Memorial Day weekend was a tremendous gift. A very busy, jam-packed gift--one filled with law school friends, Mr. Squire's friends, family, our "business partners," LOTS of good food, and visiting places that are special to us. It was a precious reminder of all that God has gifted us with, and great cause for thanks.
Below are some pictures from the weekend--but not nearly enough to cover all the many goings-on!
We started in New Jersey after work on Friday. There, we picked up a car from Mr. Squire's older brother, then headed to El Unico, our favorite Cuban hole-in-the-wall in New Jersey. We spent many a meal here when Mr. Squire was unemployed several years ago. The prices have since gone up a bit--but jumping from $2.50 to $4 for a huge platter of chicken, rice & beans, plantains, and garlic yucca is a price we are more than happy to pay. The folks here recognize Mr. Squire by now (and once tried to upsell him from plantains to an apartment!), and it's a blessing to revisit Sr. Cruz and the crew whenever we are back in the area. (We returned to El Unico today upon returning the car, and Sra. Cruz connected Mr. Squire to another NYC educator who is a regular at the restaurant and who also happened to be dining there today.)
We drove to Boston and stayed with Riley, one of Mr. Squire's close friends from college. Riley was an incredibly gracious host...and even stocked up on a nice-sized watermelon in anticipation of our visit because he remembered that Mr. Squire liked watermelon a lot. They used to live together in New Jersey several years ago, and Riley recalled that Mr. Squire used to buy a lot of watermelon. Little did Riley know that while Mr. Squire indeed likes watermelon a lot...I LOVE watermelon! And all those watermelons Mr. Squire bought? Yeah...those were for me. He would buy them on sale in New Jersey, then lug them by bus and then by train to my apartment on the Upper East Side. What a winner, right??
Here's some of the watermelon we ate...
Even better than the watermelon, of course, was the company. Riley and Mr. Squire have a very special friendship...one that includes shared values and interests, and lots of pranks, like the whoopee cushion that Riley planted under the bathroom mat during our visit. :) Thankfully, we've seen Riley quite a bit this past year during his occasional travels to New York. It's always a treat to watch him and Mr. Squire interact with one another.
We visited Harvard, our alma mater, decked out in commencement season glory. Both of us ended up at Harvard by surprise...God must have intended it, because neither of us ever planned for it. And it's in this place--this allegedly "godless" place--that God grew both of us in our faith and faith community. We have fond memories of this place.
The chief reason why we were in Boston this weekend was for the wedding of my dear law school friend, GR. May God use him mightily as he returns to China to proclaim God's word to his fellow countrymen. Truly GR's is a heart forcefully and fully won over for Christ.
While at the wedding, I had the happy fortune of reuniting with two of my close law school friends--Eric and Bumbleberry, and their female counterparts. We also got to hang out with Jeff, our IV staff worker, and a couple other folks with whom we shared law school life. :)
On Sunday, we attended Mr. Squire's old church and met with Enoch, the pastor who married us, and two of his kids. Every conversation with Pastor Enoch is a gift. He is truly an honorable and humble servant of Christ, one who reflects Jesus in so many ways--in his role as pastor, counselor, father, husband, friend. He has been faithful in praying for us since taking us through premarital counseling, and we are so so thankful to have been under his care. We respect him so deeply, and wish so strongly that we could learn marriage and parenting from him and his wife firsthand as a member of their flock. That's not where God has us, but we truly long for them and rejoiced at the opportunity to reunite again.
We ate at DK, one of Simon's favorite places in Boston Chinatown (which is way better than New York's!), and then hit Maria's pastry shop, the BEST in the North End. I love these pistachio and amaretti cookies, and we bought a bunch of them. So pricey, but... we never have the opportunity to get them, so..we splurged a bit. Some for us, and some to share!
Anyone who knows me that I adore blue flowers. You can only imagine how excited I got about these blue irises near the North End. So glorious!
20% of our Denver team, Gary & Jodi, also happened to be in town. Riley, Gary & Jodi, the Squires, and seven other families are going into a ministry and business venture together. It was so fun to finally meet Gary in person and to talk shop with 45% of them team!
Back at home, we caught up with my parents by phone, met up with Mr. Squire's parents (another amazing pair of people in our life -- they have blessed us and continually bless us), had another round at El Unico, ate mango bars on the Hudson River, hung out with my friend from China who is staying with us, and hosted more of Mr. Squire's college friends for dinner in Brooklyn. We enjoyed the incredible weather with a walk in our backyard on the East River...and baked a fruit tart together...
Not all days are like this. And the past while has been a pretty shadowy way. The Lord blessed us with a weekend in the sun, a weekend of experiencing His pure favor. We are so blessed and thankful.
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