As 2009 comes to a close along with the decade, a number of “Top 10″ lists are popping up.  Most of the one’s I’ve read focus on pop culture and the media.  Since this blog is about us, I’m going create my own list… “top 10″ moments of our lives together. Here the are, in chronological order:

1) January 11, 2003 – our skiing “date” at Whitetail Resort.  After much discussion, I agreed to go with Justin and Jingles for night skiing.  Not having ever successfully skied before, I really had no appropriate attire, so everything was borrowed from his sister.  While I waited in the Parmelee’s living room, I expressed my fears about getting off the chair lift to his father, who, reassuringly replied “as long as the chair doesn’t hit you in the back of the head, you’ll be fine!”    (thanks Les!)  As it turns out, I only had one attempt at this, after which we skied down and then back up hill in order to avoid the lift completely.

2) February 14, 2003:  As detailed in an earlier post, this was a significant date turned weekend adventure for us.  Snowed into my apartment in Frostburg, this weekend changed the course of our relationship.

3) Multiple Dates between January 2004- August 2005 – hosting parties/cookouts, etc. with our friends at Syracuse.  In spite of a rocky beginning and end of our time in Syracuse, we developed several strong friendships that have, to this day, endured time and distance.  My favorite memories of Syracuse involve our almost frequent get tog-ethers with our friends, usually at our apartment.  It was during that period of time that I realized how similar Justin and I are – we love to host a party, break out the grill, guacamole, some drinks and just enjoy the company of friends.

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It’s hard to believe that it’s December and we’re all gearing up for Christmas again!   We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Merry-land with both families.  Our return on Boston on the 29th signaled the start to a busy month ahead.  Our flight left the BWI airport at 9:50PM and in the hours before our departure, we found ourselves in a not so random Columbia, MD bar with one of our favorite people Jim Ingles, also known as Jimmy James and Jingles.  We could not have ended our visit to Maryland on a better note; boarding the plane  full of good food, plenty of beer and still ripe with the giggles leftover from hysterically laughing our way through dinner.

For those of you who don’t know, “Jingles” was the person who encouraged Justin on to introduce himself to me.  He kept a watchful eye as our relationship progressed, smoothing over bumps in the road and steering my future husband in the right direction with his  relationship wisdom.  As we laughed away the last few hours of our Thanksgiving with Jim, I was reminded again, just how much his friendship means to us.  It’s funny how life hands us these little jolts of awareness occassionally.

Speaking of jolts – - shortly after our return to Boston, we packed our bags and headed to New York with Jon and Elizabeth to see the Radio City Rockettes!  It’s probably not hard to believe that seeing this production has been a lifelong dream of mine and so I was thrilled to be finally making the trip.  We left on Friday and spent the night in Stanford, CT where we found our hotel littered with college freshman who were attending some sort of holiday dance.  The four of us grabbed front row seats at the bar and watched in amazement as one teen after another paraded around the hotel lobby in 4 inch heels, mini dresses and bizarre top hats.  The sight was something akin to a Miss America pageant gone awry… and we were the judges, full of snarkey comments.    Much to the dismay of the other bar patrons, we stopped short of holding up signs that published our opinions.

The following morning we finished the drive to NY just in time for me to attend a baby shower for one of my good friends and her husband.  Folks, I learned a very important lesson that weekend – - surprise baby showers aren’t a good idea.  For one thing, women who are 9 months pregnant shouldn’t have to do anything that they don’t want to do… like wake up early on a Saturday and head to a surprise party in their pajamas.  And secondly… they deserve to eat whatever they want.  Never doubt the value of having a “pot luck”…. your guests would much rather eat something they cooked themselves than wait 2 hours in a random location in Queens, NY with ONLY a bag of cheetos to share.

Despite all of the above, by the time 10PM rolled around that day, we were happily seated in our second balcony seats at Radio City Music Hall with 3-D glasses in place, ready to enjoy the show.  And, I was not disappointed. From beginning to end, the Rockettes appeared, completed their various dances in unison and belted out the most Christmas-y tunes you can imagine.  The 3-D portion of the evening was just a bonus.  :)

Sunday found we found ourselves gobbling up Dim Sum with Gary and touring what we hope is our future neighborhood… Park Slope, NY (Brooklyn).  Note to readers: Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donus have NOTHING on Gorilla Coffee. I enjoyed the best cup of coffee I’ve had since visiting a coffee plantation in Costa Rica.  Seriously folks, once they are a more commercial business, coffee competitors better get nervous.

We rounded out our time in NY with a final look at THE TREE and headed home feeling as though the season had been appropriately “kicked off.”  Now… on to the rest of the month!

A few pictures from the weekend in NY.

We now have a new reason to consider Raleigh, NC in our “future cities to live in” list.  And for those keeping track… that’s 3 reasons!  Our BFF’s (i.e. Boston Family Forever), Jess and Gordon Ryan have relocated there for a few years.

Until the day I can bring myself to return to our Brookline “coupling” spots (yes, Publick House, I mean you) our rendez-vous at the Mellow Mushroom will have to suffice.

Lisa, Dori & Jess outside of the Durham Mellow Mushroom

Raleigh-Durham Friends united!!

For longer than I can remember, my family has made an annual trek to the Outer Banks of North Carolina during the month of August.  When I was a kid, we rented a smaller house in Avon, NC that is now fondly referred to as “The Cameron House” in reference to the last name of the home owners.  I still picture that house as my ultimate vacation retreat with a vast number of bedrooms for adults (there were 3) and a perfect sized bedroom just big enough for my sister and I to bunk and admire our tanned faces in the mirror above the dresser that was lined with seashells.   When either my mother, grandmother or aunt ran a load of laundry in that house, it shook.  Houses in the Outer Banks sit on high stilts, and while this protects them from the risks of flooding, it makes them more sensitive to wind, thunder and a number of human activities taking place inside.  According to my grandmother, this includes the violent fever-shakes of an 8 year old with a bad case of strep throat.  :)  And… what I can I say?  I was plagued by strep throat for years; my sister lucked out (?) by only having bad ear infections.  In the years that we spent visiting the “Cameron House” I experienced my first “water spout” (later the subject of a very dramatic 8th grade english paper),  built any number of sandcastles and “motes” with my sister and grandfather, witnessed my first sunset,  and fell utterly and completely in love with life on the beach.  When I think about my childhood, there are few memories as crystalized in my mind as the summer weeks spent in that house, surrounded by my family.  

Because I’m telling you about this in the form of a memory, you have probably guessed that eventually our family outgrew the house.  And we did; my aunt and uncle welcomed my beautiful cousin Jeanette into the world, Sarah and I became adolescents and my dad’s snoring… proved to be more than anyone could take.  :)  As we grew physically we diminished as well; losing both my grandmother and aunt quickly within 2 years.  At 13 the pain of loss from these deaths was enormous and I can only begin to imagine the immense black hole that was felt by the adults in my family.  And so… much like the settlers in Roanoke… we moved away from the Cameron “village.”

Over the next (unknown number of years) and until very recently, my family continued to vacation in  Avon, NC which is on the outskirts of the more commonly known Cape Hatteras, NC.  If you’ve ever seen a picture of a this lighthouse; you’re looking at the biggest landmark for Cape Hatteras, NC. 

Cape Hatteras Light

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In  a previous post I described my passion for the Christmas holiday season. From that post, you may have assumed that Christmas is my favorite holiday, and it does run a close second.  What I like best about Christmas is the anticipation, the magic of the season and the familial traditions that accompany it each year.  The day itself, while exciting and usually pretty relaxing (at least in my family), pales in comparison to…. Independence Day! 

My earliest memory of this holiday involves my entire family, several large coolers and the Kennedy Center.  My mom could probably better recall which years (and for how many)  we spent watching fireworks on the rooftop of the Kennedy Center, splayed out on our beach chairs, having indulged in a hearty meal of fried chicken, corn, coleslaw and various desserts.   I can only recall the feeling of complete contentment and of being awestruck by the fireworks show.  Watching those fireworks as a child, I remember feeling safe, being snuggled up in a blanket next to my sister, surrounded by our parents and grandparents.  Yet, all around us were these thunderous noises accompanied by flashes of bright lights.

Overtime, our family moved our yearly celebrations to the lawn of the Washington Memorial and I have one very vague, but hilarious memory of attempting to go “#1″ in a group of bushes and bumping my bare bum up against some other poor kid who was trying to do the same thing.  I guess there must have been a long line at the port-o-john’s.  I remember I was absolutely  horrified and my grandmother, Meme, could not contain her laughter after learning what had happened.  

I moved away from the DC area about 7 years ago, when Justin and I first moved to Syracuse.  Our first year away from DC, we took a summer trip across the northeast, and landed in Boston on the 4th of July.  After dinner, we selected a viewing spot, perched on the Salt and Pepper Bridge that crosses the Charles River, dead center to where the show would later be.  Being the relatively clueless tourists that we were at that point,  we found ourselves locked into our prime spot for 4 hours until the fireworks show commenced.  Folks, it was worth the wait – - the Boston fireworks show that year (I think it was 2004) was awesome!  It was 20-25 minutes of explosion after explosion, all carefully orchestrated to the rhythm of the Boston Pops concert, playing live at the Hat Shell nearby.  I think it was at that particular event that Justin realized just how much I enjoy Independence Day and that I actually am in love with fireworks displays.  Truly, this is not an exaggeration.  During the evening hours of summer months if I hear a noise that sounds even remotely like fireworks, I drop what I am doing and search the skies for streaks of light.  Justin, I believe, has come to enjoy the level of excitement that I derive from this relatively simple life pleasure and has become an advocate in my fireworks search over the years. 

As you all know, we moved to Boston a short time later… which was very fortunate from a Independence Day perspective because what was available in Syracuse just wasn’t satisfying enough.  Although,  I do have to give a shout out to the NY State Fair… they do a nightly display that I could see from our apartment on South Campus and I enjoyed that immensly during our 3 summers living there.  

We’ve been in Boston for 4 years now.  And much to my disappointment, in that time, we hadn’t been back to see their annual fireworks display… until this year.  As you can imagine, 4th of July in Boston is a multi-day celebration.  This year was no exception, and was perhaps, doubly as exciting because my sister came up to visit that weekend and was eager to geek out on Independence Day festivities with me.   We spent the day hunting down any number of events, including a reading of the Declaration of Independence, passing through the official Boston Harborfest headquarters and taking a tour of historic Beacon Hill.   Although that may seem like a pretty “complete” day, I was perhaps most looking forward to our evening plans….

Despite threatening skies, Justin, Sarah and I headed towards downtown Boston in the mid-evening in order to stake out a spot for watching the show.  Here we are on our walk down Memorial Drive…

Dori and Sarah

Dori and Justin

We arrived in time to select a spot that albeit not as “front and center” as either the Kennedy Center or the Salt & Pepper bridge, provided us with an adequate view. And, although I did not want to miss the live action by putting a camera lens over my eye, much like anything else these days, they were captured here and here.   Just watching that little You Tube video of the fireworks sends a little chill of excitement through me!  

My annual summer quest to see post-Independence Day fireworks continues.  It really is just the best way to celebrate a holiday!

A few weeks ago, I was participating in a team-building activity with my company and was asked “what do you like to do for fun outside of work?”  My answer, among other things was “play outside.”  I’ve always been a big fan of being in the outdoors… whether it is at Camp Big Woods running a summer program, lying on the beach in North Carolina, walking/jogging outside on a brisk fall day or relishing in one of the many northeastern snowstorms.  I love to be outside and so it is not surprising that I met and married someone who shares this same interest.  

Over the years, Justin and I have spent many, many summer nights at a campground, or hosting a barbeque and one of our favorite things to do is take an evening “stroll” together through Brookline, particularly once the weather is nice.  Yes, sometimes the stroll is up to the brew-pub, but it is a stroll nonetheless.  :)  

Last month, we took a new approach on “playing outside” and participated in some fundraising events.  On May 3rd, he biked 42 miles in the cold and driving rain to complete the NYC 5-Boro Tour  while I traipsed through Boston on a 20 mile route in the annual Walk For Hunger.  Then, on May 16th and 17th, I completed the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, which was a 39.1 mile walk.   Together, we raised a total of $2900 that went to the organizations that we supported.  Needless to say, we both felt pretty accomplished and incredibly grateful to all of our family, friends and colleagues who supported us.

Stephanie, Dori, Jess & Heather - Walk for Hunger, Boston 2009

NYC 5-Boro Bike Ride

Avon Finish Line!

And now… on to our next outdoor activity!  On August 15th we will ride with Elizabeth and Jon in the Harpoon Point to Point bike ride.  It’s a 50 mile trek through Vermont to benefit the state’s food bank.  Should be fun and we’re already looking forward to it!  :)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Justin and I have spent the better part of our spring fighting off the flu.  It’s not been super-fun, but it did give us some quality time together in our the new digs.  However, after 4 weeks of feeling run-down we were both pretty fed up.  We took the trip to NY and felt both felt midly OK upon our return.  However, as the week following that trip progressed,  I began to take another turn for the worse.  Grrrr…. 

(Un) Fortunately, my downturn in health coincided with a solo trip to Maryland.  After de-planing on Thursday night, I knew the fate of my weekend had been determined.  A complete feeling of fatigue took over my body, accompanied by a sore throat, fever and body-rattling cough.  I contacted the friend I was planning to travel with and cancelled our plans – - I needed a weekend to rest, re-cooperate and hang out with Mom.  :) Folks, I must confess that I was secretly relieved and excited to have an excuse to spend that time in my parent’s house, snuggled up under a blanket,  completely neglecting the world that existed outside.

Damascus, MD is my hometown and though I didn’t spend my childhood there,  I did “grow up” there.  My family moved to Damascus when I was 12 years old, facing the awful realities of middle-school, braces, breasts, and hormones that turned me into somebody I didn’t know.  To say I hated everything and everyone is an understatement — everything was changing for me that year and in hindsight, 1989 was a pretty pivotal year in my life. As time progressed,  I learned more about our new town, the kids, and our family began to grow in a new direction.  I lived in Damascus through my senior year of high school and then returned back for frequent weekend visits throughout college.  And, though I have not physically lived in my parent’s house in nearly 9 years I still feel a very strong connection to the town, the house and of course, to my family. more…

For 24 years of my life I was a fan of the Baltimore Orioles.  I’ve attended a countless number of games with my dad, grandfather, sister (and occasionally, Mom) at Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards.  My grandfather once caught a fly ball hit by the Twin’s center fielder (we were sitting in right field when he snagged it with his ball-cap).  Every time I hear the Star Spangled Banner, I want to yell “OOOOOO say can you see” midway through the song. 

But alas, I met and married a Red Sox fan.  Call me a traitor, tell me I just love the underdog (which they were when I met Justin in 2002)… assume that I am a chameleon and wanted to connect with my guy.  Any of those statements might be true.  However, I have a pretty clear memory of October 27, 2004 because that was the night I felt in love with the Red Sox.  How could you not that night?  Furthermore, irregardless of how you may feel about them now, in 2004 they deserved to win and it was such a thrill to watch them.  Standing in front of the tv  in my Watson Hall RD apartment at Syracuse University that evening, crossing my fingers with all my might, I never could have imagined that we would move to Boston  9 months later.  

Yet, here we are living in Boston nearly 4 years later. Moving to Boston was a huge turning point in our relationship and we’ve taken some pretty major steps (like marriage) in our time here.  Our first apartment – - all whopping 400 square feet of it was less than 1 mile from Fenway park.  On summer nights when we had the windows open, we could hear the game and see the stadium lights through the tree branches.  At that point, we had such a small amount of money that we balked at spending more than $40 a week on groceries (for two people!).  But somehow, we found a way to make it to the Red Sox games that year.  Times have changed, but not that drastically, and we still find ourselves making room in the budget to attend games on a regular basis.  And though we have moved several times in the past 4 years, we are still within walking distance to Fenway Park.   more…

A few posts back I described events that unfolded in our lives between 2/14/2009 and 3/29/2009  - the chaotic move to a new house followed by weeks of the “regular” flu.  At that time, lying on the couch in our new basement, surrounded by unpacked boxes and barely able to breathe without coughing, I drew to mind the words that my Grandfather once bitterly announced to our family “I fail to see the humor in this.”  If memory serves, he was referring to some mishap that occurred on a family vacation.  However, the internal optimist in me (thank you M.J. Fox), did have some small hope that I would be able to look back and note some moments of humor within our ordeal.  I have had a few weeks to recover in a number of ways and have pinpointed 5 such moments. 

Humorous Moment #1:  As we are moving our belongings into the new house, we broke a mirror in the common area that is shared with our next door neighbor.  We humbly knocked on her door, introduced ourselves, profusely apologized and offered to replace it ASAP.  The very next day as we are unpacking she knocks on our door to a: ask if we’d had a chance to get a new mirror yet because the entryway looks “weird without it” and b: to review a list of things that we should be aware of so that we don’t “irritate her.”   And no,  I am not paraphrasing.  She then followed that sentence by “Oh honey, you look like you’re going to cry… I’m not mad at you.” 

The New Mirror

Humorous Moment #2:  Roughly 6 days before our move,  I called our utility and insurance companies to switch our respective home services over to the new place.  It was a pretty simple process with most companies, except for Comcast.  Admittedly our absolute least favorite utility company to encounter, Comcast managed to activate our new account at our old address. Not a big shock – -nor was it a huge shock that the installation technician (who arrived 2 hours late) was not authorized to install our internet connection, leaving Justin on the phone with Comcast “customer service” for 4 hours.  Three days later when we received a bill for close to $400, having just sent in a payment of nearly $200, Justin took a deep breath and dared to have a coherent conversation with a customer service representative.   45 minutes later I was typing away to the Better Business Bureau and hear Justin say “I don’t think that we’re really getting anywhere and I’d like to speak with a supervisor.”  The representative (from what I could assume) asked why he felt a supervisor was required.  ”You want to know why?  Here’s why (raises voice significantly) ” AT THIS POINT I’M READY TO ACCEPT SERVICE FROM A COMPANY THAT WOULD PROVIDE ME WITH TWO TIN CANS AND A FUCKING BALL OF STRING SO THAT I DON’T HAVE TO DEAL WITH COMCAST ANYMORE.  GET ME A GOD -DAMN SUPERVISOR ON THE PHONE, PLEASE.  We have now been credited for our troubles… twice. more…

Some people say the key to a successful marriage is never going to bed angry.  Other people will tell you that the key is something akin to the golden rule (a.k.a. you get what you give.)  On a recent trip I took, I read an article about the Obama’s and their claim to success in marriage;  spending time together (going on dates, etc.).  One reporter also apparently felt that the key to the Obama’s marriage was “fisting,” though somehow I feel her comments were taken a little out of context.

Thus far, the key to success in our marriage has been our commitment to maintaining our own identities, not being afraid to have a 3 person relationship: me, him and “us.”  Our relationship began when we were living 2 hours apart so in the beginning the struggle was not to create a life outside of the other person, but rather, to include each other in our current lives.  Today, after living together for almost 6(!!) years,  we find ourselves striving for the opposite approach.  

On Easter weekend we traveled together to New York City; after a rather lengthy decision making process we caught the 5:30 Megabus from Boston’s South Station to Madison Square Garden.  One of the great things about taking the bus to NYC (aside from the low cost) is that wi-fi is included, which means you can be pretty productive during that 4.5 – 5 hour bus ride… at least until the battery on your laptop runs out (Megabus doesn’t have the power feature).   Taking the bus also means that neither person has to focus on driving and if you arrive at the bus terminal promptly enough, you have a pretty good chance of getting seats together (which, we did).  We both had noble intentions of getting a few pesky work related emails out of the way and then settling back to enjoy the trip.  Unfortunately, we were flatly unsuccessful in this task.  Justin, tried in vain for about an hour to get connected to his work server with no luck and finally gave up.  I, on the other hand jumped right into my work email and ended up banging out 2.5 hours of work on my laptop and then another hour on his laptop after my battery died.  So much for “wrapping a few things up.”   As we pulled into NYC, however, we both had our iPOD’s cranked, hands linked and were in full weekend mode.  

After retrieving our bags, we literally hit the ground running to meet Gary at the Shake Shack, recently re-opened for late night dining, but still closing at 11AM. We arrived, out of breath at 10:50, ordered our burgers, fries and shake and were promptly handed our meal in-a-box and asked to leave the premises at 11:03.  Meh… that part kind of sucked.  Nonetheless, the three of us found a bench where we enjoyed our late night fast food and then made our way to Astoria/Gary’s abode. Once back at Gary’s place, the boys enjoyed a few beers while I got ready for bed and moved in and out of consciousness on the futon. If you are a fan of How I Met Your Mother, you are probably familiar with the recent episode where Ted creates the “Murtaw List”  - sleeping on a futon is on that list.  However, as our average age as a couple is 29, we decided to disregard the list for at least a few more months. Sorry, Ted! more…