happy birthday, carter!

I absolutely must wish Mr. Carter a happy and fun-filled 3rd birthday today!

We are so sad that we're going to miss this celebration. Ruby could hardly wait to call him and wish him a happy birthday. Of course then once they were on the phone with each other they didn't really say much. Still, it was nice to catch up a bit with our good friends.

They may be back in the states this summer! So, maybe we'll be able to get together at some point. We'll see!

Just to throw this in the ring... Ruby has been consistantly praying for Carter, Claire, and Danny, AND the itty bitty bitty baby. Maybe she knows something we don't!

beantown

Inquiring minds want to know...

WHY is Boston called "Beantown"?

Back in colonial days, a favorite Boston food was beans baked in molasses for several hours. Back then, Boston was sort of awash in molasses - it was part of the "triangular trade" in which slaves in the Caribbean grew sugar cane to be shipped to Boston to be made into rum to be sent to West Africa to buy more slaves to send to the West Indies. Even after the end of this practice, Boston continued as big rum producing city - the Great Molasses Flood of 1919 (which killed 21), ocurred when a tank holding molasses for rum production exploded.

Today, Boston baked beans are something of a rarity - there are no companies in the city making it and only a few restaurants serve it. If you want to try it yourself, here's a Boston baked beans recipe.

(Thanks to The Boston FAQ for supplying that thoroughly interesting answer!)

melrose 02176

So, for those who have been waiting anxiously by their computers to learn of our fates... I am happy to announce that once again, God won! We (read: I) were just about at our wits end leaving Denmark without a job or a future laid out for us. Once again, God is awesome. While we were in the air over the Atlantic, Jared received not one but two serious inquiries, both of which turned into job offers. One was located out in Montana, which appealed to us SOOOO much, but wouldn't have been much of a career builder for Jared. The other was out here in Boston, MA. So, before Christmas we had a job offer with an awesome benefits package and moving expenses in our hot little hands. Let's just say it was a pretty wonderful gift for our family.

All in all, we spent about a month in Michigan unpacking, enjoying the holidays and family, then repacking to move on to the new adventure. We had some awesome times with everyone and we were all really sad to leave. I think that Nana and Bobo are pretty anxious to hop a plane out here to see Ruby and Max--they got a wee bit attached!

The trip here was much better than we ever dreamed it could be with two little ones and four days in the car. We got to see Anne and Ken, as well as my littlest sister, Christina and her hubby, Derek. Last, but not least, we stopped over at Heidi's place. Our new old car (1996 Suburu Outback) did make the trip, but is in need of some TLC on this end...

Once here we had a somewhat tough time finding a place to live that wasn't way too expensive without being a pretty disgusting hole. Finally, we did land in Melrose. It's really a great town with LOTS of green space and we even have a zoo within a couple miles of us! Our place is on the third floor which killed me the first couple of days, but we're getting used it. Carrying Max and holding Ruby's hand along with a diaper bag, etc. isn't exactly cake, but there are tricks I'm learning. The even better part is that the commute in 15 minutes or less for Jared and he's "reverse commuting" to a more distant suburb, so traffic isn't too bad.

Yesterday we were able to get our Internet installed and are now in serious mode to find a couch. Ruby has been very distressed by our lack of couch and/or comfy chair. She's not alone!

Fun facts on Beantown to follow, stay tuned!

the adventure's not over!

Months ago--sometime after Max was born and before we left Denmark--Jared and I started talking about the possibility of starting a new blog. It's not that the adventure is over in Ruby-land, but our family is expanding, so the name just didn't feel right anymore. Add that to the nearly two months of silence while we've been "in transit" and this just seemed like the time to do it. I still have a few things to get up on Ruby's Great Adventure, but the lion's share of my posting will now be on this new site.

Also, I suspect I might start having a few more "me" posts than I have in the past--cooking, books, or just my thoughts.

So... let the fun begin!