In my mind I've gone to Carolina

Actually, we were there, and not just in our minds. Gina and I broke away from reading, writing and grading to spend a couple of days in Kill Devil Hills, NC. For those of you unfamiliar with the Carolina coast, this is known as the Outer Banks (OBX). Gina had been there before a few years ago, but this was my first time to the Outer Banks. Having been raised in the Rocky Mountains and not familiar with the beach, I was not really expecting much. During the handful of occasions I've actually been to the beach, I think I've only gone in the ocean 2 or 3 times. This is likely due to my media-induced fear of sharks, which Gina tells me is completely unfounded. Gina, on the other hand, has been wanting to go to the beach since we arrived in Virginia.

Well, I put fear and doubt aside and we headed to the beach for the weekend. We actually made a couple of stops on the way down to inquire about baby items Gina spotted on Craig's List. We are now the proud owners of a glider rocker, a baby tub and this Baby Einstein thing that is supposed to make our children into geniuses. Like they need help with that! We actually picked up the rocker on the way back today so we didn't have to lug it around the beach all weekend.

Gina found a great bed and breakfast online called Cypress House Inn. The rate was reasonable, the rooms were very nice and the breakfasts were unbelievable. We have stayed in a couple of B&B's before, and I really like sitting at breakfast with the other families and getting to know them. There was a couple from Yorktown next to us, a couple from Chicago (whose son went to UVA ... Wahoowa) and a couple who works for the State Department who is about to head over to Afghanistan for a year to work in the Embassy. Each of these couples was very nice and we had a great time talking with them. Of course, the inn owners' 2-year old grand-daughter Kayla stole the show as she ran in and out of the room and interacted with everyone. Overall, the accommodations were great, and I'm pretty sure we'll visit Cypress House again.

The first day was very mild and slightly breezy. My original plan was to sit in a comfy beach chair and read until the sun went down. Well, the sea was beckoning me and it wasn't long until I was wading in up to me knees and jumping waves. Gina joined me eventually and we had a really good time. Though I didn't get very wet and didn't really swim, I'm pretty sure there were no sharks waiting for me to jump in.

The second day was not so wonderful, as far as the weather is concerned. It wasn't cold, but it was extremely windy. I had a hard time even setting up the chairs. Now that I think about it, I was reminded of Wyoming, except the air was warm. Gina got nestled into her seat and wrapped up in the beach towels. I tried to get some reading done for a class, but the wind kept flipping my pages. We stayed for about one and a half hours, then went to lunch.

We decided to head back to the beach later that day after a long nap in our room. Our game plan was to get in the water no matter how windy it was. The air was still pretty warm, so I wasn't too worried about getting cold. Gina actually made the first plunge as I took pictures of her pregnant belly sticking out. She looked pretty cute, if you don't mind my saying. After a few snapshots, I got in with her and realized that this water was not ideal for swimming. Besides the fact that the wind was blowing pretty hard, the waves were coming in very fast and it was hard to stand up. We were going to swim out and test the buoyancy of Gina's belly, but we retracted that idea when we struggled so much to wade against the waves. I know Gina was disappointed, but we both thought it was the best thing to do. I swam for a little while longer then got out after I got tired.

This morning we had breakfast with our inn-mates (hee hee), took one last look at the beach and headed back to Richmond to pick up our new chair. Sydney is still with her friends Auntie Flo and Henry and will come back tomorrow. We are straightening up the house and catching up on all the work we didn't do while at the beach. We are both already talking about our next trip down there, which will have to wait awhile. Everything we talk about these days usually starts with the phrase, "You know, in 4 months we won't be able to do this ..."

That's all for now. I hope you all are doing well and enjoying life. Drop us a comment and let us know how you are doing. Take care!

Can you hear me now?

Wow! Has it really been 6 months? Until a month ago I was under the impression that no one was reading this blog anymore. Actually, I was under the impression that I wasn't updating this blog anymore. You see, I assumed that I should only post when something extraordinary happened. I figured our life here in Virginia had stabilized and there wasn't anything interesting to report anymore. If we all waited until something extraordinary happened to speak, we would just walk around in silence most of the time (which doesn't sound all that bad to me, now that I think about it). But it was brought to my attention that some people like reading about the everyday, mundane things because it just lets them know that we are still alive and doing well. So, in addition to some extraordinary things to report, I will throw in some mundane nonsense just to spice things up.

For the most part, life is clicking along just as it was when we got back from the Smoky Mountains last March. I am still teaching classes at UVA, with the occasional online class for Casper College. Gina is working for a research center in the nursing department and we are a little further along on our quest to become Mr. and Mrs. Doctor Doctor. Sydney is still pretty darn cute and not quite as hyper as she used to be. That means she only jumps on you a couple of times when you walk in the door and only tinkles a little bit on the floor. We're still going to the same church, I still faithfully watch UVA soccer every chance I get (2 games this weekend!) and we still like to volunteer with ISI and help international students adjust to life in Charlottesville. So you see, life hasn't changed that much for us at all ...

... Yet ...

That's right, there are big changes coming down the pike on 12th street. And by big, I mean bigger by the week. Gina and I found out in June that we are expecting twins! We don't know the gender yet and we haven't settled on names (the most common questions), but we are very excited for February to arrive so we can meet them in person. In the short term, this means I have been moving furniture (either to other parts of the house or into somebody else's) in order to convert what used to be our study into a nursery. So, the laundry room is now the laundry/library, and the dining room is now the dining/computer room (surf and slurp). We may even need a storage unit before it's all over. But these are all welcome changes as we get ready for these precious treasures God is placing in our family.

Another extraordinary event is that our niece, Joella Gale Murray, was born this summer on June 21. If you want the back story, you can read her blog. I've been told by a reliable source (her mother) that she is now over 10 pounds and eats like a horse. She has the classic Alexander/Murray appetite, so now let's just hope she can sing and throw a baseball. Even if she decides to do neither of those things, that's fine because we think she is just perfect! I know she will be a wonderful role model for her baby cousins down in Charlottesville.

Other than that, there isn't anything very exciting to report. I am about to take Gina to her office to print out her comprehensive exams (affectionately known as "comps" by us doc students). If you don't know, comps are the first big hurdle we must pass in order to be considered a doctoral candidate. Until we pass our comps we are nothing more than tuition-paying desk warmers sucking the oxygen out of the building, but once we prove our mettle we are called "candidates" and get referred to as "scholar" by our professors. Slap some tape on my glasses and call me a nerd! I took my comps last summer but Gina's program won't let them take theirs until after their second year. So, she has reached an important milestone; one that was hard earned, I should add. She wrote over 40 pages, and that was in addition to eating 6 meals a day and going to the bathroom every 5 minutes! :-)

So, that's it for now. Have a great week, leave us a comment and stay tuned for more ...