A Very Digital Christmas

I thought this was a great video:

On The Wings of Love

It all started in October. I was sitting in the GTA office with Scott, an Air Force Major who is finishing up his Masters in the same program as me. He was telling me how he was dreading imputing all of the data from his thesis into SPSS (a statistical software program similar to Excel on steroids).

Around this time, I was also trying to think of a creative idea for Richard's Christmas present (yes, I was thinking of Richard's Christmas present in October! I believe I deserve the Wife of the Year Award for that). Due to our eternal starving-student status, I knew that it had to be cheap. I've also been increasingly minimalist (I think living in a big city/small apartment does that to you), so I was going for a consumable gift.

Inspired by Sue Lowden's barter system plan, I asked Scott if we could barter our services. And barter, we did. I did the majority of his SPSS data entry for a weekend straight until I was seeing numbers in my sleep. And today, Scott kept his end of the deal -- and then some -- by taking us on an amazing plane ride!

We picked him up around 10:30 and drove to Stafford's very nice private airport. There we met beautiful Robin:




Isn't she beautiful? Although Robins are very popular in Europe, there are only 9 Robins in all of the US! And Scott owns one of them!

Because Richard is a skinny guy, we had to burn off some gas before they could do all of the fun aerobatics. Which meant that I got to go on a quick sightseeing trip first!






It was so much fun!! Scott is an amazing pilot from all of his Air Force training, and I didn't feel nauseous at all. Until... he gave me a quick lesson, gave me the gear sticks and told me to drive. It was really weird flying the plane. It felt almost like a simulator or something. Very surreal. After about 5 minutes of trying to turn and move the plane up and down, we were both feeling a little queasy (sorry Scott), so we decided to bring her back down and let Richard take his much more adventurous trip.





Here's Richard's account of his ride:

I hopped in and strapped myself in snugly. Scott started up the plane and we started down the runway. I admit to being a bit nervous. I had in mind all of those old war films with dogfights in rickety and bullet-ridden planes. Anyway, we headed down the the runway, picked up speed, and took off. The take off was very smooth and so I forgot about any possibility of a shoot out with the Red Baron. Then it was time for the aerobatics. We did all sorts of different maneuvers. I can't remember their names, but each is intended to lift your stomach and turn your face green. It was a lot of fun. It is a pretty crazy experience to be in a plane doing a nosedive or stalling the engine while going straight up. We returned safely. In fact, the landing was much smoother than any commercial flight. My thanks to Emily and Scott for a great day! Also, in case you're wondering, even though my stomach was lifted and my face turned green, I did not barf, ralph, or vomit.

After the rides, Scott treated us to lunch at 5 Guys, a perfect end to the day. It was a great day, and a fun way to break up our finals studying marathon!

Note: The title is a nod to the best season of Bachelor ever!

I remember....

and for the Quebeckers... Je me souviens...

Fairfax Apartment!

10 Things that Make Me Happy

• Surrounding myself with people who make me want to be better, try harder and think differently
• Living in a society where women are encouraged to get a higher education
  
• The first cool fall day after a long and hot summer
• My nursery kids at church
• Reading a really good book
  
• Paying only $2 for a used $150 textbook off of Amazon, and then getting the book with no marks or highlights on it
• Creating something pretty or delicious out of raw materials
• Spellchecker
• Richard's laugh
• My new GMU sweatshirt

Summer Reading, Had Me A Blast

It's no surprise that both Richard and I love reading anything we can get our hands on. This summer, we had more time/willpower than usual (I attribute this mostly to our "No TV For You" month, see post below) to read some great books. Here are some highlights of our summer reading:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy* (second favorite of the summer)

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins** (followed by Catching Fire, and Mockingjay to round out the series)

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky**

These Is My Words by Nancy Turner** (Favorite of the summer)

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum**

*Book selected for the R&E Peterson Book Club
**Book selected for book club with friends from church


And here are some of the books on our list for the upcoming months:
-The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
-The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand**
-Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner**
-Lots and lots of comm articles/books
-Lots and lots of law review article submissions

Summer Top 10

An unfortunate side effect of having a blog is that it is one more thing in life that I feel like I am not keeping up with as well as I should. Is "blog guilt" a phrase? If not, I am coining it currently. You read it here first, folks. Moving on.

During Summer 2010, we (roughly in chronological order)...

1. ... went to Utah (twice)! Richard celebrating getting a job by jetting off to Utah (sans wife) in May for a week (well, I did join for an action packed 36 hours later that weekend). In July, we returned to our tribal homeland for an equally action packed week full of family reunioning, fireworking and lots of playing. We also took some family pictures on both sides of the family. I spy, with my little eye... 9 cute cousins who call me Auntie Em, a funny expression on Rich's face and a nephew doing secret sign language...














2. ... went to Reid & Amy's wedding. We were so happy to go to the MacHargs' wedding at 2941 Restaurant in May. Richard and Reid have become good friends through law school, and we loved seeing them tie the knot! Oh, and we were only a taaaaaad bit jealous of their 2-week honeymoon to Bali...

The happy couple!


Reid & Rich



Law school peeps. For some reason, Jake's pose/expression in this picture really cracks me up.


3. ... ran the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Seattle! In June, I went to Seattle to visit my sister Kristen. I inveigled my other sister Michelle and her baby Caleb to come as well, by telling her I couldn't make it to the family reunion. Later, I showed up anyway (bwa, ha ha!). The main focus of the trip was on Saturday morning when Kristen and I ran the Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon (my 3rd, her 2nd). Unfortunately, Kristen's back was hurting pretty badly during the race, but she still managed to pull through and finish. Way to go, Kristen! (Pictures to come when I get them from Michelle.)

Now we are training for the Richmond FULL Marathon in November... wish us luck!

4. ... attended various book clubs! We decided to declare June a "TV Free Month," complete with a Soup Nazi "No TV For You!!" sign displayed prominently on our TV. This left us with lots of time to read. Luckily, around this time, we co-started a Man's Book Club and a Ladies Book Club with some friends. The menfolk read and discussed The Brothers Karamazov and Bourne Identity over root beer and Costco pizza while we read Hunger Games (AMAZING. DYING FOR MOCKINGJAY TO COME OUT.) and These Is My Words (also amazing) over cookies and fruit. Richard and I also started the very exclusive Peterson book club, which consisted of Anna Karenina (Levin and Kitty make me smile) and Great Expectations (meh).



5. ... hung out at Eaton Square! In our Alexandria Ward, Eaton Square was considered to be "Little Provo" because so many young couples from our church lived there. I also tried to coin it "Little Italy" because the streets are named Milan and Florence, but that never really caught on. Partly for that reason, and partly because they had a pool and we didn't, we hung out there a lot. Incidentally, the Eaton Square equivalent of our new ward is Masonvale (on GMU campus), but we were too cheap to live there. Oh well, at least we have a pool now!

6. ... moved to Fairfax! We made the trek out west in July to be closer to the Fairfax campus for my MA program. We LOVE our new apartment (especially the dishwasher and washer/dryer). Video to come soon! A BIGGGG thanks to Richard's mom who flew out to Virginia for 2 days just to help us move. I think she probably loves us, or something. Richard and I commented several times during and after the move how it probably wouldn't have been possible to complete the move without her. Thanks, Linda!! There are no photos of the move, which is probably a good thing since we didn't shower for several days...

7. ...spent a week in Hoboken! The morning after I finished work, Rich and I hopped on a bus to go to Hoboken. Richard left to go back to work early Monday, but I stayed until the following Saturday to host Auntie Em boot camp for Thurman and Nico. I think Neeks took the term "boot camp" a little literal, as he wanted to run laps for me around the track at the park every day! We had lots of fun eating at Biggies, going to the Liberty Science Museum, hanging out at the water park, Church Street park and the "big" park by the Lincoln Tunnel. On Friday night, Carma treated me to a VERY special show on Broadway called Promises, Promises. Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes together... how could you go wrong?



8. ...got new callings in our new ward! Since there is no paid clergy in our church, members of each congregation are asked, or called, to serve in various positions (scripture study classes, working with the youth, playing the organ, leadership roles like the bishop, etc.). In our old ward in Alexandria, Richard worked with young men in scouting and I worked in the nursery during church services (18 months to 3 years). Well.... I was called again to the nursery, wahoo!! I love getting my baby fix each week. Richard was called to be a ward missionary.

9. ...welcomed a new niece to the family! My sister Jenny had a baby girl on August 6 (their 5th anniversary). We are so excited to meet Courtney Lynn as soon as possible! We now have 13 nieces and nephews.





10. ...got really excited for school to start! Richard actually started his third year of law school yesterday, and I start my graduate assistantship training on Monday. Let the games begin!

What is the moral of this blog post? That I need to start taking pictures and documenting our lives (exactly zero of these photos came from me, and all of them were stolen off of Facebook and blogs). The end.

What have the Petersons been up to?

Life the Past Few Months...

Farewell, Corporate America:

After two years of pining for academia (I think I might have been the only person crying in a corner instead of celebrating at graduation), I was accepted into the Health Communication Master’s program at George Mason University!

My first year, I will be going to school full-time on a (pseudo) research assistantship. My second year, I will be on a (real) teaching assistantship teaching introductory communication classes to little freshmen – although, let’s face it, they are probably going to look/be older than me.

I do like my job, and I’m grateful to have a job, but I really feel like academia is where my heart belongs. I’m excited to join Richard as a fellow Patriot!

Richard the Litigator:

Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? Richard was offered a full-time job working at a prestigious employment law firm in Washington, DC (only about 4 blocks away from where I currently work!). He will continue working there full-time next year, and switch over to GMU law’s awesome part-time program. He will be really busy come fall (did I mention that he is also going to be managing editor of GMU’s law journal and on the moot court team?), so we’re going to try to make the most of summer before life gets too crazy!

Because he’s switching to the part-time program, Richard will be extending by a semester, which means…. we get to walk together! (Walk, meaning “graduation walking”). I smell parental trips to DC right around May 2012. Mom & Dad, I’ll get Richard to draft up a Letter of Intent to Visit Your Youngest Daughter at Graduation form for you to sign. That will be $800, please.

Born to Run

I recently finished my second half-marathon in Champaign–Urbana, Illinois. I ran it with some high school BFFs (shout out to Katie, Sara and Molly), and we had a blast! The course is touted as “the flattest race in America” (or something along those lines), and it didn’t disappoint! There was supposedly one “big” hill in the course, and we kept on saying, “hm, I think this might be the hill coming up?” but we never quite found it. I was surprised and happy to finish in 2:19:30 (about 20 minutes faster than Baltimore).

Of course, there were also several GREAT Hills in the area (I love Hills in Illinois jokes – funny every time). I stayed with my sister (last name, Hill) and her husband and two adorable little boys for the weekend. It was a great vacation!

Richard and I are signed up for a 10k over Memorial Day weekend, and then I am going to be running the Seattle Half-Marathon with my sister in June! Next up, full marathon? That’s for me to know, and you to find out…

Pack up the handcarts, we’re going to Utah

Since Richard has a couple weeks off between finals and work, he’s going to go visit family in Utah for a week in May. I will also be joining him for an action packed weekend (I couldn’t take any days off work, boo). Are you also planning a trip to Utah in May? If so, let us know!

Life Off Metro

Last summer, Rich and I took a field trip to Fairfax, VA to find bikes at garage sales. I found a great red bike that had been ridden with love for many years (so much that a pedal was missing). I quickly determined that it was a "bike with character" and purchased it posthaste.

Even though we got it at a good price, I was still concerned with our ROI (Return on Investment, for those in the non-corporate world). Assets v. liabilities, people!

I determined that my ROI on my bike had to be at least 2:1 to justify spending the money. The bike cost $10, and a replacement for the missing pedal cost $2. My roundtrip fare to and from work costs $5. So, for all you math majors out there, I will be riding my bike at least 5 times to make a decent profit on buying the bike (is that right, Michelle?).

Regardless, I rode my bike to work today. It was AMAZING. I watched 2 planes take off from National Airport at Gravelly Point, ate a quick bite by the Tidal Basin and got a great view of the Georgetown Cathedral while crossing Key Bridge. And, I only got lost twice!!! That's about 5 times less than I was expecting.

Other good things:

(a) I don't have to set aside any extra time to work out today - it takes me the same amount of time to ride my bike as to bus/metro in (about an hour).

(b) I'm in a really happy, endorphin-filled mood when I get to work.

The only thing about the bike is... well, it's not a road bike per se and the gears are stuck, so I have to ride the whole way with one gear. But, it's a bike with character, and I love it! Trying to think of a good name right now for her.

Life on Metro

Remember my post [http://theretimes.blogspot.com/2008/10/washington-mecca-of-metropolitan.html] from 2008 when I raved about the DC Metro, with a cleverly alliteration-filled title?

Well. It has now been about a year and a half since I posted that, and I certainly do not feel as unicorns-and-rainbows about the metro now as I did back then -- although I do still very much appreciate all of the Top 5. It's had quite its share of problems (remember the red line crashES last summer?) and an disturbingly large number of train cars break downs and fare increases.

But, despite its problems, I still do like the metro for getting me to where I need to go each day. I take the blue line (holla, fellow blue line riders!) 3-4 stops, depending if I get on at Pentagon City or Pentagon, so I'm honestly not even on it that much.

But (enter: the point of the post), I have made some interesting sociological observations while taking my 10 minute ride every morning and every night. One of the most interesting things I have found is that with each stop in the morning, a distinct demographic typically exits. I've made a game of finding a random person on the metro when I get on in the morning, and guessing at which stop they exit to start their day. It's quite a jolly time.

Here is what I have found:

Stop 1: Pentagon City. This is where I get on, so I'm not really paying attention to who gets off. I'm more searching frantically for that highly-coveted open seat.

Stop 2: Pentgon. 95% chance that anyone in military-looking clothing will exist; 50-60% chance that anyone "scary looking" will exit.

Stop 3: Arlington Cemetery, i.e. Tourist Central. In my experience, 100% chance that anyone with children will exit; 90% chance that anyone with a visible camera will exit; 90% chance that anyone with a shirt featuring Washington DC or Obama will exit.

Stop 4: Rosslyn. I would say that nearly 100% of exiters here are wearing suits, although I have yet to find another distinguishing factor.

Stop 5: Foggy Bottom/GWU. 85% chance that anyone with a backpack and/or wearing jeans will exit because of the close proximity to GW and Georgeton. 100% chance that Emily will exit here (unless she gets too caught up in reading the "Totally Lost" blog, which may or may not have been the case this morning).

I think it's kind of fun that each stop has its own personality. I should start awarding myself prizes when I guess people's stops correctly, which -- I hate to toot my own horn -- happens quite frequently.

OR, maybe I could put this sweet acquired skill on my resume in case I want to be an FBI agent or something. Hm, hm? I can be the "Emily: The Metro Hunter." YES!

Welcome, Sakura! Farewell, Sophia!

This morning as we were clearing off our car from this weekend's crazy storm (over 2 feet!), Richard gave me an impish smile and said, "there's something I have to tell you!" The big news was that our new car/Christmas present, Sakura, was en route to Alexandria from Richard's parents house! Side note: Richard had known this was coming for a whole week and did a really good job keeping it a secret from me - way to go, Rich! He is usually really bad at keeping secrets!

Only a few hours later, Sakura came in all her glory (well, there is a small part of her that is NOT glorious, but we will get to that later).

With Sakura's arrival came a sad farewell to our BMW Sophia, our wonderful companion and friend, and our primary mode of transportation since our wedding. We will miss you, Sophia!



Here is Barry, who volunteered to drive to and from Utah to bring us our new baby. We love Barry (and not only because he often travels cross-country to bring us goodies), and were happy to see him, if only for a few minutes.



The last thing we had to do before the switch could be complete was to turn in our old keys for our new ones:





Except, as it turns out, Sakura actually doesn't need keys, as she doesn't have an ignition... you turn her on by pressing this handy button:



Okay, now onto the bad news. As soon as Sakura came into view for the first time, Richard said, "Emmy, you are going to not be happy in about 7 seconds." And oh boy, was he right. Upon closer inspection, I realized that Sakura has UTAH UTES plates! (To my U of U friends who are reading this, don't take this paragraph too seriously.) Needless to say, this will motivate us to change over the plates to Virginia plates VERY quickly. Luckily, when we were doing a final check through of Sophia, I found my BYU hat, so I could take this photo to express my emotions:



All in all, though, we are very happy with Sakura! She is a 2009 Nissan Altima in black. Look how awesome Rich looks in the driver's seat!


Welcome to the family, Sakura! Love, Richard, Emily, Bertha and Kitty

PS- Here's the back story for Sakura's name: Sakura means "Cherry Blossom" in Japanese, and since Nissan is a Japanese company, and Washington DC has the famous Cherry Blossom festival each spring, it was the perfect fit!