New Blog!

Chris and I are adopting!! We are so excited and wanted to come up with a way to keep you all updated as we go through the process! So I will be swithcing gears and have created another blog, more focused on our adoption journey. It is still in the early stages but I hope to get it up and running better soon and post regularly.

This particular blog "Never a Dull Moment" will probably not have much activity going forward but I want to invite you to come over to my new blog and check out our adoption updates. And don't forget to say "hi" so I know you visited!

Hope to see you there! Click here to see our new adoption journey blog

Bringing in New Year's in Canada!

Check out the awesome Rock band!

Twenty bucks to the first one who can pick Andrew out

Canadians and Americans...unite! Oh wait, we always have....

Chris, myself, and both girls left for Canada the day before New Year's Eve. We left Connecticut just after noon and got to Windsor, ON (just north of Detroit) around 11:30 PM, where Chris's aunt, uncle, and three cousins live. Chris's grandparents were also there visiting from Christmas. We would have been there even sooner but got hung up at the border for an hour! But the girls were great in the car and we just had a great trip and enjoyed each others company.

The next day a bunch of us went to eat at Swiss Chalet. This was my one request this trip because in the six years Chris and I have been together and the many trips we have taken to Canada, I had yet to eat there! And Swiss Chalet is the epitome of "Canadian culture". It was sooo good! Sort of like a Boston Market, only way better! As dipped the juicy chicken into Swiss Chalet's signature dipping sauce, there was a moment I thought I might have died and gone to Canadian heaven!

After our awesome lunch, we took a bunch of the kids to see Marley & Me. If you don't already know what the movie is about then you must be living under a rock! Just kidding! It must just mean that you don't have kids! At any rate, it was really cute, though more geared toward the adult population than kids. It didn't quite keep Allison's attention. But the rest of us enjoyed it and Gaelyn and I even shared some Kleenex at the end!

Afterward, we headed back to Chuck and Gaelyn's, where Kevin & Karianne (Chris's brother and his wife) and my in-laws and Chris's other brother arrived. The rest of the evening and following day was spent eating (including AMAZING sushi!), playing games, playing Guitar Hero for HOURS on end (I won't mention any names-you all know who you are!), and just relaxing! We had an absolute blast! Oh and adding to the "playing games" bit, we played a Canadian version of electronic Monopoly (no, I'm not kidding! It DOES exist!) which by the way, I took pleasure in whooping some Canadian butt at their own game! HA!

Friday afternoon ALL of us headed about an hour away to a really cool hotel in Alliston, ON (also where Chris's other aunt, uncle, and three cousins live). We swam in the indoor pool with the HUGE slide and played some indoor mini-golf. More fun, hanging out!

The next morning we headed to Toronto to go the the Uconn International Bowl versus Buffalo. Many went to check out the CN Tower. I passed as I am not a huge fan of being 100 miles up in the air while standing on a glass floor. The girls and Chris loved it though. After, we headed to the INDOOR football game (is there ANY other way to go to a football game in Canada, in January??) We had PERFECT seats and got to watch Andrew (my bro-in-law) in the marching band. What a GREAT game!! SOO much fun! And as a huge added bonus, Uconn won! After the game we all went to eat at a really nice buffet place with a total count of 28 people!

Later we went to the family in Alliston's house and visited, just sharing stories and laughter and then headed back to the hotel. The next morning we snuck in a quick swim and then off we went, headed back to Connecticut.

It was such a great way to bring in the new year. There is no better way to bring in a New Year then with those you love! I absolutely adore my husband's family, immediate and extended, and each year I grow to love them more. I am incredibly blessed to be part of such a wonderful, generous, and loving family! Happy New Year to all!

Friday Five...posted LATE!!

My top five favorite things about Christmas:

1. Without a doubt it's our Christmas Eve candle light service at church. It is always the most beautiful service of the year. It is a very special evening that sets the tone for Christmas to come and is a precious reminder of the TRUE meaning of Christmas. I could cry just thinking about it. But I won't...I'll save it for the candle light service!

2. Waking up Christmas morning and giving my precious girls and hubby big squeezes and wispering in their ears "Merry Christmas, baby." Then snuggling with them all morning in PJ's while sipping my coffee.

3. Stockings! I LOVE the treasures that stockings hold. A new stick of deoderant, a smelly candle, chocolates, chapstick....

4. Christmas evening. The presents have all been opened. Dinner is sitting comfortably in my belly. And now it is time to sit by the fire, eat dessert and Christmas cookies, and break out the games!

5. The Christmas sounds on the radio and Christmas decorations! I wish I could keep up my Christmas decorations all year long. But then, they wouldn't be as special, so back in their boxes they go for 11 months out of the year!

What are your VERY favorite things about Christmas?

I'm a criminal!

This past Wednesday, I needed to go over to our Walnut Street house in preperation for our up coming closing the following Friday. I just wanted to sweep up and maybe wipe things down to make the house a little more move-in ready for the new owners.

I didn't have my key with me so before Chris left for work that morning he said "Just climb through the back window" I had seen him do this a million times and it was a very low window so no biggie, right? So I get there and climb through the window, just as instructed and get to work sweeping up. Well, about 5 minutes later, I was greeted to THREE cop cars in front of the house! Oh crap! I went outside to greet my cop visitors.

The cop says "Do you live here? Did you by chance just climb through a window?"

Very sheepishly I reply "It's my house. I forgot my key! I'm sorry!" (Don't take me to jail!)

I can't believe a neighbor called the cops on me! Don't they still recognize me? I mean, I lived there for over three years and have only been gone for a few months! Not only that, but my MINIVAN was parked in the driveway, I was wearing my BRIGHT PINK L.L. Bean jacket, AND I also pulled Allison through the window too! When she saw me going through the window she just HAD to come in that way too! Does that sound like a profile of a dangerous criminal to you?? Any WHY do I look more like a criminal than my husband? HA!

And hold on, let's say I WAS breaking into the house, didn't it occur to Mr. Noisy Neighbor that maybe I was a homeless single mother of a young child seeking shelter from the frigid air?? Have a heart people!

Hilarious joke you played on me, honey!

Merry Chirstmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Friday Five

I think I'll try something a little new. I'm hoping it helps me be better about posting, since I tend to be so sporadic about it. So I'll try to do a "Friday Five", with topics varying.

Five reasons I think it would be cool to be one of Santa's elves:

5. Being a tall person, I always wished I was shorter. (women! Never happy with what we have!)

4. Get to make toys all day? Sweet!

3. I love their cool little elf voices.

2. I'd totally get to hang out with Santa! He's fascinating and a little frightening all at the same time..

And the number 1 reason I think it would be cool to be an elf: They require little to no sleep (at least according to the movie "Elf" with Will Ferrell) Imagine the possibilities!

Race for the Cure

(Click on the picture if its too small to read)

Okay this is really, really funny.

Juliet came home with this in-school assignment that she did sometime last month around the elections. I read through it once. Then I read through it twice to make sure I had read it correctly. Then I laughed so hard I cried. I showed it to Chris and said "who does this sound like?" It sounds exactly like something Michael Scott (from the show The Office)would say! And then I realized that we let Juliet watch the episode of The Office (we have every season on DVD- yeah, we're a little obsessed) where Michael holds a "Race for the cure: Rabies Awareness Fun Run" Oh...my...goodness - we were ROLLING on the floor laughing!

For those of you who don't watch The Office (please tell me this is not the case!) or for those of you who missed the Race for the cure episode, here is a short little recap on the episode that is totally worth checking out!

Just to clear it up - we couldn't resist - we asked Juliet about it once we composed ourselves and she confirmed our suspicions!

The Shelter

Recently God placed it on my heart to do a little "outreach" ministry of my own. Because of the nature of my job and the unwritten rule of off limit topics to discuss with clients - religion and politics - I don't often get the opportunity to share my faith at work. I started to wonder how I could use my love of hairdressing and incorporate that in sharing my faith....God led me to a domestic violence shelter for women in Hartford and every other week I plan on going in and giving haircuts and blow dries to whoever needs one.

Last night was my first night and it was such a great experience. As I prayed for the holy spirit to guide my actions and words that night, I felt so comfortable as I stepped into the house even though it was fairly chaotic. I made up little gift bags for the ladies filled with a little O.P.I. lotion, "test-a-mints", a track, and a card with my churches hours of services on it. The ladies there were so, so kind and incredibly grateful. I didn't press them to open up but hope as I get to know them they will feel comfortable with sharing their hardships with me. In turn I hope I can share with them the hope they can find in Jesus.

One women did share a little of her story - she had been in the shelter for two months and came in when she was 8 months pregnant. Her boyfriend was mostly emotionally and verbally abusive but had struck her a couple times even while she was pregnant. So one day while he was at work she packed up her five year old daughter and snuck out to the shelter with only the clothes on their back. She said "I didn't want my daughter growing up thinking it was okay to be treated like that." Wow. What amazing courage. And what a truly amazing women she was. Her baby is now 6 weeks old and is so sweet. She will work on rebuilding a new life for herself and her daughters but with courage like that I know she will make it.

"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred,
let me sow love; when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life."

We sold our house!

Good-bye Walnut St. house! I'm actully going to miss you!



Looks like we are finally going to sell our house! We are so thrilled! Our house has been on the market since June and we've had very little activity on it because of this really tough market. But last Tuesday we got a very good offer and accepted! The home inspection was this past Tuesday and there were only a couple of very minor issues. Not bad for a house build in 1870! If all goes well we should close on December 19th. The timing is perfect because our renters (my bro and sis-in-law) close on there house December 8th. So we have a couple weeks to get the rest of our stuff out and clean up. And we don't have to think about snow removal for the winter at that house! Isn't it amazing how God even takes care of the little details? He is so good!