Maine

Hello Followers!

I am blogging from the great state of Maine! I was sad to see a post on my fb wall from a friend stating that 2nd to Iowa, Maine is the most uneventful state. Well, I guess I can agree that it is "uneventful", but people don't vacation in Maine for thrills, excitement, and a fast paced environment. People come to Maine to relax, think, and to absorb God's beautiful earth.

Our first night here we stayed in Kennebunkport, the famous location of the Bush's summer home. I jogged past it one morning. The place we stayed was very quaint. We had a great pool and great food!

Now we are in Small Point staying at an elite "club". It is a house that holds 15 rooms, and is a "members only" place to stay. Men wear suits to dinner, women wear dresses, shoes are always worn in the house, screaming is not permitted, children are not allowed in the dining hall after 7pm, and there is no internet or cell phone use in the building (ok, I've been cheating a little). Even with all the rules it is a great place to stay. We have a private beach to walk on, and during the low tide (around 9am), you can run for miles! My morning run is my favorite part of the day. I can get away, listen to some good music, and absorb how wonderful my summer has been. This experience is truly the best I've ever had.

The past few days we typically hang out on the beach, check out some light houses, play tennis, run, and eat good food. I take care of the kids for a few hours in the morning, and then every night from 6pm-9pm. The parents eat dinner with the other adults, while I eat with the kids table and take them upstairs to watch a movie, read books, and put them to bed.

We're in Maine until Sunday, then we stay in Vermont for a week at Charles' mom's horse ranch.

Aunt Katie and Dorinda come to visit!

The last few days of my time in South Hampton was long and tiring, but fun at the same time. I experienced what its like to be a full time stay at home mom, and boy was it hard! The family went into the city to show their cousins around while I took care of Gabriel for 3 days by myself at the beach house. Gabriel and I became very close and he likes me a lot, but there were a few times I felt a little overwhelmed!

After two weeks we drove back to the city. That night my Aunt Katie and cousin Dorinda came and stayed for 5 days! I was so glad they visited-I really needed my own family and someone familiar to be with. We had so much fun walking to all different places in the city! They were such troopers and we saw so much: Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge, Ground Zero, Madison Ave, Columbus circle, central park, Statue of Liberty, south Seaport, and so much more! Dorinda really liked the city, and it was great she got to see the house I live in and to meet the family I'm staying with. Gabriel and Sabine really liked them, and Sabine got Dorinda and I mixed up a few times because we look so much alike!

Dorinda and Katie left on Tuesday morning, and afterwards I took Sabine and Gabriel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Sabine's art lessons. She is doing it for 1 full week. Pushing 2 kids in a stroller for 40 blocks can get very tiring for my legs, but its a great workout! Afterwards we play in a really cool park that has fountains for them to splash in. Luckily I've been able to catch up with some friends on the phone while they play! Then the 40 block walk back. The heat in NYC is sometimes unbearable, but I'm starting to get used to it.

I'm tempted to take a train to Washington DC this weekend, but I don't have a place to stay and I can't do the trip in a day....boo. Hopefully Leah is home so we can hang out again.

A week from today we leave for yet ANOTHER vacation! We are driving to Maine and staying there for 4 days, then driving back to Vermont for the remaining week! Maine is one of my favorite vacation spots, so I'm very excited to stay there!

I love and miss you all, and I'm already counting down the days till I'm back in NW Iowa- 30!

I could vacation here every year!

Hello friends!

It's been a long time since I've posted, sorry! I have really bad internet connection here, as well as no phone service.

Right now I'm staying for 2 weeks in a tiny town in South Hampton called Bellport. It is very cute and perfect for a long vacation! Kristen's grandparents own a really nice beach home that is right on the water! We spend hours on the beach: boogie boarding, laying out, reading, making castles, finding sea shells, etc. We also do a lot of swimming in their pool, bike rides into town, and consuming a lot of ice cream at the local parlor called Carla Marla's. One day we drove all the way to Montauk point: the most eastern point of the United States. There was a beautiful lighthouse there. We also spent a day going to Wineries and doing some wine tasting. I have to add that my palette for wine tasting is getting so much better!

This family has been such a blessing to me! I couldn't have asked for a family so kind, loving, and welcoming. Kristen's extended family is really cool. She has two sister's that came along who are also married and have kids, which means my nannying responsibilities quadrupled over this trip! I do a lot of nannying at night when the adults go to dinner parties or out to a restaurant.

When I get time off I do a lot of reading, running, and swimming. Yesterday I ran in the Clipper Classic 5k! All the kids cheered me on so it was really fun. I also was able to visit my friend Leah, who is only a short train ride away!

I'm leaving to go back to the city on Thursday. I'm looking forward to that because my bff cousin Dorinda and Aunt Katie are visiting for 5 days! I am so excited to spend time with them and to explore the city. Dorinda is going to love it!

Anyways, hope everyone is doing well. I felt super homesick yesterday because it was my sister's birthday and everyone was together hanging out. I miss my family so much! Even though I love the city I feel like I'm ready to go home. I'm ready to be with family, friends, and most importantly Todd!

hiking, kid concerts, the yankees

Hi Friends and Family!

The rest of my time in Aspen was amazing! We spent a lot of time at the pool, library, playground, and eating at fancy restaurants. We went to a Rodeo and Sabine entered in the cattle scramble-where you try to grab a ribbon off a running cattle's tail! It was fun. My last day there Kristen gave me the day off to do a long hike, and long it was! Myself and two other nannies hiked from the bottom of the Aspen mountain all the way to the top! I was very proud of myself. It took about 3 1/2 hours. The view was spectacular, so it made having a sore bum and calves totally worth it!

We went home earlier than planned, but I was ready to be back in the city. The city impressed me this week. I had so much fun with the kids and really experienced a lot of the culture. Sabine, Gabriel, and I went to the museum, a children's rock concert in Madison Square park, central park zoo, seeing Toy Story 3, a beautiful walk through Central park, and playing a lot with water balloons.

I don't consider my time here "work" anymore. I absolutely love these kids, and the time I spend with them is fun and enjoyable. I tend to hang out with the kids even when its my day off!

On my day off I saw "Eclipse: Twilight Saga". I have been looking forward to seeing this movie for months! It was fun to watch it in an IMAX theater. Also, I went to a Yankees game with Kristen's sister Laura. She is my age so we had a lot of fun together! I found a $3 yankee shirt from TJ Maxx so I looked like I was a fan! The Green's would be proud (or at least I think Lisa and Todd are fans?)

So whats planned for this 4th of July weekend? THE HAMPTONS! We're spending TEN days in the Hamptons at Kristen's grandparents house. They live right on the beach! I can't wait to soak in the sun and run on the beach.

I'll post more once I'm at their beach house. I love you and miss you all!

The Aspen Food and Wine Classic

Aspen: home of the rich and famous! Aspen is a very small town, but full of charm and class. But the only similarity Aspen has to small town Sioux Center is that you might see someone more than once or twice in a day! People know each other here, but your neighbors aren't the Vander Veen's or Van Strubleheinen's (fake examples)...instead your neighbors are Kate Hudson, Lance Armstrong, and many other celebrities.

So far my time in Aspen has been fun, but very tiring. I've had full days of nannying (10am-12am) since Charles and Kristen are busy with the Food and Wine festival going on. There are thousands of people here for this festival, and its known to be the most elite wine festival in the world! Kristen was nice enough to let me use her pass to go to a wine tasting. I tried wines that are over $200 a bottle! I felt very out of place since so many people here are experts in where wine is from, how it smells, tastes, etc. Over time I'm learning more and more about wine, and I'm starting to have more of an appreciation for it. I met Mario Batali and Giada De Laurentiis, but I wasn't as excited as I thought I would be. In the end all those famous people look just like any other person!

Gabriel, Sabine, and I spend our mornings at the playground, afternoons at the pool, then our nights at the playground again or watching a movie. I've gotten really close to the kids now, and I'm starting to really love and care for them. They are great kids! Sabine and I share the same weird humor, so we laugh a lot with each other.

Tonight Kristen's sister, brother in law, and kids are joining us in Aspen for 4 days. I hope I don't get overloaded with more kids to take care of! The Bieler's treat me well though, I must say! I've had some delicious food from the festival, and playing in the pool and getting sun every afternoon isn't so bad :)

I met a few other nannies at the park, so hopefully tomorrow I will be hanging out with them! We are going to go to church in the morning, then on a long hike in the mountains in the afternoon. Its really nice to hang out with other women my age!

That's all for now! I love all of you and miss you very much!

Mom comes to NYC

This week was a fun one, and I realize there will always be a never ending check list of things to see here!

My mom came to visit on Wednesday, and she stayed till Sunday. We did a lot of walking, and by the end of the trip she had a few blisters and sore feet. I remember when I first got here my legs were really sore as well. If there's another thing I'll get out of this summer, its the appreciation of walking. I hope I'll walk a lot more once I'm back home, because there is no reason not to! I can easily put in 5 miles of walking a day here, so why not walk the small 3 miles across town? :)

Anyways, the first morning my mom was here we decided to take a sight seeing bus tour through Manhattan. We also saw the statue of liberty! I had my first celebrity spotting and saw Matt Damon filming for one of his new movies. That night we had dinner with the Bieler's, delicious as always. Late that night we went to the observation deck of the Empire State building, and was that a view! NYC looked so pretty at night.

Friday my mom and I took Gabriel on a horse carriage ride through central park! It was very pretty. We then took him to FAO Schwarz to look at toys and to buy some delicious candy. Later that day we saw Ground Zero and also walked the Brooklyn Bridge. Walking Brooklyn Bridge has probably been my favorite thing to do thus far!

Saturday we walked to St. John the Divine and also went to eat at a fabulous Mexican Restaurant. Later we saw the Lion King on Broadway! The costumes were fantastic, and the acting and singing were phenomenal. I hope to do one more broadway show before I leave!

Thankfully mom wasn't shocked to see where I lived (in Harlem), and overall I think she had a great time! It's interesting to point out all the differences New Yorkers have in the way they live with the way we do back home. You can't buy a full week's worth of groceries because you can't fit it in your cart, an "easy" walk is at least 20 blocks, produce at groceries would blow our fareway and hyvee out of the water, doors are locked even if you're home, no driving, no walmarts, and the list goes on. I think the thing that is hardest for me to get used to isn't the long walking, but that there isn't a wal-mart! At least it keeps me from spending more money than I need to.

What's up for this week? We're flying to ASPEN, COLORADO! We will be staying there 3 weeks! Charles and Kristen are in the wine business, and there is a food and wine festival that goes on there. Supposedly this is the biggest and most important wine festival in the world, so top chefs and wine makers will be there. I hope to have a run in with all the food network stars: Giada, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Rachael Ray! The first week we're there the festival is going on, so Charles and Kristen will be very busy with their work. Thankfully Kristen's parents are going to be staying with us, so I'll have help with the kids. Also, Kristen's mom is bringing her dog along, so that will give me comfort for being away from Wrigley:) The last week of our time there is vacation time.

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you dearly. Next time I post I'll be writing about my experiences in Aspen! (Aspen always reminds me of the movie Dumb and Dumber, haha)

So much to do, so much to see

Hello followers! I'm sorry it has been a while since I've posted. I had quite the busy week!

I decided to go to the beach on Memorial Day, and boy was that a bad decision! I had literally only 2 feet of space between myself and other beach goers. Let's just say that the people at this beach weren't the type I would normally hang around either!

This week I expanded my cultural knowledge and went to the museums. I took Gabriel to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs, animals, and other interesting artifacts. I also went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All the paintings and artifacts there were so beautiful! I now have a better appreciation for art. The only thing I don't understand is modern art. I feel like half the paintings look like the work of a 2 year old, yet people pay thousands of dollars for it!? I will never understand it. I also took Gabriel to the Central Park zoo, along with 10 other 2 year olds. It was so hysterical seeing them ride the public bus all the way to the zoo.

I finally got to reunite with my friend Leah, who lives on Long Island. Leah is also a nanny.I took the train to her house and spent the weekend there! It was so great to catch up and hang out. I'm so glad I get to see her more this summer!

This week my mom is visiting! I'm so excited for her to come. I love having someone in the city with me so I can experience more things that aren't as acceptable to do by yourself (restaurants, broadway shows, etc). She comes on Wednesday and will stay till Sunday. I think she'll be shocked to see where I live and how I've already gained so much knowledge in transportation and where things are in NYC.

I can still say 3 week in that I am loving it here! The Bieler's are a blessing, and I couldn't have asked to live with a better family! The kids are great, and I feel so comfortable around Kristen and Charles.

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying your summer! I miss everyone very much.