Winter Escape

Over Martin Luther King Day weekend, Rachel and I joined a number of other Unitarians at Massanutten ski resort in Virginia, for our annual Winter Retreat.  The trip was wonderful, with a lot of great people, a long and fun hike through the Shendadoah Mountains, and a trip to a fun winery that had live music.  Pictures are in the video below.  

The BEST Christmas Ever!

I have not written in the blog for a while, mostly because I have been very busy.  My new teaching job has been consuming nearly all of my time- to be honest, sometimes it feels like I am barely treading water.

Rachel and me in Williamsburg

I was grateful, then, for a long, and wonderful Christmas break!  This was, without a doubt, the best Christmas of my life.  Last year, since I was abroad, I wanted to surprise Rachel with something romantic and special.  I took all of the love letters, emails, and poems we'd written to each other, combined with photos of us, and had a book printed.  This year, I did something similar.

Rachel truly thought I was getting her nothing this year.  I had purchased one of her plane tickets for a trip to Los Angeles, where we plan to spend our Spring Break.  That, plus two months of double-rent (having just moved to MD), meant I wasn't going to get her anything this year.  That was of course a ruse...

Christmas Eve

On her last day at her old job (Rachel has an exciting new job which is a big step up), on December 19, Rachel received a surprise at work.  It was a book- like a scrapbook- from me.  I had written a poem, separated into stanzas.  The first stanza was in the book, followed by a clue where she'd find the next stanza.  Each stanza was accompanied by a small Christmas gift.  Rachel came home and found several of them, then had a clue leading her to my parent's house.  There, she found the next stanza in a gift.

Christmas Eve was wonderful- we spent it with my family, including my aunt who I hadn't seen in a while.  There was wonderful Italian food, incredible family, and most surprisingly- snow!  We had a White Christmas.  Rachel got me mostly clothes.  I also got a great TARDIS trash can- for the true nerd in me.  Pictures from my camera are in the video.  It was the first of my three Christmases this year...

Rachel with her book- opening the gift from me on Christmas Day

On Christmas Day, Rachel and I drove to Delaware to visit her family.  We had a lovely time at her sister's house, where we opened some gifts, while getting mauled by the overly-friendly and massive Levi (a 70 pound pit bull puppy).  Then we went to a larger celebration at Rachel's aunt's house.  Her whole family was there, many of whom I know well.  Rachel opened a gift from me which contained a metal rose I'd purchased with her cousin Jen  at the Renn Faire, and then tickets to a surprise trip to Williamsburg!  We'd been for her birthday, and had fun (see earlier entry in blog), but had to leave a day early when Rach got sick.  This was a surprise trip- to help make up for that.  More pics from Delaware are in the video.  My favorite memory of that night was after most of the people left, and Rachel's cousin Stacey (in the pic above) challenged me to a game of Lord of the Rings chess.  The added rule was that you could only move a piece if you acted out the character, using a quote from one of the films.  I won- but it was amazingly fun!

We left Delaware, and after a night at home (receiving her second-to last stanza and gift), we headed to Williamsburg.  Traffic was awful, but we arrived at the Bed and Breakfast at last (pictured far top).  The owner gave us the key, and invited us to drop our stuff in our room.  While there, we were the only ones staying at the Bed and Breakfast, which was lovely.  We went up to the room, and waiting there was a bottle of wine, fresh flowers, and a wrapped Christmas gift.  Rachel opened it, and found the final stanza of the poem.  She inserted the poem into the book, and I told her to read the poem from the beginning.  As she read, I got on one knee, pulled out the ring I'd had custom-made, and asked her to be my wife.  She said yes!  We went downstairs, told the owners, then went to Merchant's Square.  I'd never been to Williamsburg in Christmas, and it was nice.  We had a delicious dinner at Seasons, followed by chocolate fondue at Aromas.

Rachel at Seasons- calling her sister to tell her

Showing off the ring, while swallowing delicious chocolate fondue

The next two days were a celebration of us.  On Friday we walked to the Colonial area and looked at all the neat Christmas decorations- loved the individualized wreaths.  We also visited a number of historic workers who we had missed in our last visit, such as the wig-maker, printer, and the cart-builder.  We had a lovely day, and the weather was cool but sunny, a perfect day for walking around with hot cider.  We stopped at Mad About Chocolate on our way back, for some fantastic hot drinks, then drove to Busch Gardens.  The park was opened and although only some rides were open, the full park was decorated for Christmas.  We walked around, going on a few rides, until we froze and needed some mulled wine while watching a show.  My favorite part was the skytram- looking over all the lights from high up.  Our final day in Williamsburg was filled with shopping and a couples' massage that Rachel bought for me, to pay me back for the surprise trip of a lifetime.  It felt like we had a third Christmas- one all to ourselves, and one we'll never forget.

The Search is Over

After I graduated with my Masters, I spent five months applying to jobs.  I had started applying a full four months before graduation.  It took over 160 applications, and ten interviews.

Today I received the wonderful, long-anticipated phone call:  I will be teaching English full time at MacArthur Middle School, in Ft Meade.  I am thoroughly excited, and feel that all my dreams are coming true.

First I got the girl (Rachel)
Then I got the experience of a lifetime (Oxford)
Then I got the job (MacArthur)
Next, will I get published.....

:-)

A great Saturday

This past Saturday, Rachel and I drove to the MD Renaissance Festival, where we met her cousins and uncle.  The day was great, especially because of all the people we spent it with.  Met my friend Sarah there, and then had dinner in DC with Rachel's best friend Heidi and her brother.  It was good to have a day of fun, and to enjoy the suddenly cool fall weather (mmm, warm cider).

Sigh...

Been a year since one of the best weeks of my life, my week abroad with Rachel...

Rachel's Birthday

I took Rachel to Colonial Williamsburg for her birthday.  We spent two nights at a resort, and then a day in the Colonial city.  It was nice, and she had never been there before.  The people we spoke to were all very entertaining, yet extremely knowledgeable.  We toured the Capitol, saw a number of smaller shops, and then  saw a production by a group of actors discussing theatre history from the period and putting on scenes.  After that, we went to the Burton Church and the Governor's Mansion, where Patrick Henry spoke.  We had a nice dinner at Chowning's, before a ghost pirate tour.  All in all, a lovely day.  I forgot my camera's battery, so our pictures were only taken with our phones.  These are my favorite pics.

From Beach to Rock

Last week, I had off from work (not by choice- camp got canceled).  The first few pics below were taken during that week.  On Friday, Rachel and I drove to South Bethany Beach.  Rachel had family friends, Barb and Jim, who asked us to stay with them at their beach house.  They requested that I not take their pictures, so there are none of them below.  Barb and Jim, along with their dog Duncan, were wonderful hosts and extremely kind and generous.  I am looking forward to going back to the beach house.

On Saturday, it was cloudy, but Rachel and I went to Bethany, at the northern edge of the boardwalk.  We relaxed and had a great day.  On Sunday, we drove to Assateague Island, home of wild horses.  We were walking back to the parking lot when we were mobbed by a group of horses, they were great to see.  We then relaxed at the beach on Assateague.  On Monday, we went shopping and then started a game of mini-golf.  The weekend came to an abrupt stop when Rachel got a call about her mother.

The remainder of the week was difficult, as I try to be Rachel's "rock".  Her mom is dying, and the hospice care providers told us it will be any day now.  It is difficult to watch someone deteriorate in front of you, but death is one part of life that will come to us all...