January 28, 2007 by Jen.

We were blessed this weekend to get to visit with many friends–new and old! It was home leave, so I spent some time cleaning the house and catching up on some grading, but I also got to eat a lovely lunch with Cara (Nixon) Stenfors on Friday. Then, we had many visitors on Sabbath! Tom and Cheryl Smith, along with Heather (Smith) Landers and gorgeous baby Karen joined us for lunch. We had such a great time with Karen! (She sure does love stickers and making noise by banging a spoon and a pot!) We also got to know Tim Vandeman, music director at Takoma Academy, and friend of Phil Riley–our old friend. Then, later that evening Nikki (Oakley) Getman, husband Chris, and baby Owen arrived to hang out with us. We also spent time with Vicki (Macomber) Redden, her husband Ron and baby Elaina, Paul Howe, Jenny Harlow, and of course good old Adam and Tommy. It was a great weekend! Now, if we can only have a snow day (or delay) tomorrow!!!

 Owen finishes a masterpiece on the piano!
Karen is so beautiful!
Karen loves stickers!
Drinking quietly.
Nikki, Owen, and Chris. Aren’t they a cute family!
Jen looking rough.

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January 16, 2007 by Jason.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in for the guitar. I have thanked many of you, but probably not all of you. As many of you know, I have been playing guitar off and on for ten years now. I have gotten to the point where if you give me a song to play, I can sit down and learn it within a day. However, to me this is akin to reading a book by memorizing word shapes and sounds and not understanding that each word is made up of letters and are put together using grammar. So I am setting out to learn the letters and grammar of music, or rather the language of music. It’s a challenging goal, but I think it will make me a much better player in the long run. Additionally, I need to work on my playing technique. Like the fine instrument it is, the Epiphone requires only a delicate touch to play. I am used to my acoustic, which requires an over-firm fingering of the fretboard to make music. Anyway, the next time you see me, I will be a much stronger player.

Posted in Profound | 7 Comments »

January 6, 2007 by Jen.

It was a busy and lovely holiday season. On December 14 my Children’s Literature class at CUC finished. Here are some of my lovely students. Recognize anyone?

After school got out on December 15, I had a few days to finish my grades, clean the house, and finalize Christmas shopping. On Tuesday, December 19 I went to the sing-along Messiah in Frederick. That was great! Between Adam, me, Jamie, Stephen, Brian, Natalie, Natalie’s mom, Laurie, and Felicia, we had all the parts covered!

Then Jason and I flew to Michigan to see his family for Christmas. Chris and Kelly and Jason’s parents particularly loved rocking out to Guitar Hero. Unfortunately I got a nasty cold over vacation and had to spend a couple of days in bed. I felt miserable, but I got to read a lot! I read through Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series and The Great Influenza–the story of the 1918 pandemic. Very interesting stuff. Jason was the recipient of the most awesome group gift ever–a gorgeous electric guitar! He has been playing it all the time!

When we returned to Maryland I had a few days to relax and get some lesson planning done before school started. We also had a great New Year’s Eve party with lots of friends! Joshua and Hannah tried their turn at Dance Dance Revolution. A minor problem: their legs aren’t very long!

Now that school is back in session, we’re back to the same old schedule, but it doesn’t feel like winter with 70 degree temperatures!

By the way, I’m not very witty or interesting, so my posts will tend to be more news and pictures, while Jason’s posts will enliven your days. I hope that’s okay!

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