Couples

In June 2009, my husband Sam and I slammed down the hatchback of our Honda CRV, the interior bulging with containers of Legos and books, school supplies and board games, and a box of shoes, a tin of Old Bay in the glove compartment. On the roof was a plastic carrier with as much clothing as we could stuff into it: the necessities of five soon-to-be expatriates. Everything else was in the basement of our Lutherville home, with a new family moving in at the end of the month. Our mission: to give our three children a taste of life in a foreign country, where the language, food, and culture would be vastly different from suburban Baltimore.

Have you heard about the wacky registry trend? It's true! Brides are going a little wacky with their registries nowadays. Recently NBC's "Today Show" even had a segment about “Registries Gone Wild” where couples asked for things like cars and toilets. Can you imagine? According to the "Today Show" segment, brides and grooms are using “universal” registries to get anything they want from any brand. For example, you could ask for a Dodge Dart! Or let's just say you don't want the whole car from one guest then you can ask gift givers to put money toward a part of the car, like the engine.

Robert and Miriam Stern's condominium in the Annen Woods community in Pikesville is emblematic of their many years together — interesting, colorful, tastefully artistic and comfortably eclectic in style. This latest chapter in their story finds the retirees and longtime empty-nesters choosing to downsize and simplify their lives while keeping close the treasures they have collected and the memories attached to them. "We bought this end unit in the front of the building in June 2012," said Miriam Stern, a 71-year-old former medical secretary.

It's not that top-ranked Maryland hadn't played well enough to win in recent days. For a team intent on bringing another national title back to College Park, however, uneven performances against Hofstra and UMBC left much to be desired. For the Terrapins, Saturday's game against No. 9 Penn State presented the ideal opportunity to make a statement. "We felt like we had something to prove today," senior Alex Aust said. "We really wanted to come out and play better than we played last week.

The bride looked radiant in her pink and white dress. The groom was dapper in his business suit. The ceremony backdrop consisted of books on shelves, books on tables and a backroom cafe with patrons who seemed oblivious to the whole thing. Welcome to the Annapolis Bookstore wedding of Mark Hutson and Melanie Frances, a couple who on Wednesday proved neither rain, snow nor a government shutdown could prevent them from uniting in holy matrimony. While Wednesday's winter storm proved to be a nuisance for many, it provided a matrimonial wrinkle for Hutson, from Severna Park and Frances, from Montreal.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis said Tuesday that the stiffness in his neck is getting better, but he added that he will likely still be out of the team's starting lineup for at least the next few days. “It's safe to say a couple more days,” Markakis said. “If the season was going on today, I would probably be able to play today, but its spring so we'll take it easy, nice and slow, no rush.” Markakis was scratched from the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates when he woke up with a stiff neck.

Mortician Erich March told me he was tired of seeing people in his East Baltimore community die of conditions like diabetes and hypertension. He blamed the lack of grocery shopping choices in the neighborhood where he grew up and where his Aisquith Street funeral home is located. He and his wife, Michele Speaks-March, were determined to bring a new style of shopping to the Oliver, South Clifton and Darley Park neighborhoods. They were not targeting the vegan or food faddist crowd.

Wedding date: Jan. 12, 2013 Her story: Kelli Raia, 26, grew up in Silver Spring. She is a social worker at a retirement community in Catonsville. Her mother, Jeanne, is a stained-glass artist and owns Glimmerglass Stained Glass. Her father, Joe, is a business consultant. His story: Adam Dickson, 27, grew up in Parkville. He works in finance for a retirement community in Silver Spring. His mother, Patricia, owns a vending business and his father, David, is a consultant.

The ink on their contract was barely dry and the moving van just out of sight, when Richard and Key-Key von Lange prepared to flip the first-floor interior layout of the six-year-old home they bought in Federal Hill three years ago. "We looked at the house and were sold," Richard von Lange recalled of the rowhouse he and his wife purchased for $395,000. "We wanted parking, we wanted a yard and we liked the location. " The only problem with the three-story, end-of-group home with a rooftop deck was the kitchen just inside the front door.

Anne Arundel County police are investigating the discovery of human remains found in a wooded area near Spring Road and Whiskey Bottom Road in Laurel. Police said they were called to the scene Feb. 24 at noon to meet with a citizen who reported finding the suspected human remains. The man told police that he and his girlfriend had been bird watching and hiking when they came upon what appeared to be a human skull. The remains were recovered and transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, and on Tuesday police said the skull had been confirmed as human.