John holding Abigail
John Holding Aaron
Me holding Aaron
Me holding Abigail
Abigail
Aaron
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Newest Additions!
Here are some pics of the newest additions to the family! Congratulations Seth, Sarah and Peter. Welcome Aaron and Abigail!
John holding Abigail
John Holding Aaron
Me holding Aaron
Me holding Abigail
Aaron
John holding Abigail
John Holding Aaron
Me holding Aaron
Me holding Abigail
Aaron
Friday, November 13, 2009
Huh...
Wow, a lot has happened since my last post. Mostly good things. I got a new job and I'm loving it! Also, John and I celebrated our one year anniversary! We went to Vegas which was great. Also, I've neglected birthday wishes so a VERY happy birthday to...Lori (Nov. 5), Sarah (Nov. 7) and Seth today! I'm at work so no pics are available to post but if I get ambitious I'll post them later. Anyway, maybe I'll try to keep this blog up to date now. And maybe not. We'll see.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Mansion Pictures
I tried to post some pictures of the mansion from the website but I'm on John's laptop and don't want to download any pictures without his permission. So for now you can go here to see some pictures from the Dauphin County Historical Society website. I'll post my own pictures as soon as I can.
http://www.dauphincountyhistory.org/mansion/
http://www.dauphincountyhistory.org/mansion/
John Harris Mansion!
John and I just got back from visiting our mansion... Just kidding, but seriously, the John Harris Mansion was amazing! The lady was so nice. When I called the place yesterday to ask if they'd be able to give a tour after their scheduled hours she told me to call back a little later when the director would be in. When I did I told them that my husband's name was John Harris and we were very interested in seeing the mansion, though we don't know if he's an actual descendent. She told me she was going to be there until six today, so we could drop by after John got out of class. I was very excited!
We had a little trouble finding our way there at first but once we got there it was awesome! We were very disappointed to hear that they did not have any pictures of either John Harris Sr. or John Harris Jr. (John Jr. is the one who actually built the house in 1766 and founded Harrisburg). They said that most of the house has gone through many renovations since the Harris' built it and it is a lot different now. This would be why it's actually called the "John Harris - Simon Cameron Mansion." Simon Cameron owned it for a long time and is actually the one who made most of the renovations in 1863. He was also Lincoln's Secretary of War. There were a few things that they knew for sure belonged to John Harris. There was a grandfather clock and two chairs.
John thought it was strange but interesting when the lady said "...your potential eighth great-grandfather." John Harris Jr. is actually buried across the street on a plot of land that was supposedly where he had a very frightening experience where some indians tied him to a tree and tried to burn him alive. There was a painting of this in one of the rooms but the lady said that it was incorrect because there were some buildings in the background that would not have been there during that time period, still leaving us without a solid picture of what he may have looked like (he actually looked a little like George Washington in the picture). The rooms were amazing. There was a bathroom where all the walls were made of tile and chrome! There were some rooms that had wood flooring from the 1800's. She showed us a room of new things that were recently donated so they didn't have the descriptions yet but this room was full of music players and instruments from the late 1800's and early 1900's. She even played some for us which was awesome! How many times can you go into a museum and have someone actually play the thing that's on display? There was an 1840's "record player" that was truly amazing. The "needle" was a long metal thing that went across half of the "record" and then the "record" was a silver or brass plate that had holes punched into it so when it ran over the "needle" it played a song. This was probably the room that we loved the most.
Before we left the lady told us that she would get us a map of Harrisburg from the time when it was first founded. She also grabed a couple of other things for us to take which was great. Not only that, but John gave her one of his business cards and she said she would e-mail him some geneology to see if we could figure out if there's any relation. She was very nice and helpful and it's interesting to think that there could be some relation.
After we left the mansion we stopped at an Italian restaurant called Bricco. This place was pretty high end and we felt a little out of place at first in our jeans. We ordered a pizza to share and this was the best pizza I have ever had in my life! This is no exaggeration. It had sausage, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and probably some other things and it tasted so good. We topped it off with a dessert that was almost like an elephant ear but more gourmet. We loved it!
We had a little trouble finding our way there at first but once we got there it was awesome! We were very disappointed to hear that they did not have any pictures of either John Harris Sr. or John Harris Jr. (John Jr. is the one who actually built the house in 1766 and founded Harrisburg). They said that most of the house has gone through many renovations since the Harris' built it and it is a lot different now. This would be why it's actually called the "John Harris - Simon Cameron Mansion." Simon Cameron owned it for a long time and is actually the one who made most of the renovations in 1863. He was also Lincoln's Secretary of War. There were a few things that they knew for sure belonged to John Harris. There was a grandfather clock and two chairs.
John thought it was strange but interesting when the lady said "...your potential eighth great-grandfather." John Harris Jr. is actually buried across the street on a plot of land that was supposedly where he had a very frightening experience where some indians tied him to a tree and tried to burn him alive. There was a painting of this in one of the rooms but the lady said that it was incorrect because there were some buildings in the background that would not have been there during that time period, still leaving us without a solid picture of what he may have looked like (he actually looked a little like George Washington in the picture). The rooms were amazing. There was a bathroom where all the walls were made of tile and chrome! There were some rooms that had wood flooring from the 1800's. She showed us a room of new things that were recently donated so they didn't have the descriptions yet but this room was full of music players and instruments from the late 1800's and early 1900's. She even played some for us which was awesome! How many times can you go into a museum and have someone actually play the thing that's on display? There was an 1840's "record player" that was truly amazing. The "needle" was a long metal thing that went across half of the "record" and then the "record" was a silver or brass plate that had holes punched into it so when it ran over the "needle" it played a song. This was probably the room that we loved the most.
Before we left the lady told us that she would get us a map of Harrisburg from the time when it was first founded. She also grabed a couple of other things for us to take which was great. Not only that, but John gave her one of his business cards and she said she would e-mail him some geneology to see if we could figure out if there's any relation. She was very nice and helpful and it's interesting to think that there could be some relation.
After we left the mansion we stopped at an Italian restaurant called Bricco. This place was pretty high end and we felt a little out of place at first in our jeans. We ordered a pizza to share and this was the best pizza I have ever had in my life! This is no exaggeration. It had sausage, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and probably some other things and it tasted so good. We topped it off with a dessert that was almost like an elephant ear but more gourmet. We loved it!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Birthday in PA
John and I have done so much since the last time I updated. We did go to the Hershey chocolate factory but it wasn't really anything great. There was a tour of how they make the chocolate. It was a little bit interesting but a lot lame because, of course, it was all geared towards children. It was fun but not something I would do again. The most disappointing thing about it was that they didn't offer any type of candy that you can't get in Michigan or anywhere else.
On Friday, my birthday, we got to tour the Fort Hunter mansion. It was built in the 1700's and renovated and added onto in the 1800's. It was so interesting to hear about all the history and see how the people lived back then. There was an outhouse of course, but in the master bedroom there was a wooden chair with a hole in the seat, and below that there was a container. This was a toilet for them if it was cold out or if they had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We also saw the clothes of a woman who grew up there and then owned it with her husband. I think her name was Helen, I can't really remember. But we saw her house coats and then also her dresses that she would wear out on the town. The dresses were beautiful. The tour guide also told us that archeologists dig somewhere around the property once a year. Last year they found a cannon ball from the civil war. We didn't see it because it belongs to the state but they are hoping that the state will let them house it when it becomes available. Also, they had a "summer kitchen" where they would do their cooking, ironing, butchering of animals and things like that to keep the heat and dirtiness away from the main house. While we were in there a saw shifted and almost fell. The tour guide made a joke about it being a ghost, of course it wasn't but it was a little creepy. After we saw the mansion we tried to go to the National Civil War Museum but it was closed for some reason. We ended up just coming back to the hotel, eating at the hotel restaurant and having a couple drinks. It was an absolutely wonderful birthday!
Saturday we drove two hours to get to Washington DC. The silly GPS came through again! We were looking for the Capitol so that we could tour it but the GPS had us on one side of the river and we needed to be on the other. Finally I punched in the Lincoln Memorial and that at least got us over the river and into a parking area. We started at the World War II Memorial, walked to the Washington Monument, then found a place for lunch. We found a food court which was inside a large building that we had to go through metal detectors to get to. It was crazy. After lunch we went to the White House which was nothing grand. We didn't expect to get to go in but we asked about it, apparently you have to book your tickets six months in advance. From the White House we made our way to the Smithsonian Castle which had a replica of the "Pile of Loot" from the new Night at the Museum movie. We then went to the Museum of Natural History which was absolutely insane! There were so many people! We saw a ton of animals from all over the world, and an exhibit of ocean life (and when I say exhibit I mean a room about 10x the size of my house), dinosaurs and so much more! It was our favorite part of the day. After that we finally made our way to the Capitol. Nothing too exciting from the outside. We still wanted to tour the inside but the tours were done for the day by the time we got there. On our way back we stopped at the National Gallery of Art where we saw paintings by Rembrandt, DaVinci and Monet. We didn't spend very long in there though because we were getting pretty tired by this time. Then we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial which was great but also packed with people. That was our final stop before getting back to our car, where we were pleasantly surprised to not see a ticket. We were parked in three hour parking, which is about all there is, and when we asked a National Park Service lady about it she said it was "strictly enforced." Then later we asked another guy and he said it depended on how bored the people were, because who's really gonna walk around and try ticket each car? And he said even if we did get a ticket it would only be about $23 so we didn't really worry about it after that. When we got back to the hotel we swam in the pool for a while.
Sunday we woke up and did some laundry. It took a lot longer than we thought but we were glad when we got done. Then we ate lunch at the hotel restaurant, a chicken ceaser salad pizza! It was really good! Then we went to Gettysburg. We bought tickets which included viewing a film, seeing the cyclorama and touring the museum. The film told all about the battle and the Gettysburg address, the cyclorama is a painting that is 377 feet long, 42 feet high and 360 degrees around. It depicts the battle of Gettysburg and the painter, who fought in the battle, even painted himself into it. The museum was very cool too. There were cannonballs, shells from guns, guns, belts and belt plates that the soldiers wore, diary entries and tons of other interesting things recovered from the battlefield. After that we got in the car and took an auto tour of the battlefield. There were 16 stops on the tour where we got out and took pictures. Well, we didn't get out at each one but when we saw something really interesting we got out. There are monuments all around dedicated to all the different troops from all the different states the helped during the battle. New York had a lot of monuments but Michigan only had one so of course we had to get a picture by it. We also went to the top of every observation tower. That was really amazing because we could see so much and we got (hopefully) some really great pictures. We did a lot of walking over the weekend. When we got back to the hotel after Gettysburg we got into the pool. We had it all to ourselves after a while so we had a lot of fun. After that we got into the hottub where we had a long and wonderful talk about a lot of things. It's one of the best talks we've had in a long time.
We're going to try and go to a movie this week, probably Night at the Museum. We're also going to try and take a tour of the John Harris Mansion!
On Friday, my birthday, we got to tour the Fort Hunter mansion. It was built in the 1700's and renovated and added onto in the 1800's. It was so interesting to hear about all the history and see how the people lived back then. There was an outhouse of course, but in the master bedroom there was a wooden chair with a hole in the seat, and below that there was a container. This was a toilet for them if it was cold out or if they had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We also saw the clothes of a woman who grew up there and then owned it with her husband. I think her name was Helen, I can't really remember. But we saw her house coats and then also her dresses that she would wear out on the town. The dresses were beautiful. The tour guide also told us that archeologists dig somewhere around the property once a year. Last year they found a cannon ball from the civil war. We didn't see it because it belongs to the state but they are hoping that the state will let them house it when it becomes available. Also, they had a "summer kitchen" where they would do their cooking, ironing, butchering of animals and things like that to keep the heat and dirtiness away from the main house. While we were in there a saw shifted and almost fell. The tour guide made a joke about it being a ghost, of course it wasn't but it was a little creepy. After we saw the mansion we tried to go to the National Civil War Museum but it was closed for some reason. We ended up just coming back to the hotel, eating at the hotel restaurant and having a couple drinks. It was an absolutely wonderful birthday!
Saturday we drove two hours to get to Washington DC. The silly GPS came through again! We were looking for the Capitol so that we could tour it but the GPS had us on one side of the river and we needed to be on the other. Finally I punched in the Lincoln Memorial and that at least got us over the river and into a parking area. We started at the World War II Memorial, walked to the Washington Monument, then found a place for lunch. We found a food court which was inside a large building that we had to go through metal detectors to get to. It was crazy. After lunch we went to the White House which was nothing grand. We didn't expect to get to go in but we asked about it, apparently you have to book your tickets six months in advance. From the White House we made our way to the Smithsonian Castle which had a replica of the "Pile of Loot" from the new Night at the Museum movie. We then went to the Museum of Natural History which was absolutely insane! There were so many people! We saw a ton of animals from all over the world, and an exhibit of ocean life (and when I say exhibit I mean a room about 10x the size of my house), dinosaurs and so much more! It was our favorite part of the day. After that we finally made our way to the Capitol. Nothing too exciting from the outside. We still wanted to tour the inside but the tours were done for the day by the time we got there. On our way back we stopped at the National Gallery of Art where we saw paintings by Rembrandt, DaVinci and Monet. We didn't spend very long in there though because we were getting pretty tired by this time. Then we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial which was great but also packed with people. That was our final stop before getting back to our car, where we were pleasantly surprised to not see a ticket. We were parked in three hour parking, which is about all there is, and when we asked a National Park Service lady about it she said it was "strictly enforced." Then later we asked another guy and he said it depended on how bored the people were, because who's really gonna walk around and try ticket each car? And he said even if we did get a ticket it would only be about $23 so we didn't really worry about it after that. When we got back to the hotel we swam in the pool for a while.
Sunday we woke up and did some laundry. It took a lot longer than we thought but we were glad when we got done. Then we ate lunch at the hotel restaurant, a chicken ceaser salad pizza! It was really good! Then we went to Gettysburg. We bought tickets which included viewing a film, seeing the cyclorama and touring the museum. The film told all about the battle and the Gettysburg address, the cyclorama is a painting that is 377 feet long, 42 feet high and 360 degrees around. It depicts the battle of Gettysburg and the painter, who fought in the battle, even painted himself into it. The museum was very cool too. There were cannonballs, shells from guns, guns, belts and belt plates that the soldiers wore, diary entries and tons of other interesting things recovered from the battlefield. After that we got in the car and took an auto tour of the battlefield. There were 16 stops on the tour where we got out and took pictures. Well, we didn't get out at each one but when we saw something really interesting we got out. There are monuments all around dedicated to all the different troops from all the different states the helped during the battle. New York had a lot of monuments but Michigan only had one so of course we had to get a picture by it. We also went to the top of every observation tower. That was really amazing because we could see so much and we got (hopefully) some really great pictures. We did a lot of walking over the weekend. When we got back to the hotel after Gettysburg we got into the pool. We had it all to ourselves after a while so we had a lot of fun. After that we got into the hottub where we had a long and wonderful talk about a lot of things. It's one of the best talks we've had in a long time.
We're going to try and go to a movie this week, probably Night at the Museum. We're also going to try and take a tour of the John Harris Mansion!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
PA - Day 2
It's our second day here in PA. It's cloudier today than yesterday but still so beautiful. So I typed up this whole entry and then the computer did something funny when I tried to post it so here I am typing it all again. Hopefully it works this time! Yesterday after John got back from class we went to Chili's for dinner and out to Wal-mart, gross, but we needed food for the room. When we got back we went to the weight room where I ran/walked about 1.5 miles on the treadmill and John lifted, ran and biked. I think I might go back there later and run again but also try out some other equipment. After that we went to the bar and got a drink which we took down to the pool area and sat in the hottub for a while. It was a nice, relaxing evening.
Today when John gets out of class we're going to Hershey for the evening to check out some chocolate! Yum....
Today when John gets out of class we're going to Hershey for the evening to check out some chocolate! Yum....
Monday, June 1, 2009
Pennsylvania!
Here we are! We made it to Pennsylvania! John left for class about a half hour ago. The maid came into the room to clean so I left to come down here and get on the internet. The hotel is beautiful! It's a Sheraton and quite upscale. Our room is in the D wing, there's a delicious restaurant that we ate at late last night when we finally found our way here and also this morning when we got up, an indoor/outdoor pool, a 24 hour store and the lobby is beautiful. I would have imagined that there would be one computer in the lobby that I could use briefly to check my e-mail and get on facebook for a bit but there are five large screen computers here. There's also a 40 inch flat screen TV in our room. WOW! It's so amazing here! Last night we looked up the hotel on the GPS because we forgot to get the address, the darn GPS brought up the wrong one so we went a little bit out of our way. That wasn't such a big deal as when the GPS doesn't get you to where you want to go. We missed a turn so it recalculated our route and brought us to a dead end road that, according to the GPS, should have gone through. Oh well, we made it safely and are doing well. Our hotel is also very close, aka, walking distance, to Target! I guess that's all for now...I'll update again later in the week. I hope everyone has a great day! We miss you all!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Playtime with Peter!
On Monday Peter came over to play! It was great fun for me and John. We set up a little play area for him in our living room, but of course he was more interested in the things that weren't in the play area, like the stove. Typical. Anyway, we played with trucks, read a book, ate oatmeal, walked around outside for a bit and watched a little Seasme Street. Here are a few pictures I took.
John and Peter on the couch, this was shortly after he arrived.
John, Peter and I
He was very content, and maybe a little tired.
John and Peter on the couch, this was shortly after he arrived.
John, Peter and I
He was very content, and maybe a little tired.
Here he was eating graham crackers....YUM!
Again content and tired. This was right before Sarah got back.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Table
We finally bought a kitchen table! I'm so excited. It'll be nice to not have to eat in the living room on the coffee table. And to be able to put some actual food on the table rather than prepare it on the little itty bitty counter space that's available. We bought it from a friend of Kyle and Charity's. Thanks Charity for keeping an eye out for us! We really appreciate it! We don't actually have it yet, we'd like to pick it up this Saturday but we still have to call the people selling it and see if that works. Once we get it we'll be able to entertain people more because we'll actually have a place to sit! For now, here are some pictures.
Friday, February 20, 2009
V-Day
So it's a little late but I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. John and I got our taxes done...yes, it's true. Not the most exciting part of the day but that's kind of how it started. Then we walked around Rivertown Mall for a while. We went to lunch at Olga's. We then went to the movies and saw Gran Torino. It is such a good movie! Then we went home before going to dinner at Long Horn Steak House. It was a very good dinner. I had a steak stuffed with white cheddar cheese and bacon. It was amazing!
Other than that John and I have just been hanging out with friends in between working and school. Not a lot of exciting stuff but we enjoy the time we have together.
Other than that John and I have just been hanging out with friends in between working and school. Not a lot of exciting stuff but we enjoy the time we have together.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
One Life to Love
Okay, so this is my 100th post! I thought I would change the title of my blog to this. Many of you know the title "Free at Last" came from DC Talk and their wonderful song. Well, this one comes from a band called 33 Miles, this is the title of their wonderful song. To listen to the song if you haven't heard it go here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NouK3fxgZXI&feature=related
Be prepared, I cried when I really listened to the lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NouK3fxgZXI&feature=related
Be prepared, I cried when I really listened to the lyrics.
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