Traveling update

I set my alarm for the first time this Christmas break this morning.  Sarah and I are packing our bags and making the 12-hour drive from VA to MI!  We've been at the Gardners' house for a week, and this is the first time I've been in the same place as her brothers.  We played a lot of Wii and ate tons of food.  =)

We should get to Michigan tonight and spend the next several days there.  Our goal is to get back to Philly with an extra day of vacation so we don't have to start school/work the morning after we return.  More pictures and details to come, but we've gotta hit the road!

Christmas break!

Tonight, our school Christmas concert signaled the beginning of Christmas vacation!!!  It feels really, really good to be here.  As my friend Jeremy said, teachers always have a goal to look forward to.  Well, here's a big one! 

The concert went well tonight.  The kids sang well...and the ones that didn't looked adorable.  I took a few videos of the kindergartners in the front row.  Pretty cute.

Sarah should arrive home at 2AM tonight.  (she was visiting two hospital residency programs in Michigan).  Tomorrow we leave to meet up with Jim, Teresa, Walter, and Lydia in DC for lunch and hanging out.  Later that afternoon, we'll pick up Elizabeth and make the voyage to Blacksburg to spend a week with the Gardner family.  Around the 27th, we'll pack our bags and head to Michigan to spend a few days with my family.  New Year's will be filled with Hope friends, which I'm pretty excited about too.  So, let the whirlwind begin! 

Thanksgiving with the Gardners

Last week Wednesday, Sarah and I drove to Blacksbug, VA to be with the Gardner side of our family for Thanksgiving.  After picking up Elizabeth in DC, we plowed through the Thanksgiving Eve Traffic better than expected.


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Our trip included listening to Josh Schicker and Brian Reagan, which made for an amusing and relaxing drive.  I was reminded again at how grateful I am for our Garmin GPS device.  When I purchased it used on Craigslist last year, I had no idea how much time, headaches, and relational tensions it would save.  Driving to a new destination is much less stressful than it was before.  How did those pioneers do it?!?

The Gardner family does Thanksgiving right: tons of home made food passed down from generations (including a roll recipe that is from dad's grandmother.  I learned this weekend that the batch they make every year is 1/3 of the regular recipe...except for the butter--we eat triple what the recipe calls for!).  Like years previous, Thanksgiving Day was filled with cooking and consuming vast amount of food.  We collapsed and watched the highly entertaining Kung-Fu Panda movie on their new HDTV/Blu-Ray system (and yes, I got drool all over the couch). 

Saturday, we implimented Elizabeth's idea to have a family Clue night.  So, we dressed up as various characters, found the murder weapons--including a real revolver, watched the movie, and played the board game.  A very memorable evening!  Check out the incredible costumes and props:

Friendly neighborhood flower store

Tonight Sarah returned from a four-day extended stay with her parents in Virginia. She had interviews at two hospitals there (Blacksburg and Charlottsville), and it worked out well for her to continue her Thanksgiving break down there with them. Unfortunately, that left me home alone...

I made it safely through the week, as I picked her up tonight. The house wasn't in shambles (although our bedroom wasn't the cleanest its been). I told Sarah that was intentional so that she would feel like I live like a shoddy bachelor whilst she's away.

Tonight, I went for my first run in a long time. The temperature was 52 this afternoon, and I realized that it might be my last chance to do so for a long time. (lower temperatures also lower my running motivation) To celebrate Sarah's return, I also wanted to pick up some flowers for her. So, I jogged with my key in one hand and credit card in the other. Our local florist (Plants, Etc.) is only three blocks down Fairmount from us, so I stopped in there on the way home.

After selecting the flowers I wanted--more precisely, what I thought Sarah might like--I held out my credit card to pay. She informed me that they don't accept credit cards for transactions under $25. I felt downtrodden...now I'd have to trudge home and return with money for the flowers! With the benevolence of a understanding mother from Pella, IA, she told me to just take the flowers and drop off the money someday in the future when I got the chance. I couldn't believe it! I thanked her and walked out the door--determined to spread the good cheer I had received.