It's Alive! (again)

Ok, I owe anyone that was following our blog a big apology. We did a fair job of keeping with it right up until July of 2008 when we moved out of the DC area. After that, well, the blog was forgotten along the way. It's almost like we packed it up with everything else around that time and never unpacked it.

Our very first post was about Kathy's family reunion in Oak Island, NC during the fall of 2007. Well the first reunion was such a hit that everyone wanted to do it again. So this October we packed the car and made our way to Oak Island once again. While there, Uncle Gary asked about the blog and if/when we were going to post to it. The idea has been bouncing around since then and tonight I decided it was time to start it back up. Let's see if I can bring everyone up to speed...

At the end of July 2008, we moved out of our Falls Church, VA basement apartment and into the 2nd floor/attic of my grandparents' Levittown, PA home (Shown here on the left after a snowstorm). The plan was to stay there until Kathy found a job in the greater Philadelphia area. Most of our stuff went back into storage during that time as we didn't have lots of room. We had enough though, and had a good time living with my grandparents. I know they really enjoyed having us there as we provided them with daily excitement they wouldn't otherwise have had. Dory the cat also enjoyed her new surroundings and daily interaction with my grandparents' dog, Libby. While there, we kept busy with work (me with Sigma Nu, Kathy at Michael's Arts & Crafts and babysitting), visited friends and family, enjoyed our hobbies (me brewing, Kathy knitting), and adjusted to our surroundings.

Then in January of 2009, Kathy landed a job as an Academic Advisor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (hereafter referred to as USP). Once we knew where she'd be commuting to, we started house hunting. Thanks to a recommendation from Boot & Monica, we worked with Marge Vechy to find our first home. Marge is awesome and in just a few weeks, we found a great place, made an offer and were all set. After 9 months of living in another small space, we moved into our home in Glenolden, PA during the first weekend in April 2009. It's an easy 20 minute commute for Kathy to USP and a 10 minute drive to the airport in case I need to fly out for work. The previous owners kept the place in great shape which meant we only needed to paint the rooms we wanted. We don't have a good picture of the outside of the house but here are a few we took as the unpacking/painting process moved along:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2363864&id=6204743

It took us longer than we anticipated but we eventually got everything unpacked. The very last stuff to get unpacked were boxes of Kathy's knitting/grad school/sorority/misc stuff. Frankly, we just got lazy and didn't want to finish tearing down wallpaper in the last bedroom. But we finally did it, painted it, and got those last few boxes unpacked into that room. Now our dining room that was once full of boxes is, for the most part, empty. Literally, empty. We still need a dining room table and chairs as well as a hutch to unpack the last two boxes (containing our china). It's become a roundabout argument for us: we haven't had enough people over to necessitate a dining room set BUT we haven't planned a housewarming party because we don't have a dining room set. I think we're going to break down and get one sometime soon though. With all these holidays upon us, we really should invite some folks over for festivities. Goodness knows, we've got the beer ready for 'em.

Speaking of beer, one of the big benefits of buying our house is the detached 1.5 car garage. It's got a huge workbench and tons of room for my brewing setup. So I've been able to brew on a regular basis out there and keep my kegs full. Another benefit of the house is the finished basement and the bar that came with the sale. I've got 4 kegs on tap behind the bar (you can see them on the front of the fridge door) and they're always ready for thirsty visitors. That's actually my biggest brewing problem. I need more help drinking the beer so that I can finish what I've got and rotate new beers on tap. So if you're reading this, consider it an invite to come over and drink some beer! As my old friend Doc Sterrett used to say, "There's no register and the bar never closes." So come on over and I'll pull you a pint or three.

Kathy's been keeping busy too. She's an advisor for two sororities - Alpha Delta Pi at the University of Delaware and now Delta Phi Epsilon at USP. As an Academic Advisor she gets a lot of one-on-one interaction with her students and as a sorority advisor, she's able to remain connected to the Student Life side of things (which she used to to at Marymount while we were in Falls Church). She's also gotten back into acting now that we're settled again. Last month she was in a local community theater production of Frankenstein and has already begun auditioning for her next play/show. Here's a shot of her as Viktor Frankenstein's fiancée. As always, she did a great job.

Once I knew we'd be here for awhile, I called around to see about getting involved with the Boy Scouts. I was a Scout from the time I was 6 until I earned my Eagle Scout Rank and turned 18. Then I went to college and just drifted away from scouts. Anyway, I spoke to folks at the local district and before I knew it, I was a Unit Commissioner for a local pack and troop. Then I got a hold of Troop 44 here in Glenolden and after just a month, became one of their Assistant Scoutmasters. It's been great getting involved again and giving back to an organization that gave me so much. I didn't realize how much I missed being a part of Scouts in the 10 years I was away from it. Hopefully I'll stay involved for a long, long time.

The last blog-worthy bit of news is the adoption of our dog, Sandy. My Mom had walked Sandy before and when she heard Sandy needed a new home, we got the call. Sandy came to live with us on August 21st, 2009. She's already 2 years old (born a day before my parents' yellow labs) and well trained by her previous owners. Dory wasn't initially thrilled with the new addition but after awhile, she came around and the two now get along really well. Here they are waiting for a part of my lunch and then napping on the chair with me:



















To bring this full circle, as I mentioned, our most recent adventure was the Bunce Reunion in Oak Island. Once again, I brought 2 kegs of beer - Oktoberfest (which was popular last time) and a Scottish 70 Shilling. Both went over well with the crowd and I returned home with two very light kegs. As with our last trip to Oak Island, in addition to drinking beer we did some surf fishing with Uncle Warren and were treated to delicious cooking by Uncle Gary and Aunt Nancy. Between the smoked trout, paella, pork rinds, and breakfast burritos (with homemade refried beans), we ate like kings. Oh, and his margaritas with Mexican limes went down too easy. I also have to mention the great pulled pork that Uncle Dick and Aunt Tommye did.

Here's a picture of Uncle Gary & Aunt Nancy preparing the paella (below left) and another (below right) of cousin Greg, myself, and Uncle Warren fishing (aka drinking beer, smoking cigars, and getting sunburnt!).

So that should just about do it. I think those are the highlights of the 16 months that have passed since our last post. Once again, we apologize for the ridiculously long delay. Hopefully this post was worth the wait and will be the first of many more to come.

P.S. - While living on the 2nd floor of my grandparents' house, I thought of changing the name of the blog to "Notes from the Attic" but obviously never got around to posting, let alone changing the name. Now that we're in our own home, our family room is in the basement and not surprisingly, it's where we spend most of our time. So the name of the blog is still very appropriate and won't be changing anytime soon.

The time has come

Well, the weekend I've been dreading is finally here. We've been packing like mad all week long and for the most part, are packed and ready to go. Picking up the truck tomorrow morning and loading it up. Driving to the Philly suburbs Sunday morning and unloading that afternoon. Then we live in a state of flux for awhile. But we'll be somewhere new with family and friends close by. Should be an adventure to say the least. I'm already looking forward to Sunday evening when most everything will be in the storage shed and all the heavy lifting will be done.

Moving. Again.

Once again, it's time for us to pack our stuff and get outta Dodge.  This will be my 7th move in 5 years.  We've been here in NoVA for a year and a half and it's been good to us.  We've made some good friends, enjoyed some good work (I got to try another career for awhile), and have been able to appreciate all that is the DC metro area.  As comfortable as we got here, it never really felt like home (at least not to me) and we always felt like this was a stop along the way.  And so, it seems, it was.  We're headed back to the Philadelphia area where we hope to stay for awhile.  And by awhile I mean as long as possible because I abhor moving.  I can't stand the packing, lifting, storage, unpacking, and all the moving-related stress that comes with it.  The plan is to buy a place in the suburbs within easy access of major highways and byways so that we can get into Center City when we need to but back out into the relative quiet of Bucks or Montgomery Counties with ease.  Probably won't be anything big or expensive but we'll definitely get more for our money up there than we will here in DC's market.  And if we ever want to come back to visit, it's a short ride down I-95.  Two months from now, we'll be dealing with I-76 rather than I-66 and the Northeast Extension instead of the Beltway.  I can't wait.

Earthshakes!!!

I just felt my first earthquake today. 1.8 on the richter scale. Which means it didn't do any damage to anything. But it left Josh and I very perplexed. Josh was worried that it was either an explosion (as we pray for no more terrorist attacks near DC) or an earthquake. His second guess was correct. It only felt like someone was moving furniture upstairs. But Josh called it. :-) Pretty cool. Just glad it wasn't terrorists, really.

We Post a LOT

Hey Josh, when was the last time we updated. Oh look, 2007 and it's March of 2008. What has happened?

Feels like life is going crazy fast. We just hit our two year anniversary last week. Low key celebration. Just like our low key celebration last year. :-) What can I say! We are low keyed people.

Josh has been to Florida twice in the past two weeks, once for work, once for music festival. This is the most he has been traveling since ... well... since he last worked for Sigma Nu. And he's still barely traveling. I always love the day he comes home from a trip, it's like Christmas for me. I remember when I worked at Juniata and we were totally long distance. It would be 4-6 weeks since I last saw him. I knew he'd be coming between like 6pm and 8pm and I would wait at the window starting at 6pm. Josh was due home yesterday from his trip to the Langerado music fest between 12 and 2. I had my cell phone on me the whole time. Sent him a text when I thought he'd be there, got a message back and hurried home as soon as I could get out.

Now I have him for about 3 weeks (until I leave for my next conference). Look forward to spending more time with him again.

Speaking of next conference, I'm headed to ACPA at the end of March. I hope to see all my Student Affairs buddies there. I'm currently in the market for a new job. Looking still in the Philly area. Would love something Student Activities in nature. So I'm looking for something that would have responsibilities in either club/organization management (this could include Greek Life) or something with leadership development, programming, and/or Orientation. I'm steering more towards the club and organization side, that's my real passion. Got a really nice email the other day complimenting my resume on the conference job search site. Hopefully that or any other type of position pan out into something good.

Josh has interrupted this post by calling. Maybe he missed me a little too. ;-)

Holiday Travels

Wow, so it's been a month since our last post.  Time has been flying by - I just mentioned to Kathy tonight that it seems like Halloween was only a week ago.  But, in actuality, it was awhile ago and we did manage to keep busy between then and now.

We spent a week up in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and saw lots of my family.  I spent a couple different days doing some beer-related stuff with Mike and Scott at Gordon Biersch, BURP meetings, and the bottling of our Big Brew Day Barleywine (which we've actually decided is a Double/Imperial IPA) and Brown Porter.  Both are really tasty.  We also had the chance to see "Avenue Q" while it was here in DC at the National Theatre.  It was a great time and I think we'd both recommend it to anyone (just remember to take your sense of humor with you).  Kathy has been busy with end-of-the-semester events right up until the Marymount University Christmas Party last night.  Speaking of Christmas parties - I went down to Headquarters in Lexington, VA last weekend for our Christmas party which consisted of a luncheon and a "Tacky Holiday Sweater" Party which was a great time.

Now we're only two days away from our big Holiday Trip up and down the East Coast.  It all starts on Friday the 21st as we head up to Pennsylvania for Christmas with the Nay's.  Then it's home for a night on the 27th before heading back out on the 28th - headed for Venice, Florida.  The Florida leg includes stopping in South Carolina, North Carolina, Melbourne, FL and Venice FL over the course of 8 days.  If our plans hold true, we'll get to see lots of friends and family over the course of the 15 day trip.  We're excited to see everyone and to get out of the basement for awhile (even if that means listening to Dory "meow" constantly for 1000+ miles).  Luckily we've got 2 loaded iPods between us to drown her out.

We'll definitely have access to the internet during our trip so feel free to drop us a comment and let us know where you're at and how your Holiday break is going.  Safe travels, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

An Impressive Lodge Night

Since moving away from Pennsylvania, I haven't been involved with my mother lodge (Penn-Morris Lodge #778 in Woodside, PA) and have been missing the Masonic fellowship that I enjoyed there. So I've been looking for a local Masonic lodge to get involved with and in the last few months I've found a lodge that I've come to enjoy visiting - Cherrydale Lodge #42 in Arlington, VA. I particularly enjoy the fact that there is a strong presence of involved, younger members, something that is lacking in many of the lodges I know of. Anyway, last night was a special meeting and I'm happy that I was able to attend. A member of Cherrydale Lodge, Bro. Stewart Miner, was receiving his 50-Year Pin. While I had heard his name mentioned a few times over the course of my visits to Cherrydale, I had no idea how involved Bro. Miner is and had been in Virginia and DC Freemasonry. Not only is he a Past Master of Cherrydale Lodge, he is also a Past Grand Master of all Freemasons in Virginia. I'm sorry to say I can't remember all of his past titles but they were numerous, having served the Grand Lodge of Virginia, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, and in many other capacities for Masonry for 50 years. As Bro. Miner is also a member of another local lodge, Andrew Jackson Lodge #120, a joint communication was held in that lodge's room at the George Washington National Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, VA.












While I'm sure Cherrydale Lodge would have enjoyed hosting the event, the Masonic Temple has considerably more space and made for a great evening. While I had toured the building on at least 2 previous occasions, I had never been in the North Lodge Room, where Andrew Jackson Lodge #120 meets regularly. It was the largest Lodge room I've ever been in, with a fair sized first floor and a very large balcony all under a huge vaulted roof. Because there were so many visiting Masonic dignitaries (including the current Grand Master of Virginia, the Grand Master of DC, and a Past Grand Master of Prince Hall Masons in Virginia), the majority of us sat in the balcony where we were afforded a great view of the evening's events. Upon the closing of Lodge, I was able to get a couple of photos of the room.
Looking towards the East, with the Master's station just visible through the remaining crowd:










Towards the West, with a large portion of the balcony and organ station above:










It was a great night of Masonic fellowship and I'm happy I was able to be a small part of it. I look forward to attending more Cherrydale Lodge functions, especially December's 1st Stated Meeting when I will find out if my petition for plural membership in their lodge is accepted.