May 2001: Jon finishes grad school, turns down a great job at Kimberly Clark in Atlanta to take a much lower paying "post doc" position at BD in North Carolina (for the job content). That was a very good decision for so many reasons.
Sept 2002: Patricia finishes grad school and takes a measly internship with the EPA to get her foot in the door with the agency, and ends up in NC where she hates it. She plans to transfer ASAP.
May 22, 2003: The day the worlds collided. Jon was at the RDU airport boarding United flight 5465 to Kalamazoo, Michigan (via Chicago). Patricia was waiting to board the same flight and Jon noticed her while boarding (Patricia always likes to board last). The plane was filling up, and Jon had an empty seat next him. He sees Patricia board the plane and knew that he finally had good plane luck.... she sat right next to him. The next 2 hours flew by, and Patricia got Jon to ask her out for dinner within an hour of taking off...... Fate was on our sides (even though Patricia laughed at Jon when he brought it up)...
Summer& Fall of 2003: Patricia and Jon fall in love in Chapel Hill, NC. The summer is filled with several romantic dates and lots of friends from both sides. They spend almost every day together and become integrated into each other's lives. Jon resists a tempting job offer in Toronto, and Patricia warms up to NC and decides not to move away. The name "Oden" is suggested for a child's name.
March 2004: It all happened so quickly. Jon and Patricia travel to France where Jon proposes on March 12 in Park Monceau, just a few blocks off the Champs Elyssees in Paris. Patricia accepts the marriage proposal after Jon said she couldn't have the ring unless she said "yes". Just 10 months after meeting, the happy couple starts planning their marriage.
April 2004: Patricia and Jon buy their first house together in the Hope Valley Farms subdivision of Durham, NC. Nice house, no yard - and it was theirs.
November 2004: After a summer of flip-flopping on where to get married inexpensively, Jon and Patricia fly to Costa Rica over the Thanksgiving holiday week. They spent 10 days touring Cost Rica, and get married near the end of the trip in Tamarindo on November 26. No one was on the guest list. It was the most relaxing and wonderful wedding in the world... EVER.
June 2005: Jon gets a good job offer back in Ann Arbor at Aastrom Biosciences, solidifying his cell therapy career path. Jon and Patricia sell their house and make the 'temporary' move to Michigan (not quite the destination we had planned). Patricia is able to do a 'rotation' in the Ann Arbor EPA office until being hired on full time. It is great being closer to family. Jon reacquaints with old friends, we make several new lifelong friends while we are there, and we spend lots of good quality time with all of them.
November 2005: J&P get trigger happy on a house (they had been renting up until then) and end up buying a 90 year old beauty on Broadway St in Ann Arbor. Great house with the best back yard in all of Ann Arbor. But we need a nest, as we were "expecting".
July 4, 2006 -The Rowley family expands: Oden Allen Keovisat comes into the world exactly 3 weeks early on Independence Day. Our little firecracker changes our lives forever. Patricia is able to take 9 months off of work to stay home with baby Oden, and the grandparents get to visit often.
February 2008: With Aastrom's stock at $0.60 (trending down) and the economy looking bleak, Jon accepts a job offer at a big, stable company doing exactly what he wants (directing a cell therapy R&D program). The family moves to Frederick, Maryland, with more than a few minor bumps in the road. Patricia is able to stay with the EPA part time as a remote employee.
March 2, 2008: Oscar Allen Daukmai was born sleeping much too early. We had him cremated and miss him every day.
February 4, 2009: Shai Allen Phousongphouang was born 4 weeks early, bringing Oden a playmate, and more joy than ever to Rowley World.
December 31, 2009 update: After almost 2 years in Maryland, we love the area but have not been able to make as good of friends (yet) that we had in Ann Arbor and NC. We are still renting in Frederick, as well as renting out our house in Ann Arbor, but we have an offer on a house locally that could accommodate our expanding family (a great deal on a short-sale, if we get it, in Walkersville, less than a mile from Jon's work!). We have Grandma Rowley and Grandma P in town as often as they can make the trip (2-3 times each per year), and Oden and Shai are growing up knowing them despite the distance. We are hoping to expand the family just a little more in the new decade.
The next 10 years: Oden and Shai will mature into adolescents. With a little luck, they will have a younger sibling (we need a middle child to torture!). We would like to lay down roots, and we love this area, so we can see staying in Maryland for the next decade and beyond if Jon's career allows it. Staying at Lonza could open up the opportunity for a European rotation, and we would love to live abroad for a few years.
Our personal goals moving forward:
- Stay happy and healthy, with a solid family foundation and internal focus while the kids are still young.
- Raise well adjusted children that can survive in the world on their own, and hopefully contribute to making it a better place.
- Have satisfying careers that don't take us away from the family (too much).
