Kate and Joe's Weblog

Here It Goes

Joe&K8land — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:11:47 +0000

Well, this is the first time I have ever attempted to post to a blog…so don’t judge me too harshly
We just got back from our trip to B’more/Alexandria for the holidays today. Although neither the drive up nor the drive back was pleasant I think the trip was a resounding success! We started by staying at my dad’s house for 3 nights. One X-mas Eve we went to visit my mom and Rick in Bel Air which was really great! Not very long up there, but good quality time I thought. Then it was to Jeannie’s for a dinner she pulled together just for us since our Eve dinner plans had been changed last-minute. We got to see Jeremiah and Nicky and that whole family. We laughed and ate a great meal. X-mas day we had a HUGE breakfast at dad’s with about 25 other people. The breakfast was full of great food, conversations, and company. We went to see Mand, Eric and the whole Price clan after that which was great! I couldn’t wait to see the kids..they are all getting so big and the fourth is on the way!
So, then we were off to Alexandria to see Kait’s parents and brother and his family. We had an amazing time with them! I really always enjoy their companionship and find my self laughing almost constantly. The food and family time was a welcomed addition to my normal Christmas traditions.
Altogether, I think this was one of my favorite Christmas years in recent memory. I felt a strong connection with Kaitlyn the whole time. Our first Christmas as a married couple couldn’t have been better.
Kaitlyn…anything to add?

2010 invitation…

Joe&K8land — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:24:01 +0000

Inspired by cousin Kate Karbo and her now-fiance (!), Jason, and their 2009 daily blog of positives, I thought maybe Joe and I could benefit from a 2010 blog to remember and recognize the fun and happiness in our life together! Writing about events or thoughts does so much to flesh them out and make them more available, and it also forces you to take a break and think about the day. So I invited Joe to join me in a co-blog. He loves to do things online and he’s so good with techy stuff, so I figured it would be right up his alley. And being positive is pretty second nature for him, so that’s a good start, too! I am probably the one who needs to be reminded of positives more often, but hey…when mama ain’t happy… Plus, I was thinking we might learn new things about each other and what’s going on in the other’s sometimes-mysterious brain! So, what do you say, Joe?

I’ll start….I enjoyed a happy hour today when I took a friend out on the town. This friend is in her 80s, home-bound (unless someone comes and takes her out), and generally (often understandably) unhappy with her situation. My friend and I went just a mile up the road from her house to a new Chapel Hill book shop, Flyleaf Books, where they were having a grand opening with a performance by a great local band, the Red Clay Ramblers. We sat in chairs next to the other 20 or so townsfolk and the show was great…energetic and impressive! I looked at my friend every so often during the show and saw a big smile on her face every time. It was so wonderful to see her enjoy life for that hour. It made me wonder if, 30 years ago when she was in the midst of her active life of travel and academia parties and raising children, this would have brought her even a fraction of the amount of joy it brought her today. And so the obvious next step was to realize how inadequately I appreciate the small joys in my days that may seem like tasks or things to check off the list. My life is so busy and hers is so much the opposite, but I think we enjoyed our afternoon together equally, thanks to each other.

Some sunny memories on a cold day

Joe&K8land — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 02:22:00 +0000

So, it’s obviously been a long time since I played around with this, but I think it’s so fun so wanted to give it another go…even though there are a million other things I should be doing right now!

Since the last post, Joe and I moved to NC and have had lots more fun dates (although that one was tough to beat)…one favorite being a visit to Duke Gardens in Durham.

We also took an awesome trip to St John, VI last month….with Don, Jenny, Patrick, and Norty. We swam with sea turtles and sting rays and saw huge iguanas and slept in ‘car ports’ It was lots of fun!

Now we’re looking forward to our wedding in June, when we get to see all our friends and family in one place, which is quite a cool thing!

Reflections on a Sunday in Baltimore…

Joe&K8land — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:39:37 +0000

Joe and I have been so busy lately, both of us spending days at Kennedy Krieger High School, working extra hours (me at the nursing home, Joe at the wine store), and Joe taking classes while I apply to PhD programs….it pretty much leaves Saturday and Sunday for us to hang out…and lately, Saturdays have been eaten up by the wine store too. So, to make up for all the lost time, we spent one recent Sunday in Bmore doing just about everything we’ve been meaning and wanting to do in our free time…

This is a beautiful mirrored and tiled bird outside of the American Visionary Arts Museum, our first stop… the museum is dedicated to self-taught artists, and showcases many artists who experience(ed) mental illness or disability

The outside walls of the museum are made of pieces of mirror and tile as well, and I was intent on capturing our picture in the reflection Joe was very patient…

They had a great exhibit going on, focused on faith and religion, and my favorite part was the collection of postcard confessions displayed along the staircases and walls…

After leaving the museum, we walked outside to Federal Hill, an actual hill (and the name of a neighborhood) and had a picnic on top of the hill, with old wine (not in a good way), tuna salad, old biscotti (makes them softer), and a great view of the inner harbor.

We put our basket in the car and took a walk down to the harbor we had been admiring…did I mention it was 75 degrees and gorgeous? Joe got some ice cream, of course, and we watched a street performer tell awful jokes to an audience who just wanted to see what he was going to do on the unicycle. I can’t even remember what he did…

We ended up on the 27th floor of the (Baltimore version of the) World Trade Center. It’s Free Fall in Bmore, so we lucked out and got a free view of the entire city…

Pretty nice view!

After the 30-second ride 27 floors down in the fastest elevator I’ve ever been on, we wandered around the harbor some more and then headed back home to check on movie times before some sushi in Mt. Washington village…mmmm. I ate a whole plate full of deep fried vegatables…sounds much better when you call it vegetable tempura. We saw Into the Wild, which was ‘well-made’, as Joe said. It was a good, memorable movie, but definitely a bit somber at the end…which was clearly appropriate. I told my mom not to see it.

We were both exhausted after our 12-hour long ‘date’, but it was a perfect day and I can’t wait to do it all again after winter has come and gone.