May 5-9 found me in Washington DC for the President's Malaria Initiative "retreat" - all the PMI staff from the 15 countries and Atlanta joined the USAID staff working on PMI in Washington DC for 4 days of intense meetings. It was actually really productive to all sit in the same room, discuss the issues that are cropping up and ways to problem solve, review the data for each of our interventions, etc. And lots of fun to see my Madagascar team again! Here we are on the DC metro on our way to Meaghan's house for dinner.
I also used the opportunity to catch up with other good friends - my friend Clay, who has been a good friend since high school.....
...and Jenn and Dakota, who have been dear friends since college, and now have an adorable little boy - Dakota V!
Back in Atlanta the next weekend, Ed set up a Habitat for Humanity project with a few friends - here we are relaxing afterward and speculating on how sore we'll be the next day! We also need to do a bunch of "Habitat for Ed (and Julie)" weekends to get Ed's place ready!
In the middle of May, my little '92 Accord finally died, and I was forced to part with it and get another car. With Ed's help, I selected and got a great deal on a cute little Honda Civic! 
We also went to Nashville for the annual dinner for the society that sponsored the scholarship I had at Vanderbilt. It was great fun to introduce Ed to people at Vanderbilt who have been so dear to me for so long, and fun to remember how much I enjoyed my years there. 
We also got to hang out during the day, and catch up with a variety of friends, include Deb and Andrew Neck (Andrew was in residency with me), and their two gorgeous kids! 
I also used the opportunity to catch up with other good friends - my friend Clay, who has been a good friend since high school.....
...and Jenn and Dakota, who have been dear friends since college, and now have an adorable little boy - Dakota V!
Back in Atlanta the next weekend, Ed set up a Habitat for Humanity project with a few friends - here we are relaxing afterward and speculating on how sore we'll be the next day! We also need to do a bunch of "Habitat for Ed (and Julie)" weekends to get Ed's place ready!In the middle of May, my little '92 Accord finally died, and I was forced to part with it and get another car. With Ed's help, I selected and got a great deal on a cute little Honda Civic! We also went to Nashville for the annual dinner for the society that sponsored the scholarship I had at Vanderbilt. It was great fun to introduce Ed to people at Vanderbilt who have been so dear to me for so long, and fun to remember how much I enjoyed my years there. We also got to hang out during the day, and catch up with a variety of friends, include Deb and Andrew Neck (Andrew was in residency with me), and their two gorgeous kids! 
