Anyways the hardest part while traveling to celebrate the
New Year, a wedding anniversary, and a birthday is hiding the fact you can’t
drink. At this time only my wife and I
knew about the pregnancy. Luckily we
showed up early enough to get the waitress in on it and just bring out virgin
drinks while we were there. But it
seemed like all of January and most of February we were coming up with new and
fun ways to hide her not drinking.
Mostly I just drank enough for her to justify being the DD. Ashley’s Birthday was probably the hardest
day to get through.
Upon our return to VA we also started to tell all of our
friends. This was one of the hardest
secrets I’ve had to keep from people.
But it was a lot of fun to share the news with everyone. In March we finally moved from Burke into our
new home in Stafford. Although we didn’t
start living there yet, there was no heat.
Ashley, Bouncer, Rollins, Tabby, and I moved in to my parent’s house for
the next month.
I also attended the California State University – Northridge
(CSUN) conference in San Diego. After
months of bitter cold, sunny San Diego was quite the change in pace. CSUN is a conference that focuses on
Accessibility and technology that helps provide access to things for people
with disabilities. At the conference a colleague
and I presented on our Trusted Tester process that our office created. My hotel was right on the San Diego Bay. One of the highlights of the trip was on
Wednesday night when I went our looking for a cigar cutter at the nearby Cigar
shop. The owner invited me to join their
cigar club for the evening. I sat around
and met some cool guys while enjoying a nice smoke. Due to the cold weather back home I had not
had a chance to smoke a cigar in a few months.
On my last day in San Diego I was sitting in my room when a bus pulled
up outside. The bus was carrying the VCU
Rams pep band. I think I forgot to
mention that the University of Arizona Wildcats were staying at our hotel for
their first round matchup in the NCAA tournament. The VCU band showed up as the Arizona fans
and pep squad were getting ready to load the buses. All the way out in California there was a
little bit of Virginia with me. I went
downstairs to watch the bands “battle” each other. I got a picture with the Ram’s mascot before
they headed out as well. One other very
touristy thing I do when I attend this conference is eat at the bar where Goose
played Great Balls of Fire in Top Gun. They
have pretty good bbq for California.
In April we finally moved in and started staying at the new
house. April is also the month that
Spencer and I travel down to Myrtle Beach with his dad and we play golf for 4
days. We left a day early and stopped in
Raleigh to play a round with the Chandlers who were also joining us this
year. Spencer and I started going on
this trip in 2013 and we knew right away it would be a trip we would mark on
the calendars each year. When you play
on courses that look as nice as the ones in Myrtle Beach do, it doesn’t matter
that your golf game is terrible. At the
end of the month we made our annual trek to Richmond International Raceway for
the Busch Series race with my fraternity brothers. This year was a little wet but it didn’t keep
us from having a good time. Ashley was
in WV for the weekend so on Saturday my dad and I returned to Richmond for the
Sprint Cup series race. Since Friday
nights race didn’t end until around Midnight it was close to 2 or 3am when I
got home. My dad and I did not get an
early start back down to Richmond on Saturday, but the good news is it did not
rain.
It felt like every month in 2014 was busy, each time I start
a new month I want to say it was really busy.
May was no exception. My brother
and sister turned 30 so we had a party at my brother’s house. At the end of the month we flew to Fort
Worth, TX (Aledo) to visit my cousin Kevin and his family. We had a packed 3 days with them. We didn’t waste time getting some good Texas
BBQ. We stopped on our way to their
house. The next day we went to a brewery
called Revolver. We enjoyed some beer
and live music. After that we headed to
the stock yards. I didn’t get a chance
to see these when we were there for their wedding so I’m glad we did this
time. We say them drive the long horns
through the streets. We also went to a
rodeo that evening, which was a lot of fun.
It was my first time at a rodeo.
For dinner that evening we had Mexican, it was another culinary item we
needed to check off the list. We also
had more Mexican for breakfast the next morning. Sunday we mostly spent swimming in the
pool. Our last day was Memorial Day, we
stopped and toured the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas. I was finishing up reading Decision Points so
it was really cool to see a lot of things I had just finished reading. We grabbed lunch before heading to the
airport at Gas Monkey Bar and Grill. If
you are familiar with the show Fast n’ Loud the name of the garage is Gas
Monkey Garage.
June started with a trip to a Phillies game on Father’s Day
weekend. A trip that I intend to make a
tradition with my daughter starting in 2015.
The Phillies lost, which they did a lot of last year, but it was a lot
of fun. We also had two baby showers on
back to back weekends. The first was in
West Virginia. I spent the morning
playing golf at the local course. The
second one was at our house the following weekend. The wives all brought their husbands and we
went to a local brewery (Adventure Brewing).
Afterwards we had our house warming party. It was great getting together with everyone
and just sitting around and enjoying each other’s company.
With the babies due date being at the beginning of August
you would think our lives might start to settle down, it did not. We made our annual trip the Chandler’s 4th
of July party. The following day we went
to Richmond to celebrate Bolt’s 30th. His girlfriend was throwing him a Beer
Olympics party. Our team won
Silver. It also happened to be the last
party before the baby came. The next
weekend we took our baby moon at Rocky Gap Casino and Resort. It is located just outside of Cumberland, MD
on a nice lake nestled in the mountains.
We enjoyed some really great food.
On Friday night I had maybe the best crab cake of my life. On Saturday while Ashley got a message I
played a round of golf. Since I was playing solo I was paired with 3 guys from
the DC suburbs in Maryland. We had a
really great time. The course was
awesome too. I’d enjoy going back and
playing. Each night we sat outside on
the patio at the bar and listened to live music. The band on Saturday was better than the one
Friday night. Saturday night while
looking for a seat an older couple invited us to sit down. We enjoyed listening to the band and talking
to the couple. They shared stories about
their children and the guy talked to me about how awesome it was to have a
daughter.
The next weekend we toured the hospital where the baby would
be born. What a way to spend our second
anniversary? We stopped to get lunch afterwards
and went to the restaurant where we had our reception. Little did we know that would be the last
weekend we would be able to do anything for a while? The next weekend Ashley was sent to the
hospital on Friday night. I was halfway
up there when they sent her home. We
took it easy that weekend. On Monday I
went to work, Ashley wad an appointment with her doctor again. Her doctor sent her back to the hospital and
said it was going to happen. I wrapped
up what I was working on and called a friend to pick me up at the metro. Spencer dropped me off and the waiting
began. That evening Spencer and Nicole
came over to hang out with us until my mom and brother got there. They also brought me dinner. We had a lot of fun and it helped to take our
minds off of what was about to happen.
The next morning, Ashley’s parents and my dad showed up. At 10am the nurse told me to go get food so I
didn’t pass out during the birth. By
11:55 am Savannah Ray had joined out family.
It is something I will never forget.
The look on Ashley’s face as the doctor passed Savannah to her was
amazing. The rest of the day moved by
pretty quickly after that.
Two days later they sent us home. Ashley’s mom stayed with us for a couple of
weeks helping out. Then my mom came over
a few nights the following week to help out.
After that we were “on our own,” there were some learning curves to get
past, but 5 months later she is still the greatest gift I’ve ever received. I love playing with her and teaching her to
do things. A few weeks ago I taught her
how to stick her tongue out and make noises.
Then one night Ashley picked her up and she looked her right in the face
and did it to her. We were both on the
floor laughing. Last week she went to
see Santa and gave him the biggest smile.
As you may have guessed our August was learning to be
parents, which really means learning how to live with another person in the
house. September came and we headed back
to the Chandler’s for their Labor Day party.
It was one of the first times many of our friends got to meet Savannah. September was also when our family lost another member of the family. Sammy was our family dog since the summer of 2000. Her presense is still missed whenever we are back at my parents house. I honestly don’t remember much else about
September.
In October things picked up again. We went to WVU’s homecoming one weekend. WVU beat Kansas. The next weekend was O’Gradyfest. The pig was amazing. It was also a chance to introduce Savannah to
some more friends. Later in the month we
attended CNU’s homecoming. Spencer and I
hosted the SigEp alumni tailgate. It was
a great success. The following weekend
we returned to CNU for SigEp’s 10 year charter anniversary. In 2003 I decided to join Sigma Phi
Epsilon. The fraternity was just
starting on campus. In 2004 the
fraternity received their charter. It
has been awesome to watch our chapter grow.
The young men I have had a chance to meet at homecomings, alumni
picnics, and golf tournaments have more than impressed me over the years. The chapter is in great hands and I look
forward to what the next 10 years have in store for us.
November slowed down a little bit. I celebrated another year of birth. We traveled back to Morgantown for my nephews
first birthday. Then it seemed like
Ashley, Savannah and I took turns getting sick the rest of the month. Just before Thanksgiving we were in the ER
with Savannah because she had pneumonia.
We had to cancel our plans last minute.
Luckily Giant had everything we needed for a last minute Thanksgiving
feast.
December is not quite over yet, but we have already attended
my companies Christmas party. It was a
lot of fun as usual. It was a reminder
to Ashley and I that just days after the 2013 party is when we found out she
was pregnant with Savannah. My mom
joined us at the Ritz this year to watch Savannah and our friend’s newborn
while we were at the party. Grandma does
not miss a chance to spend time with her grandkids. I was able to meet up with one of my cousins who was in town for a conference for work. It was nice to catch up and we both decided that our extended family needs to do a better job getting together outside of weddings.
We just returned from another trip to WV to
celebrate Christmas with the in-laws. It
was a lot of fun. It was great to see
how much Savannah enjoyed spending time with them. She has so much love in her life. This week we prepare to celebrate Christmas
at my family’s house. I have always
loved Christmas, it is by far one of my favorite holidays. However, this year seems to be more fun. Have a kid to buy for brings Christmas cheer
to a new level. We are starting new
traditions this year at our house that we look forward to being a part of
Savannah’s and any future children’s lives.
I hope that all of you also had a great year. I’m eagerly waiting to see what 2015 has in
store for us. Merry Christmas to all and
a Happy New Year.
God Bless you all.
