Wanna get away?

Kennebunkport, Maine

YES!!!  2011 has been an incredible year for the two of us so far, and one that has been packed with change on what seems like a daily basis.  While we have had many many fun experiences since moving to Fayetteville, we had yet to have any real time to simply relax and enjoy a nice break.

So, we booked a trip to one of our favorite 'familiar' spots.  Many of you may know that we were fortunate enough to have our engagement take place in Kennebunkport, Maine.  It is, for us, a very special place.  It is a place that is beautiful, relaxing, serene, and filled with many memories...and also endless amounts of lobster, clam chowder, crab, and clams.  To get there, we flew into Boston and actually spent the first night at the Spriggs' house.  They were out of town, but kind enough to let us stay for a night and enjoy what the south bay area of Boston had to offer.  In return we somehow managed to get their car towed (seemed like a fair trade?).

On the way up to Kennebunkport, on the recommendation of Nicki's Dad (who operates as a professional tour guide for the east coast) we stopped in Rockport, Massachusetts.  To say the view was amazing would be a dramatic understatement.  We ate lunch at a spot called My Place by The Sea - and the name was a pretty reasonable descriptor.

 

 

Our place in Kennebunkport was a secluded bed and breakfast called the Old Fort Inn.  It was tucked away enough that we were outside of the 'town' but still close enough to enjoy all the amenities Kennebunkport had to offer.  We were actually only a two minute walk from one of the most beautiful churches in the world.  St. Ann's is an Episcopal church (note:  it is where the Bush family attends church) located on the ocean with an outdoor setting that is absolutely breathtaking.  The Bush summer home was just a few blocks away as well.

Town Directory

The Old Fort Inn - Poolside

      

St. Ann's Episcopal Church

Outside Chapel

Because Kennebunkport is an extremely bike friendly town, Nicki and I couldn't think of a better way to spend our first morning there getting around.  Thinking it would be a flat and easy ride, we hopped on two 'beach cruisers' provided from our place.  Well, instead we ended up on an impromptu road ride climbing category 3 hills (not really, but it felt like it) on our sweet Tommy Bahama beach cruisers.  We did finally make it via the scenic route into town and actually had an awesome morning drinking coffee and relaxing at a breakfast spot.


   

Enjoying some 'fried clams' from the Clam Shack in Kennebunkport

One of the day trips we took was to a town in New Hampshire called Wolfeborough.  It is the town where Nicki's grandparents (Dale's parents) had a home when she was growing-up.  Throughout my time in the Freygang family I've heard countless stories of the home, and the memories they made in Wolfeborough.  We were only an hour away, so we made a beautiful drive so I could see it first hand.  As you will see below - Nicki even talked me in to going back to her grandparents' house and walking around even though the homeowners were not home.  Yes, we did knock on the door.

A Freygang Favorite

This is the infamous hardware store where Dale (Nicki's dad) got his start towards being the next Bob Vila.

This is the boat dock behind the lake house Nicki's grandparents used to own

View from the deck

 

Needless to say, the trip in its entirety was exactly what we needed.  I returned to Fayetteville after our time in Maine and Nicki continued her week by heading to Columbus for a wedding and a Miami housemate reunion.

Life has been crazy since we got back from our trip - but I guess that is what happens when you take a vacation.  Fall has begun and we are looking forward to Saturdays spent tailgating and experiencing all that Razorback football has to offer.  Even better, we have many visitors coming this Fall - and as Nicki and I have both stated over the last few weeks - now that we are almost six months removed from leaving Cincinnati, we continue to miss our friends and family but love little things like vacations, weddings and reunions to make the distance not seem so far.

30 Years Later

The BIG 3-0!  While the celebration began over a month ago and yes, is still occurring, I am now officially 30.  While I don't feel any older and also hope I don't look any older, I have truly enjoyed every minute of the big birthday festivities.  As you may have seen through a previous post, Jen and I celebrated a month early during our visit to Columbus.  Because of that, I had little expectations for what the actual day would bring.

Nick, per his usual style, surprised me starting at midnight (Ohio time) on the 23rd.  He said he wanted to be the first to wish me a happy birthday with something special.  It was awesome.  He knew how hard it would be for me to be away from all of my family and friends during my birthday week.  His first option?  Fly everyone to Arkansas.  The more realistic and still amazing runner up?  A video from all across the world (thanks to Kristin from Singapore) wishing me a Happy 30th!  While it did make me realize how much we miss everyone from back home, I absolutely loved getting to see everyone on my birthday.  What a fun surprise and awesome start to the day! Here are just a few highlights....

• Cleveland's drool
• "Hats Off To You"
• "Make a wish, make a wish!  Blow out the candles"
• Birthday Bear
• All of the pets that made an appearance on the video
• Cincinnati Favorites

Birthday Dessert - Thanks Katie!

Because I didn't want a big birthday bash, we hosted a "Thanks for welcoming us to Arkansas" get together for our friends that helped make our transition into a new town so seamless.  The morning started with a pleasant surprise...I looked out the window to find a van stuck in my driveway.  While at first I thought he was simply trying to turn around, I soon realized I was the one getting the delivery!  My Mom and Dad sent the most gorgeous flowers.  As for the delivery guy, he was stuck in our driveway for a solid 2 hours.  I know we've said before, but we continue to be amazed by all of the wonderful people that have entered our lives through this move to Arkansas.  For the party, we made Montgomery Inn BBQ ribs and chicken that were delicious!!  The recipe was passed along to us from Nick's parents and was so good and super easy!

waiting for the tow truck

Sent by the Spicher's all the way from Cincinnati

the BEAUTIFUL flowers!

Balloons from Wormer!!

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Place slab of ribs in foil pan bone side down.
Cover ribs with apple juice.   Coveyr pan with foil and bake 4 hours.
Drain apple juice and cover with BBQ sauce.  Cover pan with foil again and bake another 2 hours.
That's it!  The meat is so tender it will fall right off the bone!!

As I write this post, we are in the Milwaukee Airport on our way to Boston and Maine for a relaxing getaway.  With the move and all of the changes since April, Nick and I were in need of a little rest and relaxation.  It just so happens, it's one more excuse to keep celebrating my birthday and of course our upcoming 3 year anniversary.

Thank you to all of you who mean so much to us and have such an important impact in our lives.  Whether you live one minute away or thousands of miles, we are so thankful to have you as friends.  

Jack loved every second as well and is now recovering...

What we do (or don't do) for Pets...

$200 later.  After turning down the steroids (to help with his pink feet) and the ear wash (daily cleaning), we made it home with a doggie soft bristled toothbrush and poultry flavored toothpaste.  It's still in the packaging because Nick and I can't agree who will complete this DAILY task.  I'm still against brushing Jack's teeth, but it was either this or a professional cleaning every 6 months.  We'll keep you posted.    

Still no curls but his hair is growing back!!

Enjoying the weather...really?

Excuse us for not blogging this week.  You see, for the past month it has been somewhere between 100 and 115 degrees here in beautiful Fayetteville, and this week the heat streak broke and the weather calmed down to a breezy 95 degrees.  We couldn't help but try to spend as much time as possible outside not sweating (I even got Nicki to join me on a run - which she swears she actually enjoyed).

We have done all we could to enjoy the reasonable weather.  And fortunately, we have wonderful people to share these experiences with.  Last weekend we experienced our first First Friday in Bentonville.  We went to dinner with Lindsay and Mark Mast at an amazing restaurant called Table Mesa (correct - that is translated as Table Table)  on Bentonville square.  The food and the atmosphere were wonderful - and while the festivities on the square were not quite targeted towards us, we made it work anyway.

We took an impromptu shopping trip to Tulsa last Saturday - and we just "had" to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

Wormer had a group of 4 over to the Annex for pre-dinner snacks.  We had 4 people, he had 13 dips.

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to serve with a group of friends (who have also invited us to be a part of their Community Group) at The Farm.  The Farm is organized by a local church here in Fayetteville, and supported through volunteers willing to spend time to help plant and harvest the crops.  The crops are then given to local shelters, charities, and sold at farmers markets with the goal of helping fight poverty in Northwest Arkansas.

Clearly, there are not prerequisites for volunteering - because needless to say this was my first time 'farming'.  As you can see below I had to get a couple of lessons from the 3 year old girls who were the experts.  It was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday.  We began the day with a stop at Rick's Bakery (world's greatest bakery) and afterwards the group went to Chic-fil-a.  Not to be too repetitive but it was just another example of great people helping to provide us with opportunities to truly settle in here in Fayetteville.

I still haven't decided if Mark cut off his sleeves or perfectly rolled them up...

Norah was serious about planting her broccoli...no wasting time.

Nicki and I quickly realized we needed to deploy some of these same efforts at our house so we spent the rest of the day ripping, pulling, wedding, trimming, cutting, anything that needed to be removed from our yard.  This work was long overdue - and, while extremely tiring, the results were worth the time.

Both of the past two Sundays we have been a part of Fellowship Bible Church of Northwest Arkansas.  We have mentioned Fellowship before (this is where we attended Easter service), and we continue to grow and develop our relationship with the church body.  That said, we have loved the past two Sundays because we have been able to follow-up church with brunch with great friends.  There is just something 'natural' about spending quality time with quality people after a church service.  It just seems to be the perfect way to spend a Sunday morning/afternoon.

So onward we go - we realized this weekend that the next few months will bring us a significant amount of excitement.  Included in that are a trip to Beaver Lake, Razorback football games, great concerts, visitors from Ohio, a wedding in Springfield, Missouri, and plenty more.  All culminated with the holidays and getting to spend time back home in Cincinnati and Akron.

All of this hopefully will be done without seeing another 110 degree day.

a little spontaneity...

Sometimes it's the last minute and unexpected decisions that in the end turn out to be some of the best.  After such an amazingly wonderful, busy and sleepless trip to Cincinnati, Nick and I were both very slow to make a single plan for this weekend.  The result?  Many new Arkansas adventures checked off the list.  On Friday night we tried a restaurant called Powerhouse Seafood and Grill.  We've been hesitant to try it thus far because it always seems so "college" but since it is still summer break for the students, we decided to give it a try.  After turning down their only drink special of the night - The Kilowatt (aka water tower for all you Miamians or simply a lot of liquor masked by sugar), we had an amazing meal and fun time reminiscing about college.  We then met up with some friends at a new Fayetteville establishment, The Rowdy Beaver, for some drinks and live music.  Because we overslept on Saturday and missed the 8:30am spinning class, we instead headed to the Farmer's Market.  This has truly become one of my favorite things about Fayetteville.  Fresh flowers, fresh veggies, live music and fun people!   With my fresh basil, I couldn't help but spend Saturday afternoon making pesto.  My good friend Kate from Cincinnati gave me her recipe so I was super excited to give it a try.  While it looks like a small disaster occurred in the kitchen, it was actually very easy to make and very delicious!  

- 1 cup packed basil leaves

- 1 clove garlic

- 2 Tbsp pine nuts

- 1 tsp salt (I used even less)

- 1/8 tsp pepper

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 1/3 cup EVOO

After a night of bowling, we woke up today and headed to Eureka Springs.  In the middle of the mountains, is this small, quaint town with tons of B&Bs, shops and restaurants.  Even in the 100 degree weather, we had fun walking around and enjoyed a great lunch on a balcony with live music, fans and misters.   

Smiling because I won..

can you really believe we went bowling?!

Butterflies were everywhere!!

View from the balcony of our lunch spot

So, in the end, not a single plan turned into a very spontaneous, relaxing and memorable few days.  I love these kinds of weekends.