We Three Jacksons

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Fourth of July 2011 - Boston

Andrew and I are taking advantage of being in New England for the Fourth of July. Last year, we went to NYC and saw their fireworks. This year was Boston, and we're thinking next year may be Philadelphia.
But, like I said, this year was Boston and it was such a great place to be to celebrate the Fourth. We had an amazing time (and did a ton of walking - for which we are now paying). We left New Haven around 11:00 and were in Cambridge by 2:00. After parking our car at a friend's house (thank you so much, Amanda and Alton) and visiting for a bit, we were off.
We took the train into Boston, but first made a frozen yogurt stop at Pink Berry. Delicious! Once in Boston, we walked around Boston Common for a while, and cooled our feet in a "wading pool/pond" type area.
Then we decided to try a Walking Tour of Benjamin Franklin's homes and haunts. It was a really great tour and very interesting to see locations where Benjamin Franklin grew up and worked before moving on to Philadelphia. I say locations because the original buildings were wooden and are no longer there. They burned down in the Great Fire. Still fascinating though, and definitely appropriate to learn more about one of our Founding Fathers on Independence Day.
After completing the Walking Tour, we walked over to the Prudential building where we met up with some other friends who are in Boston for the summer. We had dinner together and then headed over to the MIT side of the Charles River to prepare to watch the fireworks. We missed a lot of the concert, but were still able to catch some of it, which was nice. It was fun to hear the Boston Pops playing and Martina McBride was performing and we were able to catch a few of her songs as well. Then, the fireworks started and it was AMAZING! The fireworks were set to music (as many are, but one is not always able to hear said music when at a live show - we could definitely hear the music at this one!). The fireworks were huge and beautiful. I took pictures of them (of course!), but the pictures do not do them justice. The finale was really impressive. Overall, it was a stellar show and we all enjoyed it very much! Thanks, Amanda and Russell, for hanging out and watching the fireworks with us. We had a really great time!

horse in Boston Common

human "statues" in Boston Common

Mine pulled from the North Sea dating to WWI

obelisk in Boston Common

Benjamin Franklin Statue

Franklin Street and Franklin Avenue in Boston were named for Benjamin Franklin

Holocaust Memorial

Bell in Hand Tavern - oldest Tavern in America

Birthplace of Benjamin Franklin - location, not building

location of building where Benjamin Franklin was a printer's apprentice to his brother James

Holocaust Memorial

King's Chapel Cemetery - grave of John Winthrop, 1st Governor of Massachusetts

King's Chapel Cemetery

steps dating back to Colonial Times leading to the Governor's Garden behind the Old State House; possible Benjamin Franklin walked on these steps

statue in Boston Common

Trinity Church

Boston Fireworks!

us at the Boston Fireworks

Boston Fireworks!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

For Mom

I posted about how great my Dad is for Father's Day, but I never posted about my mom. This was not intentional. I wasn't inspired to blog until Father's Day, and fully intended to follow that one up with one about my mom. So, better late than never, here is my blog about how great my mom is.

My mom is my rock. It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly strong this little tiny woman is. And, I know that no matter what is going on in my life, she's always got my back. I draw my strength from my mother. She had scoliosis when she was young and had back surgery for it, so she spent a good many months on her back healing. Her back gets tired easily, and hurts frequently, but she powers through it and does so very much for my family. Every time Andrew and I have moved, she is right there helping us. When I was in college, she would occasionally come and clean my apartment for me (yes, I realize that just proves how spoiled I am). She takes me shopping and buys me things "just because." She calls me every Tuesday - even when we have nothing to say (because, let's face it . . . not much is happening in Waco, or Hamden for that matter) just to tell me she loves me and misses me. She prays for me. She encourages me. I love my mom. I would never call her my best friend, as so many girls I know do with their moms. I don't think she would want me to. We aren't best friends, nor do we want to be. She's so much more than that because she's my mom. She disciplined me when I needed to be. She listened when I needed her to, hugged me when I wanted her to, and (mostly) made growing up fun. I think I get my love of children from her, which is one of the greatest gifts she's given me. She is truly amazing. She even went back to school when I graduated from college. My mom is so very giving of her time, and herself. I couldn't have asked for a better mother and am so glad God blessed me with the one He did. I am confident in my abilities as a mother (someday) because of all I have already learned from her - and all I still have to learn. Thanks Mom, I love you.

30 before 30 Update

Once again, slow about updating, but making progress nonetheless. Here goes:

3. Pay off 2 (more) credit cards - We're planning to make a huge payment this month and pay off my American Express card. Next up, Andrew's Hawaiian Visa. That'll make it 3 down, 5 to go before we're credit card debt FREE!

4. Lose weight - Still working on it and the number on the scale continues to move in the right direction. Slowly but surely, the weight is coming off. Who knows . . . maybe by this time next year I'll have made my goal weight. Man, that would be nice! =)

9. ~~Andrew~~ - Done!

15. Read at least one new book a month - I just finished reading Karen Kingsbury's Unlocked. As always, she didn't disappoint. I really enjoyed this book. Now, I am rereading (for I don't know how many times . . . maybe 4 or 5) the Twilight series. I finished Twilight in 3 days and am now rereading New Moon. I LOVE these books.

16. Organize my life! - Working on organizing the guest room. Right now it's a HUGE mess, but I have faith that it'll all come together (hopefully before my mom comes to visit in August, seeing as how she'll need a place to sleep . . .).

20. Have friends over for dinner once a month - Yeah . . . not doing so great on this one. It's hard to schedule a convenient time for both us and our friends. However, we are going out to dinner with some friends tonight. Does that count?

~~21. Cut my Dr. Pepper consumption by half (gasp!)~~ - Done!

22. Do 1 outdoor activity a day in the Spring, Summer, and Fall - Not doing great at this one, but not a complete failure either. I've started keeping a list so I'll know when I do it and what I've done. So, on 5/28 and 6/4, we were in NYC - lots of outside time and lots of walking. 6/7 - C25K; 6/8 - walk Tanner; 6/9, 6/14, and 6/16 - C25K; 6/18 - walk Tanner and Gillette Castle; 6/19 - lay out at pool; 6/20 - lay out at pool; 6/21 - C25K; 6/22 - rain; 6/23 - C25K, walk Tanner; 6/24 - walk Tanner; 6/25 - lay out at pool, bike ride; 6/26 - outdoor graduation party; 6/27 - lay out at pool; 6/28 - reading by the pool; 6/29 - lay out at pool. Not every day, but I was definitely outside quite a bit.

26. Do 100 sit ups/crunches a day - With the exception of a couple of days, I've done this one every night.

~~28. Resolve my gallbladder issues~~ - Done!

29. Start running (ugh) - Well, I still don't like it, but I'm doing it. I have started doing the C25K app - Couch to 5K. As far as running goes, it's not awful. I like that it eases you into running, and it's only 30 minutes. I'm 4 weeks into it and slacking a bit. You're supposed to do it every other day, so I was running on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. However, by the second week I had awful shin splints and my knees hurt too. So, it's hard to stay motivated, but I'm trying. Most recently, I ran on the treadmill instead of outside and it was a little better. We'll see . . . But, technically I guess I can cross this off my list, since I have started! =)

30. Have a t-shirt quilt made out of my Baylor tees - Tees are picked. Now I just need money to pay someone to assemble them!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Gillette Castle

Yesterday Andrew and I went out to East Haddam to see Gillette Castle. The castle was owned by William Gillette, the actor who played Sherlock Holmes. He modeled the castle after a castle he saw and liked in upstate New York. He designed all of the furniture, doors, windows, and light switches. They are very unique, as is evidenced by the pictures below. We spent the afternoon touring the castle and seeing the grounds. The views are amazing. The castle was fascinating as well. The furniture is built in. We also learned that William Gillette was quite the jokester, and that he did not like people to "just drop by." It was a very enjoyable afternoon and I would definitely recommend seeing the castle and taking the tour.

us in front of the Castle

nice view

there is a mama deer and her fawn that you can barely see

the mama deer and her fawn

Gillette Castle

Grand Central Station

view of the river

Gillette Castle

light switch

door to secret passageway

the Great Room

fireplace in the Great Room

fountain in the Conservatory

kitchen

kitchen sink

fireplace in the lounge

door with intricate latch system

desk in the study - chair is on a track system

window with latch system designed by William Gillette

bar in the lounge designed by William Gillette

view out the window

latch system for window

fire extinguishing system

door

"Aunt Polly" was the name of his houseboat

light switch

the Green Room

dresser and mirror in the green room

light switch for light over Gillette's bed

bureau designed by Gillette in his bedroom

Gillette's things on his bed

beautiful light in the stairway

the Library

the library

nook on the third floor

Gillette Castle

gorgeous view

top of Gillette Castle

Top of Gillette Castle

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Daddy Daughter Dates

Father's Day is coming up this Sunday and tonight I was thinking about my Dad. We used to go on Daddy Daughter dates. I LOVED them! My dad and I just have this special connection and I always love getting to spend a few one-on-one moments with him. He is a typical working class dad - always busy - so it was really nice when he made extra time just for me, and he did it frequently.
I imagine these "special dates" (or sometimes moments) started long before I can remember. The first one could have been when I superglued my mouth shut because I so desperately wanted to be outside where he was, or it could have been the time when we were enjoying popsicles on the front porch (one in each hand) after he finished mowing the lawn.
These dates certainly included the million times he tucked me in (yes, every night, all the way through my senior year of high school) and frequently had brief (and sometimes not-so-brief) conversations with me and Big Doggie (because, after all, Christmas was just around the corner). They included walks around the block after dinner and talks in the evening on the big swing about everything and nothing. They included going with him to his office and playing secretary one Saturday morning while he worked. They included riding in his Honda Del Sol with the top down and the heater blasting (because it was winter) on our way to Captain Billy Whizzbang's for hamburgers. They included walking to Waco High School to pick up the car and go get mom for lunch. They included walking to Fuddruckers for lunch during Christmas Break my senior year of high school, and going to Trujillos for lunch for my 18th birthday. They included sleeping in the living room with me during the "tornado", and on my bed with me when I was too scared to sleep in it by myself (after the giant cockroach - major ick factor!). They included helping me with Science Fair (because science is so not my thing).
I'd say they even included walking me down the aisle on my wedding day, and the brief moments we shared beforehand. I'd go so far as to say they included the notes I, more often than not, found in my lunchbox in elementary school from him - all of which I still have. And, of course there were the more obvious ones that we officially called Daddy Daughter Dates, like our dinner date at Fuddruckers one night. Every single one of those moments spent with my Daddy are precious to me and I look forward to having many more.

Daddy,

I miss you terribly. Texas and Connecticut are separated by way too many states. I look forward to the day when we live closer together again and can have more Daddy Daughter Dates . . . and perhaps eventually, some Grandaddy Granddaughter dates too. I love you more than words can say. Thank you so much for all of the wonderful memories you've given me.

I'll love you forever and always,

Sarah

Here are a few of my favorite recent pics of me and my Daddy:

I love this man.