Thank Goodness for Grandma.... and for Graduate Studies :)

This has been a big week for our family. I feel like we have been celebrating one thing or another all week. First, Monday was Cinco de Mayo - a big holiday not just for Kenneth and I...but for everyone.We celebrated by having dinner with friends at the fine mexican restaurant Chipotle. I don't think it gets more exciting than that.

Then on Tuesday we had an even more exciting event to celebrate (as if anything could be more exciting than eating burritos on Mexican Independence day). Kenneth found out that not only was he officially accepted into the PhD program at BU (everyone has to re-apply once they complete the Masters degree portion of the program), but also that he has received the Adelson Fellowship - which just happens to be a prestigious fellowship given in the department for studying American art and includes 3 years of funding and a living stipend - Wahoo!

We began the celebration with a romantic dinner at Tasca (a spanish tappas restaurant) and will continue our celebrating on into the weekend with a possible dinner and a movie with friends. But even better than that... he can finally stop pulling out his hair and start combing it in preparation for his scholarly career.

Now it's wednesday and we have one more thing to celebrate, albeit less traditional than fellowships and Independence. 

We are celebrating my Grandma's birthday. She would have been 79 years old this year. She and I were so close that I like to acknowledge her birthday as a way to remember her and all of the good memories I have of her. 

I think it's possible that I saw or spoke to my grandma every single day from the time I could talk. I practically lived with her every summer and when I started to get older we ate lunch together every Wednesday from the time I was in Jr. High all the way through college. She was one of those fantastic grandma's who totally makes fun of you when your homemaking skills are "not the way Martha Stewart would do it" and who would actually say things like "I hope it tastes better than it looks!" But who's couch you can crash on when you're sick and just need someone to take care of you, and who you can stay up late with watching great movies like Troop Beverly Hills and The Thrill of It All.

So, here are some pictures so that you can celebrate our great week and my cute grandma with us. 

We're Moving!!!!

It's official - we signed the papers today! We are moving into 39 Shepard street. We aren't moving until September 1st, that's when our contract ends at our current apartment. But, obviously, the celebration starts now and continues all summer long. 

We have loved our current apartment, it has been a great place to live for the past 2 years.. But it is definitely time to move and it will seem so nice to have 2 bedrooms, a parking space and friends near by. 

Plan now for our awesome housewarming party in the fall!  

My brush with celebrity..

It's true - although I am just a nanny - I do often rub shoulders with celebrities. Like today for example... I was sitting on the same park bench as Conan O'Brian! His show is in re-runs right now and he grew up in Brookline.. And where should he be on his vacation? But back in Brookline with me. Amelia and Penny were playing right along with his little kids. 

I wasn't brave enough to actually talk to him (he was there with his wife and what I assume were his parents) So I didn't want to interupt him.. But I did stare at him and paparazzi him with my camera when he wasn't looking. So, that's almost as good as actually talking to him.

Here is a picture of my celebrity moment:

Beautiful ovens and busy husbands

For the past 2 years Kenneth and I have been suffering the effects of a crappy oven. It never has more than 1 or 2 burners working at a time. And those burners rotate - so when its time to cook something it's like the lottery trying to guess which ones will work for that night. And, it seems not to matter how much time I spend cleaning it - it will catch on fire with even the slightest crumb or drip. It has been pretty exciting. 

Well, 2 nights ago we had a new phenomenon. The broiler at the top of the oven caught on fire. I really thought our apartment was going down. Luckily we were able to get things under control. But for me that was the last straw. It doesn't matter how  much baking soda I keep next to the oven - I can't smother a fire on the inside top. So, I called our management company to demand they fix the problem [translation: I called and quietly requested that they send a repairman].  

This is the cause for our celebration. The repairman came and was totally shocked at the state of our oven. He only had to look at in briefly before deciding that we needed a whole new unit! Which he ordered and had delivered the very next day. Hooray!!! 

I just can't stop looking at it. It is the most beautiful oven ever made :) Well, ok, it is a very regular looking white oven. But all the burners work and it cooks food at the correct temperature. Here are some pictures:

Unfortunately this week has not been as exciting for Kenneth. He is not only preparing to deliver a paper in New York for a symposium at the Institute of Fine Arts next Friday. But he is also completing requirements for his Masters degree as well as preparing 2 class presentations and 2 25 page papers. He is so STRESSED! 

Ever since we met I have been able to tell when Kenneth was getting stressed by how messy his hair is. I think everyone has something they do when they get anxious - biting fingernails, tapping their leg, etc.. Kenneth runs his hands through and pulls up his hair. It might be the cutest thing I have ever seen. I always feel bad, because I know when he does it he is getting to the end of his rope.. But I can't help but smile. :)

So, here is a tribute to my very cute and very busy husband:

 

I know, he really is the cutest boy ever :) Good luck sweetie!!! I know you'll do great!

Let my love open the door...

This is my new favorite movie clip. It is from Dan in Real Life. Which, for those of you who haven't seen it, is about an advice columnist with 3 daughters after his wife dies. He is really lonely at the beginning of the movie - and when he finally meets someone new it turns out that she is dating his brother.

Easter EGGstravaganza!

Easter has always been a very special holiday for me. It is such a great time to think about and focus on the Savior. But it is also a holiday that I used to share with my grandma, who I was really really close to. Every Easter I would spend the whole week with her. We would dye Easter eggs and make Easter sugar cookies. We would decorate her house and make dinner for our family Easter party. Then we would organize an Easter egg hunt for my brothers and cousins. I looked forward to it all year long.

This was our first Easter on our own, so Kenneth and I decided to have a traditional Easter celebration with our friends. First we colored Easter eggs with Chris and Robyn. Then we made my grandma's traditional Easter dinner - complete with homemade cream puffs- and had fun sharing it with our friends. It was so much fun! And, as much as we love being with family during holidays, it was so much fun to spend time together here with our Boston family!

Baby it's cold outside...

When Kenneth and I left the house this morning I thought I might actually freeze to the sidewalk on our walk to the car. I know -10 degrees is nothing compared to the -50 degree freeze they were feeling in Chicago - but it was still too cold for me. I realize this is my second or third ode to the cold weather of Boston - so I thought this time I would take the opportunity to make a list of all of the things I am grateful for to take my mind off of the freezing cold weather.

#1 - I am grateful for Kenneth. It may sound cheesy, but I really love my cute husband and I feel grateful every day that I have him. Who would have thought that 10 years ago when I walked into Mormon Handicraft looking for a job that it would lead to my greatest blessing. (for those of you that don't know Kenneth's mom was my supervisor at MH and it was while working with her I met and fell in love with Kenneth).



#2 - I am grateful for our friends here in Boston. We have said it before and we will probably say it again and again...we would not be happy here without the great people we have met and that we play and laugh with every day practically.





So - I don't have pictures of all of our friends on my computer - so these 2 pictures will have to represent all of our friends here :)


#3 - I am grateful for our actual family. Kenneth and I are so lucky to have the greatest parents, the funnest siblings and the cutest nieces and nephews. Being so far away from them is the hardest part of living on the east coast..

This is Kenneth's cute sister Katie and her baby Bentley:




Happy Hartvigsen Halloween Celebration:


Here Kenneth and I are with my awesome brothers and my new sister in law:



Of course, these are all things that I am grateful for all the time. Today I am also grateful for even more than that... I am grateful for my cute Penny and Amelia - because although they challenge me almost every day I really do love being their nanny. And I am grateful for Milky Way Hot Chocolate, our new band Post, winter days that are not in the negatives - hooray for 30 degrees!, Spring - which I am sure is just around the corner, the Childrens Museum, Penny and my jewish Music Together class, the movie Juno, the glorious and very retro Belinda Carlisle CD that Kenneth got for me, Arrested Development, the end of the writers strike and possible beginning of new episodes of the Office, Conversation Hearts, Propel, crab enchiladas, the book 'The Birth House', FRIENDS (both the TV series and our actual friends), flowers, crayons, water colors, construction paper valentines... and much much more!

I have also been so grateful lately for the many simple blessings in my life that come from the gospel. I realized in church on Sunday, while listening to two of my favorite people (Mike and Chelsea Strayer) commenting on how God's love has blessed their lives, that one of the greatest things about our church is that you can have fun with people and also connect and share with them on a spiritual level. And although I don't often feel like blogging is really the place to bear testimony - I am so grateful to know that God lives and that He loves us. And that He hears us and answers when we pray. It is so comforting to know that we are not alone and that we never will be.

So, hooray for today - even though it is -10 degrees outside. And here's hoping for something a little warmer tomorrow.