Christmas 2007, aka Amanda's first attempt at making a web page (transferred from our website)

Greetings, and thanks for visiting to see what we have been up to in the past year.

We started out the year with two trips. The first one was to Colorado with Ken's family. We spent a relaxing week in a cabin in Pagosa Springs. We took some time out to laugh at the skiers who braved Wolf Creek.

The second trip was to Scotland with friends. We stayed for three days in a rental flat on the island of Islay.

This was the view from our flat in the village of Bowmore. The Bowmore Distillery is just to the left of this view. In the brochures for the distillery, "our" flat is pictured, we were that close. Our pictures of the scenery do not do the beauty of Scotland justice, even in March. There were rainbows everywhere.

We were given, quite possibly, the largest rental vehicle that exists in the UK. We each took turns navigating the narrow streets, and I had the opportunity to dodge sheep in the road. There are no stoplights on the entire island of Islay, and so I volunteered to drive for that portion of the trip!

Fortunately the good people at Bruichladdich Distillery took a picture of the four of us. It is the only picture of the whole group that we took in the week we were in Scotland.

We also spent a day in Edinburgh. There is so much to see in that city, one day is not enough. We toured Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle. We also walked the entire length of the Royal Mile, and climbed Arthur's Seat.

This summer, we decided to make some big changes in our lives. We sold our house in Bellefonte, PA and moved to Alexandria, VA. Ken had been a lecturer at Penn State, and I had been a Group Leader in High Pressure Liquid Chromatography at Exygen Research (now MPI Research). Ken accepted a senior scientist position at Decisive Analytics Corporation in Arlington, VA, and we moved without having sold our house, and me without a job. Fortunately, things have worked out very well. We found a great place to rent in Old Town Alexandria, and I found a temporary job, at which I have learned some new skills and have gotten back in to the lab, which is what I love. Also, the house did sell last month, and I have been offered a position in the Beverage Alcohol Laboratory of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. I am waiting on a background check before I can report to work, but I am looking forward to starting my new career.

We are within walking distance of all the action in Old Town. We are three blocks away from the metro station, two blocks from Whole Foods, one block from King Street (the main commerce street in town) and a little over ten blocks from the town square that hosts the year round farmers market and the Christmas tree lighting.

All the monuments, memorials, and museums that DC has to offer are a quick few metro stops away from our new home. We have gone into the city a few times, for my 30th birthday, to explore Georgetown, to do some geocaching, and to show Ken's parents around when they visited for Thanksgiving.

We are going to try to keep 2scientists.net updated, and so if you check back later, you should find some new content and many more pictures. Thanks for visiting, and happy holidays!

Love,

Ken and Amanda