Geoffrey H Wood

When he was a puppy we'd put him in a clothes basket in the car to attempt to keep him in one place. Several years and 60 some pounds later it appears he's taken to the idea.

Rules:

Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

It worked so well last year that we decided to continue with the e-Christmas, er rather, e-New Years’ letter for 2006.

On the move!
The year started quick as we had decided in late 2005 that after nearly a year in the condo that we were definitely “house people” and needed more room for the both of us and our dogs. In early January we closed on a house on the northeast side of Indianapolis that more than doubled our square footage! We’ve truly enjoyed our first year in the house that is only minutes from Geoff’s work and has easy access to the interstate for Hope to get downtown.

Who's here? Who's her? Hoosier? What the..
2006 was our second year as transplanted “Hoosiers’ and we’ve had a lot of fun getting to know more people here in the city. We’re still active in the leadership group for the Indianapolis Cyclone Club and enjoy regular Iowa State gamewatches with friends we knew from school and other Indiana Iowa Staters we’ve met since we got here. The picture at the right is the two of us with former Cyclone star and current Indiana Pacer Jamaal Tinsley at Iowa State Night at Conseco Fieldhouse. For the second half of the year we’ve been participating in a small group for young married couples at our church and enjoy the bi-weekly bible study and other social functions with the group. We enjoyed hosting many of these friends and their four-legged kids at a birthday party for our yellow lab Levon (4 years old already!) at the Broad Ripple Dog Park.

We’re very grateful to Geoff’s co-worker Chad and his wife Jackie who have integrated us into their group of friends in Indianapolis. We enjoyed many nights barbequing, playing bocce ball or cornhole (back in Iowa we called this “the bean bag game”), weekend days on the boat out at Geist Reservoir and even the few rounds of “flippy cup”. We also had a great time with this group camping and boating on Lake Monroe in August. Not to mention we all play together in an organized adult kickball league! We returned the favor when we hosted Chad and Jackie in Ames for the ISU-Nebraska game. We all had an excellent time (save the game) and the Cyclone faithful really showed this Purdue and IU couple how to tailgate, not to mention introduced them to FAC at Peoples.

Track the Storm!
As you’ve probably guessed we made a lot of road trips to Ames for football games this fall. The scores certainly weren’t what we hoped for but the tailgating was excellent as expected. We’re ever grateful to Austin and Mel, Kerry and Renee, and Chad and Mandy for volunteering their spare bedrooms for such visits. With new coaches in basketball, football and wrestling in Ames for 2007 the buzz for the future is truly exciting for Cyclone fans. After one early game Geoff and friend Justin Washburn met new basketball coach Greg McDermott.

Occupational exploits
We are both enjoying our jobs; Hope continues as ACSM’s Assistant Director for Certification and recently opened a side business “The Fitness and Wellness Company” doing personal training and wellcoaching (you’ve probably already received a letter or card ;). It was a busy year for her group but paid off recently when one of the certifications she manages was accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, which is integral to compete in her field.

Geoff had a big year at work with two promotions, first as the GIS Product Manager and very recently as the Information Technology Director for a large civil engineering, GIS, and survey firm headquartered in Indianapolis. He’s keeping busy balancing the two positions and working with his developers and pc and network technician staff in Indianapolis, Ames, and Charlotte, NC. The firm is still growing strong, now with eight offices in Indiana, Iowa, North Carolina and most recently Tennessee.

Leav-in' On A Jet Plane...
Work travel kept pace with 2005 as Hope had great opportunities through work to visit Orlando, Louisville, Denver, Charleston, Harrisburg, PA, Westfield, MA and fabulous Las Vegas and Geoff had trips to Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Boston and several trips to Southwest Florida (as well as trips to the Iowa office nearly every month).

Hope took a couple days off in December to travel back to Iowa in what became a flurry of visits to her siblings, parents, grandparents and friends.

Geoff enjoyed another “Annual Mid-Summer Get Together” at the cabon in Wisconsin with the boys from back home and its annual precursor gathering at the D’Amico house in Cedar Rapids for the NFL Draft party.

We took a personal weekend trip over Labor Day to Louisville, Kentucky and enjoyed touring the horse track at Churchill Downs and 4th Street Live! complex.

We went to Geoff’s cousin David’s wedding in Washington, DC and had also had a great visit with longtime friend Matt Klinger and his girlfriend Jane. This picture was taken while the four of us were hiking the Billy Goat Trail along the Potomac River in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (we’re standing in Maryland and Virginia is across the water).

teaghlach
Geoff’s folks Mike and Cathy and his youngest brother Sean have settled in nicely to their new home in Bella Vista, Arkansas and we had the benefit of visiting them for both Mother’s Day and Thanksgiving. Brother Joe and his wife Mary are doing well downtown in Des Moines and his newlywed sister Sara and her husband Ryan Keller are in Montezuma, Iowa.

Dixie and Gary are still on the farm near Westgate but Hope's sister Heidi and niece Bailey undertook an exciting move to Mount Pleasant, Iowa where Heidi took on the position of Career Counselor at Iowa Wesleyan College. Her brother Heath and his wife Amy are doing well in Cedar Rapids with their daughters Lauren and Alli and are expecting a third child later this year.

Thanks again for finding our letter online and taking the time to read what became a fairly lengthy discourse. We wish everyone a prosperous 2007!

Love,

Hope and Geoff

Rather than send out a conventional Christmas letter we’ve decided to embrace technology and post this one online – we’re glad you found it!

A Wedding Story
Not surprisingly, the story of 2005 was our wedding on March 12th. Most of the first quarter was filled with verifying addresses, making arrangements, and telephoning across the pond at odd hours. It was all worth it as the big event took place with sixteen family members and one Irish minister at the Belle Isle Castle near Enniskellen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The trip was perfect (other than one missed flight and one Aer Lingus stewardess cramming Hope’s dress into an overhead bin) and included three days with the family in Dublin and at Belle Isle as well as seven days of honeymooning on southwest coast of the island and celebration of St. Patrick in Dublin. Click here for our snapshots

We followed up the big trip with 200 or so friends and family at the Summerset Winery outside of Indianola. A lot of music was played (by friend Tony Bohnenkamp), a lot of wine was drunk and all had a great time.

We did that?
Hope had a great professional year, earning a promotion to Assistant Director for ACSM’s Certification Department and was both trained and certified as a Wellcoach.

Geoff’s been busy as the GIS Consulting Services Manager for a large civil engineering, survey and GIS company headquartered in Indianapolis. The company is undergoing unprecedented growth and that has made for both an exciting and stressful year with a lot of promise for the future. In February, they opened their first out-of-state office in Charlotte, NC and in May, they bought ProMap the company Geoff worked for in Ames for several years.

"I remember the first time I drove through Indiana…”
Shortly after we made the move last December Geoff’s folks Cathy and Mike and his brother Sean stopped by for a few days on their way to visit Geoff’s extended family in Florida. Hope’s sister Heidi and neice Bailey visited in August prompting us to visit local sites like the zoo and Children’s Museum for the first time. Geoff’s cousin Justin & Leia stopped by for dinner in October and Heidi and Bailey will be returning in a few days with Hope’s folks Gary & Dixie.

Where you been?
Both of our jobs have allowed us to travel and we’ve enjoyed the experience. Hope’s been to vacation spots like Las Vegas and Orlando (two times each) as well Wisconsin and Tennessee. Geoff on the other hand has been to Utah, Minnesota, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and North Carolina.

It hasn’t all been work; we’ve had some fun trips, too. Lots of trips to Iowa and one to Minnesota for friends and family weddings. We’ve also had two quick trips to Cincinnati. In January we took in the Iowa State – Xavier basketball game and in July we visited the King’s Island amusement park.

In June, Geoff had a great time meeting up some of his oldest friends in Minneapolis for the misnamed “Annual Mid-Summer Get Together” weekend at the cabin in western Wisconsin.

“We will fight with might for Iowa State”
Most of the trips to Iowa that weren’t for weddings were for Iowa State Cyclone Football. We’ve had season tickets since graduation and decided not to let a little thing like moving to Indianapolis keep us from the fun of gameday. Geoff made it back for four games (that office in Ames has it’s advantages!) and Hope for two. We enjoyed the regular contact with our friends and the festival that is the ISU-Iowa rivalry (ISU wins 23-3). Hope’s in a unique position to have graduated from both universities and it’s not often we get to see friends from both at the same place.

Indianapolis, you’re our town
We’ve had a lot of fun locally, too. We took in the Indianapolis 500 Parade in May and had a lot of fun people watching downtown the weekend of the US Grand Prix Formula One race (maybe in 2006 we’ll actually get to a race).

We’ve helped to re-establish the Indianapolis Cyclone Club and enjoy gathering with other Hoosier immigrants from the Tall Corn State to watch football and basketball regularly.

We’ve taken advantage of some of the benefits of living in a bigger city this year, as well. In February, Geoff went to his first NBA game to watch the hometown Pacers beat the Miami Heat. We’ve both enjoyed the local comedy scene taking in favorite’s Mike Birbiglia, Daniel Tosh, and even political satirist and anchor of Comedy Central’s the Daily Show Jon Stewart. Hope and some friends had a great opportunity to see country star Kenny Chesney at a distance of only four rows from the stage.

In October, we joined St. Luke’s United Methodist Church and really enjoy the services and activities that family opens to us. Hope’s been involved with the knitting classes, and both wrote the script and acted in the inaugural Christmas Celebration. Recently, we enjoyed a class together studying the Christian themes of the Chronicles of Narnia (not a bad movie – if you haven’t seen it).

How ‘bout everybody else?
For the most part both of our families are doing quite well. Hope’s father, Gary, had a good year farming in NORTHEAST Iowa and her mom, Dixie, continues as a teachers aide at Wapsie Valley. Heidi and Bailey are still close to the family in Sumner. Hope’s brother Heath and his wife Amy welcomed a second child Allison in late October. She’s doing well as is her older sister Lauren.

Geoff’s folks made the tough but exciting decision this fall to leave Iowa for Bella Vista, Arkansas and are moving any day now. Mike took a job with a growing cabinet shop down there and Cathy is to enjoy some time off. Sean will continue his sophomore year of high school in Bentonville. Weddings were popular amongst Mike and Cathy’s kids this year. In addition to our wedding, Geoff’s brother Joe married Mary Beck in Des Moines this summer and Ryan proposed to his sister Sara this Spring.

Our boys, Levon and Dylan, have adapted well to townhome life and enjoy trips to the dog park with Mom and daily walks around the neighborhood (they do miss their backyard in Ankeny, though). Other activities include hiding from storms in the closet, scouting the house for piles of clothes to lay in (clean or dirty) and non-stop wrestling with each other.

On a sad note, Jingle Belle passed recently. She had a good life as part of the Roth-Luck-Wood family since around Christmas 1991 and will be missed.

Thanks for taking the time to read what became a very long Christmas letter. We sincerely hope that you and yours are doing well and having a Merry Christmas or otherwise joyous Chanukah, Kwanza, Festivus, etc.

Love,

Hope and Geoff

Its no secret that our dogs are big wusses. Every storm usually finds Dylan, our black dog, either on the couch or in the middle of the bed (understand that we don't allow them on the furniture). Levon, our yellow dog, usually crawls under the bed (which becomes a problem because he's too big to crawl out by himself). Anyway, last evening was filled with tornadoes and thunderstorms here in Indianapolis. Dylan was hiding under Hope's chair at the kitched table but Levon wasn't around. I started to get worried when I couldn't find him in any of the usual spots but look where he turned up:

Yep, in a laundry basket in the closet. I s'pose thats the safest spot in the place since no one in this state builds basements.