Week of Firsts

This past week was jam packed with some firsts. While Grandma Maggie was visiting, we were given some opportunities to do some new things on the east coast.

Boston Marathon
Monday April 19th was the 114th Boston Marathon. We of course had to check out the action on what was a beautiful day. We debated how to get close to the action and while I wanted to walk the 3 miles to our meet-up point with friends, Kacey wanted to try the T. So we took the red line to Park and switched to the green-C. After waiting 15 min for our train to leave the station, we then waited another 20 trying to move but the traffic was just too bad. We determined it would be faster to walk, so we exited at the next stop and hoofed it.

This turn of events, though, led us right to the finish line, about 3 minutes before the first elite runners got there! We got pictures of some wheelchair finishers, the first woman, and the first man, who also set a course record! After 10 minutes of cheering, we walked further down the course toward Mass Ave and stopped along the way to view more runners. So while we never actually made it to the group we were meeting, we got to see some pretty good action.

www.chrisandkacey.com/Boston/Boston-Marathon-2010/

Martha's Vineyard
I had been wanting to visit Martha's Vineyard at some point and luckily my mother-in-law wanted to as well. On Tuesday we drove down to Fox Hole (near Falmouth) to catch the ferry to Vineyard Haven. It only costs about $15 round trip per person. Once there, we walked around for a few minutes before catching a bus to Edgartown. Most of the island had not really opened up yet for the season, so finding a place for lunch took a bit. We ate lunch at David Ryan's Restaurant. The homemade fries and chips were pretty good. We walked around a bit, took some photos at the water, and caught the bus back to Vineyard Haven. After walking through a few more shops, we caught our boat back to the mainland.

On our way back to Boston, we stopped at Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock. There is a nice little park near by with free 2 hour parking. We walked down the shore line for a while and found Wood's Seafood for dinner.

http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/NewEngland/MarthasVineyard/

Newport, RI
Each year Sloan holds a Gala, aka MBA Prom. Every other year it is held in Newport, RI. This year, for our 6th wedding anniversary, we went to MBA Prom at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport. Since my mother-in-law was in town, she stayed back in Boston with Nolan. So while Kacey and I have both been away from him for a night, we had never done it together. We stayed at the Inn on Bellevue. It is a nice little place. Before the gala, we walked the Cliff Walk near some of the mansions. We then drove around a few more before returning to prepare for the gala. We toured the mansion once there, enjoyed some really tasty appetizers, ate a decent meal, and danced the night away. Oh, and of course ate some yummy dessert! It was a fun evening. The next morning we drove around with a few friends viewing a few of the parks in the area. Unfortunately due to rain, we didn't get to walk around much. We were also able to stop at the Touro Synagogue. It is the oldest synagogue in the country and a National Historical Site.

http://www.chrisandkacey.com/Vacation/NewEngland/Newport/

My next first... Red Sox game on Monday with my brother!

Italy, It's Official!

It is pretty much officially official... we are moving to Italy! Kacey has landed an internship with Novartis in Siena, Italy (near Florence). For years we searched for a means within Lilly to get an overseas assignment, but it just never worked out. And now we have the opportunity of a lifetime to live in one of our favorite places ever visited for 7 months! Logistics and planning are going to be tiring and stressful; I am not even going to start listing things here. But we are looking forward to learning Italian and living in a new culture.

We are also looking forward to visiting some European cities as weekend trips that we normally would not get to see. This list has also been started too. (If you have any recommendations, definitely let us know!!) On the list so far: Moscow, Prague, Berlin, London, Glasgow, Dublin, somewhere in northern Africa, Paris, Budapest, Basel, and Warsaw.

We have no idea how big our studio/apartment may or may not be. Hopefully we have room for an air mattress as we hope to get at least a couple visitors. Of course Kacey's parents are up for visiting Italy again. We are hoping we can convince my mom, with the aid of lots of medication, to get on a plane (I am already looking in to non-stop flights to Rome for her). If you are *seriously* interested in visiting with a potential free place to stay, just let us know!

Anyway, I am sure that we will be posting information along the way as we figure out details.

Just Trying to Keep Up

So the past week or so have also been pretty interesting, especially that last few days.

Kacey started school last week. We had a few get-togethers with her classmates and it was nice to meet them. There really is a great group of people in this program. Also, June 4, 2009, Nolan gave us his first intentional, successful step! At the end of May, we got a successful step, but I really don't think he meant to or understood what he did. He has been very close to walking for a while now and this was a "giant leap" for our little man. As of today, a few times I got him to put a couple steps together and both Kacey and I got to witness it. I will give an eleven month Nolan update later this week, hopefully with a video of his walking action.

On the job front, I received a good offer from a great company based out of Cambridge. Unfortunately, we don't have daycare, and daycare for young ones is very hard to come by around here. After much deliberation, praying, and reviewing the details, I have decided not to work at this time. This is huge as we will now have no income during school. I know I will not regret this decision, but it is still hard to make the decision especially since I have been offered a great job. Family needs are much more important and I am going to take care of those for now. We will have to wait to see what the future holds.

Lastly, on June 5th we received and accepted an offer on our house! This is great because we know and trust the family who desires to buy our home, and I have been told they are excited for the opportunity. Now we have to survive two home inspections and then we can sign it over. This helps our current (lack of) income situation because we will not have to be making two large payments every month.

Thanks to those that read this who have also been praying for us. God is working in interesting ways now and I am just trying to hang on for the ride without going crazy.

Reason for the Lack of Posts

So I have not posted much this year except for Nolan updates. Here is a brief update of what went on this spring.

March - Kacey got accepted to the MIT Sloan school as a fellow in the LGO program. She accepted! We started the process to sell our house, sell our belongings, sell my car, quit our jobs, and find a new place to live in Cambridge, MA.
April - Kacey stopped working mid-April. We visited Cambridge for an orientation for Kacey and an interview for me. We spent time visiting friends and family while continuing to sell our things.
May - I quit my job. On May 16th, we packed a moving truck with our remaining things (many thanks to all our family and friends!!!) and on May 17th, my brother and I drove from Indianapolis to Cambridge with two cats sitting in the cab. It was a long day!

So we are now living in Cambridge near MIT. Our house is still for sale, hopefully not for too much longer. Life has drastically changed in 60 days! God has provided the direction thus far and while we continue to figure a few things out, I am sure he will take care of us.

I look forward to posting Nolan updates and also updates on our new life in Cambridge. Don't worry, though, these posts will not contain the text "Go P_atriots" or "Tom B_rady rules". So far we have walked a lot of the Freedom Trail, visited Acadia National Park in Maine, and walked around Cambridge.

If you visit Boston, let us know!