Reflecting on the past few days...

Isaiah 41:10 says "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous hand." For the past few days, this verse has been heavy on my heart because of the unforgettable and terrifying tragedy that has occurred in my city on Monday. I know that things like this happen all over the world all the time but when it happens in your own backyard it really starts to hit home. People have been asking me about my experience and how I am dealing with it all so I thought what better way to express it (and even create a little therapy for myself) then by writing it down and sharing it with all of you.

I guess I'll begin at the beginning. Monday morning started out like any other typical day. Teej and I got up, I took him to the train station and came back to the house and had breakfast. I had moved all my morning clients to different days this week so that I could go Downtown Boston and experience the monumental Boston Marathon for the very first time. I was so excited, in fact, that I turned the TV on at 9:30am (because it is televised in Boston) to start watching the footage. Even from the television you could feel the strength, dedication, and patriotism that those runners had as the gun fired to send them on their long 26.2 mile journey. They all started their race from Hopkinton and were scheduled to finish at Copley Square in the heart of Boston.

This was the 117th marathon and is considered one of the greatest and most challenging marathons in the world. Not only that, but it was Patriot's Day, which is a holiday in Massachusetts to celebrate our nation and be proud of all we have accomplished thus far. Needless to say, it is an incredible and joyous day for everyone in the city of Boston. This years race consisted of 27,000 runners ranging from Wheelchair racers to Elite Olympic athletes to mediocre runners and charity runners who were running for a loved one who has passed from an illness or for a specific cause. The group of runners even had a group of people running to honor the victims of the Newtown crisis in Connecticut.

So, I had decided to take the morning off to go and experience this amazing event. I met my friend from work and her friend at the train station in Wellington at around 11am so that we could take the train in together. Now, the race started at around 9:30 but since it finished in Boston we had plenty of time to go watch if we made it there around 12. We took the train all the way to Back Bay Station, which was a couple blocks from the finish line. After a brief Starbucks run, we met up with a couple more people and we were on our way to watch. At first, we were standing close to the bleachers but couldn't see anything but the big flat screen so we thought it would be a better idea if we moved. It looked like there was space directly across from the bleachers so that we could see pretty well but we had to find a way to make it over there. Because all the streets were blocked off from the marathon, we had to walk down Newbury Street all the way down to the end of the marathon and then cross over. We did make it though and found a really good spot to watch. We were standing right across from the bleachers and right next to the foreign flags at the finish line.

This is where I was standing 

Now, at this time, it was probably around 1pm or so. I had been talking to my friend Laurel from Oregon who has a sister who was running in the marathon. We had been talking most of the morning so I told her that I would stay where I was and try and watch her sister come through. Thankfully, her sister is a very good runner and ended up finishing at the 3:23 mark, which ended up being at around 2pm. I actually missed her sister and found out she finished through a text message from Laurel. At that time I, along with the people I was with were getting really hungry so we figured we'd take a break from watching and go grab some food. We walked over to Newbury Street and found this restaurant named "Safar" to eat at. As we were walking over there, I looked at the time, which was now a little after 2pm and I began getting this weird feeling that I should probably not stay to eat and go home. I say this because I was scheduled to be back at work by 4pm. I thought the feeling was more anxiety based because I was fearful of being late for my client but I come to find out later that I think that feeling was truly a warning from the Lord to get out of there.

As we sat down for lunch, the pit in my stomach continued and I decided to say goodbye to the group I was with and head back to the train to go home. I made my way down Newbury Street and then cut over to Boylston right where the finish line took place. I made it past the finish line area around 2:15 and went into a local restaurant (along the same strip where Teej used to work before he moved offices)  and grabbed some food. By the time I left the restaurant, I was beginning to feel more uneasy. I wasn't sure what from but I just knew I needed to get to the train. It took me a very long time to get to the train because of the mass amount of people finishing the race and from all the spectators but I finally made it over to Arlington Station at around 230 or so. By the time I made it to my car safely it was almost exactly 3pm.

This was right after I got lunch and was walking to the train on Copley st. 2:15pm

I got in my car and the radio was on so the first thing I heard was explosion and then they went to commercial. I thought that was weird since I was listening to a very popular station in Boston that usually talks about people like Justin Beiber and other related gossip. I was unsure of what I had just heard until Teej texted me and asked me if I was still down there. I had texted him earlier to see if he wanted to take a little break to see me before I had to go to work so I thought he was responding to that. I replied with "No, just got in my car." The next thing I know is my friend Laurel is calling me all panicked and wanting to make sure I am ok. I told her I was fine and she was relieved and then she kind of began to tell me what had happened.

The minute she told me my heart sunk and I thanked the Lord for making me leave when I did. I hung up with her and immediately made sure Teej and my friend that was down there was ok too. They were all fine but all I could keep thinking was "I was literally just there an hour before. How did this happen? Why did this happen?" My body was in shock and all I could do was sit there and listen to the radio. They explained the severity of the two explosions and began to give details of the injuries among other things. The next thing I know I am receiving texts upon texts upon texts making sure I was ok. I was thankful for the concern but couldn't get over what had just taken place.

Later that day I talked with my friend who was stayed down there. She told me that she was sitting eating lunch outside with the other people she was with and she heard both explosions. At first she thought it was a car backfiring until she heard the second one immediately follow. She said that a woman came over a few minutes later and said a bomb had gone off and people were losing limbs and there was blood everywhere. Panic immediately struck within her. The images she saw next are too gruesome to explain but as she saw them as well as the fear in peoples eyes she knew she had to get out. The group of people walked over to Cambridge where they waited in a cafe for one of the girls moms to come and pick them up. She and the others in her group are fine and thankful to be alive.

I am beyond grateful that they are safe but it's so scary to think that if I would have stayed I would have experienced the exact same things as they did. It's almost surreal to think of the magnitude that two bombs can put off in such a short time and at such a large event where police officers are constantly roaming the vicinity. For someone to walk by and drop off a mysterious bag with a bomb made by a pressure cooker and then walk away without someone seeing him is incredible.

As the day went on, more and more people began to text both Teej and I to make sure we were ok. Teej ended up being forced to leave work and go home. By that point, the trains were all shut down and he had little to no way of getting home. Thankfully it was a nice day so he decided it best to walk the 4.5 miles all the way to Everett. I know he wasn't ever as thrilled to get to Everett as he was on that day. He said that it was interesting because the majority of people he saw were on foot and walking to a cab or a bus outside the city. I'm just so blessed and thankful that we both made it home safely.

As you can probably imagine, we were both pretty shaken up that evening. I ended up going to work that afternoon and getting home later that night. It was a joyous occasion to finally re-connect with Teej because it had felt like years since I'd seen him. We watched the news most of the night and it finally hit me how close I really was to the first bomb location. The majority of the things I had heard were on the radio so seeing the footage for the first time really threw me for a loop. I was a little ways down but I was definitely in the area and may have gotten seriously injured or worse if I stayed there.

While I sit here and begin to truly reflect on Monday's tragedy, my heart aches for the families of the lives that were taken from us. My soul yearns for the Lord to come and save us from this broken world. At the same time, I am thankful by the way that this city has reacted and has truly become one city united together. I am encouraged by not only the support from people in the city of Boston but by people all around the country. I believe the Lord has a plan for this tragedy and WILL use it for his good purpose; this I know. I pray that this act of terrorism brings people to know the goodness and eternal salvation that being a follower of Christ can be and that we, as Christians, can be examples for those who are searching for something greater than this life. I pray the Lord is with those families in mourning and those families waiting for their loved ones to get out of the hospitals. I pray that this city is better because of this! Lord bring light to this darkened world and shine bright as the stars in the heavens. I do know this much. I have learned to not take life for granted. The bible says "How short is life, and how full of trouble! Like a flower, we blossom for a moment and then wither. Like the shadow of a passing cloud, we quickly disappear." Job 14:1-2. I think I have finally realized how important it is to understand how little control we have over our lives so what time the Lord does give us on this earth we really must live it to the fullest and for his good purpose because you really never know.

As I finish up, I thank you for all your support. I thank you for your texts, phone calls, facebook posts, and other forms of contact. Teej and I wouldn't be where we are today without the love and encouragement you all show us everyday! We are blessed. Thank you again and we love you all!

Kate

A long overdue update and Anniversary trip!!

Hey everyone,

Well, as many of you know it has been SEVERAL months since I have updated you all about our adventures here on the east coast, and for that I apologize. However, since so many of you have been asking how our first Anniversary trip went, I figured why not start back up with the blog again. 

So, we have been officially married for 1 WHOLE YEAR as of about 2 weeks ago. It's crazy to look back on this year and see all that we have done and all that we have accomplished. This time last year we had just gotten back from our honeymoon in Hawaii and I was in the process of helping Teej move out of his apartment in Vancouver, WA. I mean, we still didn't have a clue what we were going to do other then the fact that we knew we were going to go live with my parents for a few weeks. Not the ideal situation after you get married but my parents are awesome and graciously took us in. Anyway, its just amazing to look back and see how much we have grown as a married couple as well as individuals. I don't think we thought (or anyone for that matter) that by March of this year we would have honeymooned in Hawaii, driven across the country, found jobs and settled in Everett, MA, explored Boston and the Cape, vacationed in New York for Thanksgiving, survived a hurricane and a blizzard, found a great church and community group, hiked in New Hampshire, and now had our first Anniversary trip in Vermont. Who knew? God has truly blessed us and we are so thankful. As an anniversary gift, I made Teej a scrapbook of about 25 pages from all the things we did this past year. It was really fun to make and I think he enjoyed it too. I told him that I was going to try and do one every year for as long as I could. We'll see how long that lasts haha...

Anyway, enough of that, let's focus on the fun stuff. OUR. ANNIVERSARY! A while back Teej and I were contemplating on what we wanted to do for our anniversary. I told him that I thought it would be really fun to go to a lodge and stay for a weekend in a state we hadn't been to yet. So, Teej began researching and found the perfect one. I mean, P-E-R-F-E-C-T. At least for me anyway. It's called the Trapp Family Lodge and it is located in Stowe, Vermont. Now, why is it perfect you ask? Let me tell you. If you know me at all, you know my infatuation with the Sound of Music movie. I blame it on the fact that I have a special connection to it because I played Maria in the second grade but it really comes down to the fact that I just love it. I love the music, the characters, and the story. I know, I am kind of a freak but it's who I am. Anyway, the Trapp Family Lodge was built by the actual Von Trapp Family back in the 1940's. The second I heard this I got so excited and knew that this was where we HAD to go for our anniversary. Teej was so sweet and saw how excited I was and graciously agreed that this was the place to go. 

We scheduled our trip for our anniversary weekend- March 15-17. Our jobs allowed us to only work a half day on Friday so we were fortunate enough to leave around 130 that afternoon. The drive to Stowe  took about 3 hours and 15 minutes but it didn't feel like it because it was all new territory for us. The drive itself was actually quite beautiful. We drove over some "mountains" as they call it but to us they are more like exaggerated hills but nonetheless still pretty. Because of the landscape, (trees, hills, etc) it actually reminded us of when we would drive to central Oregon or Bend.

Once we hit the actual town of Stowe, it took us about 15 minutes to get to the main lodge. We were told that it was going to be snowing when we arrived and also have a decent amount of snow on the ground but when we arrived in Stowe there was hardly anything in the air or on land so we were kind of disappointed. That is, until we reached the lodge. The lodge was of course, located on the top of the mountain and at extremely high elevation so by the time we reached the lodge there were several inches on the ground and the snow was coming down pretty hard. It was beautiful. Everything you could imagine a lodge to look like. Wood panels, surrounded in snow, and a gorgeous view of the hills and forest. Oh, and pictures of the Von Trapp Family were posted everywhere throughout the lodge as well as nice Austrian carpeting (not the most attractive thing though).  The minute we arrived, men who worked there unloaded our things onto this cart while another one parked our car for us. Pretty great service if you ask me. Our room was awesome. The package we purchased allowed us to receive an upgraded room as well as 2 massages. I got it mainly for the massages but the nice room was a great bonus. Anyway, we walked into our room and I immediately fell in love. The room had a cute little nook with a table and bay windows behind it. Oh, and on the table there was a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries waiting for us. AMAZING! 

We got there early enough to where it was still light outside and since it was snowing we decided it would be fun to take a little walk around the property. The Von Trapp's own a lot of land (220 acres to be exact) so behind the lodge they have a ton of different cross country ski trails. We got the opportunity to watch a few of the skiers weave in and out of the trails while we walked around as well as see the rest of the lodge. They had a great fitness facility that had an awesome gym, indoor pool, outdoor spa, and massage area all included in it. We also went down to the local store down the road that is owned by the lodge and picked up a few desserts for the night- an austrian dish and a giant chocolate chip cookie. Who's surprised? 

Our dinner was fantastic. We ate at the lodge itself right next to a roaring fire. We both ordered the "Johannes burger." The burger was named after one of the sons of the Von Trapps. I'll get to that later. However, it was so amazing because the lodge own and raise their own cattle on the property and then ultimately use it to feed their guests. So, I know it sounds bad because we are eating the cattle that lives on the same property but at least it's local right?? haha... 

The next day was great. We woke up and had a great breakfast at the lodge. It buffet style so we got to try lots of different things. One of them being the famous Vermont maple syrup. YUM! Then we had our massages- which were fantastic. It was a very slow and relaxing morning. Much needed in my opinion. 

That afternoon we decided to venture out to explore the town of Stowe. The first place we went to was the ski resort. Overall, we felt like we were at the lodge by ourselves and it was very isolated and remote, which is what we enjoyed. Well, we figured out where everyone was- the ski lodge. It was a beautiful lodge and several different ski slopes and a few different gondolas to ride for pleasure or to take you to ski up at the top of the mountain. Our original plan was to take the gondola to the top of the mountain and have lunch there while watching the skiers but that plan backfired when we found out we had to pay $25/person to just take the gondola to the top. That didn't include lunch or anything. We opted out of that idea and decided to eat at a lodge located on the lower bowl instead. It wasn't anything special but we got a spot by the window so we did get to watch some of the skiers come down the mountain. It was a fun lunch spot.

Then we went to the town of Stowe to check it out. It was the cutest little town ever that was literally two blocks long. It consisted of a church, a general store, and wood covered bridge, and a couple other random stores. It took us about 5 minutes to walk the whole thing but it was still fun. 

Our goal was to be back to the lodge by 4pm so that I could go on the Trapp Family tour and since walking the town took a lot less time then we had anticipated we decided to go to this Cider Mill that we had been hearing such great things about. It was a little ways down the road but totally worth the drive. This cider mill was incredible. They grow their own apples on the property in the summer and then keep enough to use to make cider and apple cider doughnuts in the winter. We bought both apple cider and apple cider doughnuts. So amazing. We got 6 doughnuts and I think Teej ate 5 of them haha.. They also sold other products that were local to Vermont there so we ended up buying some maple syrup and granola there as well. The cool part about it was that they set up a checkers board for people to play while they ate their doughnuts. We played and Teej won. Go figure! 

We made it back to the lodge just in time for the tour. I was so excited the entire time. The guy giving the tour had no relation to the family but knew the facts inside and out. It was honestly fascinating how much I learned. Here are a few facts just in case you are a fan of the movie and are curious. If you have no interest, feel free to skip this section! haha.. First off, the movie and their actual lives are for the most part pretty similar. Maria was a nun and did live in the Abbey. Captain Von Trapp was in the navy and did get married and have 7 children. His wife died at a young age and he was in need of a tutor for his daughter so he went to the abbey in search of one. However, the 7 children he did have were not at all the same as they were in the movie. Liesel in the movie is not real and the oldest child in the real family is actually a boy named Rupert. They made up the love story with Liesel and Rolph in the movie. The movie created fake names to protect the actual real children. Interesting, right? In real life, the children fell in love with Maria (just like in the movie) but Maria was only able to stay with them for a year before she had to go back to the abbey so the children begged Captain Von Trapp to marry Maria so she didn't have to leave. He had some interest in her but their wasn't a romance like there was in the movie. Maria and the Captain did end up getting married and had 3 children of their own. She had them all in Salzburg and raised them until they had to flee.The family all did sing and toured around Austria singing as a family. Uncle Max (in the movie) is fake and instead they were picked up by a scout who heard them sing one day and wanted to sign them. Baroness Schrader (in the movie) is also fake and there was no "other woman" in the picture.  Now, They fled Austria only after they were asked by Hitler to sing at his birthday party. They refused and fled the country- not by walking over a mountain but instead by taking a train located behind their house and went to Italy. Hitler closed the borders so they left their house and belongings behind and couldn't get back in. Instead, they sang and toured in Italy for a while before returning back to Salzburg when the borders opened. They were only there for a little while before taking a boat to the United States where we toured in a bus for a year. They eventually landed in Vermont because they wanted to end up somewhere like their homeland and apparently Vermont is similar to Salzburg???? Before they made it to Vermont, Captain Von Trapp died because he got lung cancer from being on the naval ship too long. He was also 25 years older than Maria. Most of the children lived on the lodge property and helped with the daily chores and things. The lodge burned down due to a fire in 1981 and was re-built shortly after that but a lot of the pictures and artifacts from their history was burnt down with it. The only things they found from their past were stowed away in cabin located off the property site. Maria died at the age of 87 and the only still remaining of the seven children is Martina who is 98 years old and lives down the road from the lodge. She was a missionary in New Guinea for a long time and adopted a son while over there who now takes care of her 24/7. Captain Von Trapp, Maria, Rupert, and a few other children are all buried at the lodge. Of course I had to go take a look.  Oh, also Disney paid them the rights for their story and were compensated very little when the movie came out. In an interview we watched, Maria said that she was happy that they didn't get paid much for the movie. Their lives would have changed dramatically and they were happy with how they were living. Overall, it was a fascinating revelation to the story that I thought I knew but really didn't. I think my jaw was open the whole time. :)

After the fascinating tour, we went and had dinner at the restaurant down the road. Teej wanted to try one of their Trapp Family beers and we split their famous chicken pot pie. Really good! By that time, I felt like a huge blimp after eating so much that day we I insisted we go in the pool and work some of it off. So, we did that and then relaxed for the rest of the night. 

The next day was Sunday- our actual anniversary so we got up and treated ourselves to a nice breakfast at the lodge. We ordered this time and instead of getting the buffet. We packed up our things and headed out at around 11am. Our first stop was the Cabot cheese factory. Cabot is a very popular brand of cheese out here and since Teej LOVES cheese we figured it would be the best place to begin our adventure home. Funny story. As we were walking into the store, Teej slipped on a little patch of ice but caught himself before actually falling. I laughed a little, which I shouldn't have done because about 2 seconds later I did the same thing but fell right on my butt. Not cool. Hahha.. However, the place made up it because it was pretty cool. It had a ridiculous amount of cheese flavors and of course Teej had to try all of them. Surprisingly, he didn't buy a single thing but he had enough cheese to last him for a few days! 

The last thing we did was go to the BEN & JERRYS FACTORY!!! It was what I had been looking forward to all weekend. :) It was so cold outside but I didn't care. Actually, I think it made it more fun because there weren't very many people there so we got to see and experience everything. We took some pictures outside the facility and then took the tour and ate some samples. The sample they gave us was really good and I hope they bring it to the market. It was vanilla with raspberry and chocolate I think. However, I was good and the sample was the only thing I ended up eating there so I was proud of myself. :) 

Overall, trip was awesome. It was fun to experience Vermont and see a different part of the country. I am thankful for the opportunity to go and stay at a great lodge! I am hoping to start writing more in the near future! 

Love to all,

Kate