Thinking outside of the box

This is what happens when AJ wants a toy out of his toy box, but no one is around to take the lid off for him. We've since moved the toy box away from the top of the stairs.

YES WE CAN

It isn't often that Virginia is visited by major presidential candidates before primaries. Our primary usually doesn't matter, but this year being an unusually crazy primary year, we were visited by them all! I couldn't believe it when I heard that Obama would be in Virginia Beach, and as soon as I heard it, I knew we'd be there. It doesn't matter who you endorse or who you are going to vote for, but it's important to be politically savvy and active, as no matter how cynical you are about the government, these individuals are going to affect your life in some way or another. That being said, I am in love with Obama, and I think he is absolutely adorable! James and I waited in line for three hours, swirled in and out of parking lots around the convention center, wondering if we would get in or not. Sarah and Regis, of course, got there right before the event started and snuck in the front doors! Before we even got in! I laughed so hard....except of course I would have been SUPER angry had they gotten in and we hadn't, but thankfully we got in as well. We were pretty far away, and could barely see Obama over all the heads of the hundreds of people in front of us, but it was still very exciting seeing a presidential candidate speak. No matter how you feel about him, he can definitely deliver a great speech! And he makes you feel like you can actually make a difference in life, no matter who you are. I truly believe that...and all I can say is...YES WE CAN!

VIP at the Ted Constant Center

Despite our great dislike for the colors green and gold, James and I joined the family and GMU alumni to watch the George Mason Patriots take on the Old Dominion Monarchs at Ted Constant Center. Though we were cheering for GMU, James and I just couldn't bring ourselves to wear the colors, so we wore the orange and maroon proudly, with gold and green beads and cute headbands, of course. Brent got us sweet VIP tickets with the GMU alumni association, so we had the privilege of watching our first game from a box seat. Holla for the VIP entrance! Sarah and I were like, umm... VIP... SUPER exciting! The seven of us (Sarah, Regis, Toby, Abigail, Brent, James, and I) enjoyed free food, drinks, GMU alumni stuff, and of course pompoms. I had a difficult time getting into the game in the beginning, as ODU came out strong, and basically left us in the dirt. It was sad, but it was great catching up with Sarah and Abigail. But, the Patriots received a good half time talk, and made the game exciting in the second half! Sadly, though, they couldn't make up the difference, and ODU took the win. Still looking for excitement, we perused the campus, eventually ending up at their statue of the monarch. With no signs saying do not climb, we got some awesome pictures with the Monarch. I mean...this is what traveling to away games is all about! It's not about the win...it's about the experience.

Orange Vests

On one of the colder weekends in Virginia Beach, James and I helped my dad and the Knight's Of Columbus adopt a road. Seriously, I think it was the coldest day we have had since we've been here, but that only added to the joy of it. Wearing orange vests is exciting in itself, but having trash picker uppers topped off the joy! It's like having cherries on top of your icecream! (or cornflakes... it adds to the joy!) For those of you who were at our wedding, it was that little windy road on the way to the reception, so we constantly were watching out for cars. But, we were convinced that the orange vests would save us from the speeding vehicles. We've decided that people who litter drink ALOT of lite beer and eat at McDonalds and 7-11. And some people were clearly running from the cops as they just threw out full cans of beer and liquor... *tsk~tsk*. They were definitely partiers though. The most exciting find of the day was a crawfish, found by James, and a $10 bill found by one of the other Knights.

Two Puppies!!

Now that we are in the 757, we have two poodles! Two puppies are better than one! They get along...most of the time... Lizzie, of course, is AJ's auntie, but she acts like an older sister. Lady Elizabeth and Mr. Ambler Johnston (And...no...I'm not kidding...) We've decided AJ is going to need a friend after we move...so our little family may be growing! :-) (*Hint* It's another poodle)

Everglades

So the Orange Bowl was a rather uneventful game, but we went exploring South Florida the next day to make up. Angela wanted to check out the Everglades, so off we went. In a different lifetime, she had wanted to be a biologist of some sort and enjoys being out in ecosystems… anywhere other than suburbs. The national park was relatively easy to get to; we had driven by near it on our honeymoon to the Keys. At the visitor center we ran into fellow Hokies and a few Kansas fans, playing tourist. Out in the park we didn’t see many people. The place reminded me of an African savanna with odd pine trees. As an ecosystem it is totally unique in all the world. But America will probably drain it to put up new condos. The entire everglades system is dying as its massive fresh water reservoir is increasingly tapped into by an exploding population. Only through man-made controls does enough water even filter into the park, and it is shrinking in land area. This one is not global warming, just too many people taking showers south of Orlando. So you should visit the place before it disappears! But we got to see an “island” of lush vegetation. These “islands” float along a few feet a year in the muck and support a wide range of life. We saw huge air plants who feed only on the humid air. We didn’t see alligators, bobcats, or manatees, but they are there! We hope to take an air-boat ride the next time we visit!

Christmas with some G’s

After a lovely morning with the B’s, we packed up our little sailor and headed to Bad Newz. We spent all afternoon watching the cousins roll on the ground and exchanging gifts. It was great to see the G-rents and everyone again!

Hiding little lizard

A Green Friend

We found this little guy just chilling in the Everglades.

Welcome to the 757

A 757 Sunset

A view from the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel

FedEx Orange Bowl

Angela and I make at least one trip to South Florida every year, and 2008 started with a trip to a major BCS game. Our beloved Hokies won the ACC and were to face the upstart Kansas Jayhawks in the Orange Bowl. When Angela wrote me to say we had tickets while I was at OCS, it made me that much more motivated to get out of there. We decided to drive to the game, as I had plenty of leave to take and we had just moved, so a quick vacation was deserved. We love road trips together, and we have been on plenty in the short time we’ve been married! For Christmas we received a Garmin, which was AWESOME for trips and finding places. We drove to Jacksonville NAS and stayed cheap and the Navy Lodge there right off the interstate. The Garmin had found a great alternate route around a closed I-95 near the Florida border, so we got to the base with plenty of time to get some rest. The next day we headed to Fort Lauderdale. Florida is a great place to visit, with its vibrant colors and green landscape, so the drive was pretty until we hit Palm Beach… then the traffic chaos that is South Florida began. BUT we got to our hotel in Pompano Beach and hooked up with some other alums for dinner. There was a tiny strip of restaurants on the beach near where the MV’s were staying, so we figured it would be a good spot for bowl travelers to meet. WRONG. Miami is the worst bowl city we’ve been to (Jacksonville was better). There was no center of bowl events as everything was very spread out. It was not like New Orleans which is the best place EVER for a college bowl game as everything one could possibly desire is within walking distance, including the actual game. But we managed to find something to eat… and it was COLD. Very cold for southern Florida. But the beach was neat as it was a protected habitat in the winter for sea turtle eggs. I hope they hatch by Spring Break as I’m sure revelers would smash them up. The next day we slept in then found a Jimmy Johns for food, and headed to Dolphins Stadium. We actually miss the old Orange Stadium, which had a personality. The generic Pro stadium was very boring… and it was only accessible from a toll interstate. Instead of parking in lawns and gas stations of Little Havana, we paid a parking attendant to plot out a spot of cracked concrete. We tailgated a little bit, but it was cold. The Kansas fans were very nice, but obviously were not used to football. We found the band and found our seats. The game… well, we choked again. Nothing new there, but I guess the team had fun, but they certainly were not very focused. The game atmosphere was a let down too. The Sugar bowl was packed and rowdy in 2005… but there were several thousand empty seats at the Orange Bowl. The BCS picked a bad match up or people simply did not come. Another thing as Band Alums that annoyed us was the fact that the marching bands were only allowed to play one song before the game. Half time was reserved for ZZ Top?!?!?!?! I guess it really was a NFL experience… which is why the Dolphins only won one game last year? The game was disappointing, but it was nice to see old friends, like Saxxxy who we dropped off at the airport on his way back to grad school at UCLA. The next day we checked out of our hotel and decided to explore a bit!

A Burley Christmas

Once again we’re in the midst of moving during the winter holidays, but we were more prepared this year. Angela had managed to complete most of our shopping while I was at OCS, and we spent a night with wine, wrapping the gifts together several days BEFORE Christmas instead of on Christmas morning. We rolled out of Blacksburg on December 24th. We had dinner with the Burley’s and exchanged gifts with Tony’s boo while giving Angela a few belated birthday gifts. We then went to Midnight Mass, but this year Father Scordo also did not fill the Church with incense, so I didn’t tear up all. It was nice to have Rod home this year as well! Everyone was exhausted, so we slept in until 9 or 10am. We then opened gifts and took our time. Angela and I were blessed with many great presents, including a Garmin, which we have used extensively already! The highlights were our puppies, AJ and Lizzie. AJ has been living in VA Beach with Angela’s parents since Thanksgiving, and it was great to have our little family reunited for the first time since September! AJ has become tolerant of Lizzie, though he has a tendency to smack her around a bit. They were amusing and active, as we had wrapped their presents in tissue paper. AJ spent all day tearing up all his new toys. Lizzie was cute in tentatively ripping at the tissue instead of the actual present. We should have just gotten her a few pads of tissue paper to play with. They both kept thinking that any gift you had with tissue in it was theirs!

Hi Mom's Slideshow

For those of you who couldn't join us for James' graduation, here is the slideshow that was played at the Hi Moms dinner. Enjoy!

Slideshow Part 1
Slideshow Part 2