PFC Glenn

Taylor is officially a United States Marine, and Jeff is one proud big brother. This week we spent some time in Parris Island attending graduation ceremonies, and learning a bit about what the last thirteen weeks of his life has been like. We could not be more excited and proud of the man he has become. And Taylor, if you're reading this, please excuse all of the "civilian terms" that I'm about to use...

We woke up at 5:00 a.m. to watch the new Marines take their morning run on Thursday, and while I recognize that I cry at the drop of a hat, this experience really was inspiring. Especially because, at this point, we hadn't seen Taylor.

Thankfully, he is taller than most and we knew he had on "port holes" (aka glasses), so we managed to figure it out, despite them all having the same hair cut and looking oddly alike.

We were able to see Taylor on Family Day, which was the day before his graduation. This was the first time he'd seen his family [or anyone other than his fellow recruits and drill instructors] in three months:

He may speak a little deeper, stand a little taller, and he may wear his "trousers" a bit higher -- but he's still Taylor. He shaves with a real razor blade now, calls his shirts "blouses", and I noticed that he eats with his left hand by his side. Oh, and he's been on a 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. schedule since he left home.

Above is the bathroom in the barracks. They were a thing of beauty -- even Gary had to get a shot: 

After "liberty" was over, Jeff and I spent some time with Gary and Dee -- who didn't stop smiling the entire time they were on the island -- followed by an early morning graduation the next day.

Oh, and my favorite moment came after the ceremony -- when big brother decided to do this...

Apparently, Taylor has had a little bit more experience keeping a straight face...

We could not be more proud of PFC Glenn. What an incredible thing to have accomplished. We love you and here's to the next chapter!

Love,

Ryan and Jeff

Week-and-a-Half Wrap Up

I overheard a student the other day explain what the SCAD acronym stands for -- sleep comes after death. And while I recognize that there is a common tendency among students to glorify the struggle in order to make it all worth it, I have to admit that there is some truth in what they said. For instance, the above shot has nothing to do with home-repair (tricked you); it's actually a moment from our adventures in building a kiosk in our dining room.

This is how we celebrated our five year anniversary -- in the dining room, drinking coffee and stapeling shingles to a piece of plywood. Below is an iPhone shot of our labor of love. Nothing says "happy anniversary, sweetheart" like a scaled model of an interactive-touch-screen-kiosk about the Georgia State parks.

Notice I said "our" labor of love -- I fully intend to request that Jeff's name also be put on my diploma.  I've estimated that about a month has gone by without any work being done on the house, and yesterday marked SIX MONTHS since we signed. Time really has flown by, and we are anxious to get started again; but in the mean time, here are a few shots from the last week-and-a-half.

 

Oh, and apparently all of the madness rubbed off on the littlest member of our family, Chance. He was at the vet for four days last week with a stomach virus. I'm happy to report, however, that he is healthy and back to his usual tricks.

We leave for Parris Island tomorrow night to see Jeff's brother graduate from basic training. He's officially a Marine, and we can't wait to celebrate with him. We'll be back this weekend -- with photos.

Love,

Ryan

Bird

Jeff and I met for lunch today and the first thing I said to him was, "When did your beard grow back in?" Apparently, I haven't looked at his face in a week.

There are a few faces, however, that I have been seeing a lot of lately -- and those faces belong to three of my classmates. The four of us have two classes together this quarter, and we are the only four people in both of those classes. So, needless to say, we spend every single day together, and we have been meeting every single weekend to work on the collaborative midterm project that I mentioned here and here -- and I have to confess: I am pretty much in love with them forever.

A hard deadline and a common goal will bond any number of people together; but add to it a lot of coffee, and the compulsive nature of four design students [with an unhealthy appetite for approval], and you've got the makings of a beautiful and long lasting friendship.

Honestly, they are pretty much the only people I've had a real conversation with in about five weeks, so this is all I have to show for myself right now. Several of the following shots were taken by other members of the group. So, in keeping with my academic life, this post is somewhat of a collaborative effort:

That last one is me getting my model on for Caio. He told me I looked like Taylor Swift, which pretty much sealed his fate as my favorite person for life.

Here's to ampersands and Georgia Parks and beer and coffee and exacto knifes and t-squares and bird.

Jessica, walk out from behind that camera and join the group shot, um-kay, thanks! 

Midterms are over on Valentine's Day. See you on the other side!

Ryan

Weekend Wrap Up

Another weekend has come and gone without a single thought of remodeling. I spent most of the week photographing state parks for a project, and the last two days were consumed with designing and building a kiosk and other aspects of said project. For those of you hankering for some home-improvement-shots, your time will come. In the mean time, here are some moments from yet another day spent in a Georgia park.

And for those of you curious about what Jeff has been up to:

It is almost ready for water -- and I can't believe I'm about to say this -- but I can't wait to buy our first frag.

Ryan

Almost-Vegan

This post is in honor of Lauren and Matthew who bought me the Forks Over Knives cookbook a couple of weeks ago. Yes, they are possibly the most thoughtful people on the planet. Love and thanks to you two! 

On Friday night, I attempted to make vegan white bean chili from scratch. Spoiler alert: I ended up ruining the vegan component by dumping a handfull of mozzarella in the bowl before I ate it, but it was a pretty decent effort.

I diced almost-all of the vegetables by hand and minced some fresh garlic, while simultaneously talking Dad through a complicated iPhone procedure. So, Lauren, that's why my the onions aren't all in perfect squares -- I can almost hear you gasping right now. 

I cheated by adding canned tomatoes and pre-packaged vegetable broth. Don't judge me.

 

I rinsed the beans (yes, I added black beans to my "white bean" chili), and noticed there was a rogue kidney bean in the mix. I don't know about you, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that is some kind of good luck:

And then I mixed it all together, and let it cook:

The result was nothing short of ah-mazing. I am attributing much of the success to the lemon juice and lime zest:

Oh, and the cheese, of course.

Here's to eating almost-vegan-homemade-chili alone on a Friday night and writing a blog post about it. Procrastination is a beautiful [and delicious] thing.

Ryan