Happy HOOlidays from 443!

As we began a new year, we took a moment to look back on the wild ride that 2009 has been for the five of us, in the form of the 443 Top Ten Moments:

1. Our first night in 443. The lease began, the house was finally ours, and we decided to christen it… in blood. A miscommunication over how fast Emily’s car trunk door was closing resulted in the first house injury – don’t worry, it was nothing 9 staples couldn’t fix. Ian’s head has fully recovered, and the accident brought us all a new friendship!

2. Kimmy’s return from L.A. Our last housemate finally came back to dear old U.Va, and just in time for GirlTalk! After a summer apart – Kimmy in LA interning with Disney, Liz working as a counselor for SEP, Sarah in France and then settling in upon her return, and SE and Emily orienting 2013 – we celebrated with some sangria and summer stories.

3. Wintergreen Weekends. Once each semester, we escaped Charlottesville for some scenery, R&R, and wine in the mountains. Kimmy enlightened us with Wee Sing in Sillyville and made blackmail videos, Liz pierced her eyebrow, Sarah Elaine and Emily made brownies with wine, and Sarah provided chocolate wine and got us all to share some dirty secrets.

4. The night we tried absinthe. Oh wait, that was only 3/5 of us, and it did not end well.

5. Beer Olympics. Sarah rang in 22 with some friendly competition! Liz and Kimmy won for creative cupcake artistry, Sarah Elaine won two actual medals (and slept in them that night), Emily won for clumsiest egg handling (Kimmy still hasn’t forgiven her for the loss), and Sarah won best sport when she caught her egg-toss egg with her shirt. All in all, a successful set of festivities.

6. Thanksgiving Dinner. Complete with a 16-pound turkey

and plenty of P’Andre to go around, it was a holiday/birthday (SE’s) to remember that reminded us how much of a family we are.

7. The Goodwins. Whether they are yelling at us for trying to keep up the house (we’re apparently not allowed to trim the boxwoods), hiring snow removal services and charging us for them, ripping up the rent checks accidentally, or attempting to corner Kimmy in her bedroom… they provide a unique form of entertainment.

8. Sarah and Sarah (Elaine)’s Lyon Adventure. SE made a quick break from exams in May to visit Sarah on the tail end of her semester abroad in Lyon. Meanwhile, the rest of us had to make do on Sarah’s email updates, which offered us insight into her everyday life as an expatriate, such as how she fell off a garden fence and learned about French hospitals.

9. Finals in 443. Exams this year brought out Liz's maternal side, and the rest of us benefited from a plethora of cookies and storytimes by our beloved Lucas (the Christmas tree) and menorah. Surprise Bodo's and rides to Grounds also kept us going, and 443 got all fancy and ended the semester right at Melting Pot, which included some feisty drinks (ex. "Wild Kiss") and a toast to whatever 2010 has in store for us. Definitely the best exam season yet.

10. Lighting of the Lawn. Although not as rowdy as 2008 (no one was lost or hazed, fell off a ladder, disrupted an entire library wing, or introduced themselves to a first year suitemate), it had its own charm this year. Liz helped write the poem, and SE and Emily made sure the lights went on (they did!). And 443 was definitely the loudest group singing the Good Old Song.

xoxo2o1o,

the 443 five