News from the Garst household - Christmas 2005

It’s been a busy year for us. Even though we moved back to Memphis from Houston last fall, our house didn’t sell until July. We’re extremely grateful to my parents for allowing us to stay in their house for the better part of the year, but we are also very grateful to be settling into a place of our own in midtown Memphis. We’ve been here for a bit over a month, and though it’s much smaller than that to which we are accustomed, it’s nice to have a backyard appropriate for a toddler (and a beagle), a gas stove, and great neighbors. The minimal house cleaning will be nice too – that is, if we ever finish moving in!

Our only child, Elliot, turned one in January. He is such a joyful child, and such a blessing. We were a bit concerned that he would never start walking, but it finally happened around nineteen months. He’s running all over the place now! Like his mother, he’s obsessed with the sky. He can pick out the moon before either of us notices it. He can even identify Venus! Like his dad, he loves to “try” (his word for coloring!) Elliot knows several colors: blue, red, green, yellow, orange, pink, black, and purple. His favorite toys are blocks, balls, books, and his top. Between the drawing and the quite impressive block stacking he does, we think he’s going to be an architect.

Dave has been extremely busy this year. He is still working for Nolan’s Audio Visual and is an incredibly hard worker who takes great pride in doing a good job. He is also an awesome dad to Elliot. Between setting up corporate events and wrestling with his son, he has also managed to do quite well in his Fantasy Football league. He’s also taken me on a nostalgic tour through his past. We had the opportunity to go to Columbia, Missouri in August for Dave’s twentieth high school reunion, and we had a blast! I got to meet some of his old friends from high school and see the town in which he grew up. It was a lot of fun and I heard a lot of great stories about his formative years.

I’ve been pretty busy, myself. It’s hard to believe that at the beginning of this year, I was still a stay-at-home mom. For those who haven’t heard the story, the short version is that it wasn’t my cup of tea. I took a job as a Data Management Specialist at the University of Memphis in March. Then, in September, I was fortunate to be promoted to Enrollment Services Coordinator. I really love my job and especially love the people with whom I’m working and the higher education industry, in general. In addition to working full-time, I’m taking advantage of University benefits and working on a second major in physics, one class per semester. On my lunch breaks, I volunteer in the Solar Physics lab in order to get some research experience. Some of the research on which we’ve been working has recently been published, which is pretty exciting to me. I’ve also stumbled into the Vice-Presidency of the University of Memphis’ chapter of the Society of Physics Students. On top of all that, I’m in the process of starting my own website design and domain hosting business directed specifically toward work-at-home moms.

That’s the rosy picture! Of course, the year has had its ups and downs, as any year does, but we’ve gotten through another one still intact. Thanks for visiting, and please sign our guestbook to let us know you’ve been here! For those of you far away, try to stay in touch. It’s fun catching up with people we haven’t seen in five, ten, or even twenty years!

God bless you all!
Dave, Jennifer, and Elliot Garst
2440 Parkway Pl
Memphis, TN 38112
901.452.5695