Ding dong, the bells are gonna chime

Gina and I had the privilege of being in Naca ... er ... Naga ... OK, this is a wonderful "teachable moment" for me to discuss the wonderful world of words. I have been saying the word "NAK-a-doe-chess" for approximately 20 years, yet I do not know how to spell it. This comes after passing no less than 20 street signs or billboards over the weekend with that word displayed. Thanks to Wikipedia, I can spell Nacogdoches for the purposes of this blog. But, this brings to mind other difficult words that fall into the "I can pronounce 'em but can't spell 'em" category, which include: Natchitoches (NAK-a-tish), LA; Cincinnati, OH; Tucson (TOO-sahn), AZ; and Juneau (JOO-noh), AK. Then there is another category of words: "They look easy to say, but they're not." This list includes: Toelle (too-ILL-ah), UT; Mantua (MAN-oo-way), UT; Opal (oh-PAL), WY; and my personal favorite, Kemmerer (KIM-er), WY. You may have noticed that most of these towns are from states in which I lived (except AK and AZ), and I'm sure you know of other towns that fall into either of these categories. So, tell me about some funny names of towns you know about.

Well, back to my story ... Gina and I were in Nacogdoches, TX over the weekend for my cousin Thomas' wedding. He recently earned the right to put "college graduate" on his resume, and now he can also check the "married" box on his tax documents. He and Jessica were married on Saturday evening under a clear Texas sky with many family and friends in attendance. Not only did I get to attend the wedding, but I also got to wear a tuxedo. Of course, I couldn't find a seat, so I had to stand up front with Thomas. I was so inspired by the beautiful moment that I pulled out my guitar and sang a quick song for everyone. I did find it strange that the first song to come to mind was about marriage. No one seemed to mind. It was a great time, and I was honored to stand up there with Thomas. I have seen him grow and mature into a devoted man of God, and he has found a wonderful wife in Jessica. I look forward to seeing their marriage develop and deepen over the years.

The trip home was a bit challenging. After having our flight delayed for two hours, we got to Baltimore at midnight. This may not sound so bad until you consider the 3-hour drive we had back to Charlottesville. As you can imagine, we are still catching up on our sleep. The highlight of our trip back to Virginia was that we got to drive from Nacogdoches to Dallas with Katie, my sister, and her husband Joe. We then got to spend an extra two hours with them at the airport, which Joe and I spent telling each other our post-college stories. We could have easily been caught up in the fact that our flight was delayed, but we took advantage of the time to relax and get to know each other better.

So, now we are (almost) caught up on sleep and school work. The weekend will be full of soccer and football games, some Thai food and a little rest'n'relaxation. We hope you all are well, and send us a note when you get a chance.

Rock me like a hurricane

No, this entry on the blog is not an ode to those '80's Heavy Metal legends, The Scorpions (though I was a bit of a fan during their 15 seconds of fame). Rather, the title of this post is in reference to the many inches of rain we received this week from Ernesto. He wasn't a hurricane by the time he reached C'ville, but he was a hurricane at one time. For this Wyoming boy who's used to seeing about 3 inches of rain per year, that counts as a hurricane. The rain couldn't have come at a better time, as the grass was just about to burn to a crisp.

One downside of the rain is that it changed our plans slightly for the weekend. The original plan was to go watch UVA play George Mason in soccer (poor Gina) Friday night, but that game had to be postponed to Saturday. The game against UCLA, which was scheduled for tonight will be played tomorrow evening. So, alas, no soccer this weekend for the Alexanders. I'm sure there will be more to come.

It wasn't a good weekend for football either. My alma mater, Utah State, got beat by Wyoming 38-7. Wyoming actually will be in Charlottesville next weekend, but Gina and I will be in Texas for my cousin's wedding. Gina's grad. school, North Carolina, got beat by Rutgers 21-16. It also just so happens that my brother-in-law, Joe, went to Rutgers. So it seems there were all kinds of rivalries this weekend, none of which we really paid attention to. The Cavaliers got pounded by the University of Pittsburgh 38-13. The good news is, the football season has nowhere to go but up!

I mentioned a few weeks back that Gina and I are involved with ISI. Last weekend we had a "Back to School" dinner at a family's house, and we invited just about every international student we know. There turned out to be 130 people there! Unfortunately, there was only food for 50, so we all got to have a light snack. Even so, the students had a nice time and got to hear talks on whether or not there is extraterrestrial life and what to do for fun in Charlottesville. Of course, everyone knows there is only one response the second question: UVA soccer. Anyway, a man from India gave his testimony as well. I think the students really paid attention to what he had to say. This week we had another dinner, and though the turn out was not as big there were still almost 80 people and LOTS of food. Gina and I gave a talk on how to make easy, low-budget meals. The menu included tuna salad, jello, dry cereal and my personal favorite, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We had small samples of each for the students to try. Can you believe many of them had never heard of peanut butter or Cheerios? That's pretty much all I ate growing up ... and in college, for that matter! There was also a talk on Creationism, and a man from China gave his testimony. Many of the students from the first week came back this week, and we are starting to develop some very good friendships with these students. Please continue to pray for ISI, Christy Lynn and Patrick Flynn and Steve and Evelyn Braintwain. They are really working hard to minister to these students who are so far from home.

That's all for now. Have a great week, and enjoy your Labor Day, if you get one. UVA, which was founded by Thomas Jefferson (one of our Founding Fathers) doesn't observe government holidays. Irony abounds. Take care.

Back to school

I realize it's been a few weeks since my last post. In fact, it's been almost two months. The last time I added something to the blog, we had never been to New York City before. The last time I wrote something here, we only knew one person from China. The last time I added something, Gina was still 29. Well, as you can see from clever little preview, a lot has happened since the beginning of July.

For starters, Gina and I traveled to New York City the weekend of July 16th and celebrated her 30th birthday. It was the first trip to the Big Apple for both of us. We drove to New Jersey to stay with Joe's sister, Jenny, on Saturday. We had a great time visiting, eating hamburgers and getting a private driving tour of the city from Dan, Jenny's husband. I even got to play some whiffle ball with Robbie. We woke up early on Sunday morning and took the train to Penn Station. I have to admit, we were both a little nervous with anticipation as we got off the train and emerged among all the towering buildings. I think I made the following comment at least a hundred times: "Each street is just endless tall buildings!" You have to understand, I come from a town with 3 high buildings, the tallest of which is 11 floors. So, seeing mile after mile of 50+ story buildings was quite a sight. During the first day we got to see the Empire State Building (though we didn't fork out the $18 apiece to go to the top), the United Nations (which we DID fork out the $12 for the 90-minute tour ... well worth it), St. Patrick's Cathedral (free!) and Rockefeller Center. When I do take time to watch the news, I usually watch the Today show, so it was cool to see where Katie, Matt, Ann and Al hang out each morning. We actually had plans to wake up early and try to get on TV, but we didn't quite make it ... more on that later.

We finally got to check into our hotel room, which was right off Time Square. We splurged for a fairly schwanky (is that really a word?) hotel, which was stocked with, of all things, a treadmill! Here is Gina getting a quick workout ... as if we didn't do enough walking already. We estimate we walked about 15 miles in two days, though that might be an exaggeration. I tend to do that. After taking a long nap and getting cleaned up, we took the subway to Ground Zero, then walked to China Town for dinner. The food at the restaurant, which was recommended to us by our Chinese friends Weidong and Sabrina, was excellent, and it only took me 20 or 30 minutes to get used to eating with chopsticks. I love a meal where you burn more calories getting the food in your mouth than you actually consume. I should market that as a new fad diet. After dinner, we decided to take the Staten Island Ferry and see the Statue of Liberty at night. You must know that at this point it was almost midnight, which is pretty late for me. The ferry ride was fun, but not nearly as cool as we thought it would be. So, we rode the ferry for over an hour, walked to the subway, waited for the subway, rode the subway back to Time Square (we both found it strange how many people were still out at 2 a.m. in Time Square ... kind of like Casper, Wyoming ;-)) As you can imagine, we crashed and didn't quite make it up in time to get our 15 seconds of fame on the Today show. After eating breakfast at a bistro, we walked to Carnegie Hall, Trump Tower and Central Park. We then took the subway back to our hotel, packed up and walked back to Penn Station. By this point we were both exhausted, so we just sat on the floor of the terminal and ate Krispy Kreme donuts. We just read the paper on the train and relaxed before the long drive back home. Overall, it was a whirlwind trip but a great way to initiate Gina into her 3rd decade. As for all the walking we had to endure, I think this picture sums it up: You can see some more of our NYC photos at our Flickr site.

Another exciting thing we have been involved in is an organization called I.S.I., which stands for International Students, Incorporated. It's a ministry aimed at reaching international students for Christ, and our good friends Patrick and Christy Lynn, who also lead our small group, are on staff. We attended a couple of ISI functions this summer and got to meet some new friends from China. We also got to provide temporary housing for a student, Jiakang Lu, until he could move into his apartment. He is a graduate student starting his first year of Ph.D. work in Computer Science. I also had the chance to orient him to one of the finer things at UVA ... Cavalier Soccer! I think they had a good time, but I can't help but think that they were a little disappointed at how calm the UVA fans were. Maybe they will get more raucous as the season heats up. Gina has been a conversation partner with a nursing student from Thailand named Superat (she goes by Niko). We have enjoyed getting to know her and show her some things around C'ville. We are the host family for another Ph.D. student from China, Jiawei Huang. He is studying Computer Engineering. The most fun I've had with these students so far was taking them to Wal Mart to buy things for their apartments. I had never considered Wal Mart from a foreigner's perspective, but I have to say nothing challenges your cultural perceptions more than trying to explain why there are 20 different varieties of toilet paper. The same is true for laundry soap, microwaves and blenders. I guess we Americans find comfort in the fact that we have plenty of choices. Gina and I ask that you pray for us and the international students with whom we are building relationships, as well as Patrick and Christy Lynn and ISI. We want these students to have a positive experience studying in the United States, but more than that, we want them to return to their homelands as bold witnesses for the Gospel of Christ. These students are the absolute best and brightest from their respective countries, and it is by no accident that they ended up at UVA and hooked up with ISI. We believe God has big plans for this ministry.

I guess that is all for now. I promise to be more prompt with my next edition of the Alexander blog (didn't I say that last time?). Pray for us as we begin our second year of classes. It will be a busy year, but we are looking forward to all the things that lie ahead. Keep in touch!

4th with the Nationals

Gina and I recently spent Independence Day weekend in Alexandria with Katie and Joe. OK, so we were actually in Charlottesville on July 4th, but we were in Northern Virginia the preceding weekend. Anyway, Joe had gotten tickets for us to watch the Nationals play the Tampa Ray Devil Rays. Our seats were about 12 rows up on the 3rd base line. Although it seemed the Rays were going to run away with the game early on, the Nats came back and tied the game. After several pretty good defensive innings, Nick Johnson hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th, sealing the win. It was definitely the most exciting game I have ever attended. For those of you who don't know this, the Nationals play in historic RFK Stadium. There is nothing spectacular about the stadium itself, but for someone like me who became a football fan in the '80's, RFK was the home to some great football teams (including one that blew out my beloved Broncos in Super Bowl XXII). To top it all off, we got to stuff our faces with chicken fingers, french fries, Dippin' Dots ice cream and fresh lemonade. It was a great time, and now I am hoping Joe can come through with tickets for D.C. United and the 'Skins (just kidding, Joe!).

The next day we attended church at First Baptist Church Alexandria, the same place where Katie and Joe were married almost a year ago. We had a nice time meeting all of their friends and worshipping with the believers there. Later that day we grilled chicken and asparagus, took a nap, and I got caught up on my World Cup highlights (though it was in Spanish and the only word I could understand was "Goal!").

In the afternoon we went to Catholic University of America to see where Joe will be attending law school at the Columbus School of Law. It is a beautiful campus, and the law building is especially nice. Brand new, well kept, beautiful architecture. I had never been to this campus before and was surprised at how pretty it was. The Basilica for the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (say that 10 times fast!) is on the CUA campus. We walked through the church and heard the end of a service, capped off by music from the biggest pipe organ I've ever seen. Overall, I think Joe has a great opportunity and is really excited about starting law school. After seeing the campus, I know he has a lot to look forward to.

The most interesting part of our trip came when we returned to Alexandria. As we were leaving to see the law school, it began to rain. Thinking it was no big deal we continued with our plans. The weather in D.C. was overcast but no rain was falling. When we returned to Alexandria we were shocked to see tree branches all over the street, traffic lights were out, and in some cases entire trees were uprooted. What in the world!? Apparently a wicked storm came in just as we were leaving. One of Katie's friends told us it turned into a white squall and they couldn't even see out the window. Katie and Joe's apartment complex had trees everywhere, including one that split three ways down the middle (pictured above). Obviously, the power was knocked out and we spent the evening eating hamburgers by candlelight! They didn't get power back until around 3:00 p.m. the next day, but we were gone by then. We had to come back and get Sydney, then prepare to host some friends for dinner.

Well, that's all for now. Come back soon to read about the other adventures we plan to have this summer!

Sweet Summer Time

I know, I know ... it's been almost two months since I updated our blog and we have lost about 90% of our audience. I talked to a friend tonight who mentioned that he still checks it out occasionally to see if I've written anything. Knowing that at least one person still believes in me was enough motivation to prompt another posting. Lest you think that absolutely nothing has been happening in Virginia since April 3, I will fill you in on all of our happenings.

We started our summer by going to Texas for 10 days. We got to spend time with Gina's parents, my parents (who happened to be there at the same time), Gina's brother and his family, all of our grandparents and some friends. It was a nice trip and a great way to end a very hectic school year. Which reminds me: we both successfully completed our first year of Ph.D. work. Yeah!

Gina has been very busy this summer working on a research proposal. She had to complete a literature review, as well as figure out her research questions and all that goes along with that. The proposal was actually turned in today, and now she just has to wait and see if there are any revisions to be made. This kind of work is never really "done," but the goal is to get it done enough to move on to the next step in the process. I think she met that goal and surpassed it, as she always puts a lot of thought and effort into her work.

I have been a busy bee this summer. I currently am wearing 3 different hats. The first hat is that of a public speaking instructor at the local community college, where I am teaching two sections. This has brought back a lot of memories from my days at CSU, where I spent a lot of time chastising young college folk for not giving enough eye contact and neglecting to cite their sources in the speech. I even get to use my old friend, the Lucas text! My second hat is that of an on-line instructor for Casper College. This is my first experience teaching an on-line class, and I can't say I'm sold on distance education. The students seem to be pretty good, and the subject matter is fairly interesting, but the course always kind of hangs over my head. Every hour could be spent checking out the discussion board or reading their blogs, and there is never a stopping point. As soon as one week is ending the next one is just getting revved up.

My third hat is the most exciting to tell you about. In order to do so, I need to step back a few years. As many of you know, I had big plans when I went to graduate school to become a hot-shot corporate trainer. Where I got this idea I can't even remember, but I remember leaving a perfectly good teaching job to attend graduate school just so I could help technical support personnel learn how to be more polite to irate customers. Or something like that. Well, I loved graduate school, got a Master's degree and found myself unable to even get an interview for the kind of job I was seeking. This led to frustration, which eventually turned to desperation, and one day I found myself signing a contract to teach public school again, the very profession I believed I was destined NOT to have. However, this cloud had a very bright lining in the form of high school coaching. I got to coach cross country with a stellar mentor coach, as well as boys' soccer, where we won two state championships in a row. Yet the call for more schooling wouldn't subside. With the encouragement of my wife, we decided to both return for our doctorates. And that is where I am today. I am training teachers how to improve their teaching through the use of technology. God knew what was happening all along, even when I had no clue and was perfectly content to pout. He knew that 4 years of teaching wasn't enough, so He gave me 4 more years of experience. He knew teaching elementary school wasn't enough, so He let me spend 4 years working with high school students. He knew that I would end up speaking to large groups of people, so He helped me get a Master's in communication. The most humbling part of this whole story is admitting how awfully pathetic my faith is. There were times I was convinced I was just settling for something I didn't really want, when all along God was setting the table for bigger and better things. So, it seems I am doing what I set out to do 7 years ago, but in a way I could never have predicted.

Another exciting development is that Gina and I have new neighbors. They are twins from Fairfax County, Virginia, and they will be attending UVA in the fall. They are really hard workers and have already made noticeable improvements to the outside of the house. Even more exciting is that they wanted to come to church with us on Sunday. They said they liked it and want to attend with us again. Their names are John and Joe, and if you have a prayer list we would definitely appreciate it if you put them on it. I really believe that they are both seeking and that God will use Gina and I to minister to them.

Well, that is all for now. After getting up at 4:30 this morning so I could make it to my teacher workshop, we are looking forward to getting to sleep a little later tomorrow. Take care, and drop us a line when you get the chance. More later ... the question is, how MUCH later? :)

Sad news in Wyoming

This post will be neither about Virginia nor Curby and Gina. Last week I received tragic news that a long-time friend and brother in Christ, Shane Ewen, was killed in a car crash on South Pass between Lander and Big Piney, Wyoming. He was traveling with his wife, Casey, and infant daughter, Ellie. Another truck slid into their lane in icy, blizzard conditions and immediately took the life of their daughter. Shane and Casey were flown to separate hospitals in Billings, MT, where Shane passed away the next morning after being taken off life support. Casey survived with serious injuries to her arms, legs and back. She is still recovering and getting a little stronger everyday. While it seems a miracle that her life was spared, everyone knows of the pain and grieving she has ahead. Pray for the Lord's mercy and grace to be made known to Casey in the coming months.

I met Shane when we were in junior high. He was from Gillette, Wyoming, and we got to know each other at Youth Encounter, a Christian camp held annually at Mountain Top Baptist Assembly in Casper, Wyoming. What I remember most about him from that early meeting is that he had a great sense of humor and played the violin better than anyone I knew. Granted, I hadn't run across many violinists at that point, but I was astute enough to know he was good. The next time I ran into Shane was at a forensics tournament in Laramie, WY. We both participated in Humorous Interpretation, which was a wonderful place for people like us to be who God created us to be! Shane proved to be just as good at acting as he was at playing the violin. He performed a wonderful skit about a shepherd's perspective of the first Christmas, embellished with a great British accent and his famous facial expressions. Even as a young high school kid Shane leveraged his opportunities to share the story of Jesus with others, something that I haven't forgotten to this day. Needless to say, he won just about every competition he entered that year.

One thing you may not know about Shane and I (for those of you who knew him) is that we went repelling for the first time together. Repelling was one of Shane's passions. We were both working at RA camp (the Southern Baptist version of Boy Scouts) one summer and there was a lull in the day. Someone had set up a 30' repelling wall at the camp, and they left the ropes and harnesses just sitting around. What else would you expect two energetic high school kids to do? We quickly hooked ourselves in and repelled for about two hours. We must have climbed the ladder to the top of that tower at least 100 times each. Shane continued repelling and seeking adventure after that day. I had the pleasure of going repelling with him a couple of different times after that, and it was always fun. The picture you see is of Shane repelling Australian style, which means face down for those of you who don't know the lingo.

Shane and I continued to be friends throughout high school. We would run into each other at church events across the state, as well as high school events such as the All-State Choir, Orchestra and Band. We graduated from high school (being a loyal Natrona Mustang, I never held it against Shane for being a Campbell County Camel ;-)) and he moved to Texas to attend Howard Payne University. We would still see each other in the summer when we came back to Casper to help with Youth Encounter. A few summers flew by, and I moved to Grapevine, Texas to teach 4th grade. Believe it or not, Shane also lived in that area as he attended Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. I would call him from time to time to see how he was doing. He was a youth minister in the Forth Worth area, and he also was a cast member for The Promise, a beautiful play about the life of Jesus. I went to see him perform a couple of times, due in part to the fact that he was able to get tickets for me. I remember catching up with him after the show and talking about old times.

Soon after that time Shane came back to Wyoming to be a youth pastor in Rock Springs, where he also became increasingly more involved with Youth Encounter. I would still come back to Wyoming in the summer to help with the camp in any way, and our friendship continued to grow. We would sit around the main cabin at night playing guitar, telling jokes and singing silly songs. He was an unbelievably talented person. He could bring a room full of youth down in laughter, then silence them the next moment with his teaching. He loved people and modeled Christ in a way I have seen from very few people. He never withheld his talents, whether it was singing, playing the guitar or fiddle or teaching the bible. He continually urged the youth to pursue a deeper relationship with Christ, and he challenged me along the way.

I can think of only a few people in my life who have modeled Christ as Shane did. He was a friend and brother in the Lord, but he was also a role model who I looked up to and received encouragement from. I looked forward to introducing my wife to Shane, as he did to me soon after he was married to Casey. I wanted Gina to know him and be encouraged by his gentle spirit and wonderful sense of humor. Now that meeting will have to wait a while, but I am strengthened by the hope that we will get to see each other again. This world has lost a faithful servant but Heaven has gained a mighty warrior.

If you want to read more about Casey's progress, you can follow this link to the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention website, where Shane worked. Please keep her in your prayers as she seeks both physical and emotional healing. I am encouraged to know that she is looking to Jesus for her strength in this time.

God bless you all!

Jamestown Pics

Well, we're at the end of Spring Break now. It ended up being a time of rest for us after all. Of course, we wish that we'd been more productive with schoolwork, but you know how that goes... We did get a lot of reading and writing done--but not enough to be ahead of schedule.

We drove to Williamsburg on Wednesday night, relaxed and played tennis on Thursday, and (as we bemoaned our sore muscles and out-of-shape bodies) explored the Jamestown Settlement on Friday.


The Living History museum is an informative, entertaining attraction. We were able to see replicas of a Powhatan village, the fort that the colonists built, and the three ships that sailed from England to Virginia in 1607.


We love you and hope that you enjoy the start
of Spring!

Joined the PDA World

Well, it's March already. We're at the start of Spring Break, trying to get caught up on projects, assignments, and papers. Yes, we are going to take a break from studies...we already did last weekend and will once more toward the end of this week.

As you know, Curby didn't get a birthday this year, but we celebrated nonetheless! Actually, the celebration lasted all week, basically. He was serenaded in person by my classmates and his classmates on the 28th, then we had cake and candles on the 1st with our Bible study, and then we had yet another cake on the 5th with friends who'd gathered for an Oscars party.

Curby's prized gift this year was a joint effort of Gina, her parents, and Curby's parents. Yes, he entered the world of the PDA-owners. And he's loving it. As you can see, he loves playing around with all of the functions and is very impressed with its capabilities. We figured it was about time for him to have a palm pilot.



On Wednesday, we'll be heading for Williamsburg again. This time, we plan to rest and relax in the condo and then go to Jamestown. In 2007, we'll be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement, and they're already starting to prepare for the festivities.

We love you and look forward to hearing from you!

Valentine Update

Happy February, all! It's been a while since we last updated the blog. I've decided that I should start posting some, because Curby's starting to be "blogged-out" from grading 21 blogs and maintaining four blogs for his own classes.

We've been busy since classes started up. At the end of January, we went to the National Archives, so that I could find and copy historical files on the health care of Native Americans from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Specifically, I found many letters and files describing field nursing among the Five Civilized Tribes. It's all very interesting and will (hopefully) prove very helpful in shaping my historical paper.

Joe and Katie were gracious enough to host us in their apartment, and they provided us some more "firsts" in Virginia---first trip to "Mango Mike's" for some Caribbean food, first time to eat "pork roll," and first time to go into the Washington Monument, all the way to the top. We had a great time and really enjoyed the view of D.C.

The Sunday after our visit to D.C., we joined the church that we've been visiting, Christ Community Church. And the past few weeks, we've visited some small groups through the church and enjoyed one in particular that has an emphasis on prayer for international students.
We look forward to spending more time getting to know the members of our church and adjusting more to the community as a whole. This will be a challenge at times, though, while we continue to stay busy with classes and work.

We hope that you all are doing well and that you enjoyed Valentine's!

Thinking of each of you,
Curby and Gina

Loyalty Divided

Gina had a very difficult decision to make this week. The North Carolina Tar Heels came to Charlottesville on Thursday to play the Cavaliers in Men's basketball. On one hand, Gina is currently attending UVA and is the recipient of one of their highly-coveted full tuition scholarships; on the other hand, she is an alumnus of UNC-Chapel Hill. What to do, what to do? As you can imagine, Gina takes these kinds of choices very seriously. I offered my UNC hat to her to support her alma mater, but her conscience wouldn't allow her to cheer against her current school. So, she came to the game an orange-blooded Cavs fan, and it paid off as Virginia overcame a slow first half to beat the Tar Heels ... well, you can see the picture. Seriously, it was a real treat for both of us to attend the game. This is one of the perks to attending UVA: free admission to ACC sporting events. I love college basketball and have always wanted to see North Carolina play. This game was a blast from the past for Gina, who got to attend some games in the "Dean Dome" in Chapel Hill. Well, UHall is no Dean Dome, but it was pretty crazy on Thursday.


Besides getting to watch college basketball, classes started for us on Wednesday. Both of us have similar schedules as last semester, even though our classes are different. Most of my classes are the second half of year-long courses, while Gina has a whole new set of courses and instructors. It looks to be an eventful semester, and we are both looking forward to it.

Saturday night we had several of our friends from school over to the house for a night of food and games. I grilled hamburgers and hotdogs outside in the unseasonably warm weather while Gina and Tommy prepared the other food. The guests provided snacks, desserts and the games. It was our first time to play Apples to Apples and Smarty Party, and I have to say both games were really fun. I have never been a huge fan of board games, but we had a great time laughing and getting to know each other better. We are already talking about doing it again soon.

I hope everyone reading this has a great week. Take care, and keep checking back for more updates.

Welcome to 2006

It has been a very eventful Christmas season for us. The fun began back on December 16 when my parents arrived in Charlottesville. They were delayed by a day because of an ice storm, which closed down roads, knocked out power and caused trains to be canceled.

After touring the UVA campus and resting in Charlottesville, we drove to northern VA to attend the baptism of my cousin's baby. We spent a couple of extra days in D.C. hanging out with Katie and Joe, visiting sites on Capitol Hill and visiting Civil War battlegrounds. Thanks to the expert cooking skills of Katie and Joe, we got to have steamed lobster for the first time. It was pretty excellent. We also got to see the very spot where my great-great-grandfather, R.J. Marshall, was taken prisoner during the Battle of the Spotsylvania Courthouse.

After some more touring of Monticello, Michie Tavern and Ash Lawn-Highland, we got the house ready for Katie and Joe to arrive for Christmas. Our little house has never been so crowded, but we had a great time playing games, watching movies, eating and spending quality time together. It was a great Christmas, and we were all grateful to be together.

We spent the following week resting and wrapping up some home improvement projects. Also, Gina started to delve into genealogical research and gathered a lot of exciting information from her cousins Jean and Karla. We know that her ancestor Andrew Kelly/Kolle immigrated from Germany and served in the Revolutionary War, so the Kelly cousins are eligible for DAR membership.

We decided to celebrate New Year's Eve in Charlottesville. We volunteered for a couple of hours as ushers for the Brown v. Board of Education monologue that was superb! Afterward we listened to the Celtibillies and then enjoyed some Improv Comedy... then we wrapped up the evening by going to see the Vulgar Bulgars, a young band specializing in Klezmer, a style of music that blends Eastern European and Jewish sounds. We went home just before midnight to ring in the New Year with Tommy, who had decided to stay at home for the evening.

The first week of 2006, we started back with work...Gina had meetings and worked on some projects, and I started designing my course website. For the weekend, Gina and I headed to Williamsburg for a couple of days. I hadn't been there since I was in high school, and it was Gina's first trip to the colonial town. We stayed in a condominium at a place called Powhatan Plantation, part of my parent's time share membership. The room was very nice, and it enabled us to eat breakfast in the room rather than having to eat out. We spent a whole day in Colonial Williamsburg looking at the historic buildings, watching actors and musicians and talking to people in "Ye Olde English" vernacular. The next day we went to see the James River and the Jamestown Settlement. We will plan to spend more time there next time we visit.

This is all for now. We hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you are getting the New Year off to a good start. More coming later.