January Doings......

We hope that you all had a nice holiday and a happy new year! Life at the beach has continued to treat us well. It continues to be quiet and relaxing, exactly the reasons we came here.

We were both elated to hear that some of Rachel's previous research (from when she worked at an evolutionary biology lab at the University of California San Diego in 2004) was recently highlighted in the Feb 2009 edition of National Geographic. While at UCSD, Rachel helped find the single letter in a single gene that contributed to the difference in beach mice fur color. (This research was originally published in the journal Science a few years ago). The National Geo article briefly discusses the conclusions generated by Rachel's previous boss (Hopi Hoekstra) and her "colleagues" (that included Rachel!). Additionally, there are two pictures in the magazine, one that shows Hopi in the field, and another depicts mice skins that Rachel helped prepare (and the DNA from these organisms was obtained so that the molecular work could be done later).

Additionally, Rachel continues to tutor students on a regular basis. She also made a brief trip to San Diego, where she visited her friends Kira and Nicole. It was great to get back to sunny, 75 degree weather, and have real Mexican food again! (While Aaron was freezing his tuchus off in sub-20 degree weather in Delaware)

Aaron continues to work regularly at the gym, where he has had great success with his kick-ass classes. He also does a lot of personal training and has noticed great progress in his clients' overall fitness in just a few months. Even though Aaron took his Georgia State Exam at the beginning of January, he has still found time to head back to the coffee shops where he used to study, but this time, he's there to just relax and read a good book.

We have also found time to go see matinees of some good (and not so good) movies. Our favorite, by far, was "Slumdog Millionaire." What an amazing story and sountrack! Additionally, we have seen "Mall Cop" (don't recommend), and "Frost Nixon." We are looking forward to seeing "Gran Torino," "The Wrestler," and "Defiance."

We continue to work-out regularly at the beach and at home, try our hand with new recipes (yes, even Rachel is doing this), and enjoy playing with our pups. We will be here until the end of April, so please remember, our door is always open.