Free At Last

Perhaps that is too dramatic of a blog post title for simply ending the semester, but it accurately reflects our feelings the last few days. Man oh man has it been great to be done! Mostly, we just can't stop sleeping! We'll set the alarm for 8am, but just can't get out of bed until at least 8:45am. Then there is generally be some kind of nap later in the day, either on purpose or by accident. We have also each gone to the gym 4 or 5 times in the last week, cooked lots of good real food, had only 1 cup of coffee per day (!!), and have generally felt very healthy and alive. Hurray for winter break! Here is the start of break captured in a few photos:

Jonathan has gotten very good at making eggs and toast for breakfast. See above, perfect over-easy eggs and toast, along with fresh coffee and morning lounging in a blue fuzzy bathrobe.

After our afternoon nap a few days ago, we had some coffee and freshly made apple-raisin spice cake. YUM!

We also both managed to find time to get our hair cut. Jonathan, as usual, came back looking almost ready for the navy with his freshly shorn curls.

Despite being on break, Jonathan had a few days of hard laboring to grade his students' final exams. While the process started off with high hopes and energy, both quickly fell. Stefanie heard continued groans coming from Jonathan has he used up all the ink in his red grading pens. One student's response to a question stood out: he drew a comic picture of a man holding a phone with the caption, "can i phone a friend." Unfortunately, no points were given. The brutal grading task finally ended, much to both of our relief. Next up on the work docket is Jonathan's preparations for the January term class he'll be teaching, and Stefanie's epic start to an epic studying process for her Step 1 board exams. Go team Kreamer!

Last, but certainly not least, Jonathan got new glasses! After some help from Stefanie, who aided in determining which glasses were "too stylish," "too nerdy," or just right, this was the final result. Jonathan can see, and Stefanie likes what she sees. All is good!

Tomorrow we head off to San Diego for 10 days of Christmas and New Years celebration with Stefanie's family. They are currently having the biggest rain storm of the last 15 years (ie. it is heavily misting and people are contemplating maybe needing to change out of flip flops). But, we are hoping the weather turns around for us chilly east coast students.

Merry Christmas!

Are we there yet??

No. We are not. Jonathan is 1 presentation, 1 final, 2 projects, and countless papers to grade away. Stefanie is 1 quiz and 3 exams away. Only 9 more days until Winter Break!

But, we will refrain from whining too much, since the saying goes, "if you want to score points by whining, join a European soccer team."

We have both been in high study mode and are trying to keep it up for just one more week.

Still, there are a few highlights:
-a great little mini Christmas tree, perfectly sized for our apartment (see below)
-renting a Zip Car to go grocery shopping (yes, this is a highlight)
-putting up some Christmas lights to make our space feel cozy
-drinking lots of coffee with scoopes of hot cocoa mixed in
-accidentally sleeping in twice last week...opps!

With Christmas time brings Christmas music. Stefanie has learned that Jonathan has a HUGE capacity to listen to Christmas music. Literally all day. For his study breaks, Jonathan has taken up the art of "prancing." Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Needless to say, Jonathan's raindeer nickname is Prancer. 10 points to anyone who guesses Stefanie's raindeer nickname. Other fun holiday nicknames have included Pumpkin, Squash, and Butternut.

Next blog post to come when we are both DONE with the semester.

Quote of the day, by Jonathan Kreamer, "How come you have to say 'I baked cookies?" They're called COOKies. Don't you cook them? And if not, shouldn't they be called bakies instead of cookies?" This was after Stefanie nervously asked what Jonathan meant when he said he "cooked his bagel." Jonathan reassured her that he did in fact mean that he toasted his bagel, and that he had not put it in the oven or on the stove.

Thanks + Giving = Thanksgiving

After class on Wednesday, we hightailed it up to Philly. Though we left at 4:30pm and expected tons of traffic, it only took about 4 hours, which is not bad considering it was the day before Thanksgiving and rush hour.

Stef's sister, Olivia, got to the Kreamer house just before we arrived. We talked around the kitchen table for a while, catching up with Caroline and Catherine, and then we hit the sack, totally tired from the three day week.

We woke up Thanksgiving morning to an hour or two of beauitful snow flurries. Stef and Liv went out to buy some apple cider (Philly almost had an apple cider shortage!) and stopped for coffee on the way back. The coffee place was right next to Jenny and Chris Stanchak's apartment, so we stopped in to drink or coffee and chat a bit. Once we were back at the Kreamer house, it was non-stop kitchen hustling until it was time to eat. Heidi joined from New York, and there were even more curly haired kids in the house.

Jonathan did a great job helping Stefanie make green bean casserole, especially considering green beans are his least favorite vegetable. Olivia did a stellar job making creamy mashed potatoes. See them hard at work below.

Dinner included a big group! Stefanie, Jonathan, Olivia, Catherine, Heidi, Caroline, Tom, 2 grandparents, a great aunt, and Holman and Carolyn joined a bit later. Oh, and 1 dog + 3 cats!

Dessert included Pecan, Pumpkin, and Apple pies, complete with ice cream. After all the food had been eaten, dishes cleaned, and guests seen off, the kiddos played Parcheeze late into the night. Well, Stefanie studied near by while the rest of the gang played.

The next morning consisted of delicious left overs for brunch. Stefanie and Jonathan spent some time studying on Friday, and there was more Parcheeze playing as well. We left Friday evening to get back to DC to do some intense studying. Only 17 days left in the semester and lots to do!

Happy Thanksgiving, blog readers. Let your life be a thanksgiving.

Views from Stefanie's Desk

People say Spring is the best season in DC, but we think late Fall is pretty nice as well. Check out this picture from the late afternoon a week ago. Isn't that red brick color great? This is what Stefanie sees when she looks out the window from her desk.

Despite the beautiful weather, we have not gotten to spend much time outside enjoying it. Good thing we have a great view! A few weeks ago we had a nice chili-cook off with some folks from church in a near by park. It was nippy out, but the chili gave us a great warm feeling.


Stefanie "surprised" Jonathan with some file folders to organize his desk last Friday. Who knew file folders could be such an exciting present? After an hour of desk organizing, Jonathan was beaming at his newly arranged study space and was ready to settle into a work weekend. This picture isn't great, but this is what Stefanie sees when she looks over at her wonderfully productive husband. (notice the coffee cup in hand- it was not planned when taking the picture)


All in all, Stefanie thinks the two views she sees from her desk are pretty nice. And it's a good thing, too, since she seems to spend ALL her time there.

Now it is time to power hard through the next few days, enjoy a little bit of time off for Thanksgiving, and then finish the semester strong. 23 days. But who's counting?

Fall has Fallen

Fall has fallen like a stack of books. Some day in the last 5 weeks summer officially ended and it became cool enough for bath robes in the morning, jackets while walking to school, and house shoes and tea at the end of the day. Going on 5+ months of marriage now and we think it's pretty great.

Halloween came and went and, alas, we did not dress up; though we did exchange ideas about interesting costume options. Here are some throw-back pictures.

Despite a very busy past few weeks, we managed to fit in a few non-study related things. Stefanie has attempted several new cooking recepies with medium to high success rate. This past week has featured a great deal of sweet potatoes in a variety of consistencies. Jonathan found amusement in reading this.

We finally tried out the new tennis court near us. Not exactly pro-court quality, but we both still had fun, and are looking forward to making this a sport we play together forever.

Jonathan has been busy with his course work, which includes lots of projects and partner work, as well as grading papers for his "young scholars." His students should blame the Phillies if they did not do as well in this Economics course as they had thought.

Stefanie is still counting down days until Winter break (5 weeks exactly). For Thanksgiving, we'll be joining the rest of the Kreamer clan in Philly, along with Stefanie's little sister Olivia, for some delicious feasting. Unfortunately, the trip will be cut short as Stefanie has exams that next Monday, and Jonathan as assignments due Tuesday. But, we hope to be back in lovely Philly before Christmas.

Interestingly, both Stefanie and Jonathan have had urges to return to their personal blogs. What to do, what to do? Shall we keep this blog, oh faithful reader(s)? Or shall we keep to our respective blogs of economic prose and introspective musings?

Haircuts and Sleep

Friday was "haircut" day for us. Stefanie got a few inches chopped off and unintentionally was given bangs along the way. Jonathan got his curls sheared and is looking studly as usual.

In addition to hair cuts, we spent this glorious three day weekend (well, really only Stefanie had the full 3 days off) catching up on lots of sleep, reading, walking around outside, going to the gym, and generally relaxing! We both took Saturday off of work completely, and had a very enjoyable day. Stefanie made chili in honor of October being "national chili month," and we got to watch an episode or two of the "West Wing," which we just started watching from the beginning. Stefanie things Jonathan might look a bit like Josh Lyman in the future.

It also was a pretty good weekend to be a Philadelphia sports team fan. If only Jonathan had had exams to grade, his students would be very happy this week with their results.

One Last Hurrah

Two weekends ago we spent the weekend at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. Even though it isn't quite the same as the Pacific Ocean, after a few snarky comments about how the East Coast only has the "shore" and not real "beaches," even Stefanie enjoyed time in the sun, sand, and water. It is so rare for us both to have a lite-work weekend coincide, that we were very grateful to take advantage of this chance!

Notice: med school notes about Hematology/Oncology were quickly put aside

Notice: Jonathan trying to read Stefanie's notes

Couldn't ask for a better beach for a morning run. 2 great morning beach runs that weekend made Stefanie very happy.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. Stefanie found it very odd that the sun would ever RISE over the ocean. Still, it was very beauitful.



The house we stayed in had a great deck that was perfect for morning sitting, coffee drinking, and reading.

We enjoyed our restful weekend, and entered back into academic life ready to conquer the week's work. For Jonathan this included 2 projects and a presentation. For Stefanie, this meant studying for her final exam in Unit 2 (Musculoskeletal, Hematology, Lymphatics), which was yesterday.

This week, Stefanie started a new unit in med school- Pulmonology and Cardiology, which will last through Thanksgiving. Jonathan has had tons of grading to do for the classes he is teaching. Stefanie is amused that when the Philadelphia Eagles do poorly, Jonathan tends to grade a little more harshly. It's a good thing the Phillies are doing well to balance it out or his students would be in big trouble!

Today we've been married 4 months!

To whom much is given...

Last week was a successful one in the Kreamer house (errr...condo). Jonathan was offered a great winter job opportunity to teach Macroeconomics at UMD for the first three weeks of January. This works out great, since Stefanie will already be back in school by then, and Jonathan doesn't start until late January. Stefanie aced her set of Monday exams, and ended up winning 300$ in a school raffle. Lots to be thankful for. Luke 12 serves as a good reminder for us of how much we really do receive:

And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ...Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also...

...Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

To celebrate a successful week, and to kick off a weekend that was less work-filled then most, Friday night was a date-night out in Georgetown.

Dinner at Martin's Tavern.

Walking along the Potomac river after dinner.

Potomac River at sunset.

The plan for the night was a second attempt to go to Georgetown Cupcake for dessert, since we continually hear good things about it. The line, however, wrapped around the corner. Jonathan pointed out that the female to male ratio in line was approximately 8:1, and the only men leaving the store carrying bright pink boxes of cupcakes were accompanied by their girlfriends or wives. We decided to ditch the cupcake idea and headed back to our neighborhood for delicious frozen yogurt (see above). This is exactly what we did last time we attempted to go to Georgetown Cupcake. We think we just like frozen yogurt better.

We're spending next weekend at Rehoboth Beach in Deleware. Stefanie can't wait to see the ocean, even if it isn't the Pacific. That means that the rest of this week will be extra work-filled so that we can enjoy some free time over the weekend.

More Hiking. More Studying.

After a fun trip to Philly over Labor Day, we eased back into a 4 day week. Stefanie was gearing up for the exams that she took today, and Jonathan settled into the second week of classes and started establishing some rhythm to the school days and week. On Wednesday he found out that he passed both of his comprehensive exams (woohooo!!) which he had taken in August. To make the week even better, on Friday morning Jonathan taught three sections of Intermediate Macroeconomics. He loved teaching! Looks like it is gearing up to be a good hear of reading, writing, and teaching.

Stefanie entered the weekend resolved to be in a good mood about studying for her Monday exams, despite it being a beautiful weekend to be outside. Her determination lasted until about Saturday night, which is better then the last exam weekend. However, the weekend of memorizing what seemed like millions of skin and bone diseases paid off. She has, however, decided that she definitely does not want to be a dermatologist.

On Saturday, Jonathan headed off with a few people from our neighborhood group to Old Rag Mountain in Virginia. They headed off early, had a great and challenging hike, and came back tired but happy. Stefanie was there in spirit. Here are a few picures from the beautiful hike:

Starting off on the trail.

Everyone brought some kind of food to share with the group, so they had a ton of snacks! As Jonathan says, "We ate our way to the top." Stefanie got a good laugh out of the fact that Jonathan carried up the entire bear carton of animal crakers (see picture), which apparently made a great jiggling noise each time he took a big step.

The view from the top.

More of the gorgeous view!

Stefanie's outdoor treat for the weekend was a new pair of running shoes (much needed) and a beautiful run in the great fall-esque weather on Saturday. Also, she heard such good things about the hike Jonthan went on, that she is planning on taking a group of her med school friends to go to Old Rag Mountain over Columbus Day Weekend.

It was a busy weekend, in different ways, for both Stefanie and Jonathan, and we're looking forward to a calmer week with a chance to get back into a normal rhythm of work and life.

Kreamers Go Marching Two by Two, Hurrah, Hurrah

Jonathan returned safe and sound from Chicago after four exciting days of road-tripping, sister-helping, Chicago-seeing, and a few other unnamed adventures. Despite only having two short days in Chicago, Jonathan and Nick managed to do a lot! They saw Wheaton's beautiful campus, and helped Jonathan's little sister Catherine move in. Then came an evening in Chicago, featuring delicious deep-dish pizza, Grant Park, and The Bean. The next day the fearless duo took in a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, and sampled scrumptious Polish Sausage. But most spectacular of all was the drive. 32 hours in all, from Philadelphia to Chicago and back again, with a pit stop in Pittsburgh. Four states, and nothing to change their view that Pennsylvania is the most beautiful.

The last two weeks proved to be busy! Jonathan recuperated from his road trip, got ready for school, and kicked off year two of grad school. He's taking Advanced Macroeconomics, Computational Economics, and Trade. Stefanie continued to plug away, learning lots of medical facts, drinking lots of coffee, and spending a (likely unhealthy) amount of time dreaming about summer vacation options. She moved from Unit One (General Pathology, Microbiology, and Pharmacology) into Unit Two (Musculoskeletal System, Skin, Connective Tissue, and Hematology).

This past weekend we had a little breather from all of the work, and headed up to Philly for some fun. Hurricane Earl (which Jonathan finds to be a whimpy name for a Hurricane) brought us nothing but perfect weather. We were sad, however, to have missed saying goodbye to Catherine (off to Wheaton) and Mary Robin (off to Turkey) the previous week!

Saturday we headed out to Wissahickon Valley to do some hiking. Here are some pictures from our time in the great outdoors:

Jonathan was quite the bush-whacker. Now if only he had had a machette.

Cooling off our feet in the river while eating lunch. Stefanie was tempted on multiple occasions to jump in. Only the idea of a wet train ride back to Philly held her back.

Jonathan is beaming at our perfect lunch spot. No mosquitos + sandwiches from Reading Terminal Market + great scenery (and company). What could be better?

Can't we do this all the time?

We found someone at the Valley Forge Inn to take a picture for us. Half way through our hike and we are still smiling.

Saturday was fun, but the weekend didn't end there. Sunday we headed off to our good ol' Alma Mater and did some work in Houston Hall. It almost felt like we were back in college- drinking coffee, eating food from Wawa, and totally engaged in work. Except those new freshmen looked so young! We, of course, never looked that young or lost. In the afternoon we walked out to City Church and got to see some friendly familiar faces.

Sunday evening held the traditional fantasy football draft. Jonathan, along with several friends from college, hung out eating pizza, catching up, and hand picking the best teams they possibly could. Great tradition! Great friends! Great time! Stefanie spent the time with her little sis, Olivia, eating dinner, decorating Liv's dorm room, getting to know her roommates, and watching 2 episodes of House (and feeling proud every time she knew something House talked about).

Monday brought us back to DC. Our study-filled bus ride landed us in the nation's capital a little more rested, a little more connected with friends/family, and feeling mostly ready to conquer the week ahead. Minutes after walking back in the door, the books were out, computers, on, coffee cups filled, and it was time to get back to work.

Already looking forward to the next 3-day weekend! (Columbus Day)

You can tell we've had exams recently

You can tell we've both had exams recently due to the lack of update. This is in part due to time, and in part because there isn't much to update when we sit at our desks and study all day and night. BUT, now that it has been a few weeks, we have accumulated a few fun things to share.

Two Wednesdays ago, we went to a neighborhood lecture given by Bernard Deczuk, put on by our church. He gave us a great account of black history in DC over the last 100 years, and then narrowed in on some of the recent change in our neighborhood, as well as how the DC government works and how to be involved both as a neighbor and citizen.

Last Friday, LauraBeth and her friend, Jen, drove up from Atlanta on their way to Philadelphia. On the way, they stopped to see us in DC. We got to feed them, catch up a little, and exchange some quality hugs.


Last Sunday, Jonathan's sister, Mary Robin, was in town and spent some time with us. Unfortunately, we were not the most fun to be around, seeing as we both had exams the next day. Still, it was great to catch up in person before she heads back to Turkey for another year!

This past Monday, Jonathan had the first of his "comps" (comprehensive exams taken between the first and second year of his Econ PhD program), and Stefanie had her first set of exams as a second year med student. Needless to say, we ended the day feeling pretty exhausted. Jonathan then went on to take his second comp on Thursday. Both Jonathan and Stefanie are glad that they are over!

After a quick meal together yesterday, Jonathan headed off to Philly to meet up with his friend Nick. The two of them will be road-tripping out to Wheaton, Illinios to help Jonathan's youngest sister, Catherine, move into college and drive her things out there. From what Stefanie hears, their trip has already begun with some interesting adventures.

A Weekend of Fun

This past weekend was filled with several different fun outings and time with friends.

The big neighborhood news is the new park that was built on our street corner. It has a baseball diamond, grassy area, 2 basketball courts, a tennis court, and playground equipment! Nothing like election season to get community projects completed quickly. Each corner of the park proudly displays a sign ensuring that all who walk by know exactly who was responsible for this addition to the neighborhood development and renewal campaign.
Friday night we went to the Gala Hispanic Theater (no picture of it, but here's a picture of the Tivoli theater next door) to see a showing of Los Treinta, a series of monologues about the history of Salvadorians in DC, and particularly in this neighborhood. The show was thought-provoking, funny at times, and left us with some philosophical questions about the dynamics of culture, immigration, and urban housing.

The weekend thankfully brought cooler (below 90) temperatures. We were grateful, as we were able to do several things outside. Saturday afternoon we enjoyed good company and delicious burgers at a cookout at our friend Lindsay's house. Her spacious backyard and proximity (across the street) made for a relaxing afternoon study break. But this was only the beginning.

Jonathan's college roommate and best man Nick was in town, so after some afternoon studying, the two of them watched baseball, chatted, and generally distracted Stefanie for much of the evening. On Sunday, Nick and Jonathan went to see the Phillies-Nats game, where they were treated to an extra-innings comeback victory, and got to see the most expensive twisted ankle in recent history firsthand.

There was much rigorous studying of bugs and drugs (Stefanie) and dollars and sense (Jonathan) squeezed into all other free moments of the weekend.

Highs and Lows...

...and I'm not talking about the tide.

For 2 years, we had a long distance relationship. Sure, Philly and New York are relatively close in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes it felt like we may as well have been on different coasts. We talked on the phone almost every night, and often for a long time. But, sometimes phone talking is awkward, or its hard to know where to begin a conversation. So, regardless of what else we talked about, we always started with what each other's "highs" and "lows" were for the day. Usually these developed into longer stories and conversations, though sometimes not. It always helped put those stories into a greater context of how the day had been, generally.

All that to say, here are a few of our highs and lows from the past week:

Lows:
-attempting to go on a date to Georgetown Cupcake only to find it closed early on Sunday. Then to go see a movie (Inception), only to find it sold out

-spending our first 2 days apart since being married

-oppressively hot and humid weather in DC (102 today, with a low of 88)

Highs:

-delicious frozen yogurt from a place in the neighborhood (an attempt to make up for said failed date mentioned above)

-Jonathan led our first church neighborhood group

-Stef had a great, though very short, trip to Philly to see friends before diving into the school year tomorrow

-we set up Stef's keyboard to have a permanent home in the apartment, which we previously thought we wouldn't have space for

-we each "happened" to get connected with mentor-esque people in our respective fields--one who works in an inner city health clinic in the neighborhood, and one who is an economics professor. Both interested in talking through work and faith.

Well, it looks like the "highs" outweigh the "lows" this week in the Kreamer house. Jonathan is still spending his days studying for his comprehensive exams. Stefanie enjoyed a relational feast this past week, seeing lots of people and doing many things, and trying not to mourn all the freedoms she'll lose when school (ie- relational fasting) starts tomorrow.

Oh, and one other thing! We have uploaded ALL of our wedding photos to an online gallery. If you would like to see them or order prints, go here:

http://www.adoramapix.com/home

login: stefanie dot f dot lenz at gmail dot com

password: weddingpics

Happy Bastille Day

Also known as Stefanie's birthday (July 14th).

The day started off rainy and "cold" (77 degrees), so Jonathan made Stefanie breakfast in bed and they watched an episode of Lost. The weather cleared up and warmed up (95 degrees) and we headed to the Smithsonian museums around the national mall. First, the Native American museum, which was interesting, thought provoking, and had great food! The cafe served traditional food from the different tribal regions of the Americas. Mmmm bison burgers!

From there we walked around the mall, through the sculpture garden, and into the Museum of Natural History. Jonathan liked the big dinosaurs, Stefanie liked the exhibit on marine life, and they both liked the exhibit on Human Origins. So, not much has changed from when they were kids. We got tickets for the "Wild Ocean" Imax (in 3D!), and spent 45 minutes swimming through the waters off the coast of Africa and being reminded of how marine life is dying. It was sponsored by Nokia, and they made sure to spread a preachy environmentalist message.

From there, we attempted the trek out to the Lincoln memorial, but after ~30 minutes in 95 degree heat, realized all we wanted was iced coffee and shade. We found bothat Starbucks, where they had the AC turned on full blast.

Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory was delicious. We headed home on the Metro, but got off after half the ride and walked the rest of the way (2.5 miles).

The Birthday Girl

Love birds in the National Sculpture Garden

Too cool for school. Ready for 3D Imax.

Welcome!

Welcome to Coffee and Kreamer, your source for memorable and amusing photos, stories, and blurbs about the lives of Jonathan and Stefanie in Washington DC.

To start out with, here are a few pictures of our new home, situated in Columbia Heights. It isn't really a new home, Stefanie has been living there for a year. But it is new for it to have 2 people in it! To learn a little bit about the area we live in, click on the two links under "Where We Live" in the column to your right. We've still got some picture frames to hang and boxes to unpack, but we're feeling very at home.

4th of July with the neighborhood

View out our window on a stormy summer day.

Stefanie's work station.

Jonathan's Office

The Sleep Room- still needing a few decorations.

Our wheels!


The kitchen and eating area.


The living "room."