Anniversary Trip 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I had my first Spring Break since high school (huzzah!). It was great to have a few days off of work and to relax with Rich. Our anniversary fell on the Tuesday after break, and so we decided to end our break with a mini-vacation, as we fondly remember as the Tour de Virginia.

First, we visited the Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia:



Richard making sure that the area was safe for us to walk through.



The first major battle of the Civil War.



Trying to take some "artsy" photos.



Stonewall Jackson statue.

Next, we went bowling in Manassas. Check out my score: 130!! I think that's the best score I've ever gotten in bowling.



Richard in action.



130!!



Richard's reaction to losing to a GIRL at bowling.

Next, we went to dinner at a great Pakistani restaurant. Num, num, num. It was really good!




Then, we settled in at our bed and breakfast in Casanova, Virginia. It was sooooo cute! The best part was that we got there just in time for the BYU game (Go Cougars!), and we had the hot tub all to ourselves. The next morning, we had breakfast on our private porch, spa treatments (I had a pedicure, and Rich had a massage) and headed out to Charlottesville!





Poplar Springs gets a "thumbs up!"

In Charlottesville, we ate lunch at the outdoor pedestrian mall, drove around University of Virginia campus (BEAUTIFUL!) and took a tour of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Funny story there - while we were going through the tour, Richard and I kept on checking March Madness scores (GMU was playing). Finally, the person giving the tour asked us to stop and to put our phones away. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn my ringer off and it went off (extremely loudly) about 5 minutes later. It was Jenny calling to talk about the GMU game (they won, yay!). I don't think our tour guide liked us very much...





Hardee's still exists!



Our last stop was Richmond, to visit Heather and Rich S.! We always have a great time catching up with them, and we spent the night eating pizza and watching MORE March Madness games (we couldn't get enough). Rich S. goes to VCU, and we will be cheering for VCU on his behalf tonight!



It was a GREAT trip with beautiful weather. With work and night classes, Richard and I rarely get to see each other during the week, so it was so fun to actually get to spend quality time together. We're so lucky to live in Fairfax with so much history and gorgeous scenery close by. Three cheers for Virginia!

Sweeeeet Home Alabammmaa!

After watching Sweet Home Alabama, I made the completely rational decision that I wanted to move to Alabama. Immediately.



Unfortunately, Richard had other plans...

1:07 PM me: I want to move to Alabama

or 'Bama, as we call it

38 minutes

1:45 PM me: do you approve?

6 minutes

1:52 PM Richard: what??

why?

1:53 PM me: I just watched Sweet Home Alabama

Richard: From what I understand, it is near the bottom of the list in a lot of quality of life indicators

oh

ok

me: Reece Witherspoon

Richard: i do not approve

I am not Patrick Dempsey

1:54 PM me: swoon

Richard: nor am I Josh Lucas

blurg

me: are you looking this up on IMDB?

Richard: possibly....

i was

now it is closed

1:55 PM me: bah, fine we can stay here

but you have to talk to me in a Southern accent


I guess we're staying in Virginia, y'all!

The Key To Happiness

Elvis once said, "I believe the key to happiness is: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to."

SOMEONE TO LOVE:

Richard and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary next month, which just happens to coincide nicely with GMU's spring break. We were originally going to be going to Chicago to see a taping of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (a lifelong dream for both of us) and to see our friends The Carrs! Unfortunately, those plans got smashed when Richard realized how cold it is in Chicago in March. So... maybe later.



Instead, we got a rocking Groupon to a lovely resort in Casanova (!), Virginia called Poplar Springs. It looks like it should be a fun and (this is key) relaxing time. We are also planning on going to visit friends in Richmond and Charlottesville.

Here we are almost three years ago on our wedding day. I never get sick of looking at our wedding pictures (although you probably do, so I'll just show the one):




SOMETHING TO DO:

We are not lacking in this category. Richard is working full-time, taking 10 credits (only 2 credits short of going to school full-time), on the moot court board, the trial advocacy board, a member of Inn of Court, the executive editor of the civil rights law journal and on the student bar association.

I am having a blast taking 4 classes and working on some great research projects. Here are a some things that I'm working on that I get really excited about:
- A study looking at parent perceptions of immunizations, and what sources they trust most for information (e.g. their own pediatricians, doctors on TV)
- An experiment with current smokers examining the effectiveness of the new graphic warning labels that will be mandatory late next year (if you remember, this was also the topic of my honor's thesis)
- Study examining adherence to medication for Type 2 diabetes patients (funded by Merck)
- A content analysis of cancer information found in Korean American newspapers, specifically looking at screening/prevention.
- A manuscript (currently under review, crossing my fingers) entitled: Communication Accommodation and Culture: Predictors of Treatment Adherence Among Mexican Immigrant Patients, using the structural equation model



I also recently found out that I was accepted into the PhD program at Mason, and that I was awarded the department's Presidential Scholarship Award. Basically, they give one award per year to an incoming PhD student that (a) doubles my living stipend, and (b) devotes my PhD solely to research (meaning, I can't teach during the school year). I'm a little bummed about the teaching part, but I will still be able to teach during summers, so that's nice. I just got my teaching schedule for this summer - I will be teaching Comm101 (Interpersonal) during Mason's "C" session, which runs July 5 - August 5. It's only a month, but the hours are kind of intense: 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. MWF. Wish me luck!



SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

March 14-20: Spring Break
March 17-19: Anniversary Getaway
The Month of March: March Madness! Go Cougars! Go Patriots!
April 25: Richard's Birthday Celebration
April 29 - May 1: DC Health Conference at GMU (I've been helping to plan the conference and am really excited for it!)
May 18: Last Day of the Semester
May 29 - June 7: Sweden/Denmark Trip
June Sometime: Hopefully trips to Rochester and/or Seattle
July 5- August 5: Teaching
August Sometime: Utah Trip
October 28: Visiting the Texan Hills/ BYU v. TCU game at the Cowboys Stadium

Well, I suppose Elvis would say we are pretty happy. I think so too! Until next time...

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!