Our 2024 was full of adventures and travel

Merry Christmas and happy new year! Our annual holiday check-in has us reflecting on a year of adventures and travels! We were all over the place!

Caroline enjoys her job at Michigan State University, where she serves as community director in Case Hall. She oversees a staff of four, plus dozens of resident assistants and several thousand students.

She is active with a regional residential life organization, the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers. She is the organization’s Campus Safety and Crisis Management Committee chairperson and earned a Top 10 Presentation award for her session, “Performance Management as a People Pleaser” at the organization’s annual conference. She also had an article published in Trends, the organization’s magazine.

Caroline and co-workers attended the GLACUHO conference, and she earned an award for her presentation.

Living on a vibrant Big 10 campus is exciting, and we are thrilled Caroline has access to neat museums, sporting events, and other activities.

With Michigan being a swing state and -- Caroline being politically active -- she was able to attend on-campus rallies featuring Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

We focused on having nice experiences this year. Caroline got to meet members of her favorite band, AJR, at a VIP meet-and-greet session prior to the concert in April.

Her friend Matt ran for Clinton County commissioner and Caroline helped with his campaign and creating many of his materials.

She was able to enjoy some non-conference travels, heading to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky with friends. Then she and Dave embarked on a bold trip to Arizona! First, they stayed in Phoenix, visiting the State Capitol and enjoying an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game.

From there they headed north to the south rim of the Grand Canyon, staying in the park.

We pack a lot into our visits, so we headed down a little bit from the Bright Angel Trailhead, took a sunset tour, participated in a night sky activity with rangers, got up before dawn to see a canyon sunrise, then joined park rangers on a fossil hunt.

Then we spent a little time in Flagstaff and Sedona, taking in the magnificent red rocks and staying clear of the vortexes.

A vibrant campus isn't necessarily a warm campus! But Caroline enjoys attending Michigan State University sporting events and taking pottery classes in East Lansing. She's really good at making all kinds of things!

The Grand Canyon was spectacular as advertised, and it was a place Dave always wanted to see.

Andrew and Aubrey headed to the other side of a planet for a trip to Japan! Aubrey is an expert planner and organized a trip that started in Tokyo then headed out to distant places. They toured temples and parks, met the bowing deer, rode bullet trains, ate very fancy local foods, visited museums and looked for Pokemen.

Andrew, when stateside, is in his second year at Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing, where he uses his social work skills to help people facing challenges find places to stay warm, dry, and cared for. Aubrey is a speech pathologist who works with a network of charter schools.

They enjoy their home in Traverse City, which is a beautiful community in Northern Michigan.

Julie had a fun transition, retiring from Grand Rapids Community College after 12 years working with the College Advancement team. 

Her big project each year has been the GRCC Foundation's annual report, which has earned top honors at the state and national levels from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations. She went out on top, with her last version earning a gold medal at the regional level; it's a finalist for a national award to be handed out in February. 

When not claiming carboard boxes, Cookie likes to hide among the Christmas llamas under the tree. 

She stays busy at home with her knitting group and remaining the center of the universe for Cookie, our 2-year-old cat. Cookie is Julie’s constant companion and collects cardboard boxes and cat toys.

Julie loves mystery stories. We were excited to see the Civic Theater's production of "Murder on the Orient Express." We were curious how a story that takes place on a train could work in the theater.

Julie planned a wonderful Northern Michigan excursion to Lake Walloon for a much-needed holiday getaway. We stayed at the historic Hotel Walloon, spoiled by the doting staff and festive holiday decorations.

We also visited Boyne Mountain, where you take the world's first chairlift to the top of the mountain to walk across the state’s largest pedestrian suspension bridge, which was decorated in colorful lights for the holidays.

We were excited to spend Mother's Day with Mom and Dad in Florida!

Dave’s job as associate vice president for Marketing and Communications at Ferris State University kept him on the road.

He attended a conference on Boston, working in a tour of Fenway Park. Then, Ferris State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams both made the Elite Eight round of the NCAA DII National Tournament.

That required Dave and co-worker Cassidy to drive to St. Joseph, Mo., for the first game of the women’s tournament, which the team won to advance to the Final Four. They hopped back into the CRV after the game to drive to Evansville, Ind., for the men’s game.

Luckily, they broke up the drive with an overnight stay in Columbia. Poor Cassidy was subjected to the Dave Memory Tour, seeing the University of Missouri School of Journalism and eating pizza at Shakespeare’s, the dining spot of choice for J-School students.

But it was on to Evansville the next morning, getting there in time to see the men’s team play – it lost, unfortunately – then drive all the way back to St. Joseph to watch the women’s team play again.

December found the football team headed to the NCAA DII National Tournament in a Dallas suburb – and won! That was exciting!

Our friend Steve Jessmore took Dave's new Ferris State headshot. Much of the Marketing and Communications team took in a game with the West Michigan Whitecaps baseball team - with a visit from Crash the River Rascal.

When not following the teams, Dave spends his time at the university telling the stories of the students and programs. It’s been a busy year as Ferris State is growing, breaking ground of some major buildings and helping students of all ages all across the state.

Our Thanksgiving traditions! Uncle Jeff, Zack and Dave run in the Grand Rapids Turkey Trot before we get coffee at Madcap, Zack's favorite GR cafe. Then we gather for dinner.

We hope you are happy and healthy wherever you are this holiday season. We appreciate our times together and what we get to do. We take stock of our blessings – and if you are reading this, you are among those who are very special to us. 

We love hearing from friends and family! Everyone is on Facebook, and you can connect at dmurray08@comcast.net.

 

Growing closer together in a year of changes

Safe to say 2023 was not the year we expected. A lot of changes. A lot of challenges. Some sadness. But we also grew closer together and greet this approaching year optimistically.

Most of us have new and better jobs. That’s exciting. 

Caroline has a new role at Michigan State University. She was promoted to be the community director for Case Hall, overseeing a team of grad students, resident assistants, administrative staff serving hundreds of students. 

The highlight came in the fall when Caroline offered several presentations at the Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers conference. There were about 60 presentations during the conference, and organizers at the end selected the 10 best for awards. Two of Caroline’s presentations were in the top 10! She’s good at what she does!

Caroline's biggest challenge came in February when the MSU campus suffered a tremendous tragedy. We are proud of the way Caroline potentially put herself in harm’s way and worked to keep her students safe. We are upset that she had to.

Andrew is still a social worker, but now helps people through the work of Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing. The agency works to place people in safe housing while addressing mental wellness challenges. This a little less stressful than his prior role with less time on the road. We’re proud of him. 

Andrew met Brutus at a Ferris State football game. 

Aubrey is still a speech pathologist, but now she works remotely, assisting students from across the state. We are proud of her, too.

Andrew and Aubrey enjoy living in Traverse City, a beautiful community in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, and are making upgrades to their home and spending time with friends.

Dave and Caroline had an epic trip in June, heading to see the Mets play the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Then we spent two days in Philadelphia visiting inspiring historical sites and going to see the Phillies. Added bonus - there was a post-game concert with AJR, Caroline's favorite band!

Dave departed Grand Rapids Community College in July and became associate vice president for Marketing and Public Relations at Ferris State University. There are many familiar faces at Ferris State, which has worked closely with GRCC for decades. Ferris even has offices at GRCC!

Dave's new duties included joining the football team on the road for a big game against University of Montana in Missoula. This was hazardous. We learned Grizz fans hurl Twinkies on the field, and visitors in red standing along the sidelines make an inviting target.

Ferris has a proud history, one of the first colleges in Michigan with a mission of making a quality education accessible to everyone, and has many career-focused programs. It’s a fun role, overseeing a team of 13 and finding new approaches to telling the university’s stories. Ferris State’s main campus is in Big Rapids, about 45 minutes north of Rockford, with a growing presence in Grand Rapids. Dave has an office in a historic building where President Ford worked as a congressman.

Dave's arrival even made the front page of the Big Rapids Pioneer - though, as Caroline quickly pointed out, it was below the fold and under a story about the Pee-wee Riders at the Mecosta County Fair. That kept us humble.

It's a very interesting job, and there is big news to come!

Julie is still at GRCC, but finds herself doing some different things as the college works through some transitions. 

Dave was able to accept Julie's Gold Paragon Award and three other honors for GRCC at the NCMPR national convention in Orlando with Kailee, a colleague. He also wandered into a giant comic con across the street from the hotel. He thought he was being stealth. But guys in suits stand out as interlopers and are quickly discovered, as you can tell from the disapproving Mandalorians. He bought some fun things for Andrew and Aubrey then scrambled to safety.

Disney Springs was much more comforting! Jenny, Miss Diana and Miss Ellie drove all the way to Orlando to retrieve Dave for a couple days with the family!

The GRCC Foundation’s annual report is one of Julie’s biggest projects, and it again earned the top prize in its category in the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations’ national awards.

But mostly, Julie serves as the main focus of attention for Cookie, an energetic black kitten who joined the family just before the new year. Cookie keeps herself – and us – very busy zooming around the house, playing with toys and monitoring the neighborhood atop her massive cat tree.

  
The promotions and new jobs kept us all occupied. That was good, because this was a very difficult year. We lost Julie’s mom, Bertie Nelson, in April after a period of declining health. 

We celebrated Mom with a beautiful service in Champaign. It was nice to spend time with Uncle Jeff Nelson and share with Aubrey some of the some of the things we enjoyed at the Univeristy of Illinois and the area, such as deep, deep dish pizza.

Mom had been with us here in Rockford since 2016, and we treasured being with her and caring for her. She was the last of her generation on both sides of the family and very strong in her faith. A coworker told me, “She has a lot of people waiting for her.” That seemed nice. We loved Mom very much and miss her dearly.

We are also appreciative of the outpouring of support and kindness from friends, co-workers, and family during this time.

If this new year turns out to be a little calmer, that’s OK. We look forward to being settled in our new careers, doing some traveling, and spending time with people we love.

We've kept busy. Aunt Kris joined Julie for high tea. Dave joined nephew Zack and Uncle Jeff Horve running in the Turkey Trot through the streets of Grand Rapids, then went to Zack's favorite hipster coffee shop - both activities becoming a tradition! Julie has close friends who meet each week at a local cafe for knitting and fellowship. They were a wonderful source of comfort for her during a difficult year.

We hope this holiday season find you happy and healthy. We appreciate our times together and what we get to do. We take stock of our blessings – and if you are reading this, you are among those who are very special to us. 

Lots of fun holiday celebrations in Michigan. Caroline and her friend Matt attend Lansing's Silver Bells in the City, and we enjoyed the new Christmas Market in Grand Rapids. 

We’d love to hear from you! Everyone is on Facebook, and you can drop us a line at dmurray08@comcast.net.

We were able to reconnect with family and friends and celebrate milestones in 2022

 

Happy holidays to our friends and family! 

It was a busy year, and it seems we are slowly reclaiming things we missed. Ballgames, concerts and work conferences are back, and we get to be with coworkers in person again. Best of all, 2022 marked a time when we were able to reconnect with family from all over the country to celebrate milestones and just be together. We’ll never again take those opportunities for granted.

We are so proud of Caroline, Andrew and Aubrey, and are thrilled to watch them moving forward in careers helping people.

Caroline is in her second year at Michigan State University as a residence hall director. She helps several thousand freshmen students get acclimated to college life and a home away from home. She also teaches a class and attended several conferences – and received an honor for a top presentation at one of them.

She has a new friend in her Akers Hall apartment, with the university’s permission. Phoebe Cilantro is a calico cat who quickly became a residence hall celebrity. Students watch for her to appear in the window and visit when she joins them outside when the fire alarm sounds.

 

Phoebe is a campus celebrity.

Caroline teamed up with the MSU veterinary program for a “Cows on the Quad” activity where calves visited the residence hall to meet students and be fed. She ran in a Silver Bells in the City 5K through the streets of Lansing with her friend Matt, and explored Chicago and went camping with friends from Central Michigan University. 

"Cows on the Quad" was a big hit!

Andrew and Aubrey also did some exploring! He turned 30 this year, and his in-laws provided an amazing birthday gift. They all went on a cruise of the southern Caribbean with stops in ports including Aruba and Haiti. 

Andrew celebrated his milestone birthday on a cruise - and on a motorcycle in Aruba.

Andrew is in his second year with the Area Agency on Aging of Northwest Michigan, located in Traverse City. He is a social worker, and makes sure older residents get the care they need while still living independently. He’s worked with the elderly in prior roles, and enjoys helping them.

His wife, Aubrey, is a speech pathologist with Northwest Education Services, the region’s intermediate school district, helping students in a number of schools.

 

Thanksgiving started with Zack, Uncle Jeff and Dave running in the Grand Rapids Turkey Trot. Then we all gathered for dinner.

Julie had a big year at work at Grand Rapids Community College, where she is a writer and editor for the GRCC Foundation.

The foundation’s annual report is one of her big projects, as she writes stories about students who have their lives changed by scholarships and the people who support them. The report has earned regional and district honors from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations for three years in a row. The project earned the organization’s top award – the Best in Show – at the national conference in March.

One of Julie's projects earned regional and national NCMPR awards - including Best in Show!

Julie is an active knitter and loves spending Wednesday evenings with her knitting friends. She is grateful Mom Nelson lives nearby and they get to spend time together.

Mom tagged along on an adventure to a local drive-through park, where you get to feed llamas, emus, bison and other exotic animals. A cow wandered over for a snack and stuck its entire head into the car and shared a fair amount of drool while dining on the food. We decided Dad Nelson, a bovine veterinarian, would have greatly enjoyed this and was smiling from above.

We are thrilled Mom Nelson lives nearby.

 

 

 

Some animals, like the noble llama, calmly enjoyed their treats. Bison were a little more demanding - and a cow was pretty much in the passenger seat.

Dave loves his job as the college’s communications director. He was able to do some traveling this year, heading to Denver for a work conference, exploring Milwaukee with Caroline, and catching up with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Kris and Zack in Chicago for a White Sox game. 

The GRCC Communications team earned 17 awards at the NCMPR District 3 conference in Chicago.

 

We were challenged to come up with a spirit photo for homecoming. The Communications team often takes our famed Large Letters all over campus.Then Ben suggested he take off his shoes like Paul McCartney. Next thing you know, we're the Beatles crossing Abbey Road. We won the spirit contest.

The big trip was a return home to Long Island to celebrate cousin Tim’s wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception, and he was thrilled to catch up with so many family members. Plus, he was able to break up the driving with some baseball, seeing a game in Pittsburgh before reuniting with his beloved Mets at Citi Field and seeing the new Tom Seaver statue!

It was a thrill to get back to Citi Field and see the Mets.

He was excited to make two trips to Florida this year, spending time with Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters, nieces and in-laws! We were excited to be there for niece Diana’s high school graduation. 

We were excited to attend our colleague Jenna's wedding.

We did have some very sad news this year. We lost our friend Tug, a member of the family for 19 years, which we know is an amazing run for a cat. He wasn’t the kind of cat that would run away and hide. He wanted to be in the center of the action. Julie was the center of Tug’s universe. Wherever she was, Tug was nearby, a wonderful companion. 

We miss Tug, our companion of 19 years.

Tug liked cardboard boxes, electric blankets – he had several around the house – napping in the sunshine beaming through windows or on the ottoman when it was placed in front of the fireplace. He was with us from our 30s through our 50s, and took the kids from elementary school through careers. He was there for job changes, graduations, a wedding, joyous celebrations and some painful losses.

He packed a lot into his 19 years. We miss him very much.

 

Florida fun! We were able to celebrate Diana's high school commencement, then visit again in October to celebrate Dad's 80th birthday!

We hope that this holiday season finds you happy and healthy.  We certainly appreciated the things we get to do and who we get to do them with. We are able to focus on what and who is important, and take stock of all our blessings. Here's to a peaceful 2023.

We would love to hear from you! Everyone is on Facebook, and you can drop us a line at dmurray08@comcast.net.