I think I know what I want for Christmas 2015! Also, as I mentioned, I took a picture or two last night. Here are a few. Here is our apartment. And below is my attempt at being creative. I call it "Car Park at Sunset". lol.
Friday, March 30, 2007
So Bored
Well, sitting is on the couch officially boring. I started looking through my miscellaneous picture files and found this cool picture. Know what a fisheye lens is? It has a 180 degree field of view and makes everything look curvy and stuff. Well, a while ago I attached one to my camera at my local camera store and took a few snaps. Check them out.
Update on my back
Well, I have been at home for a day and a half lying on my back and I am bored to tears. The good news is that all this rest has reduced my swelling so I can actually feel the bones again. It still hurts to move around, but nothing like it was on Wednesday.
Praise the Lord for my wife. She has looked after me so well. Since I am apparently too nice and not pushy enough, she phoned for me and got me and appointment to have x-rays and treatment on Monday at the new chiropractor. She also got to talk to the doctor and he said that if it were anything too serious, I would have been in far more pain. He wants me to lie on my back and do nothing till Monday. Sweet!
Well maybe not, its Friday morning and I am well and truly stir-crazy. I went for a little walk around the apartment complex last night and took my camera, carrying it alone was enough for me. I could feel the muscles tightening in my neck under such a small load. Today (Friday) I have worked on the computer a little for my students and am now relaxing on the couch. So bored. There is only so much internet you can surf. Instead I have a good book to read.
Praise the Lord for all your prayers, I am feeling much better, and God has been taking care of me, as always.
Nate
Praise the Lord for my wife. She has looked after me so well. Since I am apparently too nice and not pushy enough, she phoned for me and got me and appointment to have x-rays and treatment on Monday at the new chiropractor. She also got to talk to the doctor and he said that if it were anything too serious, I would have been in far more pain. He wants me to lie on my back and do nothing till Monday. Sweet!
Well maybe not, its Friday morning and I am well and truly stir-crazy. I went for a little walk around the apartment complex last night and took my camera, carrying it alone was enough for me. I could feel the muscles tightening in my neck under such a small load. Today (Friday) I have worked on the computer a little for my students and am now relaxing on the couch. So bored. There is only so much internet you can surf. Instead I have a good book to read.
Praise the Lord for all your prayers, I am feeling much better, and God has been taking care of me, as always.
Nate
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
If you get time...
Could you remember me in your prayers? I have just had an unscheduled visit to the chiropractor to treat a severe flair up in my upper-back and neck. There is swelling in my neck and I feel like someone is stabbing my back with several screwdrivers simultaneously.
Can you also pray for wisdom for Jenee and I. I am considering changing practitioners since I do not feel that I am getting my overall condition cured, rather just maintained in a state of limbo. Our concern comes with the fact that the current chiropractor is the daughter of a friend I made here in Florida. Most importantly of all we don't wish to hurt any feelings in making the change.
Thanks,
Nate and Jenee
Can you also pray for wisdom for Jenee and I. I am considering changing practitioners since I do not feel that I am getting my overall condition cured, rather just maintained in a state of limbo. Our concern comes with the fact that the current chiropractor is the daughter of a friend I made here in Florida. Most importantly of all we don't wish to hurt any feelings in making the change.
Thanks,
Nate and Jenee
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Go Gators!
Last year, the University of Florida (UF) men's basketball team won the National Basketball Championship on April 3, 2006. Following this, the UF Football team won the National Football Championship the following semester on January 8, 2007.
Well, the Basketball team is on its way to a second straight championship. Go Gators!
If you would like to know more about the university at which I work, look no further than here.
Disclaimer: Though I am a fan and am excited about the possibility of the Gator Boys winning another championship, I am not a superfan like Krista Wilson. She sets the standard in my book, it is a privilege and an experience to watch a Gator game with her - so much passion... One day I may achieve this level, but it will take time, coaching, more UF freebie t-shirts, temporary Gator tattoos and a Gator/UF license plate / number plate cover.
Congratulations...
...to me for being the 100th visitor to my blog O.o
I will give me a pat on my back and collect my reward at the door. Who will be the 200th visitor? If its you, write to me and tell me, I will think of a prize for you.
N
I will give me a pat on my back and collect my reward at the door. Who will be the 200th visitor? If its you, write to me and tell me, I will think of a prize for you.
N
Bachelor Weekend March 07
Well I am writing this on the Sunday evening of my bachelor weekend. Its been a memorable journey. Let me relive it for you.
Friday night I rented some DVD's, got home and set myself a goal: Clean the apartment in 1 hour. I vacuumed, wiped, folded, packed, litter trayed and sorted my little heart out and by 8pm I had even cooked and eaten dinner. I had rented 'Akira' and 'Nausica of the Valley of the Wind' which are both Japanese animations or "Anime's". Akira was a big thumbs down and I didn't make it past the first 20 minutes, so I switched to Nausica, which was great. After that I called my Dad and had a good long yarn with him. Boy I miss them.
On Saturday I got to sleep in until 8am. It was amazing, that is until Sable decided she was hungry and that it was time for her to eat. I spent the morning cleaning up the kitchen mess and then twiddled my thumbs for a while (read: I watched Saturday morning cartoons). Brandon eventually gave me a call promising to have me over in the evening. So I went and did my food shopping, returned my DVD's and rented Eragon and then caught up on TOP GEAR videos posted on 'You Tube'.
At Brandon and Krista's we played SSX: Blur on the Wii and then watched Eragon. Don't waste you time, the movie was awful, if you like fantasy, then read the book and you will be much happier.
Sunday came along and we had Church. Once home again I found myself wondering what to do when I received a phone call from Rob. Rob wanted to go play disc golf so I said that I would come, but only putt as my back is not good at the moment. When he arrived to pick me up, he said that they were running the annual Gainesville Tournament at our local course. Well, we went along and I took my camera and took some pictures. It was nice to watch some pro's play, they made my efforts look pretty silly. For the rest of the afternoon I hung out at Rob and Sarah relaxing and so on.
2007 PDGA Gainesville
Jenee has called my twice and she is having a great time. Sounds like she has decided where we are going to live, where I am going to work, where our kids are going to school and what church we are going to attend... Thats the last time she goes off unsupervised. And to add insult to injury, she is apparently going the Georgia Aquarium without me tomorrow. Jerk.
I miss my wife though and I miss having my cuddle buddy. Good thing she'll be home tomorrow.
Well its getting late and its time for this Flor-Stralian to go to bed. Love you all, and if you reading this and thats weird to read from me then pretend we bumped chests, or shook hands or something like that.
Nate
Friday night I rented some DVD's, got home and set myself a goal: Clean the apartment in 1 hour. I vacuumed, wiped, folded, packed, litter trayed and sorted my little heart out and by 8pm I had even cooked and eaten dinner. I had rented 'Akira' and 'Nausica of the Valley of the Wind' which are both Japanese animations or "Anime's". Akira was a big thumbs down and I didn't make it past the first 20 minutes, so I switched to Nausica, which was great. After that I called my Dad and had a good long yarn with him. Boy I miss them.
On Saturday I got to sleep in until 8am. It was amazing, that is until Sable decided she was hungry and that it was time for her to eat. I spent the morning cleaning up the kitchen mess and then twiddled my thumbs for a while (read: I watched Saturday morning cartoons). Brandon eventually gave me a call promising to have me over in the evening. So I went and did my food shopping, returned my DVD's and rented Eragon and then caught up on TOP GEAR videos posted on 'You Tube'.
At Brandon and Krista's we played SSX: Blur on the Wii and then watched Eragon. Don't waste you time, the movie was awful, if you like fantasy, then read the book and you will be much happier.
Sunday came along and we had Church. Once home again I found myself wondering what to do when I received a phone call from Rob. Rob wanted to go play disc golf so I said that I would come, but only putt as my back is not good at the moment. When he arrived to pick me up, he said that they were running the annual Gainesville Tournament at our local course. Well, we went along and I took my camera and took some pictures. It was nice to watch some pro's play, they made my efforts look pretty silly. For the rest of the afternoon I hung out at Rob and Sarah relaxing and so on.
2007 PDGA Gainesville
Jenee has called my twice and she is having a great time. Sounds like she has decided where we are going to live, where I am going to work, where our kids are going to school and what church we are going to attend... Thats the last time she goes off unsupervised. And to add insult to injury, she is apparently going the Georgia Aquarium without me tomorrow. Jerk.
I miss my wife though and I miss having my cuddle buddy. Good thing she'll be home tomorrow.
Well its getting late and its time for this Flor-Stralian to go to bed. Love you all, and if you reading this and thats weird to read from me then pretend we bumped chests, or shook hands or something like that.
Nate
Friday, March 23, 2007
Hi Dad
We are talking on the phone, and we are typing on AIM and this post is just for you.
http://www.gainesvilleairshow.com/air-show-performers.php
have a look at what I am going to on April 15th
http://www.gainesvilleairshow.com/air-show-performers.php
have a look at what I am going to on April 15th
NEW: Posted Slide Shows
I have now posted the ALMS slide show into the blog. I think this makes it easier for eveyone. All you have to do is click on the screen and the slide show will play. You can also: PAUSE, <>NEXT, change the display time and turn the effects on and off. Hope you enjoy.
Sebring ALMS 07
Sebring ALMS 07
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Did You Know...
...that you can post comments on this blog? I have changed some of the template settings so that you don't have to be a member if you want to leave us a message. You can click on the little link below titled "comments" and leave a little note.
Also, I have added a link list on the right of this blog where you can see some of our (for the moment read "Nate's" favorite websites.
Also, other exciting things happening in the near future to keep an eye out for on this site:
Hope your all doing great like the Frosties Tiger.
Also, I have added a link list on the right of this blog where you can see some of our (for the moment read "Nate's" favorite websites.
Also, other exciting things happening in the near future to keep an eye out for on this site:
- Nate's Boys Weekend / Jenee's Girls Weekend
- Nate and Jenee: The Return to Texass for Easter
- The Gainesville Air Show and,
- Dr. Rossen Sedev's World Tour of Gainesville
Hope your all doing great like the Frosties Tiger.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
A Shameless Effort at Copying Brandon's Blog
But more importantly - Pirates of the Carribean!
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! I feel some shiver in me timbers, and a kipper on the cardboard cow!
(Most of you wont get that last quote, save for my Dad)
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! ^_^
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! I feel some shiver in me timbers, and a kipper on the cardboard cow!
(Most of you wont get that last quote, save for my Dad)
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh! ^_^
Why I "Strongly Dislike" the DMV
For my fellow Aussies, The DMV is the Department of Motor Vehicles here in the USA, the equivalent of the Rego Office. Jenee and I got a tip off that it was a good idea to get there at 7:30, opening time.
Well we did get there that early and I am glad. First of all I got stuffed around in line for an hour while they waited for another government office's computers to come online, during which time I had to sing happy birthday to some one who was the birthday boy. Finally it was my turn, and the very nice lady got me into the system and asked me to take an eye exam. You have to look into this microscope thingy and read off numbers and letters, only problem being that the inter ocular distance of the machine is fixed - meaning, unless the distance between your eyes matched the microscope, you would have trouble reading the numbers - jerks. Now I have 20/40 instead of 20/20 vision.
Test time. Two tests, 20 questions each - multiple choice, can get a total of 5 questions wrong per test. Thats easy compared to the SA test where you have 8 give-way questions and if you get one wrong you fail, followed by the 42 multiple choice that you can get no more than 5 wrong total. Anyway, I only got 1 wrong total, which got a cheer from all three people serving at the DMV.
I then had to wait for 1 hour, with Jenee, to take a practical test. I got 26/31. Apparently I passed a stop sign and he didn't like the way I started the car, but he was pretty nice so I forgave him for his bad judgment. I also got a cheer for passing all the tests in one day from the DMV staff. And you would think I was kidding?
Short of the long is that I now, after nearly 4 hours at the DMV, have a Florida Drivers Licence. YAY.
Well we did get there that early and I am glad. First of all I got stuffed around in line for an hour while they waited for another government office's computers to come online, during which time I had to sing happy birthday to some one who was the birthday boy. Finally it was my turn, and the very nice lady got me into the system and asked me to take an eye exam. You have to look into this microscope thingy and read off numbers and letters, only problem being that the inter ocular distance of the machine is fixed - meaning, unless the distance between your eyes matched the microscope, you would have trouble reading the numbers - jerks. Now I have 20/40 instead of 20/20 vision.
Test time. Two tests, 20 questions each - multiple choice, can get a total of 5 questions wrong per test. Thats easy compared to the SA test where you have 8 give-way questions and if you get one wrong you fail, followed by the 42 multiple choice that you can get no more than 5 wrong total. Anyway, I only got 1 wrong total, which got a cheer from all three people serving at the DMV.
I then had to wait for 1 hour, with Jenee, to take a practical test. I got 26/31. Apparently I passed a stop sign and he didn't like the way I started the car, but he was pretty nice so I forgave him for his bad judgment. I also got a cheer for passing all the tests in one day from the DMV staff. And you would think I was kidding?
Short of the long is that I now, after nearly 4 hours at the DMV, have a Florida Drivers Licence. YAY.
Monday, March 19, 2007
American Le Mans Series - Sebring 12 Hour
Uh - yup thats a REAL Porsche Carrera GT, flanked by two new 911 GT3 RS's
Hi Everyone. Well this weekend I was a lucky boy and got to go to Sebring for the 55th Annual ALMS 12 Hour Endurance Race. My friend Brandon got tickets and his wife didn't want to go, so he asked me. Sebring is a little town about 1 hour south of Orlando, FL. The main attraction of the town is the race track I think.
We got up at 5:30 and hit I-75 South. After a quick stop in Ocala to pick up some supplies we drove another 3 hours to Sebring only to discover that we missed the start. Oh well, we were sure that in 12 hours we would see plenty of action. Brandon had a parking pass so we got ushered into the center of the race track, which later turned out to be very convenient. Once parked, we grabbed our cameras and hit the track.
We kept moving around every hour or so and where ever we went we were able to get a great view of the track, unlike at the Adelaide GP where you had to pay for a grandstand pass to see over the fencing to see anything.
There was plenty to see besides the race too, lots of car clubs put on displays, lots of interesting people doing funny things and lots of sun to enjoy. By the end of the day we had taken over 1200 pictures between us. I have trimmed it down to a manageable 50 at Webshots. Don't forget, you can slide show any of my pictures in Webshots by clicking on the link I have highlighted in the image below. If it re-directs you to another page asking for your details then go back and try again.
Next weekend Jenee is off to Tennessee so I get a boys weekend. Please pray for her traveling safety.
Nate
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wedding Pictures
As you know Jenee and I got married on the 24th of November, 2006. The wedding was fantastic, nothing went wrong and if it did, I certainly didn't notice, God took care of everything and made the day truly special for all involved. We had a great videographer and photographer who combined captured all our moments for us to remember. If you have been near either of our moms / mums you will have most likely seen the wedding video but sadly not the "official" pictures.
You see, for reasons that we do not understand or know, our wedding photographer has disappeared and we cannot get in touch with him. We have tried calling and emailing, but to no avail.
If you remember, Jenee and I would really appreciate you remembering this in your prayers. We are frustrated without any reasonable explaination and have put our hope in God that He will use this situation to His glory. You can see some of the pictures on the net here.
Until next post :-)
Nate and Jenee
You see, for reasons that we do not understand or know, our wedding photographer has disappeared and we cannot get in touch with him. We have tried calling and emailing, but to no avail.
If you remember, Jenee and I would really appreciate you remembering this in your prayers. We are frustrated without any reasonable explaination and have put our hope in God that He will use this situation to His glory. You can see some of the pictures on the net here.
Until next post :-)
Nate and Jenee
Happy Birthday Jou-Jou!
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday dear Jou-Jou,
Happy Birthday to You!
One more time in Spanish!
Cumpleaños Feliz,
Cumpleaños Feliz,
Te deseamos todos,
Cumpleaños Feliz.
LOL. Happy Birthday Babe ^_^
So what kinda day did the Birthday Girl have? Well we woke up early and because I couldn't wait any longer, I gave her her present. I managed to keep it a secret for a whole week! She got a start to her Disney Collection, to add to Aladdin and The Little Mermaid that she already has, she got Peter Pan, Cinderella, Mulan and Robin Hood and as a bonus, Waynes World.
On the way to work Mum and Dad Stevens called and wished the b-day girl their best wishes. Then I was dropped off to work and Jenee headed off to training. During the day she even went to the SS office and changed her name - Jenee is now the "Official Mrs Stevens". Official Mrs Stevens then had more training and then came and picked me up and we went to our friends house for dinner. We forgot Thursday was her birthday when we made the arrangements but we had fun. Perhaps the best gift of all was finding out that Sophie, our friend, has the all clear after her Chemo-Therapy. Praise the Lord, she has been put through the mill twice put God has looked after her.
We just got home and she is catching up on birthday calls that she couldn't take while I write this. Then we are going to sit down and watch as much Disney as two tired souls can before crashing and going to be.
Hope you are all doing great!
N&J
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday dear Jou-Jou,
Happy Birthday to You!
One more time in Spanish!
Cumpleaños Feliz,
Cumpleaños Feliz,
Te deseamos todos,
Cumpleaños Feliz.
LOL. Happy Birthday Babe ^_^
So what kinda day did the Birthday Girl have? Well we woke up early and because I couldn't wait any longer, I gave her her present. I managed to keep it a secret for a whole week! She got a start to her Disney Collection, to add to Aladdin and The Little Mermaid that she already has, she got Peter Pan, Cinderella, Mulan and Robin Hood and as a bonus, Waynes World.
On the way to work Mum and Dad Stevens called and wished the b-day girl their best wishes. Then I was dropped off to work and Jenee headed off to training. During the day she even went to the SS office and changed her name - Jenee is now the "Official Mrs Stevens". Official Mrs Stevens then had more training and then came and picked me up and we went to our friends house for dinner. We forgot Thursday was her birthday when we made the arrangements but we had fun. Perhaps the best gift of all was finding out that Sophie, our friend, has the all clear after her Chemo-Therapy. Praise the Lord, she has been put through the mill twice put God has looked after her.
We just got home and she is catching up on birthday calls that she couldn't take while I write this. Then we are going to sit down and watch as much Disney as two tired souls can before crashing and going to be.
Hope you are all doing great!
N&J
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Weekend's Shenanigans pt. 2
4 player tennis on the Wii
Sarah challenging Rob to "Cow Racing" on the Wii
Rob's "special" birthday cake with re-lighting candles
After all those shenanigans, we had to get ready to go to Rob's 30th Birthday Party. We went to "Cold Stone" to get an Ice Cream cake (where we discovered my ATM card decided to stop working) then headed off to Rob and Sarah's. There was pizza, Dr Pepper, the Wii and the Pit waiting for us.
We had a great time eating, talking and playing. I even got a chance to be OCD and help Sarah with the dishes, although she didnt have yellow dish washing gloves, so I am going to buy her some.
Well, thats all there is for the moment. Hope all is good with youse. Our friend Krista is coming over for dinner since her husband is out of town....
Nate
Friday, March 9, 2007
The Weekend's Shenanigans pt. 1
MEL - THEY HAVE INTERPRETIVE FRUIT HERE!So this weekend Daylight Savings started. Did we know about it? Yes. Did we miss Church? Yes. LOL. Well the weather here in Gainesville is beautiful at the moment. Days are topping out at 24 and evenings are cooling off to about 12. So all in all its really nice weather.
Since we missed Church, we decided to have our own quiet time and then go for a cruise on the new pushies. We headed out towards the campus where riding is a little safer. We headed over to Lake Alice first of all where we saw some international cricket!
After that, we rode on and saw a Lion!
This Lion belongs to one of the Fraternities on campus. Everytime I ride pass its painted in new colors. This time it was in Gator Team colors. We continued North on campus, toward the basketball and football stadiums. You can see them below ^_^
Jenee in front of the O'Connell Center
The UF Football stadium holds 95,000 people.Then we were riding around and we saw a loose Gator! so the only reasonable thing to do was to wrangle it! In the name of science I sent Jenee in first. She got the whole situation under control pretty quick. She used the snout snatch that I taught her last week.
Jenee taking on the Gator
Me being eatenSomebody is Going to be the Birthday Girl!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Meet the Kittens
Marble and Jenee
Sable helping me find the good Rummy TilesWell, as you may know I have a cat. She is a bit of a beast but she is my beast and I love her. I originally got her from my friend Jacqui here in Gainesville. You see, Jacqui got a new job and had to move and was unable to take her cat with her, so I said I could take her. Sable is a Himalayan / Siamese cross, which means she looks just like Chloe (Mum's cat) but with longer hair and weighs more. She has become a little more friskee since I have had her, and developed quite an attitude.
When Jenee moved in, she initially wanted a puppy to which I eventually gave into. We asked if this was ok with the rental office and they informed Jenee that "the properties dog quota had been met and to check back in July".
/slap the office people
Jenee then informed me that since she couldn't have a dog, she wanted a kitten. So, we trundled down to PetsMart and came home with Marble, a 2y/o Calico/Siam cross.
She is very sweet and extremely shy, not to mention scared to death of Sable, who upon meeting Marble discovered that she could indeed hiss, and demonstrated this new talent for the next two weeks. "want a pat Sable?" - HISSSSS. "want some food Sable?" - HISSSSS. "want to go out side Sable (her favorite thing to do)" - HISSSSS & GROWL ha ha ha The short of the long is that things are starting to settle down and we are almost all friends
A Dedication
So blogs aren't exactly my favorite thing. In fact I barely have the patience to read other peoples blogs, so it begs the question why am I doing it? Well I have come to realise that I am terrible at keeping up with emailing everyone back in Australia. As much as I would love to write 2 page personal emails all the time, I don't have always have the time, or that much to say. Time to look to the future...
And the future is this blog. I would like to dedicate it to those back home who I don't have the privilege of just calling up for a yarn when ever I feel like it. The purpose is to let you guys in on whats happening here, see who we know, what we are doing, where we have been and so on. This of course doesn't mean that I am going to neglect email.
Looking forward to sharing our lives with you, don't forget, I love getting pictures from those of you who have digital cameras (this means you Jonno, Helen, Eugene, Chris, Dad, Heather, Deborah, Nicky,and all you other people who have them,including the Floridians and Texans who find this page O.o). And, dont forget to email us.
Also, I regularly post lost of pics of our adventures at webshots, click here.
That's it for now.
In Him,
Nate
And the future is this blog. I would like to dedicate it to those back home who I don't have the privilege of just calling up for a yarn when ever I feel like it. The purpose is to let you guys in on whats happening here, see who we know, what we are doing, where we have been and so on. This of course doesn't mean that I am going to neglect email.
Looking forward to sharing our lives with you, don't forget, I love getting pictures from those of you who have digital cameras (this means you Jonno, Helen, Eugene, Chris, Dad, Heather, Deborah, Nicky,and all you other people who have them,including the Floridians and Texans who find this page O.o). And, dont forget to email us.
Also, I regularly post lost of pics of our adventures at webshots, click here.
That's it for now.
In Him,
Nate
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