The great outdoors - this is funny, believe me

Well, we just had our second anniversary. Isn't it strange how that amount of time can feel so long, and yet you can feel like it's flown by?
So anyway, in celebration of said anniversary, we decided that we needed to get off our butts and DO something. We just got these great new backpacks that we took to Europe, but they hadn't actually been used for backpacking yet, so we decided to do that. Of course we had no idea where to go, so we went to Barnes and Noble to get a book on the area. We picked up one about the Appalachian Trail, and headed out to the Western side of Mass to get started. Before we get to the funny stuff though, you have to know how the book is set up. There are 29 some individual hikes, but they are all in a line, because they are all part of the Appalachian Trail. So really it just gives you different places to get on and off the trail, and the distances and difficulty levels and such.
So, back to the point. We picked a hike that was supposed to get us up to a little camping area that had a water supply. We wanted to go easy and just see how it was with the dog, and this was supposed to be a 1.6 mile hike. We were also excited that we didn't have to carry as much water, because we could refill when we got there. At 0.4 miles, we were going to cross the I-90 footbridge, and then go another 1.2 miles to the camping spot. We got to the trail around 5:30pm, so we thought we would get there in plenty of time to get camp set up before dark and everything.
So we start off, and we're both feeling a little uneasy about the directions in the book. We hike for 15-20 minutes, and we're thinking, "Shouldn't we be hearing cars by now?" And "Why didn't he mention that we have to climb this huge hill?" Then another 15 minutes goes by, and we cross a road. We take out the book again and notice that maybe the map in the book was upside down, in which case we'd be passing a road before I-90. Also we thought we may have to add another half mile or so onto the estimate if that was the case. So we keep going.
We walk for another 30 minutes, and by this time we've gone up one hill that we thought was pretty massive, back down, over that road, then up onto the top of another steep hill. And we're thinking, "That was supposed to be 1 mile or something, and we still have another mile to go at least, after I-90." We were totally soaked in sweat, and we had completely drained one of our two Nalgenes full of water. At this point we figured there was nothing to do but at least go down to the bottom of the hill, because I-90 MUST be there. So we went down the hill, and BEHOLD! There was water! The book had said we would be able to see a pond from the I-90 footbridge, so we were happy that we must be going the right way.
Then the trail took us down to the water. At this point the sun was setting, and we were getting really worried about having to go another 1.2 miles at least, when we figured we must have only gone about a mile so far... And on top of all that, we could not hear or see I-90... Time to break out the book again.
Matt then figured out that the next hike in the book had the same starting spot that we started at on our hike, but it went the opposite way. He started looking at the map, and noticed that the landmarks went something like this: Summit the first mountain, cross Tyne Rd, Summit the second Mountain, pass by Figerty Pond... WAIT that sounds like what we just did! And the distance to do all that... 2.8 miles.
The worst part was that after all that exhausting sweaty hiking, we had already tapped into our second bottle of water. There was no place to get water that was even close to where we now were. There was no way we were going to last any amount of time with how much water we had. So we ended up sleeping there for the night, and then we got up early and had to go all the way back with half as much water.
BUT we did it, it was an adventure, and Dakota LOVED it! She was just going crazy running up the trail, back to us, up the trail again... And once we got the tent set up she did about 20 laps in a big circle around it at full speed.
Next time we're going to pay a little more attention to which direction to go on the trail. =)

A great Taco Bell worker

This has nothing to do with news about our move or life in Worcester. It's a real, genuine off-the-top-of-my-head blog entry.

So Matt and I went to Taco Bell this weekend for our signature items: Matt gets a large soda and a zesty gordita crunch (remember those? They are a specialy item no longer on the menu but ttey still make it if you ask) and I get a crunchwrap supreme. That day we also decided to splurge on the cinnamon twists and were quite excited about them.

Anyway we'd visited this Taco Bell at least twice before and so we were schocked when Carlos, who was taking our order told us that they only accept cash! Of course Matt and I belong to the plastic generation so we rarely, if ever, have cash. We dug up change and a spare bill or two and came up with $3.75, about $2.00 short. We took off the cinnamon twists and were still short a buck fifty or so.

Now if it were up to me we would have just dropped the soda and gotten a water but in Matt's world this is a travesty. In fact, he had told me earlier that going to Taco Bell was simply NOT WORTH IT without the Pepsi. So we stood there between a rock and a hard place and I think Matt was about to cancel the whole order and head for McDonalds when Carlos smiled and said, "Ah, don't worry about it. I won't charge you for the soda but you can still have it." Then he handed Matt the soda cup, took the last $1.90 off the bill and took our cash.

Wasn't that great? He totally didn't have to do that. We were beaming and thanking him all over the place. What a nice thing to do, huh?

But, wait - it's not over yet. We sat down and I had just taken a bite of my crunchwrap supreme when I felt the unmistakable presence of someone you don't know coming way too close. I turned abruptly but it wasn't a creepy guy - it was Carlos with a little almost self-satisified grin brining us a heaping bag of cinnamon twists! We were beyond ecstatic and grateful. And the twists were SO SO good.

So anyway...Carlos...if you stumble upon this blog - you are a hero. You made our day. Thanks for the hospitality and may you live to be a thousand years old, sir.

A Confession and a Celebration

The Confession:
As computer savvy as Matt and I may seem we do have our moments. For example, it was not until yesterday that we realized some of our lovely friends and family had actually been posting comments on our blog entries! Ack! So we JUST caught up on all your suggestions, well-wishes and questions. We'll do a better job from now on of checking in with your comments and commenting on them :) For now, thanks all for reading and for the laughs your comments bring me. Ah, comments....

The Celebration:
MAR HAS A JOB! YAY! Yes, finally, after a month of searching and interviewing and turning things down and blah, blah, stress and suckiness, the perfect job has materialized. I am going to be a nanny for two wonderful girls: Aliza, 13 and Chloe, 10. Now this may surprise some of you but this job is perfect because it pays just what we need, is a great opportunity to "be a part of a family" and have a part in some cool girls' lives and it is only 30 hours a week so I'm free to take classes or volunteer with non-profits in my spare time. So we are really, really excited about that...oops, sorry for letting the third person voice slip there. This is Marilee writing, if you're confused. :) So rejoice with us, cause we're rejoicing. And I don't start till September so I still get to laze around for the next month.

I just looked back on the pictures of our apartment Matt posted and I must say I'm embarrassed. Since the visit of Mar's mom certain rooms (particularly the guest room) have made SPECTACULAR improvements/transformations and I really think a new picture should be posted. We'll have to get on that in honor of all Mom's hard work. :) Oh, and I'll put a picture of the bathroom in there as well, Hink and Rach. ;)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Goodbye Nomes...

The time was 3:00am, the job was taking Naomi to the airport. The mood was sad and very sleepy. It was wonderful having Nomes stay with us and it was really, really hard for Mar to say goodbye to her EARLY this morning at the airport. We are really blessed to have such incredible friends and can't wait for more of them to come visit. Ask Naomi, we're pretty good hosts. We make brownies and stuff.

We are excited to welcome to the East Coast...(drum roll for effect): MEGAN HINKLE! Woohoo! Yet another one of our friends is joining us here on the Atlantic. Megan found out that her Mission Year assignment is Philadelphia, PA - a mere 6 hours from us! That's less than Newberg to Hayden so we are pumped about having our favorite That Thing You Do quoter so close by. If any of the rest of you are contemplating moving "back east" it appears that now is the time - seriously, everybody's doing it. :)

Adios!

Dakota Catches Frisbees and Matt Boards Mountains!

Amazing, eh? Dakota is a frisbee catching fool! Actually, she's only caught it about 7 times but we are still VERY proud of her. This photo is courtesy of Marilee's mom's spectacular filming. All rights reserved. :)

Matt bombs down the "mountains" at Green Hill Park on his new mountain board. He loves his new toy - thanks Mickelson/Porters!

Knock on wood...

We're a little afraid to say it for fear the streak will end...BUT...Dakota has gone five days without peeing in the house! YAAAAAAYYYYYY! It's amazing how much more pleasant life is in the MickJolin house without that particular stressor. We're really hoping she's "made it over the hump" and we are getting very close to having a potty-trained dog. Hallelujah. :)

Yesterday we dropped Mar's mom off at the airport. It was very sad to see her go. We had a great time with her here and got a lot of decorating done that we never could have done on our own.

Today is Naomi's last day staying with us which is also sad but we've got a great lazy day planned of movie-watching and hot cocoa drinking and it's going to be GREAT!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Love you all!

Naomi and Mar's mom

Well, we haven't written anything on here for over a week! It really is hard remembering to do it, because we don't have internet at home yet. Naomi has been here since the 4th, so that has been really great. We have gone to a bunch of parks in the area, and we even taught Dakota how to catch a frisbee! Well, she only caught it twice, but that's something! Mar's mom came a few days ago as well, so we have had a pretty full house. She has been helping Mar with decorating and organizing, so the apartment is starting to look really cool. We will try to send pictures of all the neat things they have done soon.
The other fun thing that happened was Matt's birthday on Saturday. His mountain board that his family bought him arrived on Saturday, so he has been taking it up to the park and bombing down the grass hills. FUN! We'll have to post pictures of that soon as well. He also has a recent addiction to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 on Nintendo 64, because Mar got him the N64 and the game for his birthday.

Pee free!

Dakota made it through en entire day (Saturday) without once peeing in the house! We're such proud parents. =) We think that she is finally starting to understand that not only is it GOOD to pee outside, it's BAD to pee inside.
We're really excited because tomorrow we are going down to Newark, NJ to pick up Naomi! She is coming in from Europe and staying with us for about two and a half weeks. It will be really good to have some contact with someone who actually knows us! We actually have a pretty steady stream of visitors lined up for the next few months, so that will be just great.
We're also busy filling out our applications for the "Amazing Race," a reality TV show on CBS. We have to send in 9 pages of application for each of us, and a 3 minute video. We made the video yesterday, and we feel pretty good about it. If we get chosen for the first round of interviews, we have to drive down to New York City, and if we get chosen for the second round they fly us out to LA! Of course it's very unlikely any of that will happen, but it's fun to dream about.