Bostonians Fight AIDS Together

A few weeks ago, World Vision and Boston AIDS Africa held the first citywide Caregiver Kit build in the United States. We built over 3,000 AIDS Caregiver Kits that will go to our volunteer caregivers and their patients in Rwanda.

Around the world, the Caregiver Kit program has already trained 65,000 volunteers and served 900,000 adults, children, and orphans affected by HIV and AIDS. Amen!

Every time I get a chance to meet other people excited about World Vision and the work that we do, it always gets me even more excited about our work around the world.

Here's a quick pic of some of our volunteers:



I did some local media around the event, too. Here is a link to the article in that Wednesday's Metro Boston.

Happy Birthday, B!

The big B-man turned 27 on the 28th. He only gets a few weeks to be the "same" age as me, and then it's another year of me being older and wiser than him. Oh the perks of age!

The day started with breakfast in bed and some homemade pecan sticky rolls. Yummm!





That night, we ventured out to a new restaurant in the South End - Hammersley's.

I tried the rare beef tenderloin - and B had the quail. Delicious!



Just another night in Boston...

Our First Thanksgiving In New England

For the first several years after college, I was either A) too poor or B)stuck at work when Thanksgiving came around each year, and I rarely made it home to Ohio in November.

I would round up anyone "leftover" like me, and we would have a potluck turkey dinner together in the city. Those dinners - and watching or working at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - are some of my favorite memories of living in New York City.

This year, we did the same thing here in Boston and made some great new memories with new friends here.

And of course, what's a Thanksgiving meal without a little pre-turkey football, right?


Ann and I enjoy the game from the sidelines





Brian and our pastor, Curtis

Soaking Up The Sun In La-La Land

I just got back from a two-day training in Los Angeles to learn how to work in the field as an emergency communicator with World Vision. Very cool.

When I flew in on Sunday, I got to meet up with our friends, Matt and Emily, in Pasadena at a great little restaurant for dinner.



Guess who "joined" us? Bill Nye the Science Guy! And William Fichtner was on my flight out to Burbank.

On Tuesday, after our training, Michelle and I had some much-needed girl talk and caught up, too. (Sorry I forgot to take a picture!)

Love you guys!

He Cooks AND Cleans!

That's right, ladies! Last Saturday, I woke up to find my husband with a sudden urge to....COOK!

Besides his super-secret-fabulous guacamole, his triple layer breakfast casserole, and his spicy chili cheese dip, the man doesn't like to make PB &J, let alone cook.

What a treat! He made huevos rancheros and toast - yummm!

GWU v. BU

It was my 1,007th college basketball game (or something like that)...and Brian's first!

When I was at GWU, I used to work at the basketball games at the Smith Center as a part-time job. When Brian was at U of M, he used to play video games while the Tigers were playing basketball. Let's just say it's not, um, his thing.

A few pics from the game:









GWU won in overtime!

Our First Guest

Our friend Heather took the Bolt Bus up from NYC on Wednesday, and we had a great time exploring the town together. She was our first overnight houseguest here in Boston! The weather was gorgeous, New England-y and fall - just the way we like it!

The first night she was here, we carved jack o'lanterns and bought some mums from the greenhouse down the street. I hadn't carved a pumpkin for several years - we had a great time!







Getting a crash course in expert pumpkin carving from the Travel Channel.







Happy Halloween!

Halloween night we went down to Beacon Hill to see everyone dressed up - and then we had a delicious dinner at Bin 26 Enoteca.



Heather took a minute to take a picture with her date.

Saturday, we went all over the city: the North End, Boston Harbor, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, and downtown Boston. We ended up wandering around the South End and found some great little places!

Here are a few pics from our adventures:



We must have walked at least 7 miles that day - but we did take the T a few times to get from here to there.





Sunset in the South End