Emotional Rollercoaster

What a time these past few weeks have been! There are quite a few highlights to tell, both good and bad, and many things to share with you all.

When we visited Sandy Spring, Nate's Aunt Joan and Uncle Alister became smitten with Cricket, our little papillon foster. We were very understanding, given that we're in love with him too! Joan and Alister put in an application to Papillon Club, and were accepted! Cricket is going to live with them at the end of December, and we're very excited. They have been emailing us with shopping lists and clarification questions, and are very excited! We're so happy that he's be going to what is already a loving, wonderful family. Joan and Alister Bell

Because work never ends, Cheryl already has another pap for us when we get to Michigan, a little girl names Bisket who has a nipping problem. We're concerned that we're going to hold all pap's up to Cricket's standard, but agree that its a great standard! Bisket

We're found out that I will not be going for an interview at Kansas, Michigan State, Ohio State or Purdue. My last hope is Mississippi State, which would be extremely far away from both our families, and would be a very difficult decision. It's likely I won't receive an interview there either. Everyone told me not to get my hopes up, but I've never been rejected from something before, so I did anyways. I'll be in contact with all of the schools to see what would make me more competitive next year.

In other exciting news, Ealrham has pulled my financial aid for next semester due to completing all the required classes to graduate (nevermind the classes I need to take for grad school). This means that I will be a part-time student, paying by credit hour, which is 1,109 PER CREDIT HOUR. Silly things are happening here. I am looking forward to not being as busy, and both of the classes that I need to take (physics and organic chemistry) are professors that I'm already comfortable with, so thats great. I'm also looking at applying for a job at the Family Video down the street to tide me over until I get a position at a vet's office. Have already spread my resume, but given the economic slump no one is hiring. Sad day.

On the upside, we're coming to visit all of you soon! We can't wait to be on vacation, and to have all of our Christmas projects finished. Love to all of you out there, near and far.

Thanksgiving in Michigan: A (Now) Retrospective

This time of year is always busy for all, but we figured we should buckle down and post an update before Christmas rolls around.

We spent Thanksgiving in Michigan with Justine's family, and since I had Thanksgiving and the day after off from work, we had a nice long weekend there. Wednesday afternoon we piled in the car with Hannah, Rufus, and Cricket, and made the trek North. We were pleased to have a precipitation free drive and arrived early enough to spend some time catching up with Justine's mom, dad, and sister. The next day we all packed into a car and drove to Muskegon to have dinner with Justine's grandparents (on her dad's side for the Bells playing along at home). After quite a feast, those of us who won't be there for Christmas opened presents. Justine and I received some wonderful gifts including two pillows and a gift certificate to Home Depot. Once it got late, we piled back in the car and made the drive home.

The next day was Black Friday, and though we didn't wait in line all night, we did brave a trip to Kohls for some clothes. By the time we got in line to checkout, it was stretching almost halfway around the store. Thank fully everyone was cheerful and the line moved fairly quickly. Afterwards Justine and I went to Home Depot to buy a power sander which will be really helpful in finishing our bathroom wall restoration project. Justine has been making an impressive go at smoothing down the walls by hand, but she's looking forward to better results at a faster pace. That evening we spent some time with a friend in Lansing and played a couple hours of Castle Crashers together.

The next day we drove to St. Louis to attend the bag party with family from Justine's mother's side. The bag party is like Secret Santa where each of the women in the family is assigned another woman to fill a bag with presents for them. They guys are allowed to come to fill out the group photo at the end. There were lots of interesting gifts exchanged, including some that get passed around each year, and it was a fun time for all. Once we got back, we met another friend in town (Justine grew up with him, and I talk to him on AIM all the time) who was having a reunion with his band. After they played their set, we all sat around talking, and eventually we and our friend went out to Denny's to get a late night snack and catch up further. It was a late night, but fun to get a chance to talk in person.


Sunday's forcast was calling for snow, and right around 11am it started falling:














We had to get going, and Anna was about to make the drive back to Pitt with a friend, so we had a quick lunch:













And then drove back to Richmond on the snowy (but not too slick) roads.













We'll be traveling to Virginia on the 23rd through Christmas, and then heading to Michigan around the 29th, and hoping the drive to and fro has good weather. We're looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple weeks!

Weeks in Review

We're sorry that its taken so long to get another post up. The developments of the past few weeks have caused things to be both sad and hectic, and we are just settling back into what feels more like a normal schedule. Because of the turmoil, this post will be backwards, meaning starting with most recent news and moving back over exciting things from the past few weeks.

This past weekend Nate and I traveled to Maryland for what will likely be our last trip to Sandy Spring Friends home, at least for a long time. Though the reason for the trip was extremely sad, we were very happy to see and spend time with family. The trip there was difficult, as some of you already know. Just as we crossed the border into Pennsylvania, there was a blizzard; we estimated three inches of snow in approximately twenty minutes. Without having time to melt before it was packed down, this made driving extremely treacherous, and we found a parking lot in which to sit for a while to wait out the storm. Once we did begin moving again, the highway in both directions was blocked off because of accidents and the only way that we were able to make any headway was going 0n 40 west, the opposite direction of where we wanted to be going. Luckily the GPS has a button called 'detour,' and it got us to our next highway on back roads beautifully. Unfortunately we only had an hour or so of clear driving before we had to tackle the storm a second time. We arrived safely, albeit two hours later than we had intended.

Mommer's memorial service was the most painfully wonderful thing I think I have ever experienced. Everyone gathered seated in a circle in a large room and sat in silence until they had something to share. So many people had her mannerisms down so well, and when stories were shared Nate and I would exchange a look that said 'that sounds exactly like something she would say/do.' The woman who was Mommer's nurse in the hospital was so touched by Mommer's personality and grace that she came to the service. Seeing how many lives Mommer had touched was wonderful. Getting to spend time with the family was, as always, filled with laughter and teasing.



We received news last week that Nate's second contest entry took top prize for Earlham's Dance Alloy poster contest (pictured above). This makes two designs in two weeks, and Nate is excited about finding another project to which he can apply his creative prowess. We also were able to use the new Ipod on the drive to and from Maryland to listen to 'Deception Point' and begin 'Dreams of my Father.' As an interesting side-note, the book is read by the author, so we got to spend a good deal of time listening to Obama's voice. On another side note, we can't recommend 'Deception Point'. Though we both enjoyed Dan Brown's previous books, we spent the whole time rolling our eyes and shaking our head while listening to this one. At least our running commentary about the story was fun!

A few weekends ago, my girlfreinds were wonderful enough to organize and throw a birdal shower for me. More pictures were taken but I haven't tracked them down yet. For now, here is a picture of all my 'girls' and myself. From left to right is: Amrit, Jen, Caroline, me, Ashton, Kaitlyn, Ann and Kyla. Ann is one of the girls from my cheer team, most are on the Earthquakers dance team, and Jen was pretty much the first friendly face I met upon transferring. They are really incredible, and you will hopefully be seeing them all and a few more as our ushers at the wedding. The one exception I think will be Ashton, who is moving out to Washington DC this winter.




We should post an update about wedding plans soon, but just thinking about it makes me tired, so it will have to wait. I'm also dedicating all my time these next few days to trying to finish the bathroom, but it is coming along slower than I had hoped and so will also have to wait. We miss and love all of you! Luckily we'll be seeing most if not all within the next month and a half! Happy holidays everyone!

A Life Well Lived

Mommer was born in 1920 in England. During World War II she, being a conscientious objector, volunteered to drive ambulances for the Friends unit in China. It was there that she met Colin Bell, a fellow CO and Brit who later became her husband. Together they embraced the Quaker ideals of nonviolence, caring for others, and living simply. In their time together, they were major parts of Quaker organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C. and Honolulu, Hawaii. Upon retiring, they pursued a more rural lifestyle, and ended up purchasing a farm in Fluvanna County, Virginia. In 1988 Colin passed away. I was five at the time, and only have a few memories of him.

After Colin's death, Mommer began her life anew. She became a primary fixture of the Charlottesville Friend's Meeting and for many years worked as a receptionist at a local dentist. Eventually she changed jobs to work at the front desk of the local library. Years later, when she moved to the Sandy Spring Friend's Retirement Community, she became the program coordinator, and arranged talks and showings for the residents. Whatever her position, she took her charge with gusto, and preferred working with others.

Always eager to chat, one could spend hours talking with Mommer about any number of topics. As a boy, I often got home late because I had stopped to talk with her. She was boisterous, a bit of a gossip, and likely to make amusing comments during dinner after a glass of wine. She was also generous, caring, and eager to praise. She loved learning and I would often get calls from her letting me know about programs on PBS. While at Sandy Spring, she and I compared notes when we both discovered we were watching "Planet Earth" at the same time. It's probably for the best she never learned to use the Internet; I believe she would have spent hours reading interesting articles and forwarding them on to everyone on her contact list.

Mommer touched many lives during her time, and all who met her were the better for it. Her life was a model of peace, dignity, and caring, and one which shaped my life in many ways. On November 10th, while surrounded by family, she passed away peacefully.

A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, November 22, 2008, at Friends House, 17340 Quaker Lane, Sandy Spring, Maryland 20860.

A second celebration will be held May 10, 2009, in Kent's Store, Virginia, a time when Mommer would hold her annual bird walk on our family farm.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 or the Friends House Resident Assistance Fund, 17340 Quaker Lane, Sandy Spring, MD 20860.

Both of us were honored by the number of people who sent their wishes to us and to the family in this difficult time. The outpouring of love from both friends and family has been a much needed comfort, and we thank you all.

Sad News

As some of you may have heard, Nate and I spent the majority of our time this week in Maryland. We got a call on Monday night saying that Nate's grandmother, affectionately referred to as "Mommer" had been admitted to the hospital with chest pain. We left for the hospital within the hour, but by the time we arrived there, Mommer wasn't expected to live through the night.

She has made it the last few days, a recovery the doctor said was 'amazing' to him. She was wonderfully lucid on Tuesday and we spent all day with her. On Wednesday we moved her to her home at the Friends House, and she has nurses here 24 hours. She has entered hospice, and is on whats called 'comfort care.'

Anyone who has ever met Mommer will know how amazing she is. A few years ago she moved to Sandy Spring's Quaker retirement home, and within three weeks she knew all of the residents. The maintenence man even came by when she got home today to welcome her back. Thinking about losing her makes me feel like I can't breathe, and I know Nate feels the same way. We are lucky to have known her wishes, and to be able to give her the peace that she wanted. Please, if you can, just send up a quick prayer/hope/thought for Nate and the entire Bell family.

All the World's a Stage

Nate and I had a fun Halloween this year - one of my girlfriends made an Alice in Wonderland costume a few years ago, and when she moved she decided that 'she didn't have the hair to pull it off' and left it with me. So this year Nate and I went as Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter. This was appropriate because Nate can look extremely mad, as evidenced by the pictures I got of him. We also had a sweater that had Sponge Bob on it, so we dressed Cricket up. Nate is very distressed, because he now has to change his opinion on people who dress their dogs. The jury is still out on whether this will happen or not - some people who dress their dogs are quite strange. Maybe we're quite strange as well? Anyways, Cricket looked adorable.

We didn't get as many trick-or-treaters as we were expecting, so we have a ton of candy that needs to get eaten, which we fully believe that we can handle. After trick or treating, we went to something called the Farm Party, where Earlham's working farm opens its doors for the evening for the students to have a party - there were bands and everyone was huddled into the barn, which I'm told is pretty normal. Turns out we didn't get the memo that its COLD in late October. We still had a lot of fun. Ironically, one of our friends came as the Chesire Cat, totally independant of us. We got a picture with her, which hopefully will surface in the next week or so.

Cricket we think will be leaving us soon - the regional director for PCAR (papillon club of America rescue) says that as soon as he is up on the website, people will start sending in applications for him. This is causing quite a bit of pause in our house, because he's become very much a part fo the family. Its probably better that we don't keep him, but we've grown to love him so much! Luckily, we get to pick the home that he goes to, so its guarenteed that we're happy with the placement. But thinking about him leaving makes me so lonely. What to do, what to do?

In other news, Nate's design for a contest is now in the top three, and we should find out soon whether or not we had the best design. If we win, the poster will be put up in 5 different cities for teaching people about protecting run-off, and we will be the owner of a shiny new iPod (important because both of ours are broken). It makes me think of last Christmas, Nate's grandmother gave us a bookmark that said that there are two ways of spreading light; making it yourself, or being a mirror to reflect it. She asked me which I was, and I told her that I was pretty sure I was the mirror; Nate is so creative, and I'm his manager of sorts. I make sure he always has new ways to be creative, and that many people see his designs. I'm always so proud of him!

I have to go meet my girlfriends for the evening, but we miss all of you! Hope to hear from you soon. Love!

All things begin somewhere

Given the fact that Nate and I seem to be terrible at staying in touch with everyone, and that the number of people who we would like to stay in touch with is quite large, we have decided to attempt to reach as many people as possible across cyberspace. We will be updating here as often as we can, and welcome questions from anyone about what we're up to or how things are going!

October has been busy. Things are starting to get cold, so we're trying to find time to shore up the house as much as possible, but just haven't found time to do so yet. Our plan is to put rubber stoppers under the doors to prevent drafts, put plastic over the windows, and ideally place a cat door in the basement door so that the cats can go down to the litter boxes without losing so much heat to our concrete basement. All of these things will happen, maybe tomorrow, hopefully soon.

In the meantime, we've just returned from a visit to MSU vet school, where we got some not-so-great news; one of my evaluators got their reference in late, and so I am not eligible for next year. This may or may not also affect some of the other schools I have applied to. We were of course disappointed, but looking on the bright side. Nate really enjoys his job here, and it would certainly not be a bad thing for me to work full time for a year, to get our finances closer to where we would like them to be.

School has been a trial this semester; I am taking three difficult sciences (biochemistry, organic chemistry, and physics) as well as a literature class. Three are going well, but our biochemistry professor is new, and the class is interesting. We're not sure what our grades are at this point, but he keeps telling us 'not to worry.' This does not soothe my nerves. Organic chemistry and physics are functional, though I fully agree with the idea that at least 50% of the class is learning the professor. My literature class has been a godsend; the professor expects us to be adults and treats us as adults (surprisingly rare), and the literature and discussions are interesting.

Nate has been keeping busy with things as well, and says 'hi' to everyone from across the couch. He's been designing using photoshop for various causes. This month he designed a logo for the animal shelter that I am involved in, and entered a poster contest about wastewater care. We hope to win a 4-gigabyte iPod from the latter, but regardless it was well done and will go nicely into his portfolio. In all of his 'down time' he has been working on programming a game. Its extremely interesting to see how all these things work, and how much work goes into every little step. He describes it as 'exciting' with a spattering of 'frusturating.'

Our household continues to fluctuate. Currently we have our animals, four kittens and two dogs. We've really come to love Boomer, the American Walker Coonhound, despite all of his quirks. I'm going to try to get a picture of him and Cricket (the papillon) together; they hang out during the day, an interesting pair.

Attached pictures are of current and recent fosters. Cricket and Boomer both make an appearance; it is easy to see how well Cricket, Rufus and Hannah, get along, sleeping together. The Honda love was from MI, and the picture was just too good to pass up. Gray kitten is Gemini, brother is Gaius, both living here with us for the next month or so. If you visit, please leave us a message and let us know you've been here. Feel free to ask questions, we will be happy to reply!