February Already

Well, it's already February - and nearly the middle of February, at that. Time is flying these days, I guess because we're busy every day and every weekend. About a week and a half ago, Ben bought me a lovely bouquet of a dozen roses (above), which looked so artistically arranged that I had to take a picture! One thing Ben has learned is that February 14 is NOT the day to buy a woman roses, because on that day, they are about 10 times more expensive than any other day of the year. So, he gets me roses at other times, and then on Valentine's Day, he usually gives me a different kind of flowers, like tulips or daisies, which I also like a lot. Other husbands out there would do well to learn this strategy as well :) I am very blessed to have a husband who gives me flowers frequently, too. In fact, every time one bouquet is drying up, I get sad and say how I don't want them to die. His response, every time, is always, "Well, that just means I'll have to get you more flowers!"

Anyway, for Valentine's Day, we're going next weekend to the Charlottesville area to see Monticello (Jefferson's place) and Ashlawn (Monroe's home). That is our gift to each other this year, and is a trip originally planned for my birthday in December, but one we canceled due to someone's procrastination on his end-of-semester work ;-) We're very excited about the trip and will post pictures upon our return!

This weekend, we spent much of yesterday at William & Mary's Charter Day celebration. That is when the school celebrates its founding in 1693 (when the royal charter was issued to establish it). Currently, the chancellor of the College is Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (the United States' first female Supreme Court justice). She spoke briefly yesterday at the ceremony (where they read part of the charter as well as confer honorary degrees and other awards), so here is a photo:

Other than that, we have both been busily working these days--me at my job, and Ben at his grad school work. His thesis is progressing, though we're still not sure whether he'll finish this spring or not until early fall/late summer.

The only other thing going on with us is that we've been following the presidential election primaries closely, wondering what is going to happen both with the nominations and in November with the general election. We are die-hard Republicans, both of us, but this election has been different than others we've voted in. As the national news continues to report, things are just very divided in the GOP right now, and it seems like no single candidate has everyone's general support. We vote this Tuesday. Regardless of what happens, we believe in fervently praying for the next leader of our land - which God tells us to do - because there truly is much at stake right now in so many ways, both in terms of foreign threats and social policies domestically.
Well, that's all for now. Let us know how you each are doing!