Snowed In!

We made it through Week of Survival III, and Chase is finally done with finals! He celebrated by gathering information for his upcoming internship interviews and cleaning the apartment for Jenny's Christmas present. Poor guy! Actually, he has had a little time to relax, go shopping, and watch movies with his adoring wife. Hopefully more relaxation is in store for him over the holidays.

Jenny's nonfiction research reports continue to take up all of her time. She wonders how students are allowed to go on to eighth grade thinking that Wikipedia is a credible research source, without knowing what a bibliography is, and with zero understanding of what citations are! To her, it sounds like a recipe for unwitting plagiarism. She has given personal tutoring to over 25 of her 65 students everyday at lunch, during her prep time, and after school to ensure that they go on to high school knowing how to write a research report. Jenny is thrilled to get to spend this unprecedented one-on-one time with each student but is unfortunately left little to no time for anything else such as grading and lesson planning.

Today, church was canceled due to snow. In the North East, everything is driven to a halt at the mere rumor of snow flurries. This time, however, we got much more than a few snow flurries. Today has been our first taste of a real Massachusetts Nor' Eastern! Jenny suggested that she and Chase put on their snow gear to play around on the Cambridge Common as a way to channel the famous scene from Love Story but more prepared for the snowy conditions than the actors had been. To this Chase replied, "And more in love." Jenny is still mushy over that one!

Week of Survival Part II

Chase took two eight hour tests last week and spent the rest of his time preparing for the tests he has this week. He studies at home which means that Jenny gets to see him, but he only leaves his desk for the necessities like food :) The picture below is of Jenny distracting Chase long enough to document what two weeks straight of constant studying can do to a person.

The Week of Survival

Chase finished his classes, sent out internship applications, and started studying like crazy for finals. Jenny started a new unit on nonfiction research and writing, avoided getting strep throat from the other teachers, and spent seven hours in professional development training on Friday. Two more weeks and then... vacation! The count down is on!

Thanksgiving

This year we had our first Thanksgiving on our own. We feasted on rotisserie chicken with cranberry sauce, corn bread, mashed sweet potatoes with vanilla and cinnamon, pumpkin cheesecake, and grape juice. The festivities started with cinnamon eggnog and concluded with a viewing of the movie Up. It was nice to visit with family and friends over the holiday. More than anything, we really enjoyed a little time to relax.

Sugar and Spice

This has been a long, dull week. Not much going on. Chase has been studying hard, and Jenny is proud of her students' hard work on their midterm exams this week. We went to our favorite Thai restaurant by Porter Square called Sugar and Spice on Friday night. It is the first "date" we have had in well over a month, so it was nice not to cook at home. We are very excited about Thanksgiving next week. We are mostly looking forward to the long weekend, but we are also planning our own little Thanksgiving dinner. It will be our fist Thanksgiving away from family, and with our busy schedules the most adventurous dish we are making is mashed sweet potatoes. Yum!

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to all of our friends and family who have served or are serving in the military. It was really fun for Jenny to talk to her grandpa about his service and to teach her students to write "informal" letters to the veterans. Her 8th graders wrote some very thoughtful, moving letters of gratitude. Chase and Jenny both had the day off, much needed and appreciated :) We enjoyed learning about the history of Veteran's Day and why we celebrate it each year on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month (WWI).

Everybody Loves Alta

It is true. Everyone loves Alta including the subway driver on the T! Check out the picture below for proof. Chase is looking good in his new suit. This is his "driver, please bring the car around" look as we wait for the red line to take us into Boston. Little did we know that we would soon be sharing a conference room at the Marriott with Mitt Romney! Apparently stake conference in Cambridge draws some big names.

New Chair, Trinity Church, and Halloween

It has been an eventful week. Chase's lower back is really appreciating a new chair for his desk. Stake conference was this weekend, and the Friday night session was held in Trinity Church in downtown Boston. We loved sitting inside such a beautiful building and listening to Elder Ballard talk about the importance of quiet, personal meditation in the midst of a busy world. We celebrated Halloween by watching a couple of classic shows, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and The Adventures of Ichabod Crane (thank you Haugs).

Remembering Lisa

We have been missing our friend Lisa this week. Jenny's mom has set up a memorial scholarship in Lisa's name and "in honor of Lisa's passion for dance and photography and her dedication to the pursuit of higher education." For those who also knew and loved Lisa, contributions can be made online atwww.slc.k12.ut.us/sites/slef/ or mailed to the Salt Lake Education
Foundation, Lisa Layton Okland Scholarship, 440 East 100 South,
Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

A link to Lisa's obituary can be found below. We will miss her contagious smile, endless grace, and unselfish friendship, but we find comfort in the knowledge that we will see her again.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=lisa-okland&pid=134772133

Fall Foliage Road Trip

We spent the long weekend (yes, in Massachusetts they still get Columbus Day off) on a Romney road trip through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The maple goodies, fresh lobster, and beautiful changing leaves made for a fantastic weekend! We loved piling in the 12 seat white van with Tony, Cleone, Dave, Christi, and River to go in search of the very best that New England has to offer. And we found it in the form of maple creamies (soft serve+ maple syrup= best idea ever!), incredible fall foliage, quaint NE towns, and quintessential Atlantic Ocean beaches. Thank you to Tony and Cleone for setting everything up and taking us to your favorite eastern spots! It was our first trip to Vermont and Maine initiating us as official, card-carrying New Englanders. Great time!

Color unlike we have ever seen before.

Beautiful tree and church on Dartmouth's campus

Sunset on the beach in Kennebunkport, Maine

Wicked Good Lobstah!!!

A Little Magic

It turns out that Emma Watson, a.k.a. Hermione Granger of Harry Potter fame, was also at the Harvard/Brown football game we went to last Friday. Pretty cool? We think so! We just wish we had gone for our own witch hunt during the game to catch a peek of the magical actress who is currently attending Brown.

The rest of the week has been busy but not too exciting. Chase has joined two law journals that have been taking up many of his evenings. He is on the Environmental Law Review and the Negotiations Law Review and is looking forward to participating more with each. On Thursday, Chase and Jenny attended the Harvard Law Couple Association Social partially for the opportunity to meet new people and partially for the free pizza :) On Friday evening, Jenny was invited to a dinner with the board of trustees from her charter school. She enjoyed the opportunity to share in the vision that the board has for the future of her school and her students. As of now, the school has out-grown the current building, so the board has been looking for expansion options. Some very creative ideas have been suggested, and Jenny will be excited to see the final outcome.

Harvard Beats Brown!

This week in Cambridge has marked the beginning of fall. Temperatures have dropped to the point that we now walk around the apartment in sweats whenever possible. Chase was caught (in the picture below) snuggled up as he tried to retain warmth and read case files.

Despite the brisk weather, we ventured out on Friday to the Harvard football game against Brown. It was fun to see sports in the Ivy League. It seems to be on par with high school football, but the football stadium is the oldest in America. It looks like a miniature Colosseum made out of concrete. Harvard won, though it was a close game at the end. Harvard-24, Brown-21. Go Crimson!

Midterm Exams (for Jenny, not Chase)

Jenny's students had their midterm exams the last few days, so the week was a little crazy at school. The 8th grade had three days of testing, and they seemed to do really well. Jenny enjoys her students immensely! They are bright, sweet, and hard working. The ELA (English and language arts) midterm was the last midterm, so each student was a little burnt out by that point, but they stuck it out admirably. Jenny is also teaching Saturday school every week, tutoring after school on Mondays and Tuesdays, and helping with drama club on Thursdays and Fridays. Yes, drama club. Surprised? You probably should be. People here must not yet know that Jenny is the least theatrically talented person in New England. However, she is happy about the situation because she gets to work with one of her favorite teachers, Gina, who is outgoing and has a lot of experience with drama. Jenny is also thrilled because it has been a lot of fun for her to work with students in smaller groups.

Despite reading all day everyday, Chase is really enjoying the study of law. So far, his favorite course is Torts. He is working hard and using his time well to stay on top of things. On Friday, Chase had a surprise pop-in from his brother, Dave. Dave was flying out of Boston after some meetings and took the time to stop by Cambridge for a quick hello. It was a great treat for Chase to get to see him for a few minutes. Chase's other big news is new glasses and a new perscription. He will look very sharp in two weeks when the glasses are ready to be picked up.

Jan's Birthday Visit

Jan came out for a long weekend in Cambridge this week. We have loved having her here and showing her around the Boston/Cambridge area! She came in the night before her birthday (September 11), so we spent the weekend celebrating with good food and great site seeing. We even got to explore Chase's favorite Boston landmark, the clock tower. It turns out that the tower was built on top of the Boston Custom House which is now a Marriot. The Haugs just bought a Marriot time share that can be used at the Custom House Marriot, so we will soon get to explore this beautiful building up close! Chase and Jenny will be sad to see Jan go on Tuesday, but we are looking forward to our next visit from family and friends.

Tony and Cleone's Visit

This is a belated post from Tony and Cleone's visit 3 weeks ago. We loved having them here and showing them around Cambridge and Boston. Chase gave them the grand tour of Harvard, and Jenny was able to take them to her new school. It was great to have them as our first visitors (we hope of many)!

September Means Business

Jenny has now been teaching 8th grade English for two weeks at Pioneer Charter School of Science (PCSS), and Chase started orientation for law school last week. Jenny enjoys her students and fellow teachers at the school. She will be sponsoring a Book Club for students to join in addition to tutoring after school everyday. Chase's first day of classes begin on Tuesday. He has already read cases and spent hours studying in preparation. We are guessing that this has been a small taste of the things to come.

The weather here has become pleasant once again after two weeks of brutal heat and humidity (the Boston forecasters called the conditions "oppressive"). We welcomed the non-stop rain this weekend to cool things off and break up the mugginess. Hooray for Fall!

2 Years and Counting

As of August 4th, we have been married for two whole years! To celebrate, we took the T into Boston and walked down to the North End for some incredible Italian food. Jenny had pumpkin tortellinis, and Chase had lobster ravioli! Needless to say, it was some of the most delectable Italian food we have ever had.

And So It Begins...

We finally got our act together and started a blog. We are officially 100% moved into our apartment in Cambridge! Every box unpacked and frame hung. We have enjoyed a few weeks of carefree adventuring, and now we are buckling down. Jenny starts her teacher responsibilities as the 8th grade English teacher at Pioneer Charter School August 10th, and Chase has a few weeks before he starts his first classes at the Law School.