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!

Jerry Springer casting call

I know you're all on the edge of your seats waiting to hear how our weekend was. Let's go with "eventful". For a better understanding of our new life in the south, by all means continue reading.
Friday I went on a job hunt around the base... not very fruitful, but definitely entertaining. Apparently there really isn't much to be had in that area - although the local strip club is advertising the return of "Ladies' Oil Wresting". Yeah. I. Don't. Think. So. If I'm lucky I'll be pumping gas for you when you come visit us.
Friday evening we went out to eat with some of Rob's buddies. Very cool guys, good times. The only incident happened while we were outside waiting for our table. This 4- year old kid - who was waiting with his family- picked up a massive rock, launched it at Rob and hit him in the face. ::Pause:: yes. you read that correctly. The mom of said 4 year old actually giggled and led her son over to Rob to apologize, which he did not, (and neither did she) and then walked back to her group of giggling friends. The four of us were so stunned we didn't know what to do. All of you at home who are thinking of all the violent ways you would have reacted, please keep in mind that this area is like an open set of Jerry Springer. Any repremanding we might have done would just have been met with ignorance and possibly some bad language and hair pulling.
We had some more fun with sheer ignorance on Saturday at the local Wal-Mart. A woman pulled into the "20 Items or Less" lane with a shopping cart that looked like it had just come off the set of Supermarket Sweep. Over the next 10 minutes, we stood clutching our 4 ingredients for spaghetti and watched in amazement as she unloaded most of Wal-Mart onto the tiny counter. As she was finishing up, her husband came up (out of nowhere) with an armload of other materials they had overlooked and proceeded to stack them precariously in front of the cashier. Amazing.
I think we are in some kind of time warp down there. The next time you see us, if I am wearing dangerously short cut offs and Rob has on a T-shirt that says "I heart hot moms" (yes, we actually saw this) please PLEASE intervene.

Oh the humanity

Well, this weekend was another fun filled adventure onto I-95. We spent all day Friday packing up the moving van (thank you Tiny, Zach, Sam, and Laura!) went out to eat with some friends and ended the day with some fierce competition in Dance Dance Revolution at the Greivell's. That's right. I said Dance Dance Revolution.
Saturday the moving fiasco began. We left around 7:30am and thanks to summer traffic, the drive took us about 9 HOURS. (Folks, that's a new record). We finally reached Jacksonville at 5pm only to find out that the apartment complex had already closed FOR THE WEEKEND. (i.e. until Monday morning). This was unexpected because when Rob spoke to them about an hour beforehand, they assured us someone would be there. Rob pulled out his "Captain America" cape and started making phone calls. Eventually-don't ask me how- Rob got the owner of the entire complex on the phone. Now they are doing everything short of naming a building after us to compensate. We just wanted some keys. Anyway, we're *mostly* moved in now. We were starting to miss the open roads by Saturday night...good thing we had to drive back up to Maryland yesterday (Sunday). We hit three major thunderstorms on the way back north, complete with flash floods- and finally arrived back at "home" (where is home now, anyway?) around 11:30pm.
Moving Van - $500
802 miles of gas (round trip) - $150
Arriving to your "new home" after 9+ hours driving, packing, no sleep, etc. and having no one there to let you in; Priceless.

I think what we all need is another survey.

First Response Survey:
I am supposed to write the first thing that comes to mind...
1. My ex was... Very tall
2. I am listening to... laughter
3. Maybe I should...get going to that dentist appointment
4. I love... ROB!
5. My bestfriend(s)... is my husband
6. I don't understand...why life is the way it is
7. I lost...my neighbor's house key (BUT I FOUND IT!)
8. People say... I should be a stand up comic
9. The meaning of my display name is... a pretty accurate view of me.
10. Love seems like... it's very different from the movies. Better.
11. Somewhere, someone is... packing up to move into our home
12. I will always... get nostalgic at airports
13. Forever seems... intimidating
14. I never want to...depreciate my marriage
15. My mobile phone... is old school- but it works!
16. When I wake up in the morning... I want to shut off my alarm
17. I get annoyed when..... life doesn't go the way I think it should
18. Parties are... good times if they are with my friends
19. My pet is... might as well by my kid
20. Kisses are the best when...before going to sleep
21. Today I... go to carpentry class
22. Tomorrow I... Move Away from Maryland! (that's a sad "!")

Tool Time!

So apparently I don't have enough going on. Through no fault of my own (that is a 100% lie) I have fallen backwards into a carpentry class (that part is true). In the midst of our moving frenzy, I am now learning to construct a "hallway end table". Rob sees the true irony in this because our new apartment has absolutely no hallways to necessitate a hallway end table. Stay tuned. Knowing me, next I'll be building a tool shelf for our non-existent garage.
Yeah...that Rob is a lucky, lucky man.

Congrats Beth and Mat! (with one "t")

We just got back from my friend, Beth's wedding in Shelby, NC. The main thing I can tell you about Shelby, NC is it takes about 13 hours to get there by car. (Yeah, I'm a really good friend). Anyway, It was awesome to see the old CU crowd again. I don't know how we'll all keep in touch once everyone has been married off. We sorta count on the yearly weddings to plan those meetings for us...
This week is a busy one for the Townleys. We're packing up our house and will be moving down south on Saturday. Apparently we just LOVE driving back and forth between NC and MD. I think I will have some seperation issues from the house being that we've worked so flipping hard on it. The renters, that's right: we got RENTERS, move in next weekend and hopefully Rita (old lady downstairs) will be nice and give them at least a few days before beating on the ceiling with her mode of transportation (re: broom).
It's good to be home...even if it is the last week....

History Repeats Itself

So, last year we were unable to find a house, this year we can't find a credible renter. Unfortunately we've been through a few applications now that got us all excited only to find out they were simply wasting our time and didn't qualify as tenants. A few of them have even gone so far as to make some demands before realizing they will not be living here. They are our favorites. Fun, huh?
Not sure when our move is going to happen - we're not really going anywhere until said renters appear (out of nowhere apparently) so everyone keep your socks on, we're still Marylanders... Probably forever.
And to our realtor; Andy, I swear we don't do this to you on purpose! I swear there's a mansion for you in ReMax's corner of Heaven! Just wait until we decide to sell!!!

The All-American Vegetable: Couch Potatoes

Hope you all had an Independance Day that was free of rain - we had a nice thunderstorm up here. And thanks to my over-zealous pull-up challenge, I have managed to pinch a nerve somewhere between my shoulderblades rendering me immobile for the past two days. (run-on sentence anyone?). At least our Independance Day was spent celebrating what Americans do best: Sitting on the couch with take out food watching movies.

Happy 4th of July!

I think I might be the only person in America who did not take today off from work. Anyway, if you happen by the Annapolis area sometime this week and see about 20 young adults limping around like old people, they are probably our friends. We all played ultimate frisbee for something like 4 hours on Saturday. Everyone got a little too much sun, and probably not enough water. Yesterday the reports started flowing in that people were sore, tired, and worn out. We all seem to be enjoying it though, it's the second weekend in a row and our numbers are growing.
Tomorrow we're headed to a Fourth of July picnic with some of Rob's friends. Good luck to all of you who are going to brave the Mall in D.C. I'm sure it will be sheer madness.
Happy Fourth!

Jacksonville - does it get any better?

I've just spent the last 2 days in our new "home town"; Jacksonville, NC. After an 8.5 hour car trip down on Monday (thanks to NINE seperate thunder storms we encountered on the way) we finally reached our hotel and crashed. Not literally.
Tuesday Rob went to work while I finalized our paperwork for the new digs. To be fair, it's a nice apartment. Small, but nice. About three thunder showers into the day, we took off for Wilmington where I had a meeting with a recruiter. I use the term "recruiter" loosely since upon meeting him it became very clear that having his representation was probably not a great idea. He told me to dress "business casual" which to him meant bermuda shorts and a long sleeve pin-stripe shirt. The interview pretty much followed suit.
Much to my chagrin (there's a $5 word if you ever saw one), it appears that jobs are a hot commodity in Jacksonville - being that it's so over-populated. I have quite the challenge ahead of myself, which means I'll probably end up being a creative memories consultant, or pampered chef, or whatever else you can sell from your home these days.
We finished out our day with a fantastic "date night" all planned by Rob at "Circa De 1922". It's a restaurant in Wilmington built from a fictional description in one of F. Scott Fitzgeralds books. Pretty freaking sweet if you ask me. My flight home left on Wednesday at what can be described as really early or really late depending on your perspective of the wee hours of the morning and am enjoying the Baltimore life again.
We've been through a few potential renters for our house but nothing solid yet. Keep your fingers crossed!

Ben Update!

So...last time all of you heard from Ben, he was just getting out of surgery and feeling a bit under the weather. We've just heard from his mom, who reports that he's doing AWESOME. Recently the doctors changed his cast, and at Ben's request, constructed a patriotic theme to celebrate Independence Day. Not long until that cast comes off for good! We asked Ben's permission to add his latest picture to this entry...so here's the man, the myth, the legend...Ben!