I Try

I really want to be able to braid my hair amazing. Here's my attempt today.

There are fly-a-ways and weird things going on, but it's the best I could do.

Surviving a Hurricane 101

Here are a few suggestions that will get you through a dreaded hurricane.

Form a band

Make portraits of each other

Draw inspirational art

Paint each others faces

Read a good book

Take a long nap

Don your head lamp and play a board game

Go "cosmic bowling"

Have dinner by head lamp light

Attend a dance party

End the evening with a fantastic shadow puppet show

Earthquakes & Hurricanes & Floods. Oh My!

Welcome to Rhode Island. The land of natural disasters! On Tuesday we felt the effects of the Virginia earthquake. Now we are projected to feel the effects of Hurricane Irene. Thankfully, by the time it gets to Rhode Island it should be down to a hurricane watch, or just tropical storm. However, there are local flood advisories for the area.

Not to worry. We've stocked up on non-perishable food, water, and other emergency items. I honestly think that everything will be fine, but I'm not taking any chances. We're keeping a close watch on the news in the event that things take a turn for the worse.

On a lighter note. Adam and I went up to Belmont, MA to attend the Boston Temple on Wednesday. We got lost in some local neighborhoods that were amazingly beautiful, and stumbled upon Penzeys Spices (only mom and Christine will really appreciate that).

In other news, I'm still on the job hunt. Nothing has happened yet, except for more tears of course. I was told by a lady who works in home health that the state of RI will not hire a social worker right out of graduate school. She said that you have to have 2 years post-graduate experience to be hired. So I cried out of defeat. Then contacted the licensing department the next day to find out for myself. Well, apparently that lady needs to get her facts checked because, she was wrong. So, I ended up feeling better about that little experience.
Anyway, so nothing else awesome and exciting for this week.

A Little Bit of History

Here's a bit of what's been happening in our super awesome lives.
First, we finished the "John Adams" series, and are very excited to start exploring the historical sites around New England. It's incredible how much history this tiny area has seen.
Second, we decided to take a walk around downtown Providence to see how awesome it was in daylight. We wandered around the Capital building.

Wandered some random side streets with crazy shops (We forgot to take a photo, but we will. I'm not kidding. Some crazy shops).
Wandered to a park that played host for a local band for the evening. We sat on a park bench (on the opposite side of the band, sorry, no photos) and listened to their groovin' sound.

the band is on the other side of this fountain

Third, I continued to job search all week with no prospects of a job in sight. So we decided to have some much needed fun on Saturday. Which leads us to...
Fourth, we headed down to Bristol, RI (beautiful drive) to see the Coggeshall Museum. It's not a museum of artifacts, but a museum of a way of life. It's an actual working farm from the 18th Century. They work the farm, tend the animals, harvest crops, and cook meals just like in old times. It was pretty cool to see how things were done.

These gang members were running-a-muck making trouble

This is the farm house

The drive in to Coggeshall

 

Fifth, we drove to a nearby state park for our picnic lunch, and happened to be right on the coast. Crazy how the water is everywhere in this state.

Sixth, we had to stop by Imagine. It's a crazy, large gift store in Bristol. It was on a list of 60 things to see in Rhode Island, and also voted one of the top 25 gift stores by USA Today. Of course, I only took pictures of the crazy decorated cows and nothing actually involving the store.

Seventh, we went to a cute historic house in Smithfield, RI. This house, the Smith-Appelby house dates back to 1696. There were other sections added on to the house that date back to 1830. It was really neat to tour such a historic site. Apparently, there was someone still living in the house until 2002. Now it's a historical site.

There you have it. Another successful week in the Taylor household. Have you started planning your visit yet?

All Furnished!

The apartment is furnished! Life couldn't be better! I have a couch to sit on, a TV to watch, a real bed to sleep in, dishes to eat off of...you get the point. You've seen the apartment naked, now take a look at it fully furnished! Well, almost. We still have to set up the spare bedroom which includes buying a desk. All in time.

Bedroom, clearly

spare bedroom. Still waiting on that desk

dining room, with music nook

Living room, view 1

Living room, view 2

Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Bakers Man...

Adam received his "Chef Whites" in the mail today! I made him put them on straight out of the box, so they are a bit wrinkly. You get the idea though. He looked so official! It's just one step closer to this dream becoming a reality! Watch out world. Here comes Adam Taylor!

Life in Rhode Island

Things are beginning to pick up around these parts. No, I don't have a job, but I do have internet! Can you say Hallelujah?! I've been singing the praises of internet for 5 minutes now!

On a different note. Adam and I drove around Roger Williams Park (remember I've mentioned it before?) to take photos of all the crazy statues. We were only able to capture about half of the statues before my camera battery died. I will now grace you all with a few of our favorites.

We call this one "Punching Eagle" Adam's favorite

Abe Lincoln, always classic...but why in RWP?

This is the plaque under Abe. Read it. Then read it again. It's weird.

Trumpet man. No plaque to indicate who he is or why it's there

There are many, many more statues, but I just don't have the time or the room on this post.

Now, let's move on to Water Fire. What is Water Fire you might be asking. Let me explain. Water Fire is an event that happens during the Summer months in Providence. It takes place in downtown Providence. Thousands of people gather from all over to see a glorious spectacular. Fire, on water. Crazy, right? They light huge cauldrons on the river that runs throughout Providence. It's beautiful! The pictures don't do it justice. You'll just have to come to RI and see it for yourself. It starts by parading the fire in on the streets to the boats below.

 Then all of the cauldrons are lite on at a time, throughout the entire river.

Different view of the river

 We continued our journey around the city, and started discovering that Water Fire was more than just fire on water. There were live bands all around the city. There were vendors and entertainers. There were also some crazy bananas hanging around the streets.

How cute, right? Come see for yourself.

 We discovered these sweet statue people all around town. There were oracles, riddle makers, gargoyles, gold ladies, etc. They were super cool! The other photos I took didn't turn out well (it was dark and my camera sucks). It totally looks like a real statue doesn't it?

 The best part of the evening was the salsa band we happened upon. They had a live band and large stage for people to dance on. I was so tempted to get on the dance floor and shake it. Sadly for me, Adam chickened out last minute and wouldn't dance with me. He hates to make a spectacle of himself. I was supremely sad. Everyone looked like they were having a blast! So I took to watching the awesome couples shake it on the
dance floor. Maybe next Water Fire we'll dance.

Here is just a sample of the awesome-ness of that evening.

Some Good Times, and Some Bad Times

Let's begin with the good times, because good is always better than bad. Today we went to the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson and Wales University. It was pretty exciting! Plus, Adam got in free because he's a student! You can't get better than free admission! They have some pretty interesting items on display, but being the way I am, I only took photos with mannequins instead of cool artifacts.

This guy and I enjoying our diner breakfast!

Let's not forget giant chef potato head man! How could you not love a giant potato?

Now for the bad times. I started job searching yesterday and was feeling pretty positive about the jobs I had applied for. I got a call this morning from one of the jobs I had applied to. It was for a medical social worker for a hospice company. Basically what I was told, was that since I am new to the area, and don't know my community resources in RI, they don't want to hire me. So I had a self-pity party, and cried. I hate being rejected! Adam reminded me that it probably wasn't the right job for me and that I need to keep looking. So with my chin up, I will continue onward and upward with the job searching! Wish me luck!