The Johnstons

This weekend we spent celebrating our 3 year anniversary in North Conway, NH at the Eastman Inn B&B. Or as Ryan likes to call it, the Bed and Breakfast. North Conway is a quaint little town in the White Mountains with beautiful scenery and great outlet shopping. We wanted to celebrate with a fun little weekend get-a-way, and thought we would give the Bed & Breakfast experience a try. All week at work I was discussing this weekend with co-workers and talking about the types of people that go to bed and breakfasts and what to expect because neither Ryan or I have ever been. After talking with them I started to get a little afraid of what kind of situation we would be in, but luckily it ended up being a great experience, and I would totally do it again. The room was nice, the folksy feel was well, folksy, and nothing beats breakfast included.

We were fortunate enough to still have a lot of color on the trees. It's been pretty cold lately and we thought we missed all the foliage. We not only had color, and perfect weather, but had the best shopping experience of our life. It was a perfect weekend!

This picture is proof that Ryan wore his Brady jersey to the Patriots game. It was taken on the train we took to Gillette Stadium.So we were not really thinking when we purchased Ryan's jersey. We kept wondering why they seemed big while we were in the store, so we ended up just buying a smaller size. Well, when we got to the game, and it was FREEZING, and we saw everyone wearing their jersey over their sweatshirts or coats it hit us. Oh, that's why they are so big, you wear them over your layers. duh. Our scarfs are sure cute though! No mistake there!





Going to a Patriot's game was such an awesome experience. I attempted to surprise Ryan with tickets for passing the CPA, but the surprise didn't end up being as spectacular as I was hoping. I purchased the tickets on Stub hub and the credit card I used happened to be one that Ryan had used before so all the delivery emails went to his email account. Long story short, he knew he was getting something from Stub Hub. Oh well, the game was so much fun! and taking the train to and from Gillette was awesome!

Katie, Brandon and Ben spent half of their vaca in New York, and I was lucky enough to take a couple days off work to join them. We spent a few hours going through the Museum of Modern Art, (which was extremely crowded for a Thursday!), and got to see an amazing van Gogh exhibit that included Starry Night! Although it was extremely crowded it was still cool to see one of my favorite works of art in person.

While setting up to take a picture by this Pollock, Ben got yelled at by the security guard for getting too close to the painting. There was a lot of people in the room and the man yelled "PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE PAINTING" and everyone turned to look. It was kind of embarrassing, and highly unexpected because everyone was doing it.
Random huh? Well, it made Ben's day.
After the museum, Brandon and Katie had an evening to themselves because they got tickets to Conan. I was in stand by and after missing out by a few people ahead of me, Ben gave up his ticket and hung out with me for the evening. Thanks Ben! That night we met up with Kate, who works in an office with an amazing view, ate the world's largest pizza slice (sorry no picture), walked past THE restaurant, got some ice cream and met up with Jed for a minute at Columbia. It was a short visit, but always fun to see the Cowleys! Can't wait for Thanksgiving 2008!

Katie, Brandon and Ben were here the weekend of Columbus Day so I had work off and was able to take them around to the sights of Bean Town.

Check it out guys....I learned a new trick!This was our entertainment on the drive home from apple picking....
Oktoberfest was going on in Harvard Square so we headed over to Cambridge and checked out the different "acts" and local chess players. Afterward we walked the Harvard yard.




So for those of you who have google reader you might have noticed this, but the first time I published this post I spelled the header Kirkland with no "l"........Wow, and I don't even have an excuse because it's spelled out in this picture. I guess it really has been three years......

Proper Apple Picking Rules for those who grew up in the West and have never been in an Orchard.
First, locate the apple you would like to pick.
Second, Properly lean a ladder against the trunk of the tree, climb, and in a circular motion gently remove the apple from it's stem.
"Good Technique Katie!".......Mr. Johnny Appleseed himself.
What not to do, sit on a branch and yank out apples at random.
Climb on husband's shoulders and blindly walk through branches hoping to find some good ones.
Stand on branch, reaching with all your might to grab what could end up being a rotten apple while a loved one "watches" on in case you fall.So this is what happens when a group of 5 adults gets to rummage around an apple orchard for an afternoon. Good wholesome awesome amazing FUN!



"I'm sad I won't be able to do this every year"....Ben