Brightwood Lights

When Simona was first born, we had the idea to try to get a picture of her (and of all subsequent children) at the state border sign at each new state she (they) visited.

At times, getting these pictures has meant going to great lengths, braving seedy industrial areas or making a 20-minute detour just to get the photo taken. And sadly, we’ve missed a few state pictures along the way, which just means we’ll have to re-visit those at some point.

However, it’s been a fun way to document our kids’ travels. So without further ado, I present the states our kids have visited (or in which they’ve lived), in alphabetical order:

1. Alabama

2. Arkansas

3. Connecticut

*Simona had been to Connecticut once before this, but I was not able to get her picture on that trip*

4. Delaware

*Andreas has also been to Delaware, but we have not gotten his picture at a state sign yet.*

5. Georgia

*Obviously, Maria has been to Georgia, despite the lack of a picture. . . *

6. Illinois

7. Indiana

8. Iowa

9. Kansas

10. Kentucky

11. Maine

12. Maryland

*I’m going to have to search our photo archives a little more for Andreas’s Maryland picture. . . for now, please take my word that he has spent A LOT of time in Maryland.*

13. Massachusetts

14. Minnesota
*We flew in and out of Minneapolis and didn’t see a state sign on our drive up to Longville, so these had to suffice for Simona:

15. Mississippi

16. Missouri

17. New Hampshire

*Yet another state which Andreas has visited but for which a picture is lacking. . . *

18. New Jersey

*The first picture is of Simona pointing to the NJ Turnpike on the map at a rest center. . . getting the “Welcome To” picture is nearly impossible on that turnpike, so Andreas’s picture is of lesser quality here, too. Believe me, I have had a flat tire with him in a pack-n-play on the side of the highway in NJ. I’d say that counts as having been there!*

19. New York

*Yet again, Andreas does not have photographic evidence of being welcomed to the Empire State, but his attendance at Tante KK and Onkel Mike’s wedding and graduation affirm that he’s been. . .*

20. North Carolina

21. Ohio

22. Oklahoma

23. Oregon
*Sadly, we had to choose between catching our return flight or getting our picture at the “Welcome to Oregon” sign at the airport. Andreas and Simona definitely attended Tante Janice & Onkel Gus’s wedding, and we’ll definitely all need to return to get that photo (not to mention visit Tante J & Onkel Gus!).*

24. Pennsylvania

25. Rhode Island

26. South Carolina

27. Tennessee

28. Virginia

29. Washington, D.C.

30. West Virginia

31. Wisconsin
*The last shall be first! Maria beat both of her older siblings to this one!*

TOTALS, in case you are keeping score:
Simona- 30
Andreas- 28
Maria- 5
(and for good measure, Nancy- 45, Caleb- 41).

**PLEASE NOTE** that this is out of 51. . . we can’t omit DC, the land of two of our children’s births. . .

Caleb graduated from Goizueta Business School at Emory University this week! He completed the One-Year Accelerated Masters in Business Administration, with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance.

He’s not the type to brag, so I will do so for him. Caleb has won award upon award during his one year at Emory, including being named to the Dean’s List, being named a Dean’s Scholar, being inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma business honors society, and being voted as the one-year student who best exemplifies integrity by his peers. I’m proud of him for all that he has achieved, but the peer “integrity” award is especially sweet. I know that I am married to a man who embodies hard work, honesty, and humility, but it’s flattering to know that his friends and classmates see those same traits in him, too.

He also entered two Real Estate “case competitions” (yes, nerdy- don’t worry– I’ve teased him plenty). One was a competition among Emory students, and Caleb’s team won. The second was a state-wide competition, with teams from Georgia Tech, UGA, Georgia State, and Emory. Again, Caleb’s team won.

Besides accumulating these academic accolades, Caleb has managed to spend plenty of quality time with his kids, build lifelong friendships with his classmates, be a devoted husband, exercise (relatively) consistently, and network with just about every living GBS alum in the entire world.

The future for us is still up in the air. We are in the process of making some tough decisions, trying to balance career and family considerations as we try to discern what next steps will be most honoring to God. We’ll be sure to report back once those decisions are made!

March’s insanely mild weather allowed us to get outdoors quite a bit. Maria took her first trips to anywhere besides Peachtree City.

Early in the month, we did a family “hiking” day at Fort Yargo State Park. It was really fun and refreshing, and about the level of “hiking” we can manage at this point in our family life. Which essentially consisted of about 2.5 hours of walking, playing, picnicking, and walking some more.

Simona was mostly interested in going UP. . .

. . . while Andreas was interested in what was DOWN on the ground. (Pine straw was especially fascinating.)

After that, we headed to nearby Athens, home of the University of Georgia, to stroll around the town and even eat at a restaurant- a rare and risky experience for our little family! Fortunately, everyone (mostly) behaved themselves.

Maria also traveled out of state for the first time in March. . . more on that to come!

January and February have flown by!

January highlights:
*A visit from Grandma & Grandpa!

Simona managed to convince both Grandma and Grandpa to tell her LOTS of stories.

*An Atlanta snow storm!
Though this was nothing like the snow we had in DC last year, it quickly turned to ice and made travel difficult and unsafe for several days. The grandparent visit coincided with the last few days of snow/ice on the ground here, so we had some Iowa-style fun here in the Deep South.

*Maria’s firsts!
Her first bottle:

Her first smiles:

*Play time with Papa!
A lunch party at Simona’s Restaurant and a trip to the beach:

*A trip to the playground:
I finally got all 3 kids to the playground by myself! It went amazingly well.

Due to the snow (ice!) we had here in Atlanta last week, we were given one additional week with no real responsibilities. Yesterday, though, we slowly started to “ramp back up.” Caleb and I both started classes again and were both glad to be back to a bit more structure. Maria will be 6 weeks old on Friday, which means this weekend I am finally allowed to start running again! Between 3 kids, school, and trying to stay / get in shape, we’ll be one crazy household.

I say that we are “slowly” ramping back up, though, because for this week, we have help. Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last week, and Grandma is here through the end of this week. Yesterday felt busy, but I didn’t even have to worry about fixing dinner, nor did I have to take Maria & Andreas with me to pick Simona up from school. I’m not sure how we’ll manage without her. . . Yikes!