St. Croix

My hubby and I took a summer vacation to St. Croix in August.  The water was deliciously blue, you could see directly to the bottom. The breeze was perfect, and love was in the air.

We stayed in Cottages by the Sea that were a hop, skip and jump from the water. After the first night we got upgraded (for free!) to the best cottage on the beach. This cottage had a full kitchen, surrounding windows (wonderful breeze!), a comfy king size bed... but the best part was the porch.  The amazing porch overlooking the water. The porch where you could eat, read, write and play battleship. (the cottage also had a library with books and board games!) The porch where you could breathe in the air and listen to the waves at any minute of the day or night.

There was a fantastic waterfront restaurant twenty steps away from the cottages.  When we didn't cook in our cute kitchen, we ate here at the Beachside Cafe!  We had a few dinners, a Sunday brunch and desserts!

When we weren't on the beach swimming, snorkeling, reading, napping, floating, cuddling, kayaking or basking in the sun...

 

...we read, wrote, relaxed, explored the area, went to an old plantation/ botanical garden,  listened to the waves, looked at the stars, watched the lizards, played golf (I watched!) and relaxed some more. I had never been kayaking before, and I loved it! I also really loved having a beautiful beach virtually to ourselves. We had this opportunity when we went to Tulum, Mexico in 2005, and I craved it ever since. 

I felt very lucky on this little vacation of ours.  As we approach 10 years together, I think about all the amazing places we've been and all the experiences we've shared. Rather then just a vacation, this felt more like a honeymoon.

 Love was in the air.

the Hudson River

Let's start by saying I love the Hudson River.  I love the history, and I have always loved living near it.  It is part of my life, and the beauty of where we live.  Of course I wish it was cleaner...but there are many wonderful people who are contributing to the welfare of the river; preserving, protecting and bringing awareness. 

I had the privilege to teach a class and take a workshop on the Hudson in July.  It was an incredibly  beautiful day, and the whole experience gave me more then I expected! The classroom was the river itself, and in the Kathryn W. Davis RiverWalk Center. This center is an abandoned bathhouse from the 1920's that had recently been renovated into classrooms.  It was lovely.

After teaching the class, a kind woman came up to me to tell me I was incredibly inspiring, that my passion was contagious, and that she was thrilled to have have been in my class.  That comment capped off a truly enriching experience.

our honeymoon (14/14)

Technically we had two honeymoons. Lucky us. We knew we couldn't do much after the wedding, since I am a teacher, and we got married on labor day weekend. So we went to France for 10 days the summer before, and called this our pre-moon.

A co-worker has a friend who lives in Paris, and needed to sublet her apartment in district 9.  This meant we had a place to stay that was inexpensive, and not in a touristy location.  Of course we ate out, but we also bought food at grocery stores and markets and had lovely little meals at home.

We went to tons of museums (including the Louvre) and parks, saw the Eiffel tower, and traveled all over the map. We caught a Bob Dylan concert in Nantes, went to Monet's Garden in the country, visited Stein, Wilde and Mr. Mojo Risin' at Père Lachaise, walked the colorful grounds at the Palace of Versailles, and ate a ridiculous amount of delicious food every step of the way.

After the wedding itself we went for two nights to Minnewaska State Park Lodge.  This is the area where we met and was the perfect place to relax before we left our wedding fairytale. We spent our mornings relaxing outside the lodge with our breakfast, our days at the park, and the nights reminiscing about the wedding! It was just what we needed.

Thank you for taking this journey with us through our wedding memories. It was certainly fun for us to reminisce together...and I am so happy to have our special moments documented!  This started out as a rewind for a few posts and turned into 14 posts and a summer long project.  Literally, work starts on Monday...and as we approach our 2nd wedding anniversary, and 10 years together, I can honestly say we are more in love then ever!  Life is good.

Sunny San Diego

Although I had never been, when I used to think of San Diego, I thought of Anchorman and the San Diego Zoo.  Last week I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego for the ISTE Conference.   Now when I think of San Diego, I will think of amazing weather too! I'm talking blue, blue skies everyday I was there!

 You stay classy San Diego.

Green!

 

During my spring break for the last few years, my mom and I have done a bit of traveling together.  This year we decided to try out Portland Oregon.  Well we didn't know it was so rainy (silly us!) but of course, made it fun anyway. Despite the rain we saw some pretty places, ate some good food and learned a few things. The  inspiration for this post came from my uncle-in-law Gary, who asked.."Give me one good take away from your trip."  To which I instantly replied, "the great green moss covered everything!"  I do not think I could ever live in a place it rains so much, but the consistent rain does allow for some beautiful green moss to grow grow grow all over..and it is quite something to see!