Almost Made It In April...

Hello, all!

We have been putting off updating the blog until something more exciting happened. We have been pretty busy with everything, so apologies for this being relatively short!

Easter was a fairly quiet day. Jen's sister invited her over to the house, and she and her family had dinner there. We brought over lasagna, and Rice Krispie Treats shaped like Easter eggs. They were pretty good, and she mixed them in with Fruity Pebbles to give it some color. We have some pics posted on our Facebook pages, because we've had a heck of a time uploading pictures onto the blog.

Jen started her orientation for school on the 18th, and it went pretty well. It was essentially making sure she had everything she would need to view posts and work on her schoolwork online. School officially starts tomorrow, so she is excited at starting the work for her Master's degree, even though it means school for at least another three years.

Jeff has been plugging away at school as well. His semester will be ending in the next few weeks, just in time for the summer and a few trips we have planned (more on that later). Work is still going well. There have been a few changes with the staff at his store, but everything is settling in nicely.

The past week, Jen's been home from work. We aren't 100% sure what was going on, but basically it seems to be a stomach flu of sorts and she has pain in her lower back. She's had a few labs done, and so far no answers, but she's been handling it well enough. We think tomorrow will be her first day back at work, so she will have a lot to catch up on, but at least she's feeling a little better.

This summer, we have several trips that we've got planned. At the end of this month, we are going to be going back east. Jen has a conference in Philadelphia that lasts from Sunday through Wednesday, so we plan on flying in on Friday, having a day to look around, then Sunday through Wednesday Jen will be at her conference and Jeff will venture off to visit some friends and family in New Jersey. On Thursday we will leave Philadelphia to see DC and New York, and return home that Sunday.

In June, we are planning another trip to Utah. There is a speech-language pathology program in the middle of June that Jen wants to attend, so during the week, we will fly out and back for the conference. And in July the weekend after the 4th, we are going to another work conference for Jen in Denver. So quite a few travels in store for us!

Well, we hope you are all having a wonderful Spring. It's starting to warm up nicely here already, so it should be a pretty summer!

Updates, Because We Haven't Posted in March Yet!

We wanted to try to keep up with our blog posts, so it is time for a brief update!

Jen is getting busy with her work, and taking on more studies. She started out doing the paperwork and submission for a study of heart transplant patients under the age of 4 months (That's right; MONTHS!) that, at first, she didn't think would go through. The financing for the study got to be pretty expensive, and the sponsor at first did not want to pay nearly as much as she had calculated. However, it appears that there is still some negotiations going on, so it may become an active study in the near future.

Jen is also taking over two studies from one of her coworkers, who is leaving to go onto graduate school to pursue his PhD. One of the studies she is taking over involves how a medication plays a role in certain patients (sorry, can't get more detailed than that!) But her other study is the one she has wanted for a while. One of the doctors at Stanford is working on a Genetic Autism study, where they get skin samples of Autistic children, look at them for genetic abnormalities, and try to see if they can correct them in a petri dish. She has wanted to help her coworker on this study for a while, and when she found out that he would be leaving soon, she eagerly volunteered to take on the job, and got it! She's already met with her first patient, and helped out the team this past week, so she is very eager to continue.

School hasn't started for her yet, but as you can see, Jen's already got her desk ready for school. Jeff surprised her by cleaning off the desk, and she was so happy she HAD to get a photo.

Back to school....

Jeff has been plugging away at work and school as well. Now that the transition to the store is continuing to settle down, he is putting in consistent hours and has a consistent schedule. Although he ends up having to get up as early as 3 AM, he is home shortly after lunch and is still able to spend almost all evenings at home.

School is also coming to a close for Jeff. The term is now more than halfway done for him, and one class is already over, leaving him three classes with projects and tests to do. He should be done by the middle of May, in time for our trip to Philadelphia.

Tickets have been bought, and we will be going to the East Coast this May. We plan on leaving on Friday, May 20th, and returning Sunday, May 29th. This is starting to look like a great vacation for us both, since Jeff has not been back East since his mission, and Jen has never been! Until Thursday the 26th, we will be in Philadelphia for Jen's work conference, which ends Wednesday. We don't have the last three days planned just yet, but are working on it as we speak. There are so many places to see, but it'll be hard to get to everything with the conference being all-day.

Well, enough of our update. Here's hoping that our next one will be longer (and with photos!)

A Bit of Catching Up To Do

Hello, world!

Yes, we have been away for two months now, and our apologies. It's been a busy few months, and so far, everything's been going well for us.

Christmas was a slight downer for us. Because of Jen's back, travel was out of the question, and Christmas Eve and Day were over an hour away. Doesn't sound like too much now, but Jen's back was acting up on her (we think probably from the cold), so we celebrated quietly at home. On Christmas Day, Jen's parents stopped by for a quick dinner, but aside from that, there wasn't much going on. We did not even put up a tree, but we managed to decorate our mantle at least!


FYI - We also barely kept awake for New Year's... so ONTO 2011!!

Before Jen's accident, her sister thought it would be a cool idea to go to Disneyland as a family. The plane tickets were a bargain, and we all ended up in a suite at the Disneyland Hotel, so that was a blast! In total, 11 people went: Us two; Jen's oldest sister; Jen's other sister, her husband and three girls plus a friend; and Jen's sister-in-law and nephew. We were there for almost 3 full days, and instead of posting photos directly in the blog, we'll put a slide show on the side for your enjoyment.

Disneyland was the beginning of a round of good things for us. About a week later, Jen got an email from CSU, Northridge, telling her she had been accepted into their online Master's degree program! She will be the first of her four siblings to go to graduate school, the first of her cousins on her mom's side, and the first to go for a Master's on her dad's side (she has two cousins that are lawyers, though, so not the only one to do post-grad work!). Since it's entirely online, we can stay here and not have to look for another place or new jobs. Her first classes start in May, with a two week "orientation" to make sure she's got her computer set up properly.

A week after that, we celebrated Jen's 30th birthday. Although it felt like the party lasted more than just the day. The Wednesday before, her office threw her a party and bought her Sprinkle's cupcakes. That weekend, we went shopping for some essentials and had a blast just hanging out, but couldn't go anywhere because we were also house-sitting, and on Monday, we went out with two families from church, the Snows and the Bishops, to go get Five Guys, a new burger place near us. The next day, when she returned to work, and her sister (Who also works at Stanford) brought balloons on their carpool together. Here she is entering the office with them:

Then, we had a party on the Superbowl for her! It's a long story, but Jen's birthday clashes with this event, so since it was such an important year, her folks came to our house for a "surprise" party. (We say "surprise" loosely because she started to find out that weekend that SOMETHING was going on)

Also, on February 1, Jen became a complete, full-time employee! She already was permanent since September, but she was at 30 hours/week, and now she is 100% time. This means a little less time at home, but a bit more money, so we're happy for that at least!

Despite working more, we've still found time to have some fun. Last week, since Jeff had the weekend off, we decided to hit the Tech Museum for their exhibit, Body Worlds Vital.


The exhibit itself is pretty interesting. We copied this from The Tech Museum's website, since it explained it so well:

BODY WORLDS Vital, in its first-ever showing, celebrates the potential of the human body and the body in motion. Featuring authentic human bodies, the exhibition shows the body in health, distress and disease. These detailed anatomical studies, compositions, and representations allow visitors a penetrating gaze at what lies beneath the skin.

Physician and anatomist Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS exhibitions are the original, precedent-setting public anatomical exhibitions of real human bodies, and the only anatomical exhibits that use donated bodies, willed by donors, for the express purpose of serving BODY WORLDS' mission to educate the public about health and anatomy. The bodies are preserved through a remarkable process called Plastination enabling visitors to learn what lies beneath the skin.


We got to spend the day in San Jose, then ventured on over to the Great Mall to get a few other essentials afterwards. All in all a great day!

It looks like we'll have quite a few trips this coming year. Even though we don't have to, Jen does want to go to CSU Northridge to tour "her" campus. We are also planning a trip to Utah the first weekend of May for Jen to get her other degree. Lastly, Jen's job has a conference in Philadelphia that we want to turn into a small vacation, since Jen's never been to the East Coast, and Jeff has not returned to New Jersey since his mission.

Hopefully we'll keep you all a bit more posted!