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