Wow, what a year 2013 was for the class of 2005. Quite a few classmates welcomed new babies last year. Many member of our class started new jobs. Some earned master’s degrees and some were married. The trend of big life changes continues for 2014.

• Danielle Allen went to Japan last summer and climbed Mt. Fuji! She did the two-day climb, starting on Aug. 28, slept in a hut and finished the climb to watch the sunrise from the summit on Aug. 29. Danielle also, changed jobs in January 2013; she is now a management analyst for Strategy and Future Requirements, which is a Department of the Navy job for the Naval District in DC.
  

  Danielle Allen climbed Mt. Fuji in August.

• Tracey Carter received a promotion over the summer and is now the web content editor for Frederick County Public Libraries. She also graduated from Florida State University on Dec. 13, with a master’s in library and information sciences and a certificate in leadership and management.
• Ashley Cook Monn welcomed a daughter, McKenzie Blythe Monn, on Oct. 16. She was 8 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 inches long. McKenzie joins big brothers Jared, 7 and Tyler, 4, and big sister Kylie, 2.
• Kelsey Gage Staggers returned to Shamin Hotels in Richmond, Va., where she is the regional director of operations, managing a portfolio of mid to upper scale select service hotels.
• In August, Danielle Kahler earned a master’s degree in historic preservation from the University of Georgia. After graduation, Danielle moved to Richmond, Va., where she is the manager of a Things Remembered. She also is a part time tour guide at Agecroft Hall, a Tudor manor house that was moved from England in 1926.
• In May 2013, Heather Mannix earned a master’s degree in global environmental policy from the School of International Studies at American University in Washington D.C.
• Rainey Sokol Chase, moved to Bath, Maine in the fall and she began a new career with Rodan + Fields Dermatologists, growing its new antiaging skin care company across the country. Rainey’s email is raineychase@gmail.com and her website is raineychase.myrandf.com. If you are interested in hearing about what she does or Rodan + Fields, she would be happy to connect with you.
• Together with her husband, Jennifer Stiegler-Balfour welcomed a son, William Alfred Balfour V, on Jan. 24, 2013, in Portland, Maine.
  

  William “Liam” Alfred Balfour V

Congratulations, Danielle, Tracey, Kelsey, Danielle and Rainey on your new jobs. Congratulations, Tracey, Danielle and Heather on your master’s degrees. Congratulations, Ashley and Jennifer on your newest family members. And if I could give awards, Danielle Allen, you would absolutely win for coolest news and possibly first in our class to climb a mountain.