the last year
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A week after the wedding we packed
everything not already shipped into the
car. We’d left too much out, but with the help of Allison’s parents,
a big piece of wood and lots of string we managed to pack most of it. With
three rabbits and two cats — one quiet, the other one telling us when
it was time to stop for the day — we spent three days on I-80. After
one night at a lovely hotel in Elyria OH and another at a much better
one in Clive IA, we finally arrived in Aurora CO, with Allison vowing never
to drive across the country again.
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a lovely sign off I-76
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like Tetris, only backwards
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With several nights, before and after the move, spent on an air mattress,
we made it a priority to furnish our new home, beginning with a bed! With
the furniture arriving, Andrew prepared for his new career by starting
classes at Iliff School of Theology.
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The first few months in Colorado were marked by some sudden and unfortunate
events, first losing Nadia, Andrew’s twelve-year old cat, in October
and then Flippy, Allison’s five-year old rabbit, during the blizzard
at the Winter Solsice. (Given what we had been told about Denver’s
weather, three feet of snow came as something of a shock!) The New Year
brought more troubles, with the unhappy news of Allison’s father’s
leukæmia.
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so much for the Sun-plough
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central plaza in old Santa Fe
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After these many bumps in the road, we finally had our real honeymoon,
making up for the three days on I-80! Thanks to Andrew’s parents, we
spent a week in Santa Fe NM, seeing the sights, tasting the wine and
surviving the chilis. Having successfully finished school for the year, we
joined Andrew’s family for a fun but tiring vacation in Orlando FL at
the beginning of June, and, following this year of many ups and downs, we
are going to enjoy a nice weekend in Estes Park CO for our anniversary.
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back to school
My first year at Iliff went pretty well, completing a number of required
courses as well as “basic field education” with the
Veterans of Hope Project.
With the year’s worth of credits I transferred from
Hartford Seminary I’m I have
another four quarters of course-work remaining.
Rather than taking classes this Autumn, though, I’m going to be
doing “Clinical Pastoral Education” as a chaplain at the
University of Colorado Hospital. During
the 2008/09 academic year I’m intending to do a parish internship,
so I should be graduating in 2010!
Relating to but outside of school, I was hired as the Youth Chaplain for
the Mountain Desert District of the
Unitarian Universalist Association,
with this year’s “cons” being held in Golden CO,
Albuquerque NM and Cheyenne WY. Later this month I’m travelling
to Oakland CA to meet with the Western Regional Sub-Committee on
Candidacy, and I shall hopefully meet with the
Ministerial
Followship Committee shortly before I graduate from Iliff.
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our furry family
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Soon after losing Nadia, we adopted another cat, an adolescent male rescued from
a shelter in Craig CO. Named Reggie, he is full of beans and enjoys
being our 5am alarm clock — even though we’ve asked him not to
— and chasing Sasha up and down the stairs — which I guess is
pay-back for when she used to do that to Nadia.
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Reggie taking control
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Nadia, 1994–2006
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Sasha keeping her feet toasty
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chocolate Chip and black‘n’white Haley
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In the Spring we adopted Chip and Haley from the Colorado House Rabbit Society.
Though we had been looking for a friend for Annie, since she no longer
had Flippy, we took in this pair of rabbits looking for a good home.
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Annie flopped at the top of the stairs
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Flippy, 2001–2006
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Our wedding favours consisted of “adopting” four animals
— a panda, a tiger, a gorilla and an elephant —
through the World Wildlife Fund, but
we still have plenty of room for all the other furry children in our lives!
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Jazzy enjoying the great outdoors
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