2011 in review

Happy 2012! Every year, I try (oh boy, is that ever a key word) to post a year in review. By try, I mean that I created such a post for 2009 and began, but never finished, another such post for 2010. Ah, well. But here it is, 2012, a new beginning, and here, for your reading pleasure, is 2011 in review.

January began, not very auspiciously, with some winter blues and sleepiness.

We also saw (and loved) The King's Speech, Creature had a seriously unfortunate poop explosion, and this incredibly charming thing happened.

In February, Miss Kathayoon Khalil and I started a design blog (still going strong!), Creature helped us celebrate Valentine's Day, and Mr. Chris came to town!! (Please excuse the poor quality of this photo. It was dark).

In February, I also officially became a vegetarian. It's been good. 

In March, I presented at my first ever conference, Ross was in the midst of reading the Harry Potter series in Polish, I wrote some acknowledgements, and we had some more friends come to town:

We also celebrated Earth Hour by playing candlelit boardgames, which was lovely. 

In April we went to the cherry festival, I wrote (a lot) and I traveled to Salt Lake City for a conference and to see my family. 

We also broke ground on a garden we made with some dear friends. 

In May, we had an amazing day with yard sales and good stuff, I didn't blog (at all), I started my wretched job, and best of all, we went to Charleston and Savannah! 

There were also ducks in May. 

In June I missed the zoo, and hated my job (although Creature liked the materials end of it):

Also in June, Ross' brother and family moved away. June sucked. 

July was awesome, though! In July we went camping near Harper's Ferry and got our Civil War reenactment on.

My birthday was (and remains) in July, and Ross took me here for an amazingly delicious dinner and then surprised me with tickets to Harry Potter. Which was awesome. 

August was busy! We drove to Chicago to visit Ross' grandparents and got to see the city from Joe's boat. (Can you find Ross-first picture-and the two of us?) 

For Ross' birthday I staged a scavenger hunt, and Ross' obsession with plants hobby began to really take off. 

Oh, also, there was a hurricane which wasn't, really. Not for us, anyway.  

I didn't blog at all in September or October because I am the worst. Also, because I was trying to be super student. But we still did stuff! 

In September we went to the National Arboretum...

and I went to the National Book Festival... 

In October, we spent our second anniversary in New York. 

Also in October, Ross gave me the best present I've ever been given. I'll try to blog about it soon (it will require me to come to a better place with our scanner). 

Also also in October, we celebrated Halloween with our new friends, Katie and Evan. I went as a fox...

Ross went as three hole punch Jim. I didn't get a picture of Ross, but this is kind of what he looked like:

In November I went to a really boring conference (but at least it was in Miami)...

we hung out in DC...

and we drove Shenandoah with our friend Chris. Can we talk about Shenandoah for a second, by the way? People here LOVE it and think it's the most amazing thing ever, but the three of us--spoiled Northwesterners all--were somewhat unimpressed. Anyway, here are some pictures:

In December I wrote like a madwoman for a while, and then we left for Portland, where we visited beloved people...

(Next two photos by the fabulous Nicole Dewey)

and places...

It was the best.

Since we've been home (January bonus!!!), we've been doing a whole lot of blissful, wonderful nothing. Lots of movies, lots of books, and lots and lots of food. Last weekend the weather was incredible, so we went rollerblading at a park near the University of Maryland. It was, as the kids say, "rad." 

Happy New Year!  

happy happy birthday, sister dear!

Dearly beloved sister-o'-mine, 

Happy birthday, my love! I can't believe it's already time for another "Cassidy's Birthday" blog (the only thing I consistently post, alas - see the last two here and here). I'm a little appalled at how long it's been since we've talked, and I'm looking forward to calling you today. 

 Like so many of our pictures, you look fabulous and I look smooshed. 

For the rest of you, here are a few facts about my sister. Fact 1: She's smokin' hot. 

Just hanging out, looking great. It's how she rolls. 

Fact 2: She is a wonderful sister.

Believe it or not, the people in the above picture are actually related.

Fact 3: Like the most badass woman in the world (our grandmother, pictured below), my sister is also wicked smaht, talented, spiritual, and exceptionally fashionable. 

Fact. 

Fact 4: I love her tons. 

Happy birthday, my dear! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you, but I know you'll have a good time.

Love always,

Ay-ee*

*When we were little Cassidy couldn't say my name. It was delightful. She has remained delightful ever since.

hey irene

Hi all.

I'm going to be super quick here, because I'm simultaneously making a pea, rosemary, and parmesan omelet* before the power goes out (which I'm expecting it will, although who knows?). That's right, Irene. You can take our power, but not our taste. So far it mostly feels like a typical thunderstorm outside, although it's also oddly different in a hard-to-define way. It's the duration, I think, and also the massive size of the thing. It's been blustery and rainy and oh-so-very-dark all day long. Thunderstorms are quick. I taught today and had a very unnerving drive home, but now I'm home and safe and looking forward to a delicious dinner and a cozy evening watching the storm. As long as the power/internet hold out I'll continue to update you if anything interesting happens. In the meantime, be safe, be dry, and think happy thoughts for all the people who will be seriously affected by this craziness.

*Note: Becoming a vegetarian has done wonders for my cooking/willingness to experiment. Update coming soon.

8:24pm Update: Beginning to feel/hear some pretty gusty wind. We still have power and internet and can't see out much (just because it's light in our apartment... and dark outside). Doesn't feel like anything unusual yet. Just a really, really long thunderstorm.

Monday Update: Turns out that Hurricane Irene was a nonevent for Ross and me. We heard lots of loud, house-creaking wind, and it did a number on the river trail behind our apartment, but we never even so much as lost power. In fact, my Sunday classes and church were both canceled, so we spent all of Sunday lounging around, reading, going for walks, and eating. LOTS of eating. It was kind of awesome, actually. Basically, Hurricane Irene gave me my one and only day of summer vacation. Also, the day-after weather was fantastic. It's a dilemma: on the one hand, I got a much-needed day off to spend with the spouse. On the other hand, other people got flooding and property damage. Boo.

sto lat, sto lat, niech zyje zyje nam

Dear Ross,

Please enjoy this online birthday card. Please also enjoy the scavenger hunt (!!!) I have created for you and upon which you will now officially embark. Some rules:

• You must go in the order dictated by the clues. This is true even if you see something out of place or suspicious, eagle eyes.
• Because we live in a tiny studio, hiding things has been challenging. Not that there are any things, but... you know. Anyway, because of that you are not allowed to poke around in our house anywhere. At all. If you need a pencil, it needs to go through me. 
• You are allowed one (and only one!) phone-a-friend if a clue is too hard. That friend is me. You don't actually have to phone.
• Almost every clue leads directly to the next clue. Occasionally you may run into a dead end. Do not despair! Help is on the way.
• Actually, that's pretty much all the rules. If I think of any more I'll let you know.

Now that that's out of the way, I also wanted to wish you a happy, happy birthday. I've been thinking a lot about you and about us lately, and I wanted to know how very much I love and appreciate you and all that you do. Thanks for letting me live my professorial dreams, thanks for moving across the country with me, and thanks for all the adventures and support and love. You're the best. Life's been more fun since I met you. 

As proof, here are some nostalgic photos of us from when I was living in California: 

I love you very much, Rosco. Niech zyje zyje nam. 

Kocham cie, 

Haylie

P.S. There is one important question you need to try and answer during the Scavenger Hunt: Where is Chonchito?!? 

john brown's body is a-moulderin' in the grave

Ross and I both had the weekend of the fourth off (the only weekend I'll have off all summer, I'm afraid, thanks to my stupid demanding job), and so we decided to go camping. We were able to get reservations at the Treehouse Camp, which is about an hour away from us, right near the West Virginia border (and no, there aren't really tree houses. They're more like cabins on stilts). On the way, though, we stopped at lovely, historic Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where we found these signs posted on nearly every door:

Harper's Ferry is a remarkably well-preserved town, made famous during the Civil War by John Brown's raid on an armory building. This building, to be more specific: 

In case you've forgotten your Civil War history (and since most of my readers are from the West Coast, I'm betting you have), John Brown was an avid abolitionist. His raid, in the course of which he and eighteen other men held the building for several days, was intended to spark a slave uprising. He was caught and hanged, and is still a super controversial figure, which was obvious in the town. Although we saw a lot of plaques and thing honoring him, there was also this carved gem: 

I was going to write out the whole inscription, but I'm too lazy. Instead you should click on it and read it. It's a masterpiece of double-talk and innuendo. Good stuff. 

This being the Fourth of July weekend as well as the Civil War's Sesquicentennial (didn't know that? Me, neither), there were a lot of Civil War reenactors in town, which made my nerdy little heart almost explode with happiness.  

Our favorite of the day's festivities, surprisingly, was the gun talk and demonstration. During the Civil War, apparently, Harper's Ferry was a huge gun manufacturer, and we got to learn about all the different types of guns they produced. Ross and I were fascinated, and I say this with no trace of irony. I never thought I'd find guns at all interesting, but it turns out that guns plus historical locations plus costumes equal an interested me. Learning!    

Guns are loud, by the way. Also, after being fired a bunch of times they get freakin' hot. I know this 'cause I picked one up. What?! I know. It was a first.

From Harper's Ferry we drove a few miles to our campground, which was crawling with these incredibly creepy dudes. I'm not usually very scared of spiders, but these guys were intense.

Saturday night there was a huge thunderstorm. Luckily we were already in our tent (which dealt with the rain like a champ), but it kept us awake for a long time.

Sunday afternoon we rented kayaks from this shop in Shepherdstown, WV, which is officially the most charming town I have ever seen.

Here are some things Shepherdstown has to offer on its historic, tiny Main Street: a tiny university, a juice bar, a yoga studio, a store devoted to "Natural Running" (which means as close to barefoot as possible), the aforementioned kayak and bike rental place, at least one independent coffee shop, several lovely restaurants, an organic food shop, a twice-weekly Farmers Market, and a bakery. It's also right next to the Potomac River and the C & O Canal Trail. Seriously, it's my new favorite place. Although we did have a brief and tantalizing conversation with a resident who said that sure, the town may be cute, but the local businesses had "a dark underbelly." Um, that's awesome.

Anyway, like I said, we rented kayaks and used them to stalk wildlife. We saw a groundhog, a turtle, and a lot of fish, but mostly we just stalked this Great Blue Heron.

Shepherdstown is really great. I think someone should take me there for a romantic weekend away. 

Sunday night it rained for a couple hours, during which we sat in the car and read junk food books, which was delightful. After it stopped raining, we made tin foil dinners and banana boats/bombs and went to bed. Thanks, Western Maryland! We liked you.  

Up next! Fireworks on the Mall and the most Mormon Mormons I've ever met. 

happy 4th of july

More Confederate soldiers coming tomorrow. It was nerdy. It was patriotic (sort of). 

It was awesome. Stay tuned.