Brent and Anna

Becoming a Clean Freak

2009-07-02T11:50:00.002-05:00

This blog will now be dedicated to my pursuit to become a clean freak! I'm tired of my own laziness. I am on the internet WAY too much looking at facebook and other useless websites. Staring today, I am going to resist the urge to sit on the internet for countless hours. I am going to organize and keep my house that way.

Kentucky Bound

2008-08-06T19:02:00.003-05:00

Well, as some of you know, I'm off to the University of Kentucky to finish up my Ph.D. As a researcher, it'll be a dream come true to be supported and nurtured by some of the best scholars in our discipline as I further develop my research line on marriage and family rituals. UK is home to some of the top "applied" researchers in the world and I can't wait to be surrounded and invigorated by them.

It'll be quite a change, being away from my loving hubby and all. But, thankfully, he is my number one fan and supports my pursuits and dreams. He loves my goals. And I love him for loving me AND my goals, even when they take me half way across the country. We'll be crafting some "loving little rituals" as a long-distance couple for the next nine months, I'm sure.

Another big supporter? My best friend from grad school, Jen, and her four month old son, Hayden. I went to visit her in Duluth last month and Hayden happened to be wearing a UK shirt. I'm so thankful for Jen's encouragement! And for Hayden's public display of support, too. I'll be sure to send the whole family some UK gear once I arrive next week. Jen, LL.

Another Voyageur

2008-06-19T07:01:00.002-05:00

When I was 17, I had the thrilling opportunity to spend a month canoeing in the Canadian wilderness--300 miles north of the boundary waters--with eight other young women. Whenever summer rolls around, I crave an early morning paddle, the warmth of the campfire, the smell of the woods, and even putting on those wet boots each morning. I'm so glad I shared this experience with some of my dearest friends, Kelsi and Maureen, who are also like sisters to me (pictured with me above).

Brent and I decided to be guides for the program after our sophomore year of college. We each went off on separate journeys with 16 and 17 year olds in tow. That experience was also incredible; sincerely one of my proudest moments. The picture above represents the first time we'd seen each other in a month. We were stinky. My eyebrows hadn't been groomed in a month. And I soon learned Brent hadn't even washed his hair. Eeeeew. But somehow this was one of the most romantic moments of my life!

My sweet, 16 year old brother-in-law, Kyle, will leave on his voyage this Sunday. As I was writing Kyle's care package letter (for the middle of the trip), I dug out one of my favorite books, Paddle Whispers, by Douglas Wood. I became so lonesome for the woods it made my heart literally ache. This particular passage really struck me this morning, before I bathe for the day:

"But if I have it figured right, there are only about two hundred and ninety steps to go on this portage trail, and at the end of it is a cold, blue lake that's going to feel about one thousand times better than the best shower I've ever had."

I'm so excited for Kyle to experience this feeling.

Dean Pepsi

2007-01-24T02:02:00.000-06:00

The Minnesota Daily, the U of M newspaper, ran a story yesterday about our beloved Dean of the U of M Medical School, Dr. Deborah Powell. It would seem that she has joined the board of directors of PepsiAmericas. I'm not really sure what she her reasoning was behind this decision. It also raises some interesting questions about her roles at PepsiAmericas, as a physician, and as the dean of our school.

_____________________________________________________

At this point, I could ramble on for awhile about my thought about the situation. It is interesting. I would then finish my little essay with a slam-bang finish. As it turns out though, I'd rather spare myself the trouble of writing the witty commentary. So I'll jump straight to the ending.
______________________________________________________

Perhaps someone should have told Dr. Powell what Steve Jobs told John Scully, then CEO of PepsiCo. Jobs asked him, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?"

I am Superman

2006-12-31T00:03:00.000-06:00

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman		90%
Spider-Man		80%
Robin		72%
Supergirl		63%
Batman		55%
Hulk		55%
The Flash		55%
Wonder Woman		53%
Green Lantern		50%
Iron Man		50%
Catwoman		25%

You are mild-mannered, good,
strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Studio 60

2006-12-06T08:52:00.000-06:00

Do any of you watch Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip? If you don't, you should start. It is an amazing show that is well-written, witty, and fun. The episode from this week was the best so far! It is airing again next week and I highly recommend you all take a peek.

We are doing very well. Brent will be finishing up for the semester next week, as will I. I go through commencement for my Master's on the 15th, which will be fun. Of course, we can't wait for Christmas. We have a big, beautiful tree that has such a fresh fragrance. I love it! We hope you all are doing well.

Anna

Stay the Course?

2006-10-25T15:12:00.000-05:00

Just thought that whoever still reads this ridiculous excuse for a blog might want to see for themselves the message that our current administration is trying to send us.

Sister Site

2006-10-19T22:12:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

This must be a record, I've made more than one post in a week. I don't think this site has seen this kind of activity in a long while. I just wanted to let you know that I put a rudimentary new site up. For now, it's kind of a sister site, featuring some photos from our honeymoon. Eventually, I hope to integrate the two sites into one. I'll add a link to the site on the right side of this site.

Enjoy!

This American Life!

2006-10-17T18:54:00.000-05:00

For all of you NPR junkies out there, you may be pleased to learn that This American Life is now available as a podcast through the iTunes Store! I've heard this show a handful of times and really enjoyed it on each occasion. Unfortunately, it's broadcast on Saturday at 3 p.m., when I'm usually busy. Until now, you had to buy past episodes through audible.com or listen through Real Player. Although I can't vouch for this week's show, as it just finished downloading, I would highly recommend giving it a listen!

Photo courtesy of http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/this_american_life/

Brent's Snooze Battle

2006-10-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings--long time no post. Sorry!

So this morning I have been up working on a paper while Brent is still sleeping. When it turned 9:00 I heard Brent's alarm go off. Now I know many people use the "snooze" feature on their alarm clocks, but Brent could be considered a professional. It is now after 10:00 and he is still snoozing. Every ten minutes I hear his alarm go off again. He sleepily resets his alarm only to do it again in ten minutes. Finally, I went in there to say: "Wake up! You keep playing this game with the snooze button." He replies, "Don't worry, I'm winning." I asked him, "what do you win?" He states, "more sleep." I give up! I guess I'll have to suffer listening to the snooze every ten minutes from the adjacent room.

We are doing well. Brent enjoys med school and I am enjoying all my pursuits too. Hope you are well!

Anna

New Logo!

2006-08-20T22:27:00.000-05:00

No doubt that you all have noticed that the quality and quantity of our posts have been degrading as of late. Do not worry people! Starting today, our site now features its very own Web 2.0 Logo!!!! That's right, you read that last sentence correctly. As you know, the web has entered a new phase of creativity and growth. We here at Brent and Anna's Blog want to let you know that we are on the bleeding edge of this great new technology. Enjoy!

PS-You too can participate in the revolution! Generate your own Web 2.0 logo here.

Brent's Medical School Debut

2006-08-07T10:31:00.000-05:00

Well, I dropped Brent off for his first day of school at 9:00 this morning. I can't wait to hear all about it tonight! I am back from Colorado, where I visited my adorable nephew, Jacob. He is climbing and crawling all over, biting everything in site, and soaking up his shirts with drool. He also learned how to wave while I was out there, I like to think I taught him. since being back, I have been trying to get the house settled and organized. It's fun having a fresh start in a new place, but it is also lots of work finding places to put all our belongings. For those of you who love our grill (Emily), don't worry, it is safe in our backyard, still looking ridiculous.

I am gearing up for another great semester. I am taking 2 classes towards my Ph.D., and teaching 2 classes too. It should be fun. I hope you all are doing well.

New Pad, Same Mess

2006-07-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

As of Saturday, Anna and I are in our new apartment/house (we live on the main level of a 2 story). Except that Anna is now back in Moorhead taking her final class that she needs to complete her Master's Degree. She has already turned the draft of her thesis! I am here, making this post on my phone, and getting the apartment arranged. More later.

Moving

2006-07-09T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!

Just thought I'd write a quick post and let y'all know what we have been up to. As you can see from the picture, I've been busy packing up all of our things in preparation for our move to Minneapolis next Saturday. I'll be glad when it's done!

Anna has been extremely busy writing her thesis these past few weeks. She spends pretty much all of her time doing that. As for me, I have three days left at work. Then I'll be starting school in just a few weeks!

That's all for now. I have to get some scotch mailing tape, as I finished off my roll last night.

P.S. I highly recommend the Stephen Colbert video that I dugg. The last half is hilarious.

Cyclops!

2006-06-27T19:33:00.000-05:00

You Are Cyclops

Dedicated and responsible, you will always remain loyal to your cause.
You are a commanding leader - after all, you can kill someone just by looking at them.

Power: force beams from your eyes

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Big Announcement

2006-06-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

The following was originally meant to be posted on Sunday, June 18.

Hey Readers,

We had Brent's family here for the weekend, which has been a treat. Today we made pancakes for everyone. This time, Brent was involved, instead of sleeping. We have some exciting news. I will be teaching at St. Thomas in the fall! I got the call the other day that they needed another adjunct, so I'm in! Also, we will be moving to our next destination, the Twin Cities, in the middle of July. We will be living close enough to the medical school so Brent can bike, and very close to St. Thomas, so I will be able to walk/bike too! We were thrilled to find such a great place, right by the river. We look forward to having you over some time soon. A big perk is it is a block and a half away from Amy Reineck and just down the river from Emily.

I have been working hard on my thesis. I am finally done collecting data. I interviewed 12 couples, which was an amazing experience. I love them! And now I need to make sense of what it all means collectively. I am very excited! Hopefully all will go well and I will be done before I know it.

I never would have thought it, but I will miss Moorhead. I have met some great people, and I love our little apartment. It was our first home together. I know we will be happy to be back in the cities, but part of me will miss it here. Although, I will be back plenty of time as I continue my education here.

I hope you all are well. Sorry for the infrequent posts (Thomas).

Anna

P.S. Congrats to Kels who was offered a teaching position. Yeay for employment!

Pancake Breakfast

2006-05-28T15:03:00.000-05:00

I haven't had a whole lot of time in the past few weeks to go grocery shopping (nor have I had the energy to go!). So Brent and I have been creative with what we've been eating. We had french toast and salad last night for dinner. Brent has been working the night shift the past few nights. He leaves at 10:00 pm and gets home at 7:30 am. He goes straight to bed. I was so hungry at about 10:00 am that I decided to make pancakes (the griddle was still out), so I made them and saved half for Brent. I woke him up at noon and told him he had food ready for him whenever he was ready. He went back to sleep. His alarm was set for 2:00, and he still wasn't stirring. So I went in at about 2:10. He still wouldn't wake up. I told him I was hungry and I wanted him to make me some food--I have been working hard all weekend on my thesis/other projects. He told me to eat the rest of the pancakes! And I did! He wakes up 1/2 later and is upset that I ate them. Then, 1o minutes later he goes back to sleep. He is still sleeping now. What a funny guy.

Hope you all are well.

Anna

Wii !!!

2006-05-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

If you've been paying attention to the stories I've been digging, I'm getting a little excited about the Wii (formerly the Revolution), Nintendo's next-gen gaming console. It uses an innovative remote-control looking controller that is motion sensitive. For example, to throw a football, you make a throwing gesture with the controller. I think that it will make for some really great game play, both for gamers and people who don't play.

Previously, I had been holding out for the PS3. I was really excited about it's ability to play Blue-Ray Discs (one of two next-gen high definition movie formats), and hoping for a price point lower than most stand-alone Blue-Ray players. As pricing has come out though ($600 for a full featured console, and $500 for a slightly weaker version), the idea of a $250 (rumored) Wii is really exciting. Besides, you can't beat Nintendo's games. Metroid Prime 3, and the new Zelda game are reason enough to get the console for me. Add-in the ability to download old games for Nintendo systems, and you've got a winner in my mind.

Update (12:21 a.m. 2006-05-10): To get a feel for how the system will work, you should check out this video of Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario Bros, Director and General Manager of Nintendo) playing Mario Tennis on the Wii. Maybe now Anna will game with me!

2006-04-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

I went out and bought a grill this past weekend. I went small and portable, because we will be moving shortly and don't have much space. The little bugger works pretty well though. It's actually designed to work with a small propane tank, but the larger tank will last longer. It works well, and I've been eating some great meat this week.

It looks like we will be heading home this weekend. Anna had her prospectus meeting on Monday, so she can now starting collecting research for her thesis. She's already lined up a few interviews!

I've also developed a new goal of posting more picture on the blog. They make things more interesting and let you experience more of our lives.

42

2006-04-21T02:20:00.000-05:00

It's 2:19 in the morning, I can't sleep, and my alarm will be going off in three hours and thirteen minutes. Ouch. Anyway, I though I'd take the time to write a little note. I sent my motherboard to ASUS today. My PCI slots haven't been working, which means that I can't use my TV tuners or IDE controller card. Of course now I can't use that computer at all. I'm thinking of getting a quieter CPU cooler when I order some new thermal paste. I might get better cases fans too, but the CPU fan is the loudest and is my main priority.

Along other lines, I will be playing in softball in a league with some guys from work. I've already been relegated to right field, which is probably a good thing. We're getting shirts apparently, and since my lucky number 8 (also my brothers number) was already taken, I went for the number 42. Does anyone know why without googling? If you do you should take this test.

I have now squandered away too much sleep.

Good night.

Fun Easter

2006-04-17T21:03:00.000-05:00

Easter was lovely. We were able to spend lots of time with family and friends, but of course it still wasn't enough time. We went to Kelsey's dance performance--it was nice to see what she has been up to at school. We saw Kelsi, Michelle, and Cory, good times. However, it seems I was the only one who enjoyed my meal when we ate out. It will be so much fun to live closer to everyone. We are constantly checking Craig's List for places to live in August.

It was great having a couple of days off, but now it is back to the grindstone. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

Anna (& Brent too)

laying low

2006-04-08T17:05:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone,

We are having a low key weekend, just chillin. We went for a bike ride the other day and the wind nearly knocked me off my bike! We biked passed some homes that were damaged by the flood. We can't even imagine living in some of those homes that are partially underwater! It is so much fun now that the weather is getting nicer though. The sun just puts you in a better disposition all day long. School is going well for me. I get a much needed break from writing my thesis until I meet with my committee after Easter.

We can't wait to go home for Easter. It will be wonderful to go home for a long weekend! Hope all is well with you!

OMG look at this robot

2006-04-05T22:39:00.000-05:00

So Brent made fun of me loving cute puppies at my newest favorite website. However, tonight he said, "hunny, come and look at this robot! It is the fastest walking robot ever made. It's modeled after human blah blah blah..." Come on people, what is worse? The cute, fuzzy animals on cuteoverload.com or the weird robot video footage Brent was viewing this evening??

My prospectus was handed in this afternoon. Hooray! Now I just have to defend it, collect data, analyze the data, write the rest of the thesis, and defend that. Okay, so maybe there is still quite a bit to be done, but a big chunk of it is finished. Hopefully you all are well :)

To find the dopest route...

2006-04-04T17:07:00.000-05:00

I went for a nice a run today. On my run, the thought occurred to me that someone should have created a distance calculator using the google maps api. This wasn't the first time the thought struck me, but it is the first time I followed through on it. As luck would have it, USATF has made exactly what I was looking for. You just click your route in, and it tells you the total distance of your route, even marking the miles on the map. When you are done, you can save your route, or browse other people's saved routes. Time to see how long some of those runs really are!

OMG!!! It's Soooooo Cute!

2006-04-03T21:08:00.000-05:00

On April Fool's day Slashdot.org ran a prank. They turned the site pink, announcing that they were focusing on attracting female readers to the predominantly male-read site. I showed Anna several posts, including one of the first stories of the day CUTEST WEB SITE EVER DISCOVERED!!! (Direct link). Unfortunately, it seems as though I have hooked her, and several of her friends. She sits and looks at pictures of ugly little dogs and other small vermin in disgusting poses for hours on end. I don't know whether to love her for it or permanently block the domain on our router. Suggestions?