The month of May is traditionally a busy month for us and this month was no different. Our anniversary is in May and so is Davin's birthday. May is a month of transition for us. We have moved every summer of our marriage except for one (we just celebrated our 6th anniversary), and May is usually the month in which we move. This May we moved yet again, but it may be the last May move for awhile, well, maybe... :)
The month started off with the end of Chris's classes and possibly his academic career. We have spent our entire relationship in school, applying to school, anticipating going to school, etc., so finishing school will be a big change for us. Chris is particularly good at going to school and I know he will miss being in a classroom. We will both miss being in an academic community and all of its benefits. Chris also changed from being moderately busy to being not occupied with much outside of the house, at least until he starts work in the middle of July. He is not complaining and we are enjoying this precious time together before he starts work.
A few days after Chris finished classes, we said goodbye to Winston-Salem and our dear friends there. They were sad to see us go and happy that they didn't have to help us move. Chris's new company took very good care of us with our move; they paid for house-hunting trips, hotel stays during our move, and movers to pack and move our house. Our movers arrived with boxes and paper, packed our house in one day and cleaned it out the next. We drove to Charlotte after the last box left in time to do a final walk-through on our new house. We signed the papers the next day with the most fascinating lawyer. I swear he was Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird; he even looked a little like Gregory Peck. There was a small snafu with with our funds transfer, so we had to wait an extra day to get the keys. We used the afternoon to do some furniture shopping and we found a great bedroom set and table set for the eat-in kitchen.
The next day we got our keys and our things arrived at the house. To the dismay of our movers, they were unable to get the truck down our driveway and had to instead haul everything down by hand. They were amazing workers and still managed to unload everything in a timely manner. However, it wasn't surprising that Davin picked up a new phrase (oh d&@%!) as I'm sure they said it and thought it a few times as they hauled things down our steep driveway. We had a week to sort through our boxes and make sense of the chaos before Chris's parents and grandparents arrived. It is a challenge to unpack with little ones and we did most of the unpacking after they went to bed. There were nights that I sat down to blog or check emails and I would fall asleep instead. The night before their arrival, we had everything at least in its place (though not decorated). I was wiping the counters in the kitchen, one of my last chores for the evening and thinking about how nice it was to have everything done when I heard a large crash in the guest bedroom. The shelving structure in the guest bedroom collapsed as Chris put the final items away, so unfortunately Chris's parents arrived to find their room not the neat and tidy space I was hoping it would be.
We were so excited to have Chris's family join us for his graduation ceremonies and to celebrate this special time. Chris's parents joined us for a graduation party at a country club in Winston-Salem (Bryan was gracious enough to watch a tearful Davin who was a little uncertain about all of the changes he had experienced that week and not sure he was ready to be without Mom and Dad). We attended the hooding ceremony with Chris's family a day later. The hooding ceremony is a special ceremony for graduate students; in this case it was held with just the business school graduates at Wake's chapel. The ceremony was well organized (though little ones grew restless quickly) and I'm glad that we were able to attend. I was particularly proud of the honors that Chris received. He was awarded with the Robert N. White award for a project he completed this last year, an award considered prestigious at Wake. He also graduated fourth in his class and received an academic distinction award. I have watched Chris grow a great deal over the past two years and I am so proud of the progress he has made. Some challenges really stretched him and I am very proud of the way he excelled. Congratulations Chris!
Instead of attending the remaining graduation celebrations, we decided to stay in Charlotte and celebrate Davin's birthday. Yay for the big three! Chris cooked Davin a brisket and we played with grandparents at our new house. Davin got some fun gifts from grandparents and a new sandbox from Mom and Dad. He loved having the "Happy Birthday!" song sung to him over and over again; he probably blew out his candle at least ten times. Admittedly the song was a little lack luster the last time. Happy Birthday Davin!
A couple of days later, we said goodbye to the Reeses and then hit the road. The first leg of our trip took us to the Washington D.C. area where we stayed with my cousins Kristi and Josh. Tiffani was able to get away from her busy schedule to play with us as well and we had a great visit with everyone. We took the kids to the Washington D.C. Zoo to see the pandas (though Davin was far more interested in the construction vehicles working on a nearby exhibit). We had a fun time playing with Liezl and Quincy (Kristi's girls) and hanging out with Aunt Tiffi.
We stayed in DC for a few days and then headed up the coast to the Big Apple where we stayed with our friends, the Christensens. Charlotte is no small town, but it is not a big city like NYC is a big city. Davin was fascinated with the big buildings and the large loading cranes at an import dock in New Jersey. The Christensens guided us into the city, taking us out for a yummy lunch of Chinese dumplings and hanging out at Central Park. We went to Maile's favorite bakery, Magnolia's, who are famous for their cupcakes and banana pudding (for good reason too!). It is always fun to see NYC, especially with friends who know where they are going. We had a great time staying with our friends and the kids did amazingly well despite the fact that there were four of them in an 800 sq ft apartment.
Staying with my cousin and with the Christensens was an interesting interlude into the world of little girls. There are a lot of boys and boy-ness in my life right now and I absolutely love it. However, it was delightful to have a little girl time with little girls. Princesses, painting nails, and pink everywhere, that's what little girls are made of.
The next stop on our trip was a brief stay in Charlottesville. I had a business meeting and of course didn't mind the excuse to visit our friends there as well. My supervisor, Bronwyn, graciously invited us to stay at her lovely home (we went from sharing a small apartment with eight people to having a basement of nearly the same size all to ourselves). We met with friends the next evening for dinner and decided to stay another night instead of driving home tired. The Patchetts are always so accommodating and it was fun to spend a little more time with them and with the Carrolls as well.
On our drive home, we decided to stop in southern Virginia to visit our friends, the Charters. On our little tour, we managed to visit nearly all of our friends on the East Coast. I am so grateful for so many wonderful friends. It was a reminder to me of how blessed we are to have such friends in our lives and valuable their friendships are to me.
The month started off with the end of Chris's classes and possibly his academic career. We have spent our entire relationship in school, applying to school, anticipating going to school, etc., so finishing school will be a big change for us. Chris is particularly good at going to school and I know he will miss being in a classroom. We will both miss being in an academic community and all of its benefits. Chris also changed from being moderately busy to being not occupied with much outside of the house, at least until he starts work in the middle of July. He is not complaining and we are enjoying this precious time together before he starts work.
A few days after Chris finished classes, we said goodbye to Winston-Salem and our dear friends there. They were sad to see us go and happy that they didn't have to help us move. Chris's new company took very good care of us with our move; they paid for house-hunting trips, hotel stays during our move, and movers to pack and move our house. Our movers arrived with boxes and paper, packed our house in one day and cleaned it out the next. We drove to Charlotte after the last box left in time to do a final walk-through on our new house. We signed the papers the next day with the most fascinating lawyer. I swear he was Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird; he even looked a little like Gregory Peck. There was a small snafu with with our funds transfer, so we had to wait an extra day to get the keys. We used the afternoon to do some furniture shopping and we found a great bedroom set and table set for the eat-in kitchen.
The next day we got our keys and our things arrived at the house. To the dismay of our movers, they were unable to get the truck down our driveway and had to instead haul everything down by hand. They were amazing workers and still managed to unload everything in a timely manner. However, it wasn't surprising that Davin picked up a new phrase (oh d&@%!) as I'm sure they said it and thought it a few times as they hauled things down our steep driveway. We had a week to sort through our boxes and make sense of the chaos before Chris's parents and grandparents arrived. It is a challenge to unpack with little ones and we did most of the unpacking after they went to bed. There were nights that I sat down to blog or check emails and I would fall asleep instead. The night before their arrival, we had everything at least in its place (though not decorated). I was wiping the counters in the kitchen, one of my last chores for the evening and thinking about how nice it was to have everything done when I heard a large crash in the guest bedroom. The shelving structure in the guest bedroom collapsed as Chris put the final items away, so unfortunately Chris's parents arrived to find their room not the neat and tidy space I was hoping it would be.
We were so excited to have Chris's family join us for his graduation ceremonies and to celebrate this special time. Chris's parents joined us for a graduation party at a country club in Winston-Salem (Bryan was gracious enough to watch a tearful Davin who was a little uncertain about all of the changes he had experienced that week and not sure he was ready to be without Mom and Dad). We attended the hooding ceremony with Chris's family a day later. The hooding ceremony is a special ceremony for graduate students; in this case it was held with just the business school graduates at Wake's chapel. The ceremony was well organized (though little ones grew restless quickly) and I'm glad that we were able to attend. I was particularly proud of the honors that Chris received. He was awarded with the Robert N. White award for a project he completed this last year, an award considered prestigious at Wake. He also graduated fourth in his class and received an academic distinction award. I have watched Chris grow a great deal over the past two years and I am so proud of the progress he has made. Some challenges really stretched him and I am very proud of the way he excelled. Congratulations Chris!
Instead of attending the remaining graduation celebrations, we decided to stay in Charlotte and celebrate Davin's birthday. Yay for the big three! Chris cooked Davin a brisket and we played with grandparents at our new house. Davin got some fun gifts from grandparents and a new sandbox from Mom and Dad. He loved having the "Happy Birthday!" song sung to him over and over again; he probably blew out his candle at least ten times. Admittedly the song was a little lack luster the last time. Happy Birthday Davin!
A couple of days later, we said goodbye to the Reeses and then hit the road. The first leg of our trip took us to the Washington D.C. area where we stayed with my cousins Kristi and Josh. Tiffani was able to get away from her busy schedule to play with us as well and we had a great visit with everyone. We took the kids to the Washington D.C. Zoo to see the pandas (though Davin was far more interested in the construction vehicles working on a nearby exhibit). We had a fun time playing with Liezl and Quincy (Kristi's girls) and hanging out with Aunt Tiffi.
We stayed in DC for a few days and then headed up the coast to the Big Apple where we stayed with our friends, the Christensens. Charlotte is no small town, but it is not a big city like NYC is a big city. Davin was fascinated with the big buildings and the large loading cranes at an import dock in New Jersey. The Christensens guided us into the city, taking us out for a yummy lunch of Chinese dumplings and hanging out at Central Park. We went to Maile's favorite bakery, Magnolia's, who are famous for their cupcakes and banana pudding (for good reason too!). It is always fun to see NYC, especially with friends who know where they are going. We had a great time staying with our friends and the kids did amazingly well despite the fact that there were four of them in an 800 sq ft apartment.
Staying with my cousin and with the Christensens was an interesting interlude into the world of little girls. There are a lot of boys and boy-ness in my life right now and I absolutely love it. However, it was delightful to have a little girl time with little girls. Princesses, painting nails, and pink everywhere, that's what little girls are made of.
The next stop on our trip was a brief stay in Charlottesville. I had a business meeting and of course didn't mind the excuse to visit our friends there as well. My supervisor, Bronwyn, graciously invited us to stay at her lovely home (we went from sharing a small apartment with eight people to having a basement of nearly the same size all to ourselves). We met with friends the next evening for dinner and decided to stay another night instead of driving home tired. The Patchetts are always so accommodating and it was fun to spend a little more time with them and with the Carrolls as well.
On our drive home, we decided to stop in southern Virginia to visit our friends, the Charters. On our little tour, we managed to visit nearly all of our friends on the East Coast. I am so grateful for so many wonderful friends. It was a reminder to me of how blessed we are to have such friends in our lives and valuable their friendships are to me.
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