Our Family Portrait

I've had several comments on the family portraits used in this year's Christmas card and letter.

They were part of a series of pictures that we did in October with my brother-from-another-mother, Glenn Cook, who's set himself up as quite the professional photographer in the last couple of years. I mean, if he can get David to smile…  If you're interested in seeing the whole shoot--and, if you didn't like one we gave you for Christmas, you can even order prints of other photos--then click here and visit the SmugMug site to check them all out.

Merry Christmas 2014!

Instead of making copies of our Christmas letter this year and mailing them all, or creating a new site to capture the year, we're listing here some of the highlights so you can get caught up, and dive in more where you like, to learn more about our year.

courtesy Glenn Cook Photography

Our year involved tearing out the master bathroom for a major renovation, but six weeks later it looked better than we had imagined it could. Up next: the kitchen? The kids' bathroom? Our annual ski trip with the Scouts to Canaan Valley was in February, and then in August we flew out West, the kids' first visit someplace west of West Virginia, for a very full experience of Nevada, California and a little of Oregon. We also had a nice weekend in a cabin at Deep Creek Lake in October with our Fergie, who passed a set of milestones this year. Not only was it her first "puppiversary," or a year after we got her, but in June came the time when (we estimate) she had spent more of her life with us than before--I guess that means she's found her Forever Home. She turned three in October, and kept wryly amusing us with her antics throughout the year. Our puppums is a happy doggie and has attached herself quite firmly to Mary lately.

If you look up the address for South County Middle School in the Fairfax County tax records, you will see that yes, in fact, Sarah *does* own the school. She's having a wonderful time as an eighth grader in Advanced Academics, as a Peer Helper at school, playing guitar, doing Girls on Track, and (most recently) being elected the school's Vice President. She rejoined Girl Scouts with her friends, with whom she is surrounded most of her free time. In the summer she had her second mission trip with Jeremiah Project, which she really enjoyed and which has her thinking of going as a counsellor someday.

The theme for the year with David was "adolescence," the one-foot-in-one-foot-out nature of being a high school junior. He earned his driver's permit this year, and is making slow progress in learning to drive--it's just not a huge priority for him to do, which baffles his parents. His burgeoning leadership was recognized in the winter when his Scout troop elected him its Senior Patrol Leader, and he took the first  (quite halting) steps into the world of girls and dating. But by far, his biggest adventures were a weeklong mission trip to Costa Rica in the summer, and beginning the great college hunt--with visits to William and Mary (two stories to tell there), Berkeley, U of Arizona, and his current #1 choice, Arizona State. Where will he end up? Tune in next year!

Mary celebrated her tenth anniversary with American Bankruptcy Institute this year, and accompanied Sarah on her Girl Scout troop's visit to New York City in the fall. Eric remains in Finance Division at the FBI, although at the end of the year is beginning a six-month rotation to work temporarily in Procurement instead of Budget, a new adventure. In the summer, he had a much-appreciated chance to spend a week at Harvard Business School, and is pursuing continuing ed into the new year. He's also still drumming, with Refresh at Sydenstricker UMC as well as with LifeSign at Burke UMC, loving every minute. This year he also began serving as the Chaplain of Boy Scout Troop 688, and will have a chance next summer to take a long walk in the desert with David--they both will be part of a dozen-strong crew hiking Philmont.

As 2014 fades, we hope it's been a good year for you and your family, and we pray for the light of the season to guide you throughout the new year. Join us here throughout 2015 for more of our adventures, and be sure to share your own--and stay in touch! We very much enjoyed the visits we had this year from Courtney, Naomi, Monica, Mom & Dad Tarrier, and many others…come back again!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2015 from us all!

The New Springfield Mall--er, Town Center

Wednesday evening, Mary and I had our first chance to explore the newly reopened Springfield Town Center (don't call it a mall!), nearly a month after its grand reopening festivities (no one ever accused us of being early adopters). Here's some of our takeaways after strolling through most of it:

Hits

• The grand entrance on the Loisdale side is really pretty sharp. The broad staircase and chandelier made me think of a Vegas casino entrance. Well done.
• We both think they widened the hallways, and I think in some cases, pushed them closer to the outside of the structure--making what was a l-o-n-g walk to Macy's much more appealing. And the tile floors are much nicer than the terra-cotta tiles that were there before.
• They created a "neighborhood" on the lower level near Macy's that's a dream world for the 4-6-year-old set. Clothing and toy stores for that age group are all colocated. Nicely done.
• Similarly, the H&M is right across the hall from the Forever 21 and right next to the shoe stores, meaning I can just park in a chair in the middle and watch Sarah run to all three.
• The lighting is so much nicer inside now. Hallways and foyers are brightly lit and much more inviting.
• They definitely went for more upscale eating choices.
• More than one elevator! Yay!
• $4 valet parking? If it stays like that through the holidays, that could be well worth it.

Misses

• I'm a little disappointed they opened with so many unfilled storefronts. They have several on-the-come, which look to be opening within a few weeks or couple of months. But there are long stretches of hallway still in their generic "Springfield Town Center" wrapping, no indication at all that they'll ever be filled. It will be tough to bring me back to a half-empty mall--er, town center--which was the problem before the previous Springfield Mall closed to begin with.
• There's nothing really there for me, or David, in terms of clothes. No A&F, no JCrew, nothing for the teen boy--and nothing I'd shop at either. Mary reminds me the Nordstrom Rack will probably be good for me, but that won't open for quite awhile yet.
• The food court. Not only are there only two things open right now, but of the six announced offerings, four are some form of Asian cuisine (Thai, Viet, Chinese, Japanese), with a Chipotle and a fast-food Italian offering. That's it. Can't get a burger (Zinburger will be outside, and isn't open yet). Can't get any chicken fingers for the kiddies. And, as Mary pointed out, there's no place to get a decent salad.

Jury's Out

• Biggest question mark is around the sit-down restaurants. They're all on "the plaza," which is what they're calling the Loisdale Road side, with only one that I know of (Maggiano's) having an entrance to the inside of the mall--er, town center. So when I'm inside shopping but it's pouring and I want to get to Chuy's, or Zinburger, or any of the others, I have to dash outside to get to it?
• Not sure how I like having the Regal Cinema tucked away like it is. It's a little bit of effort to get to it from within the mall--er, town center--itself, but it's got its own entrance/exit to the parking garage, so people coming to the movies can make a direct entrance.

What has your experience of the new Springfield Town Center been?

Beginning the College Hunt, Part IV

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new frontrunner in the college sweepstakes.

After touring Arizona State on Monday, David announced that it is now his favorite among the four he's now toured (W&M, U of Arizona, and in distant fourth, Berkeley, round out the list). He likes the feel of the campus and the flexibility with which ASU appears to treat its students: he can build an anthropology degree as a BA or as a BS, and he can focus it towards particular areas (like archaeology), and he can double-major or minor in Native American studies to complement it (or he can minor in Theatre Design and Production). And I think he also likes that ASU's admissions process is noncompetitive (you either meet the thresholds or you don't), and that the freshman dorm for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (read: anthro majors live here) is the brand-newly-remodeled 15-story Manzanita Hall, overlooking the football stadium on one side and campus on the other.

Manzanita Hall (rear) and Palo Verde East dorms

On the ASU bridge, looking back towards dorms and the stadiums.

Palm Walk, the main north-south pathway through campus

He doesn't seem to mind that Tempe and Phoenix are a much busier place; or, that the campus was (or felt to me) a bit crowded--although even at class change, the crowds were very reasonable, despite the size of the school. He also doesn't seem fazed about being one of 9,000+ freshmen--although perhaps that will give others pause.

He does caution, though, that he still wants to see the others on his list--UVA, Radford, and Wake Forest, and last night Texas A&M made a return to the wish list. But if he had to pick right now, my son would want to become a Sun Devil. What will his final pick be? Stay tuned…we've a long way until next fall!

Beginning the College Hunt, Part III

As previously described, David has begun looking for college options he likes, and following on the success of his conversation with a grad student at William and Mary, he had identified both the University of Arizona and Arizona State as two places he wanted to consider. This weekend is the long break between first and second quarters at school, so he and I flew westward on Halloween night.

We toured UA today. The campus reminded me a little of Berkeley, with its gated entrance and Western feel to it. We walked around much of the southern part of campus, including the residence halls, student rec center (wow), student union, and library. Here's some of what we saw:

Main Gate to the University of Arizona

The "Mall" features the single longest strip of grass in Arizona…but also this native display (and one Virginian)

The Mall, looking east

Admin building and part of the student union at left across the Mall

Found his building; lost his sense of exploration somewhere around here though :)

The boy, surveying the campus (and football stadium to the right) from the top of  Likin Hall dorm

David's conclusion: so far this is his favorite out-of-state choice, but he's not yet ready to say which is in the lead, UA or W&M. He liked the atmosphere of the place, feeling more at home than he did at Berkeley, and the people were friendly. I think he also liked that the tour guides were only a couple of years older than him--so he could kinda see himself in their place. He saw three levels of dorm, and says he'd be just as comfortable in the cheaper one (good!). He wishes he had a chance to see more of the archaeology program, but knows we may have more of an opportunity Monday in Tempe.

My takeaways? (1) Campus is d-e-a-d on a Saturday. With 35,000 students in October I had expected to get more of a sense of the atmosphere; we did not count on the fact that only 6,600 of them live on campus, mostly freshmen, who were still sleeping in much of the day. And (2) It didn't feel too large and overwhelming, or too crowded--so, a much different vibe from Berkeley. Closer to a W&M feel, without oak trees and 50 degrees warmer.

ASU, up next on Monday!