While you were out....

Brett has been in Utah for the last few weeks which has given me time (LOTS of time... ) to stay up late, eat junk food and make lots of cute crafty things that of course I copied from Pinterest. I couldn't think of crafty things to make on my own but I sure do have fun making them.

Picture/note hanger for my office at work

Homemade Chalkboard for my office at work

A cute wreath for my door at home

A welcome wreath for my door at the office

Sunburst mirrors made with clothes pins for a wall at the office

 All of them were SO cheap and so fun to make! Thank you pinterest! But my budget does say thank goodness for a trip to Utah coming up in less than a week.... YEAH!

Happy Independence Day!

This year we were not quite sure what to do with ourselves for the fourth of July but it just so happened that I was checking things out on the FB when I spotted a picture of my dear friend Judit Stolpa who lives in Hungary. I met her while I was working at a YMCA in New Jersey 5 summers ago. This picture of her just so happened to be in NYC! I commented on her picture to see if she was still there only to find out that SHE WAS!!! Lucky for us it just happened to the fourth of July so we had the day off of work. We didn't have plans and I couldn't pass the opportunity to meet up with someone I never thought I would see again. So we headed into the city. We rode the train in and met Judit in Grand Central. We walked to Central Park, got a jumba juice and then meandered our way back down to 34th street. We were headed to grab some pizza at La Famiglia but Judit saw a Wendy's and had to have it. Her brother lived in the states for several years and was always raving about Wendy's so she just had to try some. It's kind of funny to think about someone raving about Wendy's and other people never having that experience.
After Wendy's we headed down to the piers to watch the fireworks. Let me tell you, this may sound like it was a completely relaxing way to watch the fireworks and I am sure it would have been had the 4 million other people in NYC would have stayed home. It was something that I always thought would be so cool and  nothing would be more patriotic than watching the fireworks exploding all around Lady Liberty. For all of you who thought this would be the case, let me assure you that this is NOT the case. Or perhaps it is, but only on TV OR if you pay nearly $300 a ticket to get on the piers or boats on the water!!
Don't get me wrong, it was still an experience - but one I never have the desire to do again. I will certainly be just fine watching my little town fireworks from where ever that little town may be. We had a great time with Judit and I am so very happy that Brett was able to meet her. I have wanted them to meet for so long - I've actually told Brett since the day I got back from camp that we would be going to Hungary to visit her because he just had to meet this incredible woman. Well, I didn't quite get him to Hungary (although I haven't given up trying to get him there... maybe someday. Anyone want to donate to our Hungary vacation fund?...)
but they sure did finally get to meet and they hit it off. Brett is now encouraging my younger brother to marry her - and heck I sure wouldn't complain if that happened.
Judit made such an impact in my life in just a few short months. She is an amazing person and friend. She is so very thoughtful and I am truly amazed at how much she impacted my life in such a short period of time. I think I only stayed through the whole thing because of her. I honestly thought that I would never have the chance to see her again but my heart filled with joy and joy leaked out of my eyes when we embraced. I love her very much and wish that we could have spent more time together. But now Brett is more motivated to get to Hungary because he loves her too. :)
And no post of mine would be complete without some pictures....

Walking to Central Park

Chillin (trying to) in Central Park in the HOT, HUMID weather

It was so hot and cramped and miserable
but we were still enjoying our time together!

NEVER AGAIN!

View of the fireworks

Memorial Day Weekend

I asked Brett about 3 months ago if he would be interested in heading to the NCAA Divison 1 Lacrosse Championship that was held this weekend in Boston, MA. He said he hadn't really been following Lax this year due to being too busy with school. But since school ended and he has had an hour or two here and there to catch up on the Lax world, he decided that he would really like to go to the tourny. So we headed up to Foxborough, MA to the Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots for the semi-final games on Saturday afternoon. Game 1: Loyola vs. Norte Dame, with Loyola winning. Game 2: Duke vs. Maryland with Maryland winning. Games were fun to watch, atmosphere was fun, but most of all it was enjoyable to spend a weekend actually watching Lax with Brett next to me rather than him on the opposite sideline coaching, which has never happened and probably won't for several more years (if ever) unless of course we go to Championship weekend again next year, which it held in Philly.

Loyola vs Norte Dame

Duke vs. Maryland

Sunday we slept in and then took a short drive up to Boston. We spent the day in the Cambridge area, most at Harvard University. It was so relaxing and very nice to spend some time together not rushing to see sites or visit  anything in particular. Harvard was different than what I expected but the surrounding area was very quaint and typified New England. There were a lot of street performers out and it was nice to listen to their music or watch their act for a little bit.

Center of Harvard

The Concert Hall

A law building

whole church was made from stone - very impressive

Monday was Championship Game - Maryland vs Loyola. Loyola ended up beating Maryland quite soundly but it was a pretty close/tight game until half. It was such an enjoyable weekend. It was so nice to finally have some time to just relax together, sleep in, and especially not have to worry about studying or work left undone.
Keep your fingers crossed that we get to do it again next year. :)

Maryland vs Loyola

Brett's heaven

Face off's were brutal...

A little update on Brett's schooling: he officially completed his first year of in-class work. Yipee!!! He is now in his clinical, working with actual patients and he is loving every minute of it! There is such a difference in his attitude about learning. He absolutely loves what he does and as frustrating as it was to have to wait 4 years for him to figure it out I am sure glad he took his time and didn't let his wife's impatience push him into doing something that he doesn't love. Can't wait to see where his career will take us in life.
Brett also has the privilege of serving as the treasurer on the Student Special Interest Group (SSIG) for Physical Therapy. While at one of the SSIG meetings, he was introduced to Victor Vaughn, who is a big advocate for PT. He does lots of stuff with the government advocating for PT. This was intriguing to Brett and he started asking more questions. Vic invited Brett to go down to Washington DC with him and the other Connecticut advocates. Brett enticed two if his classmates (AJ Cohen and Don Johnson) to go with him. So the 3 boys headed down to Washington DC for a "man-vaction" to do some advocating for PT on April 23 - 24.
It just so happened that while there the 3 of them, along with their professors sat down at a table with the professional advocates from none other than UTAH!!! Brett told them that he was from Utah and they asked him to join them in visiting Utah's senators wince CT would have 2 student advocates. So the following day he did just that. He tagged along with 3 Utah PT advocates, all of which are professors at University of Utah. Of particular note, the woman Kim Cohee, is head of the resident Orthopedic program at the U - Brett is really interested in doing this residency after finishing at Sacred Heart so it was a great opportunity to network with her - and the PRES of the APTA Tom Ward is also from Utah. Mark Anderson was the third representative for Utah, who was very impressed with Brett and seemed genuinely interested in helping Brett further his career. Brett had a blast and although he was with 3 "big-wigs" from Utah, he said they made him completely comfortable and he was very glad he was given the opportunity to join them.   As I said before: can't wait to see where Brett's career takes us in life. 

AJ Cohen, Brett, Don Johnson (Back row)
CT Delegation - Vic on the right

Mark Anderson, Brett, Tom Ward, Kim Cohee

Brett at the Captiol

Brett at the Capitol

Visitors

This past week we had a few visitors - Brett's parents came to visit for his "Easter Break". We also had a good family friend, Karen Luthi, and two of her friends come a stay with us for a few days. We had a great time catching up with all of them and loved being able to spend some time with them.
Brett and his parents went to Harmony, PA, Fayette, NY, Niagra Falls, and Palmyra. They left me at home to work and to hang out with Karen and her friends. Here's a few pictures of them in up-state:

Niagara Falls

Palmyra Temple

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with Karen but I sure loved having her visit for a few days. I am glad they got to enjoy New York and we could serve as a good resting place for a few nights. A funny story: Karen was showering and went to turn off the water and the spout broke. Karen had to call for her friends to come help, go talk to our landlords, and shut the water off. All of this happening while I was at work of course... The plumber had to come the next day and completely replaced all of the hardware in our bathroom. Karen is welcome any time at our house as long as she gets us new things when she's here.... :)

We attended church on Sunday and then headed to Philadelphia. We visited Valley Forge and the Rocky Stairs and Elfreth's Alley on Sunday evening. Monday morning we headed to Gettysburg and spent the majority of the day there. Gettysburg was fascinating! We loved it and I am very glad we were able to squeeze it in to the trip. We got a famous Philly Cheesesteak at Jim's Steaks that night and headed back to the hotel.
Tuesday morning we got up and saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Carpenter's Hall, 1st and 2nd National Bank, Franklin's Court, Besty Ross House,  Elfreth's Alley, Fireman's Hall, and pretty much everything that is historical in Old City Philly. We got done a bit earlier than expected so we headed up to Washington's Crossing. We saw the spot where the soliders camped and the hill where they built a watch tower. The tower standing today is a replica of the one they built back in 1776 to keep an eye on the Hessians who were camped out in Trenton, NJ. It was neat to overlook the Delaware and see that famous spot in history. We had a good meal at a little tavern at Bowman's Hill - very quiant and delicious! :)

Rocky Stairs!

Philly in the background

Too bad this picture turned out blurred but
they were such good sports I had to share!

Gettysburg

Graves in the cemetery where the Gettysburg address was given

Newer Veteran Graves in Gettysburg Cemetery

Looking out over Gettysburg from Little Round Top

The City of Brotherly Love
and they were feeling it! ;)

Independence Hall

The room where the Declaration and Constitution were signed

Brett was in heaven at the Fireman's Hall

View from the top of Bowman's Tower at Washington's Crossing

We put Craig and Sue on a flight and sent them home to Utah. We miss them already and wish they could stay but we are glad we got to enjoy them for a week while they were here!

In West Philadelphia Born and Raised...

This past weekend we took a little trip down to Philadelphia, seeing it was Brett's spring break.  The city of Brotherly Love is located about 3 hrs from where we live, so we thought it would make for a good little trip.

Day 1

We drove down Thursday afternoon and got to the city about 1730.  We decided to do a little reconnoitering and make a game plan for the next day.  We wondered about for a few hours including a debacle on where/when to eat, for we wanted to experience a true Philly meal but after finding pretty much everything closed we settled on some Five Guys Burger and Fries.  We then returned to our hotel and listened to the Aggie game basketball game, it was a heartbreaker.

Day 2

This day was spent going through the historic sites in downtown Philly.  Here is an chronological itinerary of our travels: Liberty bell, Independence Hall/City Hall, Second Bank of US (large portrait gallery), Carpenters Hall, First Bank of US, A bunch of old famous houses, Christ Church, Elfreths Alley, First Post Office, Market Street House, Benjamin Franklin Printing Shoppe, Ben Franklin Grave, Free Quaker Meeting House, US Mint, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution.  

Following the historic tour we went over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (aka Rocky Stairs).  Below are pictures with commentaries of the different sites

Liberty Bell with Independence Hall behind

Independence Hall - where the Declaration of Independence
and Constitution were debated and signed

Standing in the room where our forefathers helped create our independent nation was an extraordinary feeling. There is something about seeing it all that makes it real and helps you to appreciate how hard they worked to create what we have.

George Washington's Chair (original)

Original Cobblestone street

First Bank of the United States

Bell at Christ's Church where many of the founding father's worshiped.
This bell was cast at White Castle Forge in 1702.

Elreth's Ally, the oldest consecutively lived-in street in America
1703 - present (most are private residence)

Betsy Ross Home

Ben Franklin's Grave

Free Quaker Meetinghouse
Yes - we saw Amish in the Quaker Meetinghouse

Independence Hall

Grave of the Unknown Solider of the Revolutionary War

Rocky Statue

Brett got a little winded hiking the stairs...

Adrian! (well its actually Chels)

Day 3

Since we were able to get Philly knocked out in one day we decided to check out some of the other historic sites in the area.  We first went to Brandywine, which is where the Revolutionaries lost a major battle which resulted in Philadelphia being captured by the British.

George Washington's Headquarters at Brandywine

Following the Brandywine area, we headed up to Valley Forge.  This area is where the Continental Army spent its second winter (1777-1778), it was a very rough winter but one that led to the army coming out stronger and more resolved.  This is a large National Park now.

Cabin Replicas

Great Re-enactment

Looking down the barrel

National Memorial Arch

Throughout the entire park there are random cabins every where,
much like it would have been during 1777.

Pott's House
Washington's Headquarter's during the winter

What would have been Washington's bedroom

Inner line defense
Embankments on left are original

Cool painting done in 1883 depicting the march to Valley Forge

We had good intentions of going to the area where Washington and the troops had crossed the Delaware river on Christmas night of 1776 then on to Trenton and Princeton where the Continentals had their first major victories; however by the time we got done milling around Valley Forge it was too late....guess we'll just have to do another trip.