day of traditions!

 yesterday we started off with (gluten free) pumpkin waffles and homemade syrup (tradition!).

 it was basically pumpkin cake covered in a caramelized glaze.  yum!  the syrup was tough. my impatience burned the first batch, but the second attempt turned out just great (because jeremy came to help).  he's a wise and patient soul.

then we went to the movies (tradition!) and had popcorn, milk duds, and m&ms for lunch.

we saw mocking jay, part 1 and we both really liked it.  we found out the movie theater by our house upgraded to recliners!  it was a pleasant surprise.  it was the comfiest movie ever.  and we love it when the theaters are empty.  everyone had their own row.

then we added some leaves to our thankful tree (tradition!).

we have never made one this big before; we usually just draw it on a piece of construction paper. we built it on sunday and have been adding leaves throughout the week. we even got friends to add to it.  i'm thinking next year we will make it on november 1st and add a few leaves everyday.  we had one rule for the leaves... NO REPEATS.  so there are some creative things on there.

then we went downtown to joe's for dinner - third year in a row (tradition!).

i'd rather spend the day playing than slaving away in the kitchen, so out to eat for thanksgiving dinner it is.  we rounded up some friends to come with us.  they were all up for the lack of prep work and dishes.  we both got the turkey dinner (5 out of 6 of us did actually - 1 got a burger) and we loved every bite.  

then we came home and had some (gf) pumpkin pie for dessert while we filled up the thankful tree with the rest of the leaves.  the pumpkin part was delicious and the crust was not fabulous - chalky with a weird after taste.  maybe next year i will be brave enough to try an make my own. 

it was a fabulous day.  i love a day off to hang out with my bestie.

Let's give thanks, Week 4

Week 3
Week 2
Week 1

#10
I am grateful for traditions.  They bring me so much joy and they are incredibly grounding.  I'm grateful that traditions connect me to my family even when I am not with them.  I'm grateful for traditions that make me laugh.  I'm grateful that I can pass traditions on to connect past and future generations. I'm grateful that traditions help me remember all of the fun I've had over the years.

#11
I am grateful for our car.  It's not fancy and it's not new.  It joined us within a few weeks of getting married and has been a champ.  I'm grateful that our car gets me to and from work safely each day.  I'm grateful that the heater works.  I'm grateful that it gets pretty good gas mileage.  I'm grateful that our car has been pretty reliable.  I'm grateful that we have had the means to fix it when it needed some extra love so it can keep chugging along.

#12
I am grateful for uplifting music.  Music is something I have loved from a very young age.  I started singing solos in church when I was only 6.  I'm grateful that music can deeply touch the soul. I'm grateful that music can portray hard to describe emotions.  I'm grateful that music can be experienced and appreciated across language barriers.  I'm grateful that uplifting music allows me to connect with and praise God.

Maybe I will keep this weekly gratitude going.  It's certainly something I could do more than once a year. 

can this be forever?

we have some great friends, dane and aimee, and each summer we have been in boston they invite us up to her family's cabin.  it has become a tradition of sorts and we know i loooove traditions - more cabin posts here, here, and here. so we drove to new hampshire and spent yesterday at our favorite lake.  it's the best place to be.  i mean look at that view from the dock.  it's dreamy. 

 the cabin is complete with lots of fun toys so we enjoyed every bit of our day.

jeremy loves those kayaks.  that's always the first thing he wants to do.  jeremy and i kayaked around and then jeremy took his turn water-skiing.  he's a champ! i was too nervous to try. 

see?  everyone is just so happy at the lake.  

i got photo-bombed by amber and ryan and thought it better to just embrace it.

we took turns hitting some floating golf balls into the lake (this activity is a must for the boys) while the kayakers fetched the balls.  aimee and i went on the jetski ride of a lifetime.  she's a wild one when it comes to getting that adrenaline going so i knew it was going to be awesome.  we zigzagged across wakes from the boats and caught some air a few times.  i loved it.  it's like a vespa on water.  when we came back to the house i was told they could hear me whooping and hollering as we ventured all over the lake.  you can thank my mom for my loudness, it's something she's known for.

we ate some lunch, practiced our dives off of the dock, swam around, and relaxed in the hammock - also one of my favorite things.  i tried to convince my parents to put one in my bedroom from wall to wall when i was 9.  sadly, they didn't go for it.  something about it not being good for my back as a bed replacement.  the funny thing is i ended up with scoliosis regardless.  but i digress.

in the afternoon aimee and her dad, jim, convinced me to give water-skiing a try.  they taught me what to do and what not to do in "ski school" and before i knew it i was in the water fumbling to put the skis on my feet completely terrified and sure it would be disaster.  the first time i struggled and quickly fell, but every time after that i got up and was off and running skiing.  i fell a couple times on the turn arounds, but otherwise was able to maneuver in and out of the wake.  i was pleasantly surprised and totally excited about the whole thing.

evidence: scared katie on the left (look at that furrowed brow) and happy katie on the right.

there is something about conquering what i don't think i can do that just makes my day.  it reminds me to take risks because sometimes i surprise myself.  jim told me i was a natural on the skis and that was the icing on the gluten free cake.  it rocked.  then he showed us his skills on the slalom ski.  he was carving it up. i couldn't help but think of my own daddy that surprised us with his water-skiing talent when we went boating with family friends for the first time when i was in high school.  dads are pretty cool.

after we were all tuckered out, we grilled up some burgers and ate so much watermelon that it was coming out of our ears.  while we were filling our bellies and chatting away, a small family of loons wandered over.  everyone stopped to watch the endangered birds dive for fish.  a boat follows them around on saturdays to keep them safe.

after the loons safely passed, we hit some more golf balls, put away all of the toys, posed for a quick photo, and said adieu to the lovely scene.

i love this boy so much.

we had a sublime day. the cabin is the perfect place for all things summer: good company, tasty food, adrenaline rushes, and so much fun and games.  it truly is my favorite.  jeremy and i keep talking about the need to have a lake house of our own some day.  we sure dream big.

thanks, dane, aimee and family for being our friends and letting us play and relax in the mountains with you.   

the green mountains, part 1

after a grueling soccer match on saturday, we ventured up to stowe, vermont.

jeremy and i spent the evening wandering around the adorable mountain village.  we stopped at piecasso for dinner and i consumed the most delicious gluten-free pizza known to mankind.  i may have to return to stowe, just to inhale this pizza again.  we also shared a spinach salad.  seriously.  it was good.  who am i these days?  jeremy during dinner, "i didn't think i would ever share a salad with you."  i guess i'm just full of surprises. sidenote: menus are way more fun when you are open to eating things with veggies.

stowe also has these great paved trails that wind throughout the scenery.  we took in the beauty all around us as we explored.  the air was incredibly fresh (sure beats the smell of that subway air), the green trees were aplenty (and soooo green), and the rivers were remarkably clear.  we were in awe.  jeremy wanted to do some serious fishing in those waters and i would love to bike around those trails all day.  city living is starting to get to me i suppose, because i'm obsessed with these mountain towns.  

after dinner we walked to a local ice cream shop to keep up our summer solstice tradition.  and they had gluten-free cones!  dream come true, i love cones, especially filled with ice cream.  i got vermont maple ice cream, because hey, i'm in vermont and it was tasty.  jeremy got his standard mint chocolate chip/cookie variation and he loved every bite. 

we watched the sun lower below the horizon creating fleeting color combinations as we walked back to meet jeremy's parents as they arrived.  we chatted while we went for a quick drive up to the base of the highest peaks in vermont and ended the night with a roaring game of cover your assets.  it's a mixture of war and go fish and a good one if you are in need of a new game.

it proved to be a lovely and relaxing evening as we enjoyed the tasty food and amazing views vermont has to offer.

merry christmas!

christmas #1

(christmas #2 happening this weekend!!)

 we opened presents and made our families traditional christmas breakfasts: a delicious casserole from mine, and tasty pull-aparts from his.

then we tried our hand at Santa Cookies!  these Santa Cookies are a bona fide Clover family tradition beginning back in 1981, so of course we have to continue it.  luckily, i helped jeremy's mom make some last year, so we were brave enough to make them on our own this year.

 it was our first time and i have to say, i think they turned out pretty well.  they are quite the production and they took up most of our day.  it was fun making them together and totally worth all the work. that cookie is no joke!

we also chatted with family, took naps, refused to shower, had left-overs for dinner, and watched a movie.  that is what i call a great christmas.  hope your christmas was all sorts of lovely!