Things have been incredibly intense lately! This past weekend we teamed up with Caleb and Jamie (Josh's brother and wife) to hold a yard sale. It was tons of fun. I loved going through all of my closets and choosing which things we could do without. It is amazing how easily things get cluttered up (I'm still wondering why I had over 15 flower vases).
We also have shown the home to several people and have found a renter for our house. The deposit has been made to the moving company and we are sorting which things are going into the storage unit and what items will be with us in the apartment.
It is all so exciting, chaotic, and FUN! I have lots of stories to tell...
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Writing about the "City on a Hill" brought back memories of adventures in the city last month:
When we were in Boston for Josh's interviews, we happened to be there at the same time as the traditional Boston Marathon. Everyone in Boston considers this to be the "best day of the year" and the city was alive with enthusiasm. Marathon Monday is held annually and it is treated like a holiday. Spring has finally arrived in frigid New England and most Bostonians take the day off.
Over 20,000 people register for this event!
So when Marathon Monday 2011 rolled around, me and mom wanted to check it all out. We had to make a quick stop by Whole Foods before we headed to the Boston Commons to see if we could witness any of the crazies in action.
The short path between Whole Foods and the Boston Commons is through the lovely Beacon Hill neighborhood. I thought this would be a fantastic stroll since the neighborhood is famous for being quaint and full of history. I felt like I was living a dream - walking from my favorite shopping place to a beautiful park in the middle of a historic city. How fun.
Well it wasn't fun. Not really. The neighborhood is named "Beacon Hill" for a reason. The street we decided to take was called "Joy Street" (ironically) and it was a steep uphill climb almost the entire way. Sure there were adorable brownstones with picturesque window boxes, but there were also narrow paths, bumpy brick side walks, and... steep hills to climb.
So I attempted to push Addison's stroller up Joy Street wondering if I would die of exhaustion before I made it to the end. I ended up stopping to take several breaks since I was so out of breath and found myself remembering the gym membership I pay for but never use. Meanwhile, marathon runners were cruising around me - draped in their mylar blankets with huge smiles on their faces. I considered turning to one of the smiley runners and asking them if they would mind taking a turn with the stroller so we could make it the last two-tenths of a mile to the Commons.
Marathon runners in their space blankets.
Although I am sure they would have obliged, I decided to keep quiet and kept going on my own. The Commons were beautiful and it was great to see so many people who could now proudly put the "26.2" bumper sticker on their car. It was extra cool to think that maybe next year we would be living in Boston during this exciting event. I will have to start looking now for a place to sit so we can cheer on the runners in April of 2012.
I've been wanting to write to explain how I decided on a name for this blog . It was important to me that I come up with something personal and meaningful - especially since this experience is such a huge change for us. Plus, who wants a boring name for a blog? Isn't what you decide to name your blog one of the most important decisions you will ever make? That's a lot of pressure.
Since I also wanted something creative, I thought I would try to play off a nickname of Boston. I have heard of Boston referred to as "Beantown" so I spent some time trying to think of things that could work with that: "Beantown Baby?" "Going to Beantown?" "Beantown...something..." When none of those ideas were working, I decided to do some research on other nicknames for Boston (and yes, when I say research, I mean "googling" it - but calling it "research" makes it sound so much more important).
I soon learned that the nickname "City on a Hill" is also used for Boston. Although this nickname is probably the least popular and least used of them all, it is the one with the most historical significance. Boston was called the City on a Hill by John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When he journeyed to Massachusetts in 1630, he challenged the Puritans to "choose life" and to stay strong in their commitment to the Lord. He reminded them that the eyes of the world would be watching.
"For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world."
(excerpt from http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/sacred/charity.html)
This part of Boston's history really spoke to me and I knew this was the nickname I wanted to use. I then discovered that two presidents have made John Winthrop's "City on a Hill" sermon famous: JFK and Reagan. These just happen to be my two favorite presidents to study and I was incredibly impressed with the irony.
What Boston may have looked like in 1630 Trimount in 1630. By S.L. Gerry, James Burt, 1836
So we are going to journey up to the City on a Hill. It will be challenging we know, but we are super excited about this calling and look forward to all the adventures along the way. Maybe when Addison is older, we will be able to tell her crazy stories about the time we climbed to Boston (uphill...both ways...in the snow).
We are super excited to learn that Digital Lumens has officially announced their expansion into Europe! The company continues to grow at a tremendously fast pace and it is incredible to watch the process unfold. This will mean quite a bit of international travel for Josh...and I just might be forced to join him every once in a while.
If you know anything about Addison and the past ten months of our lives, you know that it has been anything but easy. Both me and Addison have faced a lot of health problems and every day has been a challenge. She has really bad reflux (at times spitting up more than 30 times per day) and we have also had to work through some pretty severe torticollis. This has kept her from sleeping regularly and she is often fussy and screaming throughout the day.
BUT we have had a lot of success lately with some new supplements from the doctor. She has been taking naps more regularly and is catching up on some of her baby milestones. She even started crawling this past week!
Yay for crawling!! Or so I thought...
My beautiful-but-acts-like-she-is-on-caffeine baby girl learned how to crawl and it is the only thing she wants to do in her crib during nap time.
So I let her. She is now fussing, crying, screaming, and crawling her way to a nap.
Monday was especially exciting because Addison refused to go to sleep for hours. When she did finally get quiet, I went in to check on her and found a sleeping baby in a hunched over position. I think she fell asleep sitting up and kind of toppled forward...
She did the same thing in the afternoon - except this time she only fell asleep for 15 minutes and then woke up screaming in pain. I rushed to her room and found her sitting up in the crib (still half asleep) with weird marks on her face. It looked as if she had leaned her head against the crib railing/bumpers and had fallen asleep that way.
Hmmmm so much for nap time so that I can get things organized for our move. This will be very interesting...
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Over the weekend we got a surprise package from Digital Lumens! They sent a welcome basket full of treats from New England with a card that says "welcome to the team." How sweet is that?
There are crackers, candies, and jams...
And Boston Red Sox Peanuts!
...and a Yankee Candle air freshener! I did not realize Yankee Candle was headquartered in Massachusetts. When I saw the word "Yankee," I also realized that this southern girl is going to be living in the North. But that's a whole nother post for a whole nother time (Go Wolfpack).
As I mentioned in my previous post, we are moving to Boston because Josh has been given a great opportunity to join the Digital Lumens team. DL is a rapidly growing company that specializes in intelligent industrial lighting.
Here is the website for the company:
And this Youtube video lets you see the light in action:
For those who don't understand the website or Youtube video, let me translate a little bit:
Basically, they are a bunch of really smart people who understand some really smart things. When we went for a visit, Josh started drooling over the glass enclosed lab they have set up in the middle of the room. I could look into his eyes and tell that this little light thing must be pretty cool. Digital Lumens is like a bunch of Josh's running around collaborating and coming up with new ways to save the world.
But along with being incredibly intelligent, they are also very creative and in touch with modern ideas and forms of communication. They use Youtube and Twitter for advertising and have "idea paint" up on their walls (paint that turns the wall into a dry erase board). That way, if one of their super-charged-computer-like brains gets an idea, they can immediately turn to their left or right and jot down the new equation that just popped in their head. I am pretty sure I also saw instructions for making coffee written on the kitchen wall.
If that wasn't enough, they are also generous, witty and genuinely nice people. When I made the mistake of commenting about the technology of one of their little light things, they looked me straight in the eye and replied "don't worry Michelle, we aren't hiring you based on your ability to understand the technology." Ouch. (But if was all in good fun - with a hint of perfect comedic timing thrown into the mix).
And the fact that they advertise their company with the following Youtube video kind of says it all...
I’m Michelle. I like school – always have. So I grew up and became a teacher and college professor (of History). I am sure I will go back to school one day, but right now I am busy teaching my beautiful daughter how to be a baby. I love theater and being dramatic. My husband is the man of my dreams and I am so grateful to be learning about life while next to him.
