Matt’s parents turned us on to letterboxing a few summers ago, so when they came up for a visit this past weekend we decided to head out on an adventure to find a new box. If you aren’t familiar with letterboxing (we weren’t until they told us about it) it’s a cross between a treasure hunt and an arts and crafts project. It is sometimes confused with geocaching, but instead of GPS coordinates, you have to follow a series of clues to find the hidden box (or multiples boxes in some cases), and instead of swapping small trinkets with the ones hidden inside the box, you take get to make an imprint of the hand-carved stamp into your log book, and leave an imprint on your own personal stamp inside the logbook hidden in the box.

Of course sometimes people use commercial stamps from their local art stores, but if you don’t feel artistic, you can always get a hand carved stamp to use on etsy. Letterboxing is a great way to explore new places, and even make new discoveries in your own home town. Matt and I have found  boxes in parks, museums, cemeteries and even shops and restaurants. You can get started yourself at Atlasquest.com.

The box we found this eekend was  a series of 6 boxes with 6 really well carved stamps about the past history of the park we explored. Along the way we spotted a lot of mushrooms, berries and even a senior portrait being taken. Matt and I used to live just down the road and never even knew this park existed, we will definitly be coming back.

While Summer is not quite officially over, it sure does feel that way here in Maine. The traffic has stopped, the leaves are starting to turn and the beach is almost deserted. While autumn is my favorite season, there is something melancholy about the end of summer. While walking on an almost empty beach yesterday, Matt joked that by the time we got back turned around the lifeguard stand and trashcans would be gone. He was wrong about the oversized beach chair, but right about the receptacles, Maine wastes no time in changing from one season to the next. Today as ran a few errands, I saw children with oversized backpacks and mothers waving goodbye, and just then a leaf fell perfectly onto my windshield and I knew it really was time to embrace the changing of the guard.

A discussion in my Literary Theory class got be thinking about the attachments we have to certain objects. My professor was talking about a Tim Horton’s mug that always used when visiting with his father. Although the original incarnation of this beverage vessel shattered long ago, he bought a replacement that he fondly uses everyday for his morning coffee. I could completely  relate to his story, because I too have a “replacement mug” that holds fond memories for me. I bought this Strawberry Shortcake Mug a few years ago from a vintage seller on etsy. It reminds me of Saturday mornings spent at my aunt’s house eating donuts with my cousins, aunt, uncle and grandparents. It was such an innocent time, when the only thing I had to worry about was what donut to pick and maybe what game we would play that afternoon. While I never owned this mug as a child, it was always the first one I grabbed out of my Aunt’s cabinet, sometimes I would get stuck with a Snoopy glass, but it was always this white colorful handled mug that had the perfect amount of room for dunking in a chocolate covered donut. Funny that all it takes is a mug of milk to take you back to simpler days.

This year has been full of amazing new friends, fantastic adventures and lots of love. It’s been almost a year since Matt proposed, and I culd not be more excited to marry him in June! This wonderful photo is from our engagment session with the uber-awesome Alexandra Roberts.

May next year be as fabulous as this one! Here’s too an exciting 2012! Wishing you a very happy holiday with family and friends!

Lots of Love,
Jen and Matt

This week was MADD’s annual Red Ribbon Week. A time when the organization reaches out to schools to educate children on the dangers drugs and alcohol.  You remember the ones. You would gather in the auditorium and sit through a skit of older highschool kids making bad decisions or maybe they would show a film that they would pause part way through to ask you how to handle the situation of peer pressure.

I remember the assemblies where they showed photos of the car wrecks and portraits of the victims and their families. I remember them becasue I hated going to them. I remember them because of one particular photo that was always there and I knew I wouldn’t make it out of there without crying. That photo was the one above, of me and my mother.

25 years ago today, my mother was killed by a drunk driver. She was driving home from teaching an aerobics class, and hit head on by a drunk driver who was driving without his lights on and swerved into her lane. Although she was wearing her seat belt, she didn’t survive the crash.

I don’t have a lot of vivid memories from my childhood, I remember going into my parents bedroom and sitting on the bed, while my dad told me what happened. I remember people at church treating me differently, and someone giving me a ballerina teddy bear. And I remember spending a lot of time at aunts, uncles and grandparent’s houses. I don’t, however, really remember my mother.

I hear stories about her, and how wonderful of a woman she was. How she was caring, and loving and just an all around amazing lady. But when I close my eyes, I don’t see her. Even when I look at photos, I know I was there, because there I am, smiling at the camera, a moment captured in time, but I don’t remember those moments. And that is what makes me sad when I think about my mother. I wish I had a moment, captured on video, to hear her voice and watch her smile.

Yes, I miss my mother. But I also know that I am, who I am today, in part because of her but mostly because of the rest of my family. I am me, because of an awesome Dad who let me have fun, but also knew when I was lying. Amazing grandparents  who would take me out to Pizza Hut so I could cash in my BookIt points. More amazing grandparents who taught me to play Gin Rummy and how to pick strawberries. More amazing grandparents who let me spend summers with them in the Outer Banks, painting t-shirts and playing mini golf. Aunts and uncles who made sure I got on the bus every morning, and made sure I had a place to go after school. For that I am forever grateful.

I urge all of you, to be good to the people you love. Take care of yourselves, be safe, and most importantly, please drink responsibly this holiday season.

Love,
Jen Pepper

Matt and I took a little tour of some forgotten spaces in Biddeford, Maine a few months back. One of the little gems we found were two really old safes. I’m not sure how these safes, located on the third floor of one building, had not fallen through the aging floorboards. But thank goodness they were holding steady. The hand lettered words were so pretty I had to get a few shots for myself, along with documenting a very cool combination dial, coded with letters instead of numbers, I wonder what the combination spelled.

This summer has just gone by too fast. I know we all say that, but it truly has. I am currently getting geared up for the upcoming holiday season (yes i found myself listening to Holiday Hits yesterday). There are a lot of thing in the works, new products for peppersprouts, planning my wedding, working the 9-5, and I’m even headed back to college at the end of August. It’s only for one class but hey it’s a start! I promise that new and exciting things are just around the corner—my notebooks are getting filled up with ideas daily—so I hope you check back to see which ones make it into production this year! {print above by Chris Piascik}