We Rolled Balls at Pins...

Sunday night we took our youth group bowling- it was a blast. This is the third year in a row we have taken our kids bowling- it is usually one of the activities in the fall. It is amazing to think we are in our third year here in Houston- time flies!

Me and my precious husband, I love this picture.
Briney and Sharetta, I love our youth...
Michael- great form (I think he got a strike on this one)
Right after I rolled a gutter ball (one of many for the night). In fact, you can see my orange ball at the end of the lane in the gutter.
E bowling with her daddy- she was precious bowling
My team for the night- Adriel, Gregory, Richard, and me .
Our whole group. Thanks to our small group for joining us for the night. Let's do it again next year!

On a side note- life in my neck of the woods is VERY busy right now- one of the reason's I have not blogged much over the last month. This last weekend I got certified in anger management. I am now a CART (certified anger resolution therapist). I will start running anger management groups after the new year. I am doing a lot of speaking in the schools on dating violence prevention and I will be presenting next week at a big conference on the importance of educating our youth on dating violence. And on top of all that I am still seeing my full load of clients. But life goes on... one crazy day after another. Hope everyone out there is doing well and getting ready for the holidays- bring on Thanksgiving!!!

New England: New Hampshire/Maine Post

Saturday morning we got up and left the Riverbank Motel. All over New England you could find these mom and pop places to stay. This particular motel was actually on a river and the older couple that owned the motel had their house attached to the front office. Overall our stay was pleasant and cheap- gotta love that.

Leaving the motel after a good nights rest...
The river outside our room, it really was gorgeous.
To start off the morning we grabbed some coffee and homemade baked goods and strolled around a local craft fair. Everyone was pretty interested in us being from Texas and all. It was pretty cold and rainy, so we did not linger too long.
Our drive that morning was out of this world. Above you can see a picture taken out the front window of our car as we are driving down the Kancamagus Highway or "The Kanc" as the locals call it. I think my mouth was opened the whole time we drove- I was in awe of all the color.
We stopped at a couple places along the highway to see and take pictures of the color. Above you will see a man painting. At many of the stops people were out painting, drawing, or taking professional pictures. Many were saying it was some of the best color they had seen in years- lucky us.
Wish you could see more of the color behind us in this picture, but I love this photo.
Color, color, color...
One of our stops included a small hike down to the Sabbaday Falls. We strolled down a path covered in leaves. I thought this bench was pretty inviting. Made me want to get a blanket, a warm cup of coffee, and people watch the rest of the day.
Sign on the way to the Falls...
Steve and I at the Falls. It was a pretty touristy stop on the Highway so we did not stay too long, but it sure was pretty.
And of course as we continued to drive we stopped at several antique stores. There were tons along the way- some were literally out in the middle of nowhere. We had fun browsing through all the old treasures.
And there were several houses like the one above on our route to Maine. Abandoned house just sitting there waiting to be explored. We did not go inside this house, but we did stop to take a couple pictures.
Our lunch for the day came from a hole in the wall diner. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. It took us almost two hours just to find a place to eat. We both had hamburgers has big as our heads- it was great!
After lunch we booked it to our finally destination of the night- Bar Harbor, Maine in Acadia National Park. We checked into our bed and breakfast- The Holland Inn. We stayed in the Beehive room- a quaint room off the first floor of the main house- we did not have to navigate stairs with our luggage- yeah!
Small bathroom- but great shower. I love showers that have high pressure in them- this one took the cake for the whole trip.
Where we ate breakfast each morning- her cooking was wonderful and unique. I had seconds every morning...
After getting settled into our room we headed downtown for dinner at Stewman's Lobster Pound. As many of you know lobster is one of my favorite foods and I had been waiting all trip for an authentic Maine lobster. I soaked in every moment of this meal...
Here Steve is getting ready to dive into the fresh, hot lobster. It was a wonderful meal- worth the wait. The rest of the night was dedicated to strolling around the downtown area (it was freezing!), drinking hot cocoa in our bed and breakfast living room, and planning the next days' events. Until next time...

We Were Bees...

Our church hosted our annual Treats from the Trunk this past Saturday night. It was a huge success. We had over 300 people come from church and the neighborhood. We had face painting, fresh popcorn, hot hotdogs, and all the candy you could ask for! And the Sargent family was in full costume- Hope was a honey bee and Steve and I were bee keepers. We were a huge hit- the kids LOVED Hope.

Our cute honey bee. She really was so stinkin' cute...
And Hope matched some of the trick or treaters- here she is with a fellow bee
Whitney did a great job painting faces...
Feeding the masses...
Our family pictures- we had so much fun being honey makers.

We had a great night. Sorry there are not more pictures- blogger is giving me some grief. Stay tuned more pictures and story from our trip up north coming soon.

New England: The Vermont/New Hampshire Post

What a lovely surprise it was to get on my blog last week and realize my sweet husband had blogged a travel entry for me- I loved reading about that day through his eyes. Before moving onto the next day of our trip I do want to highlight The Woodstocker Inn- our room was out of this world! It is by far the most unique bed and breakfast we have ever stayed at. Click on the blue lettering above and you will get a good idea of the place- we were in the Westminster Room.

We were met by the owners when we arrived- a couple from England- very nice and warm. You could not wear shoes in the house so we were instructed where to place our shoes and where to find our house slippers. In our room we were greeted with music playing and a dog dish full of candy- there were candy bars all over the house.
Our bed was HUGE and SOOOOOO comfortable.

The bathroom was my favorite part. Here you can see our sinks and shower.

And here is my favorite part- the tubs that sat under a sky light. In my glorious bubble bath that night I got to look out and see all the stars- I want one in my house now...

The sinks were fun-shaped and had lots of lotions and smell-goodies waiting for us to use. This was definitely our splurge for the week in terms of lodging and in my opinion it was well worth it- I mean come on, it is one of the top 10 bed and breakfasts in the world! Plus we got an authentic English breakfast the next morning- blood pudding and all. I would defiantly go back if I were in the area. But now I must move on with the trip.

After we left the Woodstocker Inn we headed east toward New Hampshire. Now we had seen some color, but I think it was just a taste of what was to come. Quechee Gorge was the first place where we saw unbelievable color. As you can see from the above picture, there was a river at the bottom.
Color was everywhere. It was a little overwhelming because I had never seen anything like that- and we wanted more. So we took a short, impromptu hike down to the bottom of the gorge.

Us at the bottom- we are actually standing in the river on some rocks- it was pretty low.
And here I am taking in the color before we got in the car and headed to our next destination: Dartmouth in Hanover in New Hampshire.
Gorgeous campus. We walked around briefly, but it was pretty chilly and rainy so not too many pictures of the campus. We walked through the campus center and then headed to the main street off the campus.
And of course we spent some good time in a used bookstore. I got several holiday books to put out for Christmas- I think we spent almost an hour browsing and taking in the books. We ate lunch at Lou's- a landmark in Hanover- Steve had a yummy chicken/cranberry wrap and I had a black bean/pumpkin quesadilla- it was good eatin'!!! After lunch we browsed a couple more shops- I got a North Face hat to keep my head warm- it got colder each day of the trip.
And then it was back on the road, as you can see, Hanover is the place to be, especially on a Friday afternoon. Our final stop was Lincoln, New Hampshire for the night, and that is where we were heading when we stumbled upon an apple orchard. Since it was apple season we stopped to do some picking!
But first I wanted to stop by the pumpkin patch for a pic- we were in New England after all...

On our way to the Orchard...

And picking the first apple...

What a pretty apple....

And now enjoying the freshly picked apple. We did not linger, we were on our way to Cannon Mountain- we wanted to take tram to the top, we made it just in time for the last tram of the day- lucky us...
The ride up the tram- again, unbelievable color...

But not for long, about 3/4 of the way up it was totally foggy- and freezing!! This was all we could see from the top. They said that it is rare to get to the top and be able to see- it usually has zero visibility.

High up and cold...

Our tram

Standing outside at the top- very windy and I need more clothing on!

Our trip down- again, lots and lots of color...

And we got to sign our name on the visitor board- people from all over the world had been there that day- can you find our name? After the tram it was off to the motel for the evening (more on that in the next post). It was cold and rainy outside so we took it easy that night.

We had Thai food (which was really good) and spent the evening at the motel watching movies on the TV- great way to end a great day. Thanks for hanging with me that post- we did a lot in one day. Stay tuned, more to come!!!

Fletcher Family Weekend...

My family came into town this weekend. They got in Thursday and night and we enjoyed a meal together in Rice Village- Thai food- and then went crazy at the Chocolate Bar for dessert. Let's just say we ate off of that dessert the rest of the weekend- literally.

Friday I worked and they played around Houston. Friday night Steve had class so the five of us went ate some authentic Indian food- Bombay Sweets- and went to see The Vampires Assistant. Kind of a random pick for a movie, but oddly enough, we all enjoyed it.

Saturday morning Steve had class again. So we spent the majority of the morning and a good part of the afternoon in the Galleria area. After Steve finished class he joined us. That night we ate at Buca di Peppo and went to Radio Music Theater- a family favorite. It was hilarious. This show is running through Thanksgiving- go see it if you live in Houston.

Sunday they all got up early and drove home, it is along trek to Midland! It was a great weekend and I am glad we had the time to spend together catching up and hanging out. I had not seen them since July and will not see them until Christmas- this should hold me over until then! Thanks for coming in... love you all!

Gallaria shopping- always fun

I really do not know what I was doing, but it turned out funny

Sunday afternoon nap= this is Hope laying on my bottom as I was trying to sleep

New England: The Western Massachusetts to Vermont Post...

So, I (Steve, the one Chels is married to) thought I would give Chels a break from blogging and let you readers unknowingly experience my writing style. She doesn't know I'm doing this…so, surprise Love!

On Thursday Oct. 8th, our journey led us away from Boston. Early that morning, Chels and I splurged for breakfast, getting a 1 pint MilkJug, an individual size Raisin Bran Crunch for me, an individual size Lucky Charms for Chels, and a banana. After eating and with a crisp chill in the air, I proceeded to walk 1.1 miles from our small room to Avis. Took me about 20 minutes. Our awaiting vehicle was a white 4 door Chevrolet Cobalt (a gas-efficient little car which ended up getting us 33.4 mpg for the duration of our venture). Thanks to Boston traffic and pedestrians who rule the streets, it took me longer to drive back to the B&B than it took for me to walk to Avis. I picked up an awaiting Chels with our bags around 9, set our handy GPS, and set out westbound.

Around 10, we reached our first destination - Old Sturbridge Village. Chels, ever since we began talking about going to New England, wanted to go to a living history "museum". Thanks to our trusty Frommers New England, we discovered that Sturbridge was on a route we could take.

Old Sturbridge Village, sitting on 200 acres of land 50 miles west of Boston, attempts to recreate life as it was in the 1830's . Paying our entrance fee and grabbing a park map (I love maps), we walked in and out and through over 40 antique homes, buildings, mills, shops, church and school buildings, and farms. Folks manned (or wo-manned) different parts of the village as actors, playing the role of the school teacher or potter or farmer or shoemaker. We saw plenty of students (elem. and high school) interacting with the actors, asking questions, proposing scenarios, talking back and forth. What a neat way to learn. We thoroughly enjoyed Sturbridge and very easily could have spent a whole day there.

We ate lunch on the property (chicken pot pie for me, clam chowda bread bowl for Chels). We bought a magnet from the over-priced gift shop and continued west…

to the NBA Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA! This was Chels' favorite stop on our entire trip: the rows and rows of pictures and written bios of players/coaches/contributors she had never she heard about before; the hour she spent watching me walk meticulously through the old basketball garb and trophies exhibit; watching a 10 min. video of the recently enshrined Michael Jordan; observing as I took the stage as a NBA TV announcer and then gleefully listened to the playback of my voice overlaying a historic basketball moment; graciously letting me win an interactive rebounding competition (although she did not let me win the basketball shootout…), and took pics while I shot for a while on the basketball court. I'll tell you, the joy Chels showed was awe-inspiring, especially since for 3 months leading up to our NE trip, she wanted nothing to do with the Hall of Fame. I guess the NBA really is where amazing happens.

Plus, we got some Cold Stone ice cream on our way out.

From Springfield, we headed up north to Woodstock, Vermont. The colors on the trees were unlike anything I've seen before - a vast, continuous array of greens and reds and yellows and pinks and oranges. Incredible.

We made it to Woodstock (an extremely picturesque village) around 5 and checked in to the Woodstocker Inn, one of the top B&B's in the States. The innkeepers where two folks from England, very warm, very helpful folks. They pointed us to the Eastender Restaurant, which, as you can probably guess, was on the east end of town. We ordered vegetarian that night - me a plate full of humus, pita, cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, goat cheese, mushrooms, and onions, and Chels a stuffed mushroom that turned out to be as big as my face. Long Trail and Summerfield as accompaniments.

We retired to the Woodstocker after dinner, thus ending day number three of our trip.

I took some pictures around Woodstock and the Woodstocker Inn early on Friday morning which I'll post here for my enjoyment, and maybe yours too.. Chels will probably want to talk more about the B&B next time, posting room pics and whatnot (and ask her about our breakfast on Friday morning...)

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Thanks for indulging in my rambling. I'll let the most beautiful and wonderfully gifted Chels take it from here.

New England: The Boston Post

We flew into the Boston airport Tuesday October 6th- we got to Boston around 1pm and headed straight to our Bed and Breakfast. The place we stayed while in Boston was located in Beacon Hill, which was picturesque in the way the buildings and homes were designed. The official name was The Cedars on Beacon Hill.

Above is a picture of the bedroom area. It was very simple and perfect for the two of us. We were located on the second floor. There were two other floors that both had efficiencies on them and were both occupied. Our third floor neighbors were very noisy, but other than that our stay was very pleasant.
Here is a view of the other end- the kitchen area. Breakfast was not provided for us. The first day we walked to a local bakery in Beacon Hill and the second day we bough cereal and milk at a local 7 Eleven and ate in our place.
Right after we got to our place we found a local eatery for soup and sandwiches and then hit Boston. We first went to Fenway Park for a tour of the facility- it was fantastic. Steve and I took a tour of Yankee Stadium on our honeymoon- so it was fun to add this ballpark to the list.
It was a gorgeous day in Boston- perfect weather to tour the city.
They were prepping the park for the post-season series
These seats were original seats- they are old. The park has so much historic value.
After the tour we hopped on the subway and headed to Harvard- I loved riding the subway.
On the way to Harvard to strolled around streets and did a bit of shopping- above you will see a Curious George store- very quaint.
Harvard Yard- they had all these colored chairs and tables for students and guests to sit and enjoy the weather- it was packed.
Fountains at Harvard
That night we ate at Legal Seafood- a must if you are ever in Boston, the food was wonderful- great dinner to kick off fine eating on the trip.
The next morning we woke up to rain- and lots of it. But what could we do, but start walking the Freedom Trail in the rain. Here I am getting ready to find the red line...
Once on the red line (which is the Freedom Trail) we stopped at lots of historical places- like Paul Revere's tombstone
The Old State House
Franklin's Birth Place
View of the city on the trail
Faneuil Hall
Quincy Market where we ate lunch- so much food!!

And of course we stopped at a farmers market. That night we had dinner with our friends Chrissy and Steve Holt. They treated us to a fabulous Ethiopian restaurant in the Back Bay area. Our time in Boston was short, but amazing. I loved the feel to the city Boston, I think I could live in a place like that. But all good things have to come to an end, Thursday we woke up and headed out.... more in the next post!!