Clearly, we're bad at this.

It's uh...December in a few days and this is our first post in months. I should probably just stop apologizing everytime we do a quarterly post, right? It is what it is.

So, what have we been up to you ask?

1) We moved. AGAIN. We had some problems with our certifiable landlord, and moved to a different part of town. It's closer to my school, and about the same time to get to work for Robert. Previously, he was walking to work (about 20 minutes) and now it's about a 25 minute subway and/or bus ride home. This will definitely be better as it continues to get colder. Which brings me to #2...

2) It's getting colder. We don't like it. The end.

3) School and work are still giant time-suckers and we haven't had too much opportunity to see more of Boston. We did go to Salem though, before Halloween. That was really fun. We rode the ferry up and just spent the day. For me the best part was the tour/theatrical re-telling of "The House of Seven Gables" by Hawthorne. Good times.

4) I surprised my brother with a visit home a few weeks ago. This is the first time I've seen him since he returned from Iraq in August, so the first time since the end of March that I've seen him at all. I also got to see Reagan for again! I've only seen her when she was 2 weeks old. I was really afraid I'd miss the cuddly baby stage and she'd be walking by Christmas, but I didn't! Oh--and she is perfect, in case there was any doubt. Photographic evidence:

That's all for now! I have some more pics to post, but they're not on the computer yet...

September (So Far)

1. On Labor Day we went to Crane Beach, about an hours drive from here. Of course we forgot the camera, but believe me, it was beautiful. It was crazy too, the water was so clear that you could see your feet when it was over 5 feet deep. The water was a dark blue color, so it didn't seem like it'd be clear at all. We had a great day together swimming in the 50 degree water, reading, and laying on the beach being lazy. We went to celebrate my last day of freedom before classes started.


2. I started grad school! It's insane, all kinds of reading, but I feel like I'm learning so that's good. I also have to remind myself on a daily basis that this is what I wanted and what I have been working towards for the past few years. I am blessed to be in this position. I seriously have to say that to myself every day.


3. Fenway Park! Man, that was exciting. I don't even really like baseball that much, but we thought that we can't be Bostonians and not go to a game. Ever since then, we've been hooked. It's been a very weird experience. All of the sudden I care about baseball. I never would have expected that to happen.

4. The Colts have lost. Twice. I am very distraught about this.

5. Still no good Mexican food to be found. We have tried 4 different places and struck out everytime. Why can't I just find some good 'ol Americanized Mexican food in this international city?!?! They don't even serve queso cheese in the restaurants. They put melted cheddar on everything. This, above all else, could be a deciding factor in my long-term residence plans.

6. I made a pot roast for the first time in my life. I'm not sure how I got through 5 years of marriage and avoided this. I think I saw a whole new level of love in Robert's eyes when he saw the end result.

True Love

How can I not be crazy about these two?

Restaurant Week '08

We went out for dinner last night at Bonfire, a restaurant owned by Todd English, who has competed on one of our favorite shows: Iron Chef. We're seriously nerds for that show. That and Top Chef on Bravo.

Anyhoo, the place was amazing and the fanciest place I've ever eaten. You know it's upscale when you order salad for your first course and get 4 tomatoes on a stripe of green sauce with balls of cheese on the edge of the plate. At least that's what they want us to believe.

2nd course
Robert: Grilled salmon with pork belly, carrot puree, king oyster mushrooms, peas, pea tendrils, crispy carrots, corn and tomato salad
Rachel: Buttermilk braised chicken, rhubarb and pequillo pepper puree, dandelion greens, smoked fingerling fries, garden vegetable salad

3rd course
Robert: Guanjuja chocolate mousse sponge cake, chocolate sauce, and chantilly cream
Rachel: White peach and blueberry tart, creme anglaise, vanilla ice cream, blueberry compote, and pistachios

The food was really great, and it was a fun experience. Definitely not something you do everyday. Also, we had to look up about 1/3 of the words on the menu before we went to figure out what they were talking about.

I wanted to take the camera to document the presentation and the tinyness of everything, but felt that would be frowned upon. The dress code said "casually elegant" and I thought that maybe a camera hanging off my neck wouldn't suffice. Here's a pic of the inside from their web-site:

I love August.

1. We celebrate our anniversary. Normally we eat Chinese food (we had a Chinese buffet at our reception) and recreate the top of our wedding cake. This year, we didn't eat Chinese food, but we had three houseguests from Taiwan, so maybe that's a little bit close. And behold the hexagonal rainbow chippiness:

2. My birthday is always a fun day too. This year we went to Little Italy for dinner and gelato (Caramel Apple=yum!) and then went to a play. A good time was had by all.

3. NFL commercials start to come back on TV, and this brings me more joy than I care to admit.

July

Boxes. Everywhere, just box after box. Kind of like this:

Mom and Beege flew out to help us pack and move. They were amazing. We watched fireworks together on the 4th and then they had to leave. The rest of the month was spent moving boxes around to get to necessities like the bathroom and bedroom. I have full confidence that we'll be completely unpacked by Christmas.

June

1716 miles.
4 states.
4 hours of Navajo Nation Public Radio.
Way too much money on gas.
Best road trip ever!


Nerd-a-palooza 2008, I mean the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Annual Meeting, was in Denver this year (a city on "my list"), so I flew out with Robert for the week. Afterwards we did this:


Friday: rented car, drove from Denver to Moab, UT. Stopped in Vail, CO and tried to feel cool. (It didn't work.) Went to rodeo in UT. Got numerous stares for taking an inordinate amount of pictures and not wearing 10 gallon hats.


Saturday: Went to Arches National Park. Enjoyed, despite lack of big horn sheep. Drove to 4 Corners, NM. Took obligatory photos (We're in 4 states at once!). Ate Navajo Fry Bread. Became upset later that we forgot to document the fry bread. Drove on to Grand Canyon, AZ. Viewed one of the most amazing sunsets ever.






Sunday: Toured GC with a vengeance. We saw almost every official overlook in one day. We basically rock. Stayed till sunset again. Tried to chase down an elk for a photo, wasn't that successful. Sat in hot tub.



Monday: Back to GC in the morning for breakfast at the "fancy restaurant." Our table overlooked the GC, it was very nice. Stopped to buy some Navajo pottery and went to Monument Valley. It was very beautiful and totally off-road. I think this may have been Robert's favorite part of the whole trip: off-roading in the rented Grand Prix. Drove back to Moab, UT.












Tuesday: Canyonlands National Park. Very nice, way up in the sky. Went to see some ancient Native American petroglyphs. Touched the Colorado River. Drove back to Denver. Went to Rockies game. Watched from right behind home plate!



Wednesday: Fly back home and back to reality.

May

Graduation! Finally!

Congrats to Dr. Robert. And now he has to call me Master. You know, in an official capacity.

Most of the fam came out for the weekend and we had a great time, including a family game of Laser Tag. My dad won. Though there was speculation that he was covering his chest so he couldn't be shot.

It was a great weekend and went way to quickly. Also, we determined that we actually could sleep 8 people in our one bedroom apartment. A record for us.

I'm gonna be a ...

...Terrier? A BOSTON Terrier? C'mon people.

Nevertheless, it's true. I've accepted the offer from Boston University and will be starting in September. I am very excited but wondering what exactly I've gotten myself into. I'm not a big fan of school exactly, but you'd never know since I can't seem to stop going.

Gatlinburg Vacation

We spent last week in Gatlinburg with my brother (yay! he's home for 2 weeks!) and his expanding family. My mom, Beege, and my dad came down for 4 days as well. A good time was had.

We:



1. Hugged Jarrod.

2. Stared at Reagan.














3. Watched Jarrod and Robert take a helicopter ride.











4. Went to Cherokee, NC. Saw some dancing and ate what we believe to be some traditional Native American food.

















5. "Hiked" (it was paved) to the highest point you can get to in the Park.












6. Played with Peyton . He is so smart! It's pretty amazing to have a real conversation with a 2 year old. We took him "sfimming" almost every day, and by the end of the week he was jumping in on his own. He also loves his sister very much and wants to hold her hand and rub her head all the time. Also, "her's too little" to do almost anything--just ask him.



7. Rode the skylift, went to the outlets, rode go-carts, did all the Ripley's junk, didn't see a bear, didn't buy a timeshare, played Catch Phrase Music Edition, and basically enjoyed each others company.



On the way home Robert and I stopped by the Natural Bridge in Virginia. That was pretty cool. but THEN as we were leaving, we stumbled upon that ancient, mysterious, world-renowned site:











That's right folks, Foamhenge. See for yourself.

Inked!

Just a little souvenir from vacation.

It means "what can separate us?" Jarrod got the same thing in different writing on the back of his arm.

It was a family outing:

The best defense...

Is one you PASS!!!!!

CONGRATS DR. ROBERT!!!

Beantown Bound

Our future hometown:

It's official, we are moving to Boston this summer! I got accepted into a PhD program in Sociology and will start in the fall. We are very excited and nervous all at the same time.

So before we leave Richmond, is there anything we need to do or see to get the full Virginia experience? I'm compiling a list.

Nieces are Nice!

Welcome to the world Baby Reagan. We're pretty much in love with you already.

(perfectly adorable picture to follow)

Reagan Lee
8lbs 2 oz, 20 in

And now back to your

regularly scheduled programming.

We're caught up! Yay!

February

Hmmm...

I went to NYC for the first time and loved it. Saw The Lion King, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Grand Central Station, and Ground Zero.

I got a lot accomplished in a little over 24 hours.

Oh yeah--and the purpose of the trip was a conference presentation. Well, that's what the school thought. The purpose of MY trip was The Lion King. I'm not afraid to admit it.

January

Bonjour! 'Ello Guv-nah!

3 Days Paris. 3 Days London. Our first time to Europe and we're ready to move there. Camera broke, so we have limited evidence of the trip. But I promise, we really went.

Above is an example of almost all of our pictures. See how the bottom is a different color and shifted? Most of them look a lot worse, so much that you can't tell what the original picture was of. I foresee us being bitter for a VERY long time.

Wait--that wasn't actually London. Here you go...

And my favorite, Paris...

This is one of maybe 20 pictures (out of about 600) that did not get messed up...and check out Robert's eyes.

December

Christmas. Kentucky. Family. Good Times.

Uber-Fast Update

Let's see if I can do it.

November

Surprise!

I went to Cincinnati for work and Mom, Beege, and my Dad came to spend the weekend with me. When they got there, they had a stowaway--Peyton!!

It was the best surprise ever! I had Peyton call Robert and I said "Someone wants to talk to you." Peyton said "Hi, Uncle Robert. Surprise." Then Robert said "I knew already, my mom told me." So basically, everyone in the family knew but me, and didn't tell me for weeks and weeks. I love surprises, so I just loved that someone did that for me.

Some cute Peytonisms from the weekend:

Peyton (handing me my cell phone): "Call Uncle Robert. I want to talking to him."

Grandma: "Peyton, would you like a banana for breakfast?"
Peyton (eye roll, scoffing): "Of COURSE me do!"

For Thanksgiving we stayed home for the first time in 3 years, which was a bit sad. We ate our traditional pre-Thanksgiving Vietnamese lunch, put up the Christmas tree, and did some shopping on Black Friday. We also made turkey dinner for some friends and played Clue. It was a good holiday.

October

Dodge. Duck. Dip. Dive. Dodge!

This month Robert and a team from his lab took part in the Chick-Fil-A Dodgeball Tournament to raise money for Niger and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

http://www.chick-fil-arichmond.com/index.php/dodgeball/

The tournament was A LOT of fun and raised about $80,000.00!

Oh yeah--and we went camping with some International Students in the Shenandoah National Park.

September

We went home to KY for a week around Labor Day. My brother was getting ready to leave for his second deployment, and we had also yet to meet our newest nephew Caleb.

Jarrod and I went to the opening game of the NFL season in Indianapolis. There was a street party and concert before the game and John Mellencamp sang ("Small Town") once we were in outside. They unveiled the SuperBowl banner and had the trophy there. Jarrod met Archie Manning (Peyton and Eli's dad) and had his picture taken with him on the street. But WHO took that picture you might ask? That's right, yours truly. So, essentially, I met Mr. Manning as well. Just not in the sense that I spoke with him, or shook his hand, or had my picture taken with him. In a different sense.

It was a great day. The football hoopla was good, but it was even better to spend all that time just me and Jarrod. He left for Iraq 2 weeks later.

Caleb is a charmer. He's very cute and smiles all the time. He mostly looks like his momma.

We had a great time and it was nice to be home. I believe that was the longest time span that we had been gone (December-September), but it was helped by the fact that most of Western KY slept in our living room over the summer.

August

Let's see, let's see...

Our anniversary. My birthday.

Robert's sister, brother-in-law, and 2 nephews left at the beginning of the month. They came out and stayed about 5 days. We went to the Richmond "Metro" Zoo which is about an hour outside of town. We swam in their hotel pool, the 2 oldest boys got highlights, and I schooled everyone in the fine art of Laser Tag. Code Name: Ice.

July

Africa!

We went to Niger (in West Africa) for the first 2 weeks of July. We had an amazing time and worked primarily with kids aged 5-13. We helped with the Kids' Camp that the missionaries run each summer. It's best described as a weeklong, residential VBS.

Most of the people on the trip were from a local Richmond youth group. It was exciting to be with these kids for their first internatioanl missions experience and to see God changing their hearts like He did for Robert and I on our first international mission trip.

The people were beautiful. The food was bad. I was in a 100% DEET haze for two weeks. It was one of the best things I've ever done in my life. We would both go back in an instant. Thanks for everyone's prayers and support.

I am so bad at this.

I am trying to get caught up on this blogging thing. I wanted to include pictures with each month, but that looks to be a little ambitious for me.

So, plan B, I will just update the blog and if I have time later--I'll add pictures.