Happy Thanksgiving!

Once a year on Thanksgiving Day, we have the unabashed opportunity to stand on cars and yell out the things we’re thankful for.  Or, if you’re old fashioned, just say them at dinner. 
Or if you live in 2011, blog about them. So here are my top 3 this year:
Family. Thanksgiving always brings me back to memories from childhood of late night road trips to Rochester, NY, Christmas on Black Friday, hanging out in matching pajamas with all of my cousins, and Ferbies. Now we meet up for weddings and celebrate births, not quite the same, but just as good
Boston. Where, even though I have to work on the holiday, I have a brother that spends his vacation relaxing with me, and an adopted family that has embraced me and allows me to celebrate with them even though I bring nothing with me and show up late
Pilgrims.  Cheers to the adventurous types. Never mind the scurvy and instant death waiting behind every cluster of trees, these men and women boldly wore obnoxious hats and stood outside Plymouth with “Occupy New World” signs.


No matter what we are thankful for, in the end, we can all just be thankful that we’re not turkeys!

Snowtober!

I returned from Scotland to snow in October! This was a little too early for snow, even for me!

Scotland!

ah, how rejuvenating a vacation can be! With long walks, nice cafes, amazing tours, beautiful castles, and a wonderful friend, Scotland offered a great getaway. 

Such a wonderful trip made it very difficult to return to work and snow in October!

and I will travel

I'm off again!

The latest adventure takes place in Scotland visiting a dear friend from Japan days. Over the years we have had quite the adventures together all over the world!

I can simply not wait to see her and the Scottish lands :)

when I return to Boston I will prepare for several visitors to come through and cannot wait to catch up with college friends! It's going to be a busy fall!!

better late than never, right?!

Weddings are a great time to celebrate the bride and groom and we were lucky enough to have a mini-family reunion too!

I was able to see my grandma after way too long,

I was able to meet one of the newest additions to the family- Annika Claire!

I was able to spend time with aunts and uncles and cousins- it was a great weekend!

Welcome to the family Jeff! Congratulations Kelly!

My musical influence

Having moved to Japan at 13 years old and coming back to the United States at 16 meant that I missed a lot of the current music. To this day people still are amazed that I haven't heard of some the big songs/artists of those years. This is what I was influenced by (and sang every time I went to karaoke) as a teenager:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwacTv-6DK4

the scariest part is that I still remember a lot of the words! yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

Haiti... but not quite yet

I've been delayed an extra day in going to Haiti. My flight was cancelled and they told me at 10pm the night before my 7am flight, I'm now booked on a new flight tomorrow. So, instead of unpacking, i'm just lounging around enjoying some time to sleep, relax, and gear up for the next two weeks!! Haiti, I'm on my way... just a little later than planned