Goodbye Maryland!

Today is my last day in Maryland--I'll be packing up my office at CASL if anyone needs me.
Sad words.

BUT, tomorrow I move (permanently) to NC. I'm not sure if you've met my 'new' roommate down there, but he is HOTTTTT!

See you tomorrow, honey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSI

A Big Ol' Happy Birthday to our OLD friend (28...haha...) Jessi!
Hope you have a GREAT Birthday!















28 Reasons to remain your friend this year!
You:

1.) Drive me to the airport in snow storms
2.) watch my dog
3.) let me be a roomie for 6 weeks
4.) do yoga..by force
5.) laugh at my flaws (in a cruel way, but still, you're laughing)
6.) give me first shot at the shower in the mornings
7.) share clothes with me
8.) watch Season One of Grey's Anatomy again..and again...and again
9.) Can recite Anne of Green Gables
10.) move in next door...only to...
11.) help me move out
12.) defend me to mean anonymous commenters (you big internet bullies!)
13.) root me on at 5k's
14.) are the sole provider of every picture I have of Rob and I from the past 5 months
15.) you are my fav scrapbooking buddy
16.) SO YOU THINK YOU'RE FROM FRANCE junkie
17.) give me keys to your house that don't work
18.) go to the dog park with me..okay, USED to go..
19.) laugh at my horrible jokes
20.) keep me up WAY past my bedtime to talk about the best way to eat string cheese
21.) make your husband supply my coffee IV in the mornings
22.) despite what you think, you will eventually cave and to switch to Verizon
23.) are the only person I know who can't wait to visit Jacksonville
24.) we can argue, cry, and laugh all inside of 15 minutes
25.) Scout and Riley are cousins. We can't split them now, the bond is too deep.
26.) You tell me when I look ridiculous
27.) Let me steal your Cheerios
28.) Because the lady next door always thinks I'm you anyway. :-)
You're stuck. Happy Birthday!

Hey! I know that guy!

So... Everyone remember Ben?
For those of you just joining us, let me give you some backround.
Ben is our friend who was diagnosed with cancer in his hip bone last year. His mom has been keeping us (and half of Maryland) up to date ever since. This was him at one of his doctor visits...














He went through TONS of chemo, and had the hip bone removed to make sure the cancer was GONE. (**AND IT IS!!**)
Ben had to wear a huge cast for three months (basically the entire summer). Anytime the doctors changed his cast, he had to be knocked out. He's such a good sport though- this was his cast that he insisted on for the 4th of July.














So Ben finally got the cast off and then was selected to throw the first pitch at the Cal Ripken World Series baseball game with Kimmie Meissner... this is him NOW!

















Ben, we are SO proud of you! Keep getting better! Those crutches are going to be gone any day now!
Love,
Rob and Danielle

It's a Table!

Okay, so the fruits of my labor are here. My woodshop class is complete and I now have a "Hallway end table" (pictures to follow shortly). I have no idea how I'll get it all the way down to NC, but the point of the matter is that I BUILT A TABLE!
...k,....so that's it.

Water from the Rock

Like the title says people, we did it. Somehow this weekend the Townleys managed to eek out a few drops of culture from southeastern NC. The outdoor concert we went to wasn't exactly what we envisioned (we were the youngest couple there by about 20 years, and I pestered Danielle into leaving after they played a rousing version of "Super Duper Love")...but the evening was vastly improved with some great chinese food and beer (odd combination, but don't knock it). Saturday night, however, was the main event. After walking around old-town Wilmington for a while, we showed up at the Juggling Gypsy just in time to score the last table. Actually I think it was one of maybe 3 tables in the whole place, most of the seating was made up of various couches, easychairs and swap-meet-tapestry-covered booths. I gotta say though, great place. The patrons ranged from 20something hippies to 50something couples with a smattering of lesbians and karate-clad gay kids. The evening's first act, a soberingly honest songwriter named Jon Roniger, played for a while while we enjoyed a really smooth Blackberry Hookah, and even hooked Danielle up with a free tank top (Apparently, he said, "She looked like a grey tank top kinda girl.") Then on came the bellydancers (who spent the hour prior to their performance getting totally sloshed in the back of the joint). It was both entertaining and amusing...but I have to give it up to the girls who did it, they were pretty brave to put themselves out there for our entertainment. Anyhow, we left around 11:30, and plan on making that place a regular haunt.

Sunday we got a little athletic and went rock climbing in the morning, and just chilled out with season one of Grey's Anatomy in the afternoon.

And as a total aside to the rest of this, I have #344 that everyone we know should move overseas. In an effort to stay healthy, Danielle and I agreed that we would only buy bread that fits in a normal-sized toaster from now on (smaller sandwiches, smaller portions, better meals). Finding aforementioned bread proved difficult, as America has seemingly become so obsessed with oversized food portions and "hearty" meals that most of the bread aisle contained loaves the size of a sewer culvert. When I FINALLY found a normal, healthy size loaf of bread, I paid 20 cents more for it than it's much larger bretheren becuase, that's right...it was marketed as "diet bread." Something is wrong with this country.

Cultural Innoculations

Yes sportsfans, we have an update on the Townleys' relocation to scenic NC...on a few fronts. This morning Danielle went in for a job interview at the extended campus that Campbell University has onboard Camp Lejeune (where Rob works). Yeah...not quite the beacon of higher education we thought it would be. Without so much as reading her resume, the interviewing counselor proceeded to ask her questions akin to "So...If someone just came into the office and started screaming at you, I mean just screaming, what would you do? Oh, and what if you had to answer the phone and someone was yelling at you, what would you say?" Danielle came out of the interview with one of those incredulous, "was that the twilight zone I just left?" looks on her face - priceless. In other news, we're going to an outdoor live Rock/Jazz dance night tonight in Wilmington at Airlie Gardens (much fun to be had), and a hookah bar called the Juggling Gypsy with bellydancing on Saturday night (Yes, that's right, a hookah bar. Not hooker bar, get your minds out of the gutter). So look for us to be continuing our HBO series marathons on Sunday, we'll probably not be up for much more than that. Oh...and the geek in me has to say, I just inherited an espresso machine from a pal at work...fresh espresso rocks! Just have to get the milk frother now and I'll be in business. Caffeinated business.

Danielle Weekend!

I have just returned from a 4 day stint in North Carolina. I gotta say, the six hour drive from here to there.. you don't get used to that. It still bites. After a particularly exhausting week full of 10 hour work days, 4 nights on an air mattress, and the longest woodshop class in the history of time (still working on that table), the absolute last thing I want to do is jump in the car and head for our new home in the sticks. This weekend, however, it was SO worth it. In addition to getting to see my own, personal G.I. Joe, Rob titled it "Danielle Weekend"! He cooked, cleaned, watched the 4th Season of Sex in the City with me (those of you who watch know that season equals about 9 hours of TV) and he topped it all off with a glass of wine and a personal pedicure. I'm SO going back this Thursday!

Thanks for a great weekend, honey! I love you!!!

What I miss most about college (Re: Not the studying)

Since I reside in two different states each week, I figure simplicity is key. I only bring what I need to Maryland and the rest I leave in NC. This has worked well so far until this morning when I realized I had somehow undershot my "work clothes". I was choosing between grey sweat pants or a pair of red workout capris (neither of which come close to "business casual") and then it dawned on me- I am living with an untapped resource. Jessi has more clothes than the Columbia Mall.
It's been so long since college that I forgot how nice it was to share closets with my roommates. Rob never lets me borrow his work clothes. (that was a joke. Wake up, America).
Anyway, Jessi, thanks for making "Business Danielle" possible this morning. You Rock!
Oh yeah. Work it, baby.
(get it? Work it? Yeah, I'm a genius.)

Shout it out

A Very Happy Birthday to my good friend (and temporary roommate) Adam! Hope you have a GREAT 27th Year practicing law ... they say practice makes perfect.. and should there come a day that you receive our "one phone call", well, perfection may come in handy.


Adam (birthday boy) and wife Jessi. LOVE you guys!

Salsa: not just for chips anymore

Last night a few coworkers and I went into DC for some Salsa dancing. (My very supportive husband is locked down in Jacksonville and so was unable to attend).
It was a lot of fun! The first hour was all instruction and in order to ensure humiliation, you have to dance with everyone. It was very similar to grade school dancing where you rotate around a circle of people and just continue to switch partners everytime the instructor says so. One of my favorite things about that place is the mix of ages, races and nationalities.
A few things I learned:
1.) Do not wear flip flops...Or jeans.
2.) Don't look down.
3.) There are still clubs where dancing with someone does not insinuate that you want to go home with them. Everybody was just looking for someome to practice with.
Awesome night! I'm DRAGGIN' today though!