thoughts and prayers are with you hokies.

cassie's okay...

still getting updates on all the other blacksburgians... what a horrible tragedy.

been getting the most updates from this site: www.collegiatetimes.com - VTs newspaper.

pictures!

are up to date, even including some from our visit with john, linda, and ross :) as usual, i've overdone it when taking pics of events (this time spectromagic and the castle and fireworks).

popping in to say hi!

quick hello :) had a wonderful time with cassie and are now enjoying visiting with john, linda, and ross -- they're having a (hopefully) wonderful time pin trading and running around disney :) more later -- have a great week!

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The Evening Star

by Louise Gluck

Tonight, for the first time in many years,
there appeared to me again
a vision of the earth's splendor:

in the evening sky
the first star seemed
to increase in brilliance
as the earth darkened

until at last it could grow no darker.
And the light, which was the light of death,
seemed to restore to earth

its power to console. There were
no other stars. Only the one
whose name I knew

as in my other life I did her
injury: Venus,
star of the early evening,

to you I dedicate
my vision, since on this blank surface

you have cast enough light
to make my thought
visible again.

ghoons (and the baby) in ghoonlando!

we had a wonderful weekend visiting with dave and maureen and their adorable son owen ;) we spent time doing all things we hoped to do, visiting, cooing over the baby, seeing a bit of the parks, and just in general catching up :) and nate and i also got a parenthood preview ;) we were sad to see them go-- nate especially catches a case of homesickness when pennsylvanians come around, but we'll see them soon up north ;)
speaking of which, we have two trips planned, one to pennsylvania for music weekend (april) and the other to nashville to visit drew and laura (may) - i am really looking forward to both!
and visitors to florida continue with cassie arriving on friday (epcot, shopping, wine bars, oh my!) and linda, john jr., and ross arriving just after cassie leaves on the following friday :) we expect to be entertaining ross with a lot of disney and wii :) should be a great time!
also, the screen porch will become a reality hopefully mid-april, the permits are in process as we speak!
that's all for now i suppose :) don't want to jinx it, but nate and i have been pretty good lately about biking/walking in the evenings, especially with the recent DST shift (yes arizona, the rest of the country experienced a time change recently).
k, i'm off to play the sims for a bit ;)

my work anniversary

was march 6th :) i can't believe it's been an entire year! the day snuck up on me actually, and when all my co-workers piled into my office to congratulate me and present me with my one year service pin -- i was completely surprised!
annivesaries and milestones are a great time for reflection and since i started working here i've thought a lot about what's different in this role verus my previous role. there are many many differences on the surface, but what i have really enjoyed are the differences in how i feel about my job. i enjoy working for a company that makes decisions that i agree with, decisions i would make for myself. maybe i have a one year rosy view, but i really enjoy all of the intrinsic reward programs they promote. pats on the back and verbal praise are common and much appreciated from my end! so i guess what i'm getting at is that i'm happy with my decision to change career paths, and happy that it's worked out even better than i hoped it would :)

what exactly we do at disney..

i forgot to post this awhile ago, but our department made a video about what it's like to be an industrial engineer at disney and what kind of projects we work on :)

http://www.iienet2.org/media/disney/flowplayer.htm

it's a pennsylvania football weekend

well, sort of ;) lastnight we watched 'invincible' the true story of vince papale and how he earned a spot with the philadelphia eagles.
today, we're off to find ben roethlisberger (omg i spelled it right..you know how i know? it's written on the t-shirt i'm wearing at the moment) and hines ward at espn weekend at disney mgm studios :) we got to see ben yesterday filming nfl live which was pretty cool. today we're armed with all kinds of steeler's paraphenalia and a camera in hopes of getting an autograph :)
after that, helping out at the iie regional conference job fair, then we're hopping on a chartered bus for a dive bar crawl in celebration of several of our friends birthdays. should be a good time :)
tomorrow is a bowl-a-thon for charity and hopefully a bike ride if it doesn't rain! then we get to head back to work monday to get some rest ;)

just another manic monday...

just kidding, it's not manic :) we had a nice weekend -- cleo got fleas! so we spent saturday chasing down various products and banishing them from both dog and house. we're proud to say she's now flea free.
in other news, i think we're definitely building a screened in porch! nate's calling to give the go ahead today but it will still be 4-6 weeks for all the plans and paperwork and then building. we're really excited :) i think we'll enjoy the florida weather even more with a nice breezy bug free room to sit in.
that's all for now, have a great monday!

drive by blogging

on our way out the door to work, but just wanted to quickly say we had a great time on vacation, relaxed, etc. and then i came down with something but have now recovered :) happy friday!

and we're off! (well, almost)

we leave friday evening (tomorrow!) for our hilton head vacation :) i'm really really excited about it. we'll be staying on the island and i have an entire list of restaurants to try! nate and i plan to ride bikes, read books, stay in, go out and have a wonderful time :)
we're leaving right after work tomorrow and i can't wait!
hope everyone is having a good february (brrr!) hear it's much colder than here in most of the country. nate misses shoveling snow and curling up in a nice warm house, but i'm the one whining when it drops into the 40s around here ;)
check out the picture page for pics updated through last saturday and get ready for a whole boat load of pictures from hilton head ;)

just six days until my one year anniversary :)

just call me inspector gadget!

so for nate’s birthday, my mom got nate a pair of heart rate monitors, one for him and one for me (mine’s pink!) she had given my stepdad one for christmas (she had one already) and they kept track while we went hiking and other various activities. i admit, i didn’t understand what the fuss was about or how it could be a motivator, but it really is!
to try them out, nate and i headed out on the bike trail yesterday- what a gorgeous day it was for biking too! we strapped up, and headed out. my bike is now accessorized with the following: headlight and tail light, pink streamers, bell, mileage computer, and now the heart rate monitor on my wrist. seriously. so anyway, the monitor knows when i’m working too hard, not hard enough, or just right! and beeps accordingly. i lovingly refer to it as the little beeotch on my wrist. we rode 14 miles and i burned 820 calories! stats like that appeal to the industrial engineer in me, i’m hooked ;)

things i can't get enough of lately :)

1. my husband of course!
2. orbitz mojito gum... mmm...
3. looking at pics of beautifully decorated rooms
4. thinking about our trip to hilton head next week
5. family visits! bring 'em on :)

The Americans Who Voted For George W. Bush Wish to Return Their Television.

by Wayne Gladstone

AMERICA: Yeah, hi. I bought this TV here about two years ago and I'd like to return it.
BEST BUY CLERK: Oh, yeah. I remember you. You loved this TV. What happened? Is it broken?
AMERICA: Broken? Well, I'm not sure. It's just that ... hmm. How do I explain?
BEST BUY CLERK: Well, what's the problem?
AMERICA: Well, I've heard there are other TVs? Like a smart TV that knows when your shows are on and can record them for you? One that can be programmed with parental controls and specifications.
BEST BUY CLERK: Yeah, sure, but you said you didn't want a smart TV. I remember. I tried to sell you that. But you said it was "haughty." That it gave you too much information—like it couldn't make up its mind. You wanted a "simple" TV that you could relate to.
AMERICA: Yeah, I know ... but this TV. I mean, sometimes I'll put it on a channel and it just stays there. No matter what. No matter how bad the channel is or how much I want something different. I even changed the batteries in the remote control and banged on the side of the set, but nothing works. It's like it's ignoring me.
BEST BUY CLERK: And that's a problem?
AMERICA: Well, yeah.
BEST BUY CLERK: But I thought you liked that. I remember. You were all like, "I like a TV that knows what it wants."
AMERICA: Well, yeah, that's true. And don't get me wrong. Sometimes I like what's on. I'm a very spiritual person, so sometimes I like the religious programming, but that can't be all there is.
BEST BUY CLERK: But that's why you bought the set. We watched The 700 Club together right in this showroom. I pointed out that all these other TVs had that channel, too—they just don't show it all the time. And you said you weren't sure you could trust a TV that didn't show it all the time.
AMERICA: Yeah, I remember ... Well, it gets confused.
BEST BUY CLERK: Confused?
AMERICA: Yeah, like sometimes—and this is going to sound crazy—but sometimes I'll tune in to one show and it will show me another.
BEST BUY CLERK: What do you mean?
AMERICA: Well, like the whole fall schedule. Supposedly, there are options out there. I've been reading about all these new shows in my local paper, but I can't watch them. I'll ask for Heroes and suddenly I'm watching 24 again. Just like that. It switches one thing for another like I'm not going to notice the difference.
BEST BUY CLERK: How long has it been doing that?
AMERICA: Well, in truth, probably from the beginning, but I didn't notice at first. I'm a pretty big 24 fan. And, also, I only just started reading the newspapers. They're mostly opinion, you know.
BEST BUY CLERK: Yeah, but, you see, nothing's really changed. Your TV's not broken. This is exactly what you wanted. You just changed your mind. I'm sorry, you can't just—
AMERICA: Oh, I know! It uses way too much energy. My utility bills are through the roof! Wasn't there some warranty that this TV would keep those costs down?
BEST BUY CLERK: No. Not in the warranty. It was in the advertising. They're not the same thing. TVs use energy. That's just the deal.
AMERICA: So there's nothing we can do?
BEST BUY CLERK: Sorry. Nothing now. There was talk of building more-efficient TVs. Ones that are better for the environment. That would free us from our reliance on our enemies' resources. Technology that might even provide a new source of revenue for America and create jobs for its people. And then we ...
AMERICA: Whoa, whoa. Easy. You're giving me a headache with all that.
BEST BUY CLERK: Yeah, that's what you said in 2000.
AMERICA: Oh.
BEST BUY CLERK: Yeah. You take care, now. But mark your calendar. Big sale coming in '08.

our dining room.. before & after :)

so i put some pics on the picture page of nate installing a light (actually, three lights!) one of those was a new dining lamp, complete with dimmer! the pics below are of the house with the seller's stuff (on the left), and how it looks now -- we still need to paint, but don't know what color just yet.

happy groundhog day!

phil did not see his shadow, which means spring is just around the corner! news that doesn't have quite the same impact down here in FL... ;) we'd maybe rather have 6 more weeks of winter, but i'm not complaining! :) nate and i made the traditional groundhog cookies lastnight and brought dozens in to work to share- here's some pics of us making all the little groundhogs!