********** Happy Holidays! *************
Hi everyone! So, I finally decided to do a Christmas letter this year, so here it is! I thought it would be easier to do it online, and in lieu of Christmas cards (not that I normally get around to sending them anyway, cough, cough) I've made a donation to anysoldier.com, which delivers care packages to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope everyone is having a happy and healthy holiday season!
2006 was a good year for me - during the first few months of the year, I spent many of my weekends skiing with friends. I joined the Washington DC Ski Club this year, and met lots of fun new people who like to ski. I ended up accumulating 22 days on the snow (about half on skis and half on my snowboard), a statistic of which I am proud!
With the end of the spring semester, I reached an exciting milestone - I finished all my required coursework for my graduate program at George Washington University. Now I just have to complete a couple of independent study courses and write my dissertation (easier said than done, I am finding out!), and I will have my doctorate in Environmental and Energy Management. Another milestone I reached this year was the dreaded 3-0 (although I hear it is really "the new 21") I celebrated the occasion with friends and family at a restaurant near my house.
As usual, I did a bit of traveling this year - check out my photo montage below for some of the highlights! I got back into running a bit in the fall, and completed both the Army Ten Miler and the Marine Corps 10K. I'm also still playing soccer every week.
I am still working as a Senior Systems Engineer, although my company changed names - from Altarum to NewVectors - when my division spun off to become a for-profit subsidiary early in the year. I'm working as a contractor at the Business Transformation Agency (part of the DoD) in Crystal City, where I've been for the past year. I've also been volunteering through a program my company runs called ASTEP , in which I help mentor a team of local high school students as they perform a research project. So far its been lots of fun and very rewarding!
As for the rest of the family, my mom and dad are doing well, and live close by in Arlington. My sister and brother both graduated this year - Lauren with her Masters from Berkeley and Andrew from Thomas Jefferson High School. Lauren is now teaching at Consumnes River College in Sacramento, and Andrew is studying computer science at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne.
2007 promises to be a challenge as I continue work on my doctoral research. Best wishes to all for a terrific new year!
