Happy Halloween/Happy Snow Day!

Ok, ok... so we are a little behind in posting our entries. We've been a little lazy lately. Nonetheless, we should post about each of our respective parents visit to CT. I am done with my entry. Ben just has to complete his now :o)

My parents were able to make it to CT for the first time over Halloween wknd. Before I absolutely forget what we did, I better publish it! First off, CT is my favorite in the FALL! Actually, fall is my absolute favorite season! With all the trees and their beautiful colors - who wouldn't love it? Sitting at a stop light, being stuck in traffic, running errands is FUN now - with all the pretty scenery to sit back and enjoy. I was hoping our parents could make it out specifically during the fall to share its beauty. While there were several things on our 'to-do list' with our parents we had to improvise bc time was limited, naturally.

Above, is a picture we took along our 4 mile walk right by our townhouse. Ben & I love walking through the gorgeous neighborhood that extends behind our place and couldn't wait to show our parents the HUGE houses and colorful landscape.

In route on our walk.

Just another nice photo opt. Note: Mom is a FAN of Dunkin' Donuts now (a New England must-have).
Not quite 'beach' weather, but we were bound and determined to take my parents to the beach for another walk - followed by some fresh seafood. Dad tried the New England special: Lobster Roll! He's hungry for more, next visit. haha. I LOVE them too! Poor Mom (allergic to shellfish) can't indulge in lobster and butter on a toasted hot dog bun.

For some mom/daughter time...my mom also showed me how to make her famous apple pie! Since Ben & I were away from family for Thanksgiving, the holiday was going to feel a bit 'weird'. Ben & I discussed our families traditional meals and we were going to miss my mom's apple pie, among other things...like our families too! We used the fresh apples Ben & I picked the week before my parents arrived. (The apple orchard was also an adventure that should have been blogged about! Maybe I'll add those pictures someday too, completely out-of-sequence?) Anyway, it was sad to see them go back to NE - but I'm so happy we got some great pictures and shared good memories of our first fall in CT!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
-OR- should I say...Happy snow day!! After all, it's Feb 1st now and due to all the nasty weather I'm home and updating our blog (FINALLY)! It's been SOOOOO great to have 2-3 day work weeks! I'm loving the snow! It's so beautiful too!

With death comes life...

So. It's be a grueling week. An emotional week, if you will. Ups and downs. Celebrations and great sadness.

This past week my 3rd nephew was born (Kyler Douglas), and boy did he make a grand entrance into this world. After 41 hrs. of labor my sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Although both are happy and healthy now, both mom and baby had some effects immediately following a long and crazy labor. Lindsay, my sister-in-law, had a 103 degree fever and the baby had a decreased temperature. Also, the baby was born by c-section and had fluid in his lungs. As a result, he was kept in the NICU. :( Although Kyler was only keep in the NICU for a approx 3 days, it had a lasting effect on the parents. My brother and sister-in-law were so exhausted at this point and although you would think having the baby 'away' allows the mother to get more sleep and rest up... think again! She had to go to the NICU 3 floors down every 3 hrs. to feed and see Kyler. Already not feeling well, this became challenging. Also the nurse typically helps with the first bath and diaper changing, etc.... well, my brother and sister-in-law (first time parents) missed out on important tips/teachings of the nurse and felt pretty overwhelmed by the time they got home. But long story made relatively short is: the family is home, happy and adjusting to their new life as parents! I can't wait to make it back to Nebraska to hold the lil' handsome man. My brother & Lindsay are so proud and I am too!

On the other hand...
just this past weekend I received the news that a sorority friend of mine (and her husband) was critically injured after being involved in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. She was on life support for several days following the accident, but on Tuesday night she passed away. This is such a tragedy. My friend, Jessica Lutton Bedient, had so much to live for and it is absolutely devastating that her life was taken much too soon. She recently got married and her husband is still in the hospital recovering from his own injuries. Jessica was an amazing girl with an amazing heart! She will be greatly missed. I can only assume we all want to leave the world a better place and Jessica definitely left her mark. She has positively impacted SO many people's lives as you can see by her website postings. There are a select few people (strangers) this week that have had a drastic change in their lives for the better - b/c Jess was an organ donor. Again, new life.

For those reading this, please stop - take a second and pray for her family, her husband and his family to heal with time and find peace in their hearts. They need lots of support! I can't even fathom what the families are going through. Every time I think of Jess's accident and the fact it could have been prevented if only the driver would have had a sober one, my heart breaks. I am reminded to count my blessings - big or small, count them all.
I love her and I miss her, and I'll see her again someday.

Visitors.

After our buddy's bike ride (which consisted of 4,000 miles) from Portland, OR to Portland, Maine we invited him to check out CT. Of course, Elliot is not going to turn down the chance to go visit a state or a friend, so he came! He enjoyed the peace and quiet (mainly running water, electricity and roof over his head) and we enjoyed our first visitor!


Ben & I have been here for 3 months now (at this point) and had experienced enough to show Elliot a bit of what CT has to offer. Unfortunately, we had to go about our normal work week routines while a guest was here. I did have a few days off, but only bc I was truly sick. It was fun to come home from work and ask Elliot, "What did you do today?" bc 9/10 times it was some place Ben & I had never been to.

Elliot stayed with us for 19 days. Yes, he loves us and CT THAT much. Well, I think... but also bc he was awaiting the arrival of his lost his backpack in the mail (US postal services lost his backpack). It was a good time! The dental residents softball team could sure use some help, so it was great to have Ben & Elliot play with us (although, we have yet to win a game).

Over Labor Day weekend, Bobbi (a dent school friend) got to come out for a visit too!

Almost immediately after she landed, I got off-call and we headed down to the Husker bar! It was fun to watch the game with friends at the CT for Nebraskans club/bar.

We've had several neighbors ask what the hell our 'N' stands for. They don't quite get the whole NE football thing.

Football always entails snacks, beers, food and more food. We were getting hungry and decided to check out Ted's - which is known for amazing STEAMED cheeseburgers. This place doesn't have the best curb appeal, looks a little 'iffy' - but it was impressive. The technique of steaming a burger and steaming the cheese allows their cheeseburgers to be one.big.juicy.savory.mess! I give it two thumbs up and flag it as a 'worth-to-going-again' sort of place. The following day, all 4 of us packed the car (and picnic baskets) and had fun in the sun at the beach. We REALLY wanted to go to check out a beach in Newport, RI - but we all slept in just a little too late for that. Hammonasset (from a previous post) was the only convenient choice. It was great to unwind, relax and catch up with old friends.

Just a little windy.

On Bobbi's last day in CT, us girls got the boys up to go for a morning hike up to Heublien Tower. After looking up some information about it before we left, every website stated the hike was approximately 40 minutes and 1.5 miles. Well, I would have to most definitely DISagree. After taking approx 2.5 hrs to hike the trail, we grabbed grub and made it to the airport just in time! The unexpectedly long hike, was a workout and a half with a great final view. I would love to do it again towards the end of October just to see the view of all fall trees! There's a tower at peak of this 'mountain' (CT folk call it a mountain, but being from the mid-west and visiting Colorado... these 'mountains' are actually large hills) that overlooks pretty much all of CT. There's a 360 degree view with each wall label North, East, South, West and all the corresponding landmarks from each view. Too bad we didn't get any pictures.

So, eventually the holiday weekend came to an end. Ben went back to the grind. I went back to the drill. haha. Elliot decided to give up on the backpack and flew off to Columbia (which I wish him the best of luck and safe travels as he starts another journey). It was great to have some 'normalcy' with friends. Although it was so great (and still is) to try all these new things, visit all these new places and meet all these new people - it was great to simply have some old friends here.

Thanks Elliot.

Thanks Bobbi.

It was a pleasure to have you here.

Next up, our parents coming and visiting in October. Can't wait to show them around!

Back to New York City...

We finally made it back to New York City! After getting engaged in Central Park on December 18, 2005, we had been longing to go back and visit. On a bit of a whim we decided to book a hotel room in NYC on July 31st. We also decided that this would be a great way to celebrate our 4th anniversary. On Saturday morning we hopped in the car and drove down to New Haven, CT (a roughly 40 min. drive). New Haven has a fairly large rail station with connections to both Boston and NYC. Once on the train, it is only about 1 hour and 45 minutes to NYC. We were on the train around 10:30am and on our way. We spent our time reading, sleeping and checking out the views from the train. We arrived at Grand Central station and spent most of our day Uptown and Midtown at Rockefeller, walking down Fifth Avenue, and spending time in Central Park.

Fortunately, there was a rare reprieve from the heat over the weekend and it was sunny and in the high 70s. In Central Park we went back to the bench where we got engaged. We were really happy to see it was still there, right by Cape Cot.


At this point it was late in the afternoon and we had been walking with all of the stuff we had brought to stay overnight. It was time to get to the hotel room. After a detour to Brooklyn, (we didn't know that in the Summer there is heavy construction on the subway lines) we dropped our stuff, changed and went in search of dinner. Our hotel was Downtown (right by Wall St in the Financial District). While on our way to dinner, we got sidetracked and went and sat down by the East River. We watched the boats and had a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge and South Street Seaport. Eventually, we made our way to dinner. We found a bar/restaurant that had blocked off the street they were located on and had set up picnic tables throughout the street. We decided to eat there and then finished the night off with drinks at Madam Geneva, which lies along Noho/Soho border. Madam Geneva was featured on the cooking channel, so we decided we had to go! It was worth the $50.00 bar bill and $30.00 cab ride. I felt like we went to great lengths for some gin and juice, but we weren't disappointed.


I promise we didn't go to NY and eat/drink for 48hrs straight - although, very tempting. I would like to bet and I hope we burned off everything by walking everywhere.

We couldn't help but to keep thinking about this shake that Brian & Christi told us about when they were in NYC. Before we made our last stop, we decided we should bring them back a little love from NY too. We pit stopped at Crumbs, for some goodies. Note the MEGA-cakes next to a big cupcake already. These 'normal' cakes are definitely meant to be shared, but not until we got to CT. These megas, just made me laugh. I can picture these being a hit at a bday party!

Our last stop was Stand4, which is known for their killer toasted marshmallow shake (which was to die for). We did get a his & her's burger so we shared a shake, but next time... I am getting my own. It is not meant to be shared. After that bad boy, aka heart attack on a plate, we walked the remained 2.5 miles to Grand central to head back home.
Ah, summer.
Now time for some fall football!!
Cheers!

Read MORE books & drink MORE Sangria

Last night was my first book club gathering! Those that know me best know that I don't like to leisure read, but I do LOVE to socialize. Being new to the area, this book club is a great opportunity to wine, dine and socialize - the things I love best. Last weekend, on our way to NYC, as soon as I got situated in my chair on the train, I started this month's book Half the Sky. As happy as I was to be making an effort to have 'leisure reading' become a routine, I started to get restless and needed to people-watch. Just as I began looking around the train, I noticed (as if it was a slap on my wrist for taking a break from reading) the message "READ MORE BOOKS" written on the back of the chair in front of me. Suddenly an "Oh yeah, where was I?" reaction happened and I got back to business.

Although this book was interesting and worth reading, it's not a good beach book or a book to read on an anniversary trip. The book consists of true stories from women around the world covering issues: sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence (including honor killings), mass rape and maternal mortality. With that said, the truth is... I read only 1/2 the book. It was so down and depressing that I didn't want to read too much at any one time. Plus, a lot of the hot topics in this book were discussed, read and studied in my undergrad classes. Although the concepts weren't shocking, the statistics were.

All of the book club members gathered at Anne's house. The important thing to know about Anne is that she is a pastry chef and outdoes herself every opportunity she gets! Her house was amazing! I should have had pictures of the set table and the food she served. It was a great summer night and we all sat out on her deck to discuss the book, food, sangria and each other. The club consists of women that work at ESPN or are affiliated with the company because their husband works there. The group is a lot of fun because we all live in CT, but none of us are from CT. Erin has lived in New Hampshire & Seattle, but is originally from IL. Christa is from MN. Anne is from Ohio. I could go on and on.

The sangria was the BEST thing I have ever tasted (in the spectrum of sangria's). It wasn't too sweet or too tart. Anne made the recipe up by just throwing a little of this and a little of that in, of course, but this is the closest thing I could find online that would resemble what she served Blackberry Sangria . I'm a little nervous for when it comes time for me to host! Please send ideas/suggestions my way: pmartens11@gmail.com

Unfortunately the night was kept short, and I am writing this during the Tues I was suppose to be in NJ, because I am sick. And no, I didn't have too much Sangria! I just feel rotten. Hope this finds you better than I - and have good rest of the week!

Everybody's working for the weekend.

Ben & I have yet to blog about what it is we have actually been up to, other than the occasional weekend outing. We would rather not talk about work in our spare time, but this week has been a pretty good work-week!

Ben found a job about 3 wks ago and he's really enjoying it. It is a start-up power company where EVERYONE is working their tail off. He works through lunch, but to compensate for his loss of 'down time' during lunch the company provides him lunch everyday. It's a pretty fair trade, I suppose. It is also nice to see what all sweat and energy goes into starting a company. Needless to say, this experience has made the idea of purchasing an existing practice or just buying into one with other dentists seem like a LOT better deal. Ben has been learning a lot and he's definitely been so busy so the week flies by and before he knows it, it's Friday!

As for me, today was a good day! All my patients showed up to their scheduled appointments and some were even early (if you can believe that). 1 particular thing about today was I did my first full mouth extraction all by my 5'3'' self (well, I had an assistant of course). I can't believe how hard (physically) you have to work sometimes to extract teeth. My patient (although severely medically compromised) was very laid back and really great...or that could have been the nitrous talking. Either way, he thanked me after I extracted all of his badly broken down teeth and I thanked him (mainly for not having a medical emergency in the mist of the appt). The patient, assistant and I were joking around the pt told me I don't have to work out all week now, b/c I already had done enough for the week. And believe me, I don't think I have to lift weights for the rest of the month! My favorite part today was suturing. I can't sew - or at least I don't know how to sew - but I know how to suture mucosa (aka stitch up your gums)! I love getting the chance to do oral surgery, and I even did a continuous interlocking suture today - which is something new as well! I was taught this in dental school and did about a year ago by practicing sewing towels together around a glove box (which sounds like a hay day) but it was fun to do it on a REAL live patient! Days like today make me happy I didn't specialize, b/c if I had I wouldn't have the variety in my day that I do now.

Something my co-residents and I are looking forward to: on Tues we are going to New Jersey to check out Nobel biocare implants production and training center. On Friday we are going to Lake Compunce (an amusement park) to learn about 3i implants. We have a day of continuing education and finish the day by riding the rides. The whole park if for us residents and the 3i staff. Sounds pretty fun! There is another implant company that is in Boston (Strauman, I think??), that we'll visit in Sept or Oct. It's exciting to see all these places and have a year to test them all out. Thus far, I couldn't be happier that I made the decision to do a residency.

Anyway, it's work... an occupation... a profession... whatever... and it was a good day, today. We don't have great days everyday, but we might as well share the ones that qualify.

Cheers to almost Friday!!

Wedding Bells

What a whirlwind of a weekend! One of Ben's best friends from college got married this weekend on Friday, July 23. It was great because we had been looking forward to these two tying the knot for some time now. They make a perfect match!

When we discovered we were moving to CT, immediately we thought about Ben being a groomsman in this wedding and the importance of a much needed trip back to NE. Not to mention, by this time in July we knew we would really want to visit friends and family. However, as we attempted to strategically plan things around Ben finding a job and me only a month into the program - I realized I would be unable to fly back with him. The reason being... a test! A lame, but very necessary and required, test. I am so sick of school getting in the way. I know I have graduated, but still - a residency is an extension of school (a better, more applicable version of 'school'). It sucks to miss out on all the fun time and time again.

So long story short Ben left for NE on Wed at 4AM, which left me with little sleep and zero studying up until this point. Then we come to Thursday: 7/22, Happy Anniversary, apart. And me stuck cramming for the test. Friday: the test and much relief. The Hohns exchange vows and it's official! Saturday: relaxed. Sunday: Ben's home and we get to celebrate our anniversary... oh wait, I'm on-call. As my dad would say, "Bummer... for sure, for sure".

Enough whimpering, the point is this was a special weekend and it should be celebrated. After Ben & I got married we developed a greater appreciation for being invited to weddings and now the word anniversary takes on an entire different meaning. The Hohns are very lucky to have each other, as I am lucky to have Ben.

So, here's to the newly weds:

Anthony & Katie
Ben & Anthony

And here's to 4 years together:
Although those 4 yrs consisted of mainly of school, they are still the best 4 of my life.
And CHEERS to that!

The Farmer's Market

Ben & I really miss a lot of things... family, friends, etc. but we love discovering small things everyday make us feel comfortable and 'at home' here. One essential summer activity that was missing is - going to the farmer's market! We were so happy to see farmer's markets advertised everywhere, b/c we really enjoyed Lincoln's. Now in Lincoln you have the downtown market, Havelock market and by 56th & Hwy 2. Here, there are TONS of different farmer's markets (almost any day of the week), BUT they are not a very big deal and are often only filled with a handful of vendors. waa..waa... So, it's a pretty wimpy deal compared to our fun Sat mornings (when we would actually get up before noon) at the Haymarket. Nonetheless, our favorite finding thus far is Hill-Stead Museum.



This colonial house, and museum, consists of 152-acre property featuring a little bit of everything. The house contains French Impressionists art (Monet originals), a carriage barn and theater, stone garages, woodland trails, a pond and dairy complex, and a Sunken Garden designed by Beatrix Farrand. The best thing about the market is where it was located! The house and the grounds are so beautiful.

We weren't expecting a history lesson... just some fresh fruit and veggies.

Here are the grounds:

Ben sitting on the porch. We didn't get the chance to go inside (which may have been nice considering it felt like 100 degrees out).

Didn't get a picture, but this tent sold the cutest lil cucumbers to make baby pickles.

The sunken gardens.
Fresh flowers!
There was some really pretty trails, but about 15 feet into our walk we realized we had exposed legs, arms and heads. We got a little freaked out about the potential for Deer Ticks and called it quits. We've heard conflicting suggestions about going on walks out here. Some say never go without hats and pants. Some say you'll be fine no matter what. All I know is I really don't want to wind up with Lyme Disease.

Below, is just one of the many carriages.
Here is one of the barns/social center. I think it's pretty adorable. A country wedding? A family reunion? You get the idea.

At the end of the day we left with some tomatoes, cucs and fresh dairy farm cheese rolled in herbs including lavender! Sounds a little strange, right? But trust me it was delicious!
That's it for now. We have more to share, but we've been so lazy.

Happy weekend!
♡Ben&Patty

The Beach.

post by Patty -- Yes, it's cheesy. "I'll never get facebook" (I did) and I said, "I'll never start a blog" and I am. Long story short, never say never. Hopefully this will be a great way to post some pictures and better explain our adventures. Ben & I are coming up on week 3, living in CT. We have been very busy unpacking, working on getting a new driver's license, new insurance... blah.. blah. It is a LOT of work to move, period. So it was time to do some more exploring and relax a bit - time for the beach. We found a magazine that had loads of information and gave high ratings for Hammonasset Beach in Madison, CT - which is only 50 minutes South from our townhouse. The beach is located on the north side of Long Island Sound. It was totally worth the trip.



Below: Fishermen dotted Meigs Point. Also, children were "crabbing" with their parents. Hot dogs were tied on to the end of fishing line or a small piece of rope and dropped in to the cracks between the rocks. The crab would latch on to the hot dog and the children would net them and drop them in to buckets. One claimed to have 19.
Below: The grasses that lined the edge of the beach.


Below: Nice day to be a lifeguard.
post by Ben -- On Saturday, as a follow-up to our beach trip, we were planning on going to a Strawberry Festival and had planned to stock up on loads of strawberries so we could make homemade preserves. Fortunately, we got sidetracked. On our way Patty spotted a yard-sale (here they call them 'tag sales') and they had a washer and dryer for sale! It was only blocks from our place and we were pretty excited. After some haggling we agreed on a price with the sellers and set off to Home Depot because they had one cargo van available for rental. Fortunately, we got there and all pickup trucks and cargo vans were gone. We had to add our name to a wait list. I said fortunately because this led us to a walk around Home Depot where we got shelving for our kitchen (which we were in dire need of due to a stack of pots and pans, etc. on the kitchen floor). Also, we got a microwave - a $35, 700-watt powerhouse, which a Home Depot sales associate informed us we could have acquired 20-years ago with that kind of power. So, we told him we would take it. By the way, we took it home and tested it out on some leftover pizza. It nuked it about 30 seconds faster than the one at our last apartment - Patty informed me that our last one must have been about 500-watts (not sure if that's even something that is produced, but we'll go with it). In the end we were able to rent a cargo van and hauled a very used w/d set to our home.

Finally, after doing some major organizing and attempting (somewhat unsuccessfully) to hang pictures - we made some dinner and coaxed some friends over on Sunday. When I say some friends, I mean the only couple we know out here - Brian and Christi Helge - who have been amazing in showing us around and helping us out. We're thankful to have them here. Brian helped me lug the washer and dryer upstairs and we got them hooked up. The great thing is they actually work.

Hope this finds you all well - keep in touch and know our door is always open...