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Over the past 4-5 years, I've moved around quite a bit, although I'll always call Columbus home. My husband, Mark, is an active-duty Army JAG officer, and he is currently stationed at West Point. We moved to the Hudson Valley in the summer of 2009 from Manhattan, Kansas, where we lived for 3.5 years while Mark was stationed at Fort Riley. (And before we moved to Kansas, we were in Charlottesville, VA for 4 months while Mark did his JAG OBC––what a lovely place to live!)
Perhaps my greatest talent is finding ways to go back to school. When we lived in Kansas, I was a grad student in political science at K-State for a year before realizing that what I *really* wanted to do was teach high school English. Unfortunately, that meant I had to become an undergrad again (thanks, OSU, for not granting teaching licenses to undergrads). I sucked it up and got both my teaching license (English 7-12, English 5-8, and Music PreK-12) and a second bachelor's degree. In January, I started grad school (English Education at NYU), and I should finish by December.
I'm also really good at finding ways to indulge my inner band geek, which should be no surprise to those who know me! In Kansas, I played in the K-State Symphony Band, the K-State Clarinet Choir, and the Manhattan Municipal Band. (I even had a brief stint on oboe, playing in a band that was designed for music ed majors to learn new instruments. That was every bit as fun as it sounds!) Right now, I play clarinet in the Hudson Valley Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and I'm ALWAYS looking for more musical opportunities!
We are finally living in a house instead of an apartment, although due to the astronomical price of living in this area, we're still renting. Our house, a little Cape Cod cottage built around 1865, was originally built for the servants of the estate (our landlord lives in the main house on the estate). It's old, cute, and cozy––absolutely perfect for us and our three cats. :-)
I've really gotten into outdoorsy projects, especially gardening and yard work. Much to my surprise, I've fallen in love with the birds. I put up two little bird feeders in December, intending for it to be entertainment for the cats; a few months later, I've got LOTS of feeders plus five birdhouses, and I've identified almost 30 different bird species that visit our yard! I'm in the process of creating a little backyard pond with a little waterfall. I'll post pics when I'm done!