Tales of Me and the Husband

water balloon fight!

*a few notes about this video:
1. you can’t hear me cheering for lindsey in the background (which i was).
2. she was laughing.  until she wasn’t.  it was a quick switch.
3. william will get his (especially after lindsey watches this video and gets some better strategy).

9 months.

before you act, listen.
before you react, think.
before you spend, earn.
before you criticize, wait.
before you pray, forgive.
before you quit, try.
{hemingway}

Jessica by Allman Brothers on Grooveshark

dear parker,
it only seems fitting that i jot you a little note here seeing as this particular month marks your presence in my life on the outside just as long as you were on the inside.  one might say i’ve known you for 9 months now, but i feel like i’ve known you a lot longer.  18 months, we could also argue.  but maybe even longer still?  now that you’re here i can’t really imagine life without you.  i don’t want to try either.  9 months, 18 months, whatever.  truth is, you fit here.  you fit in my arms, on my hip, on my lap, in my heart.  you fit in the hunt family.  you fit and you fit really well and i know i speak for all of us when i say i can’t imagine life without you now.  even in my sleepiest of days, i am so, so, so glad you are here.  i will say it every day for the rest of my life.
i love you with my whole heart.  through and through.
love, mom

{this time last year}

and the outtakes… between me learning manual and his inability to sit still… these pictures are… meh?

next month.  double digits.
i’m not quite ready.

a dinner date.

last week we went out for a little dinner date: william, lindsey, parker, steve and i.  jordan had been gone all week visiting cousins for spring break in minnesota (see how i threw that in there so ya’ll know we didn’t just force him to eat pb&j at home by himself?).  i put red lipstick on for probably the first time since parker was born–what can i say?!  i was feeling a little saucy!–and off we went for an early dinner on a beautiful night.  pulled beef nachos and margaritas (for the adults) were on the menu.  so delicious.  i mean, so delicious.  mexican food agrees with me.  
steve played the part of photographer-extraordinaire that night and got some pictures that i downright cherish.  there are some new favorites in this batch.
hope your weekend was a good one!

the happenings, instagram style. plus a playlist?

breakfast in a booth with dad // parker messes // foot rubs from william
“snorkeling” in april // non-toy toys // cuddling between errands
cousins packed in tight // sunlight through the window // big bro + sis home from school
yeahhhh, i know if you already follow me on instagram than this is super boring.
my apologies.
how about a playlist to make up for it?!?
you’re welcome.
blessed by Bridget Hunt on Grooveshark

down in new jersey.

i’m back, i’m back.  glad to be home, but goodness did i have a nice time in new jersey.  i was there for my pop-pop’s funeral, as you may already know.  the funeral was lovely.  we celebrated a long life that was well-lived.  one that was ripe with love and laughter, hard work and dedication.  there were tears and smiles, and sometimes both at the same time.  i’ll miss that guy.  we all will.
i got to hang out with sister kate a lot which was so much fun.  it’s rare, these days, for kate and i to have almost a whole week together without husbands.  mike was working, steve was home with the kids finishing out the school week, so it was just kate, quinn, parker and i most days.  it’s crazy to see quinn and parker together–so much closer to the same size than they were here last august.  come summer, they’ll be even closer.  kate and i imagine they’ll be best buds.  they have little choice in the matter, really.  anyway, both parker and quinn have early wake up times and sometimes we’d all be up in the five o’clock hour together, sipping coffee, laughing, and watching our boys interact.  it was amazing to watch them together.  at one point i said to kate: “these are our sons!  our sons, together!”  it’s strange.  sometimes i feel like i’m still the little sister and we should be back in time being called to dinner by our mom.  and now we’ve got these two little people who are interacting and smiling at one another.  it’s sweet stuff.
now for the happenings: we went to the zoo (parker’s first!), a long walk on the ocean city boardwalk which is never complete without stuffing ourselves (i really did stuff myself) with mack and manco’s pizza, hanging out on the stone harbor beaches with lunch at fred’s, breakfast at uncle bill’s pancake house, and enjoying some good meals and wine at my parent’s house.  it’s not every day that all four sisters are in one place at one time and while the occasion that brought us together was my pop-pop’s death, it was pretty sweet to be together in such beautiful shore weather for a weekend… and i imagine my pop-pop would’ve liked that too.
by the way, thank you all so much for your sweet comments on the post about my pop-pop’s passing.  they really meant a lot.  i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: i like you guys.

an early morning bike ride.

some days, we’re up fairly early in this house (you don’t say?!).  other days, parker surprises us and sleeps in!  until 7!  old bridget would never have considered 7:00 sleeping in but new bridget… well, new bridget does a little happy dance complete with a shuffle-ball-change if the clock strikes 7 before her eyes are open.
anyway, this particular saturday morning, wake-up was around 6 or so.  we hung around in bed for a bit… as long as parker would allow, really… and then i slowly made my way downstairs with the little dude (dad got to sleep in!) nestled on my hip.  early mornings are usually spent in our study (fancy name for computer room) where you can shut the doors completely so the lucky sleepers aren’t woken by parker’s antics and the room also gets cozy warm real fast.  it’s our favorite hang out room almost all the time, but especially in the chilly massachusetts mornings.  
a few minutes later, down came william.  the boy is always afraid of missing something even though nothing is ever ever ever going on at 6 am, but, nevertheless, he’s been waking at that hour for, oh, his entire life.  so, parker, william, and i were killing time before the others woke up and breakfast and such began.  i had a cup of coffee and we were all in our pajamas and it was chilly out, but not too chilly that a bike ride couldn’t be on the menu.  
the neighborhood was quiet.  we might’ve been the only ones awake.  the sun had barely made its appearance yet.  we bundled ourselves up, myself in steve’s vest and my uggs and parker wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, and went for a short bike ride.  i can’t say i’ve been on my bike at 7 am too many times in my life, but nevertheless, this ride would have to be my favorite early morning ride.  we made a quick stop at a nearby pond where william searched for some tadpoles and then back on our bikes we rode, returning home for breakfast.  it was peaceful and special and quiet.  pajamas, two of my boys, two bikes, and an early morning.  
i think we’ll do it again.

i love the maxi dress.

i loooove maxi dresses.  and skirts for that matter.  if you’ve been hanging around this blog long enough, you already know that.  they’re so versatile, comfortable, and can be both casual and chic if i do say so myself.  there aren’t too many pieces of clothing that work for the beach and a dinner party alike.  right?  well, here are some pretty ones i’ve seen in and around the web.  that gap polka-dotted one is so cute and number 7?!  with a bump?!  get outta town.  also, number 8 is easy and breezy and i do like it quite a bit as well.

well, that’s it.  if you don’t have any of these, get some.  ok?

also, parker and i are flying to nj today for my pop-pop’s funeral.  it’s not till this weekend but we’re getting some good family time in too.  send us good travel thoughts, would ya?  i’ll try to get a few other posts in this week.

xo

happy easter!

Easter weekend is upon us, folks!  Any fine plans?  
The Hunts will be getting cleaned up, attending church, and eating a fine brunch very closely resembling last year’s.  Why mess with something that was darn near perfection if I do say so myself?!
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention today being Good Friday.  Growing up Catholic, this was a day for laying low and being prayerful… or at least, that was the rule in my house.  Especially as the three o’clock hour rolled around which is the hour in which, historically, Jesus took his last breath on the cross.  No matter what you believe, I think Easter is as fine a time as any to be grateful, to be present, to recognize something bigger than ourselves.
He is risen!
And while we’re on the subject of Easter (and for those of you who are apt to stick around), here’s an article Steve wrote for a newspaper a few years ago (I mean Dr. Hunt–I rarely get the chance to call him that.  I’m taking it!).  Let’s be honest, though.  Having it “published” here is a way bigger deal.  He got pretty excited when I approved it.
It’s really quite good.  But then again, I’m biased.
Why Easter is Good News for Everyone
A friend of mine once expressed frustration with his inability to believe the story of Jesus’ resurrection, the story of Easter. He saw his non-belief as some kind of final rejection of God. But he didn’t want it perceived that way or for God to take it personally; he just struggled to believe Jesus rose from the dead. I told him I believed the story of Easter is good news for Christians and non-Christians alike. In fact, I’m convinced it is a day for which everyone can be grateful, regardless of what they believe.
First, Christians have been celebrating this good news for nearly two thousand years. Indeed, it is the central proclamation of the faith. But why celebrate it as “good news”? The “good” part is simply this: Jesus’ resurrection shows that death is not the last word. That God intervened in history, in real time and space by raising his son from the dead, makes it “news” in a journalistic sense. Through this historical event we learn that God gave life to his son in part to show that he wants to give life—real, substantial and unending life—to us all. This was his intention in the first place. One might even begin to fancy that God can’t live without us. At least that might go some way toward explaining Good Friday.
The Easter event also shows more clearly than anything else that God is already in the process of setting
this broken world right. So it is then, according to Christian tradition, that the first Easter morning was the dawn of a new creation; it was “In the beginning” all over again on that first day of the week in the garden. And since this work was set into motion, Christians await the denouement while working toward its fulfillment. Thy kingdom come, we pray.
In this work also, death has been utterly vanquished, dealt a death-blow, if you will. Perhaps it was crushed under the weight of that stone which rolled from the tomb. Thus we need not live in fear, toiling in desperation, worrying that an inescapable, meaningless end awaits us, that the seeming non-existence before our birth merely foreshadowed the time after our death. Nor need we live frenetic, harried lives, simply attempting to repress thoughts about the inevitable. Instead, we ought to own up to this fact: we all die. Denial here creates quite a hangover at some point. Easter, however, provides the opportunity to slow down, to be grateful for what truly matters and for what God has done in Christ. This good news fills the hearts of Christians today.
But what about those who can’t put their trust in some pie-in-the-sky delusion? What about those who read the preceding paragraph and say, “talk about denial”? Can the story be good news for them?
If nothing else, Easter can be understood as a powerful mythic story, one that schools us in the power of hope. Doesn’t the story teach that if Jesus can begin again, having been rejected by his own people, abandoned by his disciples and murdered by imperialist overlords, so can the rest of us?
Doesn’t nature teach the same lesson? Spring itself—especially in New England—is a welcome reminder that life returns to barren, dormant trees. And so, after a time of deathly cold, the warmth of life can return to our living deaths as well. The sun always comes around again. We can begin again therefore and flourish. We don’t need to live life bound to destructive patterns of behavior or like we’re simply the sum total of our negative baggage because a new, vibrant life remains a possibility. Truth be told, that new life begins with hope.
So the story of Easter teaches everyone to hope, to hope that life can conquer death. And if hope is a first step towards faith, who knows where this journey will lead? Is not humankind’s infinite capacity to hold on, even in the darkest times, muffled evidence itself of Easter’s basic truth? To what, or better perhaps, to Whom shall we give credit for this innate and uniquely human strength?
Whether taken as historical fact, one which changes everything, or as mythic fiction, one which symbolizes the truth that hope springs eternal, the resurrection of Jesus is good news indeed. Happy
Easter.
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