We hope to see everyone over the holidays but want to stay current and keep everyone informed! So this past year was busy and full lots of travels and trips both social and business.

In January, we went on our Western Carribean Honeymoon! It was the most amazing 7 days and the best vacation imaginable. It was very exciting to wake up every day in a different country (or part of the ocean.) We met some fantastic people and visited Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; and Key West Florida. Kevin bought Russell snorkeling equipment for Christmas last year and we had a great time swimming in the crystal blue waters of Jamaica & Mexico.

In February, we met Jason Quinones, his mother works at Oberlin College. Jason met Kevin working out one day in the gym and has been around ever since. We have become very close and he is almost like family. Like family Jason has been wonderful and very difficult at times, but we are glad that he is a part of our life.

In March, we went to Long Beach, CA, for the annual ACPA (American College Personnel Administrators) conference. At times, it is very nice to be in the same professional career and be able to travel together for professional development. This year the conference will be in Minneapolis, MN and we hope to run into Mike and Beth, two friends that we made on the cruise!

We made a few trips to Michigan for a few weddings, and a gatherings with Kevin’s side of the family. The annual Pig Roast was lots of fun, but we did miss the Schreer family this year, we look forward to seeing them there next July! We are glad that we are close enough to both families to be able to visit.

At the end of the Summer, we met a friend of Jason’s, and he quickly became very close to both of us. Tim Stevenson was a life guard at Cedar Point this Summer and made extra efforts to visit almost each weekend for the last month of Summer. He also got us free passes to Cedar Points water park and we had a fun afternoon. We went to festivals, shows, beaches, dancing, and had a great time. Tim is now back at Slippery Rock (Russell says yay!) And we have been able to visit a few times for Homecoming and other fun events. We took Tim to visit Russell’s family for the Fall foliage back Bedford. We do not get to go visit Russell’s Mom nearly enough, it is always lots of fun and we miss her lots.

On our 1^st anniversary, we went to the Carousel Dinner Theater in Akron to see the musical "Jekyl and Hyde." The musical was special for two reasons. 1. The song our friend Mary Louis sang at our ceremony is from this musical, and 2. Vera Moore and her daughter, Jill Medina, gave us a gift certificate for the dinner theater for our ceremony. Vera passed away this past summer and we were happy to be able to remember her this way on our anniversary she was a wonderful woman.

Work for both of us has been exciting. Russell has a new President at Tiffin University and there has been a lot of exciting change and lots of work to keep busy creating new programs, organizations, and other exciting stuff. Kevin was promoted to Interim Assistant Dean/Associate Director of Residential Life & Dining Services. He enjoys the new responsibility and has made a lot of changes to the system that he used to gripe to Russell about each night. Donita Pace is his counterpart who was also promoted and they have been working very closely this past year. Donita was also our wedding coordinator, but she and Kevin have grown very close in the past 8 months. We are both very glad that she is here at Oberlin, she is a crazy, but a great person, lots of fun, and a good balance for Kevin. (I guess you can tell Russell is writing this part! ) We also moved into a larger apartment in one of the oldest residence halls that is built like a castle. We have high ceilings and lots of woodwork. We love it! We also made lots of friends and had a few over for our first social gathering in our new apartment. The ceilings are so high, we have our biggest Christmas tree ever. This picture is in our apartment with many friends who came over for dinner and a decorating party!

The last few months we have been very busy with work, but are finding time for fun. We have been up to Cleveland for dancing and making new friends more than ever before. Russell joined a volleyball league and kevin likes to go watch and socialize. Russell really loves to play volleyball and a couple different teams have asked him to play on their team next year. They think he is pretty good. We have both been working out very consistently and eating better. Russell lost 14 pounds in the past 5 months, Kevin is looking forward to our next vacation. Kevin booked us on a second honeymoon cruise to the Southern Carribean in January! Yay!!! Fun!!!