Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. With our Christmas card I included a link to our family photo video as a little something different. With kids spreading their wings and empty nest in full mode I’m toying with a little something different and this is the 2024 version.

If you didn’t get the password link in the Christmas card, text me and I’ll send to you.

We continue to enjoy New Hampshire and all the seasons. There is something quite fascinating to experience the year in quarters, DISTINCTLY marked from one season to the next. It gives the year a lovely rhythm.

Kiddo update:

• Ian and Jacquelyn are doing well and expecting a sweet baby girl by the end of December. We are beyond thrilled; they are going to be precious parents!
• Brendan and his girlfriend Kimberly are entering a new season with career changes and two sweet kitties.
• Abby and her boyfriend Kevin were engaged this summer and entertaining a future move to St. Louis, MO. Time will tell! Wedding date, TBD.
• Sarah graduated from Radiology school this summer and is working full time and hoping to start Nuclear Medicine school Summer 2025.

Hubs is still with MMA and looking forward to the annual NH rendezvous with the boys—and I get to an enjoy a day of shopping with my girlfriend(s)!

I’m still doing CT and supervising the department. It’s a pretty decent gig but if that money tree comes through, I’m out. Heehee

It was a good year:

• We started the year off visiting the kids for a late Christmas and it worked out so well, we’re definitely doing that again! Especially now that we’ll have a new grandbaby to snuggle.
• We skied a lot this winter, with my form improving—still not at Hubs level, but I’m not aspiring to be, I just truly enjoy the beauty of the sport and the winter scenery. We snowshoed on local trails and overlooks enjoying multiple seasons of the mountain.
• The kids came up in the winter, the spring and the summer and we love exploring new places, taking in hockey games, enjoying our hikes and lakes with them and basically scheming to get them up here permanently. One day!
• We were in 98% totality for the Solar Eclipse which basically felt like a big storm cloud went over for a bit. But it was cool to see the moon on the leaves and the ground.
• I joined friends in cheering on their girl at the Boston Marathon, such a fun event.
• Lots of hiking and exploring every chance we get.
• I got to see the Northern Lights in Florida this May, grabbed a beach walk and an airboat ride with friends at sunrise on the St. John’s — lost count of how many gators we saw.
• Hubs and I renewed our vows for our 30th anniversary trip in Stowe, VT and enjoyed a stay at the Trapp Family Lodge. Highly recommend!!!
• We checked off another bucket list item with a Bruins game in Boston. A win and a seriously BOSTON experience. Great day!!
• House projects are winding down. Our previously garish green garage is now New Hampshire Barn Red and much improved—especially against an incredible sunrise! Our upstairs now has a lovely barn door for a little privacy. And our “winter project” is a kitchen reno, starting with painting the cabinets. Hubs is coming along nicely as a crafty and handy guy! My project list is growing as his skills improve!
• Thanksgiving was spent with other misfit friends who are far from family. It snowed like crazy and dinner was delayed due to tough travel times for our friends. But in the end, it was a fun dinner with a yummy citrus brined turkey, homemade cheesecake and all the traditional sides and a fantastic Indian dish from one of our friends.

Now the tree and house are decorated, we have a few parties to enjoy along with our church’s beautiful Sunday vespers and weekly candlelit Mass on Thursdays. It’s a gorgeous way to enjoy Advent, soak up the season and wrap up the year.

Much love to you all and wishing you a wonderful Christmas and holiday season and a healthy and happy New Year ahead!

And now…..the video link (7 min so grab a cuppa and enjoy!) NH 2024

It seems only fitting that I throw up a little fall/Autumn post to follow the summer post.

The leaves have fallen. Except for ONE tree. Hubs has blown the yard clean and tarped the leaves off to the woodsy area to decompose. Sunlight peaces out about 4:30pm and I put my snow tires on today, so we are definitely wrapping up fall and getting ready for winter and the white stuff.

Foliage here is pretty cool. I hope I never tire of it. My commute to work is through one of the loveliest areas on the interstate. Fascinating to watch the changes day by day and playing the guessing game of “when will it peak?” For someone who’s 4 seasons for most of her life have been hot and not hot, the seasons are a phenomenal way to mark the year. I can’t tell you which season is my fave because they all have their own beauty, but fall is mind blowing, that’s for sure.

We were lucky enough to have 3 of our kiddos come visit and enjoy various stages of foliage—no one was disappointed.

Now I guess I’ll peruse the Christmas card situation. Vacillating between the annual card or a slide show. We shall see.

Peace! Until next time.

XO

I’m on a little roll today in between walking in the woods, exploring another ski mountain, chilling on the couch and sitting by an afternoon fire in the yard. And with it getting dark at 4:30pm now, it’s nice to look back on sunnier days and remember this cozy season won’t last forever.

Let’s look back on some more summer, shall we?

After our amazing and romantic anniversary trip our baby girl came to visit solo. Parting is always hard so we try to cram as much love and fun into each day as we can.

We enjoyed some coastal exploring, a park with a beautiful old quarry, flowers everywhere and a path to the ocean littered with boulders and tidal pools everywhere. Lobstah and lobstah rolls for lunch—of course. The food and the scenery made up for the traffic on the way in and made for a really fun day trip.

After baby girl, my mom and her hubby came to visit and stayed for 2 weeks in VT, about 40 minutes from us. Lots of good visiting time for us and plenty of new places for them to explore as well (including the Trapp family lodge!). I’m hoping they make this an annual summer tradition!

Friends came through on a New England road trip on the (long) way to a wedding and we enjoyed a dinner cruise on Lake Sunapee which is beautiful, day, night or dusk. So fun sharing this gorgeous place we call home with our friends and family.

Our oldest baby girl came to visit solo and we did hiking, exploring and paddling and hanging out with all the cuddles and hugs we could squeeze in.

And the rest of the summer, we biked, hiked through woods and up mountains, hammocked, ate ice cream and paddled every body of water we could find. It was a solid summer. No regrets.

Peace!

This summer the Hubs and I celebrated 30 years of marriage—mawwiage (if you read that in The Princess Bride—iykyk).

Since it was a BIG decade, we decided to GO big. We tossed around 3 ideas: A weekend at the Mt. Washington Omni resort. A bike riding tour from VT to NH on the Cross trail. A weekend at The Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, VT. All great ideas, but the Trapp lodge won out.

The drive is about 2 hours from us, give or take and it winds through gorgeous Vermont. We stopped along the way for lunch in Montpelier, Farmway for a little shopping and Cold Hollow Cider Mill for some maple creamee cider donut sandwiches—think ice cream sandwiches but with a cider donut. As good as it sounds. Probably better.

We had no agenda at the Lodge, just relax, enjoy the grounds and each other’s company, explore Stowe and the area. Right in our wheelhouse. At least those were what I thought were our plans! Hubs had a few surprises sprinkled throughout the weekend to really sweeten it up.

The lodge is Austrian inspired, quaint and cozy, with amazing grounds and can be as bougie or chill as you want. There are afternoon cookies and coffee/tea, phenomenal dinners on site, history tours, walking tours, a cafe, brewery, pool, yoga and no shortage of activities in town as well.

Surprise 1 upon arrival:

We explored Stowe with some coffee, Daily Mass and Surprise #2: Hubs arranged for us to renew our vows during daily Mass. He gave me a 10 second warning prior to Mass starting. The priest was the sweetest and renewing your vows after 30 years is heartwarming and butterfly giving all over again. Because after 30 years you appreciate the work that’s gone into this marriage and fully experience the fruits of your labor. And wow. It’s a hugely reflective and moving experience. 10/10 recommend!

During the summer you can drive through Smuggler’s Notch to get to the other side of the mountain and it is a really winding, boulder filled, GORGEOUS drive.

We hiked the grounds, more of a walk with some pretty decent uphill, but less than than a mile to a chapel that Maria von Trapp had built in the woods. A monumental effort for sure and so beautiful. There are longer trails for hiking and biking, but we were in the relax mode and this was perfect.

The grounds were so inviting. Hubs grabbed a sunrise. We grabbed a sunset. Explored the wedding venue area. Chilled at the pool and spied some sheep grazing in their paddock.

For dinners we ate at the lodge. The service was incredible, the food was finger-licking (though we didn’t, but could have) good and some lovely piano entertainment each night. Surprise #3 on our last night, Hubs arranged for the pianist to play our Wedding Song. I was so surprised. I cried. So did all the servers and hostesses. It was perfect. No pics. Just memories.

If you’re ever in Stowe, VT. Definitely a great spot to visit and or stay. You won’t be disappointed! **I will say that we were there early June so it was not the busy season AT ALL. It will be no less beautiful, but might not be as serene—I don’t know. You’ll have to go and let me know!

Peace

Life really gets in the way of blogging, doesn’t it? It’s ok, though, we are just over here living our #BestNHlife. Although, currently in a “heat wave” (high of 88), we are making it through. Somehow, someway! It sounds comical coming from FL where they are solidly in the depths of heat and humidity sweat season (through September and/or October), it just hits differently up here. Anyway……we’ll live but hard to believe I’ve acclimated so quickly. <insert all the LOLZ>

In May I took a little week long birthday vacation to FL to see our kids, our baby girl graduate from Radiology school, my family and as many friends as I could squeeze in over the 6 days I was there. While it did involve traversing the state a couple of times, it was well worth every mile! Fortunately, the rental car was big and bougie and made the driving bearable.

There is something about spending time with friends who know your heart, have watched you grow up and grow through life. The familiarity, honesty, and genuine love is priceless. 3 months later and my heart is still so content with the time I was able to spend with my people!

My girlfriend who I’ve known since middle school (and her hubby) housed me for my trip to the panhandle, kicked my rear end at her gym, took me to dinner and just let me be comfortable catching up with her and her family. Bonus: I was able to catch the Aurora Borealis with her hubby and son after a super crazy weather day. Never long enough, but every second a gift!

Almost my entire prayer group who I’ve known and loved for almost 25 years showed up to lunch to catch up, kiss the newest babe and just BE together. Never long enough, but every second a gift.!

My beloved neighbor (and future neighbor in heaven, we have already made a decision on that—hopefully Jesus works that out for us) showed up for some coffee, chatting, laughing, and sharing parenting tips for young adults (spoiler alert: we have none— its all hard), and it was amazing! Never long enough, but every second a gift!

A second coffee stop to spend with my dear friend and her kids (I skipped coffee and just went for the company) found us in a beautiful new Starby’s filled with displaced remote workers looking for electric, wifi and AC since 1/4 of the city was without power due to wild weather and tornadoes in the a.m. A quick visit, but time together! Never long enough, but every second a gift!

Time with my sis and her family garnered hugs from my nephews, laughs with my brother in law and a good walk and breakfast with my sis. We will of course, follow up with our annual girl’s trip later this fall but always time well spent! Never long enough, but every second a gift!

At “home” with my mom (both our guys were not there so bonus one-on-one time!), we also spent time with my kids…. ALL 4 OF THEM!!!! An early Mother’s Day and birthday lunch with my babies, a graduation celebration, visits with my grandfather, aunt and uncle and quality time to just love on everyone. Never long enough, but every second a gift!

Breakfast with a sweet friend, (my spirit animal), and catching up on her family, delicious business, new job opportunities and checking out the newest Costco! A treat of sample cakes to finish our date was a tasty and amazing surprise! Never long enough, but every second a gift!

A long-missed beach walk and coffee with Mon Amie from France was so amazing. If you ever feel sad, mad, confused or just need to work stuff out, hit the beach—-it is forever healing. Of course, walking, talking, laughing and finishing with coffee is also healing. Never long enough, but every second a gift!

Time with ANOTHER dear, middle school forever friend, was filled with laughs, a visit from my baby girl to join us for dinner, champs, tale telling and an AMAZING air boat ride for early a.m. counting alligators, owls and birds. Never long enough, but every second a gift!

Finished up the trip with a night at our dear friend’s (fraternity brother to hubs) and his wife (my sweet, sweet mid-western friend). Always, delicious food, great conversation and all the warm and fuzzies. Never long enough, but every second a gift!

That’s all for now, but coming soon…..our Anniversary trip—-and I DID take plenty of pics!

Peace,

T