Thankful

We have so much to be thankful for this year. A full year in Boston together; living so close to our jobs and school and not needing a car; favor in our jobs; a great church and small group; fun friends near and far; good health; families that love Jesus - even this gerbera daisy plant that Tim gave me in May that I think I've killed 3 times at least, and just decided to bloom fully this week!

We decided to host Thanksgiving in Boston this year for friends who had no place to go and to celebrate Dinah's joining us in New England for a year! We ate and drank and were merry with games and conversation and warmth (literally, it was about 500 degrees in the apartment).

Dinah, Shiela, Tim, Paul, Amy, Kathryn, Abby

We drank water with cranberry ice cubes and made a pumpkin pie all from scratch.

We also contributed a smaller turkey than the last time,when we hosted the Isaacson's in Tacoma. It still needed more time but was good in the end.Everyone else brought a great spread!

Before we had the meal we headed to the Gobble Gobble Gobble 4 mi Turkey Trot. Kathryn and I raced it and placed 460th and 560th, respectively (with about a minute difference). I decorated my Boston AIDS run t-shirt with a turkey on the front and rear - Love, Hope, Courage, Gobble Gobble! I also tripped a guy in the first minute - out of my way old man! jk. I'm not an expert racer at all - there are a river of people to navigate through! Tim and Dinah cheered us on.
Then Kathryn invited us to this awesome cabin in the Dartmouth woods (New Hampshire) for Friday night. Her friend Greg was already there, and the five us did a repeat of Thursday: food, drinks, games, sleep. It was very relaxing and fun to get away.

There was a cool huge loft above.

The wood burning stove kept us nice and toasty and it rained the entire time (where is the SNOW this late November up north??).

We hiked anyway to the brook, which had some really cool natural deep pools to swim in if it had been warmer!

We pulled and boiled water from the well - Dinah was a bit disgusted at first:)

And we used the outhouse. This was after one of the boys finished.
(Just kidding, we had to put some of the embers outside and pour water on them before we left, so we chose the rock and dirt-lined pit in the outhouse).

We passed through North Woodstock on the way home.

Another adventure to be thankful for! God continues to bless us and we praise Him for His goodness, faithfulness and provision. Thanks for being a part of our lives!

birthday update

Wow, thanks for all the birthday love (especially from my superman husband)!

I started celebrating early on Saturday by finally making this raspberry buttermilk cake Steph (look!) sent to me from a new favorite website, Smitten Kitchen. Preeeeettty.

Didn't taste too bad either.

Then after a long year's wait to try a pub that was recommended at my LAST birthday party for its fat pretzels and beer cheese, I gathered friends at Deep Ellum for a Sunday night celebration.

I quite enjoyed the random mix of fun fellowship (and my milk chocolate stout). And what a cool Swiss winter hat, straight from Geneva from Steve and Seoyeon! Good pick guys!

Now all we need is SNOW!

U.N. Annouces 2009 Woman of the Year

VIENNA, AU - In a brilliant move, demonstrating a renewed international consensus on the true nature of womanhood, the UN announced that Abigail O. Isaacson would be named the 2009 Woman of the Year. While shocking to some, this relatively unknown woman is being heralded as one of the finest examples of intelligence, compassion, beauty and decisive action.

Tim and Abigail Isaacson greeted by officials from the U.N.

Abigail will soon complete her Master's Degree of Public Health at Boston University Medical Campus. She had already demonstrated promise in her undergraduate work on Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound, and her work serving those affected by HIV/AIDS in Tacoma, WA. Many in public health are eager to see how she will dynamically impact this field. Her work on nutrion and infectous disease is hailed as "exemplary". Head researchers are even rumored to be working a potential clone of her to increase her overall impact.

News of her victory reached her on her birthday in Boston. She accepted humbly, and said very little when greeted by officials from the UN. Her grateful silence demonstrated a poised elegance, a confident beauty. All that could be asked for from the 2009 Woman of the Year.

President Obama comforts his wife after the announcement.

President Obama commented that he had orginally hoped his wife Michelle would take home the award, "After all, it would have looked great next to my Nobel Peace Prize." He agreed that Ms. Isaacson was very deserving. He sent his congratulations and encouraged women around the globe to follow her example. "Here is true heroism - her daily service, her moment by moment decisions to positively impact those around her. This is what America needs. Not flashy superstars. Compassionate, hardworking people that are aware of their own neighborhoods."

Husband Tim Isaacson fumbled for words when asked for a comment. "I mean, yeah - she's the best. My best friend, the most beautiful woman I know. Woah. She deserves it. Booyah."

Husband Tim Isaacson is tickled with the news. "She's the best. She deserves it."

A small reception will be held for Abigail O. Isaacson at Deep Ellum, in Boston, MA. The event is sure to attract the best of Boston.

(Eortologio)

I guess yesterday was our landlord Maria's Name Day. I came in to get the mail today and after a minute she handed me this plate of a giant carrot cake and said essentially, Happy Name Day to Me Yesterday! Yikes, that flower is pure hot pink sugarness.
In Greece and Crete it's a custom to specially celebrate your (holy) name day instead of your birthday. According to the Orthodox Church, every day of the year has been dedicated to the memory of a Saint or a martyr from the Holy Bible and Holy Tradition. This day carries the name of the Saint and it's called "nameday." If someone is named after a Saint, then there is a big celebration on his/her name day. In Greece, namedays are usually more important than birthdays. Gifts are given, festive meals and desserts are prepared, and special preparations are made for an open house.

I'm not sure if she was celebrating Maria, which isn't her real name, or Zafiroula, which doesn't sound like a saint to me, or something else. But hey, carrot cake isn't bad. Happy Name Day to Maria!

stripes

Tim and I were separated for Halloween so our plan to dress as John and Abigail Adams kind of died. Instead we randomly both picked something quick and easy that involved stripes - red duct tape for him, and a yellow crayola marker for me (plus Joanie's nifty knitted hat). Presenting, Waldo and "A-bee."

Getting the shirt on and off wasn't as easy as it looks. I think Tim could fit his whole body through a tennis racquet frame like those contortionists do.

My wings were made from hangers and garbage bags. Only one kid commented, asking "are you a butterfly??" Come ON, kid.

and Jack, our pumpkin. We carved him before realizing we had no candles or tealights for a couple of days. Finally when I brought one home and lifted the top to put it in, about 30 fruit flies flew out. SICK. But a good trap for them, so the next day they did the same thing and then we quickly threw a garbage bag over the top and threw it away. We haven't seen any since!

I followed some of our international friends and their kids around for trick-or-treating and was pretty impressed. Tomas was an Icelandic superhero and was sooooo excited about the candy. He danced from apt to apt and went backwards to get more. He would bring other kids to the ones they missed.

His dad Gunnar is a Dr. at BMC and our friend Olof is my running partner (when we go!).

The french girls, Luisa, Mathilde, and Adele. They were very sweeeeet (haha) and sugared up!The coolest house had wine for adults and carved awesome pumpkin-scenes like these.
This one's plastic pipe was connected to the top of the stair railing and candy came sliding down out of it.

Overall a very fun event, and extremely mild (it was 70 during the day). A great night to be out collecting chocolate if you ask me! Unfortunately it was only for the kids so when I wanted some I had to ask them.

Onto November.