HOTlanta - 2011 SCTE Cable-Tec Expo

Did you know that my husband, Mark is a super nerd? You probably did know that but in case you didn't, he is. Besides being insanely smart, he is very talented when it comes to games. So much so, that he has been on the Comcast Jeopardy team for the past three years. Comcast Jeopardy, you ask? It's like it sounds only with questions about cable, electricity, physics...other crap that my mind tends to glaze over. It's a big deal at Comcast. It's a way to get technicians excited about their job and to weed out the gifted and talented. The extremely gifted and talented get to go to Charleston and play in the final competition. The Richmond team has been to finals two out of the three years my husband was on the team. They were jeopardy champions in 2008. It's like the Superbowl...for nerds.

Every year each team that gets to the finals, picks a MVP to go to the SCTE Conference  as a way of showing appreciation for being awesome. Mark was voted MVP for 2010 and thus we received an all-expenses-paid trip to Atlanta for the conference.

This year, one of the vendors rented the Atlanta Aquarium for dinner and drinks. If you ever have a chance to go to the Atlanta Aquarium, go. It's the best aquarium I have ever ever ever seen.

This room involved a moving walkway under an arch that allowed giant fish to swim over you. It was an incredible experience.

Just as you thought you were just going to see fish, this giant whale shark swims above you and all you can do is gasp.

90 lb grouper anyone? Insert plenty of drunken fishing jokes here....

They had three or four touch pools where you could feel just about anything.

Anyone get the "Finding Nemo" reference below?

The expo was definitely for the tech minded. I swayed from being incredibly bored to overstimulated. There were plenty of freebies to be had and this photo just made me giggle. Do they have RodoRepel for the pumpkins on my front porch?

Thank you Mark, for being the awesome nerd/husband that you are. It has taken us so far. The trip was fantastic.

Carter Mountain Apple Picking - 2011

Every year the Roeders and the Starkeys go to Carter Mountain in Charlottesville, VA to eat donuts  pick apples. There are other attractions like apple donuts, hay rides, apples donuts, pumpkin picking, apple donuts, wine tasting, apple donuts, etc. You get the picture.

Carter Mountain is exercise. Good fun, cool air exercise but it's a work out. Every year we go we seem to add another member of the family that wants to walk instead of just ride in the stroller. So this year it literally took an hour to get up the mountain. If we were adults by ourselves we would have booked it to the top of the mountain and worked our way down in a timely manner. Instead, we have children wondering off into the orchards. Babies rolling downhill. Children complaining of being tired (George). It's like a G rated Benny Hill cartoon. It's almost like the good people at Carter Mountain know what kind of ordeal it is for families (or lazy people) and have apples that have been picked at the bottom of the hill. Every year I am only half kidding when I say "Why don't we just get these apples?" Not that I am too lazy to go up the mountain, not at all. The view is incredible.

But because I know I am going to look like this when we get to the bottom. 

BTW, Mark still had a back issue so he was doing all the awesome picture taking while I was doing the heavy lifting.

Every year, one of us decides the process of going up the mountain is going to effing slow so they pull a "hazel" (private joke) and just book it up the mountain and wait for the rest of us. This year it was Greg. Can't say that I blame him. 

Now, I may sound like I am complaining but I don't intend that. It really was a ton of fun. It always is. It's so beautiful up there. We get pictures of the babies every year and watch them grow on that mountain. It's like a rite of passage for parents. And if you don't go, you don't get pictures like this.

It truly is a beautiful experience every year. We are so happy to have wonderful friends to share it with. 

Mawwage - 7 years

I am working up to the Disney World post. Trust me, it will be epic. I just need to prepare myself for the epicness (yes spell check, I realize that's not a word.)

"By no means is this women a piece of property to be given away." 

While in DisneyWorld, Mark and I celebrated our seven year anniversary which happens to coincide with my 28th (cough cough) birthday. It was awesome to spend our day in Disney World. We got the Happy Birthday/Anniversary Buttons which we wore proudly. We received well-wishings from loads of people and even got serenaded from the German band in Germany at Epcot. I think Mark could have eaten there every day, morning, noon and night if we had let him.

Mark had roses in our room when we got back from the park. We walked around the park, just like we did seven years ago on our honeymoon. All lovey dovey and gross.

The past seven years. WOW. It has been a trip. Right out of the gate it has been a roller coaster. Pregnant on our honeymoon (yes, it was planned), being laid off while pregnant, starting a business, economy imploding, another baby, cancer scares, new jobs, surgeries, etc etc etc. It's so easy to name all the stressful stuff but it's harder to name the great stuff. Why is that? It's sad that the harder, stressful stuff sticks in your brain easier than the happy, wonderful stuff. Enough with the word "stuff."

With dating + marriage, we have almost ten years under our belts and it doesn't feel anywhere close to that. It has been amazing. I was writing a list of all the wonderful awesome things that have happened and some of them are too intimate to share but just know, the list of awesome/fantastic/wonderful things is 100 times longer than the stressful list.

To many more years together, to many more children (hopefully), to many more laughs, loves, arguments, hugs, kisses, and irritations. I love you, Mark. So so so much.

"No fate but what we make."

The Yellow Belt Test

George is my hero. I know, it sounds corny to say, but the situations I would cringe at when I was his age don't seem to phase him one bit.

We have had him in Master Cho's Tae Kwon Do for a while. Mainly to build focus and self confidence. He didn't really like it at first and, really, the whole little tiger process (for children 6 and under) was a tad boring for him. As parents, we would go twice a week, drop him off and chase Henry around the pond until George was done. We never really learned the extent of what he was learning until it became time for him to test. The Little Tiger program is a year long and the students start out at white belt moving up different color stripes to get to the yellow belt. If you are an older student, you start with the white belt and test for the yellow belt. No in betweens.

Watching a Little Tiger class is literally the cutest thing you have ever seen short of a chubby little baby huddling with a puppy. Master Cho's recruits their instructors directly from South Korea so these people are hardcore....until it comes to the Little Tigers. There are two masters that teach the Little Tiger class. When I say Master, I don't mean just a black belt. They are truly masters. Controlling the Little Tigers is still a bit of a....challenge for them. At four and five, kids don't really care about staying focused so you see them rolling around on the mat, playing with their hair or posing in front of the mirror. It takes every single ounce of self control for the Masters to not giggle when kids are doing this. It is freaking hilarious to watch. Children will come running up to the teachers and hang all over them and you can tell the Masters love it.

Back from my tangent. For a week prior to the test, we drilled George on every Korean vocabulary term he was given. We were constantly asking "What's 'bow to your master?'" or "bow to the instructor?" We were mortified that he might get a single word wrong and earn the disapproval of Master Cho. You see, there is an actual Master Cho and he is a little...intimidating. His wife, who is also a Master, is very friendly and happy but it's a cold day in he$$ if you get smile from Master Cho. The first time I ever saw him smile was at George during his test.

George tested all alone in front of fifty people and other students. He was the only little tiger to test so he was by himself. Did that bother him? Not at all. I would have been mortified. He screamed out his Korean terms and even sparred with the instructor. Where did this little boy come from?? When did he learn that??? To say we are proud would be an understatement. The kid owned the freaking room. Everybody was routing for him.

If I had to pick the best thing about this program it would be that every single person at Master Cho's has a sincere and earnest desire to see these children succeed and it's evident in the pictures I am posting below.

Here Mrs. Cho is helping George with his belt.

George is sitting quietly since they are graded on how well they focus.

George, all by himself, screaming at the top of his lungs!

Sparring with Master Kim.

Answering questions about Korean phrases. This was right before he started to scratch his butt which prompted Master Cho to ask him if he needed to use the bathroom. Sigh.

In these pictures you see how utterly excited they are that George earned his yellow belt. Master Cho leaned down, took George's hand, looked him in the eyes and said, "Good job, George. We are proud of you." Sniff.

He was also the only child in the class to earn a trophy. 

George, you earned this. You worked hard and you succeeded. No one can take that from you.

We could not be more proud of you.

Love,

Mommy, Daddy and Henry