Back From Beantown... Barely

I have been so busy, I haven't had time to post about our trip to Boston. Take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee or a bowl of ice cream, get comfy, this post could be a long one.....

So, as you know, my husband was able to get a plane ticket to Boston so he could enjoy the city with me. We woke up Monday morning at 3:55 am (yes, A.M.!) and left for the airport at 5:00. We drove to the Casino Queen, parked there, and rode the Metro out to the airport. We got to Lambert around 5:55 and the lines were ridiculous! Keith's flight departed at 6:30am, so he had NO TIME to check in and get through security. I was boarding another airline, so we had to seperate. While I was standing in my own line, I could hear them announcing "last boarding call" for Keith's flight. I kept praying that he had made it through the lines, but I was seriously doubting it. He text me at the last minute, saying he had caught his flight. He had to cut in front of people in the security line and sprint down the terminal, but he made his flight and that was the important thing!

We were able to meet up at the hotel, Nine Zero, once I landed in Boston. The hotel cost a fortune (on the City of St. Louis) and was not worth it. The room was small and didn't even have a kitchen or coffemaker! Oh, and here was our amazing view....



On our first night, we walked down to Fanuiel Hall and Market. We ate at the oldest tavern in America, The Bell in Hand.



We saw a Halocaust Memorial. They had six, tall, glass monuments- one for each concentration camp- with all of the numbers the Nazis tattooed on the wrists of the Jewish prisoners. There were quotes of the prisoners etched into the glass, along with the numbers. I didn't take a picture of the memorial, something about it was too sacred. After that, we walked to Paul Revere's house. The house he left from to warn Boston that "the British were coming". That was really amazing and surreal to think that hundreds of years ago, he jumped on his horse to deliver his message, right where I was standing!



Oh, and I heard somewhere that Bostonians eat more ice cream than any other city residents, so I had to have some myself.....



On day #2 of Boston, I went to class, while Keith toured the Samuel Adams Brewery. He learned how to brew beer, while I learned how to facilitate small group discussion about condom use and negotiation.



Oh, while walking to the training site, I learned that Dunkin' Donuts are about every 5 feet in Boston. We had a 10 minute walk from our hotel to the site of our class and we passed 4 Dunkin' Donuts!


After my first day of class, Keith and I walked through Boston Commons (a 50 acre public park), down Newbury Street (the Rodeo Drive of Boston), over to Cheers (had to!) and all the way over to the Bay, where the Boston Tea Party was held. I love how pedestrian accessible Boston is. St. Louis isn't walker-friendly. I love the mix of old and new in Boston. You have such wonderful architecture and history, combined with the "moderness" of a city.



Keith got to tour Fenway Park while I finished up my last day of training.

After my class, we took the subway to Harvard! I was so excited to see the campus of one of the most well-known universities in the country! I wish I could have seen where Legally Blonde was filmed, but Keith wouldn't let me ask. (Is that embarrassing?) We did walk around and see dorms, classrooms, Harvard Law, Harvard Square and about 1,000 more buildings that I have no idea what they are.





After 3 days of walking, we were so tired. But, I was pleased knowing that there was no way I had gained any weight on this trip!
Keith's flight left at 6:30am on Thursday, so he was up and gone before I even woke up. My flight didn't leave Boston until 5:45pm, so I still had most of the day to explore. I grabbed a cup of coffee from Dunkin' Donuts (where else?!) and walked around the city by myself for about 2 hours.

We (a co-worker and myself) had to check out of our hotel by noon, but they kept our luggage while we sat in the park and people-watched.

We took a cab to the airport at 2:00. Wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get through the lines at the airport. By the time we pulled up to the curb, I was so ready to be home.

We sat at the airport for 3 hours before our flight was CANCELLED! That's right, cancelled! We were connecting in Pittsburgh and they had bad weather and lost power. I don't even know how I would describe my feelings at that point- frustrated doesn't even begin to cover it. LONG story short, we were booked on an 8:30am flight the next morning, connecting in Atlanta and arriving in St. Louis at 12:35. So, we had to get another hotel room (minus our checked luggage) for the night. Woke up Friday morning at 5:00am in order to catch the 6:00am shuttle from our hotel to the airport. Once we got to the check in counter, we were informed that they in fact DID NOT book us on the 8:30 flight to Atlanta. Of course, the flight was full. The next flight they could book us on left Boston at 1:40, connected in Cincinatti, arriving in STL at 5:40pm. I could not bear the thought of sitting in an airport for another day! They booked us for that flight and put us on standby for the 8:30 and 10:30 flights to Atlanta. We were the last 2 people to get on the 8:30 flight, standby. Got to Atlanta around 11:00 and had to sit until our flight left at 2:30. I did manage to finish a new book while sitting in all of the airports. We finally touched down in STL at 3:00 Friday afternoon. Even though it was about 100 degrees, compared to Boston's comfortable 80, I was SO glad to be home!!!

Not in any hurry to get back to Boston.....Whew... makes me tired even typing about it.

Red Sox, Baked Beans and Cream Pie

If you haven't figured it out from the title of this post, we are going to BOSTON!
I have a training for work on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I am flying in on Monday and staying until Thursday so I can do a bit of sightseeing. My job is paying for my flight, hotel, and food for the 4 days. I am so excited- never been to Boston and I have heard *great* things about the city.

Of course, I wanted Keith to come with me. He is on a break from classes for another 2 weeks, plus, the college that he works at is on summer break too! Perfect timing, right? The only thing he would have to do is rearrange some of his personal training clients on Monday and Wednesday night. BUT, by the time we knew I was going, tickets to Boston were between $575 and $900. OUCH! There was no way we could pay that much money for a ticket. I almost would have bought the $575 ticket because we didn't pay anything for my trip and our hotel is covered. (Our really, really nice hotel- Nine Zero) Thankfully, my husband had a logical head on his shoulders and would tell me time and time again that $575 is way too much money for a flight to Boston and he would just have to go next time.

If you know me at all, you know that I would not give up.

I kept checking airline prices everyday, just in case a last minute sale was posted. Finally, I had almost come to terms with the fact that I would have to enjoy this amazing, historical city on my own..... almost......
On Friday afternoon, we were sitting in the living room and I asked him if I could get on priceline and bid on a flight. I asked him if he would go if they accepted an offer of $175. Long story short, they accepted! We got him a flight to Boston, three days in advance, for $203! The EXACT same flights are selling on AA for $1200! Can you believe that? He even got non-stop flights!

So, we are going to Boston. We leave EARLY tomorrow morning and will be there for four fun-filled, action packed days! I'm so excited and I just can't hide it! :) (When I get excited my uber-dorkiness comes out).

Basically, the whole point of this long, drawn out post, is to see if anyone has been to Boston. What activities or sights were must-sees for you? What did you do or see that you could have passed on? Since we only have a few days, we want to make it worth our while!

Boston, here we come!

Hair Be Gone!

Last Wednesday I got an unexpected new haircut. I went in for my regular highlight and trim, but walked out with a whole new 'do. Luckily, I had my camera with me, so now I get to share the before and after.....










(the last picture is the next day, after I had to try to fix it on my own.)

To Save or Not to Save

So, I have been thinking about a question for a few days now. Last week at our bible study, we talked about what views of our may not line up with God's views. We were challenged to list those views, then find Scripture that explained God's views on the various topics. One of my friends in the group, Annie, said she was going to look up what God says about salvation. She wanted to know- "once saved, always saved?" I have not been able to get the topic out of my mind.

I guess I should first start off by giving my definition of salvation. I believe that it is a gift from God. Key word -GIFT- not something that we can earn. I believe that God gave His son, Jesus Christ, so that we might have salvation. I believe that salvation is offered to each and every one of us, but it is our choice as to whether or not we will accept God's gift. I believe that the only way to heaven is by receiving this gift of salvation, which is done by confessing that we are sinners, asking God for forgiveness of our sins, and declaring that Jesus is our savior (in a nutshell). I do not believe that we can get to heaven based on good works or deeds. In my opinion, because the Bible states, the only way to heaven is through Jesus. If there was another way, why would Christ have had to die on the cross?

Ok, so back to the original question- "Can your salvation be lost or taken away?"
I am going to try very hard to keep this post from rambling, but bear with me here...

Let me just start off by saying that I do not believe that your salvation can be lost. I believe that once saved, always saved. Let me also say that I have not researched every piece of Scripture that may touch upon this subject. I just wanted to open the subject up to debate.

I have to believe that salvation cannot be lost. Otherwise, how could I truly be secure in my own salvation? I can remember the exact day that I received Christ. I was sitting with my friends Beth and Amber. We were just talking about God and Christ and all that.... I had no intentions of receiving Christ that night, but the more these two friends talked, I was led to accepting Jesus as my savior. I am so thankful they took the time to answer my questions, because that night changed my life and my eternity.

If salvation could be lost, what is the deal breaker? I mean, are there certain sins that loses your salvation? Do you have to turn your back on God for "X" amount of times? What if I live a life for God, but after extreme trauma or crisis, I lash out at God, yell at Him, tell Him I can't have anything to do with a God who would allow me to go through such pain and die in an accident almost immediately afterwards? (extreme situation, I know, but what if?) Would God know my heart and that I was saying things out of anger or would He take that outburst literally and my eternity would be doomed?

I believe that sin is sin. I think some people disagree with this. I have talked to a few people who believe in a sort of "heirarchy of sin". Murder is worse than lying, adultery is worse than idoltry, stealing is worse than jealousy.. that type of thing. In my mind, sin is sin. I believe that we all are sinners, we will always be sinners. None of us are going to live a sinless life- period. Because I believe that all sin is equal, I believe that a wife who cheats on her husband, but goes to God and asks forgiveness is going to heaven, just as much as the daughter who lies to her parents about what time she got home. Does that make sense?

Ok, I think I am almost officially at the point of rambling. But, if you have any opinion on this subject, leave me a post. Like I said, I have been thinking about this for about 4 days and I love to hear other's thoughts on it. If you have Scripture to back up your opinion, I'd love to know that too..... Even if you haven't thought about this before, just let me know your initial reaction.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts.....

Have a great day! :)

Reading Challenge Update

Ramblings From Life is sponsoring a Summer Reading Challenge. Just a great way to motivate people to read more this summer. The challenge started June 1 and is going through Labor Day. (A great idea, by the way, Alexis!)

I, being the book lover that I am, jumped at the chance to challenge myself!
I set a goal for myself of 15 books, just a little over one book per week. I just finished my 9th book today. I am right on target to complete my goal. You can chart my progress on my sidebar.

I have to admit, Karen Kingsbury is still my favorite author, by far. I am getting ready to start "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. I haven't read any of her books yet, but have heard that her stories are really good. I'm also in the middle of "Facing Your Giants" by Max Lucado. I can read one fiction and one non-fiction book at the same time, so that is usually what I will do.

If you have any favorite books or authors, leave me a post and let me know. We are planning a trip to the beach during the last week of the reading challenge, so I plan on having my nose buried in a book for a majority of the week! What books are must-reads for you?!?!?

Oh, and for those of you who may not know me.... the title of my blog- "My Life as a Book" (which I owe to my friend Val, over at Purple Valley!) refers to my last name. Once I got married, my name changed to Book. Val took my love of books and my married name and came up with the catchy title and designed my header. Isn't she creative?!?! Just a lil tidbit of information...... :)

A Star Is Born

I got this in an email and I just had to share it. This little girl is the cutest thing. When she began her song, I just melted.


Oh, and Happy Friday!!!

Dentist, Here I Come!

I am going to a new dentist today. A co-worker gave me his name, says she has been going to him for years. I'm big on health care provider referrals, so I made an appointment.
Oh, one more thing... he is the official team dentist of the ST. LOUIS CARDINALS!!
Just the possiblility, no matter how slight, of seeing one of the Cardinals while I am sitting in the waiting room is really exciting. I know I won't see any of them today, of course. I am sure they make all of their appointments during the off-season. But, someday.....
Would it be completely inappropriate to go to my appointment decked out in my Cardinal hat, t-shirt and big foam finger, just in case?

Oh, and I must admit that a tiny part of me was hoping that Albert Pujols might have a dental emergency around 9:30 this morning (a small, painless emergency).