Happy Holidays!

We've finally got all of our Christmas presents purchased and wrapped, so we are able to share our beautiful Christmas tree with ChalkBoard Nation! If we are attending a Christmas celebration near you, your present is sitting under the tree, waiting. Which one is yours??? Only time will tell!




We're trying a new way of displaying pictures to the Chalkboard. Hopefully the above works, and it looks like a slideshow. If you click on the pictures above, you should still be able to go to Picasa Web Albums (like you were able to before).

Cabinet Project Complete!

Finally, after several weekends of work and phone calls to Dad (the visionary of the project), our garage now has cabinets to store all of our stuff. We are starting to get storage back, and these shelves allowed us to officially empty the very last of our moving boxes before the end of the new year.

Dad was able to scribble out the design for these shelves on a sheet of paper, and every measurement was dead-on... I cut (wishing my measurements were dead-on), and put everything together. In the end they look pretty good, even if I do say so myself. I have the doors cut and ready to go, but that will come when we have a little bit more time.

Holly is freezing, but is now happy that both cars fit into the garage again!

All done! The flecks in the picture that you see is all the sawdust swirling around the garage that reflected the flash off the camera. It was dusty, but we survived.

WELCOME HOME GRANDMA!

It was a long and hard road, but Grandma has finally made it back home! After routine outpatient surgery in September that very quickly became not so routine and very much inpatient, Grandma has recovered to the point that she is back home and looking great! In 12 weeks, Grandma spent time in just about every wing of Parkview Hospital, but she made a recovery that one surgeon key in her recovery (and whose timely surgery ultimately saved her life) termed "a miracle". Despite a very somber early prognosis, everyone knew that if Grandma had a chance that she would do everything she possibly could to pull through. She was able to fight off the infection--something that her infectious disease specialist confided to me that the odds "were not good". Once out of the ICU and in firm control of her recovery (after 4 rough weeks in Intensive Care), she met or exceeded every milestone set ahead of her to arrive home 4 days earlier than expected. Her determination to fight and push herself in recovery is truly a testament to her character, and has been so inspirational to all of us.

Of course, you are all wondering how this impacts The ChalkBoard. The staff at The ChalkBoard were very concerned, you see... because we were at risk of losing somewhere between 20-25% of our readership! This would have had huge implications to our shout-outs to our readers (Moms and Grandma!). Grandma, we definitely cite you as one very significant reason for making these updates!

So, Grandma, make sure you sit back, relax, enjoy Grandpa's fine cooking (uh-oh! -- Maybe Parkview's cafeteria wasn't so bad after all???), and enjoy The ChalkBoard for many years to come! (The future of The ChalkBoard depends on it!)

Happy Birthday Uncle Greg

This past weekend we made a trip up to New York City to celebrate Holly's Uncle Greg's 70th Birthday. The party was as much fun as the view of the city was beautiful. I have pictures of both below. We celebrated at The Chart House, which is right on the Hudson and across from Manhattan.

Uncle Gregs 70th

New Sunny Pictures

Sunny is doing well in his new home. He is set up in the middle of our family room so he is certainly still the center of attention!

Here he is as he stretches his legs in our living room and dining room.

Sunny

All Moved In!

We finally consider ourselves 100% moved into our home, with a place for everything and everything in its place. Motivated by Holly's family joining us for a weekend, we were able to have one last push to get everything inside the house all done, clean, and sparkling for their visit... perfect for taking pictures and sharing with all of our fellow ChalkBoard readers.

So, without further ado, as the French would say: Le maison de Chalk!

Our House

New Job for Jason

It's official. I have accepted a new job with T Rowe Price (click for more info). My first day is on October 17th and will complete a very crazy year for Holly and myself -- both moving onto a new home and new jobs. We are very excited about the very different life we are going to live in Maryland, but also excited for things to start slowing down a bit too!!!

This also means that my days at Accenture are now officially numbered. Accenture was a great company to work for and definitely put me on a fast track in my career to the point where I am today. It also was always hard to explain to family and friends what it was that I actually did when I was there.

Sometimes a joke is the best way to describe to someone what it is that I actually did. Click the following image below to hear a fake commercial that describes (in a joking way) what it is that I actually did. While I believe that Accenture is a great company for young people to get good starts in their careers, this parody is so funny because at times it isn't far from the truth!

(Click the picture below to see what I mean)



Now my family doesn't have to struggle to pronounce Accenture anymore!!!

New Wheels!

It was hard to let go of the Cavalier, but she's finally here! I finally bought another car! No more driving that huge truck! She is a GORGEOUS white Malibu with all of the bells and whistles (even more than Jas's car). Check her out...

Just in time for football season...

Holly and I have completed one room of our house (the others aren't far behind... trust us!). The most important room, the game/rec room is now completely set up. We built blanket hangers for our college blankets -- one for each institution we attended -- Wake, OSU, and McDaniel. I put my new power miter saw to use and built the hangers myself, and Holly and I hung them over the weekend.

As we get the finishing touches in our other rooms, we'll post them.

College Blankets

Famous Already!

I am settling into my new job at McDaniel College, and I'm famous already. Although some of the info in the story isn't exactly accurate (I've taught at 3 different colleges, not just 3 classes!), I did get my picture in the paper. I had hoped for a better picture, but at least my Scarlet Ohio State robe made it into the picture! :)

New McDaniel professors ease into new role

Finally... Our Europe Pictures

Hello dedicated readers (you must be dedicated if you are checking this website after our 1 month hiatus!).

Holly and I have settled into our home in Maryland. We've finally gotten high-speed internet and the time to put up the long-ago-promised Europe pictures that we took from our vacation last month. I went through and pulled 132 pictures out of the over 2,200 pictures we took that best captured our vacation. We saw so much that we couldn't possibly cram all the pictures online... but hopefully these pictures will represent the scope of what we saw during our time overseas.

As the house gets fully settled, we'll post back in a week or two with house pictures with our stuff in it. It's really starting to take shape. Plus, I'm sure that Holly will be posting pictures of her sweet office at McDaniel.

Until then, this should be enough to keep you busy:

Europe Trip -- Rome - Paris - London

Back in the USA

Holly and I are back to the States and safe after an interesting fight home. We're now putting our energy fully into getting ready for the big move. We'll be putting pictures from our vacation up sometime in the next couple of weeks, once we've gotten settled in Maryland and Jenn's wedding is over.

Stay tuned!

Still Surviving

Hi everyone,

I wanted to make my own post to tell you that (despite a constant schedule from 9 AM to 9 PM everyday) Jason hasn't killed me yet. There have been some minor injuries (the aforementioned sprained ankle, etc), but nothing major. After our last 12 hour day (by 8:30 PM at the Louvre), Jason was kind enough to tell me that I could go home.... if I was bleeding!!!! :) He's been pretty tough on me, but we've seen EVERYTHING, so it's been worth it. Talk to you all when we get home. Love you!

Holly

Survived Paris, now in London...

After 3 action-packed days in Paris, we are now in London. Safe, but definitely feeling like we've walked the probably 10 miles a day that we've been averaging.

We've been able to navigate two cities and as many languages succesfully, but are happy to be back to where the keyboard is at least somewhat typeable, the food is mostly cooked, and museums, street signs, and metro stops are all in English.

Some numbers for our trip so far...

Average temperature in Rome: 90's
Average temperature in Paris: Rain and low 60's
Temperature today in London: Sunny and 70's (after leaving 60's in Paris earlier in the day).

Pictures taken: ~ 1,400

Recognition from strangers regarding Jason's OSU t-shirts:
Rome (3-days wearing OSU shirts): 3
Paris (2 1/2 days wearing OSU shirts--partially covered by coats): 7
London (1/2 day so far): 1... she went to Malabar High School back in the day.

See you all when we get back!
--Jason and Holly

We are checking in from the shadow of the Colosseum, in Rome, Italy! We are well and everything has been great. Jason is typing, and unfamiliar with the Italian keyboard layout... so forgive any misspellings or missing punctuation.

We have been walking around like crazy, and have thus far succesfully dodged the MILLIONS of crazy scooter drivers out here (Dad, you are ahead of your time with the whole scooter idea). All of the walking, sore feet, twisted ankle (Holly is fine), have been worth it, as we are having an amazing time.

Tomorrow we leave for Paris at the end of the day. So far we have over 700 pictures to share with you all when we get back. It has truly been a wonderful trip!

Talk to everyone when we return to the states!
Jason and Holly

Homeowners -> Squatters -> Homeless...

It all happened so quickly that I didn't even stop to take pictures. Fortunately my Mom did (those pictures we'll be posted soon).

Holly and I are now officially homeless. For the next 4 weeks and 1 day, anyways.

We'll be posting pictures soon, but wanted to thank everyone who worked so hard yesterday to help us move out... Mom, Dad, Jenn, Matt, and Buttons. It took a lot of work, and Holly and I are so very thankful that we were able to count on you all to help out on what I think was the hottest day so far this year!

Also, out of respect to the new homeowners, I've taken down http://www.269Rainswept.com. However, I couldn't bring myself to delete the webpage entirely. We'll keep up http://gallowayohiohome.googlepages.com/home probably forever, as we have tons of wonderful memories of our time on Rainswept, and we hope that everyone reading this blog were able to enjoy the house when you were able to visit us as much as we did.

The one thing that you learn going through a move is that it isn't about the house, and it isn't about the stuff in the house. It's the people in the house that make a house a home, so we hope all of you will visit early and visit often when we do finally become homeowners in Maryland so that you can help us make new memories there!

Dr. Holly I presume?

Holly did it! She fulfilled the last step in her 24 year journey yesterday by enduring the blazing hot heat and receiving her PhD at OSU's Spring Commencement Ceremony. Click below to see the pictures of our cookout on Saturday night as well as the graduation on Sunday.

Thanks to everyone who made the trip out to see Holly achieve such a major milestone in her career. We are all very fortunate to have such caring family and friends!

Hollys Graduation

Watch Holly Graduate from Home!

You don't have to come all the way to Columbus to see Holly graduate. That's right, if you can read this blog, you can watch Holly graduate via the power of the World Wide Web.

OSU, partnering with the local PBS television station, is broadcasting the graduation ceremony LIVE on its website. Graduation ceremonies start at 1:00PM tomorrow (Sunday, 6/10).

How do I watch Holly graduate?

1. Click on this link. (http://commencement.osu.edu/)
2. Click on "Commencement Live Video Stream and Broadcast." (It's a red link in the middle of the page)
   
3. Click on "Click Here to Watch Live Video Stream"
4. Then Click "Windows Media".
5. A window should pop up with the graduation ceremony (right now it just shows a blue screen since nothing is broadcast yet).
   

Once the video is playing, you can right-click on the video and choose "Full Screen" to expand the video to your full screen. Hit the "Esc" key to go back.

Also, you can go to the above website after graduation to see Holly graduation any time of the day or night that you want!

You will definitely see and hear President Clinton speak, and you should see and hear Holly's name being read and Holly actually graduating (since they read and do each PhD separately)... she is #64 overall.

707 Glen Drive, here we come!

Fellow ChalkBoard readers (Hi Moms and Grandma!), you may now attach an address to our move to Maryland! We are in contract to buy the house at 707 Glen Drive and turn it into our home for hopefully many happy and exciting years in Maryland.

The house is very similiar in many ways to our home in Ohio. It's a newer home (built in late 2005) that is beautiful inside but has room for improvement on the outside. Built on a hillside overlooking a horse farm, it's a house with a small improvement over the view that we had at Rainswept. However, like Rainswept, we need to build a deck (let's hope I took careful notes in Ohio!) The house is beautiful on the inside, with a beautiful kitchen, a finished basement, tasteful decorations, and a bathroom that Holly could pitch a tent in (I didn't know this was such a big priority!).

We hope you enjoy the pictures below, and we can't wait for everyone to get a chance to visit the place that Holly and I have decided to call our new home!

Our New House

Jenn and Buttons' Wedding -- the anticipation mounts.

With a little less than 2 months to go until the big day, Memorial Day weekend saw several major events in the upcoming Chalk--Horwitz nuptials.

To start off the celebration, the guys all went canoing. Some had more success than others, as you can see by the following set of pictures...

Matt Canoeing

Meanwhile, Jenn and her side of the family held a secret meeting of only women, that I am told is called a Shower. Shrouded in secrecy, I implanted a covert agent that recovered the following pictures...

Jenns Shower

Some exciting reading!

Given the speed of academic publishing, it shouldn't be surprising that a chapter based on my undergraduate honors thesis has just been published. If you're bored (I mean REALLY bored!), this book might be a good read. I have a copy if you want to borrow it :) It might be a good cure for insomnia! Check it out!

You can also now see the abstract of my dissertation online HERE.

I can't wait to see everyone next week!

A Presidential Address!

OSU has just announced that the speaker for the Spring 2007 Commencement will be Bill Clinton (see link below). This means some extra security measures and long lines, but it will be worth it! Bill Clinton is quite an upgrade from Barbara Bush! I will see you on June 10th!

~ Holly

http://www.osu.edu/news/newsitem1703

Jason Living it up in DC!

I've moved into my corporate apartment in DC tonight. If you are curious as to the digs I'm in, I've attached a few pictures below.

Washington DC Apartment

What does Troy Smith and Holly have in common?

Besides both being my own personal idols, Holly and Troy will both be spotted at McDaniel College in the next couple of months.

Holly, as all of our blog fans know (Hello Moms and Grandma!), will be at McDaniel College in August starting in the psychology department as a professor.

Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith will join Holly at McDaniel College in July and August at the Baltimore Ravens Summer training camp. Yes, Troy Smith was drafted by the Ravens last weekend. Combined with the Browns continuing their streak of drafting lousy players (Miami's Kellen Winslow, Michigan's Braylon Edwards, and now Notre Dame's Brady Quinn), and Troy Smith following us to Baltimore... we may now be Ravens fans. Get back to us this fall!

Thank you for your contributions!

Thanks to everyone who helped contribute to our MS Walk Team this year. Your thoughtful donations helped to make our MS Walk a success! We raised $5,135 this year! Thank you again for a great response -- Holly and I really appreciate it!

See pictures below of the MS Walk, which took place at the Columbus Zoo.

MS Walk

Tulips in Full bloom!

The tulips took a beating with the late-Spring freeze we had over Easter, however they still ended up looking pretty good. Check the pictures out below to see our landscaping come back to life after an odd start-stop-start Spring!

House Tulips

Neither rain nor snow... USPS Here we come!

I will be starting my next project next week in the shadow of the Washington monument. I'll be working on a project with the US Postal Service in downtown Washington DC, practically across the street from the Washington Monument and Smithsonian Museums. (map).

I'm definitely very excited that I'll be able to take my knowledge and try to help find even more efficient ways to get you your mail. (In related news, they are talking about increasing the price of postage... again!).

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OSU Basketball Celebration

Tonight at the Schott the OSU Basketball team celebrated their Big Ten Title, Big Ten Tournament Title, South Regional Championship, and berth in the National Championship game. The team came out, the mayor made a presentation, Matta spoke, then each of the players were interviewed two at a time. Finally, Matta closed the program with a few words about the team, and hinted at next year being a good year to be a Buckeye. I was happy that a lot of the program and public applause was centered around Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris, the two seniors on the team.

As far as major announcements, Freshman walk-on Mark Titus declared that after speaking with his family and doing a lot of soul searching, he will be back for his Sophomore year with the team. At least we know we have one of the Freshmen in the fold for next year! (He was joking, the guy shot 50% from the field this season, but averaged only 0.4 points). Of course the joke was that none of the 3 freshman considering the draft tipped their hand one way or the other. The only thing I can say was that the team was pretty close to each other, and everyone was interacting pretty well with each other. It didn't look like the Conley, Oden, nor Cook were dodging the public or their teammates.

Anyways, here are the pictures of the fun evening. (Click the picture below to go to the album).

GO BUCKS!

OSU Basketball Celebration

How do I set this page as my homepage?

Easy!

Click this button below, and it will do it for you!

(This only works for the Internet Explorer browser).

That's all there is to it!

You've arrived!

Welcome to the New Chalkboard!

Bookmark this page (or write down our catchy new address!!!), as this is the future of the ChalkBoard. Outside of a slightly different look (more Scarlet and Gray!!!) the functionality is the same (and perhaps faster).

Although I've moved over all of our blog posts, when the house is sold and the ChalkServer is taken down, our Wedding Webpage and Ye Olde ChalkBoard will cease to exist. I may bring them back when we have our new home, but for a while they will be gone. So enjoy them while they last!

Offer Accepted!

So I was getting a bit of grief about how I never update this blog... so my fellow blog readers (you know who you are), here is a hum-dinger of a blog post:

We just received word that a buyer has accepted our counter-offer on our house. If nothing crazy happens, that means we've just agreed to sell our house!!!

The details are as follows: our house closing is on April 30th (less than 3 weeks away!!!). We then have until May 9th to hand over the keys and move out. To where? Good question. Hopefully I will be traveling with work by then during the week. Holly has her Miami apartment, and we have a pretty full social calendar between graduations, weddings, and family events until then that will keep us on the move. Holly's lease is up on her apartment on June 30th, so we'll then officially be homeless as we head for Europe in July. When we get back, we'll get serious about actually making the final move to Maryland.

Our crazy year just keeps moving along. One more piece is falling into place, and the picture is becoming clearer and clearer!

Thanks to everyone for the positive vibes and well wishes that you've sent our way! We're very happy to have a few more answers out of this stressful part of our lives!

Announcing Dr. Holly!

McDaniel College announces the arrival of its newest professor! Check this out...

You can call me Professor Holly!

After much deliberation, Jason and I would like to announce that I have accepted an Assistant Professor position at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. I am thrilled to join the faculty at McDaniel and am looking forward to the exciting/challenging year ahead. Jason and I are both grateful to our family and friends for your support during this transition.