Monday, December 10, 2007

3 months later...

"Blessed are they who post because they have been compelled to post..."

(Yeah, we know we don't fit into the "more blessed" category, but we're still hoping for the blessings that come from action even if it materializes only after much compelling.)

Life is good. We will let the following pictures tell most of our life histories for the past three months.

Throughout the month of September, we made good use of my boss's offer to use their beach house on the Delaware Coast. Matt and I consider ourselves to be more mountain-folk than of the beach variety, but we sure do like vacation get-aways to the beach every once in a while!





We were even successful at cajoling good friends Dave and Margaret Hedengren to join us one weekend for crab fishing, grilling on the patio, beach walks, and an occasional dip into the Atlantic. We are happy to report that indeed, good times were had by all--even the crabs (we let them go after studying their behavior in the buckets for a while).


Missing the academic rigor of university life, Matt and I broke down and formed a discussion group with four other couples in the ward. Every three weeks we get together and have an invigorating discussion about a topic of interest, inspired from a "required" reading all of the participants have supposedly studied thoroughly before the evening. So far we have touched on Climate Change, effective strategies for reducing crime, and the Republican Primaries (we're not biased to the Republican race; it just so happened that the CNN YouTube debate was happening when our normal discussion group was scheduled to take place, so we accepted the opportunity and ran with it). It's a good incentive for us to read scholarly articles and stay informed about pertinent topics--so far it seems to be working pretty successfully.

Matt and I enjoyed a wonderful 6-day visit with the Christensen clan back in Topeka, KS for the Thanksgiving holiday. Our family keeps expanding, and unfortunately the room at the dinner table hasn't increased proportionally, but we'll happily sit at the "reject" table in order to welcome Karen's fiance Adam (they are getting married in January) and other friends and significant others to join in the festivities with us.


We were able to spend quality one-on-one time with most family members, celebrate Jen's birthday with a luau, take Matt on a tour of Lisa's old stomping grounds ("T"-high!), and see friends. We just loved every minute of it...even when there weren't enough beds for everyone. We look forward to seeing the Christensen Clan again in early January as we participate in Karen and Adam's wedding celebrations.

Other news: after vacillating between taking the GRE and the LSAT for about a year, I signed up for a Kaplan LSAT course, studied for six weeks, and took the LSAT a little over a week ago. My score will come right around Christmas--consider it a lump of coal (or an ear of corn, for those of you who have gone completely green) from LSAC in my stocking. I'm already planning on taking the test again in February, as I don't ever like being limited in my future options by a number that reflects that, yes, I am not a standardized test taker. The tentative plan is to start law school in the fall and transfer if Matt ends up starting an advanced degree the following year. We shall see!
(Me entering the gates of Hogwarts, aka Georgetown,
to take the LSAT...perhaps the wizarding exams would
have been the better route to take)


Matt and I made our debut performance with the Mount Vernon Stake Bell Choir a week ago, performing at a musical fireside for the stake prior to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Bells were ringing, people singing, candles beaming, tempers steaming (you don't ever want to be an obstacle for a stake music fireside, let us tell you). We'll admit, it's totally a nerdy thing to do, but we love it (and hopefully are parents can feel that all of those music lessons growing up weren't a waste). We get to play at Washington DC Temple Visitor's Center on December 21, as part of the holiday concerts they have happening every evening throughout the Christmas season. It will be lovely to see all of the lights--apparently its pretty spectacular--and we hope to make some merry music as well.

Along the lines of Christmas, Matt and I decorated our first Christmas tree together (yes, this is our fourth Christmas as a married couple). As students we never got around to decorating for Christmas, since we had finals up until the last minute and then were off for the remainder of the holidays, but this year we decided we needed a little Christmas, right this very minute, so we went out and got a tree!

Since we probably won't get around to sending Christmas cards or letters (we're just being honest with ourselves), we want to take the opportunity to wish all of our friends and family a holiday season filled with carols, home-made goodies, service, moments of reflection, comfort among loved ones, and the peace that comes into our lives from the goodness we have, the goodness we create, the goodness we share, and the hope that keeps us going. We love you!

Lisa and Matt Gee

7 comments:

Natalie said...

I knew you'd pop up on my Reader eventually :) It's good to hear how you're doing over there! The other day after choir practice Steve and I were talking about how we missed your choral expertise. And you guys, too :) You're definitely irreplaceable. Have a great Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Oh good, you're not dead! :) However, you all look to be having WAY too much fun over there. Sand castles on the beach? Jet-setting to see family over the holidays? Bell choir? Hogwarts?! I'm jealous.

Your discussion group sounds terrific. It reminds me of all those discussions Matt and I would have . . . that would go on for hours and hours. :) I'd love to be a fly on the wall during some of those. Perhaps if you had a webcam, we could set up some sort of simulcast thing, so you could get "the view from Atlanta." That would be pretty sweet.

Have a merry Christmas you two!

Snap 'n' the Cheek said...

We're so glad you haven't given up on the blogging world! It is great to get the update and it was so good to hear from you guys! We miss you lots and we're glad to see you're having so much fun. We think you ought to bring up the Fray song for one of your discussion topics (although you probably like your discussions to last longer than 5 minutes or less). Anyway, we hope you have a happy holiday season!

Mallory said...

Yay you have a blog! We're glad we found you. Even if you only update it quarterly, we're happy to read about the interesting comings and goings of the Gees. Mal's brother and sister-in-law just moved out to Alexandria so hopefully we'll be out before too long for a visit. Merry Christmas, we miss you guys.
P.S. We taught our son to say "Gee" alright maybe we didn't teach him, but its his most frequent sound by far.

Alisa said...

Hello stranger! I found you (thanks to your comments on Cara's blog)! YAY!! It is about time...since you have been lost for years and years...

Check out our blog at http://lybbertfamily.blogspot.com/

Love, Alisa & Jared

Stina said...

Hi Lisa,
Alisa told me she found you. I'm so glad to find you and hear about your exciting life. Your hair is so fun! I was thinking about you the other day and found the collage booklet you made for me for my birthday (full of pictures of No Doubt and Leo). You're also on my Engagement Party Video which I recently found. Check out my blog too! www.worldofpearson.blogspot.com
Love,
Christina

Carly said...

Horray for the blogosphere! I am happy to know your address in cyberspace--so fun to see pictures and know that you are (as always) happy and well :)