January '06

Following in Jean Stauffer's (Anthony's mom) footsteps, we decided to start a blog. Our lives aren't interesting enough to have a daily, or even a weekly blog, so we'll start with a monthly. Seeing as how we have just entered the new year, we'll start off by recapping our 2005, which had some interesting moments for both of us. Because this is our first blog, we'll write in the 3rd person, and we'll personalize our entries in the future.

Anthony had a great year at work and in his music. He has been working as a software engineer for a small software company, Remcom, since 1999. He has been excelling at the company and he loves the work he's doing there. He is surrounded by computer geeks who enjoy playing computer games with him (at work)...who can ask for a better job? Anthony has also been working very hard on his music for the past 2 years, and planned a concert in April 2005 to jumpstart his music career and ministry. His current project, Anthony Stauffer & Holy Smoke, released a live cd from the concert in August 2005. His music style is blues-rock, and you can check it out on his website at www.anthonystauffer.com. He is currently in the process of working towards recording a studio album. Finally, Anthony is one of the leaders of the men's ministry at our church, Unity Church of Jesus Christ (www.ucjc.org). He has been busy trying to to build the ministry and also plans social outings for the group. Anthony stays active as an aggressive player on a community volleyball league. He has helped his team win 3 championships in the 3 seasons he's played with them. He's an amazing (and scary) hitter!

Lori had a very exciting year as well. She had been working as a postdoctoral fellow at Penn State with her graduate mentor since 2003 and was conflicted about the next step she would take after the 2-year fellowship period was over. After being frustrated about living in State College, and thinking she would never make use of her degree in State College, a faculty position opened up in the Biobehavioral Health department. Lori does research on childhood obesity, and the position seemed perfect. Although she thought her chances were slim, she decided to apply anyway. Long story short, she was offered the position and accepted, and is now working as an assistant professor in the department. When she's not at Penn State, Lori is the director of the Sunday School program at our church. She is busy trying to find the best way to help children understand God's message of love and redemption, and the ways that they can try to be like Jesus Christ. She also likes to just find ways of having fun with them by planning parties, movie nights and other things that are appealing to kids. Lori also stays busy teaching and dancing african dance on campus.

We both stay busy with work, church and other social events, and we always treasure the time we spend together. Our favorite pasttimes are Scrabble, watching movies, and occasional walk in the nearby park, reading magazines at Barnes and Noble, and traveling when we can. We both have wonderful, big families who we love and who love us dearly. We try to visit them as often as we can, along with our neices and nephews (5 between both of us). We'll try to keep you updated with pictures each month. This month, we'll include a couple of pictures we took last year.