Charles River Crunch

Jenny's Birthday and Finals

2010-05-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

Chase is in the midst of final exams and papers. Soon he will be a lowly 1L no more, rather he will be a "rising" 2L. Hooray! It has been a wild, and mostly enjoyable, ride. See the picture below for the chaos that was Chase's desk as he wrote the final paper for his class on negotiation about Moses, yes the Old Testament Moses, as a negotiator with both God and Pharaoh.

We took a break this last week to celebrate Jenny's 25th birthday by hitting a local restaurant for an order of the famous "big dig" fries (see pic below).

Due to a busy summer, we will be shutting down the blog for the next few months. We want to wish everyone a happy summer and will be blogging again in August!

Spring Break x 2

2010-04-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

We loved spending Chase's Spring Break in SLC skiing and seeing our friends and family. And, bonus!, we had Mad come out to Cambridge for her Spring Break the week after. We will let the pictures below tell the story of outdoor adventures, city exploring, and some exceptionally delicious food!

The Lion King Broadway Production

2010-03-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

For our Valentine's/Birthday presents to each other, we went out to a lovely restaurant and to the Broadway production of The Lion King at the Boston Opera House. We went to Ivy for dinner (the Ivy League student is standing there under the sign). The dishes at Ivy are purposely small to allow patrons to get 2-3 different entrees each. We were really delighted with the 4 dishes that we ordered: gourmet lobster mac & cheese (had to try it-worth it), fantastic steak frites, the most amazing sea scallops, and an Italian dish of yumminess for which we can't remember the name. It is worth living in Boston just to know that there will be at least one fresh lobster dish at every restaurant, often with a unique method of preparation, e.g., tempura, mac & cheese, salads, sandwiches, soups, or even stuffed. After the excellent meal, we walked around the corner to watch the play. It was incredible. The costumes alone were worth the price of admission. The only thing to dampen our spirits, literally, was the lingering nor'easter. It has been raining for three days straight.

Happy Birthday Chase!

2010-03-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

This week Chase turned 25! Wahoo! A quarter of a century landmark which we celebrated with an ice cream cake made for a five year old. Actually, we had a different cake specially ordered but due to an unhappy mistake we ended up with the beauty you see below. A little yellow frosting and some rainbow sprinkles never hurt anyone, right? Thanks to everyone for their well wishes and love.

Rainy but Inspiring Weekend

2010-02-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

It has been a rainy, windy week. Chase's umbrella was no match for the nor'easter winds (see picture below). Chase had a special opportunity to listen to Elder Oaks speak at the law school on Friday. He had been invited by the Harvard Law Latter-Day Saints Society to talk about the tenants of Mormonism to the student body. He spoke in the Ames Moot Courtroom to an audience of around 300 people. After the event, Chase and Jenny got to go to the Harvard Faculty Club to have an intimate dinner with Elder Oaks and his wife, several other law students, and a couple of professors. We enjoyed the message they shared, Elder Oaks' sense of humor, and his wife's sweetness. Where's Chase?

We Love Veggie Planet!

2010-02-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

We cannot think of anything to write this week, so we have decided to describe our favorite meals from our favorite eatery on Harvard Square. It is called Veggie Planet, and it is an incredible local, organic smorgasbord of deliciousness! About once a month, when we are feeling particularly rich in time and money (20 minute walk and $15), we treat ourselves to dinner at Veggie Planet. Usually, Chase gets their macarroni and cheese. We know what you are thinking: Chase is a health conscious dude, what would posses him to eat such a classic butter-based comfort food. The answer would be that it is disguised with whole wheat pasta, asiago and cheddar cheeses, and covered in baked broccoli, tomatoes, and scallions. Jenny traditionally gets the Henry’s Dinner flat bread pizza with roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, rosemary & sage, goat cheese and asiago cheese. This week we branched out, well Chase did, and got the Portobello Redhead pizza with roasted portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, rosemary & sage smothered in romesco (roasted red pepper & almond) sauce and topped with feta cheese. We got take out yesterday to give Chase a small break from a 14 hour day of brief writing. One day we will ambitiously try to create these meals on our own, probably when we move and go through withdrawal from not having Veggie Planet readily available.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

We send our love today to our wonderful friends and family. Thanks for all of your support this year!

Love,
Jenny and Chase

Snow Day?

2010-02-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

Today, Boston schools canceled classes due to the "inclement" weather forecast. We find this a little odd as there is no snow on the ground as of our noon walk (please see the pictures below). The forecasters have issued a severe weather warning for 5 pm, so naturally it is necessary to cancel school? Jenny is a little frustrated because she has double preps on Weds, so she will be doing her work/planning from home today without the materials that she needs because they are at school, because the snow day was supposed to be Thursday, because the principal said so the day before... Complaints aside, these things are a minor inconvenience because we have gotten to spend the morning and a good part of the day together. Chase took a break from studying so we could go for a walk in the delightfully snow free afternoon, and he spotted a gigantic hawk cruising around the heart of Cambridge! We watched it for at least 10 minutes and followed it from tree to tree around the neighborhood. We think it is the largest wild bird, aside from the bald eagle Jenny spotted in Vermont this fall, that we have ever seen. Peter, maybe you can help us identify what type of predatory bird it is. Anyway, the pictures are below along with pictures of the produce we started recieving today from Boston Organics. We signed up to get in-season fresh fruits and veggies delivered to our apartment every other week. It is a little bit like Christmas :) and it should help us to eat a healthier variety of foods.

"Baby, it's cold outside"

2010-01-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

Brrrrrrrrr. And repeat, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. With wind chill, temperatures in Boston have been in the negative numbers. One morning was even -11. Hot cocoa, sweats, and double wrapped blankets (at all times) have helped up survive to this point, but so far the meteorologists say that end of the cold snap is nowhere in sight. It gradually warms up to the high twenties this week, but that is without wind chill which we have learned is a very significant variable in local temperature calculations. Please send warm thoughts in the direction of the East!

Back to Back Dates

2010-01-24T15:04:00.000-08:00

Before Chase starts his 18 credit hour spring semester on Monday (winter semester ended on Thursday), we decided to enjoy the weekend. On Friday night we went to a session at the Boston Temple, and on Saturday night we went waffle iron shopping and sea food eating. We are grateful to the gift certificate from our credit card points which made both evenings virtually free. This is also because our waffle iron search was a complete failure- whose idea was it to stock only $200 waffle irons? We will be sticking to BBB from now on.

Back in the Routine

2010-01-17T18:08:00.000-08:00

We have been getting back in the routine: law school classes, parent teacher conferences, etc. However, we did make time over this long weekend to have some fun. Last night we went out for Thai food and to see Avatar with Kristen and Bryson. It was a great to get out and go into Boston. We really love living here, and Avatar was even better the second time. Check out our sweet 3D glasses below!

Weekend at Hogwarts

2010-01-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, Jenny took the day off, and we went to the special Harry Potter exhibit at the Science Museum in Boston. The exhibit had a large display of props, sets, costumes, and its own Diagon Alley. Tragically, we were not allowed to take pictures except in the Diagon Alley store at the end. The pictures below are from that area, but they are not nearly as cool as the actual artifacts. Our favorite things were throwing a quaffle through a quidditch hoop; Hagrid's hut and the actual Monster Book of Monsters; life size and detailed models of Dobby, Kreacher, Buckbeak the hipogriff, Fawks the phoenix, and the Hungarian horntail dragon; the costumes (especially from the Yule Ball); and the actual wands from each wizard. Despite the evidence below to the contrary, both Jenny and Chase realized that they probably would be sorted into either the Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff houses. This realization came at an actual ceremony with the sorting hat at the beginning of the Hogwarts tour. We are still geeking out!

Chase standing in front of the actual knight chess piece that Ron rode in The Sorcerer's Stone!

Jenny rooting for Gryffindor!

Chase reviling in his evil Slytherin ways!

Picking up some school supplies at Flourish and Blotts.

Remember, the wand chooses the wizard!

This t-shirt in the museum store reminded Jenny of a shirt with the same cartoon that Peter wore years ago. Math geeks are almost as cool as Harry potter geeks :)

Christmas Break in Salt Lake

2010-01-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas vacation in Salt Lake full of friends, family, and lots of movies! It was great to see our friends at Brent's wedding, get yogurt with Paige, Matt, and Ryan, and to visit with the Lords and Okazakis. Family time was spent either over delicious food or at the movie theater. We would rank the movies we saw in the following order:
1. Avatar
2. The Blindside
3. Sherlock Holmes
4. Invictus
Needless to say, we saw more movies in these last two weeks than in the fifty prior weeks of 2009!
Thanks to everyone for making this an incredible holiday vacation. We both had a great time and loved seeing those we care about the most!

Snowed In!

2009-12-20T08:42:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-06T10:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-18T17:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-09-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

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.