and all of her family!

AUGUST, SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER

These months were busy and a blur… mostly due to that Brad guy I mentioned earlier. It will be too difficult to talk about these past few months without talking about him, so I will conclude this blog and begin writing one to introduce Brad into The Life of Amycita…

However, there is one thing I do want to mention. On September 1st, Kasi welcomed her little man into this world. Behold the cuteness that is Rush Lakeland...

Feels good to be back!!