2013 -- week 24 -- a quick trip to williamsburg for a beautiful wedding weekend with friends.

even though we did some super cool things this week, like make platters at the sonoran glass school (!) and start our kickball season, for me, this week was dominated by our trip back to virginia. 

because i grew up there, and became an adult there, williamsburg holds a very special place in my heart. williamsburg is home. so having the opportunity to go back to the 'burg, to be able to bring rcg along, was crazy awesome. and then there was the even more amazing benefit of getting to see two of my best friends get married. 

the biggest bummer of the weekend? somehow, in all of the hub bub, i didn't get a picture of the bride and groom. but it was a lovely ceremony and a super fun reception. and they both looked awesome. 

thanks for giving me an excuse to return to williamsburg.

and an even bigger thank you for giving me the honor and privilege to be a part of your wedding. and to let us share in your joy and happiness. i'm so happy for you both. congratulations. 

ps. how amazing is this reading they asked me to do?

Song of Solomon 2:10-13; 8:6-7

My beloved speaks and says to me:

‘Arise, my love, my fair one,

  and come away;

for now the winter is past,

  the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

  the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtle-dove

  is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

  and the vines are in blossom;

  they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

  and come away.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

  as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death,

  passion fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

  a raging flame.

Many waters cannot quench love,

  neither can floods drown it.

If one offered for love

  all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.

the von trapp family lodge: a little of austria. a lot of vermont.

another place csv never had a chance to visit during her time at uvm was the von trapp family lodge.

you remember the von trapps, right?

from the sound of music.
(cue "the hills are alive with the sound of muuuuuusic!")

apparently after they dodged the nazis in austria (something that only happened in the hollywood version of their lives), they came to vermont. because it looked so much like austria. cool, huh?

 

check out those green mountains!

  

even after the von trapps moved to america, they continued to travel the globe as the von trapp family singers. and in their down time they ran a music camp, and eventually started a hotel, which is still open today.

some fun facts i learned about the von trapps:
1 -- there were 10 children; 7 from the baron's first marriage, and 3 from his marriage to maria. (intense.)
2 -- they continued to wear lederhosen well after it was appropriate (like at home, in the 1960s and 1970s).
3 -- the sound of music was totally a glamorized version of the von trapps' real lives. (boring.)

  

another important thing i learned on this trip is to not get too close to the wires surrounding a pig pen -- they're electric. 

(i may have been actively getting electrocuted while taking the picture above. oops.)

 

   

you have no idea how badly i wanted to take one of these suckers home. especially the fatty who's eating while laying in the trough; a pig after my own heart.

ben & jerry's ice cream factory

a month or so ago i went to vermont to watch my good friend graduate from med school. it was a nice weekend -- the weather was awesome, i got to hang out with some of my favorite people, and we had the opportunity to see some pretty cool places.

csv spent four years in burlington, vermont, but in all that time she never went to the ben & jerry's ice cream factory. crazy, huh? so in her last 48 hours, we went. and not only did i get to try a fun new flavor, cinnamon yum, but i also learned some valuable ice cream making tips. 

 

tip #1: make your ice cream flavor but let it sit overnight before putting it in the ice cream maker and freezing it. it will help the flavors meld and become even more awesome.

tip #2: freeze your ice cream fast. by this i don't mean put it in the freezer very soon after making it (although you should be doing that), i mean get a freezer that gets/is very cold. so that when the ice cream is put into the freezer it becomes solid and super frozen super fast. this will prevent ice crystals from forming and will help with both the flavor and consistency of the ice cream.

now all i have to do is convince rcg to let me buy a mega awesome freezer!

unfortunately we went on a weekend, and even though they still hold tours you don't actually get to see them making the ice cream. (super bummer.) but it's still worth the trip, especially for the huge ben & jerry's fans out there, because each tour ends with a homemade flavor that isn't on the normal menu. and they have an extensive shop that sells most, if not all, of the flavors that b&j offer. delicious. 

what's your favorite ben & jerry's flavor?

(mine is mint chocolate cookie!)

52 lists -- week 21 -- list your favorite songs

it's been a while since i did a list (sorry!) but i've been busy. and so has moorea seal; she's been lagging a little behind, and i've taken that to mean that i can i lag behind too. my apologies. 

but week 21's prompt is an interesting one, mainly because we've already made a list about music. in week 8 i wrote about my favorite albums. i talked about how i chose my favorite albums based on the ones that meant something to me, the ones that were poignant to a certain time in my life. but i also mentioned how difficult it can be to find a whole album of awesome songs. so this list is similar and different to week 8's list. it's similar in that the songs mean something to me, they were somehow significant in my life, but it's different in that the songs are from a plethora of albums, some of which are complete duds except for the song i chose. or the songs were chosen because of how happy and awesome they make me feel. for example, soak up the sun by sheryl crow -- it reminds me of driving to track practice in high school, the windows were down, the music was turned up, and my friends and i were dancing as we drove, making the cars next to us uncomfortable. or call on me by eric prydz, which reminds me of my second year of college living in england. or even part of your world from the little mermaid, a song i listened to on repeat for eight years as a child.

but the one thing that all of these songs have in common is that they make me happy; they remind me of happy days gone by and of happy ones to come. and they make me want to dance. and dancing too, makes me happy.

what song(s) do you love?

2013 -- week 23 -- a quick trip to mexico and another half birthday!

this week i got to check off two more things form my to do list -- crossing the mexican border by car and visiting a new mexican state, sonora. i think i'm more excited about crossing the border though, because it's my second border crossing in a month! but the best part of the trip was seeing tons of saguaro flowers. they're only supposed to bloom at night, but we were driving early enough in the morning that we still got to see them. and it was awe inspiring. these saguaro cacti are over 10 feet tall, probably over 100 years old, and the tops of each one were covered with delicate little white flowers. it was one of the coolest sights. i wish we'd had the chance to pull over and take some pictures to share with you!

you know how you're only supposed to eat oysters during the months that have an "r" in them? well, we broke the rules this weekend; we ate oysters in june. and they were awesome. because they were from a little oyster farm on the outskirts of puerto peñasco. it took less than two minutes from when they came out of the water to be placed in front of us, shucked and ready to eat. with a fresh lime and hot sauce, they were to die for. 

we ate six dozen in less than 20 minutes. fatties.

kitt peak is about an hour and a half away from tucson, so it's not a place we drive by often. but last weekend, we drove right by it, and couldn't resist the opportunity to pull over and take a couple of pictures. obviously these photos are totally posed because it's during the day and over 100 degrees, but how cute is my boo? 

what did you do last week? anything fun?

ps. bodanzalez boda is up and running for real now. check it out!

pps. i know i promised road trip posts, and i haven't forgotten about them, i've just been so crazy busy trying to get the wedding planned that i put everything else on the back burner. road trip posts will be ready soon. and so will wedding updates!