Welcome...

...to blogging, ...to the jungle?, ...to Texas?

Well, I am sitting on the couch at the in-laws and it has been a crazy couple of days. First of all, welcome Jenee to the world of publishing. Hopefully we'll see some more posts from you and you will keep me a little more honest :-)

Now what about the jungle? Well, first of all, before you read any further I want you to know that all is well at the end of the story. It all started this week. I should know better but I perhaps niavely thought that this week would be slow at work and I would be able to take it easy. Wrong. Let me say it again. WRONG.

On Monday a large project for an industry member was dumped in my lap. I had about 15 sampes to perform mercury porosimetery on. Now, I haven't done mercury porosimetry for about 3 years and I forgot how it takes about 90 minutes per sample. So after a short 4 hour refresher, I started on my way. Two and a half days later I finished the samples. Two and a half days of standing in front of the machine, two and a half days of being bored, but having to pay close attention to what I am doing... so much for an eazy going week.

This was followed by something didn't quite exepect, in fact, I don't think any of us expected. On Thursday afternoon, I was sitting down to a short lunch when our building was rocked by a large rumble. Grabbing my safety glasses, I rushed down stairs to be met by another technician. We started to race through the building to try find the source of the noise. We found it, turned out that an acid waste bottle had exploded in the building because of poor sample labling. Fortunately no one was hurt, but that didn't stop the rest of the afternoon to be filled with firetrucks, fireman, ambulances, police officers and outside emerency washes. It was quite an ordeal.

Ironicaly, the following day was our lab clean-up day and we were all very cautious, not wanting another visit from the boy's with big red shinny trucks. I spent yet another day on my feet. Actually I spent all week on my feet come to think of it. That wasn't all of it though. I got an offer from someone to buy my old HP laptop computer. On the way to drop the computer off we got rear ended by a little blonde ditz who apparently was examing a microscopic scratch on her finger and forgot to leave her foot on the brake. To my amazement, there was no damage to the cars. Amazing...

To top Friday off, I forgot to run some other samples overnight, so I had to go back to work at 11pm Friday night. Put it down to excitment for the end of the year. I eventualy got to sleep, and actually rested up. We got up early and hit the road for Orlando where we were greated by the most fantasticly dense fog. Floridians don't believe in slowing down, not for hurricane grade rain, not for smoke and aparently not for fog. And it didnt stop us us, if you slow down on the highway, your dead. We did have a nice adventure on the way. About 10 minutes down the turn pike, past the last rest stop my brain got a message. The special message that means I have to find a bathroom really, really, really quickly. Well, I thought I would ask the lady at the toll booth and to my delight, she told me that there was a toll booth operators toilet, if only I could cut across several lanes of trafic. Its amazing what you can do when you need to. And then all was good with the world again.

Now we are in Texas, relaxing with the fam and ready for Christmas. I think after this week, I'm ready for a few less supprises.

Jenee's Correction

One more correction to this post. It was not organized to Nate's liking or understanding, therefore he would like to reorganize them and that is fine by me :) Isn't it amazing how differently we see things!

Correction on Jenee's picture / iTunes Libraries

In the below post I commented "on to Jenee's disastrous photo and iTunes libraries" and I need to make a correction. Her libraries are not disastrous, just, how should I say it... less organized than mine.

Yay for Obsessive Compulsive Organisation!

Well, it's taken about 2 and a half months but I have done it. I have culled 8561 images (20.1 GB worth of data) from my photo library. That's a lot of junk come to think of it. Of course I had to follow strict guidelines as given by the Mrs:

No deleting photos of people
No deleting photos of important events
and
Delete all of the boring photo's that don't have any people in them...

Of course, I ignored that last one, and kept my interesting, artistic photos that will one day be worth something, or not...\. So now I have 160 folders containing some 24,300 photos that are named accordingly, taking up a fraction over 50 GB. All I need now is a little more backup protection for the data, and I'll be feeling a lot better about all those memories sitting on my hard drive.

For the record, my iTunes and photo libraries are now impeccable. Hence, of course, Jenee now want's similar organization for her media libraries, soo...

...on to Jenee's disastrous photo and iTunes library...YAY!!!

Want to go home...

I have a cracking headache and its only 9:30 am...
Blaming the sudden change in weather...
Stupid Florida...

Wii Ray Blu Fit

I hope that title made no sense what so ever. It wasn't really meant to.

This weekend gone Jenee and I got the urge to go for a walk because we'd been stuffed inside all day and needed some fresh air and what better place to go walking than Butler Plaza across the street.

Off we went and visited a few of our local favorites, finishing off at Best Buy. I went off in one direction, she went off in the other. About 5 minutes later I find her with a big, sweet smile on her face, clearly hiding something. It turns out that she had sweet-talked an associate into getting her Wii Fit, before it was meant to be put on the shelves for a sale. Wii Fit is an interactive game with an electronic board that you stand on. You can do stretching, yoga, fitness training and more. With out too much trouble I am persuaded to run home and get my wallet (lets face it, I wanted it too). I told her that I wanted something too, just cause, and in my excitment I picked up Wall·E on Blu-Ray.

So off I went, then back I came with my wallet and we left with a new game, a movie and some Christmas CD's (because apparently 2 weeks of Christmas music straight isn't enough).

Well, how exciting is all this. We plugged the game in, we listend to the CD's and I though, "hmm, I'd like to watch Wall·E."

Genious here didn't think about it.

Lesson of the day: If your going to buy a Blu-Ray disc, make sure you have a Blu-Ray player...

Masters of Black Friday!

What is Black Friday? According to Wikipedia: Black Friday is a term for the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Holiday shopping season.

Typically most major synicated retailers are open and there are some pretty incredible deals advertised about a week before the big event. Shopping for the best deals involves lining up/camping a few days before hand or if you are not so desparate, waking up at 1, 2, 3 or 4 am and making your way to your local retailer.

By fluke chance, we found out that the awesome Cricut machine was pretty much half price ($200) with two included cartridges ($50-90 ea) at Wal Mart. Jenee has been wanting one of these for about 3 years so we decided to go and do some homework. We found out that they had a "pallet" of them, so our plan was to go home, wake up at 4am, get there about 4:20am and wait for the 5am sale.

Our logic was "really how many people in Mansfield would want a Cricut?". Turns out about 10 people at about 5 am. We had arrived early enought that we could stand right next to the machines and pick one up as soon as we were given the go ahead by the manager. There were a few other ladies around the machines who we made friends with, and cornained off the access, to ensure that we could all get one, and we wouldn't get rushed by and craized shoppers.

Once we had the go-ahead, I picked up one of the Cricut boxes, and we headed toward the cashier (we also picked up something else, but thats a Christmas present for someone so I cant say much), only to be out of Wal Mart at 5:05. Too easy. But I was glad to be there early, some of those ladies looked like they could throw a mean punch. I was just glad we weren't trying to get something in the electronics area. From my understanding there is a good possibility of getting bruised, bumped and knocked down in those high demand areas.

So really, we had quite a pleasant experience, but I was prepared to use a Tai-Chi warm-up on anyone stupid enough to get in my way. We got home safe and I let Jenee look at her new toy before making her put it back and wrapping it up for Christmas (insert evilness here). I told her next year for Black Friday we're going to Arlington camera with the credit card...(I wish)...

Feels Like Forever

...since I posted. You could probably draw two conclusions. Either nothing has been happening or I have been distracted with other things. But who cares, here is a small post to keep the wheels turning.

If you didn't already know, its nearly Christmas, and this weekend we put our Christmas tree up. Jenee and I collect ornaments from places that we travel to and so far we have probably 10 or so unique items for our tree. Sadly we have suffered a few casualties though. Two of our beautiful ornate glass spheres that were given to us for our wedding have suffered from several moves and broken, kinda sad really because they were really beautiful and special to us.

This last weekend gone Jenee and I spent working on our year-end goals. Nothing really exciting here, just things like "finish off xxx's quilt" or "finish organizing my 30,000+ photo library". Some progress has been made on our goals, but I really need to learn not to take so many photos.

I have some recent pictures to post but that may not happen for a week or two so hang in there. Well, thats about it for right now, hope all is well. Nate

You Know Your Loved When...

You wake up to find your wife cuddled up along the length of your body keeping both of you warm, and both your cats between your legs keeping themselves warm off your body heat.

Love it.

One for Chris

So this is not really Nate and Jenee related (as many things arent on this site) hence I decided to put it up. This guys name is Ken Block, and this has to be some of the most impressive driver control I have ever seen. 4.27 long, enjoy.



Kudos to Kevin W for finding this.

What in the World? This is Meant to be Florida

This morning was not only a record low for Florida, but it was about the 6th freeze in Gainesvlle for November. This is crazyness. Who voted for this weather?

I have one layer on the bottom (two if you include thin cotton boxers that aren't very thermally inclined), singlet, long sleeve, polar vest and tweed coat and I am still quite cold in the office.

If it's like this tomorrow, I am soooo wearing my snow thermals. Bring it... (That wasn't a challenge God, btw... :-))

More Fun on Florida Roads...

So last night, coming home from Ocala we narrowly missed 2 large deer by a matter of feet, and then an hour latter, driving to the airport, we nearly hit a lady who was, and I kid you not, just standing in the middle of the road!

What is going on? Do I have "stand in front of me" tattooed on my forehead? You might try to conclude that I am inattentive, or that I have bad eyesight, but I kid you not, these things keep popping up in front of us at the very last moment.

I am just glad that God is protecting us...

Fun on I-75

Saturday morning means leaders meeting for Jenee and I. We have been up since 4:45am this morning. Just to chase a rabbit trail, how come we can get up on the spot for Saturday at 4:45, but on monday, we will probably sleep in till 8:30am and be later than we'd like for work?

Anyway, this morning was nothing out of the ordinary, we got ready, breakfasted, coffee'd and dressed and were out of the door at 5:20, on time. We made our way onto the Interstate headed for Ocala and hit cruise at 75mph (120kph).

About 20 minutes into it, Jenee and I started small talking as lets face it, no one should have a deep conversation before 10am. As we were talking, an F-150 started to move up on us in the middle lane and as it got along side, the vehicle started to move over on us. Remembering that it was pitch black, I see the car in the corner of my eye a moment before it's too late and pull an emergency manouver to save the day. At those speeds, pulling any kind of evasive manouver is hair raising and Jenee and I, now extremly alert and hearts pounding from adreniline are shocked to observe the driver continue on, swerving in and out of lanes. Praise the Lord there were so few people on the road, otherwise something terrible may have happened.

After that little incident we were shaken but not stirred (sorry for the 007 reference, actually, no I'm not). We settled down, 5 minutes from Ocala and there was no one on the road. Out of no where there was something about 30 yards on the road infront of us! Again, with cat like reflexes I swerved around the obstical and there was a small impact. This time Jenee and I are really shaken and stirred and my adreniline was pumping for a good 5 minutes.

So there you have it, two near accidents before 6am in the morning. How was your Saturday morning?

So How Was Your Thursday?

Mine was one of those crazy days where nothing ever stops. After busy morning at work I had to step out to make a visit to the Dr. for my eyes. Our family doctor is very good, but oh my goodness, I nearly had another birthday for the year while I was waiting. Finally I got to see the doc, got my renewal for my eyedrops and headed on my way.

Back at work, I sat down at my desk at 2pm for lunch and the moment I finished I had visitors and questions. So, off I went to problem solve but the best was yet to come. First, I found out the formulation we have been using for making some particles was wrong (my fault) then I find out that some very expensive equipment had gone for a walk (not my fault) and then I find out that some samples have gone missing for one of our clients (my fault).

Following this final discovery, I spent the last hour and a half of the day in the dumpster out the back of work rifling through trashbags, looking for the missing items. After the first pass through all that garbage, I didn't find what I was looking for, so guess what, I had to go through it all over again... While fishing, I recieved several sarcastic comments from passers by (which really weren't that funny anyway) but I did think to my self, I bet noone would even offer to help. And how I was wrong. Dear Ashley came up to me, asked what I was doing and then volunteered to help! So together we bonded over the trash and in the last bag in the dumpster, she found what we had been looking for! PHEW!

So how was your Thursday?

Playing House

Well, a few weekend's ago, Jenee was asked if she would babysit the Cravens for a few days while they went on a short trip. Of course I tagged along too. Three kids, 4 days, Jenee and Nate...

We...had...a...blast.

It was so much fun, we got to take them to soccer and dance, we went to Miss Linda's house and saw horses and big dogs and all of that, we went to a birthday party too, and the best thing was they had a bouncy castle there!



I think it gave me a really good insight for what it will be like when we have a family. It's full time, hard work, but its worth it! By the end of the day, Jenee and I found ourselves in bed exhausted only to see that it wasn't even 9pm! I have a new respect for all the mommies and daddies out there, thats for sure.

Embracing My Inner Minimalist

Well not only have I resisted spending my birthday gift card at Best Buy in the last 24 hours, but I have also embraced my inner minimalist by putting into action a carefully concieved plan of space saving and convenience (two of my favorite things). I have been thinking for a while now about what to do with my growing collection of photography journals and a while ago the solution came to mind.

I realized that I have at my disposal, a full, legal version of Adobe Acrobat Pro, a scanner with an auto feeder and a surgical scalpel. Put that all together and what do you get? Scanned magazines that are catagorised, searchable and functional, no longer take up shelf space, and won't degrade or get torn up. What more could I want?

I used my scalpel to carefully cut the pages out of the magazine and then scanned them. The trick of the process was to recombine the odd and even pages, since I could only scan one side at a time. I looked online for software, I played around but refused to sort 180+ pages by hand. In the end, the easiest possible solution turned out to be built into the very computer I am using. I used Apple's "Automater" and created a script which did the task for me. (Actually truth be told, A colleague at work made the script cause he's a genius).

So there you have it, now I have 3 years worth of two journals all on my computer, not taking up space, and the pages are off to the recycler! Love it! Chris you'd be so proud of me.

Posts Are Coming, I Promise.

I know its been a couple of weeks, and I have about 2-3 posts floating around in my head and all I need to do is steal a minute to edit a handful of pictures and then write the posts.

Bare with me, it will take a few more days. I have started a few personal projects that have been tugging on my mind as well as work and all that stuff.

(As I write this, I am thinking, is there anyone who is actually waiting with baited breathe for me to post? Somehow I doubt it...lol)

Its That Wonderful Time of Year...

... where the air dries out (to normal humidity) a gentle wind starts to blow and the pollen reeks havoc on the common folk. Thankfully my sinuses are not responding to the tremendous allergen levels, however its a different story for my throat.

I have the most annoying tickle, which therefore makes me cough, which therefore has made my throat sore and best of all has given my a husky, smooth sound. As a responsible husband, I have stopped talking in public places as I do not want to be responsible for making women other than my wife stumble.

As for Jenee, she just keeps marching on, which is totally unfair. I dont think she should be exempt from allergy season. What happened to being a team player? To sticking together? Just unfair!

We have been working hard during our free time to finish off a quilt that she has been working on for Skylar. I will post a picture soon, it looks really amazing so far!

Storage Problems

Most of you know, I really enjoy photography and I LOVE my camera that my wife gave me. I use it every other day. Well, while reading through my popular photography magazine this week I came across an article that was discussing good practice for keeping your digital files safe on a long term basis. Charged with enthusiasm, I have started looking through my library and figuring out how many DVD's I'll need to make a preliminary hard copy backup.

I have been taking digital photos since 2002, which at the time of writing makes it 7 years. Also, knowing I started with a Canon S45 point and shoot, guess when I got my new SLR?

2002 - 109 files - 0.07 GB
2003 - 949 files - 0.76 GB
2004 - 759 files - 0.86 GB
2005 - 2255 files - 2.2 GB
2006 - 5683 files - 11.2 GB
2007 - 15,608 files - 41.7 GB
2008 - 7528 files - 16.6 GB

Totals: 32,000 files and counting, 72.9 GB.

I hope I don't have any drive failures before I get that all backed up...

Just a General Entry...

So what has been happening over the last couple of weeks with us? Well, life goes on as always and we have been making plans for travel, sewing quilts, sorting through 20,000+ picture files, entertaining, BBQ'ing, BSF'ing and gyming.

To illustrate how exciting things have been, UF has constructed a brand new walkway for students and staff to enjoy, just a stones throw away from our building. Woopee I hear you say, but when you consider that we walked through dirt and sometimes mud everyday for years just to get a decent cup of coffee, this is a nice change for us. It's actually very nice and we like to walk on it cause it makes us feel like we are on a rainforest walk. I recently took a small walk around the building and snapped a few photos.


Can you see anything unusual in the above photo? Click on it and look closely. You will see a baby 'gator hidden in the weed.

On the weekends we have been getting up nice and early to go to a staff meeting for BSF and getting home after a detour to the gym. Its really nice to get home at lunch time and feel like you have done so much and have most of the day left! Saturdays have been dubbed BBQ Saturdays and as such I have been buying nice cuts of meat to BBQ for our dinner. I am getting better everytime and hopefully I wont burn the expensive kabob's I bought this week. I wasn't really paying attention to how much they were and when the butcher handed me the package I had a nice supprise.

We have also been entertaining friends and we recently had Rob and Sarah and my friend from work, Greg, over for dinner. All I can say is I am the burrito meat master, and actually cooked the meat really well! Even I was supprised as I have not had much success cooking jucy tender meat.

Sable passed out on her playland.

Its really fun to have Rob and Sarah and Meredith over. Meredith is such a cutie and she has us all entertained. As you can see she is actually pretty laid back and loves to explore new places and pat the kitties. Well, luch break is over so I hop you enjoy!

One Thing For Sure, We Are Not Fish People

Jenee and I are on a quest to eat better and be healthier. If you have been reading over the last few weeks, you probably already know this. Apart of our diet is supposed to include at least 2 servings of fish per week. Now, neither of us are particularly partial to eating fish. Be it the fishy taste, smell or both I couldn't say, however, one thing for sure is that we are not gifted at cooking it.

For example exhibit A, below. Now, before you read any further, know that I received Jenee's permission to post this, and it is in no way a reflection on her as a cook.

What you are looking at is several pieces of seasoned fish that we bought from the Fresh Market. Together we seasoned it, and then started to cook it. Now, we did have a small misshap where the pan was hotter than we anticipated and started to smoke the kitchen out, but apart from that, things were pretty straight forward. After the fish was cooked, I was asked to try it. Breaking off a piece I tentatively placed it in my mouth and started to chew. At first it was nice but then the taste grew... worse. By the end of what would be a normal amount of chewing to digest food, I had worked the fish into a ball that tasted a lot like, well, rubber and what we could only idenitfy as Mercedes (her parents dog).

This was simply the last straw that broke the fish eating camels back. We both had a good laugh about it, and decided to leave fish and fish cooking to the pro's...

What is Wrong With the (Photography) World?

And to add to that, whats up with Qantas putting and excessively enforcing the 15 lbs / 7.5 kg carry-on baggage limit? As I have blabbed on before, Jenee and I were annoyed when we were leaving Melbourne International when we were stopped and forced to go back and in the end we had to check in my carry-on. Very annoying. Well, we have been thinking about our next trip to the motherland (Aus) and I have been doing some guesstimates about what I can carry (theoretically) in my carry on. Now I know I should bring a change of clothes, travel documents, a book, iPod and maybe a game, but I would also like to bring my D-SLR, with 2-3 lenses, flash and some other accesories which quickly adds up to my quota.
Well, surfing the internet I stumbled on the image you see above. Its a Leica M8.2 with a 50mm f/0.95 lens attached. I thought, wow, a small compact digital camera that would really be awesome (sample pictures show great quality) and that would potentially solve my weight dilema. So I investigated a little more, great range of glass available (lenses for the lay-folk :-p), great specifications and so on. So what about the price? Well have a guess how much the above camera is? How much would you pay? Keep that number in your head. Now highlight after the semicolon: Camera and this particular lens are gonna run you $14,000. Ahuh, 14000 big ones.

I'll take 3. One for each hand and one for Jenee's spare hand.... rediculous...

We Are Gym People Now

Yup, we have joined a gym here in Gainesville with the intention of getting a shape of some description associated with our fitness. Our first visit we decided that we would try a Body Flow class. Now apparently, Body Flow is a combination of tai chi, palates, yoga and stretching. We were total newbies. We had no idea what was going on, the instructor would go left and we'd go right, because we were new we used the gym mats which are slippery as an eel so when we got into the "warrior" pose, we had to work 3 times harder because our feet were slipping apat and then there was something extra special for me.

The instructor asked us to turn our mats and I found myself face to face with a 40 something lady. Nothing out of the normal until our exercise required us to raise our arms above our heads. Well hello armpits. Her armpits were hairier than mine! Bushier, thicker and longer to boot. ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!

So now we have discovered that Armpits is a regular at our gym. She's being added to our collection of local people whom we only know by their given names. Let's see, there is Buff-Guy who walks around our complex without his shirt on most of the year. There is Grumpy-Guy who also lives in our complex and never smiles, then there is Honda, he drives a white Porsche Boxter (Jenee thinks it looks like a Honda) and there is Scary Carpark Guy and Girl, they pose as homeless people and beg for money. Sadly for them I came across them listening to their IPODS and enjoying their loot from good willed people so they wont be getting anything from us, ever. Sadly people like them ruin giving to people who are in desperate need.

Anyway, enough soap boxing, there is another post to be written.

Update
Parka Guy - He wears a snow parka all year round, even in August!

(Thanks Krista, I forgot about him)

It's All in the Socks... and Other Things

I bought new shoes over the summer because my much loved Merrells finally died. To replace them I got some nice leather Merrell's and a pair of walking shoes for the weekends. What I didn't really think through was that I live in Florida and leather shoes don't always breath in the heat and humidity, or so I thought. You see I have been wearing my normal sports socks with them and my feet have been absolutely sweltering. I feel like a lobster in a pot of boiling water. Until yesterday when I thought about wearing my dress socks with the shoes. Wow, I am an idiot because all this time I have been going through such pain and anguish when I could have had cool, comfortable feet.

In other news, the years BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) schedule has started up again this year and I have to say that I am really happy to be back. If you are looking for a Bible study that is Bible focued and doesnt get tangled up in political doctrin issues, BSF is definately worth looking at. You can find a local class here: http://www.bsfinternational.org/

Well, I am off to have a quick bite for lunch!

5000 ~.~

Wow, I sign on today and bingo, I have had 5000 visits to our blog. Thanks for coming to read all about us. On a scale of 1 to 10, we probably aren't as interesting as some other things like large hadron colliders (7.5), geothermal energy (9) or courting rituals of sea-turtles (8.4), but hey, I know you have been reading and that's all that counts.

As Buzz Lightyear would say, "To infinity (10,000) and beyond!"

Future Plans for Australia

Huh? What! Are you serious? Yep, you might have heard a rumor that we are already thinking about when we can come back to Aus. You might have also heard that we are pondering about coming next year sometime in April or May? Well it's true. We are. Don't hold your breath just yet, but we are already thinking about finances, timing and possibly bringing Jenee's parents along for the ride as well.

I will keep you updated.

The Adventures of the Stevens'

Well, I did promise a post on some of our adventures and here it is. We had adventures in Australia. They were fun. We liked it.

Well ok, I suppose I can write a bit more that that. One of the places that I insisted on getting to was Victor Harbor. This is where I have spent plenty of summers and learned to handle surf. Well we made the pilgrimage with Mum and Dad, Heather, Alicia, Jacqui and Roy and Jenee and I. Really we couldn't have asked for better weather. I had been warning all the non locals about how cold it probably would be and that we should rug up and sure enough, God turned it on and the sky was blue, the sun was warm(er) and the wind was very mild. It was just a great day. We ended up going to Chiton Rocks, Granite Island, downtown and then off to Waitpinga for some serious beach fishing. Just a great time.



Another crazy thing was Christmas in November. I don't remember who's idea it was, but everyone was onboard. We had a Christmas tree that was creatively decorated with cut-outs of our hands, and Petey was our Christmas angel. Also, we had a secret Santa where we spent $10 on the person whose name we drew. Fun! I think there should be atleast 3 Christmas' a year.

We did lots of other things like visit the national motor museum, visit the Barossa, Adelaide Hills, Central Markets and the list goes on. There is so much more I would like to show Jenee but that will have to wait for another day.

Family Photo's for the Post Below

We were watching the news and...

This is what we saw last night. There are three potential hurricanes heading for the US and we have just had Hurricane Gustav land.


Seriously, 3 more? Jenee and I have had several talks about our evacuation plan, if we ever have to put it into effect. If and when the authorities issue an evacuation order we'll get the cats, some food and water and head to Tennessee for Aunt Paula's house. We are keeping the gas tank full and also a small spare tank. If there were a Category 5 heading to destroy Florida, we would probably have to go all the way to Tennessee to find somewhere to sleep anyway as 20 million other Floridians would be heading to Georgia and the Carolinas.

In other news Jenee gave me my birthday present early because we wanted to be able to enjoy it while the weather was nice and warm. Kind of an oxymoron as Florida is almost always warm, but, she gave me a gas BBQ. I am so excited. We are going to test it out tonight and then again on Friday. A BBQ will also be handy should we lose power, a common side effect of larger storms here.

Well, I am still working on the last few posts for the Australia trip and will be putting some more happy snaps up too.

N

The Great Family Catch-Up

I think the best part about going home is kind of obvious, it's seeing my family. Obviously we saw lots of everybody. Mum and dad were there to see us at the airport and we stayed in my old room, Heather and Jonno saw us for dinner on the first night. Helen and Danny flew down from their vacation with Sam and Rachel to see us too. It was the first time I had met Rachey and I have to say that cute little face completely melted her Uncle. She is so stinking cute. I even managed to score a long cuddle with her on one of the last nights we were there although I never got "lovey ears". You only get lovey ears if Rachel really likes you and is comfortable with you (its where she gently rubs your ears in her little hands) so I guess we have a little more bonding time to go.

Chris and Mel were also there to hang out with us and it was so great to see them. I know you are reading this and I have to tell you, I miss you both and hopefully will see you pretty soon. Jacqui and Roy and Uncle John also flew down for an extended weekend. I hadn't seen Jacqui or Uncle John for 5 or more years, and I have never met Roy so it was a real pleasure. Roy has a great sense of humor and obviously was meant to be a part of this family.

The party was also a great time to see some more F&F including Eugene, Uncle JB, Neil, Peta, U-Ian, A-Penny, U-Tim, A-Paige and the girls.

One of the things I miss the most are the huge family dinners where we all get together and just have the best time together. I'll write more about some of the things we did together later but Jenee and I are planning to visit again sometime in April or May 09. We'll see... :-)

Mum and Dad's 60th Birthday Bash

Apart from visiting our family, the main event for this visit was to be present at Mum and Dad's 60th birthday party. I have to say this now, I find it hard to believe my parents are both 60, they really don't look or act it. I still think they are much younger at heart. That said, my dear sister Heather had been working and planning this party for many months and I have to say that she did such a beautiful job. The party was held at the Hilton International in Adelaide in what are known as the Balcony Rooms. So many people of Mum and Dad's closest friends an family were able to make it and it was really a pleasure to see all of them and to be able to introduce them to my wife.

I think part of the fun was dressing up for the night and I must say that my wife played second fiddle only to me. I looked awesome. When she read's this I am going to get sat on. In all seriousness, she was stunning. It was a very honoring night for M&D and we three kids each gave a little speech to M&D's guests to tell them how we loved them. It was really a very special night.

There is not much else I can say really, so I will let the pictures to the talking for me. There are two slide shows. One is of the family pictures that Heather had arranged into a slideshow put to music and the other slideshow is the pictures I took for the night. Enjoy.

Family Slideshow (147 Photos)



Mum and Dad's 60th (50 Photos)

Sorry...

... if you have been waiting for updates. Its been a weird week where I have actually not been able to concentrate or manage to get myself to focus on anything. I blame jetlag. I am much better now after some good sleep. Let the posts begin.

The Stevens' vs. Air Travel

Well, I can't say that we had the most uneventful trip ever in terms of transport. It seems as though everytime that Jenee and I fly somewhere, other that between Florida and Texas, her bags are mysteriously lost and we have to wait at least a day for them to come. This trip was no exception.

As we were debarking the plane from Sydney there comes an anouncement over the PA. Would Mr. Nathan Stevens please see ground staff upon departing the plane. Jenee and I look at eachother and assume that Nathan is me. Sure enough, it was a message for us and it turned out that our bags hadn't even made it onto the plane, they were still stuck in LAX. What amazed us was that our plane from DFW was parked 2 spaces from our plane to SYD. Less than say 200m and yet BOTH of Jenee's bags didn't make it? Whatever... We are so used to it now that we have learned to pack spare clothes in our carry-on luggage to avoid this nuances.

From the international flight we proceed through customs to collect my bags and then head to the baggage desk only to be told that we actually werent meant to make it through customs as our connection to Adelaide was actually from the international terminal. So, we had to get stamped out of the country at the "special" customs desk, and then escorted back through the customs lines (where I am sure everyone was wondering what these poor people had done to get kicked out of Australia in less than 30 minutes) and headed to our new transfer point inside the international terminal.

The redeeming factor for Qantas was once we had arrived in Adelaide, and had a wonderful reunion with Mum and Dad, the very helpful lady at the baggage desk gave us both a Travellers Pack consisiting of toiletries and shorts and a t-shirt which are just a little shy of small and see-through so of course you cant actually wear them anywhere of use except in the privacy of your own bedroom...lol

The trip on the way home was actually more fun. Admitedly, since we were tired, stressed and emotional, some of the happenings seemed worse that actually were. Firstly in Adelaide, we arrived at the airport with plenty of time only to be beaten by a huge tour group. We stood inline for 40 minutes an only progressed a few steps. We ended up being called ahead and then the conter assistant took forever. We litteraly made our plane by a hairs breadth and only had a few moments to say our goodbyes which in someways was probably a good thing as I think we were all tearing up.

When we got to Melbourne, we quickly transfered to the international terminal. As we were proceeding through the entrance a cocky security guard stopped us and weighed our carry-on items. He then proceeded to tell us that they were overweight and we would have to check them. Back to the check-in lines and another long wait we checked my carry-on and headed back to the international gate. We were so mad because we had read all of our documents and nowhere was it stated that you could only have 15lbs / 7kg for your carry-on from Australia to America. We felt like there was an inconsistency, if not a double standard. Anyway, we got to our plane ok only to realize that we had checked the Tylenol-PM which helped us sleep on the plane. Awesome.

We were very grateful to arrive in LAX to find that all our luggage had made it and there were no further dramas. Reading back through this it seems like I have whined about the whole experience and it would be fair to say we were a little disgruntled if not annoyed but really we have nothing to complain about because the Lord kept us safe and that's all that really matters.

Back in Gainesville

Yup, here I am, back in good ol' humid Gainesville and it is Tuesday. As I sit here there are multiples of emotions running through my mind. I am happy, elated, tired, sad, lonely, joyous and excited all at the same time. Its really quite a funny feeling, actually. I will write more about our trip back to Australia over the next few days, but in short, we had a terrific time with my family and we are missing them dearly.

Jenee and I have had plenty of adventures and true to our travelling tradition, Jenee's bags even got lost by the airlines. I would have been back in Gainesville a few days ago but due to jetlag and a persistant tropical storm over Florida, we decided to delay coming back until Monday night.

It was great to see the apartment and cats who have been well loved and as a result put on a pound. They both are weighing in at 13lbs or 6kg. Last night was kind of traumatic for them because they are now on a diet, they got their nails clipped and got several threats of being trained to walk on a leash to walk off some of that weight.

Now, in good Nate fashion I have lots of photos to share and I have even gone through them on my computer so all I need to do is upload them as I get to them. So, mostly as a reminder for me, here are some of the posts to look forward to:

• The Stevens' vs. Air Travel
• Mum and Dad's 60th Birthday Bash
• The Great Family Catch-Up
• The Adventures of The Stevens Family
• Future Plans

p.s. If you are reading this and I was meant to send you some photos, please send me an email to remind me.

T - 48 Hours and Counting

Yup, its actually less than 48 hours until the Journey to Australia begins. I am so excited. I can't hardly wait to see everyone and give you all a hug and catch up. The fun for me starts on Tuesday morning at about 4am where I catch my flight to Dallas from Jacksonville. I then have the day in Dallas with Jenee where I am thinking Jenee has several things planned, one of which I am hoping is a nap (hopefully before 1pm, see below post).

After Dallas it's off to LA, then LA-SYD then Finally SYD-ADL. I did the rough numbers in my head and its about 1500 hours of travel time. Ok, its about 38 hours of travel time from Florida to Adelaide (Insert soft whimpering here). Lets hope I can actually sleep on the international flight cause normally I cant.

Well, I am off to do some chores. See you soon!

I Should Know Better (x4)

Yesterday was an overcast, rainy day here in Gainesville which put me in a chilaxed frame of mind (chilaxed = chill + relax, I think we picked it up in Colorado). Anyway, I spent the day tidying up around the apartment and adding CD's to iTunes so I would have ample music choice for the long flight to Australia.

It seems like it has been some time since I had a day I could go about at some kind of slow pace and so I soaked it all in. I didn't have a shower, I didn't shave, I alphbetized my CD's and I had pizza for lunch. Could it get any better?

Rob and Sarah invited me over for the afternoon and Rob and I sat and talked for a while, Sarah was putting Meredith down for a nap but the naughty rabbit fought the sleep till the last moment (so funny, we could her Meredith from the lounge and she wanted to PLAY). Later we had dinner and a few frames of Curling (yes the ice kind) on the Wii.

Now whats wrong about all of that? Well #1 with my sick desire for a sense of achievement everyday along with large energy reserves, when I lay down to go to sleep I found myself rather energized and mentally alert so I couldn't actually fall asleep. Mistake number two was having a piece of Key-Lime Pie at Rob and Sarahs at 9:30, followed by alot of water. Mistake number 3 was allowing myself to have a powernap while Rob and Sarah played their game of curling. Well now not only did I have huge energy reserves but the sugar from the pie had hit my blood stream and the water was slowly trickling into my bladder.So, as you can now tell, I wasnt going to fall asleep, not at 10:30, not at 11 even 12.

So, what do you do at a time like this? Well, you get up and watch TV. You have a shower, you check your email (of which I had none), watch some videos on your computer, stretch, catagorize the fridge, play with the cats and wash all the dishes. Finally at about 1:30 when I couldn't take it any longer I lay down and aparently fell asleep.

So what's the moral of the storey kids?

• Dont powernap after 1pm
• Dont drink fluids after 8pm
• Dont eat anything after 8pm
• and dont be lazy all day, at least go for a walk...

St. Elmo 2008 Pics Part 2.

Here are some more fun pics of the Cravens and the Stevens' at Mt Princeton Hotsprings and Tincup Pass.

Some St Elmo Pics

I Have Become Dangerous to Talk To

Huh? Let me explain. Since I have had a car and been fairly independent, I have discovered and been recommending products and businesses I like such as Spin Cycle in Adelaide, Nikon Cameras and more recently Apple Computers. I think I have “sold” 9 Nikon cameras and now 3 Apple computers with the latest being both my Mom’s getting new Apple Laptops in the last year. Well, I think I should now include Mini Coopers.

Everywhere we stop, we here the obligatory, “Ooo, Mini Cooper!” followed by a conversation about what milage we get, is it comfortable and how their gas-hog is eating a hole in their pockets. In Beuna Vista (the local town) we are often the center of attention. It’s really quite hilarious. Plus I am finding that the beard is helping break down communucation barriers with the locals. It’s that trust thing again…

Honey, Pack the bags and the Sewing Machine?

Well I am writing this from the car, Dumas, Texas to be specific. There is country music on the radio, fast food in our bellies and we’re road trippin baby! Yeah! Jenee and I love road trips, there is something about being out on the road that we just love. Now we flew to Texas so obviously we don’t have our car so we have to borrow one from Linda and Joe. Now, we have quite and array to choose from including a Range Rover, Toureag, F-250 and the Mini Cooper S. We have done countless miles in the Toureag and F-truck as both are very comfortable and decent on fuel. However with the recent spike in prices we decided that we would consider taking the Mini. I am sure you have all seen the new Mini’s. they aren’t terribly big but they are good on fuel and comfortable for short trips. Well its now 5pm so we have been on the road for 8 hours and I can honestly say that I am quite comfortable still! This mini has low profile tires on 18” rims and it's fully loaded and the road handling and economy is still great. I think we are going to talk to Joe about buying it.

Now when I was a kid, we would go camping all the time during the year. Now Stevens’ don’t really go light when the camp. We have portable showers, bbq’s, and all the small necessities that any good camper needs. The joke was always, we’ve brought everything, INCLUDING the kitchen sink. Well something tells me I am going to have a similar experience during my life like my dad did. Example, I go t the car packed with our two suitcases, a (super huge – Jenee) camera bag, computer bag and some munchies. Proud to be ready on time I got to tell Jenee that the car is ready when she tasks me, “do you think we can take my sewing machine?” I look at her to see if she is serious and she is. “Well, let me go and have a look” is my reply. With out much trouble I found some room and now the sewing machine and accessory bag is sitting behind be. I have to admit, I love that Jenee wants to bring it, partly because she loves the sewing machine that I gave her, partly because she loves sewing and partly cause I love my wife and she’s just so fun.

I should be careful cause If I can get my way in a few yeas, my camera bag will probably far out weigh her machine. The competition is on… The other thing we joke about is who can spend the most on their hobby. Not that we are trying to spend lots of money, quite the opposite. I used to think that I could out spend her with my wish list of lenses and so on but now I am not so sure. Good thing were both happy with what we have!

The One Beard of Trust

If you know me on a personal level you probably know that I am a little OCD about things. I like to live in a tidy way. I like to hag my shirts on hangers all facing the same way, with the shirts facing to the left. I like to throw away or donate things that I don’t use any more and I definitely like to shower twice a day and shave in the morning. Well, I forgot to bring my razor to Texas with me. Then I didn’t want to use Jenee’s only spare blade and then I forgot to buy a new one at the shop. So, five days later I still haven't shaved and I have quite a handsome beard on the way.

Jenee likes it, so much so that I could be guilty of making her stumble if we weren’t married. In fact, I think the beard has some kind of hidden power, kind of like a famous ring I know about. Case in point, we were happily cruising down the highway in north Texas in the middle of no where when a Highway Patrol Officer Pulled me over. I was very polite and followed the correct etiquette (pull over as far as possible, engine off, window down sunglasses off and hands on steering wheel) and the officer asked us about where our front license plate was. He was nice enough to issue a warning. I am putting it down to the beard; it has the warming effect on folks. Again, we had a nice conversation with a lady at a truck stop (I also think I saw C-Bass from Dumb and Dumber). The lady even charged me the price for a small cup of ice instead of a large cup! I’m telling you, this beard has the power. I wonder if it is my hidden super power, like Samson and his hair? Jenee thinks I should grow it long enough to braid it. I’m thinking it will go with my new Tattoo and my Harley. What do you think Mum?

I can wait, maybe I could use it to talk to a wild bear in St. Elmo or ride a Moose? I definitely feel that it will help me blend into my surroundings in both wild and urban environments. Oh my goodness, I could be the next Chuck Norris?!!!?! I am going to buy a Total Gym and get buff like Chuck too! Since becoming a beard wearer, I have become aware of a whole new array of accessories that can tend to my beard. Like the Titanium Beard Groomer we saw at Wal-Mart. The world of beards is awesome, now I know why Dad has had one all these years.

Always Busy in Texas

It doesn’t seem to matter what I might think I will achieve when I come to Texas, I always seem to get distracted. Of course the distractions are always fun and worth it, you only live once. For example my in-Laws have 24 acres of land for their horses and much of this land needs to be regularly manicured. Whenever I come into town I like to spend some time helping out with this particular chore. Normally Joe will do this push mowing while I use the ride-on. It typically takes Joe and I about 2 hours to do all of it including the edging. Well, like all good males, Joe is always inspired by bigger, better and faster ways to mow lawn and true to this, Joe bought a zero turn mower. See below for a picture. Now I have been waiting for two months to have a go and finally my time came.

Now you drive this thing by pushing both levers forward and you steer by pulling one lever back while the other is forward, just like a tank. Now steering is a little counter intuitive for about the first hour but I soon found myself able to very competently maneuver my way around the yard with a satisfactory degree of agility. I think my life has been changed. I mowed the entire area around the house on my own in less time than it takes via the other method. To add sugar on top, I was comfortable and was able to catch some rays while working.

Now, I am fairly sun conscious in my older age and sprayed a healthy dose of sunscreen on. I like a brand called Bullfrog which goes on with no greasy after feel and it really works. So well they for two hours of shirt off mowing action, I have no sunburn, in fact, you can barely tell I even got any sun. I did however get a healthy dose of heat stroke and spent the next 3 days trying to keep cool and drinking fluids. I have to laugh, I mean I come from the hottest, driest continent in the world and I live in “flaming hot” Florida and here I am boasting how its really not that hot in Texas and I get heat stroke. LOL. Serves me right.

What else, well Jenee and I went out to dinner with a few friends to a fun Japanese restaurant where we had our own chef cook our food in front of us. We even tried to catch our food in our mouths as our chef launched it at us. That was a lot of fun. After dinner we visited David’s parents home specifically so I could see his fathers trains. As I walked up the stairs to the train room I didn’t know what to expect. When his dad turned on the lights I know my jaw dropped and I was apparently speechless for a good minute or two. Now I wont write too much about it here, but all I can say is WOW. David’s father has meticulously built an engineers dream set. With two stock yards, 6 main lines, working bridges, over-passes, tunnels and more, this is going to be even more amazing when its done and the most impressive thing is that his dad has been collecting these 0-guage trains since he was 10. So cool, I have been invited to come back and take some photos so hopefully he will let me share some here.

Jenee is T-2 Days and Counting!

Yup its 2 days until I see her and I can hardly wait! Its only been a week but thats long enough. So much has happened since she went back. I have as always been occupied 110% at work and at 5pm Saturday got some fantasticl results in the lab. I was most pleased with my efforts. I have also made a friend who I think is an answer to prayer. I have been praying for a mentor type person who is further along in life than I and has no prior affiliation with Jenee or my self, who I can have and impartial ear to talk to and perhaps as an accountability partner. The gentleman happens to go to our church and encouraged us to attend the marriage conference last month. He's really down to earth and we had breakfast at a yummy place called Panera Bread. I think we really have a lot of similarities and personality charateristics that makes it easy to click. So, thats really exciting.

What else? Well I have been packing for our Colorado trip AND our Australia trip. I was talking to my BFF Chris yesterday (g'day mate :-) and we realised that its about 23 days until we leave for Australia! So very exciting! I do have to admit that I feel guilty for leaving the cats at home so long. They know something is up because they have been acting funny. It happens whenever they see the suitcases come down. Thankfully we have a friend who lis going to look after them for us and had fallen asleep on the couch giving cudles before. Speaking of suitcases, we bought Jenee some new matching ones that are made by some trendy company... uhh... London Fog I think. And guess what, she has my suitcases so guess who gets to travel with the girly ones? yup, me. I am going to look very special in Orlando International.

Wont I look Special

In my spare time (read late at night when I have insomnia) I have been catching a dose of Anime (Japanese Animation). I remember when I was a kid, there was a show called Robotech on Saturday mornings and it was the coolest thing in the world with flying planes that transformed into robots and all sorts of cool stuff. Well in celebration of that, the creators have a new series called Macross Frontier and I have really enjoyed it so far. You can watch episodes here.

Well, thats it for now. I have done all my duties, now, off to play some Mario Kart!

And Jenee's Gone Again...

Its been a long, long day and as I write this, its still not done yet. Jenee is back in TX for a week when I will then join her. We got up at 6 this morning to head out for a dermatologist appointment for me. My Dr. wanted me to have a strange spot on my toe examined. After being warned that it could possible serious, I am relieved to know that I simply have a small fungal infection, not melanoma. I also had a skin cancer check and to my delight the cut something off me. It was a small black mole and it's currently being biopsied. I don't think there is anything to worry about. Jenee sat through the whole thing laughing at me because I looked ridiculous with my gown on. I wanted to give the Dr. a surprise and wear it backwards but decided not to. At least I wore boxers today and wasn't being liberal... O.o

After the dermatologist Jenee and I drove to Orlando where we dropped by the outlet mall before getting to the airport. I have driven in excess of 240 mi / 380 km for the airport round trip today. Crazy.

Once I got home I had to take poor Sable to her least favorite place in the world, the vet. Dr. Green was awesome as always and Sable for the most part is ok, just a little sore in the mouth and very sulky. She hasn't let me out of her sight all night and is currently sitting next to me at the table.

I am up for performance review tomorrow and I have been writing a supplementary document highlighting the things I have done in the last 6 months. Check it out. I think that explains why I feel tired at the end of the day... it's not complete nor comprehensive... phew...

YRF Team Member
SSTP student mentor
Undergraduate Student Mentor
Graduate Mentor/Advisor

Research
Author / Co-PI - Supercritical Processing Project
Author / Co-PI - SBIR project
Author / Co-PI - Passivation of Aluminum and Copper
Co-PI - Detoxification of Mycotoxins

Service Center
Technician as follows;

Training Responsibilities:
-TGA
-Contact Angle Goniometer
-Supercritical Drying
-Freeze Drying
-Powder Flow
-Shear Scan
-Indisizer
-Schulze Cell
-Attrition Mill
-Nanotrac
-Electrostatic Testing

Sample Processing: Work allocated to my typically falls under categories described under my instrument responsibilities.

Instrument repair and maintenance

Lab Maintenance
-coordinating cleaning efforts
-manage hazardous waste
-safety training
-ordering and maintaining lab supplies

Lab Manager
-Furnace Room
-Milling Room
-Test Bed

Education:
-Host visitors
-Teach paint lab (lecture and lab)
-Student mentoring

Publishing/Proposals/Reports
-NSF final report
-Army final report
-6 journal articles (3 submitted with 3 more to come).
-Book Chapter
-Proposals
-(awarded) Supercritical Drying
-(awarded) SBIR
-(pending) Passivation of aluminum

We Have a Confession to Make...

Its not something that Jenee and I are proud of, but we have an addiction. No it's not drugs, alcohol, smoking or anything like that. Some may say that it's worse.

Now we may be behind on the times but we recently discovered NBC's HEROES tv show and we just spent the entire long weekend watching it. Haha. Now I have to admit that its not as bad as some people who watch Desperate Housewives (you know who you are O.o). If they ever show it in Australia, give it a watch, I'll bet you'll get addicted to it as well.

This Week So Far...

Well, Jenee is back for 10 days and I couldn't be happier. I knew I missed her but perhaps I was in denial about how much I really missed her. It was nice to just sit next to her in the car and be able to hold her hand. Also, since she has been gone, I haven't been sleeping too well. I have had the best two nights sleep in the last two days for at least a month. Strange how things change (single->married). While Jenee's been away, I have been building a friendship with a guy at work that I think the Lord has been leading me towards witnessing to. We've been hanging out on Saturday afternoons and share a love of cameras, cars and Super Mario Kart on the Nintendo. Greg invited me out to dinner with his family at Satchels and here are some of my shots...

A rare sight, a Series III RX-7

Junk at Satchels. Awesome Pizza House in Gainesville

Work has been fun. Fun in the sense of I have so much to do that it's 5pm before I know it. One of the projects I am working on is particularly interesting. Now, I am not obliged to tell you what the reaction is, but I can tell you that it involves a lot of heat and extremely fast reaction times. The picture below shows some of precursor reaction we use to trigger the reaction of interest. As you can see things are glowing hot. Well, we had a little incident where we used more material that we were aware off and the second photo shows what happened here. There was nothing much left. No one was hurt, however I think the student and I had to go and change our pants afterward...

Remnants of the reaction...

And finally, here's something interesting. Anyone have a clue whats happening here? I'll tell you in a few days...

Do you know why there is a fire near my head? Leave your guess in the comments...

She's Here Already

Congratulations to the new mom and dad! Click here to link to Brandon and Krista's New Baby Girl

Its About Time for the New James Bond!

Jenee's Comming!

Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming! Jenee's Coming!

Woo hoo! I am so excited, I haven't seen her for 3 weeks!

In the meantime I have 3 undergrads, one grad student, 4 major projects, a cat-playland, 3 papers (plus 3 in Australia), and a report to keep me busy.

Hope your all doing great!

Nate

It's Friday...

which means its time to have a laugh and I have just the thing. Enjoy.

Rescued Images

Have you ever formatted or deleted images off your memory card when you still needed them? I have a few times and last Saturday I did it again. Might I suggest RescuePRO 3.0. I got it with my recent purchase of a Sandisk 2GB Extreme IV Compact Flash card and it's awesome!

The card is worth $50 anyway so your getting a great deal: Card+Software. Just dont format the card when you get it because the software is on the card and you will have to download and install it before using it.

Here are the images of Sable and Marble not being afraid of the storm over the weekend.

We're in our secret hiding place!

Look At All The Dots!

This is all of you checking our blog! Part of the fun of this blog is to see where people are checking from and we have visitors from every continent. See for your self.

Not What its "Cracked Up To Be"

Well, this is my first weekend on my own for the summer and I have to admit, being a bachelor for the summer isn't all that great. The weekdays are ok because I am working hard and enjoying it, but Saturday and Sunday have been a little too lonely and boring for my taste. I used to be the person who would be fine on my own for a month, would probably be ok not talking for a few days but things have changed. I miss waking up next to my wife, I miss talking to her (she is doing her best to call me every 45 minutes so perhaps that last one doesn't count), I miss the humble hum of her sewing machine and the random kisses and hugs.

To illustrate the boredom side of things, the apartment has been cleaned twice this morning, I have done ALL the dishes, washed the car inside and out (which explains the rainy weather), done the clothes washing, baked some brownies, caught up with my photo's on my computer, organized numerous directories, read all the latest Nikon and Apple rumors, brushed the cats several times (they have no fur left) walked from home to Best Buy and back and even put up some more shelves.

Now don't get me wrong, I like time on my own, and I will be fine but the good news is, I get to see her in a few weeks!

Last Nights Thunderstorm

About 8pm last night a large storm rolled over Gainesville. I was worried about an electrical surge so everything got turned off, and then I realised, what am I doing inside when I could be outside taking photos!


This was probably the best shot I got all night. I have some fun one's of the cats hiding under the bed (some of the resulting booms were pretty loud and one was so loud that I jumped rather high, literally) however I have to recover them off my formatted memory card...

Why Don't You Stand Under Trees When There is Lightning?

From http://www.wunderground.com/US/FL/Gainesville.html:

"A 20 year old man was struck by lightning near 3500 SW Archer Road and was rushed to Shands hospital. The person was standing under a tree and suffered extreme burns to half his body. "

That is Lowes, the local hardware store, less than 400 meters from my front door! All too often I will go outside while its storming, but I think I will be a little more careful from now on!

If You Have Never Flew Through Atlanta…

… Then let me give you some insight into the world's busiest airport. I think sometime before I have outlined how huge Atlanta International is. If I haven’t, it is bigger than Sydney Domestic and International, Melbourne Domestic and International and Adelaide combined. No kidding. The especially fun feature of Atlanta comes into play when the weather turns bad. If there is lightning with in a 25 miles the whole airport gets grounded and that’s what happened to me today. We actually arrived from Dallas on time, however we sat there on the tarmac for 20 minutes waiting for permission to dock. Then there was the usual battle with ‘pellets’ to try get off the plane. Now we landed at A1 and my next plane was at D31. That’s about as far away as you can get and I ran the whole way down A, took the train and then ran down D only to miss the plane by 2 measly minutes. I just don’t understand why they didn’t wait, they knew I was coming!

Well, I try to be patient because its tempting to get annoyed that is really out of my hands, and the airline staff are trying their best. The nice Delta lady found me a flight and a seat to Jacksonville (90 minutes from Gainesville) and I looked at my ticket. Guess where it was gated… go on…
A-1. Hows that for irony. I am now 20 minutes outside of JAX and have to rent a car and drive home. Oh, joy.

Late Update: If you thought the gate coincidence was irony. When I got to Jacksonville, I found out that my bag arrived 20 minutes before I landed in JAX?!

What Else Happened Over the Weekend?

Well, apart from a lovely weekend with my wife at the conference, a couple of other interesting things happened. First of all, Jenee and I met our newest ‘nephew’ Hiro. You can see him below. Now, Hiro is Cory’s 4-month-old American Bulldog and I have to tell you he is not what you would expect. He knows about 15 tricks (Jenee and I were shown them all), he is obedient, intelligent, potty trained, doesn’t pull on the lead and he is just gorgeous. As you can see from the photos he is already pretty big (40lbs / 22 kg) and he’s going to get even bigger. Dad, you are going to love him, he’s just like Smudgy.


I also got a haircut. Now I know a lot of you have been waiting so you can rest easy ☺. Ordinarily I wouldn’t mention this, however, this one was kind of funny. I went to Cortney’s salon (Jenee’s Maid of Honor) and we were busy catching up and so on while she was cutting the hair on the sides and back. And with out noticing, she had moved to the top of my head without changing attachments. Now I have to state something: I never clarified with Cort what to do, plus I have always wanted to see what a crew cut would be like and now I know. I still look good! Or so says Jenee, and with my new shades (I lost my last pair in the forest in Florida) I look especially awesome. Jenee and I had a good laugh about it, and it also brought a funny comment later that day but you will have to read on to know what it was.


On Sunday night, Jenee and I went and babysat the Cravens girls and how we just love them. Neither of us have seen them for about 7 months and I was shocked to see how they had grown up. The two girls, Mary Nelle and Edie are swimming and diving and just so much fun, and Baby Coleman is such a big boy. Ordinarily, Jenee can handle the two girls with out raising a sweat, but we had our hands full with all three. (Jenee will keep babysitting over the summer and will take a third in her stride; I am just talking this storey up). Well, Mom and Dad C snuck out while Jenee and I were playing with the kids, so much fun. There was wrestling and Ballet, I did a special ballet dance with the girls which I believe Jenee recorded but you will never see, and movies and all sorts of fun. I think the funniest moment was when I was eye to eye with Edie when she said, “Why do you have a haircut like Daddy’s?”. What could I do but laugh. I told her that I liked Daddy’s haircut so much that I wanted one too. It was good to spend time with them, I think it helps me see what it’s going to be like when we decide to have kids.

Well, that’s it for now. I am on the plane on the way home so I am going to do some other pressing things before I land in Atlanta.

Family Life Today: Weekend To Remember

I am on a posting role! So this last weekend we attended the conference in the title which is primarily aimed at married couples or any length as well as pre-married couples. We invited Jenee’s Brother, Cory and his girlfriend Katie to come along with us and do our delight and surprise their response was that they really wanted to come and they wanted to do it as a bonding exercise with us. Wow! How cool is this!

Now, I don’t think I am going to give you a blow-by-blow account for the whole conference but I am going to share some of the highlights. Now, if you have ever watched the TV series Friends, you may have seen the one where Joey finds his “Identical Hand Twin”. Well, I was lucky enough to find my “Identical Watch Twin”, haha. Probably to the embarrassment to our respective wives, we discussed when we had bough our watches (with in 6 months of each other) and how wonderful it was to have a $100 watch that keeps the time and never give you grief. My watch twin and I exchanged hello’s over the course of the weekend and we are going fishing next weekend (ok, I made the fishing bit up).

The conference material it’s self was great, it really made us examine our selves and encouraged us discuss what we found with our spouses. Now some of what was covered I have learned before, some of it was a good refresher and some of it was new. Funnily enough, none of it was seen as a waste of time.

The thing that really blew me away was to see how the Holy Spirit is working in Cory’s life. He is just so motivated to really learn how to be a spiritual leader and have a relationship as God defined it in the Bible. If you are interested you can go to these links for more information, as well as this link where you can buy a copy of the lectures on CD. (Guys, be a man and do it, your wife will love you for it, they really want you to take the initiative and this will romance her no end!)

Well, we just loved it; I hope you consider looking into it too.

Lots of Updates!

...they are on the way. I wrote a bunch of updates while travelling yesterday. Apparently the pilot finally got the hang of flying so I was able to kick back in my exit row seat and put some words on paper... or letters on disc. Depends on which way you think about it.

N

Been One Of Those Days

You know "Those Days". The ones where you work so hard all day, or at least you intend to, and everything around you seems to go wrong. I arrived to work with the delightful surprise that my computer had been shut down without saving any of my work. 2 days worth of work gone. I searched all over the computer, in all the nooks and crannys that I know, and some that I didn't, and it was not there.

That was the first surprise. The second was that my undergraduate unknowingly broke a $1500 ceramic vessel, I kid you not. I discovered that it was due to over tightening, and as a bonus, the studs we use to fasten the ceramic vessel to the attrition mill were bent so I had to remove and replace them. Ordinarily no big deal, except one of the new studs slipped out of my hands and fell down the crevasse of death. I spent the next hour fishing with what ever I could find to retrieve it. eventually I got it and the mill was back in order. By this point in time it was 11am and I needed to get cracking on rewriting my lost work.

I sat down at my desk and got called to help with someone's experiment. Then there was lunch, and then the contact angle goniometer packed it in. By the end of the day, I had managed to squeeze in a total of 30 minutes of work on my proposal. The one redeeming event of the day was I got to have Moe's with Jenee for Dinner!

Maybe tomorrow will be a little better.

Its The End of May

Well, its end of May and I noticed that I haven't really posted much this month. Sorry about that. Today is Memorial Day, the US version of ANZAC day. I love long weekends, I get to sleep in on at least one of the days and today was the day. I woke up snuggled up next to my delicious wife and there was something else. It was warm, fuzzy and purring. Marble had decided to invite herself onto the bed and use my legs as a pillow. She could learn a lesson from Sable in stealth as the moment you know she is on the bed becasue she starts purring like a chainsaw.

Well, this weekend we have been working hard at packing up our apartment because we have to move for renovations, as well as doing our best to enjoy the last weekend we have together before Jenee heads off to school for some of the summer. We will get to see each other fairly regularly, but it seems like its a big change as we are so accustomed to spending 24/7 together in every sense of the phrase.

Yesterday while packing we vented to each other for most of the afternoon. We talked about all sorts of things ranging from the unimportant (cameras) to the important (homes, investing, babies). I think we both feel like we have cleared out our hearts and feel somewhat enlightened about what the other is thinking.

We have also seen two movies in the last week. The Chronicles of Narnia and the latest Indiana Jones movie. I won't say much as I know that some of you haven't seen it, but they were fun movies, however I am starting to feel that "they don't make 'em like they used to".

Well, its actually time to start packing again...

Stevens Family Sweatshop

Well, quilt shop more likely. After I bought Jenee her fabulous Janome sewing machine for her birthday, she has taken a shining to quilting. In just a few short weeks, I have watched her go from an ok seamstress to being quite competent and taking on the big projects. Now I have been asked not to give too many details here, but I can tell you that I am definitely the better fabric cutter out of the two of us. I can cut the poop out of a piece of fabric.

I was going to show pictures, but apparently I can't show anything for the time being. Well, Jenee says that I have to get back to work now...

The Effect of 500mg of Caffeine on My Wife

Yesterday Jenee spent almost the entire day studying for her last exam of the semester. During this time, she consumed about 500mg of caffeine in the form of 3 "Spark" energy drinks and a coffee. This is the email that she sent at 2.49 am.

Please look at the time I sent this!!! I am not remotely tired. Not only
have I taken my final FINAL two days early, but I can run a marathon as well
and I am afraid if I don't I may have a heart attack! I had no idea our
neighbours where such night owls but I am going to go hang out with them
because Nate is an old man....or it could just be that he didn't have THREE
high powered energy drinks mixed with coffee!!
However this is an announcement that I am OFFICIALLY DONE!! WOOO HOO and I
don't think (think being the operative word here) that I did too bad.!
Anyways just wanted you to know. Now it is the Annual meeting for the next
three days then Jenee is going to hobby lobby so she can sew a quilt! Oh and
go to the beach and maybe North Carolina to see Brandon and Krista!!! I
could seriously sew like a spring line or something right now, I am so
wired!!
Love you all!
Jenee

I woke up at 4 am and she was sitting on the couch watching a movie, completely unaware of the time. LOL. When she woke up I asked her how she was and she replied, "I think I have a caffeine hangover." Poor thing, and she has a conference to run today having only 3 hours sleep.

Say It With Us: Hu-mid-it-y

Yup, it seems as though we have an early taste of summer this year. I guess there is a high pressure system that is stubbornly sitting over Florida, locking in copious amounts of humidity. The moment you walk outside it hits you. It's tremendous, it reminds me of when I went to Bali in the off season and I had to walk around in a singlet because it was so very hot and humid. According to the weather forecast there is a storm front moving in so hopefully that will bring some much needed rain and some cooler, less humid days.

I have spent much of the last couple days inside our apartment keeping cool and trying to recover from my "Man-Flu". I think I have finally kicked it in the rear however, all the Vitamin C I have been taking seems to have aggravated the arthritis in my left knee, a side effect from my arthroscopy a few years back.

Well, I have to go fetch the washing from the laundry. Hope everyone is doing well.

Nate

Rob and Sarah are off to Russia!

I don't know how many people who read this blog know about our friends Rob and Sarah here in Gainesville. I think I have posted about them before so please forgive me if I am repeating myself but we are really excited for them. Last night I drove them down to Orlando International Airport so that they could get on a plane to Russia and go to meet their (hopefully) new son.

Rob and Sarah have been waiting patiently through what seems like forever to get this far through the adoption process and their faith in the Lord has been a wonderful testimony to everyone who has been in contact with them through this...ordeal. Last night they were brimming with excitement and I felt privileged to share it with them, although I did pride myself on finding the one thing that they forgot to pack: Those neck travel pillow things. If you dont know, Sarah is a very thorough meticulous person (go the ISTJ's - personal joke).

Well, here is a link to their blog if you are interested to read what is happening and if they are reading this, we are all praying for you!

Sable's Home!

Well, she has only been home for a few hours and the change in her behavior is apparent. She is back to being naughty, case in point, with in 5 minutes we found her trying to sneak a drink from the bathroom sink. Bad kitten, then we found her doing her favorite - "I can bang the cupboard doors all night, so why dont you feed me and I'll stop?"

Its been a funny kind of day. I came home early and rested because I am not feeling very good. Brandon and Krista left Gainesville to start their new lives in North Carolina today and Rob and Sarah are heading over to Russia to meet their future baby. It's a very surreal kind of feeling today. Almost like the day isn't going to end but I know the sun is moving towards the horizon. Do you ever get days like that?

New Update on Sable

Well, we just heard from Dr. Greene and the outlook is good. She had a hairball in her lower intestine about the size of a peanut and by the time he got in there the intestine had relaxed and the obstruction started to move.

Everything is all clear now and apparently she is on some heavy narcotics, feeling pretty good. I think she deserves to feel good for a while :-)

Thanks for praying with us.