The Anniversary Trip

Its hard to believe that its been two years already since our wedding day. Its safe to say that July 28th, 2007 was the happiest day of my life. There were many times growing up that I thought that day would never come, but it did, and now here we are, just about two years later, and still as happy as we were on that day.

As you may or may not remember, last year around our anniversary was when Jim's mom, Mary had her brain aneurysm and was hospitalized in Boston. We made it back to Maine for our first anniversary, but it was almost impossible to celebrate as we had much bigger things to worry about. So when my mom called me a few weeks ago out of the blue and offered to babysit Rowdy so we could go away and celebrate our anniversary this year, I jumped on the opportunity. We didn't want to go too far away, and I had hotel points saved up from my work travels over the past year, so we cashed them in and headed about an hour and a half up the coast to Camden, Maine.

I'd only been to Camden a few times, when I was very young, so I didn't have much memory, but Jim spent many a summer in the town on his dads boat as he was growing up. It was really cool to watch him reminisce and show me the places around town that he remembered. We started off our trip with a stop at the breakwater in Rockland. Attached to the beautiful Samoset Resort, this rock pathway is almost a mile long, and has a gorgeous two story lighthouse attached at the end. Jim was amazing and let me take my time as I fiddled around with my new camera. Here are a few of my favorite shots:



From the breakwater we headed into Camden for dinner and a sunset cruise. We found this little restaurant on the water, Atlantica. If you ever find yourself in Camden, eat here! This place was amazing! The decor was stylish, the view was amazing, and the food was to die for. It was so reasonably priced too! I enjoyed a delicious lobster roll, and Jim dined on the best fish and chips Ive ever had...and I hate fish and chips.

After dinner we headed to the docks for our sunset sail reservation. As luck would have it, we were the only ones registered for the sail, and the captain aboard Schooner Olad was kind enough to still take us out. It was amazing. It was the most relaxed tour Ive ever been on. The captain, Aaron, and his deckhand Ben just hung out with us, chatted about nothing, and let us just sit and watch the sun set. I think they appreciated not having to be on, and we appreciated just a nice relaxing sunset cruise. It was the perfect end to the day.



Today proved to be a wet one, with lots of clouds and rain, but we still made the drive up Mt. Battie, and stopped at Fort Edgecomb State Park on the way home for some more photo shots.



It was an amazing weekend, and I'm so grateful to my mom for offering to come down so that we could go. One thing Ive learned in my few very short years of marriage is that its easy to forget to take time for each other. Having a weekend just to ourselves with no real agenda, and no plans with anyone else but just us was so needed, and I think we both agree its something we need to do much more often.

To see all of our photos, click here

Camden/Rockport and Fort Edgecomb State Park, Maine

My Newest Hobby

I love my new camera. I am by far no expert, and still have so much to learn, but learning to use it has been such a blast, and when my mom asked if I would mind trying to take some pictures of my brother Rion for his senior yearbook, I said sure, hoping we would get at least one good shot. What I came home with were over 150 shots, and I was so excited and proud of how far I've come, just by having the right tool in my hand.

The photo shoot with Rion was so much fun. He's a goofy kid, so getting him to ham it up a bit for the camera wasn't very difficult, and made even easier by the ridiculous antics of both Jim and Rick who got Rion blushing more than once.

We started out at my parents house and then found our way to a cement factory which opens up if you walk about a quarter mile through the woods behind Jim's parents house. I think we definitely got a good yearbook shot or two, but Rion was good to let me play around with some artisier and serious shots as well. Here's a taste, you can see many more of my favorites here.










Its dangerous how much fun I had doing this. Thanks for letting me take your pictures Rion!

Bark in the Park

We are officially dog people. I never really knew what that meant, even after we got Rowdy, but this weekend it really became obvious that we are that stereotypical family with the SUV and the lab with his flappy ears hanging out of the back windshield, on their way to some event with other dogs and crazy dog owners. And to be perfectly honest, I'm ok with that.

The Portland Sea Dogs are a farm league for the Boston Red Sox, and their field is right downtown. In fact, as you are driving down 295 through the city, you can see the field just off to your right or left, depending on which way you are heading.

Every June the Sea Dogs host an event called "Bark in the Park." On that day, they invite dog owners to bring their pup to the park to participate in a parade and enjoy the game as a family. I'd always wanted to go, but never had a dog, so this year when tickets went on sale I was anxious to finally join the crowd, (you know, being a dog person and all). My friend Angie decided to come along with her chocolate lab Bristol, and we definitely made a day of it. It was a toasty 80ish degrees in the sun, but Planet Dog kindly provided a doggie kiddie pool for the pups (which MY pup decided would be a great urinal), and we had a great time marching around Hadlock Field with the other dogs (which, again MY pup decided would be a great urinal...and then some. Oops.). They got free balls, treats, and lots of play time in with the hundred or so other dogs that were in attendance.

Here are some pictures from the day. I couldn't believe how well behaved all the dogs were. Every once and awhile one would bark from the stands and start a little doggie cheering section, but it was great to be sitting with a bunch of other dog lovers who would laugh it off instead of rolling their eyes, and I think we all had fun hanging out with everyone's little buddies.

This little pug loved Angie! She jumped right up on her and started giving her kisses on her face!

There were so many fun pups there. It was hard not to just walk around and take pictures of them all!

Can't wait for next year!

Shout Out!

This one goes to my hubby...who has just submitted his first ever professional book review, and is featured on the NACADA (National Academic Advising Association) website. Check it out!

If selected, he will be published in this fall's NACADA journal. Nice job babe!

Yay for Love!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope everyone finds themselves happy, healthy, and with someone to share their love with.

Its still very strange to me that I "get" to celebrate Valentine's Day in the way that one would hope to. Yes, its always nice to call your mother or your siblings and wish them a happy VDay, but to have someone really special to spend it with is a whole separate ball game. It definitely hasn't always been like this for me. Those of you who know me well know I haven't exactly been the most versed in dating throughout my life, and actually the first Valentine's Day I ever had someone to celebrate with was my first with Jim, five years ago, (it was really special, he got a very nice hotel room in the city and took me to dinner with some close friends to the Top of the Hub in Boston, which since then has kind of become our spot). But before Jim, VDay usually consisted of me trying to pick up a shift at work, or hanging out with my other single friends, which were often hard to come by.

I'll never forget the Valentine's Day the year before I met Jim. I was living in Berwick, and my friend Ray was in Boston and we were pretty much inseparable at that point, so of course I chose to come to Boston for the weekend. It was one of those odd years that Ray wasn't dating, and neither were our friends Ian, Jamison, and Petro. So we deemed ourselves "The Lonely Hearts Club" and took ourselves out to Sissy K's, wearing black hearts on our shirts. Luckily "The Lonely Hearts Club" didn't last long for most of us, but it was a fun way to spend the evening. Consequently, I think that's also the night we hailed a limo instead of a cab because it was too cold out for a cab, but that's another story for another post I think....

So anyways, I hope everyone has a fantastic day of love. Jim and I were going to give snowshoing a shot, but he's a little under the weather so we'll spend the day just hanging out and then tonight we'll head to our Portland place, and the best sushi around, Yosaku.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The PS3

Well it happened. After months and months of telling myself we couldn't get to that point, it happened. I am a PS3 widow.

I didn't plan for this. In fact, I planned for quite the opposite. We have enough video game systems to last the rest of the century. A Super Nintendo. A Nintendo 64. A PS2. A Wii. Why, might I ask would we ever need a PS3?

My husband will tell you its because of its amazing graphics, online capabilities, and BluRay disc player. I will tell you it is so that he can justify that even though he's turning 31, he's still a young gamer at heart.

I really thought I'd get out of this one. I thought for sure he'd hem and haw at the fact that yet another video game system had passed him by. This one would be a no-brainer. We just couldn't afford it. When they first came out we had just bought the Wii, and once the price dropped we had bought the house and were thinking of getting the dog. Oh shucks. But then came that fateful evening when my father-in-law, who I really love to death, called me up to ask how I would feel if they baited Jim with a PS3 to finish his degree. What do I say? No problem! He'd love it! Inside my head I'm thinking: he'd never take them up on that..that's just too much bribing.

I'm too damn nice. And too damn naiive.

So it's here. In my living room. There are games and controllers on my coffee table. As I type I'm listening to the oh so soothing sounds of machine guns and men screaming. As I'm drinking my coffee in the morning, getting dressed, and doing my makeup, I am accompanied by the sounds of rally cars and my husband shouting "That's so &$#@& awesome!!"

I am a PS3 widow.

And now the disclaimer, or I may be sleeping on the couch.

As much as I dreaded it all, it hasn't been nearly as bad as I expected. The night he picked it up, Jim brought me home American Idol Karaoke, and even played it with me for two nights in a row. He makes sure to do something nice like clean the kitchen before he plays, and when I ask if we can hang out without the PS3 for a bit, he doesn't hesitate to put the controller down. It's as if he can...wait for it...balance a video game system AND a wifey.

There may be hope for the world after all.

This is what it looks like...

...when you put a mad bomber hat on a 7 month old puppy.


He loves us. Really.

The Sad State of the O'Brien Household

I don't think anyone can deny that being sick just plain sucks. But when both you and your spouse are sick at the same time, life is just difficult. Jim never gets sick. In the four plus years we've been together, I think I've seen him sick to the point of calling out of work once, and that's when he had mono. I on the other hand, always get sick. My immune system is about as easy to attack as a helpless stuffed animal in the same room as a puppy. So when Jim got a terrible head cold turned flu this weekend I prayed I wouldn't fall victim. Of course, the poor stuffed animal always loses.

Jim attempted work yesterday but only made it until noon, and survived the day today, but has landed right in bed as of 6:30pm because of it. I laid my bum on the couch all day yesterday and today and I may be going clinically insane.

I've learned in the past few years, that I have what people call a "Type A" personality. I can't sit still. I don't know how. Even if the house is perfectly clean, my family is comfortably fed, and things are calm, I have to be doing something. Make a snack. Organize the office. Sweep the floors. Surf the web while watching tv. So when I get a virus that seriously knocks me and my husband on our butts, I'm struggling. My back hurts. Heck my whole body hurts. Last night I had sciatic pain from laying down all day that kept me up most of the night. I'm not meant to sit still. I'm even at the point where we are expecting a big snow storm tonight and I'm hoping we DON'T have a snow day just so I can go to work (and flu or no flu I'm going to work)! I just pray to God that if I am ever blessed to be pregnant I do not end up on bed rest because I don't know how I would get through it.

So at any rate, if you were planning on visiting Casa O'B anytime in the very near future, you may want to wait a bit. Once I actually can stand up and do things again, I will be releasing three days of pent up energy into disinfecting this poor sick house. It has no idea what's coming.

"Seasons"

So my new job comes in "seasons." There's travel season, from September to November, then reading season from November until September, with a little bit of travel in the middle. I'm about two weeks into the reading season now, and its quite a nice change of pace. What does reading season mean? It means sitting at my double-monitored computer for eight hours reading countless applications and deciding if a kid is ready to come to college. Yup, I actually can admit people. When I was in high school I always wondered if anyone was actually going to read my application, and now I know. At least at USM, we read them all.

The essays I have been reading have been something else. Some make me laugh,(like the kid who claims that chop suey made him who he is today), some make me cry (like the kid who wrote about volunteer work he did with children in the Guatemala City dump), and some just make me cringe. I was never an English teacher, so I've never had the pleasure of learning what kids write about, and I've always wondered. I think the essays are the most fascinating part of the reading I do every day. Its funny, sometimes I'll share the topic of an essay with Jim, like the kid who wrote about Fluffernutter sandwiches and how they changed his life (it actually made a little too much sense), and Jim will claim them to be an instant admit. The essays are great because I get to know a little more about who I'm letting into our school.

Jim asked me an interesting question the other day. He said, if you were offered a teaching position today, would you take it? And I told him honestly, no. I really love this new job. The seasons make it so interesting and I haven't had energy like this in years. I still get to work with students, but I get to connect with adults too. And my department is fantastic. I don't think I've ever worked with a group that is so close and supportive of each other. I couldn't imagine walking away.

On another note, if you haven't heard, Jim got a new position. He is now an academic advisor in the School of Business at USM. He loves it and is so excited about it. It kind of fell in his lap, which was a good thing, since due to some reorganization in the President's Office he wasn't sure where he'd be in the next few weeks, and it puts him up close with students, which is what he's been wanting to do for some time now.

I have to say, it is so nice to have us both come home from work and not be dragging our feet and hating our days. Its been a long time since we've both been there, and its a welcome change.

Need a Gift Idea? My Shameless Plug

One holiday down, one more to go. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We spent it in Hampden with our families. My grandparents were here visiting from Reno and it was so nice to spend some time with them. Its been 19 years since we last had Thanksgiving with them! Its always great to get up home and see our families and friends for a few days.

Now, on to the next big event, Christmas. If you haven't seen these already, I wanted to share with you my mom's latest project. A few months ago she discovered that she has quite the knack for apron making. They are so fun and she loves putting them together! She has created her own website on Etsy.com, http://www.UniqueApronsbyDebbie.etsy.com

Here are a few pictures of her work. I think they are so much fun and would make great Christmas presents!





She has also made potholders and some other things as well, so check out her site!

Ok, shameless plug over.

The Meetiversary

Ahhhhh how sweet it is! Travel ended on Thursday and it has been awesome to just spend some time at home without that little voice in the back of my head telling me to get ready for my next trip. This weekend we deemed Saturday as "home improvement day." I painted the entryway while Jim and his friend Brian fixed our toilet (Brian's a really good friend, lol), and an exhaust pipe in the attic. We felt very productive. :)

Wednesday night we head to Hampden for the traditional Turkey Day festivities, which means off to the bars Wednesday night, dinner with my family on Thursday, and dessert with Jim's family Thursday night. I've always looked forward to Thanksgiving, but especially now since it is an indicator of another year Jim's been in my life. (Wait, put on your corny goggles, because here it comes...)

If you don't know the story of how Jim and I met, I think its a good one, even though I'm just a little biased. It was the night before Thanksgiving, four years ago, and I was driving up from Boston. I was well into Maine when I realized I forgot my license, which was a huge bummer seeing as we all (the HA gang) always go out for beverages the night before the holiday. I called my friend Eric, to see if he could stop and pick up my license and bring it up, and he said he wouldn't mind at all.

Fast foward a few hours. We're all at my friend Jen's house, dressed up and ready to go out, and Eric shows up. Without my license. It turns out after he picked it up for me, he dropped it somewhere along the way. Of course, I was quite sad, seeing as I would have to miss out on the tradition, but Jen talked me into going to the bar with my birth certificate to see if I could get in. I hemmed and hawed the whole way there, telling her there was no way it would work. I was ready to go home and sulk it out.

We got to the bar, and Jen must have batted her eyelashes at the doorman in just the right way, because somehow I got in. Awesome.

A little while into the night, my friend Matt tells me that Jim O'Brien was asking about me. I knew Jim from high school, but he didn't know me. The next thing I know, there's Jim, standing in front of me, not saying a word, and holding a beer out towards my face.

Awkward.

So I asked him if the beverage was for me and he said yes, and then I told him he should dance with me. And that was that.

Jim tells me that it was the only time he'd ever done anything like that, just buy a drink for a girl out of the blue, and that something just told him I was special and he needed to get to know me.

However, if you are a male, (such as my workstudy Tim), and talking to my now husband about this story, he will tell you he was out "looking to get all hammered and looking to get some and then he saw this hot chick and he knew he wanted to 'get' with her." Uh huh.

At any rate, it was the best Bud Light of my life, and no matter how you tell the story, the ending is the same, and four years later I am the happiest I've ever been.

Happy Meetiversary babe ;)

On the up swing!

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on Jim's mom Mary. She had surgery on Friday to remove the second aneurysm and the surgery was a success! She was in the ICU overnight, but has been moved to a regular floor where she'll stay for the next few days. Again, Jim and I want to thank everyone for the well wishes!

Bad Blogger!

Yes, I know I've disappeared for a few weeks. I've sat down to write several times, but just couldn't muster up the energy. I guess you could say I've had "blogger's block." The past few weeks have been pretty busy. I spent an entire week split between Connecticut and Rhode Island, ending on Halloween, (which by the way left us with an extra TEN bags of candy when the 100 kids we were told to expect turned into 10 kids). Last week I began the week in Keene and finished it up in the White Mountains. It was great to be able to go to Keene for work. I spent Sunday night with two very good friends, Adam and Kristen, at my most favorite bar, Kilkenny's. I love getting together with college friends, we laugh harder than should be legal when we get together.

Tomorrow I hit the road again, this time to New Jersey for a whole week. I'm definitely excited to be going somewhere I've never been, but sad to be leaving for a whole week. Tuesday night however, I'll be heading to Atlantic City baby(!!!), so I will be sure to post some pictures and stories (of me gambling all by myself, hahaha).

Just a heads up to those of you who followed my blog at all this summer. Jim's mom Mary will be having surgery on Friday to remove the second anuerism from her brain. We will be spending Friday night in Boston with the family but ask you to please keep her in your thoughts. The surgeons will be going in through her head again, and snipping out the anuerism that did not burst. Its very good that she will be getting rid of it and won't have to worry about it anymore! She will be in the ICU at Mass General for a day or so and then in the hospital for hopefully no more than a week. I promise to keep you all updated via my blog like I did this summer.

And a Few More

I was out raking again today and Rowdy decided to help me out. He was so cute running through and laying in the leaves! The photo ops were too good to resist so I took a few more fall pics and wanted to share :)

Fall Pictures

So we've had Rowdy for about a month and a half now, and we are having such a blast with him. Its definitely been an eye opener to both me and Jim about our "parenting" skills and opinions, as well as the total change of lifestyle that comes when you have that responsibility at home. Its such a great experience though and I still maintain that every couple should have a dog before they have a child. I think we'll be ten times the parents because we did this first.

So anyways, the little guy is growing like a weed, and I wanted to share some pictures. Saturday Jim was outside raking underneath our huge maple tree (which decided to stick its tongue out, shake its booty, and laugh at Jim while dropping another large pile of leaves on the ground literally two hours later), and I took the opportunity to capture some pictures of Rowdy next to the tree. Of course, he was quite the ham and didn't mind posing it up :)