Part 1

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=150 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=160 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="04f6c470.png" border=0 width="364" height="71" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="15" VSPACE="0">  <A HREF="mailto:asidmail@yahoo.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:asidmail@yahoo.com"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A><B> </B> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial Narrow" ><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Site Map"><U><B>Site Map</B></U></A></FONT>   <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial Narrow" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Home"><U><B>Home Page</B></U></A></FONT></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>   </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About ASID"><U><B><IMG SRC="17e961c0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B> </B><A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Downloads"><U><B><IMG SRC="17f961d0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B> </B><A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Members"><U><B><IMG SRC="180961c0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="28" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B> </B><A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Students"><U><B><IMG SRC="181961d0.jpg" border=0 width="150" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=150 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="13bd07d2egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B>«««««</B></div> <div> <B>Five Star Sponsors:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.noland.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.noland.com"><U><IMG SRC="191774b0.gif" border=0 width="119" height="75" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="21e81150.jpg" border=0 width="129" height="21" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>««««</B></div> <div> <B>Four Star Sponsors</B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="21b58580.jpg" border=0 width="88" height="88" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="21c62410.jpg" border=0 width="98" height="65" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Buy your ASID T-shirt today!</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.asidva.org/tshirt_order_form.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.asidva.org/tshirt_order_form."><U><B><IMG SRC="19464500.gif" border=0 width="100" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Membership Information How Do I Join?"><U><B>To apply for membership click here!</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=320 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Loving the Many Faces of Our Profession - Part 1: Friends            </B></div> <bR> <div> When I signed up to be an ASID student member fifteen years ago, I had hoped that it would open doors for some good networking opportunities. I got so much more than that. Here's the big bonus. You meet people that become amazing friends for life. </div> <bR> <div> Over the years to say that I have found great friends in ASID is a gross understatement. As many of you know, I graduated from Virginia Tech and moved to Oregon. While living out there I could not afford to travel to Virginia for both Thanksgiving and Christmas so I spent Thanksgiving taking small road trips on the west coast. One year, I ventured south to spend holiday in Los Angeles with Jessica Daza-Chacon, her family and friends. I was the only native-born American among the ten that were there. We ate Thanksgiving dinner, rolled up the rug in the living room, turned up the music, and danced - exactly like Thanksgiving with my family (well, maybe not). Jessica and I served on the National Student Council together; she still lives in L.A; and we still keep in touch. </div> <bR> <div> While still out west, Lucinda Jennings made a point of getting in touch with me when the ASID national conference was in Seattle (1996?). We shared a wonderful dinner together with several of the members of the Virginia Chapter. Today Lucinda and I share our love for the environment. Always paving the path ahead of me, she helped me get started with studying for the LEED accreditation exam and now the Virginia Master Naturalist program. To top this, evidently we plan our vacations in parallel. This June completely unplanned, we both were in Erie, PA on the same night - I traveling with my sisters and she traveling with her husband. The next morning we both went to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. Lucinda and her husband were on the move, so she told a volunteer to look for us later in the morning. There's nothing like walking into an impressive LEED Silver Certified building you have never seen before and having the volunteer greet you by name. Lucinda gave Jim, the volunteer, a heads up that my sisters and I were on the way. Passing in Erie, Lucinda and Bob were going to Toronto and we had just come from Toronto. Both parties reserved the exact same Toronto bed and breakfast months in advance, had a delightful time, and did not discover the coincidence until Lucinda was talking to the innkeeper. Bizarre! </div> <bR> <div> When moving to Roanoke six years ago, calling Patty Irish was an act of fate. I knew Patty was in sales and thought maybe she could keep her eyes out for job openings in the area. Two weeks later I went to work for Patty and we have been great friends since. We grew up in the same town, share many of the same family experiences with our parents, and love sharing the quirks of our husbands with each other. I have taken two road trips with Patty to Chicago - one with the whole family in tow; I in the back with her two boys. There is nothing that bonds people together better than memories of `remember when' road trips. </div> <bR> <div> Speaking of road trips, ask Carolyn Lawrence about our rickshaw ride in San Diego with our ASID friend Terri from Connecticut. The handsome, young rickshaw driver/peddler (?) promised he could manage all three of us. Trusting him, but still skeptical we all climbed aboard. It was raining (thus the need for the taxi back from the restaurant, but when offered we decided the rickshaw would be much more fun) so Carolyn sat sandwiched in the middle with her umbrella, which of course flipped inside out during the course of the ride. The driver was having too much fun whipping up and down the curb cuts as we screamed in fear of toppling over. We laughed until we cried. </div> <bR> <div> Lisa-Renee Jennings and I shared a wonderful weekend together last year. I attended the Alliance Française gathering with Lisa-Renee and her husband on Friday evening. I had to brush off my French from a couple of years in high school and a semester or two in college. I managed to not offend anyone - I think. On Saturday for Lisa-Renee's birthday, we signed up for a kayak trip on Back Bay and had a great (not to mention very handsome) guide. Ask us about the water that is the color of coffee and crystal clear. We'd drink it. Would you?</div> <bR> <div> I could go on and on naming wonderful experiences - dressing up like Dolly Pardon and going out for a night on the town with Emily Washington in Nashville; learning that I need to apply lip liner all over my lips, not just on the edges, while interning at KSA on the way to a meeting at Rockingham Memorial Hospital with Cameron Stiles; learning about the great rewards of the parenting from Sheila Wilson on a trip to and from Expo; sharing several Friday mornings with Marie Raulfs visiting at-home day care providers, rolling up our sleeves, and doing all we could to work our designer magic for the few hours we there; enjoying a BBQ with Ruth Deibler and a huge gathering of her friends and family at her house; dancing to disco music with Joanna Smith, Misti Beha and Patty Irish after the Kool and the Gang concert in Roanoke… you get the idea. </div> <bR> <div> The moral of this story is: ASID is so much more than the list of member benefits. As I start a new chapter in my life, parenthood, I look forward to sharing the experiences and making more great memories with all of my wonderful ASID friends. More on the new chapter of my life next time… </div> <bR> <div> Sharlyn Underwood, ASID, LEED AP</div> </td> </tr></table></body>