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Category Archives: Flashbacks & Memories

Someone likes to jump!

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I swear Owen was older than this when he finally fit in it—I’ll have to go back and find when it was. I do remember having to put a phone book under his feet for awhile, though… Meanwhile, Katie has been in it about a week or so already (and her feet DO touch the floor, even if it doesn’t quite look like it in this picture).

20121005-101238.jpg

** I finally went back and looked at Owen’s pictures, and the first one I have of him in the jumper is May 17. 2006—so he was 3½ months old! And there’s the box we needed to use! The other picture is him a day later, but looking cuter!

Eight years ago this week…

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With the blog and website renovation, I have been going through all my old pages and pictures. Today I was incorporating Tom’s Iraq pictures into the blog, and realized that eight years ago this week (September 13) Tom was packing to head to Iraq for the first time.

If you ever want to take a look at old Iraq posts, just click on the Iraq Category tag.

Happy 11th Anniversary

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Eleven years. Wow. It just kinda sneaks up on you every year (and even moreso this year since we’ve been a little busy with Katie).

We didn’t even try to get a sitter to do anything this year, though I’m sure our friends would have obliged. Instead, we made a family trip to Wilmington to go to Costco…and have our traditional Chinese meal (we did lunch instead of dinner, though).

Katie was a complete gem, sleeping the entire hour ride down, our entire hour in Costco, and about 75% of our lunch…then took a bottle and slept the entire way home. Of course, Owen was just as awesome, sitting in the cart with stuff piled all around him, not even noticing really because he was having fun with daddy’s phone. 🙂

We had a slight brush with fame at Costco…we saw Keith from Top Chef Texas fame (we’ve eaten at his restaurant, Catch, before). That’s as close to famous as I’m likely to get living here. And he said hi to me in passing, likely because I was staring at him. 🙂

Our lunch was really, really good. I picked a place off Yelp pretty much at random…just going by reviews and proximity to Costco…and we couldn’t have been more thrilled. Everything on the menu at Double Happiness was tempting, but I ended up with the Dry Wok Chicken and Tom got the Coconut Shrimp with Candied Walnut (and we got a Double Steamer dim sum basket). And surprisingly good Hot & Sour soup—as close to mine as we’ve ever had. We definitely want to go back there to try more of the menu!

All in all we had a really good day. How can we not when we have such a great little family?! 😀 (The only downside is that I forgot to take a picture of us to celebrate the day!)

project365

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http://www.iphoneproject365.com/photos/hudson2001

project365

Project 365 is an iPhone app designed to help you document your life by taking one photo a day for a year. I’ve been using it for just over two years now, and you can see all the photos at the link above or at the static link in the rightmost column.

Here is the first month (July 2010):

Here is the last full month (June 2012):

In a nostalgia-related funk.

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So this past weekend was my 20th high school reunion…which I missed. 🙁

Now, before you think I’m going insane because I actually WANTED to go to my reunion, let me assure you I am mentally stable.

Well, wait. At least in this case, anyway. :p

We had a great class—we had cliques of course, but everyone was still friends. And we haven’t had the typical five-year rotation of reunions—we didn’t have a 5, I went to our 10, and we didn’t have a 15—so it’s not like I was burned out on them. Besides, 20 is a nice round year to attend. And it was going to be convenient since we were actually living in Michigan!

But, as fate—or rather, as life in the military—would have it, after almost three years of living in Michigan, we moved back to North Carolina 1½ stinking months before the reunion. GRRRR. I have to admit, however, that a small part of me was ticked because I had wanted Tom to have to reciprocate for me having to go to his 20th reunion! :>

Anyway. People are finally posting pictures and it’s just bizarre to see everyone again. I mean, I’ve been keeping up with some of them on Facebook, but it’s different seeing them in pictures TOGETHER. Knowing I was thisclose to being there, as well. And everyone is saying what a great time they had.

/sniff

Are reunions the best thing ever? No.

Did I want to talk to every single person? No.

Would I have been a bit of a wallflower? Yes. (I am still an introvert, no matter what anyone wants to think.)

Would I have had a good time? Yes.

So, I’m in just a bit of nostalgia-related funk today…

Rockin’ a high school shirt!

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Today I am wearing a shirt from high school. 😮 It’s just a big comfy pullover hoodie. The funny thing is that a mom in our play group asked “What is VENEZIA?” (written across the chest) and I was like “Something from the 90s!” and we both laughed. I said I think it was a clothing brand…??

But really. High school. Which was 20 years ago. 😮

It looks practically brand new though.

Honest.

Oh, and here’s the proof:

So much for recreating our wedding day.

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I can’t believe that 1) the Grand Traverse Dinner Train is no more and—more importantly—2) no one thought to tell me about it! I mean, it’s not like it just happened—according to news stories, it’s been out of service since late 2005 and sold/out of Traverse City since 2006!!

I’m bummed. I really wanted to do an anniversary dinner on it sometime. 🙁

RIB|NFLANNKE

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This will always make me laugh. Any non-Grayling peeps want to guess what it is?

  • Scott F—Bowling alley?
  • Jeff P—That is hilarious. I won’t ruin it though.
  • Heather WT—WOW….what is it? I don’t remember that!
  • Heather WT—Nevermind….I know now! LOL took a minute! Thats funny!
  • Sue Ann R—I don’t know what it is now … but it was a Ben Franklin at some point in time.
  • Ryan H—Ben Franklin……Wow….they tried to make it like Volkswagen or something?
  • Sue ML—rib n flankke, like ribs and flanks, a steakhouse?
  • Jennifer H—Sue Ann–you got it! It’s an old Ben Franklin store downtown on Michigan Avenue! It’s been empty for a long time and sone unknown person(s) changed the letters around. It’s now been like that for YEARS.
  • Janet P—I live here and years later it is still driving me out of my mind to go by it and look at it that way!!!!!!!!!!

Facebook Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson enjoyed the grilled pizza: turkey, shallots, garlic, parmesan, provolone, mozzarella, and Alfredo sauce. Mmmmmmmmm!
  • Jennifer Hudson says there goes this pair of pants. Thanks, kid.
  • Jennifer Hudson hates it when she’s smarter than a word game. Bookworm on the iphone doesn’t think rut, goes, or squaw are words. Seriously?
  • Jennifer Hudson says the dog is shaking like a leaf so there must be another storm coming.
  • Jennifer Hudson just got home from another successful (and fun!) mom’s group!
  • Jennifer Hudson is really fed up with the NC Employment Security Commission right now.
  • Jennifer Hudson wonders what the NC Employment Security Commission is trying to tell her…the website has been wonky all day, meaning I cannot file my weekly certification.
  • Jennifer Hudson just put the boy to bed and is watching him play with his feet on the camera.
  • Jennifer Hudson feels like she’s back in North Carolina. It’s 70% humidity and already like 86 degrees, with a high of 94 expected. YUCK.
  • Jennifer Hudson is watching a guy at the grocery store twist off each apple stem before he puts them in his bag. Freak.
  • Jennifer Hudson is watching an old Gilroy Garlic Festival Garlic Cook Off on Food Network.
  • Jennifer Hudson just discovered last night’s hamburgers in the microwave. >:XX
  • Jennifer Hudson is thrilled the boy slept through the night again…it’s happening more often than not these days!
  • Jennifer Hudson just made what she hopes is THE most delicious garlic bread, EVER. Stay tuned. —time lapse— Well…it WAS yummy but not as wonderful as I’d hoped! That said, I think I need to bake it at a higher temp so it gets more bubbly/melty (I just guessed and didn’t refer back to the recipe). But I made extra so we have some in the freezer to try again. I would definitely make it again, though!
  • Jennifer Hudson really really really really really REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY misses her Jacksonville friends. I had a dream about them last night, where we had to say goodbye again, and I woke up with tears in my eyes. Sniff.

Tuna Salad

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So I just made tuna salad and, as usual, was reminded of the very first time I made it back in college.

Noodles? Check.
Tuna? Check.
Mayo? Check.
Eggs? Check.

But it wasn’t right. So I called my mom and the conversation went something like this:

Me: I made tuna salad but it didn’t taste like yours!
Mom: Did you use relish?
Me: No.
Mom: Did you use vinegar?
Me: No.
Mom: Did you use celery salt?
Me: No.
Mom: Well then that’s why it didn’t taste like mine.

So…lesson learned—and for the 15 years since then, mine has tasted [pretty much] like hers every time!!

Facebook Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson really wants a squarespace website, but just can’t afford the version I want. Oh well. Life goes on.
  • Jennifer Hudson just got attacked by a tray of brownies. For realz.
  • Jennifer Hudson was slacking at the computer and missed the Vine newsletter when it arrived…so got squat this month. Boo hiss.
  • Jennifer Hudson liked Bert & Ernie better as puppets, not claymation.
  • Jennifer Hudson thinks maybe she will make brownies when the kid goes down for a nap. Which should be momentarily.
  • Jennifer Hudson loves a strawberry smoothie on a hot day.
  • Jennifer Hudson says “Seriously, ThinkGeek? You call THIS a women’s 2X? It’s waaaay smaller than my husband’s Large tee-shirts.” Booooooooo!
  • Jennifer Hudson really needs the boy to take a longer nap. None of this 30 minute BS. 🙂
  • Jennifer Hudson has a smart dog. I started taking away pieces that she had chewed off, and she grabbed the toy and ran into the other room!
  • Jennifer Hudson finds it hilarious that the boy loves to turn on his mobiles himself by rolling down the crib and kicking the buttons with his feet. Swear to god he looks like he’s aiming. 🙂
  • Jennifer Hudson should have napped with the boy, but I never would have guessed he’d be out for going on 2.5 hours. The story of my life.
  • Jennifer Hudson is trying to figure out the fun that is RTM—syncing, gmail, bookmarklets, firefox addons, etc.
  • Jennifer Hudson hates driving anywhere anymore because of all the freaking idiots and douchebags on the road. Everyone seem to think they’re the ONLY car on the road. Grrrr.
  • Jennifer Hudson really wishes she had chips to go with her sandwich. Yes, I’m eating lunch at 10:40.
  • Jennifer Hudson loves when the boy falls asleep on her…sooo sweet. Now off to shower and start laundry! YAY!
  • Jennifer Hudson says YAY! We can to go Kentucky with the fam! It’s a good day!
  • Jennifer Hudson wishes mint.com would actually update/refresh.
  • Jennifer Hudson loves a sleeping baby. So cute. So quiet. So peaceful. So needed. 🙂
  • Jennifer Hudson says Owen either needs to nap, eat more, or poop, because mom is tiiiiired of the cranky.
  • Jennifer Hudson is getting closer to getting her hair cut. I think I might get it trimmed one more time, then chopped. So maybe in a few more months?
  • Jennifer Hudson just fed the boy a teaspoon of oatmeal cereal! He’s getting better!
  • Jennifer Hudson woke up to check the monitor and see…Owen on his stomach! OMG!
  • Jennifer Hudson wonders who the #$%@ thinks it’s a good idea to cut down a tree and shoot fireworks at 8:30 on a Sunday night? Seriously. GET OFF MY LAWN!

My five seconds of fame, circa 1996.

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It seems every now and again I have the need (or want) to show someone this, and I always have to dig it out of the archives (i.e. try to find it in the file cabinet)…so I figured I would scan it and post it. Yeah, I should have done it 13 years ago when it first happened, LOL.

I wrote a letter to Entertainment Weekly and it was published! The very first letter on the page, even! This is from August 23/30, 1996:

Speaking of Facebook…

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You can find just about anyone on there.

Guess who I ran across? My ex, Tom.

So then the question was…Do I contact him or not? Well, I did. I mean, over the years I have wondered what happened to him, so why not find out? I mean, it has been almost 15 years. (Sidenote: OMG! FIFTEEN YEARS!)

So we exchanged a few emails.

He is still in the navy, and is happily married with two kids and currently living in California.

You gotta love the internet.

25 Additional Random Things

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I keep thinking about my previous list of Random Things, and reading other people’s lists, and I wanted to have another go at it.

  1. Back in the day, I was sure I was going to write the next great American novel someday. I guess I still have time, but it seems much more of a pipe dream at this point in my life.
  2. Sometimes I think I want four or five kids, because I love having large family gatherings—and it’s what I’m used to. But I’m not sure I want to be pregnant that many times!
  3. I knew the night I met my husband that we would get married. It was love at first sight.
  4. Someday I will live in my dream house—a ranch with enough space for everything, a great party kitchen with professional appliances, and a hot tub. There’s more, but that’s the gist.
  5. We’ve been on two cruises and I love them. LOVE THEM LOVE THEM LOVE THEM! I would go on a cruise every other month if I could afford it.
  6. I would love to live by family for the rest of my life, but I just don’t think we can live in the cold anymore.
  7. I hope that I can be a good parent. Everyone assures me I will be, but I just don’t feel it yet.
  8. I could eat an entire box of Krispy Kreme Original donuts if given the opportunity. Especially if they were Hot & Fresh.
  9. My favorite salad is mixed greens with Craisins, toasted pecans, feta cheese, and Amish Dressing (a sweet mustard dressing).
  10. Sometimes I want to sell everything and just start over.
  11. I am a PC person (we have three), but would be willing to give a Mac a try if they weren’t so damn expensive.
  12. I’ve always wanted to see Jimmy Buffet in concert and he’s coming here in August. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
  13. I really want to travel around the world—one of my top places is Fiji, where we initially wanted to go for our honeymoon but never quite made it.
  14. I love music from the 50s and 60s. I guess it’s from growing up listening to it via my parents!
  15. I have never had a broken bone.
  16. I have been to the emergency room four times that I can remember: 1) when I jammed scissors into my hand when I was about seven or eight, 2) when I fell off my bike in high school, 3) when I sliced the tip of my finger off in college when working at Glen’s, and 4) when I fell down the stairs last year and twisted both my ankles.
  17. I love organization—storage containers/bins/baskets, shelving, labellers… Maybe because I’m a packrat as well?
  18. I hate my legs so rarely wear skirts or dresses unless they are ankle length. I hate shorts, too, but had to wear them in North Carolina to survive the summers.
  19. I miss reading. I couldn’t even tell you the last “real” book I read (real meaning NOT baby-related help books).
  20. I cannot believe our thermostat is set at 60 for a Michigan winter—and our heating bill is still $300.
  21. I just figured out that my numerology life path number is 5, which “suggests that you entered this plane with a highly progressive mindset, with the attitude and skills to make the world a better place.” Interesting.
  22. Someday I hope to have a job I truly enjoy. I can’t even imagine what that would be like. Heaven, maybe?
  23. I know I complain too much and am trying to get better about that. Or at least tell the same amount of “good” stories so people don’t think my life is ALL bad.
  24. I love love love my car, a 2001 Toyota Highlander purchased brand new a week before we got married. I would buy the same exact car in an instant, but the new Highlanders are NOT the same.
  25. I have a personalized license plate that says TRAVCTY. It was strange living in NC and having people know what it meant!

Bizarre memory recall

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Are you ever writing a number down or reading a number and a memory just hits you? I was just writing down the phone number to a local store I need to call and the last 4 digits hit me and I was like Whoa, that was the last 4 to my college dorm room. Who knew I still remembered that?!

ETA: September 29, 2012—As I am rereading this entry to add categories to it, I still remember the phone number: 774-4721.

A trip down memory lane…

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Braided barrettes! I don’t know why I thought of these today, but I did, so had to google them and oh man, the memories!

I loved these and had them in every color—my mom actually learned how to make them because she could make them lots cheaper than we could buy them! It was cool because she would make them to match my outfits! She would also put beads and stuff on the ends (all the pics I have found don’t show any accessories).

If you’re interested at all, here are instructions!

What are your favorite smells?

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Last night, I was spontaneously invited down to dinner at a neighbor’s, and after dinner, they suggested a fire (our first semi warm night in weeks). So he made a fire in their chimnea and it was WONDERFUL! I even love how my clothes and hair smell afterwards. Of course, part of it are the memories it evokes of camping with my family when I was younger…but the smell, oh…the smell.

So this morning I was thinking about smells and wondering what my other top smells are… Campfire is definitely in the top 10, along with fresh lilacs and fresh cut grass. After that, I’d have to include the smell of Eternity (thanks to hubby!) and a Michigan cool-to-warm morning (hard to describe, but it’s a combination of the weather, the trees, the grass, the air—everything). Other than that, there are great smells (lots of cooking and baking smells, to be sure!), but nothing that comes immediately to mind to round out my top 10.

Long-lost treasure!

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So as I mentioned, mom and David brought down one of my old dressers. Well, of course, all of the drawers were filled to the brim—assorted stuff having accumulated over the multiple years it has sat in the basement waiting for me to have a home of my own to store it in. (It really didn’t matter to mom when I told her that, even though we have a big house, it’s already full to the brim. 🙂 ) So, due to space issues, we ended up giving the dresser away to a coworker—figuring who better than a 4-year-old girl to enjoy a Barbie-pink dresser?

my old pink dresser

But that meant I had to empty out the drawers. And find space to put all that stuff. But oh, did I have a grand time looking at everything, like…

  • A “memory book” detailing “The Blizzard of 1982” — each of us in the class had to write what we did over the three-day surprise snow break and then it was mimeographed (yes, mimeographed—not copied!) for everyone and made into a book. A book with construction paper covers and tied with yarn, but a book nonetheless!
  • An “autograph book” from the last days of school, circa 5th grade (I can tell because my teacher signed it). Heck, I think I had everyone at the school sign it, down to secretaries and janitors, I think! Hilarious. One funny thing? One of the kids in my class signed it…and I swear, his handwriting never changed through our senior year. Two neat things? I obviously carried on getting autographs after school, because both my Grandma Smith and Grandpa Len signed it. :'(
  • A periodic table of the elements from my chemistry class in high school… Why would I keep that? It has a story, of course! Which I remember like it was yesterday. The day our teacher was handing out copies of the periodic table to the class, it was my birthday (technically, it was Friday the 29th, but since we wouldn’t be in school on my birthday, my friends had put in the announcement for Friday). So, because it was my birthday, the teacher gave me his only color copy. I was the envy of the class. (Keep in mind, this was before the prevalence of internet research and color copies. What the teacher gave you is what you had.)
  • A letter from my dad, circa 1994. I haven’t reread this one yet!
  • Two cartons of my pysanky attempts, along with two kistas, an unopened box of dyes from Aunt Marge (I was always waiting until I had my own house/space to make all the dyes…I guess I have that now, don’t I?), and an egg-drying rack.
  • Four photo albums of Tom #1 era pictures. As you can imagine, that had some good and bad memories attached…but they were still fun to look at.
  • Three sticker books! (Don’t tell me you don’t know or remember sticker books…they were ALL the rage.) I still hate to part with these, but why on earth would I keep them?! I should just pass them on to Virginia who would surely love them. After I scan the pages into my computer, of course. 🙂
  • Two books of Sniglets. Yes, you remember Sniglets, too. You can admit it.
  • A brand new soup bowl/plate set that was a gift from my boss back in Traverse City 10 years ago (I’m rounding down).
  • But the best was the photo album Grandma Smith made for me probably 20 years ago…which I thought I had lost. After her funeral this summer, I looked high and low for it and couldn’t find it. I was devastated, because I could remember it clear as day—just not where it was. It was NOWHERE in this house, which meant it hadn’t been at the last house… So when I opened the drawer and found that… Well, it was a good day.

The sad thing? I still don’t know where I’m going to put all this stuff!

Chinese for five years in a row!

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So, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before… after our wedding, we crashed at the hotel and then took a four-hour nap. When we woke up at 9pm, we were starving and didn’t want to eat at the Trillium (we would have had to get dressed up), so we went into town and Chinese sounded good, so we ate there.

Fast forward to our one year anniversary and without thinking we said “Let’s order from our favorite chinese place” — and only afterwards did we realize/remember we ate chinese the night of our wedding as well.

Ironically, about the same thing happened the third year — we couldn’t decide where to eat, so we picked our favorite chinese place — and again said “OH MY GOD! We did it again!”

The fourth year was planned, to keep with tradition.

This year, Tom planned to take me somewhere else we would LOVE to go, but I decided we really shouldn’t spend that much (it would have been probably $100—well worth it, but just so much money) so I said “Well, we might as well make it chinese!” and went to a chinese buffet place in town we’ve wanted to go to since we’ve lived here but haven’t made it.

So, after five years in a row, I’m pretty sure we have to do it now until we die. It’s a good thing we like chinese!

Four years ago today…

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We were out running errands and I saw a flag at half staff and thought “What happened that we haven’t heard about?” and then it hit me. It’s 9/11. It’s hard to believe that it was four years ago already—at times it feels like YEARS and YEARS ago, but of course I can remember that day like it was yesterday…just moved to Virginia, not even married a month…Tom called to wake me up to tell me about it (of course I didn’t believe him, until he made me turn on the TV) and he didn’t know if/when he’d be able to call again, if/when he’d be able to come home, or if/when he’d be sent to NYC for rescue/cleanup. I spent the entire day in front of the computer with the TV on in the background chatting with my friends online, sharing any miniscule bit of news.

Of course, I feel bad for my dear ol’ dad, whose birthday is today… that’s just gotta suck. I mean, being as old as he is and everything, every birthday must suck. Right, dad? heehee

Has it been four years already?

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It’s our anniversary today…woohoo! Four years. It doesn’t seem that long at all…but on the other hand, it seems like we’ve been together forever (but not in a bad way)! And I vaguely recall saying/thinking the same thing last year and the year before. That’s a good sign in my book!

We didn’t do anything especially special…what with the new house and all. Without going into the whole loooong story, we couldn’t decide on where to go out to eat as usual, so guess what? We ended up getting Chinese—which, if you remember, is what we always end up eating, since that’s what we ate the night of the wedding and what we ended up eating on our 2-year as well. I’d have to dig through my journals, but I’m sure we ate Chinese on year 3, too…so why not just make it a tradition and stay with it?

The Phantom of the Opera

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Tom and I finally watched the movie today…and wow. Just, wow! It was absolutely fantastic! We both had goosebumps throughout pretty much the entire movie! I can’t wait to watch it in surround sound (we did the lazy Sunday thing and watched from bed). It also brought back so many good memories of my two trips to Toronto to see Phantom—the first with my mom (1994) and the second with Tom (2000).

Our brick!

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Since the library only charged us $40 for the room (in case of rain and a place to get dressed if we needed it) and charged us nothing for the use of the grounds, we decided to donate some money in the form of buying a brick for the Children’s Learning Gardens. This brick is placed on the pathway to the garden (in full view of the train station!) and commemorates our special day. We were able to visit it in October 2002, shortly after our one-year anniversary.

 

Entrance to Learning Garden.

Close-up of entrance to Learning Garden.

The whole brick walkway.

Our brick.