Thus begins the February 2012 meeting thread. The meeting will take place on February 25th at the home of some guy named mnat, wait that is me. Yes I am hosting the meeting and looking forward to seeing everyone again. So the important stuff first (The RSVP page is HERE)
Who? Mike (mnat) and Nicole NikkiT)
What? A reef club meeting
When? February 25th
Where? 1104 Barton Ave Point Pleasant NJ, 08742
Why? Because we like you
How? I don't know I will figure that out between now and then.
I will be ordering some platters from a local deli and probably getting some wings as well (they have good wings). Of course I will have plenty of reefers choice beer ready to go.
Bio:
Chapter 1
The story of how we got into reefing begins a long time ago in a far away land. That land to be precise was the U.A.E and that long time ago was about 30 years ago (which is long for us, but probably a blink of the eye to some of the active adult reefers on here). Nikki was whisked away shortly after she was born (by airplane no less!!) to the Middle East where her father was working. She spent nine years there and became very fond of snorkeling in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf which I can only imagine is a bit better than the jetties in New Jersey but I have not snorkeled in either so it is mere conjecture at this point. Unfortunately Saddam Hussein decided to start a little aggression in the Middle East which a line was drawn in the sand and George Bush said "Across this line you do not cross" (paraphrased but I assume he said that at some point). At this point Nikki moved back with her family to the U.S. of A (Longport NJ to be precise) but always remembered the fish and corals from the Middle East. At age 12 she begged for a fish tank and got one (You can already see where this is going many years later). She went through several different types of tanks and fish for a couple of years. Back then there was no NJRC or any other fish websites to learn from so she was keeping tobies, a maroon clown (which by the way passed away just this year yes that was a moment of silence), damsels and long nosed butterflies basically on the advice of a bad fish store. Time passed, the seasons changed and it was time to leave for college. This fish were donated to a local school to be taken care of (hence we know when the maroon clown passed, did you think I was a fish whisperer or something?)
Chapter 2
Scene: A wonderful liberal arts college in Central Pennsylvania during the fall semester of 2000. The leaves are turning amazing shades of orange, yellow and red and the temp is just getting a bit of a frost in it. Lets pan in on the Susquahanna river to the rhythmic sound of oars piercing the river occasionally interrupted by the urging of the coxswain. There sits in the boat a six foot four dark haired gentleman sitting in the 5 seat (the power of the boat if I do say so myself) and the coxswain was a shorter spark plug yelling into a headset. The chemistry was palpable between them.
Nikki and I met in college (Bucknell University) where I impressed her with my beer pong skills. Fast forward a few years and we were dating. Nikki then went away to law school and this is where the plot thickens. After not having any real tanks to speak of, she decided it was time to setup a 20g high, unfortunately it was fresh water. After visiting many times and showing not an inkling of interest in the tank, Nikki changed out the gravel which killed every fish in the tank (it was a conspiracy!). She then decided it was time to go saltwater which was the tipping point. I immediately took a liking to this tank and spent a ton of time doing research trying to figure out what fish I could not fit in there.
Chapter 3
After Law School we got engaged (I love romance stories!!) and we were living together in our first apartment. We started with Nikki's 20g tank and I added a 12g. After doing some research I stumbled upon NJRC, which was just a blossoming of knowledge and experience. We met a ton of great people and we were hooked. We soon added a 30g to our cadre of tanks and the addiction was at a clinical level. We then got involved in the whirlwind that was known as planning MACNA and that is when we really got involved with the club. MACNA was absolutely amazing and we got married the following weekend.
Chapter 4
We moved again and upraded to the 45g, 30g, 12g combo and started looking for a house. After a year we found a house and finally had the space to host a party. We moved in and of course upgraded again (see a theme going on here) to a 57g, 45g, and still have the good old 12g still going. We hosted our first meeting in August several weeks after we moved, so we have had a bit more time to get things ready for you all. So if you were at are last meeting prepared to be shocked (Window treatments!!), amazed (matching furniture!), and stunned (the TV is mounted on the wall!). We are really looking forward to seeing you all.
Who? Mike (mnat) and Nicole NikkiT)
What? A reef club meeting
When? February 25th
Where? 1104 Barton Ave Point Pleasant NJ, 08742
Why? Because we like you
How? I don't know I will figure that out between now and then.
I will be ordering some platters from a local deli and probably getting some wings as well (they have good wings). Of course I will have plenty of reefers choice beer ready to go.
Bio:
Chapter 1
The story of how we got into reefing begins a long time ago in a far away land. That land to be precise was the U.A.E and that long time ago was about 30 years ago (which is long for us, but probably a blink of the eye to some of the active adult reefers on here). Nikki was whisked away shortly after she was born (by airplane no less!!) to the Middle East where her father was working. She spent nine years there and became very fond of snorkeling in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf which I can only imagine is a bit better than the jetties in New Jersey but I have not snorkeled in either so it is mere conjecture at this point. Unfortunately Saddam Hussein decided to start a little aggression in the Middle East which a line was drawn in the sand and George Bush said "Across this line you do not cross" (paraphrased but I assume he said that at some point). At this point Nikki moved back with her family to the U.S. of A (Longport NJ to be precise) but always remembered the fish and corals from the Middle East. At age 12 she begged for a fish tank and got one (You can already see where this is going many years later). She went through several different types of tanks and fish for a couple of years. Back then there was no NJRC or any other fish websites to learn from so she was keeping tobies, a maroon clown (which by the way passed away just this year yes that was a moment of silence), damsels and long nosed butterflies basically on the advice of a bad fish store. Time passed, the seasons changed and it was time to leave for college. This fish were donated to a local school to be taken care of (hence we know when the maroon clown passed, did you think I was a fish whisperer or something?)
Chapter 2
Scene: A wonderful liberal arts college in Central Pennsylvania during the fall semester of 2000. The leaves are turning amazing shades of orange, yellow and red and the temp is just getting a bit of a frost in it. Lets pan in on the Susquahanna river to the rhythmic sound of oars piercing the river occasionally interrupted by the urging of the coxswain. There sits in the boat a six foot four dark haired gentleman sitting in the 5 seat (the power of the boat if I do say so myself) and the coxswain was a shorter spark plug yelling into a headset. The chemistry was palpable between them.
Nikki and I met in college (Bucknell University) where I impressed her with my beer pong skills. Fast forward a few years and we were dating. Nikki then went away to law school and this is where the plot thickens. After not having any real tanks to speak of, she decided it was time to setup a 20g high, unfortunately it was fresh water. After visiting many times and showing not an inkling of interest in the tank, Nikki changed out the gravel which killed every fish in the tank (it was a conspiracy!). She then decided it was time to go saltwater which was the tipping point. I immediately took a liking to this tank and spent a ton of time doing research trying to figure out what fish I could not fit in there.
Chapter 3
After Law School we got engaged (I love romance stories!!) and we were living together in our first apartment. We started with Nikki's 20g tank and I added a 12g. After doing some research I stumbled upon NJRC, which was just a blossoming of knowledge and experience. We met a ton of great people and we were hooked. We soon added a 30g to our cadre of tanks and the addiction was at a clinical level. We then got involved in the whirlwind that was known as planning MACNA and that is when we really got involved with the club. MACNA was absolutely amazing and we got married the following weekend.
Chapter 4
We moved again and upraded to the 45g, 30g, 12g combo and started looking for a house. After a year we found a house and finally had the space to host a party. We moved in and of course upgraded again (see a theme going on here) to a 57g, 45g, and still have the good old 12g still going. We hosted our first meeting in August several weeks after we moved, so we have had a bit more time to get things ready for you all. So if you were at are last meeting prepared to be shocked (Window treatments!!), amazed (matching furniture!), and stunned (the TV is mounted on the wall!). We are really looking forward to seeing you all.
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