2009: Forward Stumbling

When I met Ashley, she and her friends had this little tradition of doing a "Year in Review" for each birthday. It was an opportunity to reflect on both the ups and the downs of the year gone by and to recognize how little we can truly predict about our lives. Since then, Ashley and I have adopted this tradition for ourselves. With our recent anniversary, we had the opportunity to reflect on our adventurous first year of marriage. We'll keep that review private, for our sake and yours. However, as many of you were a major part of our lives over this past year, we would like to review 2009 with you as we begin our forward stumble into 2010.

2009 was rung in unceremoniously sitting in the back of a Saturn as Jack drove us back from the airport, having said goodbye to the gorgeous rainforests and beaches of Costa Rica. After ten days in paradise, we were so excited to return to the paradise we fondly call Norwood, Ohio. We did have lots of new wedding presents to begin playing with. You know, fun toys like crock pots, vacuum cleaners, and flatware (I'm still waiting for Ashley's domestic gene to kick in)...

Costa Rica, Not Norwood

The honeymoon was quickly over when Ashley left me freezing in Cincinnati and resumed flying all over North America for internship interviews. Flying from Baton Rouge to Denver to L.A., she soon learned that living in a hotel is not all it's cracked up to be. One of the most memorable interviews for me was when she called me at 11:00 p.m. on a Tuesday sobbing about insane L.A. motorists, narrow lanes, and a lack of road signs. I calmed her down just in time for her to arrive at her destination, step out of her car, and experience her first earthquake. It was a sleepless night... for both of us.

As February began, our anxiety began building, waiting to find out if and where Ashley would match, and thus where we would be spending the next year. As alcohol is always a healthy means of coping with anxiety, we traveled to Columbus to bottle wine with Lucia, Mark, Molly, and Jason. It was a nice escape right before Match Day, which proved another sleepless night for all involved. The night before, Ashley's friends came over to distract each other... translate: lots of drinking, games, and dancing while I tried to sleep before a long day of work. After falling asleep despite the thumping bass, I was awoken at 2 a.m. and asked to drive everyone home so that they could each check their match status alone. Seriously???

At the Wine Store in Columbus

As expected, Ashley and her friends all matched and we learned we were moving to... Philadelphia. In celebration of the match and March Madness, we spent the next few weeks living at Bdubs and consuming many, many hot wings. We also decided to take a rather random trip to Las Vegas to capitalize on their suffering economy and take a little break from the grind of graduate school and work. In April, I turned 27 and began thinking about what my own future in Philadelphia would hold, job searching and applying to new MBA programs. Ashley also began studying for her licensure exam in order to deal with the fear of impending "free time". We were clearly a lot of fun in this month.

In May Ashley turned the ripe old age of 24 and began saying goodbye to her grad school friends as they left for internship. Dealing with this was not my favorite part of 2009. Fortunately, we had a trip planned to Lake Ocoee in Tennessee for Memorial Day Weekend. We had a blast boating, swimming, jet skiing, white water rafting, and playing lots of games. Of course the girls got all sentimental as they guys drank and played poker... typical.

Trying to Sink the Tube

The summer brought the joys of Finance for me and Ashley's excessive studying started picking up. We also hosted an apartment full of girls in preparation for Lucia's Bridal Shower. Believe it or not, living with a bunch of girls is not nearly as fun as it was in your dreams in high school... Around this time we trekked to Philly to begin searching for a place to live... what a waste that was! We picked out a nice apartment, but were delighted to find out a week before moving that the previous occupant was conducting a sit-in. This meant we had to find a new place, quite quickly, which we fortunately did. More on that to come.

As July ended, Ashley took her big exam and learned she was super competent. We also headed to a conference in Toronto. What a dreary city. At least it encouraged us to learn a few things at the conference and get some ideas about moving to New Zealand in a few years. Mom, don't freak out yet! When we got back, it was time to quit my job, pack up our life (and our cats), and head to Philly with a caravan of family. When we arrived, we got to see the aforementioned apartment for the first time and minorly (or majorly, more accurately) freaked out. With the help of our family and the deaf-mute movers, we managed to make it work. We are forever indebted to all of them.

Living Room - Kind of Deceptive

After a few days in Philly, we decided we needed to get out. So we drove the 10 hours up to Maine to camp at Acadia National Park and stopped in Mystic, CT for a few days on the way back. Despite getting lost on bikes in the park and stuck in a hurricane, it was a great trip. Upon arriving back in Philly, we quickly left again, this time to celebrate Lucia and Mark's wedding in Akron. By the time we got back, we had no desire to ever drive again. It was also time for me to start the full-time MBA program at La Salle and Ashley to start her internship at Friends Hospital.

Over the next few months, we got acclimated to Philly. We tried to immerse ourselves in Philly culture by attending a Phillies game, eating cheesesteaks and "wuter" ice, drinking Yuengling, and learning about tapping the MAC. We also visited NYC for our friend Steve's birthday and began to understand why the Chinatown bus is only 10 bucks. Meanwhile, Ashley got homesick in about a day and took a surprise trip home over Halloween. She celebrated her least-favorite holiday at her brother Zach's house in a really slutty costume...

With Bradley, who dressed as Bruno

For Thanksgiving I decided to leave my wife and head to Detroit, by way of Cincinnati. I got to see my whole family and enjoy our favorite traditions of eating Lebanese food and playing whirly ball. Ashley's family came to visit her in Philly for the holiday since she couldn't get off work. Let's just say they left ten cases of diet coke behind, so Ashley was in heaven. Soon after, we visited our friend Maria in D.C., where we got to experience the joy of the Holocaust Museum and attend a Ukrainian party - they sure know how to throw a party!

That brings us to the recent Christmas season, which included our first wedding anniversary. We got to spend a little over a week at home in Cincinnati visiting with family and friends and putting on a few pounds. We also celebrated the engagements of our friends Craig and Jen and Joe and Meredith. We sure love weddings. When we returned to Philly, we got ready for a visit from Leigh and Matt for New Year's Eve, which was spent feeling entirely too old for certain bars. It was a lot of fun however, and was a great ending to an adventurous year.














So, what's to come in 2010? Well, much like 2009, we again don't know where we'll be living come September. Until then, we have lots of adventures planned, like more interviewing, learning Spanish, taking a cruise, Ashley getting her doctorate and me my MBA, moderating the Biggest Loser Challenge, and attending the way-too-built-up UD Reunion Weekend.

2009 was great, and we can't wait to see what 2010 has in store. My real goal for this year, however, is to find out where those damn gym workers park.