Sunday, August 29, 2010
One more Loudoun County comment
For those who don't know, Loudoun County, VA has a Lyme's Disease epidemic. The large amount of development over the last 10 years has disrupted the deer population who carry the deer tick. The deer tick is a major carrier of Lyme's. As I drive around this county (where my parents' reside) and see all the large homes, I am amazed that some has no come up with a Lyme's clinic and begun major research on cures. So many lives in this county have been changed by this disease and those with poor insurance are not receiving the proper care. This is cureable disease, and maybe even preventable (with the correct research). Why not be proactive and nip this thing in the bud????
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thoughts on Northern Virginia
* I forgot how crazy the drivers are here in Northern Virginia. They cut through parking lots, cut me off in traffic, speed past when a merge is coming up, etc. This is definitely not Maple Valley or Seattle anymore.
* Tonight I walked into the most international Super Walmart in the world (Dulles, VA). There wasn't one caucasian person in sight, including my 1/2 Chinese husband. It was pretty cool.
* The merge from 28 to Rt 7 still sucks.
* There are HUGE power lines everywhere.
* The sun comes out.
* I had a wonderful time going on a water slide with my husband this afternoon at a local pool.
* There is a LOT of money in Loudoun County. Who owns all these massive homes??? Who cleans them???
* Traffic, traffic and more traffic.
* Lots of memories here...high school, post-college, meeting/dating Jeff, our first 3 years of marriage, first year of Cambria's life...
* It's great to be with family.
* Tonight I walked into the most international Super Walmart in the world (Dulles, VA). There wasn't one caucasian person in sight, including my 1/2 Chinese husband. It was pretty cool.
* The merge from 28 to Rt 7 still sucks.
* There are HUGE power lines everywhere.
* The sun comes out.
* I had a wonderful time going on a water slide with my husband this afternoon at a local pool.
* There is a LOT of money in Loudoun County. Who owns all these massive homes??? Who cleans them???
* Traffic, traffic and more traffic.
* Lots of memories here...high school, post-college, meeting/dating Jeff, our first 3 years of marriage, first year of Cambria's life...
* It's great to be with family.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Retro Home Group
We were a part of the same home group for 2 of our 3 years in Maple Valley. These people loved us and our kids like family, and we are so grateful for the time God gave us with them. Here are two pics from our last get-together, minus one family.
Welcome back
Here is a welcome back message from Jeff's sister. She wrote it on the Lee parents' driveway in New Hampshire. Good thing they have a long driveway.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thoughts on New Jersey
Update on our life. We flew out of Seattle on Wednesday, August 11th and landed in Boston Logan later that day. We were met there by Jeff's dad, sister and bro-in-law. We had a wonderful week with Jeff's parents, his older sister's family and younger sister in New Hampshire. We went to Canobie Lake Amusement Park (our 4th year in a row), The Big One (ice cream), Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse, The Christmas Tree Shop, Alec's Shoes, ate lots of Chinese food and visited the Atlantic Ocean. The girls loved every minute, and I have to say, it was a great relief when we said goodbye today knowing that we would no longer be separated by 2700+ miles.
Jeff, the girls and myself began driving Jeff's parents' Odyssey from New Hampshire to Virginia. Today we drove from NH to the Princeton, NJ area. We lived in Princeton for 3 years while Jeff was in seminary, so it was fun to return to a few old haunts. Here are some thoughts on our drive through NYC and New Jersey itself. Do not judge my grammar or writing style since I'm tired and my thoughts are quite muddled.
NYC - First thoughts, I want to live in NJ again so we can go into NYC more often again. Maybe God will have that in our future someday. No traffic getting to the GW Bridge which caused Jeff and I to get cocky and decide to drive to the Lincoln Tunnel. We so badly wanted to see more of NYC since we hadn't been there in 3 years. The drive into Midtown went well until we got right around the tunnel and hit traffic. The kids were melting down and Jeff and I started laughing at how crazy we were to drive into town on a weeknight. However, we made it through. I passed back some small packs of M&Ms to the girls and they were MUCH happier. And, we picked up 2 hot pretzels at a vendor just as we were entering the tunnel. Yum! On our way out of the tunnel the girls were able to see the Empire State Building -- a great thrill to them.
NJ - We stopped at a NJ Turnpike rest stop for a bathroom break. My thought was, "this parking lot is disgusting to walk through." There was gum melted on the concrete, sticky drinks spilled everywhere, the glass doors were covered in fingerprints, which made me cringe everytime the girls touched anything inside (and, I'm not a germaphobe)...it was just a mess, especially in comparison to the Massachusetts rest stop we visited earlier in the day. The Turnpike. Enough said.
Accents - man, I have been away from here for a while because I'm having a difficult time getting used to the Jersey/NY accents again. When we were in New England, I felt like I was in a foreign land. My accent definitely said, "outsider" to the New England natives.
Princeton - So many memories have flooded back to me as we drove around Princeton. We moved here with one child, age 1. We left here with two children, ages 4 and 21 months. Now, we have four children, ages 7 years - 7 months. Life goes so quickly.
Princeton HAS A TRADER JOES!!!! It's right by Lowes. I want to move back. Princeton has everything -- okay, almost everything. They don't have Costco. :-)
We drove briefly through CRW and saw the PTS apartments on Loetscher that are about to be demolished. The Zirschky's building, the Castleman's building, the Miller's first building, the Rigoulet's and Lind's building -- all about to be gone. On the one hand I'm very happy -- the buildings were so old and beyond repair. On the other hand, the buildings are full of memories...my memories of CRW. This will probably be our last time to see our building on Emmons Drive still standing. Our kids will not be able to return to Emmons Drive in years to come and see their old apartment. That makes me very sentimental and a little sad.
Overall, it has been a great, brief return to Jersey. I really am amazed how much I love this state.
Jeff, the girls and myself began driving Jeff's parents' Odyssey from New Hampshire to Virginia. Today we drove from NH to the Princeton, NJ area. We lived in Princeton for 3 years while Jeff was in seminary, so it was fun to return to a few old haunts. Here are some thoughts on our drive through NYC and New Jersey itself. Do not judge my grammar or writing style since I'm tired and my thoughts are quite muddled.
NYC - First thoughts, I want to live in NJ again so we can go into NYC more often again. Maybe God will have that in our future someday. No traffic getting to the GW Bridge which caused Jeff and I to get cocky and decide to drive to the Lincoln Tunnel. We so badly wanted to see more of NYC since we hadn't been there in 3 years. The drive into Midtown went well until we got right around the tunnel and hit traffic. The kids were melting down and Jeff and I started laughing at how crazy we were to drive into town on a weeknight. However, we made it through. I passed back some small packs of M&Ms to the girls and they were MUCH happier. And, we picked up 2 hot pretzels at a vendor just as we were entering the tunnel. Yum! On our way out of the tunnel the girls were able to see the Empire State Building -- a great thrill to them.
NJ - We stopped at a NJ Turnpike rest stop for a bathroom break. My thought was, "this parking lot is disgusting to walk through." There was gum melted on the concrete, sticky drinks spilled everywhere, the glass doors were covered in fingerprints, which made me cringe everytime the girls touched anything inside (and, I'm not a germaphobe)...it was just a mess, especially in comparison to the Massachusetts rest stop we visited earlier in the day. The Turnpike. Enough said.
Accents - man, I have been away from here for a while because I'm having a difficult time getting used to the Jersey/NY accents again. When we were in New England, I felt like I was in a foreign land. My accent definitely said, "outsider" to the New England natives.
Princeton - So many memories have flooded back to me as we drove around Princeton. We moved here with one child, age 1. We left here with two children, ages 4 and 21 months. Now, we have four children, ages 7 years - 7 months. Life goes so quickly.
Princeton HAS A TRADER JOES!!!! It's right by Lowes. I want to move back. Princeton has everything -- okay, almost everything. They don't have Costco. :-)
We drove briefly through CRW and saw the PTS apartments on Loetscher that are about to be demolished. The Zirschky's building, the Castleman's building, the Miller's first building, the Rigoulet's and Lind's building -- all about to be gone. On the one hand I'm very happy -- the buildings were so old and beyond repair. On the other hand, the buildings are full of memories...my memories of CRW. This will probably be our last time to see our building on Emmons Drive still standing. Our kids will not be able to return to Emmons Drive in years to come and see their old apartment. That makes me very sentimental and a little sad.
Overall, it has been a great, brief return to Jersey. I really am amazed how much I love this state.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Pictures
Less than a week before we move from the Seattle area. We are madly packing and trying to do some last minute fun outings. Here are some pictures.
A fun day at Green Lake with good friends:
Me and Tisa
A fun day at Green Lake with good friends:
Me and Tisa
Jeff & Nate
Five of the kids on their bikes.
The two littles ones in the stroller.
Avery on the playground.
Carys hanging (she got up there herself).
Eliana sitting up at 7 months.
Avery on her bike. She looks so old to me.
A favorite -- the merry go round.Cambria feeding Eliana:
A goodbye party hosted by our dear friend Joe and Carla:
A surprise gift for Jeff. :-) No more Mr. Coffee or Folgers.Performing Arts Camp at MVPC:
Cambria's starfish outfit.
Cambria and her best friend.A morning at West Seattle (Alki):
My friend Cambria, whom I've known for 20 years!!! Yikes, I just realized that.
Shon and Jeff with the kids on the beach.Eliana in her exersaucer at 7 months old:
