Update Extravaganza

What all have we been up to in the last several months?  I have hardly updated this blog since my short stint as a temporal resident of the commonwealth of Virginia!

We survived the tornadoes and actually enjoyed "suffering" through a week with no power.  We came out of it alive (and Matt with a shiny new chainsaw, which he convinced me he really needed as his sputtered while helping our friends).

We took the trip that I have been dreaming of since we got married.  We decided to just go ahead, bite the bullet, and go to Spain.  This deserves a whole post of its own, even if it is quite belated.

We celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary.  We have been careful to stay well stocked with hydrocortizone and have thankfully not suffered much itching so far.

We've spent a lot of time with Mr. and Mrs. Pie, plus these two jokers, Staci and David.  They make me laugh and we love them.  It's a good thing, too, since Staci is my officemate and has to put up with me for the majority of her waking hours during the week!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we moved several months ago to a place with a bit more yard.

Matt built me a raised bed as the center of my very first vegetable garden!  I can say that it has been a success as we've been enjoying the fruits of our labor for a few months now.  It has not been a success if you consider the fact that we have lost several squash plants to squash bugs and didn't have ripe tomatoes until about three weeks ago, but the excitement garnered from our very first cucumber and zucchini in May made this endeavor worth any later heartaches.

Along with the success of my vegetable garden, the first major casualty also occurred. We lost the two large trees in our front yard in the tornadoes, and planted three in their places.  The littlest, a white dogwood, croaked after putting up a fair fight through this hot summer.

To help make up for the fact that we moved away from all of the flower beds (and the sweat lost installing them over the years), I planted a bazillion zinnia along my new vegetable patch.

I've really been enjoying these babies.

We still have not even de-winterized the boat.  It has sat alone and forgotten for months now, the complete opposite from last summer.

I'd hate to take that cover off now... I'm sure it needs a good scrub underneath and some mildew remover.  Ughh.

It's hard to want to take the boat out when you have this waiting for you in the back yard.  (I've really been enjoying this view)

My husband earned his competition license and has been competitively (amateurly, not professionally) racing his track car.

He did this recently...

...don't tell him I showed you that.

We've been enjoying (and normally not strangling) this guy.   He's really settled in over the last year.  He's running with Dr.Charles several days a week as Charlie trains for a marathon. 

And last, but not least, I finished up my coursework and am now trying to nail down a thesis topic.  I am excited about scheduling this work on my own terms - but also praying that it will not become too burdensome.

I'm actually really looking forward to digging deep into a problem and (hopefully) coming out on the other end with a somewhat extensive knowledge of that specific area.  

Abandoned but not Forgotten

So this blog has become somewhat abandoned.

It has not been forgotten, but it has been abandoned.

There have been several reasons for this.  The two biggest ones are due to the lack of time I've had in the last year and a half since graduate school really ramped up, along with troubles that have worn on my heart over the same period of time.

I don't know how you talk about hard things honestly without saying too much.  I guess I will do my best.

For a while now, I have struggled with dealing with the issues going on with others around me.  Standing helplessly as dreams of growing old with loved ones, their spouses, and future children became unattainable.  Knowing that my definition of family would be forever changed shattered my heart and and pierced my soul. 

It took me to a dark place at times.  

I've never really had any problems with depression or overwhelming sadness before, but I can look back and say that that is no longer true. Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness lead to sadness and a complete loss of joy in the things that I had loved doing before.  My gardening and blogging, which were once beloved hobbies, sparked no interest anymore.  Hurt and sadness turned into anger, and then bitterness, and then back into sadness.  It's a cruel cycle. 

Watching the dissolution of the relationships of some of my most beloved as they crumbled and ultimately severed was more than I was physically and emotionally able to handle.  Trying to love a wonderful husband and protect my own marriage - when I didn't feel like loving anyone - was hard.  Controlling my words, emotions, and outlook was either imperfectly attempted or even abandoned at times.

Having a loving husband who was my steadfast supporter and a gracious heavenly Father helped pull me out.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

...

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption. 

-- Psalm 130

I have thankfully never been under the illusion that I am perfect - spiritually, intellectually, physically, or even in my actions towards others.  But going through this made it all the more clear how completely imperfect I am and just how much I need a loving Savior - and how grateful I am that He provided me with such a supportive and committed husband. 

So in all of that, there is some resolution to my sadness. We are cherishing our marriage and vowing to protect and nurture it.  We are moving forward and looking to find joy wherever it is to be found.

Five Steps

Five steps.

We moved several months ago and now have a deck off of our back door that has five steps to the yard.  Five short steps that we walk up and down every day when we go to the garden, play with the dogs, or walk around the back yard.

Five small steps.

We have a dachshund.  Dachshunds are prone to back problems.  I've known dachshunds with back problems.  They've all been chubby.

Tyson is not chubby.


Despite this, he herniated a disc in his back recently and gave me a quite a scare. 

You see, Tyson is MY dog, my little baby, my snuggle bug and momma's boy.  He knows when I am sad, happy, or tired.  He is my little shadow and always tries to cheer me up.

Matt bought him for me just a few short weeks after we were married when we were still living in Texas and away from all of our family and friends and their pets.  Tyson kept me company at a time when I was a newlywed living apart from the only people I knew and when my brand new husband had a job that required him to travel for three weeks out of the month.

I love this dog so much that when he hurt himself, I wondered if it was sinful to love an animal this much. 

I love this dog.

I had noticed that over the last couple of months, he had been slowing down a bit.  He was becoming especially slow on the days following a good round of ball chasing and was also starting to become hesitant about going up and down the steps of the deck.

You see, Tyson L.O.V.E.S. his ball.  If you have been around this dog, you will know this one thing about him - he will chase that ball until his legs fall off.

Or, until his back seizes up.



Which is what happened one sunny day after I got home from work.  Upon my first throw of the afternoon, Tyson took off full speed for about 6 feet and then stopped.  Hunched over and obviously in pain, he froze.

I took him to the vet first thing the next day.

They told me that he had herniated a disc in his back (probably stage IV disc disease) and that I should take him to a specialist, an orthopedic surgeon about 40 minutes away.  The vet thought that he would hopefully be able to heal on his own without surgery if he was kept on a stringent 6 week crate restriction, but suggested that I get a second opinion because his back legs were partially paralyzed.

I cried.

The orthopedic surgeon (along with one of my girlfriends, who graciously shared her expert (veterinarian) opinion) relieved many of my fears, and was cautiously optimistic that we could avoid surgery and permanent paralysis.  We just have to keep Tyson crated around the clock.  We carry him out to potty, but are allowed to let him sit on the couch with us (if we have his leash on and make sure he doesn't try to jump off). The remainder of the time, he is confined to his crate.

The vet said that even a few steps can be extremely hard for a dachshund.  Our five steps were probably just the right amount of extra stress on his already problem-prone back.

Tyson is getting a little better, but still stumbles with his back legs. 

We're going to be even more diligent about keeping him from jumping up onto things and will also try to slim him down a little more than he already is. He'll be getting glucosamine and fish oil supplements with his meals and we're going to try to monitor his ball chasing time a little more closely.

Matt is also going to build him some ramps so that he can access the back yard without having to climb the steps anymore.  No more steps for this doxie!

Once recovered, he should still be able to do the thing he loves most.  I couldn't stand to not let him chase the ball ever again, but from now on, it will be in a little more moderation.

In the mean time, he has been very sweet about his confinement.  Matt rigged up some caster wheels for his crate so that we can wheel him into whatever room we are in so that he's not left alone in the laundry room all day.

He's been a good sport.

I love that dog.

Wikipedia Trivia: If you take any article, click on the first link in the article text not in parenthesis or italics, and then repeat, you will eventually end up at "Philosophy".

Try it.

Road Atlanta Race Report

NASA Competition school and my first two races are now on the books.

Leading a pack down to the end of the back straight under full course caution.

The Friday comp school was pretty uneventful, but did get me 3 sessions plus a mock race. It was mostly just jumping through all the right hoops to get my provisional license. For the mock race we were gridded in roughly inverted order based on speed. This put me in 3 of 11 since the majority of the other school guys were in Vettes and Mustangs plus one Ferrari Challenge car. Once those guys went blasting past I pretty much just drove around by myself.

On Saturday I qualified ~8, but since it was my very first real race I started at the back. I was only ahead of one other SE30 rookie, so I started 19th. I was able to pick off most of the slower guys, but didn't have any chance of catching the fast guys. Finished 12.

Sunday I went out for qualifying and just ran about 2 hot laps. I didn't get either of those totally traffic free, but managed what felt like a decent lap and I didn't want to push a sketchy transmission more than I needed to. I ended up qualifying 9 of 20.

The race on Sunday was AMAZING. It was 10X more fun than I even thought it would be. I managed to work my way up to 4th and was fighting for 3rd when I ran out of time. I did manage to run down the front straight twice at roughly 100mph with 4 wheels on the grass, which was a little touchy, but not really any problem. Both times I got squeezed off at track-out of T12. One of them included a little bump from the guy on the inside. He says I should have lifted and I say he should have given me room. Either way there's zero damage so no harm, no foul.

I was actually in 3rd for about 4 car lengths. Here's proof.

We had some technical difficulties and didn't manage to get any video from Sunday, but one of the other guys got some great footage. The first one is just the first few laps before a full course yellow due to a stalled Thunder Roadster. I'm pretty clear in the mirror for the first 5 turns until he runs it wide and I'm the first to go past. http://vimeo.com/21039733

The part after the yellow has a good bit of my race. Some from pretty close and some a bit farther back. http://vimeo.com/21009633 (Watch until we pass the spun car at about 2:40, then skip to 15:30 for the exciting conclusion of Jason's race.)

I saw him go by my mirror in 10a, but had no idea how close I was to being taken out until I saw the end of this one.

Overall, hugely successful weekend. Michael got a bunch of sessions in and is running competitive lap times as well. Plus, it's always good when you can drive the car onto the trailer at the end. The only loss is a finicky 4th gear in the transmission, which will be replaced before we do it all again in June. (or maybe April at CMP if I can get away with it.)

VA Wrap Up: Wrap Up

(Last VA post, promise.)

After DC, Matt and I headed back to my temporary home in order to host our favoritest head pastor and his wife. They came a long way to make a pastoral visit and were probably just worried about the safety of our souls after being out of the Deep South's Bible Belt for several weeks. (I kid).

I've never had a relationship with my pastor like our relationship with the Wingards. Matt and I truly cherish their friendship and we always have a great time whenever we're together.  Our church went through a really rough patch about the time Matt and I got married.  A year later, Lynne and Charlie were called to our congregation and have been an absolutely blessing to our entire church family.

My favorite part of their visit was our tour of James Monroe's home, just down the road from Monticello. James Monroe, our 5th President, is often overlooked.  He didn't draft the Declaration of Independence, or write the Constitution.  He didn't lead the army that saved  the American colonists from the tyrannical rule of King George (although he did fight under General George Washington in the War of Independence).  Instead, he was fired from several of his public appointments and publicly disgraced more than once.

Lynne and Charlie in front of Ash Lawn-Highland.

His early "success" as the American Minister to France was due largely to the social graces of his wife, Elizabeth.  She was endeared by the French people, who were willing to overlook Monroe's inept social skills. I say success rather lightly... the French did not endear James Monroe the way they did his wife, and he was sacked from his post as Minister to France by President Washington for inefficiency, disruptive maneuvers, and failure to safeguard the interests of his country.  Britain and France were at war at the time, and Monroe and the Jeffersonians favored revolutionary France, and Washington criticized him for his support of the French.

nerds.

As a diplomat to Great Britain under President Jefferson, Monroe was publicly humiliated again when Jefferson refused to even submit Monroe's negotiated treaty, the Monroe-Pinkney Treaty, to the Senate for consideration and ratification.

However, even with several public embarrassments, Monroe kept at it.  He served in several political offices, from Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State and Secretary of War to President James Madison, and also served two successful terms as President of the United States.  He's best known for the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that the US would not tolerate European attempts to colonized and otherwise interfere with states and independent countries of the Americas.

The original house is comprised of the back section of what stands today (the white part).

Monroe was the last president to fight in the War of Independence.  He studied law under Thomas Jefferson and considered both Jefferson and Madison friends.  Under President Jefferson, Monroe was one of the negotiators of the Louisiana Purchase.  As president, Monroe made cabinet appointments across party lines and from all over the nation, easing political tensions in what became known as the "Era of Good Feelings".  After retirement from political life, Monroe sold his family farm to the state to provide the land on which UVA was to be built, and moved into a plantation just down the road from Jefferson, at Highland (later renamed Ash Lawn-Highland).

Monroe died on the 4th of July, 55 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Our tour guide was absolutely fantastic.  Just hilarious and full of wonderful information.  I kept looking over after all of his dry jokes to see Charlie's reaction.  Before the tour started, Charlie asked him how he got into giving tours of Monroe's house.  Completely straight-faced, he replied with something like, "Well, I had my 100 hours of community service and then they just let me stay and promoted me to a guide after I was done."  We think he was kidding.  Our guide was Dennis Bigelow, in case you're planning a trip to Ash Lawn-Highland any time soon. (My parents had a different guide, who they loved as well, on their visit. )

Just a few hours before Lynne and Charlie left, Amy, Ryan, Staci, and David all arrived.  They left work a few hours early and drove the 9-10 hours through the middle of the night to get into town.  Since their visit was over New Year's, we were able to party downtown on New Year's Eve and then watch football in our sweat pants the next day.

But, we didn't stay on the couch their whole visit.

We headed back out to UVA so I could sharpen my skills as a tour guide one last time.



Every time they would try to wander off to look at something or appeared like they weren't giving me 110% of their attention, I told them to snap out of it and listen to ME.  Come on, people.  I had things to say! 

Matt was particularly interested in the Jefferson-designed serpentine walls that allow for the wall to be one brick thick without falling over.

After I felt like they'd had a thorough history lesson of the Academical Village, we set up the tripod and posed for photos.

Our meager attempts to jump at the same time were interrupted by a pig running across the lawn.

Yes, a pig.



Amy wanted to sit in Jeff's lap, but decided he was just too serious for that.  She hugged him instead.

He was not amused.

We were.

On the last day of their visit, we drove over to nearby Orange, VA to tour James Madison's house, Montpelier. 

Madison was our 4th President, author of several of the Federalist Papers, and the main author of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  His wife, Dolley, is credited for helping to save the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington as the British were storming DC during the war of 1812.

View from atop one of the porticoes of Montpelier.

After the presidency, the Madisons retired to Montpelier.  James suffered a stroke and debilitating health until his death in 1836, just days before the 4th of July.  When it became evident that his death was imminent, a doctor offered him a drug that might prolong his life (until July 4th, as many citizens were hoping he'd live until), but Madison allegedly replied that he came into this world naturally and would leave it in the same manner.

Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe were all key players on the national and state (Virginia) political scene.They all lived fairly close and were constantly corresponding with one another.   They were friends and shared much of the same political views, often seeking out the advice of the others.  They dedicated their lives to the "American experiment" and have left their mark on what is now realizable across the world, a free democracy of people.

Hoodlums behind Montpelier, undoubtedly up to no good.

VA Wrap Up: DC

My company covered my flight home for Thanksgiving and a flight for Christmas, which we chose to have Matt use to come up to Virginia for the holidays.

It was really nice to have him come up for the week between Christmas and New Years. He was finally able to see all of the places I'd been talking about for the previous month and a half.

 We spent our first Christmas away from family.  While it was sad to be apart from loved ones, I was so happy to be with Matt.  We cooked a real Christmas dinner and followed our tradition of a movie in the evening.  The movie theaters in Charlottesville are a lot smaller than at home, and we arrived early to make sure we could actually get tickets (after several years of sell outs back home).  We sat alone in an empty theater until just a few minutes before showtime, when it began to fill up a little more.  Maybe Christmas movie outings aren't quite the tradition in small college towns that they are where we live (?).

The next day, we loaded up the car, dropped the pups off at the kennel, and headed to D.C.

The drive was absolutely stunning.  I was glued to the window the entire trip.  Snow was falling and the countryside was dotted with beautiful old farms and pastures. 

Not far from Charlottesville, we pulled the car over and took photos at this beautifully picturesque old church.

It had a small cemetery on the property and sat surrounded by peaceful quiet, even though it was right on the main county road.

Founded in 1747.

I loved the front doors so much that I'm considering harassing my fellow church building committee members to consider something similar.  Aren't they beautiful?

I can honestly say that that was the most beautiful drive I've ever taken.  I held my breath and sat completely enthralled with the beauty of the area.  I don't know how else to describe it other than beautiful.  It wasn't the striking beauty of the craggy cliffs on the California coastline or the stark, colorful beauty of the arid Southwest.  It was just simple countryside beauty.

However, as we got closer to D.C., the air grew colder and the weather steadily declined.

By the time we entered the city, it was a miserable day.

 I may be smiling, but I can guarantee you I wasn't happy...

Fortunately, the weather was stunning for the remainder of our trip. Cold and crisp, but with beautiful blue skies.  A perfect backdrop for exploring our nation's capitol.

 We had a whirlwind few days and were able to see just about everything we wanted.  My favorite part was the tour of the US Capitol.  I don't think that Matt was nearly as enamored as I, but I just felt like I was truly someplace special.

One thing that Matt and I don't exactly share is my passion for politics.  I wouldn't describe him as uninformed or  indifferent, he just doesn't seem to get as animated about or interested in certain aspects of our political atmosphere (though that could probably be said about a lot of subjects - Matt is just more laid back and I am much more high strung!).

To me, the US Capitol represents so much more than one of our branches of government.  The American "experiment", as many of our founding fathers considered it, was one of the first attempts of a nation to successfully govern themselves.  There was no written instructions on how to construct such a government, and they kind of made it up as they went along.  It's amazing to see the results of their work, 235 years later, and how many other nations have tried to model their own governments after the Americans.

I was just in awe as we toured a small part of the building.

Inside the "lower" rotunda.

By the way, if you're planning a trip to DC., call your US Senator or Congressman well in advance to set up scheduled tours of the places of interest to your family.  Senator Sessions' office was wonderful and helped us book our tour of the Capitol (I wanted to tour the White House, but it is closed between Christmas and New Years). Some places let you schedule a tour the day you're there, but there are limited spaces for unscheduled tours.  If you know when you're going to be in town, and would like a certain tour, try to schedule it ahead of time (up to six months in advance).

 I absolutely loved the artwork on the inside of the lower dome.

Each of the 50 states has two statues that are on display within the Capitol.  Alabama just sent over a statue of Hellen Keller as a child, which was on display in the visitor's center just below the Capitol. 

The original chamber of the House of Representatives.

After our tour, we walked down the National Lawn and hit up several of the memorials.

On our way to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, we stopped and watched as the President's helicopter landed and took off from the front lawn of the White House.

We had a great setup for exploring DC.  A good friend from college who lives just north of DuPont Circle was back home visiting family for the holidays, and graciously offered his gorgeous flat with views of the Capitol and Washington monument.  We were able to take the short walk to the DuPont metro and get off at any of the numerous metro stops near the tourist attractions.

We also had a chance to grab dinner in Georgetown with friends Pam and Rob, who adopted Charlie over a year ago.  What fun it was catching up with them and seeing photos of our first weimaraner foster!

U.S. Supreme Court.

All in all, we were able to walk by most of the major attractions and also spent time touring Ford's Theater, The Spy Museum (the only thing we went to that charged admission), the Jefferson/Lincoln/Washington/Vietnam War memorials, Air and Space Museum, Natural History museum, National Archives (which houses the original Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, etc.), US Capitol, Union Station, etc. 

By the end of it, my feet hurt!

Back Home: VA Wrap Up Part I

So, I've been back "home" for almost two weeks now.  The funny thing is, I was calling Charlottesville "home" for a while there and was a little sad to leave.

Being completely on my own was a new/exciting/fun/terrifying/rewarding experience for me.  I've never lived by myself, let alone away from every. single. person. that I know.  To be quite honest, the first couple of weeks were rather miserable.  I tried to think about how much fun this was all going to be, and then I'd look out the window, see how pretty the changing leaves were, and then start tearing up because I remembered that I missed my husband.

I like to think of myself as pretty self-sufficient and capable, but deep down I can be a big baby!  I agreed to take the trip almost immediately when asked, but a week before I was supposed to leave, I begged Matt to help me find a way out.  I sobbed in the car, "I don't wanna gooooo!", but he made me go anyway.  I appreciate having a husband who helps me to keep my word and follow through when I don't always want to. 

Colonial Williamsburg

However, once I was there long enough to figure out how to get around town and to get into the rhythm of things, I really enjoyed myself.  I loved the work I was doing, the people I was working around, and really fell in love with the area.  I found a wonderful church with beautiful music and excellent preaching.  I was able to do lots of sightseeing and even found some decent shopping.

Of course, it was a million times more fun when people came to visit, and I was blessed to have several visitors.

My parents came up before Christmas and spent several days with me.

 Mom and Dad on the steps of the Rotunda.

They did some of the local stuff while I was at work one day.   Together, we toured the UVA Academical Village and took a day trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

UVA in the snow.

 Williamsturburg was something I'd wanted to do for a while.  Unfortunately, the weather was miserably cold (which probably kept things crowd-free, but also turtned us into walking icicles).

One of the first buildings we explored was the "Presbyterian Meeting House".  Any denomination other than the Church of England was not formally recognized in the American colonies and therefore not allowed free worship.  The Presbyterians in Williamsburg were allowed a "meeting house" (not a church) and could only meet under fairly strict regulations.  Everyone was required to pay a tithe to the Church of England, regardless of membership.

Pappa don't preach!

We were able to have tea in the local tea house with the parish priest.  If you've never been to Colonial Williamsburg, many of the buildings are set for a certain year during the colonial era and actors play their parts in the characters of the time.  It was a little uncomfortable at first because most will refuse to break character.  I imagine that it would've been a lot more fun if we'd brought along my sisters, who never seem to get embarrassed and would have been able to come up with some whoppers in order to play along.

If you've ever wondered why my sisters and I are all complete dorks, look no further...

 In front of the Governor's mansion.

This guy was my favorite.  I can't remember his official title, but he was hand crafting leather goods in the armory.  He actually answered my questions about the colonial characters.  They really do make their own outfits, wear custom-made leather shoes, and learn the crafts of their characters as they would have been performed back around ~1770.

I enjoyed Williamsburg, but I would recommend going when the weather is >30 degrees.  I think it gets pretty crowded in the summer, which would take away from some of the personal interactions with the colonial characters, but I've heard it's really pretty in the spring and fall.  I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with kids; I know I would have enjoyed it when I was younger.

I loved looking at the colonial gardens, even under the snow.