The Thomas Troop: Ode to Connecticut

Dennis and Jennifer upon arrival in Connecticut 9 years ago at the young age of 21 and 22...(Halloween 2001)

Around age 25 and 26. Definitely before kids...notice the lack of bags and wrinkles...

So, we have done it.

Kicked it like a bad habit.
Connecticut is now just a memory...well except for the friends and the house that we left behind (we are now "happily" landlords).
Oh, and the job that Dennis still works at. In Connecticut.

OK, so we are recovering addicts who still communicate with our old associates.
We spent 9 (yes, NINE) years in Connecticut, so we thought we would say...
"ODE TO CONNECTICUT"

Things we will miss about Connecticut...(in no particular order)

The Stand (Oh, how I would give my right arm for a hummus avocado and "The Stand" juice)
Non-Fried Food
Walking to restaurants
Dr. Pivor and the gang (miss you Rose, Raquel, Jean, and Doc)Totally not fair pics of the women. We had just worked ALL day...
Great neighbors (Miss you Landi Family)
Dennis will miss fishing for smallies
RockRimmon (What a great course you were to golf)
Being in such close proximity to New York City
Bentley's, Ferrari's, Rolls Royce's, Maserati's (Not that we won't see them here. We just won't see them daily)
Our house. We worked very hard on it and hopefully someone will buy it in the spring!

Things we will NOT miss about Connecticut...

Taxes (though we are still suffering through these)
SNOW (even though it has snowed 3 times here in the past 3 weeks) and COLD!
95/Merritt parkway traffic
Not having family to help us out
Crazy New York drivers
Dennis having a crazy traveling schedule
Jennifer having late nights at work
The combination of #6 and #7 and having to make daycare/babysitting arrangements. That was the kicker
The stress of it all

While we were in Connecticut, we feel like we accomplished many things...

Dennis earned his Masters and a PH.D in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Jennifer earned a Bachelors in Dental Hygiene and is now a dental hygienist (Summa Cum Laude, may I add).
We became professional movers, moving 7 times in 9 years

Our second residence in Connecticut. Our farmhouse, complete with a donkey and tobacco fieldsOur third place of residence in Connecticut. Our loft apartment, complete with crazy college students running around. That is what we get for living near a college campus. Our fourth place of residence in Connecticut.

4. We became homeowners (not all it has cracked up to be)

5. We said "goodbye" to our 20's and became "real adults"

6. And the most important (and biggest, hardest, most wonderful thing) we did while in Connecticut was, of course, became parents. Leyton and Redding now run our lives and we could not be more thankful for that.

Our going away get-together...

Raquel and Redding