The First Post From John

Wow, It seems Rachael and I (this is John typing) are becoming progressively worse at blogging. I think ever since Rachael lost her camera to Samson's wrath that the desire to blog has dwindled because, lets face it, nobody actually reads the content of a blog; they are just here for the pictures. So for the few and proud that are willing to put up with a couple of paragraphs of the written word, I give you the quarterly update.

I'll go ahead and get the most important family member out of the way first—Samson. This summer we have been living with my parents while we wait for our house sitting job to begin in September. This has given Samson ample time to become very attached to his best friend Bryant (I'll post pictures when we have our new camera up and running). They are pretty much inseparable and they trade off between wrestling in my mom's garden (where they destroy all of her vegetables and get very dirty) and napping in the living room. He is in doggy heaven and it only got better when my parents bought a new puppy, Riley . She is a bundle of energy and will practically attack Samson all day. She can often be found hanging from Samson's neck while Samson and Bryant wrestle. He is very good with her and tolerates the constant biting.

If you had asked me six months ago if I would ever miss Samson sleeping in my bed I would have said no. When Samson sleeps in bed with you he practically takes over the entire bed and you some how get pushed into the corner. Samson is also notorious for his early wake ups (and when he is awake everyone is awake). So I am actually a little surprised that Rachael and I have been missing him at night. Throughout the summer Samson has been spending progressively more time sleeping in my mom's room(where his best friend Bryant sleeps).It has gotten so bad that we practically have to drag him upstairs if we want him to sleep with us. Usually Rachael and I are too tired to fight with him all the way upstairs and my mom gets stuck with three dogs in the bed. I have no idea how she tolerates it.

Rachael has been working as a nanny, dog sitter, house sitter and any other odd job she could find this summer. This has made for some very long days when we have overbooked ourselves, but overall a fun summer. One of the craziest weekends was when we babysat for a family with three boys and a baby girl for four days. Of course this brought out my inner child and it was more like babysitting for four boys and a baby girl. We sword fought, wrestled and generally had a great time. By the end of the four days Rachael had decided that, when we finally got around to having a kid, it would have to be a girl …. And I had determined the exact opposite.

Rachael also just came back from a little trip out to Utah for our friend Matt's wedding. I wasn't able to go because of some work obligations, but Cathey and Rachael went and had a great time. Rach will have to give you the full trip report at a later time. I'll also let her give the report on her hiring process with the school system because I wont be able to do it justice.

Our decision to go to UVA left me with a whole extra year to gain experience and prepare for law school. I loved my summer job at Calleva, where I would basically play in the river all day and have a great time on an island in the Potomac, but the reality of the world eventually had to hit. We decided that it was time to trade in my swimsuit and PFD for a suit and tie and I headed to a law firm on K street. I work as an assistant for a group of environmental lawyers and am looking forward to a year of mentoring. Right now I am mostly doing clerical work, but I think I will eventually be given some other tasks. Either way, it is a great opportunity for me to see the inside of a law firm and determine if this is really what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Well that’s the update. We finally got a new camera and are planning on taking tons of picture to update the blog. We have some fun events coming up (like Rachael's birthday and a weekend at deep creek). Hopefully the new camera will spark our desire to blog.