Its My Life!: December 2009

Ahhhh… it’s 2009, and life just gets more and more interesting!

First, the family update, starting with the oldest...

Serena (23) graduated from NC State University last December, and is now a resident of Galveston, Texas! She moved there in August to begin a 5-year PhD program at the University of Texas Medical Branch. It was her first cross-country move, and Cassie helped by driving out with her and helping her get settled in. She is finishing up her first semester this month, and is enjoying the program and Texas! In addition to her schoolwork, she is coaching at a local gymnastics training center, Acrofit Gymnastics. It’s the gym that used to be owned and run by Bela Karolyi (Mary Lou Retton’s coach). She came home for Thanksgiving to be in her best friend’s wedding, and will be coming back in 3 weeks to spend the Christmas holiday with us as well.

Cassie (22) is still working at Banana Republic at Southpoint Mall in Durham, but has moved to a great apartment in Cary and has a wonderful new roommate, Kristen. She recently bought a new (to her) car—finally replacing her Mitsubishi, which has been falling apart over the last 6-9 months! She still helps plan the store’s fashion shows, which raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Sam (21) graduated from Holly Springs High School in January of 2008, and actually received his diploma at the school’s first graduation in June. There was a BIG party in Holly Springs after he walked across that stage!! J Shortly thereafter, he moved out into a room of his own in Fuquay-Varina and seemed to enjoy living on his own. Then his car died, and things weren’t going so well at work, so he decided to move to Massachusetts and live with his mom’s sister and his cousins for a while. He is still there, trying to find work and save enough money to move back to Carolina. Hopefully we’ll see him again (if only for a visit) sometime in 2010.

Danny is finishing high school in Florida with his mother. We had a great summer with him here. He made a great impression on all our friends, who said "he is turning into a great young man!" He is a senior this year and really getting psyched up for graduation. He has not decided what he will do after graduation, but college is definitely on his long-range “to-do” list. We aren’t sure if we’ll see him at Christmas, but we are pretty sure he intends to spend next summer with us.

Kennedy is officially a sixth grader this year and still homeschooling. She participates in an amazing homeschool co-op every Tuesday that has covered all the systems of the human body, a 3-week unit on archaeology, a hands-on unit on ecosystems, geography units on different countries, Greek and Roman mythology, and much more. Kennedy was also elected to be the President of the Junior Historians Club--a responsibility that she is taking VERY seriously!

In addition to that, Kennedy now attends Jordan Lake Sudbury School in Cary part-time, which provides more social learning opportunities and plenty of time to explore new learning options. As part of her school activities, Kennedy has just begun working as a mother’s helper for a local family who has 18-month old triplets! She works every Monday morning for 3-4 hours, and is absolutely CRAZY about it!

Kennedy bridged to Cadet Girl Scouts this year, and returned to competitive soccer by trying out for and landing a spot on a classic girls team that practices in Raleigh three times per week! The Fall outdoor season is over, but her team finished first in their U11 division and is now playing an indoor schedule to keep their feet on the ball and stay sharp. Kennedy has continued to perform in Stars Youth Theater here in town, but will be taking a break from that this spring. Hip hop dance is the newest activity, which she LOVES, and she is hoping to take clogging lessons as soon as our budget will allow it. Last summer, Kennedy entered a Tween Model contest in Apex, and thanks to the support of many friends and family, she won a full photo shoot from the photography studio who sponsored the contest! Many of you remember the photos of the shoot on Facebook, but the actual photos from the shoot were AMAZING! We've included one of the best here so you can see it.

Everyone else in the Fowle household is doing well. Mark was laid off from his IT Manager position at the end of August and is still looking for a good, new position. He’s been on many interviews, but the market is saturated with people like him who are looking for jobs, and the search is frustrating at times. Despite the focus on job-hunting, he still remains active with the Holly Springs Masonic Lodge and was recently elected the lodge's chaplain for 2010.

Lynn’s editing business from India dropped to almost nothing in May, but she’s slowly finding new clients while continuing to work on projects that will reap rewards later down the road when they are published. She is very active in the homeschool co-op and helps the Sudbury School with marketing and enrollment. She still enjoys scrapbooking, but hasn’t been able to get much done this year. Hopefully that will change once we are both gainfully employed again.