2015 has been a wonderful, exhausting, and joyful year for Mike and me. 2016 has big shoes to fill
Our 2015
We started the year as newlyweds in a rambling, charmingly dilapidated apartment. I (Katherine) was entering my last semester of graduate school at Georgetown University, scrambling to finalize the pieces of my capstone project.
The past twelve months have been a tumultuous blur. I graduated, Mike found a new job, we bought a house, and then I found a new job.
I'll elaborate.
Georgetown
The first part of the year was consumed by grad school. I was acting as a pro bono consultant for Parkinson's Action Network, an organization that acts as the voice of the Parkinson's community.
I developed a communications plan for them, which you can read here. Georgetown liked it so much that they included it in their application for the best PR education program of the year! (and we were just named one of the finalists)
Baltimore
On the evening that I gave my final presentation for my capstone project, I got a phone call from Michael, who was out of town, traveling for work. He was stuck in an empty hotel bar in Alabama watching the news coverage on CNN while he ate dinner.
He said, "Don't go home," and "Stay with friends in DC." It was April 27, the day of Freddie Gray's funeral and the night Baltimore made the news for all the wrong reasons.
Baltimore has long been known as "The Wire" and "emblematic of post-industrial decay." For Mike and me, it's a place of heartwrenching disparities and stark contrasts of race and class. It's also one of the most vibrant, fascinating, unapologetic places that I've ever been. It wears a chip on its shoulder, and it opens its arms to ideas and energy and passion. It's Charm City, charming in its decay and in its hope.
Obviously, I drove home. Our street was quiet, my route was quiet. I listened on the radio as the governor announced a state of emergency and the deployment of the national guard. It was surreal.
That night also convinced us that Baltimore was the place we should be. We decided that we wanted to be in a place where we can make a difference, where we can feel like we're part of something that matters.
Following the 1968 riots and white flight to the county, Baltimore City has struggled to regain its population, its tax base, its identity as a Great American City (once the second busiest port in America). We want to be part of its renewal.
New Jobs, New Home
Just two days after Baltimore tumbled into chaos, Mike interviewed with Johns Hopkins Medicine. Just weeks later, Mike accepted an offer to be their new Occupational Safety Officer. Almost immediately, he left his DC job, hung up his MARC train pass, and joined the team of one of the best hospital systems in the country.
And with Mike's new job came the opportunity to really afford a home. Through a grant program provided by his work, employees receive funding for down payments and closing costs. Unbelievably, miraculously, we found a perfect house with 1920s lines and a 2015 kitchen. It was the first house we saw.
We closed on August 27.
Exposed brick, hardwood floors, granite countertops, three bedrooms, a third-floor deck, and welcoming, gracious neighbors. We are amazed.
In the midst of the mortgage applications and inspections and surveys and pre-screenings, Mike also took a week to bicycle across Iowa as part of RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). On Day 4, cycling between Eldora and Cedar Falls, he found a library amongst the cornfields, convinced the good librarians of the Hawkeye state to let him print a 50 page mortgage application, and sent his signed version back across the interwebs. And we're still married!
With too much time on my hands--having finished grad school, mortgage applications, and the hunt for the perfect couch--I began a job search. In December, I accepted a position as Senior Writer for the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C. I will start on January 19.
Quite the year.
By the way, Becca, our arthritic, tumor-ravaged, 14-year-old pitbull/boxer is as sweet and lazy as ever. She hates the stairs, loves her backyard, and consistently sneaks naps on the couch when it is not barricaded with things.
Throughout the many milestones and accomplishments, the stress and the second guessing, we have been surrounded by the love and support of our friends and family. We love you. We couldn't imagine our life without you.
With love,