11 Months

So, I know it's probably not all that exciting to the rest of you, but Katherine and I are celebrating our 11 month anniversary today.  Truth be told, I don't find it all that exciting either.  Still, the marriage is going great, and this just provides a reason for us to celebrate.

If you didn't know, 11 months is the "scone" 

anniversary.  So I made Lemon Cranberry scones this morning.  And, as a public service to you, I'm linking to the recipe.  The skinny (not that you'd stay skinny eating these) is that they're easy to make.  It only took me an hour this morning from pulling out the ingredients to enjoying my pastry. And they taste great.  I don't know what else you can ask for.  Mmmmm.

We're Locals

Its been a busy several months since moving to San Diego, mostly because of all the adjustments to living in a new place and starting new jobs. I am pleased to report that we are officially San Diegans ... because we ran into someone we know at the grocery store last Friday. You know you are a local when you run into people you know in public.

Here is a quick rundown of some major and minor happenings since the move to San Diego:

• Greg and I joined the Sanford family for a late August vacation in Walt Disney World. It was great to see family, to ride the Mad Tea Party and to see La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil.
  
• I am thrilled to report that I started work as Administrative Associate at the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership in early September. Balboa Park is San Diego's major urban park which is the site of many museums and cultural institutions. The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership (BPCP) is a collaborative of 24 institutions in the park; we work on a range of collaborative programs, from collective business operations to a learning institute for park and area museum staff. I am really enjoy working with cultural institutions in such a beautiful setting.

California Tower and Dome in Balboa Park
Courtesy of a stranger on Flickr

• In mid-September Greg started working as a law clerk in the Southern District of California.
• We ended a short church search at Flood Church. Shout out to our Wednesday evening Community Group - it's all about the Love and Respect.
  
• My parents visited in mid-September for a combination of self-guided, Greg-guided and Katherine-guided sightseeing. They visited the San Diego Museum of Art and took a lengthy audio tour of Balboa Park while I was working. Then we took off for a day trip to Coronado Island in San Diego Bay to see the historic Hotel del Coronado. Our day ended downtown at the Top of the Hyatt, looking out over San Diego, the bay, and Coronado Island.
• In mid-October I traveled to the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware to conduct a workshop titled The Needlework Detective at the conference Who's Your Daddy? Families in Early American Needlework. It was great to see friends and colleagues and to revisit some subjects and materials that I enjoyed very much working on in Connecticut. I also spent an evening with some friends from Delaware and Pennsylvania, catching up and reminiscing about the good old days.

Looking forward, it's all about the holidays. Greg and I are flying to Houston for Thanksgiving with my family. We'll celebrate in traditional Hunt-family style with Heavenly Salad, museum visits, and The Nutcracker. Over Christmas the Sanfords are coming to San Diego, for a lot of sunshine and warm breezes.

Happy Holidays!

Fruited Amber Majesties

Quite some time ago, Greg and I hopped in our trusty Toyota Corolla and headed west on I-80. Since it is never too late to blog about life events, I present our move West, occurring between July 31 and August 3, 2008.

The trip occurred in four acts:

South Bend, Indiana to Lincoln, Nebraska: spacious skies and amber waves of grain. I remember lots of farms, straight roads, and an alarmingly flat landscape. Perhaps the best part was a stop at a Nebraska state rest stop (offering free wi-fi) featuring some great art.


Lincoln, Nebraska to Denver, Colorado: Are we there yet? After more Nebraska we tackled the high plains of eastern Colorado, driving through Fort Morgan, where I had actually visited previously on a fantastic vacation to visit a friend working at the Fort Morgan City Museum. Sarah has since moved on, but Fort Morgan is still there. In Denver, we stayed with friends of Greg's from college. They fed us some delicious grilled dinner from their back porch with beautiful views of the Rockies.

Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada: Purple mountain majesties and then Utah. We got on the road early for the longest leg of the trip, starting with a steep climb in the thin air, then a long slow decline into western Colorado and Utah. The morning drive through the mountains was a stark contrast to the flat, unending nothingness of southern Utah, Arizona and Nevada. The most memorable portion of this section of the trip was I-15 as it cuts through the extreme northwest corner of Arizona. The interstate runs through the Virgin River Gorge, and seems to hang suspended in the air along the side of the some of the most beautiful mountains I've seen to date. I wish I had a picture of it, but I was too busy staring out the window. I recommend that you see it for yourself.

Las Vegas, Nevada: Neither of us had been to Las Vegas before, and given the lack of towns in the desert, it seemed like a great place to stay. We chose the Luxor, for its delightfully tacky references to ancient Egypt. Based on a recommendation from a Sanford family friend, we had dinner at Shanghai Lily in Mandalay Bay. Then we went to bed at 9:15 p.m. local time. Yes, readers, I went to Las Vegas and went to bed early. But I was tired! And cranky! The next morning dawned bright and early for us (we were still on Eastern time) and we went to grab breakfast at the Bellagio. But not before a little photo shoot in front of the Luxor...


Las Vegas, Nevada to San Diego, California: we're home! This was the shortest leg of the trip at only 5 hours. Honestly, I don't remember much from this part except for the wonderful feeling of pulling the car into our parking spot and entering our new rental condo for the first time.

So join me in a rousing chorus of America the Beautiful:

O beautiful, for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

It took me from December 2007 to August 2008 to make it from one sea to the other, but here I am!