Homegirls- my favorite things

So, I love Philadelphia, even though it was just ranked #1 for the least clean, least friendly, and most obese place in the nation. The memories of Philadelphia I will forever cherish include but are not limited to, Wawa's, cheese steaks, everyone asking me if I am from about 10 different countries, or Texas (apparently I have an accent), deli shops and produce stores, Tightwad Tuesdays at Franklin Mills, and now, Homegirls potato chips. These chips are made in Philadelphia, and I have NEVER seen them anywhere. My friend Yasmine picked some up for me in a part of the city that isn't so desirable. She was always telling me about these chips and I had to have her get me some. So, here they are. They have an "ode" to women on the back and characters on the front. Aside from the humor I find in this "ode", they actually set a decent standard for anyone who actually takes the time to read the back. Especially in a city that isn't exactly thriving. Homegirls Chips has made the list of my favorite things about Philly! This was entertaining! Hope you feel the same!


This is what it says on the back of every bag:

H-girls Word Up!

MOTHERHOOD:

As we look to becoming mothers one day, we will produce children with good manners and good minds. We are the first teachers.

WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THIS THING AROUND

MARRIAGE:

We should save ourselves for marriage. Why should a man respect us if he can have us before marriage? Respect yourself and everyone will respect you. NO RING...NO THING!

WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THIS THING AROUND

THE POWER WITHIN US:

The force within us is stronger than the negative forces outside of us. So our message to bad influences us...STEP OFF!

WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THIS THING AROUND

THERE IS A NEW BAG ON THE BLOCK...IT'S ALL THAT!...AND A BAG OF CHIPS

GRACELINE

September Fun!

This year is going by incredibly fast. Our family has been blessed this month with health, good friends, and marking milestones! Labor Day was a fun time to Boston. This was a sentimental trip for me because my mother loved Boston. And after years of traveling the world all over Asia and Europe and the America's she was able to finally see Boston 2 weeks before she passed! What a peaceful, beautiful part of our country. It's no wonder she loved it. Then we celebrated Bryan's 30th birthday. I think he has grown a few more gray hairs. On the 19th, Alyssa started her first day of Kindergarten. She is learning so much and she really likes her new teachers and friends. I was worried because it was such a BIG new place. But Alyssa has never had a problem making friends and seems to be enjoying school. Mason turned 18 months.......10 more gray hairs for Bryan. Bryan and I were able to attend the D.C. Temple for the first time in 2 years. We have a bunch of lame excuses like, I was pregnant, I worked every Saturday thereafter, blah, blah, blah. We finally went and had such a great time with the rest of the ward that we look forward to doing it again in the very near future. And to top it off, I had my old time pal (this makes me sound ancient I know, or at least her anyway) Cally come visit Philly. We had so much fun together. I haven't seen her, or any one else from Utopia for almost a year. I was anxious to see that these people do still exist. We toured through Philly's historical sights quickly so we could move steadfast toward every opportunity we had to shop. Then we shopped, shopped, and shopped some more. Saturday rolled around, we went to New York, shopped, saw RENT on Broadway (Yes I know it is racy, please no one feel bad for me, I actually really enjoyed it!!!!) then we shopped some more. Sunday after church we went to Lambertville, NJ. Cally really likes antiques and we thought this was the perfect place to check that out! So, we would have shopped some more if everything there wasn't so expensive.......maybe some other time! And Monday, we shopped some more until I had to take her to the airport! Even though we shopped....A LOT.... we really enjoyed just catching up and being the nerds that we are! At least we did it in style! Cally, thanks for a great time, and anyone who is reading this, please know that if you want to visit, I am quite the chameleon. So if shopping isn't your thing, I can make adjustments! So, that wrapped up September! I will post some pictures when Cally e-mails them to me! :o)

The BIG 30!!!

So, this is long overdue, but Bryan's birthday was on the 10th of September. I threw him a big surprise party with a bunch of friends. There were approximately 40 adults and 20 children. I had a luau theme for him. I have so many wonderful friends who helped me pull this off. Deanna Hilton had the wonderful idea of making candy lei's for all the guests! Very cute and a lot of work!! She also helped with the decorating and then, to our surprise, she made Bryan and I the real flower leis. Natalie Buchkovich watched my kids all morning for me and, with Nick's help, made Bryan a really nice DVD reflecting the last 30 years of Bryan life! What a great keepsake! And I have re-named Bonnie Seelinger "Chip-chop"! This girl chops food so fast I am surprised she still has fingers left. Of course she is professionally trained to do so.......(Chip-chop, you should definitely start a catering business.) And Chip-chop could not have done it without Sierra Parke letting us invade her kitchen on 10 minutes notice for 3 hours or more! And not only that, she watched Mason and let him throw rice and goldfish crackers all over her house! Another special thanks to Mallena Ricks, who helped me plant last minute details, Alyson Peterson for taking pictures, and Ryan Anderson for letting us use his laptop at 2 seconds notice!! We are very blessed to have such great friends. And then a big thanks to everyone that came to support Bryan on his big day! Everyone I invited came, minus one husband and the Kuehne's, who if there name wasn't so hard to spell, would have been there too! A big Oops on my part and one I wish to forget! Any way, it was such an ordeal how it was all pulled off! Everyone tells me I should write it down for memories sake, but another time, it will take too long! All in all, it was fun to plan and fun to throw, but most importantly, Bryan had a fun time! He didn't realize how loved he was! But he should have! Because he is loveable!

Natalie, Chip-chop, and Me

Kevin, Bryan, Mason, Me, and Alyssa bug!

Grisel, Consuelo, Deanna, and Me

Yamani! Enjoying something sweet, as usual! Yummy!

The Freedom Trail

Here are some pictures of our self-guided tour through Boston. We took the famous Freedom Trail. A little red trail though out the city that guides all the tourists. This first picture is of the state house. It is so majestic! I really enjoy design and architecture so this was a highlight for me! I am not 100% sure, but I think the small statue to the left is of a woman named Ann Marbury Hutchinson. This woman is famous to Boston. She came to Boston in 1634 from England with her husband and 9 children. Later, she formed a group of women to discuss religion at a Sunday meeting gathering. Years later, she was tried, persecuted, and driven out of the state of Massachusetts. Her husband eventually passed. Following their exile, Indians came upon their home. She and eight of her children were massacred. Her sole surviving ten year old, Susannah, is whom I am a descendant of. Ann Marbury Hutchinson is considered a hero for her courage to have an opinion and is a great example for women everywhere. I was so excited to learn of her and read about her. Ironically, I did not know about her until I returned home from Boston.

We went to a cemetery where John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams were all laid to rest. Among them, several others. It was real peaceful to be there and think of all those there and how they impacted our freedoms, allowing us to have what we have today. This first is obviously John Hancock, the second is Paul Revere and the third is Samuel Adams.

The End of the Freedom Trail

The picture below is of Paul Revere's home. You can see that it is slanted a bit. I loved the windows of the house and the stone laid streets. This made a bumpy ride for Mason in his stroller.

This is a memorial for all the soldiers who have lost their lives in the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. For each soldier, hangs a dog tag.

Bryan and I are waiting for the ferry. A beautiful view of Boston! When we looked out we could see most of the buildings we had just walked around. We also walked away from the city, into the residential areas and over to this particular lookout.

Boston Gardens

Labor Day Weekend Bryan and I and crew drove to Boston for our very first visit. We went with good friends, Lindsay and Dan True, Jon and Alyson Peterson, and Nick and Natalie Buchkovich. Boston was exceptional. I LOVE Boston. One of our first stops was Boston Gardens. A few highlights were this bridge we are on overlooking the gardens, then Mason enjoyed his time sitting on these little bronze ducks lined up in a row. We temporarily called him Sitting Duck. But I like Mason better. As everyone was walking away, Mason insisted that he follow the squirrel. As he was pointing, he was trying to explain why we needed to follow that squirrel. He was indeed convincing. He loves animals and tells us a story, or at least tries to anyway, every time he sees something furry and moving.

The Mayflower at Plymouth

To conclude our very fun and relaxing weekend, we went to Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower. In all my life I pictured the rock to be this huge platform that the ship docked at. I never realized that it was just a rock that could easily compliment a flower garden. I was a little disappointed. Oh well, the scenery was beautiful regardless. It was really great to see the Mayflower.