Brief But An Update

Yes, we still exist!

There has been a lot going on in our hectic lives as of late, so we decided to go ahead and throw out another update.

Jeff has been getting better. His stomach issues are fairly resolved but he is still being seen by a doctor. There is no exact diagnosis and what he had could have already resolved itself, but still we are keeping an eye on things. He is also continuing to progress with school: So far his classes are going well, despite having four classes, work and everything else! Work is getting to be crazy; a lot of his staff have left for full-time jobs or school, so there is a bit of craziness there, but all otherwise appears to be well.

Jen has had an interesting few weeks as well. She has gone to the dentist a few times and come back in pain, unfortunately. Although she likes the dentist, her mouth just isn't used to being messed with! To make matters worse, last week she had a slight cold and had to stay home from work. Fortunately, she was able to get a lot of it done from home and only took one sick day (the day for the dentist). School is also going well. She just finished her third class and, although she doesn't think she got an A like in her other classes, she was just glad to get through it. It was a pretty tough class for her. Right now, she is only in one class with a professor she has had before, and she enjoyed being in his class, so she's anticipating getting back into her groove and getting her A again. She is also starting her next class next week, a research-based course, and her advisors have told her that her background and work will likely benefit her in this class, which is supposed to be one of the more difficult. She should finish her first class before our anniversary, and her newer class will be the last for the year! Next year she will have only two classes, one of which is an observational course, but probably just as much work!

We are also going on our anniversary trip early this year. Our actual anniversary is Nvember 17th, but we have been toying with the idea of going to Seattle. A lot of thought went into this. We both need the break, and going to Seattle is not an option in November. The idea first hit us on our way back from Utah. We had a 30 minute stop in Seattle and the skyline intrigued Jeff. With more research we fou d there was a lot that we could do there, so we decided to give it a try! We leave Thursday the 20th and come home on Monday the 24th, and this will probably be the last trip of the year.

Well, time to wrap this up. We hope all is well with everyone and hope to catch up again when we return!

Summer in September

Hello to all out there!

So summer is finally showing up. We have had a few days that were warmer than the others this summer (still relatively cool compared to the folks that have 100+ temps!) It's made for a nice few days lately, even though the days are getting shorter.

This year, Jeff decided to do a garden, and so far it's been successful! We have already harvested tomatoes and zucchini, and he has also planted herbs and cucumbers that haven't really ripened. He also planted peppers that just don't get hot enough to his liking, and originally we only had one corn plant grow. After talking to someone from our church, he decided to try soaking the corn before planting, and sure enough, we now have 100+ plants!! All of this is being grown in our FRONT yard, for fear that the dogs would take them out in the back. On the plus side, our zucchini plant has become a beautiful shrub in our front path!

We also celebrated Jeff's birthday last weekend. Since he wasn't feeling that great (more on that later), we decided to keep it simple and just celebrate together. On Friday, we both took the day off and decided to drive to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Jen's sister had given us passes for the year, so we thought we would go. They recently have been trying to rehabilitate a Great White shark, so we went to see that. Even though we have been numerous times, this was probably the first time either one of us went and there wasn't any construction or closed off portions of the aquarium! It was really pretty and we took plenty of pictures.

The following Monday was Jeff's actual birthday, so we decided to go to San Francisco for the afternoon. We started out eating at a burger joint in the Ferry Building, which is on the water, and do some shopping in the food market. Because of the holiday, a few shops were closed but we had fun anyway. We also went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Although we were only there for a little bit, we did get to try out the famous Mondrian cake and saw some very interesting exhibits.

The bad news is Jeff has been pretty sick lately. A few weeks ago he had to leave work because he had gotten sick. Although we suspected it was from milk we had purchased (the only thing Jeff had that Jen didn't) the doctor said no, it wasn't likely. The next week Jeff had more of the same milk and again got very sick. His stomach unfortunately hasn't been the same, and we spent part of Jeff's birthday in urgent care because it was really upset. All seems to be pretty good now, but we are both being really careful about what we eat.

School is again continuing for us both. Jen began a new class with the teacher she started with in her Master's program, and Jeff began the fall semester with four new courses. Despite sickness, we have been fortunate to keep up with our homework. Work has been great for Jeff, but Jen is wrapping up a study and working on two new ones at the same time! So this month is pretty packed, and we are looking at a trip next month for a much-needed break!

Right now we're uploading the photos from Jeff's birthday but hopefully we can get them posted ASAP. Hope all is well for you all!

In Brief

Hello, all!

We would say that the summer is starting to wind down, but around here it hasn't seem to hit yet! We've had pretty calm weather, with very few really warm days. This mild weather has been very enjoyable, but makes getting back to the everyday grind difficult.

Both of us have been continuing to work hard. Jeff is about to register for his fall classes. It looks like he should be done with the undergrad work by next year, if he can keep up with the work load. Jen is down to one class, and so far has 2 As in her program. She will be picking up another class toward the end of the month, and then there is just one more until Christmas break. Break this year starts at the beginning of December, then goes through mid-January. Then Stanford has their usual two-week closure, so this year, maybe we will actually do something! The last few years, one of us has been sick or, in Jen's case, still recouping from the car accident, so our holidays have been local and very understated.

Although there aren't any trips planned for a while, we're still dreaming of some. Jeff really wants to go to Seattle, or back to New York, possibly for our anniversary, so we are saving up for that. And next month is Jeff's birthday. We haven't quite gotten that figured out, since it lands on Labor Day, we haven't decided if we'll go out the day of, the weekend of, or some other day. But we will be sure to keep you posted!