Shameless plug for Students Run Philly Style

Sarah and I were part of the Students Run Philly Style program last year. It was an amazing experience that culminated in running the marathon in November. The program is participating in an American Express non-profit organization competition. Take a minute and nominate Students Run Philly Style as a program they should support. There are 1190 programs, and right now, they are 47th on the list! Thanks!

Ultimate experiences

This summer, a bunch of Philly folk have been gathering at Temple's sports field for ultimate frisbee. It's a kind of hodge podge group of the Temple ultimate team, Liberti people, and even a few high schoolers from a suburban ultimate team. They've been playing every Tues, Thurs, and Sunday evening for a good part of the summer. Thankfully, Sarah and I got back from Portland/Seattle in time to join in the fun. We've been out several times and had a blast. Some of the memorable experiences:

-Playing as the lights turned out just before 11PM
-Preparing to play, but then aborting as lighting and thunder shook the field. Everyone's hair actually stood on end due to the static electricity!
-Eric developing a blister the size of a silver dollar on his foot, and Sarah peeling it off with great glee
-Last night playing with about 20 people--not including fans Jill and Kristen! We had to play 8-on-8 with some subs.

Unfortunately, this is the last week of scheduled pickup games as Temple begins classes next week. However, Jesse suggested that we continue meeting less frequently...on Sunday nights or so. School starts for me on Tuesday, which means that I'm not able to sacrifice two or three hours on a school night to play. But once a week? I can swing that.

Digital TV

Today I ordered a coupon for our TV. In 180 days, it will no longer receive an analogue signal! Thankfully, the government is spending $1.5 billion to subsidize the cost of a digital converter. On February 17 of this coming year, all broadcasts will be digital. I expect this to be a big news story as we get closer to the date. I also expect a rush on the converter boxes, so if you use bunny ears to get a signal now, I'd recommend applying for a $40 coupon before the stores run out!

Credit card fraud

Monday, I logged into my Chase Visa card to see what our monthly balance was so far. When I got to my account page, no cards were listed. Funny, right? I waited until evening before trying again. No luck. I called customer service, and they said that my account had been put on hold because there was "suspicious activity" on it. They asked me if I had purchased several items (including Napster--which I haven't used since high school--and Duane Reed--a drugstore in NY I had never heard of). They confirmed that I had an incident of fraud and needed to shut down the account immediately. Thankfully, Chase will not charge me for those items, and they will be sending us new cards in the next few days.

I'm not sure when someone nabbed our credit card numbers! I'm also impressed with how quickly Chase identified this activity. When I asked how they did it, they just said that they have a sophisticated system...aka, none of your business.

I leave this situation grateful for how well the credit card companies watch our accounts, even if they do charge businesses an arm and a leg to use them. Will this influence my online shopping? Nope: there's a greater chance that someone will write down your numbers at a restaurant than someone will get your data online.

Old married folk

Sarah and I passed a significant milestone this past weekend: we spent our last Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift cards! We both thought this event meant that our marriage has reached a new point. While we might argue that we're still newly weds, we also realize that we've been married for over four months! Amazing how quickly time flies--especially with summer vacation, spending July in the pacific northwest in there too.

Tonight we're looking to play ultimate frisbee with some great folks from Temple/Liberti. They faithfully play every Tues, Thurs, and Sunday night. Last Thursday, Thomas and I went out to join them. Unfortunately, we were followed by dark thunderheads. Lightning flashed all around, our hair started to stand on end from static electricity...and we decided to call it quits before the game actually ever began. Hopefully tonight will be more successful.

It was a dark (k)night

Fun times abounded yesterday: Alaina moved into Valley Sorge (the new term for Jim and Teresa Sorge's new home), and Thomas and I helped her get settled into her new home. It was a little strange, because the last time I helped move somebody was actually with Thomas when the Braud's moved OUT of that very same house. Same walls, same structure...just different people and different furniture.

I have a new dentist! Well, my appointment isn't until next week, but after a few phone calls with the insurance company, I figured out who is covered with my plan...and one of the options is just a few blocks away from our apartment. I am constantly reminded how much of a blessing it can be to live in a major city!

After a delicious Alaina/Sarah/Teresa-made dinner, Thomas, a new friend Kurt, John Barbieri, and I went to see the Dark Knight at the Imax. (side note: we had tried to see this movie on Imax in Seattle, but they were sold out for the next week) It was fantastic! Great story, great acting, great effects, great venue. Thankfully, I had brought my Batman mask that I picked up in Portland. I walked right by the ticket people without being asked for a ticket. (unfortunately, they tore the two that John was holding...or else we could have scalped it! the show was sold out) Wouldn't you let this guy go past without asking questions?

My pursuit of a Master of Science in Education degree

Most of you may know that I have been taking online classes for my masters degree from Walden University. I started taking these classes in January of 2007, and I am approaching the finish line! My last class ends next week Friday, after which I will have 30 days to submit my portfolio: a CD compiled with 20 of my papers from this course that meet various national outcomes for a masters degree. The postmark due date for this is September 15, or 13 days after school starts. I have finished almost all of my course work and have turned my focus onto this portfolio. Since there are 20 papers and rationales to complete (rationales are additional papers I write about the outcome and how I met the outcome in my included paper), I decided that if I average one paper a day, I could finish before Spruce Hill's first day of in-service on August 25. Here's hoping!

Seattle with the Gardners

While it may have been a week ago already, I wanted to share a few things about our week in Seattle with my new family! We arrived late, late (or is that early, early?) into Seattle on a Greyhound bus at 1:20AM PST. True to form, Dad Gardner volunteered to pick us up--even though it was 4:20AM according to his body clock. We all stayed in a room at the Holiday Inn. Ironically, the Holiday Inn Express next door offered a pool and hot tub, which were both unavailable to us. Elitists.

Sarah and I had a blast with our family. Mom Gardner had the foresight to purchase Go Seattle passes, which include admission to over 30 of the most popular attractions and museums in the Seattle area. Each day, Elizabeth crunched the numbers in a cost analysis that eventually determined that we broke even by the end of the week.

Some of our highlights were the Seafarers parade, Pike's Market, the original Starbucks, Boeing plant (including the largest building in the world measured by volume), Microsoft, Mount Rainier, the Seattle Monorail, Underground Seattle, Deception Pass, Riding the Ducks, visiting the Experience Music Project, and eating at a TON of delicious restaurants! Here are a few pictures, but you can see all our pictures here.

Enjoying candy from the parade

Us with the Pugent Sound behind.

A picture at Deception Pass.

A view of Seattle from our Ride the Ducks boat.

After a mini snowball fight on Mount Rainier.

This was my first time vacationing with the Gardners, but Sarah was rather surprised that we did so much! Since Elizabeth, Hannah, and parents had been working hard closing up their life in New Castle, PA as they moved to Blackburg, VA, she had forecasted a slow, laid-back week. Instead, they were up and at 'em! While we did spend time catching up on sleep, we explored a great deal of Seattle!

That week put a resounding exclamation point on our July trip to the pacific northwest. What a vacation!

Back to Philly

Sarah and I arrived back in Philadelphia safely on Thursday evening. When we planned the trip, we had originally wanted to stay out in Seattle/Portland as long as possible. However, by the time Thursday came around, we were both excited to return home. The pacific northwest was wonderful, but without significant roots/connections, it felt pretty temporary. This feeling reinforced the fact that the two of us are very relationally-motivated people. What can we say? We've been blessed with wonderful friends and family in our lives!!

I'll have more to say later on our week in Seattle with the Gardners and this past weekend with the Sorges and Nelsons. Until then, know that we're hanging around Philadelphia again. Good to be home!