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

A Good Reminder

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." (Matthew 6:34, Message)

Springtime!

Boston is slowly warming up and the days are getting longer.

Yesterday alone brought a bunch of spring activities. It was opening day for the Red Sox. Despite how they played against Cleveland- the Yankees will always be the big rival and to beat them on opening day brought a buzz to the city that reminds me why we call baseball the American passtime.

(me and my old roommates at Red Sox/ Yankees game in 2009)

Northeastern's Kappa chapter had their formal- which brought interesting twists attending as a chaperone and definitely made me feel a little old!

Chaperoning also made me remember Kappa at Valpo- and all of those kappa dances I used to attend! ah the good ol' days! I missed having a corridor of dresses to borrow, someone to help with my hair, bus rides, singing and screaming the whole way there... but it was fun to be on the other side, help coordinate the evening, be an encouragement to the current actives, and still get to dance the night away!

Sunshine Family at formal in 2008. Me with my advisees in 2011!

Ah springtime... next weekend is the marathon, then Easter, then wedding season begins and I'll be heading to MN to celebrate!

For now though, I'm off to celebrate the beginning of warmer weather on a rooftop with good friends and the sounds of baseball reverberating from Fenway

Ultimate April Fools

Apparently this weather phenomenon is common in Boston, but I don't remember the last time there was snow in April!

I think this must be why so many New Englanders (is that what they are called?) talk about moving away so often. (I just tried to look it up, still not sure what to call people from New England)

so from snowy New England, Happy Spring!?

Goodbye to my dear roommate

I am losing a good friend and roommate of three years because Laura is moving to CHINA!!

I'm so excited for her to be going to Asia and I'm so proud of her for making such a big change.

We have had so much fun together, I have been blessed to have her listen to me when I'm sad, deal with me when I worked night shift and was crazy, to have her introduce me to Maine and lobsters, and so much more. It will be hard to see her go, but I know that I have a friend forever!

Bon Voyage to my wonderful Laura!

Here are a couple pictures from our three years together in Boston

1. Our first apartment in Harvard Square2. Hartwell Tavern. Our first excursion to Lexington and Concord

3. Yankees / Red Sox Game :)

4. Boston from the North End

5. Our new apartment in downtown Boston!

Happy New Year!

HELLO 2011!!

The Killmer family got to enjoy a reunion in Montana this year! My immediate family had not been all together since a brief weekend in May for Kristin's graduation so it was nice to start off the year all together, and this year not only were my parents back from Japan and my siblings both there, but my aunt and uncle graciously hosted us in their home and my grandma was able to make the journey. So much to be thankful for already this year :)

The whole family was able to enjoy a day in Yellowstone National Park with geysers, animals, rivers and more! It was fabulous.

Then we headed over to Big Sky Ski Resort and had an amazing 3 days of skiing!

All of the fun of being together made it hard to head back to Boston and work, but what a great trip with the whole family! I can't wait til the next Killmer adventure