Jeff & Becky

Our New Blog...

2011-03-13T18:28:00.001-05:00

The only thing interesting in our life right now is getting ready for our garden. So I'm breaking up with this blog and going with a younger, more relevant one. Check it out!

www.ourtenthofanacre.blogspot.com

And if you have an account, be sure to be a "follower" of it. You can find the box about halfway down on the right.

Thanks!

$10 Date Night: Halloween

2010-10-30T14:05:00.005-05:00

Since we are not yet independently wealthy, we tend to just not go out. But being the bargainista that I am, I thought we could still have a lot of fun for little money and knew that I could come up with $10 every two weeks or so. There begins $10 Date Nights. If we get creative enough, we'll see if it warrants its own blog. We'd love ideas!

This week, our first, I said I would plan (I'm guessing we'll take turns). Since it's Halloween weekend, I thought a themed date was in order.

Here was the plan:

Carve a pumpkin
Roast said pumpkin's seeds (see recipe below)
Eat cookies
Watch a scary movie

Here's what it cost:

Cookies, $2.96
Pumpkin, $4.18
TOTAL... $7.14 (what can I say, I like a bargain!)

It's no Marta Crass creation, but works for our front steps!

Roasting the pumpkin seeds was pretty easy too. Here are the instructions:

Wash the seeds thoroughly. Lay on a paper towel to dry most of the way.
Lay them on a cookie sheet (we greased the sheet, but I'm not sure you need to do it)
Brush on melted butter and Worchestershire sauce, then sprinkle on some garlic salt
Bake at 275 degrees for 10-20 minutes, stirring them every 5-10 minutes. It took us about 30-35 minutes to get ours completely toasted and crunchy. So just keep an eye on them.

Jeff picked the movie. We watched "The Strangers". Nothing gross and bloody (okay, there was a little blood), just suspenseful. It was on TV the other day and Jeff recorded it so we didn't have to rent a movie!

Visit to Birmingham

2010-10-30T13:58:00.004-05:00

A couple weekends ago (two? I've lost track), we went to Birmingham to visit with all the Taylors again. We hadn't seen any of them since early summer I think. We typically do a September or October visit, which consists of watching football and playing with Abby. She's getting so old! Normally it takes a couple minutes for her to warm up to us, but this time not so much. As soon as we got there (at 9:30pm!) she ran around a corner and yelled, "Jeff, come scare me!"... which means "come chase me around the house while I squeal at the top of my lungs for thirty minutes". They picked up right where they left off!

And in a little less than two months, we'll have a nephew to play with, too! Max is due the week before Christmas! This year we'll be in Maryland for Christmas, but hopefully we'll go down shortly after to meet him.

Conan!

2010-10-08T08:15:00.002-05:00

While there are other things in life I look forward to, I'm REALLY looking forward to November 8th. Can't wait to see what TBS does with the show!

I'm Back

2010-09-17T10:07:00.002-05:00

Sorry... keeping up with two blogs is tough! So, I opt for the one that's hopefully making us money!

Most of you know that last month I became a Tupperware consultant... yes, they are still around! I love their products and wanted to earn a little extra money. So if you are ever interested in taking a look at the Tupperware products, check out my web page where you can shop directly. And if you are interested in hosting a party, traditional or virtual, just let me know.

Hopefully as we get to do some fun things with the holidays coming up, I'll post more!

One good thing about a lot of rain...

2010-05-11T19:36:00.003-05:00

The garden loved it!

It's Raining...

2010-05-02T09:41:00.004-05:00

We've had a little rain in the last 24 hours... anywhere from 8-12 inches. In the ten years I've lived here, I've never seen anything like it. In fact, I'm not sure I've seen anything like this in my life. More storms are moving in, but so far no rain at the house this morning. Lots of our friends have had leaking roofs and some flooding. We were worried to go upstairs last night in fear we'd find a leak, but we've had none.

This was our street for most of the day. They are still building in our subdivision, so some of those lots higher up washed out. In the 20 minutes we were at the grocery store yesterday the road on one side of it had flooded. Later on we saw on the news where they were doing water rescues from that same Publix.

And the video below was taken on I-24 less than four miles from our house. A little scary. The building you see float down the interstate is a portable from a church.

Church was canceled this morning because more storms are moving through. I'm guessing schools will be closed tomorrow as the creeks and rivers continue to rise. I know two buildings down from us at work had some flooding, but I don't know about ours yet. Jeff walked out and checked on the garden this morning. Everything held up well and should really take off this week with so much watering!!

Jeff wants to go explore, but I think we'll hold off on that and enjoy another day inside.

New Website

2010-04-12T20:06:00.000-05:00

In case you follow our Taylor Home Solutions blog, be sure to update your bookmark to http://taylorhomesolutions.net as we've changed the website!

Check it out!

Our Garden...

2010-04-11T19:52:00.002-05:00

Inquiring minds have wanted to know what we're up to with our garden this year, so here's the run-down! Since it's gotten so hot so early, we've already gotten a lot of it in the ground! Fingers crossed we don't get another frost! Our frost date is April 15th, so I think we'll be okay.

Here Jeff is watering the cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli. Jeff said if all the cabbage grows in, we'll have about 70 lbs of it. Recipes to share, anyone??? In the round part he's planted carrots (new this year). Along the fence on that side are snow peas (yum!) and flat green beans (also new this year). Also in the foreground is romaine lettuce (the plant) and we've planted leaf lettuce & spinach seeds. (By the way, Jeff was unhappy I got him in the picture!)

Last year we planted asparagus. It takes asparagus several years before it produces, so we bought "old" plants. This year we've already gotten about 6 or 7 spears!

Did I mention we have 60 square feet of strawberries??? We didn't get any from it last year, but we've got quite a few flowers on it so far this year... good thing we bought a freezer this winter! And the cylinders you see in the back are potatoes.

All of the pots I used for my herbs on the patio cracked over this ridiculously cold winter. So this year, I've claimed part of the garden for them. Today I planted cilantro and italian flat leaf parsley. We'll get some basil seeds soon to plant, but we won't plant nearly as much as we did last year! Still lots of pesto in the freezer! To the right of the herbs (out of the photo) are our two blueberry bushes that have TONS of buds on them. Last year the birds got all of the blueberries, so we'll have to cover them earlier this time!

And the rest of the garden is still living in cups... zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes! Actually he planted the zucchini today (I took the picture of the cups yesterday!). We have what we think are cucumbers growing in the garden from the compost we put in it last year. We'll let it grow and see what it is. I'm sure we'll have a few "volunteer" tomatoes too! Plus, we'll buy a jalapeno plant and green bell pepper plant (just one of each this year!) in a couple weeks to plant... assuming we still have room at that point.

I also got to plant some petunias in my big flower pot out front today. I love having a little color out there. I need help figuring out how else to do that. White house, black shutters, and green shrubs can be boring. Fortunately, our azaleas are about to bloom, so we'll have some bright pink for about a week.

The "Birthiversary"

2010-04-02T15:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we celebrated my 33rd birthday and our 4th wedding anniversary! I could not have asked for a more beautiful day to celebrate... 80 degrees and sunny! Too bad I had to work! We went to Cheddar's for dinner. I've never had a bad experience there, but after an hour of waiting for our food, the manager noticed and offered to comp our meal. Done.

When they find out we celebrate two things in one day, most people ask if I make Jeff by a separate anniversary gift and birthday gift. The answer... technically no. He buys me a birthday gift (we always have a $50 spending limit) and we buy one thing we both want for our anniversary. This year it was a Keurig coffee maker! Yum! We've had fun today figuring it out. And as you can see, I had to go buy a K-Cup organizer today to go with it!

We're looking forward to many, many more years together... and now well-caffeinated years together!

Girl's Weekend in DC

2010-04-02T15:15:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was our annual girls trip! This year we went to visit Becky B in DC... something that we've never done in nine years of getting together. Becky just bought a condo, so we were super excited to see that and the sights in our nation's capital!

We did do the tourist thing on Saturday and went to the Tidal Basin to see the Cherry Blossoms. Not at full peak, but close! It was a pretty nice day to be out and about. After that they fulfilled my request to go to The Container Store. I've only ever been able to shop there online and was dying to see the inside of one! The closest store to me is in Atlanta!

As usual we laughed a lot and played a lot of cards... Nerts to be exact! Next year is 10 years of Girls Weekend! Any suggestions on how to celebrate?!

Grandmom & Granddad's 60th Anniversary

2010-03-29T19:28:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we traveled to Jacksonville, Florida to celebrate my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary! My mom's whole family came together to celebrate. It was fun to have so many of us in the same place for a weekend.

Grandmom & Granddad

We had the whole family and some of grandmom & granddad's church friends and neighbors at the party. The cake above has their wedding picture on it.

After the party, we all headed to the beach for pictures. I haven't seen the "official" ones, but these are some of what we caught with our cameras.

Kelly, me, and mom (who has lost 41 lbs!)

These are 10 of the 13 "original" grand kids (not married in) with grandmom & granddad.

The weekend went by too quickly. Hopefully someone will get married soon so we can all get back together again!

Later this week I'll try and post pictures from girls weekend in Washington, DC!

Dinner With The Girls

2010-03-19T13:47:00.002-05:00

The Bible study I'm doing with the girls from church just wrapped up another series. This time we did "No Other Gods" by Kelly Minter. As part of her "Living Room Series" it included recipes to fix each week. We weren't that together, so we thought at the end we'd make a few of those. At first we thought about doing it potluck style, where we'd each make something out of the book. The last week, though, we decided it would be fun to cook together! So here are some pictures from last night!

Our dinner included:
Bowtie Pasta with Chicken & Sun-dried Tomatoes (feta & olives)
Caprese Salad
"Paula's Tossed Salad" (with a rocking dressing!)
& Brownies

It was fun to cook together and everything turned out super well! I think everyone left with leftovers for lunch today too!

I apparently can only work on one blog...

2010-02-13T15:37:00.002-06:00

So its been forever since I've blogged... sorry! Apparently, I can only handle one blog in my life and the business one has won out! So I'll do what Marta does when it's been a little while since a post, and recap a bit of the last month or so!

Getting this business up and running has been time consuming, but we had our first job today! Friends of ours called us, but we're still counting it! Our first ad drops this weekend in Rutherford County, so hopefully the phone will start ringing soon.
I hosted a fun Tupperware party a few weeks ago! I got it my stuff this weekend and have been playing with it today!
Jeff's 39th birthday was the 6th of this month! He decided he wanted to go to Hickory Falls for dinner and to see Avatar in 3D. I've never been to a 3D movie and it was unreal! Absolutely stunning to watch! Dinner was yummy too! It was the first date night we've had in a while. Good movie, good food, good time!
Wednesdays have been dubbed "no tv Wednesdays" here at our house. I'm usually spending time catching up on Bible study and Jeff typically reads. This Wednesday I spent an hour and a half on the phone trying to get the wireless modem I bought Jeff for his birthday working. It works now.
Beginning yesterday I started volunteering at the Martha O'Bryan Center cleaning out their roughly 2000 sq ft store room. I'm going each Friday until I can get it organized. Good practice for me and something they desperately need done. It was good to see old friends too. One came in and asked what I had done wrong. He thought I had gotten a DUI and had to work off some community service hours. I assured him I was not in trouble and volunteered for the job. I'll post the before and after pictures when I'm finished. I still haven't even cleaned a path to the back 2/3 of the room.
Last Sunday was the 10th anniversary of me moving to Nashville. Hard to believe it's been so long!!
We've had more snow here this year than I can remember in the 10 years I have been here. There is more on the way tomorrow and I'm already over it. There are WAY too many hills to navigate around here and my 4Runner is the worst thing I've ever driven in the snow. I want my Civic back! I know I shouldn't complain though as mom & dad have had 70-something inches this winter... 40ish in the last week.

Hopefully you'll forgive me for the lapse in posting. Now that we have the wireless setup at home, I'm sure I'll do better. I just don't like sitting at the desk at home after sitting at a desk at work all day.

Christmas Fun...

2009-12-31T20:54:00.002-06:00

(If this post makes no sense, its because I'm watching the VT bowl game while typing!!)

We had a super time celebrating Christmas with the Taylors in Mississippi last week. We left Wednesday morning and headed down. We got there within 30 minutes of everyone else. We really stayed in most of the time we were there, except to go to church on Christmas eve and out to see lights on Saturday night. As usual, Jeff and Abby played pretty hard. Instead of "Uncle Jeff" she called him "my Jeff" the whole time. We also ate lots of good food! The Taylors do fondue on Christmas eve and then they fried a turkey Christmas day. And it's not a holiday without a bunch of yummy pies made by Jeff's dad.

Christmas morning was a blur, but fun. Lots of presents!!! And Abby is now at an age that she can really have fun with it. She got quite a bit of fun stuff. Aunt Becky bought her fingerpaint!! I was kind enough to get the Crayola stuff that only shows up on Crayola paper though! We also introduced her to chalk & chalkboards! A little messy, but cleans up well.

The aftermath...

On Saturday night we drove a little over an hour to Mobile to see the lights at Bellingrath Gardens. We just thought there would be a few lights on some of the trees... not even close! It took us almost two hours to walk through and see everything. It was amazing! Cold, but amazing!

Sunday morning after breakfast we loaded up and headed back. The seven and a half hour trip actually went pretty quick. It was fun to spent that time with everyone.

Things Are Rolling!

2009-12-18T19:50:00.006-06:00

We have been working really hard to have the new business up and running by January 1st and I think we'll make it! We still have insurance to get and a way to process credit cards, but that's it! Well, that's not it-- but its all we have to do before we can get cleaning. After that we have web design, advertising, etc.

So pray for us as we begin this journey! I'll still be working full time at my day job. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep working my four day schedule so I can have a day to help Jeff with bookkeeping and scheduling.

In addition to the blog, folks can follow us on Twitter too! www.twitter.com/taylorsolutions

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas this year! We're heading to Mississippi to spend Christmas with the Taylors. I'm sure we'll have lots more pictures to post when we get back. We always do when we get to hang out with Abby for a few days!

A Great Thanksgiving!

2009-12-01T19:57:00.004-06:00

Jeff and I spent Thanksgiving in Florida this year with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. Typically when we go to FL, we take it pretty easy. This year we were out and about quite a bit. We left Nashville on Wednesday late afternoon and drove to Macon, GA where I scored an $89 hotel room on Priceline.com for $45! We got to Jacksonville around noon on Thursday. We threw Grandmom & Granddad in the car with the food they made and headed to the Smiths for a yummy Thanksgiving dinner!!! After dinner we went to the movies (a Smith tradition) and saw "Old Dogs".

Friday we got up and headed for the Jacksonville Zoo. It was fun, but pretty chilly for FL. Although it was probably in the 50's, we saw a few people in winter coats. I had to borrow one of Jessi's sweatshirts.

After the zoo, the boys went to the park to play disc golf. I tagged along to take pictures!

We also got to see Josh & Jenn's townhouse that they did a fabulous job fixing up!

Saturday we went to a huge craft fair at the convention center and came home to watch the Hokies kick UVA's butt!

We were sad to leave Sunday, but plan to go back in the spring!

It was great to see everyone!

There's Been A Murder!

2009-11-22T18:45:00.002-06:00

Last night I went to my first Murder Mystery Dinner party! I was quite nervous, as we were all "actors" at the party and had detailed instructions to follow. But it was a lot of fun! The scenario was that we were all at a bachelorette party at a day spa (hence us all wearing our bathrobes). During the party, there was a murder and we had to solve it. I played "Carina," the bride's cousin, who was also asked to be her wedding photographer (even though I was an artist, painter, by trade). Part of my role last night was to snap pictures, so here are a few!

The crime scene!

Detective Straight filling us in on what happened!

The bride's mother and soon to be dead maid of honor.

Our lovely host Kimberly who worked really hard to get this all together... and then I sold a secret about her character "Blair" for $100. A game is a game!

"Justine" the day spa owner!

We had a lot of fun playing our characters. There were prizes for those who solved the case, the person who made the most money, the person that acted their part out the best, and the best costume. I qualified for none of those.

New Blog

2009-11-21T17:15:00.002-06:00

We filed our paperwork with the state to start our business (more on that later) and we went with a different name than we originally thought we would. So the organizing blog I started now has a new web address! So delete the Taylor Total Home blog links you have and use this one instead.

www.taylorhomesolutions.blogspot.com

Hopefully more blog posts coming soon about the business, the murder mystery dinner I'm going to tonight, and our Thanksgiving trip to Jacksonville next week!

Halloween in Birmingham

2009-11-02T18:39:00.003-06:00

We headed to Birmingham this weekend to see all the Taylors! We got there on Friday and the playing and squealing began... from Abby AND Jeff! As usual, they played pretty hard and he did his job as an uncle getting her completely wound up before bed each evening!

This was Abby's first year to try trick-or-treating. She made a beautiful fairy! She did well going to just 3 or 4 houses on their street. But she LOVED giving candy out! Every time the doorbell rang, she was on her feet running to the door saying "More kids!"

She was not too happy when it was time for us to leave on Sunday... neither were we. We'll be able to play again at Christmas!

Craft Supply Swap

2009-10-21T20:08:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday I hosted a Craft Supply Swap! I wanted to get rid of some things in my craft closet and get some inspiration for Christmas presents, so I thought it was a good idea. Four people showed up with fabric, beads, scrapbook paper, and other fun stuff. I also had everyone bring a snack to share so we can make an occasion of it! And because I like fall, I decorated the tables in my autumn best!

Everyone left with new items and new ideas... for free! The fun part was sharing our interests and what projects we were working on. I can't say that I'm totally prepared for Christmas present ideas, but the wheels are turning!

Spicy Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Cake

2009-10-17T18:48:00.004-05:00

This is one of my favorite fall recipes! Not only is it yummy, but it makes the house smell terrific as it bakes! And it starts with a boxed cake mix! I made it today for my craft supply swap (more about that later!).

SPICY PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHUNK CAKE

Ingedients
1 pkg (2 layer) spice cake mix
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
6 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prepare cake mix as directed on package, reducing water to 1/2 cup and increasing oil to 1/2 cup. I listed 3 eggs in the ingredients, but use how ever many eggs your spice cake mix calls for.
- Add the cream cheese, the pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger
- Beat on medium speed until well blended
- Stir in chopped chocolate
- Pour into greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube plan
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, cool for 10 minutes

You can top with a cream cheese icing or cool whip!

Enjoy!!

Beth Moore Weekend

2009-10-12T19:15:00.004-05:00

I spent Friday & Saturday with girls from church at the Beth Moore event in Memphis. There were 13,300 women at the FedEx Forum for the event!

The worship and message were great and the fellowship even better. Below is a picture of us at lunch on the way home. It doesn't really look like it, but it was COLD and all I had packed were flip flops! My toes were FREEZING!

Another Blog for You to Read

2009-09-26T17:21:00.002-05:00

This week I started another blog... funny, right? Since I can't really keep up with this one!?

I've started a blog on home organization tips, projects, and products. I'm hoping it will eventually turn into an actual business.

This week I started with the pantry re-do I did this weekend, including before and after pictures. I ought to practice what I preach, right?

www.taylortotalhome.blogspot.com

Check back often as I hope to do Tuesdays Tips and some product reviews in addition to documenting my projects while I gain some experience.

I'm willing to help some friends get organized in exchange for before and after pictures while I'm getting started! Just let me know if you are interested!

End of Summer Harvest

2009-09-07T18:55:00.003-05:00

Sorry to be MIA for a while! Our garden has been quite fruitful this summer! The pictures below are what we brought in the house just TODAY! From left to right, there are green bell peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, and that huge pile of leaves... BASIL!! I'll be taking quite a few bell peppers to work tomorrow to share. I think we're going to make some more pesto this week and try to dry the basil in the oven.

We also dug up our potatoes today! Jeff planted them in the spring and their flowers just started to die off (which is the signal they are ready). They are a lot smaller than we thought they'd be. I'm going to figure out how to blanch and freeze them.

We have had probably over one hundred jalapenos this summer, easily! I've frozen most of them, but we made some yummy jalapeno poppers a couple times. I also got up enough courage to make hot pepper jelly and can it this weekend! We tried some today and, I think for a first attempt, it turned out well!

We've also made salsa, spaghetti sauce, and stuffed peppers with our home-grown vegetables. We've frozen the spaghetti sauce, but now that I am more comfortable canning, I'll do more of that next year.

Today we cleaned out part of the garden to get ready to put in the fall garden. We'll put in most of what we planted in the spring again.

My "Cure for the Common Life"

2009-08-16T19:48:00.005-05:00

I'm part of a girls Bible study group that meets every Thursday! I love the fellowship and conversations that group provides. We just finished reading Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado. In order to get back to my "sweet spot" and do something I enjoy doing, I decided to put my insecurities behind me and sell some of my wares! So today I set up my Etsy site:

http://beadingbecky.etsy.com/

Right now I'm mainly selling some beads that I want to get rid of in order to get more (prettier!) beads. There are a few bracelets, too. Since I have Fridays off for now, I'm hoping to spend more time making things and learning more about the beading and sewing.

And this is totally NOT a sales pitch! I'd prefer to sell to strangers! Friends, family, and blog readers get things free!

Jennifer & Ben's Wedding

2009-08-05T19:53:00.002-05:00

This was weekend #3 of 4 for travel... needless to say, glad I'll be home this weekend. That said, it was still a fun weekend. I traveled with Kelly to Atlanta for our cousin Jennifer's wedding. Jeff was stuck at home working. Actually, the wedding was in McDonough, Georgia at the Hazelhurst House. It was beautiful, of course!

Practicing!

Despite a little rain in the beginning, the wedding was sweet. I think they were trying to compete with Jeff and I on the fastest wedding ceremony, but we are still in the lead. Probably because they had 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsman!

Mom & Dad at the reception.

Cousin Josh... his wedding was last summer! And in this picture, I'm on my tip-toes and he's practically sitting just to get the two of us in the picture. Hard to believe we're related!

Kelly & I at the reception.

Good to see the extended family at weddings now that we really don't get together at Christmas anymore. Now someone has to get married next summer!

Girls Weekend 2009

2009-07-22T22:14:00.004-05:00

As many of you know, I have three terrific friends from college who I get together with at least once a year... Elizabeth (in Atlanta), Becky B (in DC), and Missy (in Blacksburg). I love and adore that time we spend together! Last weekend marked eight years of trips! This year we went to Elizabeth's house in Atlanta for the weekend.

We started the weekend at Ikea and PF Changs on Friday! Saturday was pretty typical for us... we stayed in our pajamas until about 3pm at which time we finally decided to go to the pool. I think I was the only one who showered that day. We played Nerts a lot, which is our tradition each time we are all together. It is also tradition for Becky B to kick our butts! I think she should go pro! Casey, Elizabeth's husband, was wonderfully patient having that many girls in his house at once.

A lot has changed in eight years! Here's a picture from our first vacation to Pompano Beach, FL (picture taken in Miami) in 2001 and a picture of us last weekend. The extra girl is Elizabeth's daughter, Caroline.

Next year we are headed to DC to see Becky B's new townhouse! We've never been to DC for a vacation before because it is close to the rest of our parents... we knew we couldn't just go to DC, but would have to plan time to see family too. It's time.

My goal in the next year is to figure out how to best document all of our trips! We made a list of all of them, so that's a good start!

Visting the Taylors in Birmingham!

2009-07-12T17:55:00.006-05:00

This weekend we went to Birmingham for Jeff's sister Laura's birthday. Jeff's parents drove up from Mississippi, so we got to see the whole family... including niece Abby! Abby LOVES her Uncle "Jesh"! They had fun, but I'm not sure who was more tired when it was all said and done. She does say "Becky" now, unlike when we last saw her in February!

Abby & Uncle Jeff reading...

Abby & Uncle Jeff watching TV...

Abby haning out with Uncle Jeff before bed...

Saturday afternoon, Jeff, Mark and their dad assembled the canopy for Mark & Donna's deck. They worked hard! They were so sweaty that when one of them would come in, Abby would say "They got wet."

We ate well this weekend, too! Mexican for Laura's birthday Friday night and then Mark grilled ribs Saturday night! And to top it off Bananas Foster last night too!!

(After making this post initially, I realized I didn't portray the weekend very accurately! I had all these sweet pictures of Abby & Jeff doing quiet things. The reality was that was the only time they were still enough to take a picture! Most of the time he was swinging her by her ankles and tossing her onto the couch while she squealed and said "AGAIN"! Uncle Jeff was climbed all over this weekend... and he loved it as much as she did! That's really how they bonded!)

Next weekend... girl's weekend in Atlanta!! Stay tuned!

For a Good Laugh...

2009-07-07T08:41:00.003-05:00

Here is video of my television debut this month. I appeared on Plus Side Nashville on Channel 5+. It airs several times through the month of July. I think I'll stick to radio.

Update on Ian

2009-06-26T18:26:00.003-05:00

Today the Anna & Jason shared with everyone that they are expecting baby #2 in January. They are trusting in God's timing with the new baby and are excited. Ian will make an awesome big brother.

Unfortunately, Ian's MRI today showed that in the 4 weeks since his brain surgery his tumor has grown back and "is big". They've scheduled another brain surgery for Wednesday unless he shows symptoms of more cranial pressure. Then they will move the surgery up. Chemo will start 7 days after surgery. Obviously it's pretty aggressive, so time is of the essence.

Please add little Ian to your prayer lists. They need all they can get!

Pray for Ian

2009-06-23T19:35:00.004-05:00

As a lot of you know, our friends Anna and Jason recently found out their 18 month old son, Ian, had a brain tumor. Last week they got the pathology results back that proved it was a rare aggressive form of cancer. Today they decided to get treatment for him at St. Jude's. They have to be there tomorrow morning at 10am.

Please keep our sweet friends in your prayers. While his brain surgery is thought to have removed all of the tumor, Ian faces 7-8 months of intense chemotherapy. In the meantime, he continues to be one of the friendliest, funniest, happiest kids I've met.

Here's the website if you are interested in reading about little Ian.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ianconnermiller

Game Night

2009-06-23T19:25:00.003-05:00

Our Sunday School class had game night last weekend at the Keebles house! We played some games outside until dark.

Cody, Jeff, and Jeff playing cornhole... never heard of it until about two years ago. It's a bean bag toss for grown-ups! But people around here are pretty serious about it.

Once it was dark, we went inside to play Rock Band on the Wii. I think Daniel is singing Thriller!

As you can see, I didn't show off my inner Rocker, but instead sat in a rocker holding baby Hunter while his mom played. Apparently I was pretty boring because he was out cold and we were sitting next to the speakers!

Reading about Hokie Bird...

2009-06-01T09:37:00.004-05:00

My sister-in-law emailed me this picture this morning and I thought I would share! It's Abby reading the Baby Hokie's First Football Game book that we got her (I think before she was born!). I think she's preparing for the upcoming football season and the VT/Alabama game (her mom when to Alabama!).

Can you guess where I was?

2009-05-24T17:58:00.006-05:00

If you guessed the Williamson County Landfill, you are correct! I got to take a tour of it on Friday as part of the Environmental Leaders class I took earlier in the spring. It's a really neat place! I was warned of rattlesnakes before I went, but didn't see or hear any while I was there. When you drive up you have no idea its a landfill. They don't take household waste, so its not stinky like you'd think. They do some pretty incredible things there that are sustainable and earth-friendly. In fact, I think he said they've had 24 different countries come to see what they do. The people from China stayed a week to study the place.

Below is a pile of ground up houses.

Lewis, who runs the place is a genious! He knows trash and had some pretty eye-opening stats to share. Did you know that Williamson County produces 2x the national average of waste?

Just one of the fun things I get to do at work!

In garden news, the plants are going nuts. We've been able to eat some broccoli and some lettuce. We may have some cauliflower and snow peas ready by the end of this week. Here's an updated picture at the request of Heather! And for the record, that's only about 1/3 of the garden!

April Showers Bring May Flooding...

2009-05-08T18:38:00.004-05:00

We've had quite a bit of rain so far this month! So far the garden is liking it! This picture was taken of the cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli on April 25th...

Ten days and four inches of rain later...

We had a CRAZY thunderstorm this morning and got close to another inch of rain. The 5.08" is total since May 1st.

The sun is out now, but they say more storms are on the way. Fortunately, none like the tornado-filled ones we had in April!

Eight down, one to go...

2009-05-04T11:48:00.003-05:00

Spring is a busy time in the life of an environmental nonprofit! I have participated in eight events since March 31st and have one more to go next week. So far! This weekend we participated in the Nashville Asthma Walk on Saturday! It rained.

Not sure if you can see it in the picture, but everything at our booth was soaking wet. It rained (hard!) from the time we got there at 7:15am until about 9am. I ended up throwing away some of our stuff.

I stopped for a brief minute to get my picture taken with Snow Bird. He's the Channel 4 weather mascot. Honestly, I just wanted to be under a tent for a minute.

The walk was at the Nashville Zoo. So after standing in the rain for almost two hours, it let up and we walked three miles through the zoo. This giraffe is as close as he looks... no zooming in! He came right up to us! He kept looking at the ditch between us and him and seemed to want to cross! He never quite figured it out though.

Jeff got me a gift card to Blue River Canyon Day Spa for my birthday that I've been saving. So eight events down, one to go on May 14th... massage will be schedule for May 16th! Packing, loading up, and breaking down these booths have worn me out!

Southside Elementary & Junior High

2009-04-27T14:01:00.003-05:00

I spent today (the first day of Clean Air Week) at Southside Elementary & Junior High in Lebanon, TN teaching approximately 900 K-8th grade students about air quality! They were super kids and made it a lot of fun. I'm feeling it now though! I'm tired and my feet are aching! I did seven presentations in a row!! I don't know how teachers do it all day! This was my first time going into the schools for my new job, but hopefully not the last. Here are some pictures from today!

Those are 4th graders who are taller than me!

I had the most fun with the little ones. These were 1st & 2nd graders who were acting out the levels of the Air Quality Index for me.

Becky's Latest Creation

2009-04-22T19:19:00.003-05:00

Since I haven't posted in a little while, I thought I would show our five faithful readers what I made our niece for her birthday. Abby turned two last week! We weren't able to go to the party this weekend because I had to work the Nashville Earth Day Festival. We heard they had lots of fun though.

Marta gave me the idea last year, but I ended up making the rag doll instead. I painted the stool and her name and used rub-on decals for the birds and flowers. Then I sprayed it with a clear coat to seal it all.

Here's a picture of Abby playing with Uncle Jeff in February. He was teaching her how to dump all 64 Crayons onto the floor at once... hence the guilty looks from both of them!

Even before Dave Ramsey, there was...

2009-04-07T12:08:00.002-05:00

Old Pictures Discovered!

2009-03-24T19:26:00.004-05:00

Jan, my second cousin once removed (?) from Blacksburg, sent this picture that I had never seen, but thought it was neat! Can you tell who it is?

The one on the left is me and my great-grandmother, Gram. On the right is my grandmother, great-grandmother, my mom, and me... four generations in 1977, I'm guessing! It looks like I was a redhead, but I wasn't. I guess the picture coloring was a little weird.

Mom doesn't know the occasion for all of us to be together, but did recognize that its at mom & dad's house.

Cruise Days 5, 6, & 7

2009-03-15T17:28:00.004-05:00

Day Five of the cruise took us to Cozumel, Mexico. As usual, here's the first thing we saw!

We were "excusioned" out by this point and I had been to Cozumel before, so we opted to explore on our own. There were shops right across from the port (and in every direction from there), so we did a little shopping and then hopped back on the boat. We did see a Starbucks with a thatched roof though!

Day Six was at sea! That night at dinner we saw something off in the distance and quickly realized they were oil rigs in the Gulf. This was the best picture we took. It was storming a little so the boat was a little unsteady and it was hard to get a clear picture.

Day Seven we got back to New Orleans around seven in the morning. Jeff and I opted for the express checkout earlier than everyone else because we had an 8 hour drive ahead of us to get home. We got off the boat when they called for express people at 8am and were through customs and pulling out of the parking garage by 8:30am!

It was so much fun and we are very thankful to the Taylor's for booking the trip!

Day 4: Belize

2009-03-07T09:53:00.004-06:00

Day four we landed in Belize City, Belize. As always, we walked to the top deck of the ship before breakfast to take a picture of the port, but this is what we saw! I knew we'd have to tender to the port, but I thought we'd be closer than this! You can just barely make out land in the distance!

We signed up to do the "Land Rover 4x4 Jungle Adventure" for our excursion of the day. So after a ride on a boat named "Big Mamma" to get to the port we met up with our tour group and boarded the "Jungle Bus" seen below! We drove about an hour to get to the base camp. The first part of the drive was through Belize City. It was interesting to see the "expensive" part of town with rundown houses and bars on the windows. Once we got out into the jungle, we rode the bus straight up hills on very muddy dirt roads. It was a little crazy.

Here's a little video of our ride up the hills! Not much to see, but it shows you how bumpy it was!

Once we got to the base camp, we strapped on head lamps, sprayed ourselves with bug spray and grabbed a bottle of water before we headed out on our rain forest hike and cave exploring. It was VERY hot in the jungle and the caves. The trails were very muddy and slick. It was pretty interesting though.

After the hike, we loaded up in a few Land Rovers to go off-roading!! There was one guy that was on the tour by himself, so we told him to join us. Turns out he's from Clarksville, TN!! That's only about 45 minutes from Nashville! It's a small world! He was a good driver (he's an EMT and drove ambulances!) so he drove the whole time for us.

So here's a video of the Land Rover behind us coming up the hill of mud! I couldn't video us doing it because I was hanging on for dear life. Jeff and Ernie were in the cab with seat belts and I was sitting in the back on a bench with only a bar to hold onto. Right before we left our tour guide Giovanni jumped in with us, so he put his leg next to mine so I had something else to brace myself against! His is the other voice you'll hear on the video.

We drove the Land Rovers to a beautiful plantation-type setting where they fed us a typical Belizean meal... red beans and rice and stewed chicken. It was very good. Just a little weird to eat chicken with very large chickens running around at our feet. After lunch we got on a boat and took the river back to the port. I loved how much we were able to travel by boats on the excursions. A really great way to get around!

Belize was a lot of fun. We walked around the shops a little at the port and then got on a tender boat back to the ship. That night we ate at Cagney's, the steakhouse on the ship. It was SO good! A great way to end a fun day!

Cruise Day 3: Guatemala... Part Two

2009-02-28T11:54:00.005-06:00

After we left Ak'Tenamit, we got back on the boat and traveled to Livingston. Livingston is a Garifuna town in Guatemala. In this picture below the garifuna are cleaning and salting fish. The white things you see in the foreground are fish fillets that are being dried on the docks.

When we got off of the boat we went straight into a resort/hotel where they served us some lunch. It was a mix of various things... chicken, fresh fruit (lots of watermelon!), and snacks. We also got to have something you have to pay for on the ship... COKE & DIET COKE! So nice to have a free one even if it was pretty warm! Of course, in most places outside the US, Diet Coke is called Coke Light.

Then we were treated to a performance by some locals!

After our performance, our guide gave us about 15-20 minutes to walk around the town of Livingston before we had to head back. Below is a picture of the top of the hill in the town looking back out toward the water. We really didn't get to see a lot of Livingston unfortunately.

So that ended our day in Guatemala. Before we returned from the ship, we hit a big building they have at the port where locals can sell their wares. We didn't buy anything in there, but there was lots to see. If you are ever on this particular cruise, spend all of your money in Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala! You'll think you'll want to save your money for Belize, but there's nothing really there to buy! Learn from our mistakes!!

Next post... Off-roading in Belize!!

Cruise Day 3: Guatemala... Part One

2009-02-24T19:06:00.004-06:00

Guatemala was by far our favorite stop! As you can tell from the pictures, it is beautiful! Normally we took a picture each morning of what we awoke to, but this time we did a video.

From the ship, we boarded a speed boat to take our tour. We went everywhere by boat that day! We never got in a car! In fact, the school we went to could only be reached by boat! We had a wonderful tour guide named Carolina. She spoke terrific English and was a lot of fun.

After an hour in the boat, we reached our first destination, Ak'Tenamit. This is a school that teaches young people tourism, business, and ancient crafts. They also do a lot addressing health needs too. Check out their website. It is literally in the middle of the rainforest! We had to hike to get from one place to another at the school. I absolutely fell in love with the school and didn't want to leave! I told Jeff I wanted to move there and teach English and he quickly reminded me that it was 86 degrees with about 99% humidity in FEBRUARY! And they had no air conditioning! I think I'd adjust!

Yup... that's a machete! They all were using one to break down bamboo!

They had a shop with products made at the school that you can buy. They also had two local artisans that were selling their handmade jewelry. I bought a pair of earrings from this guy!

The students also gave us a demonstration on how to make corn tortillas. All of the students were very sweet and looked like they enjoyed their school and having us Americans walking through their classrooms! Our guide, Annie, was 16 and studying tourism.

This is the first of two Guatemala posts! We took about 80 pictures that day, plus some video so I thought I'd spread it out a little!

Cruise Day 2: Costa Maya, Mexico

2009-02-20T19:11:00.005-06:00

Our first destination was Costa Maya, Mexico! After a really rough day at sea, it was nice to get off the ship and walk on land a little!

Every morning before we went to breakfast, we went to the top deck of the ship and took pictures of the port. So for each post the first picture you see is the first view we had of our destination. This is the port at Costa Maya. The only thing in Costa Maya is the port, consisting of a few shops with some pretty aggressive salesman!

This is some of the entertainment at the shops there at the port. Everything was painted in very bright colors. It was HOT! We hung out around the shops for about an hour before we left for our tour.

We boarded a coach bus, just as it began to rain, for our one hour ride to the Chacchoben Ruins. These are ancient Mayan ruins in Mexico. This is the one excursion we did as a whole family. Below is one of the three Mayan temples we saw. To get to this one we had to climb up some steep stone steps. I was one of the few that did it and I was SORE for days!

Jeff's dad and his brother listening to the tour guide.

Jeff and I at the ruins!

All in all it was a good day. Abby did great on the tour. We were pretty hot and sweaty by the time we got back. As soon as Jeff and I got back we went straight for the hot tub on the ship. I was relieved to find it very well chlorinated! That night we ate at the Italian restaurant on the ship, La'Trattoria. It was yummy. I was stuffed by the time the main course came, but managed to eat a good part of it anyway.

Next post(s)... Guatemala!!!

Pre-Cruise & Cruise Day 1

2009-02-16T18:55:00.005-06:00

We left Friday (2/6... Jeff's Birthday!) after work to head to Birmingham to begin our trip! We met up with Jeff's sister and brother and his family. From there we all drove to Jeff's parent's house in Mississippi on Saturday. We were wondering if our niece Abby would warm up to Jeff this time. At Thanksgiving, she was really leery about him. This time they were best buds from the start of the trip. As you can see below, she had him wrapped around her finger!

For dinner, Jeff's brother Mark seared some yummy steaks for all of us and Jeff's dad made a "bomb" for Jeff's birthday dessert. Its a wonderful homemade ice cream cake with oozy chocolate in the middle! Yum!

Sunday morning we all packed up and drove to New Orleans to board our ship, the Norwegian Spirit! We had an easy time getting there and embarking. We headed straight for the dining room to have lunch and then checked out our staterooms. Then we walked around on the deck to wait for the boat to sail away!

Below is a picture of us sailing away from New Orleans at sunset.

Our first cruise day, Monday, was a day at sea. The water was really rough-- the most rough day I've ever had on a cruise. By evening I was a little green, but managed through it. We spent the day eating good food, catching up on sleep, and learning our way around the ship.

Stay tuned for more...

Laughed so hard, I cried!

2009-02-03T11:33:00.000-06:00

30 Hour Trip To Knoxville

2009-01-21T18:24:00.004-06:00

This weekend I went to Knoxville to visit old friends from college! Evan & Marta hosted us Hokies for a fun weekend of catching up and eating good food! I stole this picture from her blog because it turned out so great!

In the picture... Marta, Evan, Elizabeth (with my new faux niece Caroline!), Missy, me (with Flat Becky B), Julie, Sharon & Drew. Kate, Evan & Marta's little girl, was asleep when we took the picture.

I had the idea to make a Flat Becky B since Becky Brittain couldn't make it. Marta, the PhotoShop wiz, made it and it was GREAT!!! We got some fun pictures of "Becky" hanging out with us!

This is Caroline (& Flat Becky B)! I stole this picture from her mom's Facebook page! Apparently I've gotten really bad about taking pictures. I think I took two while I was there!

How We Spent $$ This Christmas!

2009-01-09T09:19:00.004-06:00

This year we decided to try and buy gifts in which the money would be put back into something worthy. I thought we'd share in case you needed some ideas for gifts this year!

We bought many of the ladies in our family products from Thistle Farms. Located here in Nashville, they take women who are living on the streets and teach them job skills through the making of all natural beauty and household products. Money from these products go back into the nonprofit.

For a few of the men in the family that like to cook, we purchased some soup and spice mixes from the Women's Bean Project in Denver, Colorado. They have all kinds of soup mixes, spice and chili mixes, cookie mixes, etc. As with Thistle Farms, participants in the program make the products and the money goes back into the nonprofit.

Our niece Abby got a "magazine" subscription for toddlers from the National Wildlife Federation! A new Wild Animal Babies board book comes about once a month.

And finally for my grandparents, we "purchased" one month of tutoring for an inner city child through World Vision.

Don't get me wrong... Walmart and Macy's still got a lot of our money, but it was a fun challenge to see if we could go a little nontraditional on the gift giving this year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T20:39:00.003-06:00

We hope all of our favorite blog readers had a great Christmas. We spent ours in Maryland with the Foys this year. We really didn't do much of anything but get some very much needed rest and relaxation! Unfortunately, a death in the family made things a bit heavy, but it was nice to spend time with everyone.

Here's a picture of Jeff and I at my office. I had to work an event one Saturday night and used some Mexican food to bribe him into going with me.

As for New Year's, its been pretty quiet here. I'm on day 12 of some sort of cold/sinus infection thing that keeps me coughing. So New Year's Eve I was asleep by 9pm thanks to some TheraFlu! We did wake up to some fireworks around 1am, but rolled over and went right back to sleep! Oh well! Maybe next year!

"No Accumulation"

2008-12-13T21:13:00.003-06:00

We knew we'd have some flurries on Thursday evening, but the weather people (even weather.com) said there would be no accumulation. Guess they define that a little differently than I do!

At 7:00pm it measured exactly 1" and continued to snow the biggest flakes I've ever seen until 9:00pm.

This is what I saw when I left for work Friday morning. The windy back roads we have to travel to get out to a main road were rough, but most melted by the time we got home Friday evening. There is still some snow in our backyard even today!

I'm On The Radio...

2008-11-07T15:46:00.002-06:00

... Well, kind of! Part of my job that I didn't learn about until after I accepted was the fact that I am part of a radio show every Monday morning (unless there's a guest speaker and then I'm off the hook!). The TMA "Green News" is broadcast from WAKM AM950, Franklin's "hometown radio station"! Tom, the on-air personality (they aren't DJ's on talk radio are they?), the Executive Director of our organization, and I are on each Monday morning at 7:40am to talk about the latest environmental news and what's happening in Franklin (Williamson County) as far as its related. I was scared to death last week, but it went okay. I was stuck in traffic so they stalled until I got there! We talked about November being Lung Cancer Awareness Month and how air quality can, in a few cases, lead to cancer and tips to reduce air pollution.

I have a feeling this won't spark any new found radio personality talents deep within, but it makes for interesting conversation. I also feel comfortable talking about it since its only broadcast in Franklin and there is no online streaming!!

We also have a tv show on government access in Williamson County, but I've avoided it so far. I must have a face for radio!

What I do...

2008-10-27T15:50:00.003-05:00

Lots of people have been asking me what I do at my new job, so I thought I'd make a post of it! Truth is... I'm still figuring it out. But this is what I know...

As the program administrator, I'll be working with businesses and individuals to be more environmentally aware and, therefore, reducing air pollution in the process. So when we meet with people (at fairs, corporate information sessions, etc.) we try to make sure they can do at least one thing to reduce consumption of anything that might be harmful to the environment (especially transportation alternatives). Same with businesses. Then we recognize the ones that are making a significant impact. Part of this includes letting companies know when there are "air alert" days during the warmer months so they can inform their employees and make changes to routines to help the situation. So it sounds like I'll be out and about meeting with people/businesses quite a bit!

I'll also be doing some grantwriting and fundraising along the way. All part of relationship building! I may even be part of a Monday morning radio show at some point!

Since I will be working with two different agencies it will be a little tricky. Both are in very different phases of development so balance will be key.

Both would really like to expand into the schools to do air quality/environmental education with children. That is something I can wrap my head around and will get into I'm sure!

These first few weeks I'll be doing lots of reading about air quality issues and meeting lots of new faces! I've spent much of my days, so far, online researching terms as they come my way. Everyone at the office has been very helpful in showing me around and helping me figure things out.

The New Office

2008-10-20T18:21:00.003-05:00

Today was my first day at the new job. I'm still trying to figure out just what I'll be doing, but I've got some time. Today started with a breakfast for all the partners at the Williamson County Library. I got to meet a lot of the Clean Air Partners all at once and they got to meet me! Hopefully that will make it a little easier to call on them. Our Clean Air spokesperson is Taylor Ware. Taylor was a finalist on America's Got Talent the first season and wrote a earth-friendly song for the group this morning.

I spent the day "nesting" in my office, checking email, and doing some research. I also had to get a drug test.

Here are some pictures of my new office.

I can see the church we got married in from my office!

Everyone at the office seems really nice. I worked with Lisa, the executive assistant, at the Martha O'Bryan Center years ago, so it was nice to have a familar face today!

My Last Day...

2008-10-17T07:32:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was my last day at the center... very bittersweet. While I'm very excited about my new job, I'm sad to go. My staff and the Martha O'Bryan staff and the CWA staff came for a potluck lunch in my honor at the center yesterday. Here are some pictures of that!

The CWA Apartments staff... Billy, one of our off-duty police officers is the one giving me bunny ears!

Me and Sharon... my Nashville mom who takes care of me, partly because her daughter lives a plane ride away and hopes someone takes care of her.

And me with Misty Moody, my partner in crime and supplier of tires the last several years.

Then once the kids arrived after school, we had another party! They made a slide show for me with pictures from my last eight years. Of course I had taken the majority of the pictures so they had trouble finding any with me in them! Some of my girls that are in college now came, as did one of my students that moved out of the apartments. I got lots and lots of cards! When I can get them all in one spot I'll take a picture of all my gifts. I really wasn't expecting it! Even one of my volunteers showed up with a gift. Very generous people! Probably one of my favorite gifts is a framed picture of my students (or most of them!) that was given specifically for me to hang in my new office. They all signed the mat around the picture. Here are a few of the pictures from last night. I think I might try to do a slide show on blogger later today with all of them.

This is Jalisa, one of my graduates!

These are the Eli sisters... Yasmine, Ilham, and Jihan. I've had them in my program for at least seven years! Ilham is at Belmont this year, Yasmine is a junior in high school and Jihan is in the 7th grade! I've known them since they were teeny tiny! In fact, Jihan was in Kindergarten I think!

My yummy, yummy cake!

This is Kenithia, our Education Assistant and one of my all-time favorite people! She's rescued me a countless amount of times since she came in August of 2006!

Catching Up!

2008-10-07T21:35:00.004-05:00

So I haven't been the best blogger lately, so here's my attempt at catching you up on the few things that we've done lately.

It seems like most of our posts are about the garden or our niece... so here you go!

The last weekend in September, we traveled to Birmingham to spend a weekend with all the Taylors. Here are a few pictures!

Abby loves the camera... and more importantly, seeing herself on the back after you take the picture!

Abby playing with "Maddie", Jeff's mom

Then this weekend, my parents were here for a visit and to celebrate Kelly's 29th birthday. They ran errands with me on Friday and then Saturday we went to The Avenue, the new mall in Murfreesboro. I'm not that great at entertaining! Apparently, not so great at taking pictures either. They were here three days and the only picture I took was of the apple pie Mom made for Kelly's birthday. If you look close, you can see it says, "Kelly- 29" on the top! Mom's a nifty baker!

This Sunday we'll get to see Jeff's parents again. They'll be staying with us a few days on their way back from Tazewell to see Don's sister.

In other news, now that I'm having to do some research for my new job (air quality info), I've put a link on the right side of ways to help our air quality this fall. No political statement really... just trying to figure out if I could paste the info into a website. Thanks for being my lab rats! I'm also going to add links to the two agencies I'll be working for!

A New Job!

2008-09-25T11:21:00.002-05:00

This morning I accepted a new job as the Program Administrator for the Clean Air Partnerships of Williamson County and Middle Tennessee. Yes, technically I'll be working for two different agencies with the same mission. I'm starting on October 20th. Although I'll be traveling around the area meeting with people, I'll be working out of an office in downtown Franklin (actually almost right behind the church we got married in!).

While this is very exciting, its also very scary to start a new job after almost nine years here at the community center. So keep the prayers coming! I'm not going to tell any of my students until we get much closer to my last day... little kids don't have much of a concept of time and it would just confuse them. I officially turned in my notice here last night and everyone has been a little shocked, but very supportive. So I have three weeks to get nine years of work out of my head and onto a piece of paper for the next person! Good thing I've already started! And please join me in prayer for them as they search for my replacement!

Mystery Solved!

2008-08-23T13:41:00.003-05:00

So I did accidently plant the butternut squash instead of the yellow squash, but it seems to be doing well despite the heat! In my defense, the seed packet had no picture and the word SQUASH really big at the top... "butternut" was typed quite small below it in the middle of the variety name!

So does anyone have any good recipes that include butternut squash? I have a good casserole one, but that's it! And we have three on the vine already! This one is about ready to be picked!

The Garden Is In...

2008-07-29T16:38:00.004-05:00

Shortly after we got our fence, we began putting in our vegetable garden! We lost count (after about 50) of how many bags of top soil we went through to fill it, but we've got enough to finish out the summer and maybe even the fall. Right now its about 25 feet long, but Jeff's hoping to take it all the way across the back and down the left side!

Here's the view from a distance. Notice how lovely our grass is (or lack there of!). We'll be working on that in the fall!!!

This is what it looked like when we first got it planted. The rounded part in the corner is the herb garden. The herbs aren't really doing that great, but we're holding out hope!

This is what the plants look like today. We started them in cups in the house and they have REALLY taken off since we put them in the ground to stretch out! We've got (from left to right), tomatoes, cucumbers, squash (maybe yellow, but I think I accidently planted butternut), and watermelon!

Right now we have broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and butternut squash (again?) started in our kitchen for the fall garden. We'll also plant snap peas, spinach, lettuce, and carrots depending on how much room we have!

Yum, yum.

A New Fence!

2008-07-05T08:40:00.005-05:00

Two posts in one week!! Can you believe it???

After a year (plus!) of talking about getting a fence put in, we finally saved enough and did it! Okay we didn't do it, but we hired someone to!!

The new fence! Now our neighbors won't have to look at our dead grass!... at least not in the back yard. We'll spend some time this weekend getting our garden built along the back (at least part of it). Our vegetables are growing in cups and would like to stretch out a bit!

The geniuses who built our fence dragged our hose into the backyard to mix concrete and then built the fence on top of it! We have some digging to do to get it out!

Girls Weekend!

2008-07-01T18:56:00.003-05:00

Becky B, Missy, Elizabeth and I headed to Blue Ridge, Georgia this weekend for our annual girls weekend. We had a tagalong... Caroline... Elizabeth couldn't help but bring her along! =) Next time she'll get to experience it outside the womb!

Friday we did some shopping in downtown Blue Ridge and then headed to the pool with the lunches we had packed. This is what happened next...

Saturday we took a train ride to McCaysville, GA/Cooperhill, TN... the state line ran right through the middle of downtown!

We also just chilled out at the cabin, ate some good local food, and of course... played cards!!

For all of our pictures, you can see Becky's Blog. She posted a slideshow on hers! The link is on the left hand side of the page.

Josh & Jenn's Wedding!

2008-06-22T18:16:00.004-05:00

We were in Jacksonville, FL this weekend for my cousin Josh's wedding! Here are some pictures!

Josh & Jenn at rehearsal with Uncle Chuck officiating.

The happy couple at the rehearsal dinner!

We spent a lot of time hanging out at the pool at Grandmom & Granddad's house!

Jeff and I at the reception. We were asked to read scripture at the ceremony and managed not to butcher it too much!

And finally we ended the weekend with a Cacace family wedding tradition. Beginning in 2001 after my cousin Phil's wedding to Brooke, Uncle Rusty (shown above) made each of us write out the order in which the remaining 11 grandchildren would get married. At each wedding we pull out the cards and score them. When scoring is done, they are sealed in an envelope, signed by someone on the seal and returned to Uncle Rusty's safe deposit box until the next wedding! We aren't competitive or anything! So far Kelly is winning. Laurie is in second and Grandmom is a close third... although we think she listed someone twice! =) Apparently, all of the uncles are going in on a gift for the winner at the end of all of this... although we are only on wedding 5 of 12 so it will be a while!

Graduation Day!

2008-05-17T20:56:00.003-05:00

Today I had the honor of attending the graduation of one of my students, Ilham! Ilham has been in my program since the 5th grade! She is a genius and has the most intelligent sense of humor. She was the salutatorian and will be attending Belmont in the fall... and got enough grants and scholarships to go for free! No loans! We are all so proud of her!! She gave one of the speeches and blew the valedictorian speeches (there were two) out of the water. I'm hoping that the video turned out well enough to put it on the learning center's blog next week. I realized I can't hold my arms up with a tiny camera for three minutes without shaking... okay... even one minute! =(

Hoda's Graduation Address

2008-05-16T11:03:00.004-05:00

Elizabeth sent me this and I knew I had to post it for everyone to read!! Its long, but well worth the read...

Over the weekend, Hoda Kotb had the honor of delivering the commencement address at her alma mater, Virginia Tech. Here's the text of her speech:

Hello, graduates!

I asked my friends one question before I came here, and that question was, "Who spoke at your college graduation?" Do you know not one person could remember? No one could remember who stood at a podium like this one and spoke at graduation. They couldn’t remember the speaker, but they all remember the message. It was always the same. It was always poignant, always memorable and it went like this...

"Wa wa ..wa wa...wa wa” (a-la Charlie Brown’s teacher)

Class of 2008, I am going to remember you and I want you to remember me.

I am Hoda Kotb -- and I am a HOKIE!

I am a TODAY Show co-host -- and I am a HOKIE!

I am a breast cancer survivor -- AND I AM A HOKIE!

I am addicted to my iPod -- and I am A HOKIE

People ask me all of the time, "How are the kids from Virginia Tech doing?" And then they give me "the look." You know the look -- the one that says, “Awwww,” the look of pity. I always answer the same way, “Have you ever MET anyone from Virginia Tech???? We are not-curl-up-under-the-covers, suck-our- thumbs kind of people. We are people who RISE UP.”

There is a saying: "If you fall, fall on your back. Because if you fall on your back you can see up. And if you can see up you can get up. And you can keep going and going and going.”

People say a lot of things.

They said it would be tough to recover after such a tragedy. It would be tough to heal, tough to rise up.

But you did.

They said new students would not come to Virginia Tech. They would be too afraid. They would not set foot on this campus.

But they did.

They said it would be tough to separate the tragedy from the tradition, that you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the Virginia Tech experience like Top of the Stairs, the ACC championship game, the girls softball team beating the U.S. Olympic team …

But you did, and it felt good.

Ok, so now it is time to look forward, time to look ahead.
How many of you have jobs?

(kids screaming)

Ok, I see where the engineers are sitting. Some of the rest of you may be traveling. Who is going back home to live with mom and dad????

(roar)

Parents, you must be so proud.

OK, this part of the speech is for those of you WITHOUT a job. DO NOT PANIC. Your job is out there waiting for you. You just have to go get it.

Here's how I got my first one.

I graduated from Tech, had my college degree in one hand, my resume tape in the other, and ONE job interview set up. I had on a brand new green suit, borrowed my mom's car. I told her, “Mom, I am going to drive from our house in Alexandria, Va. to this T.V. station in Richmond. I am going to get hired, then I am going to bring the car back, pack and move to Richmond.

She said, “Of course you will.”

So I drove to Richmond, met the news director, looked around the newsroom and thought, “Hmmmmm. I will sit THERE, and I will date HIM.” Seemed promising. The news director put my tape in the machine, played it for about 30 seconds. popped it out and said, “Hoda, I am sorry but you are not ready for Richmond.” Hmmmmmm. I asked him if there was any tips he could give me, advice. He said, “No, you are just not very good right now. Good luck and buh-bye.”

As I was leaving, he said, “Hoda, wait a minute. I have a friend, a news director in Roanoke. He is hiring, but he is leaving tonight. If you catch him I am sure he will hire you.”

I said tell him I am coming

So I called my mom about the car and said, “Mom, I did not want Richmond. I want ROANOKE." So I started driving south, got to the newsroom, looked around and thought, “This is ok. I will sit THERE. And I will date HIM.”

The news director put my tape in, played it for 30 seconds, popped it out and said, “I am sorry, but you are not ready for Roanoke.

I couldn’t believe it.

He said good luck to you and buh-bye. As I was leaving, he said, "Hold on. I have a friend of mine who is hiring. He is in Memphis, Tenn.”

Now Tennessee is the long, skinny state, and Memphis is at the other end. And I said tell him I AM COMING.

I drove across the great state of Tennessee, met the news director. He put my tape in the machine and promptly said, "Hoda, I am sorry but you are not ready for Memphis.”

I almost died.. Oh yeah, and then he said "buh-bye."

As i was leaving he said, “Wait a minute. I know someone who will hire you.”

Graduates, I was in the car for 10 days. I got 27 rejections. Twenty-seven news directors told me no. I got rejected throughout the entire Southeast. Does anyone know where Dothan, Ala. is? I got rejected there. I made my way to the panhandle of Florida. There was nowhere else to go.

I decided it was time to drive home. I was sad, listening to James Taylor on the radio, and then I got lost.

I got lost in Mississippi.

You know how they say God gives you a sign? Well, he gave me a sign alright. It was a real sign. It said, "Greenville, our eye is on your CBS," or something like that.

I went to the TV station, and that man HIRED ME.

So I am telling you your job is out there waiting for you, you just have to go and get it.

I told you I am a breast cancer survivor. If you survive a tragedy, you get some unexpected gifts. You get some gifts, you have to look for them. Breast cancer taught me two things. Number one: my life has margins and is to be valued and not wasted. So I say not one more minute. I will not waste one more minute. So I held onto the things I love, and got rid of the things I didn’t.

Number two: If you survive a tragedy you get four words. You get YOU CAN’T SCARE ME. Nothing will be worse than what you faced. So let’s say the tax man is on the phone. Ok, let’s say your boyfriend breaks up with you via text message. Ok, you can handle it.

Ok, I have a little surprise for you. I told you I am addicted to my iPod, and I have it right here...a little song i think you will enjoy..

(I put the earbuds on the mic, and blast “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. The kids went completely nuts)

I want to close by saying they said it would be tough to recover after such a tragedy, tough to rise up. But you did.

They say it will be tough to change the world.

But you will...

Yard Work!

2008-05-10T09:13:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was so beautiful, and Jeff got home really early Saturday, so we finally got some yardwork done! Our boxwoods in front of our window had completely fried in the horrible heat we had last year...

Jeff doing the hard work... I mowed the lawn though! =)

Weekend in Birmingham

2008-04-20T14:45:00.005-05:00

Actually less than 24 hours in Birmingham! We went down to celebrate Abby's first birthday this weekend!

Opening gifts!

Okay, so this is what Aunt Becky made for her birthday present! First attempt at a rag doll!

But it seemed to go over well!

The sliding board we bought... well, she's still not too sure about that!

April 16th

2008-04-16T09:43:00.002-05:00

Today is a day of reflection for a lot of Hokies all over the world. Last April 16th was a day that will live in our memories for the rest of our lives. I remember being glued to my computer watching video stream of Channel 10 out of Roanoke as everything unfolded. It started with a girl from work calling me to ask if I knew that someone (one person at the time) had been shot on the VT campus. From there, the emails and new updates kept coming. Pray today for the Hokies and those that are working on campus to help them heal... specifically Darrell Cook, Mark Appleton, and Missy Cheliras at the Baptist Collegiate Ministries!

As I've said earlier, in the middle of all the tragedy on this day last year we received a phone call saying that our niece Abby was born. A bright spot in a terrible day. But today she turns one and we'll celebrate with her this weekend. Happy Birthday Abby!

A New Camera!

2008-04-07T20:14:00.006-05:00

We bought our new camera this weekend! Its a Canon SD1100IS. Unfortunately for Jeff, the only one they had left at the store was pink. He doesn't believe me, but really it was all that was left.

Here's a picture we took this weekend with it! Can you tell I took it?

The blog should get much better now that we can take pictures again!

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Anniversary to Us!

2008-04-01T09:29:00.002-05:00

Marta told me I had to have a shameless Happy Birthday to Me post today, so here it is! I'm finding 31 is harder to handle than 30 for some reason. But its also our anniversary today! Hard to believe two years ago we were walking down the aisle! Time's flying!

We begin our hunt for a new camera today, so hopefully our posts will be better once we can take some pictures!!

Camera Recommendations?

2008-03-29T15:00:00.003-05:00

We want to buy a new digital camera for our anniversary and are looking for recommendations. Have any? Hoping not to spend more than $200 for a simple point and shoot. Leave us a comment and let us know.

If you are looking for a camera, stay away from the brand that starts with a "P" and ends in "oid". Figure I shouldn't say who it is... don't want to be sued! Ours died within a year and they wouldn't replace it. The one we bought for my parents was also dead within a year!

Snow Video

2008-03-06T11:53:00.003-06:00

Wednesday last week we had quite a bit of snow.... didn't really stick, but it looked impressive! At work that day it was pretty quiet, so I took some video of it coming down. That's the center in the video... not my house... We don't have bars on our windows at home.

Of course on Sunday it was 72 degrees and they are calling for a rain/snow mix again tomorrow. Can't wait until it really feels like spring... every day.

I'm DONE!!

2008-02-22T13:26:00.004-06:00

After a very long two months of research, meetings, standing strong on issues, and plain old freaking out... today I submitted our grant proposal to United Way for their three year funding cycle! Printed, it comes out to 20 pages. This will, if awarded, provide funds for my afterschool program, the one at Martha O'Bryan Center and the Reading program.

This year, each question had a 2500 character limit on it. It has ruined my typing! I still have to stop after every period and make sure I put TWO spaces instead of the ONE I was using to save space! Looking at the paragraph above it seems I'm still not doing too well!

This is a picture of my computer while I was clicking "submit"!

The process isn't done... still have an interview round once we've made it that far. We'll know how much we get in MAY! The hard part is over though. I'm sleeping very late tomorrow!

It's Snowing!

2008-02-13T09:38:00.002-06:00

I'd love to show you a picture of how pretty the snow was on our house this morning, but the camera is still toast. You'll just have to close your eyes and picture it!

Blogs aren't fun without pictures. Sorry.

Figures...

2008-01-20T17:03:00.001-06:00

Just when I was starting to get better about posting more often, our digital camera dies! So much for that!

In the meantime, check out this cool website... www.freerice.com ! Its a website that tests your vocabulary and donates actual grains of rice through the United Nations for each definition you get right! Our kids at work are on it pretty regularly. It's pretty hard!

Christmas with the Taylors!

2007-12-28T09:23:00.000-06:00

We just got back from spending Christmas with the Taylors in Birmingham. Here are some of the pictures.... of course almost all of them are of Abby! Looks like she enjoyed her first Christmas! The pictures are a little rough because the camera started to do something wierd part way through the holiday.

Our E-Christmas Letter

2007-12-21T16:00:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends & Family,

Every time we open the mailbox and find someone's well-written Christmas letter, Becky feels guilty. We can't even sign a card and get that out to the mailbox! So Becky decided to use these wonderful technological advancements to quickly get one out!

The Taylors have had a busy year! In February, Becky celebrated her seventh anniversary at the community center. Hard to believe that it has been that long! She continues to enjoy serving the families in that neighborhood and the growing Somali and Sudanese population that are using the services of the center. Also in February, was Jeff's birthday!

March was probably one of the busiest months on record! On March 9th, we closed on our first home. We are LOVING it! It was new construction, so all we had to do when we got here was unpack. Becky's mom and dad joined us for the fun! Two days after we moved in Jeff was unexpectedly promoted to manager at his company... just in time for mortgage payments! He continues to work many hours dispatching carpet and ventilation cleaning technicians around the city, dealing with customer service calls, and making sure the day goes smoothly.

On April 1st, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a hiking trip to Fall Creek Falls State Park, about two hours from Nashville. We were also celebrating Becky's round-numbered birthday.

April 16th was a day that will stay on the minds of Hokies for a long time. The day was spent watching news coverage online as the horrible details unfolded. But in the middle of all of that tragedy the phone rang. Our niece Abby was born a week early! She is a cutie! We are looking forward to spending her first Christmas with her.

Abby at only a few weeks old

Abby at six months, playing with Uncle Jeff

Summer was a busy one! We did manage a trip to Gatlinburg with the Taylors. And in August, Becky spoke at a national conference in DC for the Department of Housing & Urban Development's Neighborhood Networks initiative. While there, she got to spend time with her parents, Becky B, and a few of the Garriotts! Poor Jeff was stuck home alone for a few days.

I'd like to speak about this fall, but I'm not sure where it has gone. Time is seriously flying! We did get to spend Thanksgiving in Pasadena with Becky's parents. It was a nice time to relax!

We are spending Christmas in Birmingham with Jeff's family this year. And are looking forward to seeing them all again.

We hope this letter finds you well! Merry Christmas!!
Jeff and Becky

Decorated for Christmas!

2007-12-16T14:14:00.000-06:00

Since I've been told I need to post more often (thanks for actually checking the blog, Marta!), here are some pictures of our house all ready for Christmas. Not as much as we wanted to do this year with the new house, but time got away from us!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree! Jeff and I are starting a new tradition where he and I just exchange ornaments for Christmas. Hopefully in a few years we'll need a bigger tree to hold all of them!

The beautiful wreath Jeff's mom and dad sent us for our door!

$500 Diet Coke

2007-08-18T08:05:00.001-05:00

We noticed last night on our way to dinner that Coke fridge packs were 3 for $9 at Walgreens... according to their electronic sign out front... so we decided that after dinner we'd stop and stock up! In the five minutes we were in there, someone decided to ram into the back of my precious vehicle (named Cordell if you didn't know). Fortunately, someone who saw it was nice enough to wait until we came out to tell us what happened. I probably wouldn't have noticed for days! He gave us the best description he could of the "perp", but didn't catch a tag number.

So my diet coke addiction cost us $500 last night (that's our deductible)! Cordell goes in for repairs on Monday. =(

Becky Goes to Washington!

2007-08-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

I just got back from spending almost a week in Washington, DC for a conference with HUD. They put us up at the Grand Hyatt... quite nice!

Thursday night Mom & Dad drove down and we had dinner with Uncle Chuck, Aunt Debby, Katie, and my friend Becky!

The Beckys!

With Mom & Dad

The view of the atrium at the hotel from the 12th floor where I was staying.

Rafting Pictures

2007-06-30T09:59:00.001-05:00

Pictures from our rafting trip on the Pigeon River in east TN!

Gatlinburg Vacation

2007-06-25T17:14:00.000-05:00

Just got back from Gatlinburg for a Taylor family vacation! We had a great time and got lots of rest... nice to be home though!

This was our cabin at the Gatlinburg Falls Resort.

We finally got to meet our niece, Abby! She is a little over two months old now and a very good baby! She's decked out in her Auburn gear for the Taylors.

Jeff relaxing on the rocking chair porch!

On our way home, we stopped in Knoxville to meet Kate... and to see Evan & Marta! Kate was born five weeks ago.

Our "Garden"

2007-06-10T19:46:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our "garden"... actually just potted vegetables on our patio for now!

These are ones that my kids will plant at the community center next week... green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes!

Tomatoes!

Cucumbers!

Parsley & Rosemary... we have some basil, too!

And Jeff trying to keep all of our grass from dying!

Yard Work!

2007-06-05T20:34:00.000-05:00

This weekend we put a "stone" edging around the front flower bed... ahhh... the joys of owning a home. I couldn't find what I wanted at the store, so we lined it with pieces of concrete from the empty lot across the street... FREE LANDSCAPING! It's the first time living amongst construction has paid off!

Now we just have to get the grass to grow!

Day on the Lake!

2007-05-28T09:32:00.000-05:00

We spent Sunday on Center Hill Lake with our old Sunday School class. Bobby & Patrice have a WONDERFUL houseboat on the lake!

I've also discovered I'm not very skilled at laying out pictures on the blog! I think if you click on them, you can see them full size!

Citizenship

2007-05-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

This is Maryan, who was born in Somalia... she's one of my girls from the community center. She became a US citizen on Friday and I went to her naturalization ceremony.

Richmond Times Article

2007-05-02T13:46:00.000-05:00

It’s by Larry Hincker who is the VP for University Relations at Tech….

Tech Will Prevail: The Phenomenon of the Hokie Spirit

Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 12:09 AM

Blacksburg . Literally thousands of stories and broadcasts have been written about the tragic events that befell our bucolic hamlet, our academic sanctuary we call Virginia Tech. All of us close to this will be profoundly changed forever. In my own case, it's knowing that hard as these past two weeks have been -- a two-week sprint at breathtaking speed -- there remains a marathon in our future.

I am stealing a few hours from work on this magnificent spring Sunday morning, knowing that I likely will not find time again for several more weeks to reflect. There will be the endless meetings, more media briefings, and -- this may sound odd -- the monumental task of thanking the world for its extraordinary caring and support. It will take months to appropriately acknowledge and thank the hundreds of schools, cities, agencies, and companies and the tens of thousands of people who have in their own special ways helped us cope.

We all continue to mourn each in our own ways. We can only imagine the pain and suffering of so many families contemplating a future without precious loved ones. We wish for some divine wisdom to explain the pain.

Through all the tragedy, through the pain, through the endless questioning, something unexpected appeared. The world saw, indeed it experienced the intangible, yet very real, Hokie Spirit.

The national media descended upon the 'Burg in unprecedented numbers. Grizzled and tested correspondents volunteered that they have never before observed a scene quite like this. We were besieged with more than 140 satellite trucks -- a swarming, snarling, briefing room of 250 reporters, correspondents, producers, and cameramen -- all trying to tell a story that defied even the most macabre imagination.

And although I walked that gantlet several times each day to face the tough and probing questions, I tip my hat to our local and national media, who had to tell this oh-so-terrible story. The media are composed of folks like you and me many have or have had children and relatives at Virginia Tech or schools like ours. Don't be too tough on them for asking the tough questions. They grieve with us. They, like us, wanted answers in order to make rational sense of irrational violence.

BUT SOMEWHERE along the way, the story line changed. Slowly, these grizzled veterans of war coverage, national politics, and international intrigue began to sense something different about Virginia Tech.

Maybe it was the fact that our leadership willingly faced the harsh questions and welcomed the many inquiries certainly yet to come. Maybe it was their surprise that we willingly volunteered so much information early on, even as we were just learning the news ourselves.

Maybe it was the fact that our alumni office made its magnificent new facility open 24 hours per day, while it was literally overrun with hundreds of people, cables, lights, vehicles, and all the appurtenances of modern broadcasting. Our alumni office kept the coffee going around the clock. Good heavens . . . they even fed them. Crusty old newsmen said that never have they been treated with such respect, let alone when a campus community was grieving unimaginable losses.

Maybe it was the spontaneous applause and continuing support for our President Charles Steger or Chief Wendell Flinchum. While looking for scapegoats, the media instead found heroes.

Maybe it was desire of our almost 200,000 alumni worldwide who flooded the university with offers of support, words of admiration, or interviews that took the media by surprise. Without exception, our alums love this place . . . and so now do many in the media.

More than anything, though, it must have been the character and resilience of the Virginia Tech student. Hordes of reporters combed the campus accosting students looking for the downside. "Do you think this is still a safe place? Why would you come back to school now? Wouldn't you rather be home?" Time and again, they answered: "I love this place. You won't find a friendlier campus in America . We are all close. We are like a family."

When one national news correspondent asked a student why he returned to class on the Monday of last week, he responded simply, "Because I think my professors needed me."

His heartfelt and poignant one-liner still takes my breath away.

ODDLY, MUCH of this has been a revelation for me. I am a rational, orderly kind of guy. Oddly, for a fellow in my line of business, while a student I enjoyed physics more than metaphysics. I prefer history to novels. I am not normally a touchy-feely sort of person. Ideas are more real to me than feelings. Yet, I have always known, if only on a rational rather than visceral level, that Virginia Tech was different.

We are a little city: On any given day about 35,000-40,000 people work, teach, and study here. Over the years, we have been told that we act smaller than our size. People greet each other on the streets. Our faculty has an intense interest in the students' well-being. There is a caring here that belies the university size.

Our ranks are large. Including our students and alumni around the nation and world, we approach a quarter-million people. How can this be a family? Yet, it is that and more -- a family of indomitable spirit, a family with deep affection for each other and the place we call Virginia Tech.

The Tech family will not be defined by tragic events and the senseless loss of precious lives of innocents. It will find a way to prevail and again return to the noble role of the academy. Our responsibilities are manifested in doing what we do best. We are a university. We are Virginia Tech. We are immersed in a special sphere of American society -- the sphere of learning, discovery, and engagement. These are more than mere words. This is what defines us. This is what drives our spirit. This is what drives our quest for knowledge -- knowledge for knowledge's sake, knowledge to understand ourselves and the world around us, knowledge to improve our own well-being, and knowledge to improve every facet of life on the planet.

Virginia Tech ranks among the nation's great academies. April 16 cannot change that. However, in addition to our traditional role, the world has now seen this phenomenon that sets us apart from other large American universities. Call it the Hokie Spirit. Call it a deep sense of caring -- call it a love for each other. It is real. It has, it does, and it will forever sustain us.

Larry Hincker is the associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech .

Abby!

2007-04-29T10:35:00.000-05:00

Don't worry... you didn't miss anything... she's not ours. This is our niece Abby, born on Monday, April 16th. Can't wait to see her in person!

Hokie Perspective

2007-04-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post an email from my friend Becky, a fellow Hokie, who works for CNN in DC. When she heard what was happening in our home away from home, she volunteered to go down and cover the events. Here's an email message I got from her this week... just wanted to share.

I just wanted to give you a quick update and a note of thanks. I’ve been in Blacksburg since Monday around 5p and it’s been such a surreal experience. I’ve produced about 150+ liveshots and set up about 40 interviews. Since Monday, I’ve slept for a total of about 6 hours and today has been one of the first times I’ve had a second to actually stop and consider what has happened to my campus. I’ve been running around so much that it really hasn’t seemed too personal but slowly I am beginning to realize the enormity of it all. It only begins to seem real to me when I see the graphics of “Virginia Tech Massacre” and I realize that it’s not some movie that I’m watching but it’s real and it’s big words across my screen that are actually true. I have yet to break down in tears although I’m sure that will happen at some point in the next few days once I continue to process things.

To my fellow Hokies, I join you in the grief and sorrow and I hope that we can continue to take this opportunity to share the good stories and memories. I have to admit that when I left to come down here within minutes of hearing about the tragedy, I didn’t bring any orange and maroon. Thank goodness our workspace is across the street from the Volume Two! Also, the school and community have been so incredibly nice to us and (with the exception of the extremely frigid temperatures and wind gusts of 50 mph on Monday night) it’s definitely reminded me of all the reasons I loved my time in school and love this place. This place and the people here have made me so happy to wear the title of Hokie!! Also, you wouldn’t recognize parts of this place… unfortunately we in the media have taken over the alumni center and for a few days there have been literally 1000 journalists from around the world. There are about 150 satellite trucks in the parking lot and it’s not an uncommon occurrence to run into Geraldo in the food line!! But good news, I was able to trade in my room at the Days Inn by the Cracker Barrel in Christiansburg for a room at the new Inn at Virginia Tech for the next few nights!

I volunteered to come down here and I’m glad I did. I have been able to show and share with my colleagues what Hokie spirit truly is. And all my colleagues are slowly coming to understand what makes this place special. And unfortunately it took something so tragic for the world to see but I have colleagues who are going to the bookstore to buy paraphernalia. They understand now why we Hokies are such rabid fans! I’ve never been more proud to be a Hokie than I am right now!

I think I’m going home either Saturday or Tuesday morning and life will somehow return to a normal routine but I think it’s only then that having been here and experiencing this horrific story not only as a journalist but more importantly as a Hokie will all sink in. I wish I could have spent a week in Blacksburg under completely different circumstances but it has been nice to be back on campus and be a part of such a great community!

LET’S GO HOKIES! LET’S GO HOKIES!
Becky

Easter

2007-04-11T21:13:00.000-05:00

The tradition continues... we journeyed to Jacksonville, FL to spend Easter with Becky's grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins! Despite the weather being very un-Florida-like, we had a lovely time. It was Jeff's first trip down there. As you can see from the photos, we dyed Easter eggs, as we do every time we go down!

First Anniversary

2007-04-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

To celebrate our first anniversary, we decided to go hiking at Fall Creek Falls State Park about two hours from Nashville.

Our New Home!

2007-03-16T09:45:00.000-05:00

Here are pictures of our new home! Can't wait for everyone to visit! We moved in a week ago today!

This is our first blog... figured it was the easiest way to send out some pictures. And who knows, maybe we'll keep posting things. So check back!