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On Moving to the Mountains
“The mountains are calling and I must go.” The popular John Muir quote really speaks to the pull of nature and mountains. Living where I do, I see the quote all the time on bumper stickers, decorative logos, and Instagram hashtags. Well, the mountains called, and I moved. Moving to my awesome little mountain town in New Hampshire’s White Mountains was easily the best move that I have ever made for my family. When Ryan was younger, we moved around quite a bit between the demands of college, graduate schools, and just finding the right spot for our family. While moving around wasn’t ideal, it did give us a chance…
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All About Me – Blogtober
This year, I am trying a new challenge called Blogtober. It is a challenge among bloggers to post a new blog post every day for the month of October. I only just found out about this challenge this year, and it reminds me a lot of NaNoWriMo in terms of being a great motivator to write daily. Last year, I tried NaNoWriMo and had a great experience. Unfortunately, I completely neglected my blog while I worked on my novel and have been struggling to get back into a blogging rhythm ever since. I am really hoping that Blogtober will help me rediscover my blogging groove. The suggested prompt for today…
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Littleton Arts and Culture Festival – Sunday Snapshot
This weekend was the 50th Annual Arts and Culture Festival, and there was a lot of fun to be had around Littleton! We went to the festival last year, and although it was nice to look at the various art vendors – it was nothing compared to the fun and festivities of this year’s festival. After we checked out the vendors along the river and had some tasty crepes, we spent a lot of time checking out the Kids’ Corner at the Littleton Community Center. There were games and activities on the front lawn as well as inside the building. There were even three giant canvases for everyone to add…
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The Doughnut Cellar – Sunday Snapshot
Today’s Sunday Snapshots are actually pictures that I took earlier this week, while visiting one of Littleton’s newest businesses – the Doughnut Cellar. I have been eager to check out the Doughnut Cellar for a while now, but had to wait for them to finally finish their renovations and open. It was worth the wait! The inside of the shop is beautiful and well-designed, but the best part is the delicious donuts, coffee and tea that they are serving up. They even have gluten-free options. They also serve ice cream, sorbet, and shakes – though I haven’t had a chance to try those yet.
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Visiting the Farm – Portage Lake, Maine – Monday Snapshot
This weekend was a long weekend for the kids. We spent over 16 hours in the car over the course of two days (which is why this Sunday Snapshot is turning into a Monday snapshot). The kids managed great though, and the trip was well worth it. While we were visiting Cal’s family’s farm in Northern Maine – we enjoyed some beautiful scenery and ended up being able to do some impromptu apple and blueberry picking!
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Wallace Horse Cemetery – Littleton, NH
Who spends a beautiful weekend day visiting a horse cemetery? Apparently I do. The Wallace Horse Cemetery is one of those quirky small town things that I knew about, but had never bothered to stop and look at. I had seen it mentioned in a book about bizarre New England attractions. I see the sign all the time. Yet, it was just one of those things that you don’t really make the time to check out. Until we were going for a drive after getting some ice cream at Bishop’s and Ryan started asking questions about the horse cemetery. Then it seemed like the perfect time to stop and check…
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Summer Sunday – Sunday Snapshots
Ever since we moved to Littleton (over a year ago now!), it feels like we are constantly doing something. For a while, I was great about making sure to take a picture and post about our adventures on this blog. Sometimes, though, it is just so much easier to just enjoy the moment and not worry about documenting or sharing with others. This is the same reason that I used to post massive albums of our family adventures on Facebook, but now only rarely post. I want to spend my life living it – not just documenting it. With that said, I love this blog and what it can be.…
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The Talisman
The little white door blended in seamlessly with the wall around it, and Lucy probably wouldn’t have even noticed it if Connor didn’t point it out to her. It was small, the top of the door was level with the top of her head and it was maybe only a foot wide. In place of a doorknob, there were two latches – a tarnished old slide latch and a shiny and new-looking latch with a lock. Connor pulled a small key out of his pocket and started fumbling with the lock. Lucy looked at the door and wondered what could possibly be hiding behind it. It was much too small…
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A Trip to the Ice Cream Factory (Ben and Jerry’s) – Sunday Snapshots
For the past month or so, Saoirse has been talking about going to the “ice cream factory” during all of her pretend play. Fortunately for her, we live about an hour and a half from the Ben and Jerry’s factory. I was really looking forward to checking out the Littleton Farmer’s Market on their opening weekend of the season, but an impromptu trip to Ben and Jerry’s was the perfect treat for the kids today.
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Memorial Day Weekend – Sunday Snapshots
Spring has sprung and there is so much going on in our little mountain town. It is Memorial Day weekend and our town is packed with people from all over (but having grown up on Cape Cod, the activity here is nothing like the full-scale tourist invasion that Cape Cod will experience this weekend). We have a busy weekend planned, but the most important part of that is just family time. In Friday, Ryan sang at his school’s Memorial Day celebration and then we spent the evening hanging out with good friends. Yesterday, Ryan and I went to our local small town movie theater (Jax Jr) to see the new…
