They're Hitched!

Jason and Amber are husband and wife! Joel, my mother and I had the privilege of witnessing Jason and Amber exchange marriage vows Sunday, June 17th. The ceremony took place in a beautiful garden in Denver, Colorado -- in record heat! Even with the heat, their wedding was perfect. Their friends provided the music, the delicious home-brewed beer, and even served as the officiant at the ceremony!

It was lovely to see our old friends from Pennsylvania, including the Freelands (in the picture on the top) and Jason's parents.

Sunburn, Sharks, and Sad goodbyes

Well... our time at the beach house is over... on Saturday my mother, Joel and I traveled to Denver, Colorado to attend the wedding of my best friend, Jason Stevens. I am currently sitting in our hotel room in Denver -- the beautiful mountains in the not-so-far distance. I should probably be getting ready for the wedding, which begins in just a few hours. But, I thought I would take a minute to update our blog.

As our week at the beach house progressed more and more family members returned to their homes -- Rochelle and Dad left early Wednesday morning and Ronnie followed Thursday morning. The house became increasingly quiet. That said, several extended family members joined us on Friday for a swim and we celebrated my Uncle Lynn's 60th birthday!

We had a great time at the beach, although I did manage to sunburn my back. I had two layers of 50+ sunblock on, but I stayed out too long and in the heat of the day. I just couldn't help it. The weather was beautiful, the water warm, and my brother, sister, and I had a great time looking for shells. I was reminded of all the summers I spent at the beach... looking for shells, diving for sand dollars (we always returned them unharmed!), and body surfing. I think Joel enjoyed the water -- it is very different from California beaches. And, of course, being on the gulf side of Florida, there is no surf... just lots of gentle waves of warm water. But he enjoyed diving for sea treasures and swimming.

We had a bit of excitement in the water: my brother and cousin, Michelle spotted two small sharks swimming just a few feet from them (Ronnie and Michelle were out near the sand bar). We decided to come out of the water and go for a walk. It was low tide and the walk was beautiful -- a much better view of the sea life. In fact, there were several schools of fish trapped in the tidal pools! Several little children were catching the fish and throwing them to the seagulls.

Overall is was a wonderful week -- a beautiful way to honor the 60 years of my grandparent's marriage. We even managed to get a family portrait of all the extended family (my grandparents, their three daughters and their families) except for 1! Not bad for families always on the go... and spread out all over the country (and soon to be world!).

So... this is our last stop on the Robyn and Joel Magical Mystery Tour. We return to Austin tomorrow evening where we will spend 2 days repacking and taking care of all the little details (and there are LOTS of details!) associated with our move to Copenhagen (like tracking down our visas!!!). We leave the country in 8 days and my anxiety is increasing. I am very excited and happy. I am thrilled that Joel will finally have the opportunity to work with colleagues who truly understand and value his intellectual gifts. I am looking forward to meeting my Copenhagen colleagues, who have extended numerous expressions of welcome (and been very helpful with some of the details of moving!). There are just lots of details to take care of... and my "to do" list is growing larger and larger (and I keep checking things off!). It is always hard to say goodbye to our friends and family, but we are excited that many of you are already making plans to visit!

Well, I should get ready. I don't want to be late for the wedding! I will write more about the wedding... until later...

Relaxing at the beach...

We all gathered at a beach house in St. Petersberg beach to celebrate our grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary. My grandparents' actual anniversary was in December, but this was the first opportunity we could all get together. We've had a wonderful time meeting and playing with the triplets -- William, Caleb, and Jacob (Paul and Kelly's children) -- and celebrating their first birthday! We also got to spend a bit more time with Laura, Mike's new wife. The weather is beautiful and water warm and inviting. And, the best part... no sunburn (yet!).

Party in C-Bad!!!

Yep... we hosted our obligatory party at the Krueger's house. The usual gang (including Joel's family from AZ) was all there including Ted and Courtney who drove down from LA and Ryan and Geannie who brought little Ryan over (he was the hit of the party!). Joel used the Krueger's new grill to grill kabobs, which were a huge hit. Not a single kabob left! The evening ended with a trip to Travis's house to celebrate his roommate's (Bryan) 30th birthday.

TWO YEARS!

We can hardly believe it, but Joel and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on May 29th. We took Joel's parents to Vigalluci's for dinner -- it was a wonderful meal with an incredible view of the beach. Two years... it seems like we got married just yesterday and we feel like we've been married forever! Married life definitely agrees with us! (the picture is in front of the Krueger's fireplace after our meal!)

Family visit in Carlsbad!

We had a wonderful time visiting with Joel's family: Grandma Toben, Uncle Bill, cousin Lisa and her daughters Marissa and Lexi were able to visit from Tucson. They drove over on Thursday and stayed until Sunday morning. Grandma Toben still exceeds everyone's expectations -- her health continues to improve everyday. Marissa and Lexi were able to play with their cousins in San Diego and Uncle Bill got plenty of "beach time." This is a picture from Sunday morning -- apparently blue was the color of the day!

We kissed Carbondale Goodbye!

After Joel's graduation we spent several days with Joel's aunt and uncle (and the rest of Joel's immediate family) in Batavia, Il. We had a lot of fun relaxing after the busy weekend. Batavia is a beautiful suburb of Chicago and we enjoyed going for walks and consuming several of the local delicacies (fried cheese!). The men went shooting for an afternoon while the women did a bit of shopping.

A bit more rested and relaxed, Joel and I spent the next week packing up our house. We sold most of our stuff at a garage sale (thanks for your help, Ronn!) and the rest went in storage. I completely underestimated how long it would take us to pack up and move -- there were so many little things to take care of! And, of course, there were several things that didn't go exactly as planned. But, we (finally) packed up our car, including Bodhi and Lola Mae, and headed for Austin. After a stop in a rather seedy part of Memphis to ship our books to Copenhagen, we arrived at my parents house in Austin at 2:30 the morning. Bodhi and Lola Mae will spend the next two years with my parents (and will be thoroughly spoiled I am sure!). They immediately made the house their own and have my parents at their beck and call.

We were only able to stay in Austin for a few short days before we headed to California to spend some time with Joel's family. I had to attend the International Communication Association Conference annual convention in San Francisco for several days, but we are now all in Carlsbad enjoying the cool but sunny weather. Joel's uncle Bill and Grandma will join us in Carlsbad for a few days. They should arrive tomorrow.

The next stop in our magical mystery tour is Florida to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of my grandparents, William and Virginia Little. 60 years together! Joel and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary yesterday -- I can hardly imagine 60 years together! That said, I hope I have 60 more years with Joel. Who knew marriage could be so fun!

Joel Graduated!

Date: May 12, 2007
Place: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.

Joel and I traveled up to West Lafayette to meet Joel's parents and brother Travis and attend Joel's graduation. After a busy week trying to finish up our grades and pack our house, we arrived in Lafayette Friday night. Silas and Marsha (Joel's parents) told me I was boss for the day (Saturday) and I was responsible for making sure Joel was in place at the right time and we had good seats for the commencement exercises. Well, as most of you know, I never pass up the opportunity to be the boss... so I ran a pretty tight ship that day! The good news is that Joel was in place with plenty of time to spare and we were in line early enough to push our way to the PERFECT seats! For those of you unfamiliar with Purdue University commencement exercises, seating is open -- no assigned seating. So, everyone has to line up until they open the doors and then we push to get to our preferred seats. It reminded me of a rock concert! Anyway, the ceremony was wonderful -- the speeches meaningful and short, the choir and band inspiring and in-tune, and the graduates handsome (see enclosed picture) and orderly.

After a few hours of pictures around campus (the weather was beautiful-- sunny but not too hot!) we joined our long-time friends for a wonderful celebratory meal at our favorite steakhouse, Mountain Jacks.

It is hard to believe our time with Purdue is over -- we are both officially Drs.! We leave with much gratitude and excitement. Our years at Purdue were thrilling, stressful, challenging, and happy. We made life-long friends, discovered the depths of our own creative and mental abilities, and met each other. Not a bad six years! All Hail Purdue!

Too long since last post!

I can't believe its been over a month since my last post! So much has happened... Joel graduated... we moved... etc. I promise to update our blog (and include lots of pictures) over the next few days!