Way-Out Forever Pattern

Warning: a big ol' whine to follow.

2010-03-26T16:01:00.006-04:00

I am 20 weeks pregnant. My son, the toddler, is teething and has an ear infection. He had about 4 to 5 tantrums this morning. Brought me to tears. Man, am I tired. He hasn't been sleeping well at night. Which means, I haven't been sleeping well at night. I finally took him to the dr. I needed an excuse for him, because he was driving me crazy this morning. I was starting to need a reason to continue being compassionate towards him. Poor kid. So finding out he really was sick, as I suspected, helps me be a little more patient, but not less tired or frustrated. (I needed a reason, because sometimes I start to wonder, is he being bad? am I a pushover? is this normal behavior? should I be harder on him? Is this behavior acceptable?Some people really do believe tantrums are discipline problems. So sometimes it makes you question your parenting style.)

Thankfully that is all that is wrong. After the tantrum blows over he seems ok. Happy, even. I, on the other hand, am getting increasingly frazzled, fried, and desperate for a break. But, I rationalize, at least he is healthy in all other ways. Thank you, God, for my son. He really is a joy.

He is smart, the dr. said so. While sitting in the doctor's office David pointed out parts of the mural on the wall. He identified things in Spanish. It was funny that then he would look over at the doctor and, for his benefit, he'd repeat them in English. The doctor was impressed. And I was very proud.

Ah, then on the way out of the office he proceeded to have a tantrum because he wanted to play with the truck in the waiting room. He cried as I pried him out of the office; loaded him into the car; wrestled him into his car seat; drove a mile to Panera's (gosh darn it, I deserved it!); while I ordered lunch in the drive-thru, and halfway home (about another 3 miles). The doctor said the increase in tantrums is due to the cold and ear infection. Ok, doc, I hope you are right. That medicine that was prescribed better work, like YESTERDAY, because we are having a birthday party for him tomorrow. He better have fun!

My prayer:
Thank you, God, that David is almost two. He is a great kid, and we love him very much. Even when he requires extra, extra care. Give me the wisdom to continue to listen to his little person needs beyond my needs. To love and care for him even when it is tiring, frustrating and hard to do. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you that you love me; you love Shane; you love David; and that you love the one we have yet to meet. You know his/her name even before we do. Amen.

Why do babies scream louder these days?

2008-08-19T00:31:00.003-04:00

Briefly, because the selective influence of predation has been removed.

What do I mean? In the past, the gene for screaming may have had the effect of occasionally attracting predators; and then, no more baby. The lineage is ended. The screaming gene is no more.

But in modern times, we've removed the effect of predators. So babies can scream as loud as they want and still survive to reproductive age.

After enough generations, all babies will scream, perhaps getting as loud as physically possible.

Colic-shmolic. It's all in the genes.

[Why did I think of this? I've been reading The Selfish Gene, an excellent introduction to natural selection (and for a general audience).]

7:01 am

2008-03-12T07:01:00.002-04:00

I woke up around 5:55 am. Somehow, I am not able to sleep through the night. I haven't in about 8 months... I wake up about every hour and a half to every 3 hours. No wonder I need nappies in the daytime!

So, here I am at one day from being 39 weeks pregnant. So, the latest news is that the baby is not in the right position for birth. He/she is breech. Our ob has scheduled our c-section as late as possible to give the babe a chance to turn around. We've been going to a chiropractor to try a technique that might help. We've also gone to the pool a couple of times, for me to do handstands underwater, see if that helps too.

Good news is that my mom is flying out to be with us for about 5-6 weeks. I am much relieved and look forward to her being here. She is very excited about the baby. She thinks it's a girl. Only God knows the baby's gender. :)

I am more and more looking forward to meeting the babe. Yes, I will miss the evening times where the babe makes itself known through movements seen on my belly. I will also miss Shane checking the heartrate. It took so long to be heard and now, it's great to be able to check it and be reassured. Especially on the days when the babe's movements have been slow or not noticeable. I will miss being pregnant, but I am just growing more and more curious to meet this little one. My two friends that were co-pregnant with me have each had their babies already. One came way early and the other just arrived this last weekend. The first was a surprise, a boy, and the second was known, a girl. Ours will be a surprise. We all wait and wonder. It's fun to receive predictions. Especially when they are opposing predictions based on the same observations! That is hilarious!

Well, somebody just woke up. So, I guess I either best get back to bed or start my day.... bed sounds good. Have a good day.

Week 37

2008-02-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

Two baby showers later, and we still haven't got all that we need. It is amazing how the list can be so long. Even when you've got what you think is enough there is always something out there that you gotta get. Then there are so many things that are so much just part of the business (reminds me of weddings). Anyhow, I am so thankful because we have gotten some really cute stuff. Some friends have knitted some really cute sweaters, hats, booties and blankets.... My mom wanted to knit me a blanket. She completed a cute beanie and booties. She was stressing over making a sweater, but I told her not to because there are plenty already. I've gotten several handmade articles of clothing and blankets. They are so cute that it's almost a shame that baby's outgrow them rather quickly.

Today, my rocking chair was delivered along with a new dresser. I am really motivated to complete the whole set up (could this be me "nesting"?). Last night I was up until 1:15 am rearranging and planning for the delivery of the dresser and rocking chair! I've already washed most of the clothes that will be immediately necessary. I made a funny discovery in doing so. I feel rather silly admitting this, but here goes. I've always known that babies have a special sweet smell (no, I am not talking about spit up and poop!). Most people will say it's sweet and that it eventually fades. I always thought that it was sweet and pleasant. So cute. Well while doing laundry, I discovered, that what I had always thought was the "sweet smell of a baby" was actually the smell of the special laundry detergent- Dreft! I guess I will find out what the "real" baby smell people are talking about soon enough.

In the last couple of weeks Shane's been able to listen to the baby's heart rate with a stethoscope. Pretty cool. We've been able to feel the baby hiccuping, too. Even though I am starting to feel more and more excited about meeting the baby, I am not yet excited about giving birth. The belly-movement-watching is too much fun! I am not ready to part with my belly!

As for the last post about the video... it apparently got a little over a thousand views in a week. That was enough to get Shane to remove it.

Alright, now I am just itching to get started with finalizing the bedroom/nursery setup. Gotta go now.

Creepfest!

2008-02-07T12:10:00.000-05:00

Shane made a home video of me and my belly a few days ago. He put it up on youtube and linked to it from his facebook and myspace. In three days it's already been viewed 613 times!! It's been "favorited" 3 times, too. I gotta ask... WHY? It's only special, really, to him and me... okay maybe some family. He put music to it- which I think is sweet and the best part about it, but I just don't think my family has viewed it that many times. And there is no way of knowing who "favorited" it. I am getting creeped out. I think the video will be going down soon.

The weather has been nice. It isn't as cold as last week. But it did rain last night. It was "torrential." Of course, I just had our car washed/detailed on Tuesday! It still looks shiny, but there is mud on the sides. That really bums me out. But the real reason for the detailing is to help protect it from the salt that is on the roads. A while back we hit a bump that chipped off some paint on a side of the car near the tire. Well, that chip has started rusting. The detail did not remove the rust, but hopefully it will help keep it from growing. At some point we'll have to get it painted.

We are still on the look out for a new car. We were supposed to go this weekend that just passed. I didn't feel to well to be walking and getting in and out of cars so much, so we didn't go. Hopefully this weekend will workout better.

Today makes week 34... I can't believe how quickly the weeks are passing me by.

"fearfully and wonderfully made..."

2008-01-27T20:12:00.000-05:00

Psalm 139:14 (New International Version)
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

At no other time in my life has that rang so very true. I have been reading all kinds of material about pregnancy and childbirth. I am just so amazed at what my body is made to do.

Shane and I have made a baby. I am carrying and growing that baby in me. He (for the sake of brevity, not that we know the gender) is a little person, moving about, growing, listening, surviving, living inside of me. He responds to my voice, my movement, my poking at my belly... a little life. Everything I do affects him. If I eat, drink, rest... stress,... anything I do can affect him in a good or bad way . I am already the responsible adult in his confined little life, caring for him as he matures and readies for his entry to the world as we know it. The other day at our childbirth prep class I looked around at all the pregnant ladies and their husbands. It's funny that I didn't just see "pregnant ladies and their husbands" I saw ladies with their husbands and a bunch of babies just waiting to be born! As if the ladies were planes and the babies were skydivers. The skydivers are just waiting for the right moment to take the plunge.

Even though thinking about the pain can be scary there is a reassurance that comes from knowing that we are made to go through this. To endure it. I mean, our bodies are made to make a baby and then move it out. It's got all the mechanisms for making and getting it out. Modern medicine is a gift in case there are any complications but altogether we are made to go through this process naturally. There is a lot to explain in respect to this process and how modern medicine has changed the way we see childbirth; I will not get into it now. I will have to write about that after I actually give birth. For now, I plan to be amazed and look forward to seeing how my body, my mind, my spirit will respond to giving birth.

Video of recent snow fun in Blacksburg

2008-01-19T00:33:00.000-05:00

Me with Chispita

Chispita on her own. Doesn't she look thrilled?!

Chispita eye view of the world

2008-01-07T19:52:00.000-05:00

Caught on film... finally!

We made it back

2008-01-04T16:04:00.000-05:00

We had a great time in CA. The weather was really nice. It was funny to see people bundled up for 60 degree weather. We wore t-shirts and long sleeve shirts. We felt fine.

Now that we are home we've really had to bundle up. Just today it warmed up to 40 degrees. The last couple of days were in the low 20's, and even down to 12. That was the temperature and one night the forecast said that, with the wind chill, it felt like 6 degrees below zero. Crazy! On the first day of 2008, it snowed. It got scary while we were on the road home from a dinner at a friends house. It had just snowed and the roads were icy--we ended up skidding a little bit. Thankfully there weren't many other cars out. At least none near us. Shane valiantly got us home safely.

Anyway, being in CA was good for me. I saw friends and family that I'd been missing. It felt like we'd never left. I ate way too much! We ate at Tommy's, CPKs, In-N-Out, Mimi's Cafe, Old Spaghetti Factory, Claim Jumper, Canters, and my favorite.... Pizzamania! Oh man, I felt like I must've gained about 10 pounds!

By the way, we learned from the owner of Pizzamania that their style of pizza is hand-tossed, thick crust pizza, so maybe we can find some of that out here.

Aside from visiting friends and family, we also got to see some sites around L.A. county.
- Venice Beach
- Venice Beach Canals
- Melrose
- Naples in Long Beach
- Old Town Pasadena
- Brea Mall
- Uptown Whittier
- Universal City Walk
- and of course, endless hours stuck on the freeways

We also visited family up in Oakhurst (just south of Yosemite National Park). It was freezing there! It snowed on the day we left. It was great to visit with Shane's grandma, aunt/uncle and cousins. We got to celebrate his uncle's birthday and see some little kids put on an impromptu show.

All in all, I am glad we went out there. I will note that, I don't like flying. Turbulence has got to be one of my greatest fears. I have to fight becoming afraid of flying altogether. That would be huge problem for us, since we like to travel to far and distant lands. If anyone has any advice about how to get over it, please do let me know. And you can't just tell me that turbulence is an airflow regime characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes, `cause that doesn't make me feel any better.

California dreaming...

2007-12-21T17:40:00.000-05:00

We are in California. We are having great weather. It is in the 60s.... t-shirt weather. YAY!

Presidential attack ad

2007-12-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

I think this 'Presidential attack ad' is funny. Maybe it's because I've been reading some philosophy lately.

Immanuel Kant for president? As if Americans would even consider voting for a philosopher! But then, look at the alternative.

Glowing

2007-12-11T21:49:00.000-05:00

People tell me I'm apparently glowing.

Just chillin'

2007-12-08T11:16:00.000-05:00

Well, the last two weeks have been pretty cool. We had our first snowfall on Wednesday. That was so nice. Now we've got rain. It's not as cold out; at 48 degrees. For a while there it was freezing dropping to 30 and in the 20's at night. Fortunately, I have my own personal space heater in me.

The baby moves a lot now. I don't know what it is going on in there, it feels like an octopus! I get punched here, kicked there and the movement is so unpredictable. I started to call the baby "Palomita" (popcorn) because watching my stomach is like watching Jiffy Pop on the stove!

As for the last two weeks...
After Thanksgiving Shane and I went to DC. I had been missing the hustle and bustle of the city so we went to Georgetown and Alexandria, VA. It really was a great getaway.

Last weekend was pretty fun, too. We went to my friend's bachelor/bachelorette party. Basically, it was a party that celebrates this couple that will be renewing their vows through the church. They will have a big wedding celebration they couldn't have ten years ago. It will be in Mexico and I am so sorry to be missing it. Anyway, their house party was really fun. We got to dance and just enjoyed ourselves. An older woman, there, swore I am having a girl based on the shape of my belly! The shape, size, and where it is were determining factors. Funny thing is, other people swear I am having boy- based on gut feelings! People!

On Sunday, we watched "Enchanted." Great movie! It was too cute! I liked it a lot. Afterwards we went over to some friend's house for dinner and games.

Last night, we went to a birthday party with a 1977 theme. Basically, my friend's husband turned 30 so we were asked to dress up as anything we wanted that had to do with major events of 1977. Of course the movie "Saturday Night Fever" was projected unto the wall all night. Every now and again the music was turned off and the movie turned up so that we could all participate in the dancing showing on the screen. It was really fun! Since we didn't really have costumes for the party, last minute I dressed in a shimmery blouse and curled my hair to look like one of the Charlie's Angels. Shane just looked cool and sexy in a silky black shirt, with a subtle gold print on it, unbuttoned on top. He wore a chain and a sexy necklace around his neck. I wish we'd taken pictures! So anyway, last night was fun. The Blues Brothers, Princess Leah, Obi One Kinobe, Yoda, a hippie, a go go dancer, and other disco looking dudes were in attendance. It was a fun night.

Today, after some long morning lounging, we are getting ready to head out to do some baby-stuff-shopping. We are going to check out baby carriers/carseat/strollers....

I guess I should go and get in the shower. Have a great day!

Thanksgiving proclamation by Lincoln

2007-11-21T12:57:00.000-05:00

I came across this an thought I'd share it. It's the Presidential proclamation by Abraham Lincoln that established Thanksgiving as a Federal holiday in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. It's an appeal to give thanks to Almighty God for the blessings the nation enjoys and to pray to Him to "heal the wounds of the nation". It's sad to think about how this kind of language couldn't be used by a president nowadays, or even a local public school, given our current misunderstandings of the "separation of church and state".

You might want to remind people of this appeal by President Lincoln to pray to God Most High when they speak of Thanksgiving Day as "Turkey Day".

You might want to read it aloud before sitting down to dinner with friends and family.

--

Proclamation of Thanksgiving*
Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.

I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

*Source: The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler.

Leisurely Saturday

2007-11-10T16:58:00.001-05:00

I woke up early this morning (early for a Saturday) at 7:45 am. I just couldn't stay in bed any longer. My back hurt and I just wasn't sleepy. So I grabbed a load of laundry from the hamper and sauntered down to the basement to put the wash in. I then went to the kitchen and made a delicious pot of oatmeal.

I have started flavoring it with Ovaltine, ground cinnamon, chopped walnuts and a tad bit of sugar. I make it with all milk and lots of it. I like to drink it. Shane likes it all thick. I just don't like it thick and dry, bleh! I learned to like it runny when I was in high school. Always running late I'd put it in a tall cup with lots of milk so that it was easy to consume on the way to school. So, ever since then I just prefer it that way. Anyhow, since Shane doesn't like it runny I have to make it thick first then add the extra milk to my bowl/cup.

So, I ate my oatmeal and then took some time to write thank you cards to a couple of my friends. For my birthday last week they were sweet to have a lunch gathering in my honor. (It has become a tradition for our circle of friends. We gather at someone's house and have a potluck.) They made posole. It was a great feast with all the trimmings. :)

So, after writing my cards I settled on clearing up some junk mail. Then my sleeping handsome came downstairs to have breakfast. At that time my brother, in Albuquerque, NM, called. He is a truck driver and works nights. Sometimes he calls me because he knows I am up. He was still working so we chatted for a while.

Since then, Shane and I have literally lounged our Saturday away. It is so cold out, 45 degrees! I've read some of my pregnancy magazines, I've napped. I had guacamole for lunch. (Yes, I can make a whole avocado with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, cilantro, garlic salt and eat it all by myself. I love that stuff!) Another craving I've had all week is Cap'n Crunch. I have managed to skip today, but I did eat some frozen Marie Calender's chocolate, caramel, pecan pie! With a glass of milk. Of course I had the pie only after I had eaten some lentil/chicken/curry soup with brown rice. (Gotta have some balance, yeah?)

More lounging and stuff (like finish folding the clothes, looked through baby names books and such). Now Shane's on the phone with his mom and I am taking the time to write about how nice it is to be home with my hubby and just lounging. We gotta really enjoy this time before the baby comes! I love it.

At some point we'll go out to dinner an to a party we were invited to.

The countdown begins

2007-11-04T23:36:00.000-05:00

We are halfway there. "There" meaning our due date. Today was day 141, so 139 days to go. Unbelievable! This week we get to do another ultrasound, this time in "4D". (Kinda creepy!)

The baby has started moving quite a bit. I feel better and am eating way more than before. My appetite seams insatiable. I can feel full, but still desire to keep eating. Food tastes great! Crazy.

Thankfully I didn't gain too much weight in the first trimester. Now, it's a matter of getting some exercise. I have started attending a water aerobics class ( with lots of older ladies). There is another pregnant woman there that is due in 2 weeks. She is huge! She says its the best thing she's enjoyed while pregnant. I hope I will love it as much as I get bigger.

This week I will attend my first La Leche League meeting. We'll see how that goes. I look forward to meeting other mommies!
The goal for this week is to sign up for childbirth classes, and other related classes (infant CPR, baby basics...).

The thing we must do, and are not particularly excited about doing, is buying a new car. New or used? Sedan, SUV, crossover? Apparently, the hospital will not release your baby unless you drive home in a car with an appropriate car seat, in the back. Our truck will not cut it. I guess it's been a long time overdue to get a family car. Any suggestions?

Books to read to start reflecting on worldviews

2007-10-25T11:39:00.000-04:00

James Emery White, author of A Mind For God, was on a Stand to Reason podcast, and recommends several books and authors to start 'thinking Christianly', that is, developing good intellectual habits of reflection for engaging current competing worldviews that influence culture.

Some Christian authors and books:
James Emery White, Serious Times
Francis Schaeffer, Escape from Reason
James Sire, The Universe Next Door
Charles Colson, How Now Shall We Live?
C.S. Lewis, Abolition of Man and The Weight of Glory

Some non-Christian authors to stimulate thinking:
Nietzche, to understand postmodernism
Beckett, Camus, Sartre, for understanding existentialism
Some interesting novels: Orwell 1984 and Huxley Brave New World
Darwin (much more than Freud) for understanding naturalism

Fall colors

2007-10-22T20:21:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, Jessica and I went to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. It's as high as it gets in Virginia, about 5000 feet. We saw beautiful views of the multicolored forest, just now in peak color (deep reds and oranges). The highlands are kind of an 'island in the sky' compared to the surrounding area. It's categorized as a subarctic zone, whatever that means. It has open meadows, giving views as far as 70 miles, and there's exposed rock everywhere.
This may be common in the West, but it's rare for Virginia. It kind of reminded me of the high alpine landscapes along the Pacific Crest Trail. And, get this, there are wild ponies!

Finally one of my favorite pics...

2007-10-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

from my mom's visit.

More found HERE.

Lots to talk about... good, bad, and ugly.

2007-10-11T15:03:00.000-04:00

I had wanted my next post to be pictures but I have put it off due to there being so many pictures to sort and I was kinda lazy. Actually it was a combination of busy and laziness.

So, here are some things I've been up to.

Monday night Shane and I went to a dedication service at church. Our church has undergone major changes (demolition, construction, and renovation). Long story, but anyhow, now it is not only our church but also a conference center and a center for spiritual renewal for pastors and their families. It was very interesting as many of the people in attendance were the higher ups in the Foursquare Church denomination.

Tuesday night, there was a special speaker at VT talking to faculty, staff and students. That speaker is the world known apologist, Ravi Zachariahs. His message was very interesting! Soon it will be available in recording - maybe podcast? I hope. I would like to listen to it again. He just had so many things to say in his message, too hard to encapsulate for summarising on a blog.

Last night, there was a second part to his message. This time it was open to the general public. Pretty cool. We went to it as well.

Two other things going on are not so cool. The first is that Chispita has some kind of skin problem. I am hoping it is not skin cancer. I took her in to see the vet on Monday and they scraped a little piece off. Unfortunately they didn't scrape enough to determine exactly what it is. So, Monday I will take her in to get knocked out and the whole thing will be removed. I am not too happy about that. Especially since I've had to keep an eye on her because she keeps licking where they scraped her. It is so gross! She'll probably need to wear a cone after that to keep her from licking!

The other thing is that the transmission in our truck is having problems. Fortunately, it was just a cable and they will not have to overhaul the whole thing. It will still be expensive, but at least it won't be thousands! So, we are without a vehicle until Monday. Oh well, maybe we'll do a little more walking! Yesterday, the weather was in the 80s, but today it has suddenly dropped to 54 degrees with rain in the evening, in the 40s! Yikes! It was actually pretty earlier today. Breezy, a little chilly, but nice and sunny.

Okay, now for the ugly.... the week has been full of its ups and downs. In spite of the two problems aforementioned, everything else has been pretty cool. The weather, the fall foliage, walks and all around good times, in the middle of all this there was tragedy on our block. My neighbor two doors down died. Yesterday was such a beautiful day. The first time I was inspired to go outside and rake the leaves and clean a window. It was a glorious day; it was sunny, breezy, simply wonderful outside. When I noticed the ambulance in front of my neighbors house. Then the police showed up. My neighbor had an elderly bedridden mother he was caring for so I just assumed they were picking her up as usual, even though it was peculiar that the police showed up.

After a few hours had passed the police left but other emergency personnel vehicles were still lingering then I notice that there were forensics people, too. It was strange. Finally, I overheard the social workers outside my dining room window. They were talking on the phone trying to place my neighbor's mother in some hospital or some facility. I overheard that he had died. I was so sad and shocked. I went outside to inquire. Apparently he did not die of natural causes. I knew he had guns in the house so I am assuming the worst. The social worker did not specify except that it was not natural causes.

I am sad. He was a good neighbor. When the shootings at tech happened, he was quick to email Shane and ask if he was okay. He didn't know we were out of town. He just noticed that we weren't home, so he emailed. He loved to bbq. He was always out on his porch cooking some steak or shrimp. We chatted many times when I would walk past his house to got get our mail. He was very friendly. One time he brought us some smoked bbq pork he had made. It was really good. I remember last month there was some guy running from the cops in our neighborhood (very unusual occurrence). I didn't know so I was on the porch letting Chispita out. I looked outside and noticed so many police cars on our block. I looked over to his house and saw him on his porch. I asked what was the fuzz about. He informed me and told me not to worry, he showed me his gun. He said if anyone tried anything they'd be in for a surprise. I laughed and felt reassured. We had had several talks about his guns and protection and all that, so I wasn't surprised.

I am really saddened by this. I've never known anyone that took their own life. Even though he wasn't a very close friend, he was a friendly neighbor. I enjoyed talking to him. Today I walked past his house and it was weird to see his bbq grill out there. It wasn't just a grill it was also a smoker. He was particular about bbq. The grill cost a grip, around $1700. I remember telling him he should lock it up. He just laughed at me, I'm so L.A. Well, it's still out there. A sign next to it reads "BBQ cook with an attitude".

My Mom was in town.

2007-10-03T13:43:00.000-04:00

It has been a busy time around here. My mom was been visiting from Sept. 6th through the 29th. We ran and lounged around a lot. My mom liked it here. She said it's really pretty. She loved that it is so green. She got a glimpse of the leaves starting to change. That was cool. We did lots! I will post some pics in a moment.

Life is good. The weather was pretty hot for a while, but it seems to be cooling down. It's great! Apparently something is going on with the environment that is making the leaves turn early. Its pretty, but early. So that is worrisome to the people that study the environment. Well anyway, I hope it isn't too grave.

I can't believe it is already October! The summer just blew right by. My garden is still somewhat alive. The jalapenos still look pretty. I hope they live through the winter. I think I will bring them into the house when it gets colder. The rest of the plants have a withered and dying look to them. The cherry tomatoes are still kinda growing, but I can't say that I really liked the them. They were itty bitty, smaller than marbles. Next year I will plant regular sized tomatoes.

While my mom was here we showed her our pictures from the past year. Amazing! It's been year already and we did so many things. This year will be different. Kinda like sophomore year in high school, everything is still kinda new but now we've got some experience.

The major difference this year will be that we will be more careful about our activities due to me being pregnant. (Yes, I am pregnant!) This changes everything! Last year we missed taking a canoe trip down the river to see the fall foliage and had planned to do it this year. Well, that is not gonna happen. Too dangerous. Yeah, I know our friend, Jen, canoed in Alaska while pregnant- but I am just not that brave!

Anyhow, I am three months pregnant. It has made this summer very interesting. Morning sickness while traveling and hosting family visits was extremely tiring. I love my family and I was so thrilled that they came out to visit, but it really wore me out. Now, I am so glad to finally be home relaxing and trying to get back into routine. I have the longest to-do list!

Answers to FAQ:
We don't know the gender of the baby- we want to be surprised.

We don't have names yet. We have some we are considering as middle names but nothing definite. If you have any ideas, please let us know. I want something that can be read in both English and Spanish. For example: David or Adelina....
It's a bit of a challenge. Even a name that has a Spanish version, like Matthew= Mateo, Andrew=Andres, .....
Well, that is what I would prefer, but any suggestions would be considered.

I am starting to show. I am in the in between stage where my pants don't zip all the way but maternity gear is still too big. So, I kinda just look a little fat in the middle.

The reality has not really sunk in. I mean, we talk about it, I feel sick, I've gone to the doctors, I have an ultrasound picture.... but the reality of it being a baby... not quite sunk in. It is unreal. Most people refer to their baby as "baby" or "he" or "she",... I can't stop referring to it as "it"! Soon I hope to feel it moving and it will become "baby". Maybe its because in Spanish I would refer to it in the same terms as he or she. Everything is conjugated in the terms of it, he or she. All the same. Hummm... maybe that explains it. It's my bilingualism. Whatever the case, I have to stop referring to the baby as "it".

Some pics coming soon.

Some pics... Ithaca and Boston trip.

2007-09-05T11:17:00.000-04:00

Nice pic of the bridge I found inside a gorge- Ithaca, NY.

A waterfall, same gorge- Ithaca, NY.

Postcard picture in Boston. We walked around a bit trying to find this location. It is not listed anywhere in the tour guides. Apparently there is no trespassing through this walkway. It is "dangerous."

What is wrong with this picture?

Me in front of a small private garden in front of a house. Super cute mini garden!

Onboard the "Ol' Ironsides."

Shane in front of some old private and fenced park area.

Wow, it's been a whirlwind of a month!

2007-08-31T07:17:00.000-04:00

I don't think I will write much more about Boston- I have forgotten much and, really, it's just soooo history. One interesting last thing we did, that I will mention, is on our drive back to Ithaca we stopped in Concord. The site where "the shot that was heard around the world" was heard. That was pretty cool.

Oh, one other thing about Boston! We got to tour the famous ship known as "Old Ironsides!" That was cool, too. I was disgusted to learn about the "lively water" that sailors had to drink but otherwise I really enjoyed the short tour.

Well, my family is back home again. Unbelievable! We had looked forward to their visit for months and months and now it's over and done with. Kinda reminds me of my wedding. You plan and plan and then snap, it's here and gone. Life does go by fast. Well, I had six extra people in my house. It was overwhelming for me. Our house is usually quiet and in order but with four boys and my brother that was a little chaotic. My sister-in-law was wonderful. She helped me a lot. I could not have kept most of my sanity without her. Shane had to work that week, so he helped as much as possible. He was so sweet to entertain the boys in the evenings. He took them to the park and to the aquatic center nearby. I'm sure they had fun.

I took them to many sites they wanted to see and others that I thought they should see while here.

The Smithfield Plantation
Virginia Tech
The Blue Ridge Parkway
Maybry Mill
Claytor Lake
Tubing down the New River
Mountain Lake (the site where Dirty Dancing was filmed)
The Cascades trail
Homestyle Restaurant- in Catawba

On the day I could not join them they went to the Natural Bridge and also visited a Haunted House. They had lots of fun, in spite of being caught out in the rain. That day there was a thunderstorm that came in suddenly. Apparently they were on a short wilderness trail near the Natural Bridge. The only shelter they found were port-a-potties! Yuck!! It will be something for them to look back and laugh at!

After they left Blacksburg, the journey continued on to DC. On the way we stopped in Charlottesville to check out Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house. Amazing. I really enjoyed the tour. The visit included a tour of the plantation with stories about the slaves that had worked for Mr. Jefferson. Although it was hot and muggy I was really interested by the storytelling.

When we got to DC, the plan was to visit the Smithsonian. My brother and family were so excited to see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial wall, the Capitol, the White House and other museums of interest. They really did a lot on this vacation. They started out in New York and ended up in DC. My brother and sister-in-law were brave to do it all with four kids! Ages ranging from 7 to 15. I hope the boys will never forget all that they saw and the history that they learned. Pretty cool. I am so happy they came out to see us and that I could join them on their trip to DC.

Boston

2007-08-21T21:05:00.000-04:00

The reason we were in Boston was to attend our friend Stephen's wedding. - Stephen and Rachel welcome to the club! :)

Well, we arrived on Thursday night. Friday morning we got up and headed straight to town. We started walking the Freedom Trail. Then we bought tickets to a trolley tour. It was nice not to have to walk very much. The tour allowed us to hop on and off at different parts so that was very convenient. It rained at some point and I really appreciated the ability to get around on a trolley. Our tickets allowed to ride again on Sunday, so we didn't complete the tour. We had to get back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.

We were invited to the rehearsal dinner. It was very nice. Lots of family and close friends. It was a small reunion for Shane and some of his old Caltech buddies. Funny stories were told about the couple. Their's is going to be an exciting marriage!

Saturday, we continued our walk on the freedom trail. We met up with Kurt and his baby, mom, stepdad, and aunt. We walked around some cemetery that gave us a few chuckles. There were tombstones with names like Increase, Patience, Obedience, and Dorkas! Unbelievable.

We walked towards the North Church where the signal was given that started Paul Revere's famous journey- announcing the British were coming. We visited there for a while then went our separate ways. Shane and I proceeded walking to Paul Revere's old house, little Italy, then Haymarket. Haymarket was a humongous outdoor market where fruits and vegetables were sold. It was totally awesome! I wish we had one here. The fruit was super cheap. The catch was that you couldn't pick your own fruit you had to tell them how much you wanted and they bagged it for you. I bought three nectarines. The guy tried to give me a mushed up one but I was quick to tell him I didn't want that one. So he switched it for a better one.

We then returned to the hotel to get ready for the 4 o'clock wedding. It was a rather warm day. The wedding was really nice. They really didn't have to decorate much because it was a gorgeous church. The color scheme was red, orange and yellow. Very cheery. I liked it. I don't know the name of the flower, maybe mums? They were big daisy-like flowers. Really pretty. During the ceremony the bride's brother, father and future brother-in-law played an instrumental song on guitar. It was her song. I thought that was really sweet.

At the reception, again there was a mini Caltech reunion. It was really neat to be there. We mostly hung out with Kurt and Jen. I enjoyed seeing them so much.

Sunday- Tuesday to be continued....

Current Events:

My family is visiting from CA. Yay! My brother, his wife and kids got here Saturday morning. It's been a crazy busy time for me and Shane.

VT just started it's fall semester so Shane taught a class on Monday.

Flyin' and Road trippin'

2007-08-15T08:47:00.000-04:00

Shane and I just returned from a nice journey up north. He had a workshop to attend in Ithaca, NY. They put us up at a bed and breakfast. Niiiice. While he worked I got to watch lots of tv. A treat, since we don't get much tv reception here. We refuse to get cable.

We arrived late Sunday night. (We flew in to an airport even smaller than the one here in Roanoke!) Our hotel was near the Commons area (downtown shops and restaurants) so we took a walk to explore and look for dinner. We settled on Thai. I had som tum (a green papaya salad). So good!

On Monday, we took a driving tour around the area before Shane had to go check-in to his workshop at Cornell U. I then drove around some more looking for the ever-so-famous Wegman's store. I forgot the map and directions at the hotel so I ended up driving really far and apparently nowhere near it. I managed to get back in time for dinner with Shane and company. The workshop group had dinner at a really nice bistro in town. It was called Dijon Bistro. It was a really cute small yet elegant place. A hole in the wall at a really not-so-nice looking shopping center.

On Tuesday I went out and explored. I walked over to a nearby farmer's market (YUM!!! it was pretty cool- much cooler than ours!). While there, I ran into our friend, Laura. She, her husband, and kids live in Ithaca. (They are Shane's friends from back in Caltech.) We had wanted to get together sometime during our stay, so this was a pleasant surprise to run into her. We ended up hanging out all afternoon. They have the most beautiful children. Later that evening, I found Wegman's! Pretty impressive. I explored it a little and bought some snacks for dinner.

Wednesday, I walked around town again. I was determined to walk up a hill towards the university. It was pretty brutal. I then walked back through a gorge that is near the university. So pretty. Apparently there are many gorges in the area. Souvenir shirts say " Ithaca is Gorges." yea, yea... hippies. I walked back into the Commons area. Ithaca sort of reminded me a little bit of Berkeley. The commons area had many hippie-type establishments. Overall it was nice.

That evening Shane and I went to Wegmans for dinner. I just had to show Wegmans to Shane. It's a mini-adventure you just can't miss. We had pizza. Then later we went over to Matt and Laura's place for dessert. It was nice to finally visit with them.

Thursday, we left our bed and breakfast and hopped in our rental car for our drive to Boston.

To be continued....

Shane in Pasadena

2007-07-31T17:51:00.001-04:00

Here's a video of last night in Pasadena. That's me hanging out with Natalie and Chris during my short business trip. You can see my room at the Athenaeum, Wockano, and a li'l bit of Old Town Pasadena.

And if you want to try something really cool, check out the McGurk effect. Watch the video and tell me what the guy is saying. Then close your eyes and tell me what he's saying. This is an example of more than one of your senses 'interfering' to contribute to an overall mental impression.

What happened to my fireflies?

2007-07-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

It is so sad. One of my favorite things about B-burg is (are?) the fireflies. It seems like there aren't that many anymore. I wonder if all the rains that happened last week drowned them? I've seen a few here and there, but not the masses that I fell in love with. So sad.

Well my gardens are doing alright. The zucchini plants got some weird fungus that has thrashed the leaves, so now the plants don't look so happy and healthy. The zucchinis are not affected- they are still growing all big and stuff. But at some point I expect the plant will just shrivel up and die. That is what the one in the containers appears to be doing.

The tomato plants have lots and lots of little tomatoes. Unfortunately, they aren't ripe yet. I am afraid they will all be ripe at the same time and it will be too hard to eat them all up. Kinda like the zucchinis and cucumbers. Even thought my friend and I split the harvest- we can't seem to consume them fast enough! So, I kinda fear the coming cherry tomato explosion. My jalapenos are doing well. I still have not had my first harvest yet. I am waiting for them to grow a little more. Although, they look so appetizing already!

My cilantro grew up already. It is flowering so for now I am just letting it be a pretty plant. I planted more cilantro, so I expect to enjoy some soon. The basil, it is doing better at the garden patch than it is doing in the containers. I think the shade from the tomato plants stunted its growth. The ones at the patch are very lush and bushy. Nice. So, I don't mind so much about the ones in the containers. What I need is a good pesto recipe. By good, I mean "easy."

So that was the latest on the gardens. I would post some pictures but Shane took the camera with him on his "business" trip. I miss him. All I have is the little Chispita and my plants to keep me company. Okay, not really. I have hung out with some friends. One in particular has been around everyday. Her husband, also a professor, left on a biz trip on Sunday. She is the same person that I garden with.

On Saturday and every night since then we've gone on evening walks. Last night, after our walk, we enjoyed some fresh pineapple and tea at my house. Tonight, I went to her place and she served me some homemade yogurt with cucumber (from our garden). It was yummy and refreshing. I really enjoy her company. I am so glad for it.

Well, I guess that is enough for tonight. Good night.

It is POURING!

2007-07-24T09:21:00.000-04:00

We've had pretty good weather the last five days. Prior to that it had been really hot in the 90's. Although we've had rain in the weeks past but it always was just passing through and , much to Chispita's dismay, there'd be lots of thunder. Well now we've really got a good soaking. So happy for my gardens.

Anyhow, so we've tried to keep up with going outdoors on the weekends. Two weeks ago we went out to see Barney's Wall. It was a short hike that lead to a cliff with really interesting view. We then proceeded hiking to a waterfall. Unfortunately we forgot to pack our camera, so there aren't any pictures. It was really neat though. There were hundreds and hundreds of butterflies everywhere. They fluttered and landed on you left and right. Then there was a section of the hike that was like walking through some kind of camillia forest. It reminded me of Descanso Gardens. There were white flowers everywhere and the petals on the ground reminded me of a wedding where petals are scattered all over.

Then a week later we went inner tubing down the New River. Again no pictures. This time it was because we didn't want to get the camera wet. The whole thing was fun. The first mile we gingerly floated down the river. It was relaxing. The river is wide and on both sides you see lots of trees and occasionally a train passed by. There were other tubers in groups (pro'bly, college kids) that were floating their ice coolers and they were drinking and joking around. There was a couple with two little dogs that had little life vests on. It was the funniest sight to see. I might get one for Chispita!

The river was a little low so sometimes we'd get stuck on some rocks so we'd have to either push off with our feet or get up and move on. We looked like we were walking on water. Other times there'd be these scary looking butt dusters reaching up from underwater that grossed me out every now and again. They were long strands of plant life, kinda like seaweed but more stringy and gross. I guess it's moss or algae?

The best part was getting to the end of the line where there were some rapids. When you come to that point you can either get out or go through them. I unintentionally went through them because I lost control of my tube! I am glad I accidently went through, because I had been unsure about doing it. This way, I went and had no choice. It was fun. Then we just kept getting out of the river and getting back in at the rapids point. Pretty cool.

Last Friday night we went to a local outdoor concert. It was reggae and tropical music. It was a really nice evening to be out on a lawn. This weekend we didn't go outdoor adventuring, instead we went to the farmer's market in Roanoke. Then we went "window shopping" for a gps unit for future geocaching adventures.

Well, tomorrow marks a year since we arrived and I can honestly say that it's been a great year. A year of adventure getting to know the area, meeting new people, having new experiences... It has been very interesting.

July 15th, 2006

2007-07-17T17:21:00.000-04:00

A super hot day in Pasadena for an outdoor farewell party.

It is hard to believe that 8 days from now it will have been a year that we arrived in B-burg.
Unbelievable. Last week I overheard the man at the farmer's market talking to some town newbies. He was telling them about the farmer's market schedule and different locations. I had to smile to myself as that was me and Shane when we first arrived.

My "baby"'-sized zucchini...

2007-07-12T19:20:00.000-04:00

Walde-who?

2007-07-12T08:40:00.000-04:00

Check out this spoof on Harry Potter vs. Waldemart.

To be honest, since we got here I have shopped there more than ever. I seldom did when I was in CA. But around here it is quite convenient sometimes to get just about everything in one place. But since Harry Potter is fighting against it, I will once again keep myself out of Walmart. It is not my main shopping place, so it won't be too hard.

Purty cool...

2007-07-10T10:19:00.000-04:00

We've been to two of the new seven wonders of the world...

Chichen Itza - summer in 2003.

The Roman Colosseum - summer 2005

* finalists*

The Eiffel Tower- summer 2005
The Statue of Liberty- Jan 2007

Of the "wonders" and finalists I'd like to visit someday:

The Great Wall

Machu Picchu

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Easter Island Moais

Angkor Wat

And just for the sound of it-
Tmbuktu. :)

My bebes (bay-behs)...

2007-07-07T10:31:00.000-04:00

Cucumber bud

Cucumber

Jalapeno bud, hard to see... it is growing in the part where the flower petals used to be (in the middle of the pictureC.

Cherry tomatos,... same as the jalapenos..look at the top part of the picture. They are itty bitty and yellow/green.

Zucchini bud. There are two flowers, one just has a stem the other a zucchini. The stemmed flower is the male and the zucchini flower the female. Apparently zucchini plants have 2 sexes. They rely on bees to do the pollination. Since I haven't seen too many bees, around my balcony, I went ahead and took the male flowers and spread their pollen around the female buds. Actually it's hard to tell when they're itty bitty, so I just rubbed all the flower buds with the pollen. It is interesting to play mother nature, eh?

Great weekend...

2007-07-05T13:17:00.000-04:00

Since Shane didn't work yesterday, it feels like the weekend was last week, and yesterday was Saturday. Well, it was quite eventful.

Friday night we went out for pizza with Shane's coworker. He is also new to the department. We had a really a nice time. We sat outside in the covered patio area and even though it started to rain we were quite comfortable.

Saturday we went to the Salem Fair.
That was quite the experience. We saw small circus attractions, petting zoo, camel, elephant and monster truck rides, a pig race, the world's smallest horse and everything else you'd see at a fair. We bought kettle corn, funnel cake, and candy.

Sunday, we went on a 12 mile bike ride on the New River bike trail. It is rather long, but we only covered 6 miles of it. It was really neat. We rode near the river and across a bridge that went over it. It was a very scenic ride. As we were heading back there was a deer on the trail and we waited for it to pass.

Yesterday, we went to the Smithfield Plantation museum , a parade, and a fireworks show. It was a really fun day.

Here are some pics... of the bike ride, parade and my garden.

Zucchinis

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Jalapenos

Wow! I want some tacos... from "the flying taco" man!

2007-07-02T17:59:00.000-04:00

My brother has started a small sidebiz selling "tacos al pastor." Check out his website www.theflyingtaco.com.

Those tacos look good! You won't find those around here, that's for sure!

On his site he says they plan to be at a bike rally in Grants, NM on July 20, 21, and 22. It's supposed to be a big gig. I hope it goes well for them.

Don't touch what is nachos....

2007-06-30T12:20:00.000-04:00

Nacho Libre is coming out in DVD soon... I can't wait to buy it. Here is an ad for it that I found hilarious and you might, too.

Hers and his theological worldviews

2007-06-27T23:09:00.000-04:00

Finally Paris is free! Yay!!!!!

Anyway-ish,... according to this quiz, here are mine (left) and Shane's (right) theological worldviews. We're both Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyans, but Shane's more of a Catholic than me. Whuddathunk?

My first harvest!

2007-06-26T21:08:00.000-04:00

Okay, no... these are my zucchinis!

I cut three zucchinis! Yay! They were ittybitty just 10 days ago... and today they were 7 inches long. Shane is incredulous about how quickly they grew. People around here joke that this is the season in which everyone keeps their car doors locked so that they won't get zucchini gifts left in them. Ilove zucchini so I can't wait to get that many zucchinis. I'll eat them any which way; fried, baked, with corn, raw with dressing, in soup, and on and on.
I hope I grow lots of them because at the store because they aren't consistently fresh. When they are passed their prime they taste really awful and bitter.

Now, let's see about the tomatoes, jalapenos and cucumbers!

Evolution as part of God's design

2007-06-24T18:18:00.000-04:00

I have no reason to believe that evolution did not happen. You could say that I recognize that evolution is part of God's design.

Physicist Stephen Barr recently wrote,

There are two fundamentally different battles raging in the current debates about evolution. The first pits nearly the entire scientific community against creationists, who believe that they are upholding the veracity of Scripture by denying that evolution happened at all.

The second battle concerns not the fact of evolution but the standard neo-Darwinian explanation of it, and the issues at stake are primarily philosophical and scientific. Leading the charge in this second fight is the Intelligent Design movement.

It may come as a surprise, but even the leading Intelligent Design advocates believe that the Earth is billions of years old, that the fossil record reveals a story of life on Earth evolving over billions of years, and that we and other animals are descendants of a common ancestor or ancestors.

Where Intelligent Design advocates disagree with most scientists is in the mechanism of evolution. Another way of putting it is that they disagree with scientists regarding the natural mechanism for producing complex biological structure.

Most scientists believe neo-Darwinism is the correct theory of how biological structure forms. Biological structure is characterized by complexity and functional interdependence of parts. Neo-Darwinism proposes a natural mechanism for producing this complex biological structure: it is the combination of random genetic mutations and the winnowing process called natural selection. The claim is that this mechanism works even if the genetic mutations that fuel it are statistically random, in other words, if the genetic mutations are done by blind chance.

The question for science is whether the neo-Darwinian account of evolution is sufficient to explain all instances of biological complexity. Many scientists are confident that it is—which can be considered odd, given that (apart from speculation) little is known about the steps by which some complex structures actually evolved.

-----

Intelligent Design theorists believe that the neo-Darwinism account is insufficient. They argue that there are certain biological structures that could not arise in a single big step, which would be prohibitively improbable, or even by a series of little steps, since these structures are “irreducibly complex.” (“Irreducible” here means that every element of the structure must be in place for it to function at all. Michael Behe uses the analogy of a mousetrap, which can’t catch any mice until all the parts are there.)

I'm not convinced that Intelligent Design advocates have got it right. For one, I'm not sure how one would test their hypothesis, whereas it may be possible to test neo-Darwinism. Imagine that experimental results show that, under certain circumstances, some strain of bacteria evolves over thousands of generations some new feature of the kind that Intelligent Design theorists would recognize as irreducibly complex. This would suggest very strongly that neo-Darwinism was true.

Now don't go thinking I'm an atheist. Acceptance of neo-Darwinism is in no sense rejection of Christian truth. The Catholics will at least back me up--the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 says "The gist of the theory of evolution as a scientific hypothesis . . . is in perfect agreement with the Christian conception of the universe; for Scripture does not tell us in what form the present species of plants and of animals were originally created by God."

-----

On the subject of an intelligent designer, I would say that the intelligent design is in the laws of the universe. The order of the universe is more beautiful and subtle than anyone had previously thought. It is precisely the intelligible structure of the world, which natural science has elucidated with such spectacular success, that points to its being the product of intelligence (I suggest you read some books by Paul Davies if you want to read more about this).

The orderliness we observe in nature can arise spontaneously from mere chaos. Since ancient times this fact has been seen as evidence for a cosmic designer. Analysis of examples of order arising from chaos (randomness if you want) reveals that the orderly structures found in things (such as the solar system) are manifestations of a more impressive orderliness at the level of fundamental laws. These laws are written or designed into the universe, which suggests a writer or designer.

Richard Dawkins called the universe “a blind watchmaker." If it is, one could call it profoundly miraculous, for it is much more fantastic to design a watchmaker than a watch. We shouldn't pit evolution against design, if we recognize that evolution is part of God’s design.

Mountain Lake and Thai House

2007-06-23T09:31:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday we drove about 25 minutes to Mountain Lake, where Dirty Dancing was filmed. We were looking forward to hiking around the property a bit with li'l innocent Chispita since there's a huge publicly accessible nature area there. Unfortunately, we had to turn back.

So for all you people in internet land trying to find the answer: it's no, pets are not allowed at Mountain Lake, but you wouldn't know that by checking the property's website. You'd think that something that is prominently posted all over the grounds and leads the staff to ask you to leave ought to be on the website. We let them know this fact.

Oh and internet-land people, the lake is pretty low this year, as you can see in the picture. They don't mention that on the website either.

On another note... I like Thai food. And I thought there was only one Thai place around. A place called Cafe de Bangkok had just opened up in Blacksburg last fall. I thought it was okay, but something didn't taste right to Jessica (I mean, kika).

Well, a friend told me there are two Thai food places in the greater Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford area (well, at least two that we know about). The other one is Thai House Restaurant, near Radford, and based on what we had last night for dinner, we think it's better. It was spicy!

So even though Cafe de Bangkok has a slick website, don't be fooled! The Thai House is very good, even if it's not as crowded. Bring your friends and help keep `em in business!

Wow, check out your sunscreen.

2007-06-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

This is so very interesting. A report that lists the best and worst of the stuff you put on your face and body. Check it out. Warning, you may browse for days... it is a long list. But VERY interesting.

Monday, Monday

2007-06-18T11:05:00.000-04:00

Just sitting here at the dining table... reading news and upcoming events on-line.

And I stumbled across this event Chautauqua 2007. I am seriously curious to check it out because there will be a flea circus! I have always heard of such things, but didn't think they were for real??? Hopefully we will plan our weekend well and get to see it.

Some of my plants...

2007-06-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

These all didn't make it to the garden patch because there were just too many. So, I just planted them as back up in case the rabbits or other animals attacked the garden patch.

My zucchini is starting to "bloom".

My cilantro is still kinda wimpy. I am not sure exactly how to harvest it?? If I cut some stems, will it grow back? I don't know.

In the left bucket there are two small cherry tomato plants growing in the center. They are surrounded by basil. In the right bucket I am growing jalapenos. Perhaps there are too many in one pot. I've gotta go get more pots.

So, today is a really nice day.

2007-06-03T13:26:00.000-04:00

It's pouring rain outside, it's 64 degrees, and we have our windows open. I can't believe how nice it feels right now. I typically don't care for rainy gloomy weather, but this doesn't feel gloomy. Our backyard area is all green and lush again so it feels like we are out in some tropical rainforest- reminds me of Chiapas in Mexico. We left our windows wide-open last night, so we woke up to the sound of rain. I never knew that I'd like that. I guess since it isn't cold it is actually enjoyable. :)
What a pleasant surprise.

Yay!

2007-05-30T19:48:00.000-04:00

Two nights ago a bike appeared in front of my neighbors yard. It was kinda just parked on the street by our driveway. I thought it was peculiar that a neighbor or anyone would park a bike out in the street... so it was there all day yesterday and today.

This reminded me of the time when Shane's car got stolen. Apparently it got abandoned and parked in the Wild Oats parking lot, less than two miles from Shane's place, for about two months before it was ever discovered by the Pasadena police. Because of that delay his insurance had already settled and would not let him buy it back when it was found all intact. It was such a frustrating mess, especially that on top of losing his car he also got parking tickets while "parked" there.

So, about the bike, it was just peculiar that it was unmoved for two days. I felt compelled to call the police and report it. I asked them if anyone had reported a bike missing in the last couple of days. They said there wasn't any report but that they would come and pick it up. So within the hour they came and took it away. Then like half an hour later the same policeman came back to inform me that a young guy at some trailer park nearby, about two miles away, had his bike stolen last week. It was the same bike, and he sent me his thanks.

YAY! I am so glad that I was able to help someone retrieve their bike. It wasn't a super nice bike, it was rusted in some places, but I am sure that it was missed nonetheless. So, that made my night. :)

BTW, this post is not to toot my own horn but to encourage anyone out there that you too can make a difference. If you see something that just doesn't seem right, do something about it. If someone had called to report that Shane's car had been in the parking lot, even after the first week, Shane would still have his car today.

Going to the country... gonna see some layer chickens...

2007-05-19T11:23:00.001-04:00

A farm I visited last Wednesday- May16,2007.

layerchickens

Going to the country, gonna grow my own jalapenos.... and tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchinis, cilantro, and basil...

Living room garden 2007 2/2

The Rosses

2007-05-19T10:52:00.001-04:00

TheRosses.JPG, originally uploaded by kikasmail.

Sunday afternoon, about one moon ago.

Myspace

2007-05-17T20:24:00.000-04:00

Lovely day out.

2007-05-14T11:30:00.000-04:00

I have started a little nursery in our living room. My plan is to plant veggies and herbs at my friend's garden. She asked me to first plant the seeds indoors to avoid the frosts. I planted cucumbers, zucchini's, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos (of course!), cilantro, basil, and rosemary. I think that is all. She has planted all kinds of other stuff.. but these are the first things, ever, I have attempted to grow. We'll see how it goes. I am also trying to grow lavender. So far my seedlings are growing nicely.

The days have been pretty lately. For a while it would rain, but mostly it has been sunny. The VT commencements were over the weekend. We were out of town. We went to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was fun. They have a cool little downtown with lots of small shops and restaurants that reminded me of Pasadena. We had pizza at a place called the "Mellow Mushroom". It was quite the hip little joint- by the looks of it you'd expect they'd be playing alternative & modern rock music. But you'd be totally wrong. They were playing classical and slow "mellow" music. They had a long beer list with interesting names. I already forgot the name of the beer I tried- but I do remember that it had "doggie-style" in the name. It was a pale ale. The pizza was really tasty- jerk chicken style.

Anyhow, part of our journey included a trip into Highpoint, North Carolina - "the Home Furnishings Capital of the World".

We went to this store specifically to see the giant dresser in front of it. See the picture in the middle of the page? It is really that tall.

kika's response to an email...

2007-04-24T13:38:00.000-04:00

> I was thinking about you last night. How are things in your area?
With school starting up again, yesterday, it seems like things are starting to get back to normal. People are wanting to get back to normal. Last week was difficult, because schools were closed for the week. I am talking- all schools. So lots of families were dealing with kids being home. There were lots of different events all over town- memorials, near and in the university campus. Orange and maroon ribbons decorate everything... there were so many media people everywhere...

> Did Shane know this student that went on this killing spree?
No.

> Did he know any of the students injured or killed?
No.

> I knowyou said that he knew two of the faculty that were killed and one that was injured.
> What is the atmosphere like over there these days?
It has gradually improved. People still talk about stuff... everyone you meet always asks "how are you? did you know anyone of the victims? were you on campus that day?"

> Where you able to visit the students in the hospital like you had intended to do?
No. The hospitals were limiting visits to family members only. But we heard that lots of friends and VT students were hanging out at the hospitals already so we didn't end up going.

> How many students were injured? Over here the media keeps talking about the 32/33 murdered
>individuals but do not say much about the injured and how many there were.
There were 32 victims and if you include the shooter, there was a total of 33 dead. I believe there were at least 15 others injured. Not all shot. Some broke bones from having jumped out of windows- 2 stories.

> This kid was so disturbed, I hope he repented what he did before he died.
I doubt it. Check out this article. It;s kinda long, but I really appreciate how it is very well written and gives a really good picture as to what occured that day. Go here.

> How are you?
I am okay. I have mixed emotions. Sometimes I am overcome with sadness for the families affected. Other times I feel like an eavesdropper. Basically we have not been here long enough to really feel part of the whole Hokie Nation.... so it's kinda awkward to be part of this. It's kinda like an initiation to this university family. Not what people would like to go through, but if we didn't feel like we were part of this before, we sure do now. At the convocation and at the Vigil- it was something I'll never forget. The cry of the Hokie Nation- "let's go Hokies!" At the convocation this was recited- and it was amazing.

The events of Monday, 4/16

2007-04-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

Last fall, I was called up and asked to speak at a physics conference in Florida, a conference to take place in April 2007 with my talk scheduled for the morning of Monday the 16th. That's why I was out of town this past Monday, and not in my office on the 2nd floor of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech, where the worst massacre in recent memory occured.

Jessica and I were together on Monday, taking some time to sightsee a little bit before travelling back to Blacksburg. We got a call around 10:30 am from one of Jessica's friends asking if we were okay. Okay? Why, what happened? We heard that some shots were fired around Norris Hall and one person was killed. We thought maybe it was some isolated shooting.

In the following hours, we heard from others that the death toll was much larger. I heard from my dad, a cop with the Baylor Univ campus police, that 20 people were dead at Virginia Tech. And he said it happened on the second floor of Norris Hall, the same floor as my office. He believed it must've been the grace of God that I wasn't there.

I tried to call colleagues, but couldn't get through. I didn't know what the scene was like or what had happened. I finally got email access and found out that my grad students were okay and let them know that I was too. I also immediately had requests from media for interviews. But I wasn't there, wasn't a witness, so didn't respond to them.

By mid-afternoon, we heard that the death toll was over 30 people, and I still had no idea who I might have known among the murdered. It wasn't until late that evening, after getting back home, that I learned that two faculty colleagues in my department had died, died trying to save students' lives.

A well-written article on what took place in Norris Hall on that fateful day is here.

It is awful. And so senseless. I hope there will never be a repeat of this tragedy anywhere ever again.

We are okay

2007-04-16T14:35:00.000-04:00

Jessica and I were thankfully out of town today (in Florida since I was here for a conference). It's terrible news and I don't know who among the faculty, staff, or students was injured or killed. Keep us in your prayers.

-Shane

Easter weekend.

2007-04-09T11:31:00.000-04:00

The last couple of days have been cold. I think the freezing temps started up again on Friday where at some point it even snowed. Saturday morning everything was covered in snow, about an inch (if that). It melted away by noon.

Yesterday we had "dinner" at a friend's house. I write "dinner" because it was scheduled for noon. She called it "dinner" because it was "dinner" type food. There were many yummy dishes such as ham, mashed potatoesk, fried-onion-green bean casserole. So yesterday we learned, from some folks, that calling an afternoon meal "dinner" is quite a Southern thing.

We basically spent the day over there. It was very nice. They live out in a more rural part of B-burg. Their place is very countrystyle. They live on 3 acres, there's a creek (stream?) that goes through their property, there's a railroad really close-by, and there are cows in their neighbor's yard. Her husband has a veggie garden and a chicken coup. He recently had to shoot a possum that got in the chicken coup. He blasted him to smithereens with his shotgun. Okay, not smithereens exactly... but you get the picture. Poor chickens, they needed some rescueing. He says it's his first time ever having to shoot an animal.

It has been very pretty out here, now with spring blooming all around. Not everything is in bloom, but it's enough to give you the spring feeling. On our drive to our friends' house I was reminded of the song "Take me home, country road" by John Denver. It was a winding road with lots of vegetation on the sides of the road. Pretty bushes and trees, some with lavendar colored flowers. We drove through a one lane tunnel where I almost had a heart-attack. ( It was scary because the road was not straight, it curved then there was the tunnel. So you couldn't see that there was a car in the tunnel until you were about to drive through it. So the rule, that was later explained to us, is that we are supposed to honk to announce that we are coming. Actually both cars are supposed to.) Anyhow... it is a country road, just like most songs write about. Alright, enough of my country road musings. It was a pretty day yesterday and, thankfully, today is not as cold.

We got our new pastor!

2007-03-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

The pastor has been here since the first week of March. He is pretty cool. How can he not be, he is originally from CA?! :)

Anyway, I really dig his preaching style. He is straight all about the Word. We've been studying Mark 1 for the last 4 weeks. So much in there! I am really happy that he digs in and deep.

In other news...
Springtime is here! Yay! I am loving it. Some trees have started blooming. The ones with white fluffy flowers and these wild weedlike bushes that bloom bright yellow flowers. They are really pretty. My friend and I went over to one of my neighbor's (down the street) garden to pick these. She gave us some of what she was pruning off of her bushes. She says they grow like crazy! I think they are just so bright and lively. When Shane first saw them he thought they were sticklike and artsy. They were, right before they fully bloomed. ANyhow, I love 'em!

These days have been very reminiscent of summer nights in CA. It's been in the 70's almost 80's and cooler in the evenings. I think this will be my favorite season. Summer, here, is quite unbearable all hot and humid. The only consolation is the beautiful display of fireflies in the evening.

Isn't she cute?

2007-03-19T11:44:00.000-04:00

Chispita finally got her bath & cut.

St. Patrick's Day in Virginia

2007-03-17T10:57:00.000-04:00

I know there are a lot of negative stereotypes about how much the Irish drink and so on. But to set the record straight about the Irish, see me old post about St. Patrick's Day. Not sure what we'll be doin' today. Looks like the nearby city of Roanoke has a celebration that ain't so wee. Maybe we'll go get some Irish pizza.

Skateboarding people

2007-03-13T12:51:00.000-04:00

That's right! People skateboarding other people.

Mexican Food.

2007-03-12T09:46:00.001-04:00

Just because I am Mexican/American, does not mean I know how to cook Mexican food. It does mean that I like it and that I know good Mexican food when I have it.

It is not a secret that you will not find good Mexican food in this town or in the neighboring one, or even the next one. If you are from the west coast you will likely be sorry to try any Mexican food around here. Sure there is good tasting food and all, but to call it good Mexican food? No, not happening.

So, here I am on my high horse, a big Mexican food snob. I like rice, beans, enchiladas, tacos, mole, chile colorado, quesadillas, tostadas, ceviche, not-really-Mexican burritos, tamales, menudo, posole, albondigas, cocido, sopes, calabacitas, and so on. All until now.

Heres a little background. Since I dropped out of the workforce I have dedicated myself to most-things domestic. Cleaning, decorating, cooking, and stuff. (LOL! I can hear some jaws drop!) So, in the cooking category I have started using cookbooks. I never used to try recipes because it was too time consuming (it required meal planning and shopping for special ingredients). My menu consisted of many things I usually threw together with whatever was already in my fridge and pantry. Basic staple items. No really spectacular dishes. Okay some specialties, but nothing I would really brag about. Okay, I do brag about my beans and salsas... but what kind of claim to fame is that? Eveyone and their mother should at least know that, right?

Okay, so back to my so-called taste for Mexican food. So I am trying out new dishes from several cookbooks I have collected over the years (and I mean collected, cause I never used them!). Some recipes are yay, and some nay. Well, over the Christmas break I found a new cookbook. It has inspired me to try real Mexican recipes. It has familiar stuff, but lots more: caldo Tlalpeno, pollo al chipotle, picadillo, minguichi, budin Azteca, cochinita pibil, filete adobado, and many variations to moles, caldos, tostadas, rice, salsas, desserts and beverages.

The book is awesome. It really is beautiful, too. It is big with lots of pictures of the food and also pictures of the regions in Mexico where the food comes from. Every section is dedicated to a different region. It provides an itroduction to the region, its people, and history. Every recipe has a short summary/story behind it. It makes you wanna try every dish!

It is really funny that this is the furthest away, ever, from Mexico that I have lived and here I am discovering my roots. Of all places, Blacksburg!

Map of ancestry in the U.S.

2007-03-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

According to some compiled data from the 2000 U.S. census, there are only a few states that have an ancestry where the largest group is defined as "American"--basically Franco-British Euro-mutts.

My dad was born in Arkansas, one of the red "American" states, so I guess that makes me a mixture of ancestries so convoluted that I can actually call myself an American of genuine American ancestry--and a native American at that, having been born and had my ancestors here for hundreds of years.

Makes you wonder at what point your ancestors have to be in the melting pot before you can all call yourself an American and drop the qualifying ancestry prefix, as in Italian-American, African-American, Mexican-American, Irish-American, ad nauseam.

Religious certitude is bad for you

2007-03-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't know, certainty about religious or spiritual matters is not only dangerous and an impediment to progress, but is on the decline in the "Christian" world, and thank goodness, writes Stephen Weinberg in his review of uber-atheist Richard Dawkins' new anti-religion book The God Delusion.

Banished word list for 2007

2007-03-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for it? There's a new Banished Word List for 2007. I'm a little disappointed with this year's entries. I don't remember what mine and Jessica's submissions were, but I don't think they made the cut. I know Jessica's put off by the overuse of the word 'glorious', as in 'that rug is simply glorious' (there are similar reasons in the official list against using 'awesome' for just about everything, especially those things which lack majesty and awe-inspiringness.)

If you've got any suggestions of your own, by all means, weigh in! Comments equals love, people!

You might recall I had my own banished word list for 2004.

And just to give you something to look at, here's a pizza.

Things that rhyme with 'Funky Cold Medina'

2007-03-03T12:54:00.000-05:00

donkey told hyena

drunken old Regina

...

Today is blah.

2007-03-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

It is so gray and gloomy outside. It is predicted that we'll be getting thunderstorms this afternoon. According to the forecast it should be starting any minute now. A perfect day for staying in to work on long neglected projects.

I just finished rewiring two old lamps. They've been in storage for at least a year now. I am glad that I finally completed that project. It was pretty easy but scary.

When almost ready to finish I reread the instructions to double check everything. In doing so, I noticed something I hadn't the first time. They stated that "the device should be installed only by an electrician or other qualified person." So, you can imagine my hesitation to plug in the first finished lamp.

So, I went to a wall socket that I knew had a special circuit breaker mechanism... the one in the bathroom. Then I sat on the sink so that I would not be "grounded." Fortunately, the light turned on and I did not get electrocuted. That was the first lamp. The second one will have to wait, because I don't have a light bulb to test it out.

That was my project for today. One of eight pending. Next is the sand bottle collection.

somebody needs a haircut & a bath....

2007-02-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

I wish I had a better singing voice...

2007-02-26T21:47:00.000-05:00

And I wish I had recorded some of the music back at our old church.

I was looking for the Scooby Doo laugh and stumbled across some site that has muzak sounding recordings of Christian songs... and I found "Ancient of Days." It is one of my favorite songs at PFC. I couldn't quite remember the lyrics so that prompted another search. Then voila!

So, just ten minutes ago I was singing to this with the lyrics from here. And thankfully Shane is a wonderful husband, person, all around nice guy... he didn't outwardly cringe or laugh at my singing!

I wish I had a better singing voice
.... so that CHispita wouldn't look at me crazy when I sing...

Yes, she actually looked offended at my singing. Or confused. :P

How's the weather

2007-02-25T16:01:00.001-05:00

It may get cold here in Blacksburg (freezing rain today). But I take comfort in the fact that I don't live in Barrow, Alaska where they can look forward to a high of -13 today.

Snow in Blacksburg, whodathunk

2007-02-22T19:46:00.000-05:00

Here's a video Jessica took of a snowfall last month. There was a bigger one since then.

So Valentine's Day occurred sometime last week...

2007-02-19T11:52:00.000-05:00

Shane and I went the undtraditional route (there were no flowers, candy, special dinner date...and so on). Instead over a month ago I signed us up for a couple's massage class. It took place on two consecutive Friday nights (the Friday before & after Valentine's Day). It was great. There were about eight couples in attendance; all ages (college age- retired age). It was really cool. I learned some new things and better techniques, too. I think that was the best Valentine's gift we could get each other; a gift that lasts longer than one day! I highly recommend it to all married people.

Over the weekend we celebrated one of my new friend's birthday. In total there were seven couples of which five have kids. They range in age from infant to about 11 years old. It was a mad house! We should've requested a banquet room/area- we were a rather large group. Then the funniest thing, to me, was that Shane was the only "non-hispanic" in the group.

Sometimes it feels like we are being "immersed" in the Latino culture like never before. Being from LA we we've been exposed to a lot of people from many different cultural backgrounds and such, but for the most part we hung out with "Americans." "Non-Hispanic-White" Americans, Mexican-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Korean-Americans, African-Americans, Ecuador-Americans.... mostly born and raised in the US. (Of course, Shane was exposed to more non-Americans through his job/school. But not so personally.) Here, though, we are getting to know these families in a personal/familial way. So, Shane told me "funny how you found this here in Blacksburg."

My new friends are Mexican, Colombian, and Puerto Rican. They are amazing women that are here because they, too, followed their husbands. They followed them to, of all places in the whole world, this small town called Blacksburg. Their husbands are here either for work or they're VT students pursuing a PhD (one is a post-doc). The ladies are all college educated as well. It's funny because we talk a lot about adjusting to being housewives and such. I suggested we start our own reality show called- "The Real Blacksburg Housewives!" We are far from desperate, but definitely have some interesting tales to tell. (Sometime last week I realized that at least 50% of my conversations are in Spanish. I use Spanish more than ever that, even when I am home alone, I find myself thinking in Spanish!)

Well, anyhow. It was great to hang out on Saturday. That same day we also went to B&N and bought some Spanish vocabulary flashcards. They came in handy yesterday. Since it was windy, sometimes it would snow, then it'd be just cold.... we stayed in. We spent some time with the cards. I was surprised at how many words and phrases I know. There were plenty words I have never heard, and some that I've just never seen written. It's cool that while Shane quizzes me he also learns some new words and uses (sometimes he'd ask me to use the words in a sentence. Pretty cool tool.).

Well, Happy Monday.

Check out this video .... of a dog wearing shoes. We aren't the only sick people that get enjoyment out of accessorizing our dog. This video is hilarious! That is exactly how Chispita walked when we first put her SuperDog booties on!

Our first YouTube video upload

2007-02-18T18:46:00.000-05:00

Chispita is a sad dog in this, her video debut, but why? Maybe it's that ridiculous outfit she's wearing!

Sub Rosa

2007-02-15T18:41:00.000-05:00

This short film was made by my brother-in-law Chris for a short film contest run by Steven Speilberg. The goal is to find promising young filmmakers.

You can comment on the video here.

some pics

2007-02-15T16:50:00.000-05:00

-This is where we went playing in the snow. You can see our footprints and the tracks we left behind where we sled. I took these pics the morning after we went playing.

-I find it incredibly beautiful to see the ice on the trees. When it's sunny out all the trees are glisteny. I always wondered why people put tinsel on their Christmas trees. Now I know why. Because that's what it looks like- glittery and shiny.

-Chispita is not too happy to wear her SuperDog booties. We got them a while ago- before we actually truly needed them (when we were still in CA). I thought they were funny, but now they are necessary. With the salt they put out in our sidewalks I was having to wash her paws every time she went outside. She isn't used to wearing them but I will keep putting them on until she gets the picture.

(Click on the pictures, for a more close up view.)

Are Atheists Victims of Discrimination?

2007-02-15T08:35:00.000-05:00

Depends on what you mean by discrimination. Read the article.

Here's an excerpt: 'If by discrimination we mean drawing distinctions at all, then I think most Americans do “discriminate,” and rightly so. Religious belief and practice aren’t like being born black or white or brown or yellow, or male or female. They’re not biological realities beyond the reach of choice. How one views the nature of the universe, humanity, and man’s place in the cosmos–the biggest of life’s big questions–should, like any major choice, have enormous implications for all aspects of life.'

By the way, Princeton is mentioned as particularly non-anti-atheism for all you Princeton fans out there.

Hello

2007-02-13T12:34:00.000-05:00

Cool world! We saw run lola run and it made me decide never to use punctuation ever again hehe jus kiddin ill still use correct speling wen kneaded. u r ok? c u l8rz r0dent d00d

Here is that same commercial...

2007-02-12T13:15:00.000-05:00

Not as clear on youtube.... but just as funny!

This crazy house!

2007-02-09T16:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, not this crazy house.... it's more like,
THIS HOUSE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

This commercial kinda describes my experience (Shane and Chispita, too). It is too funny! Check it out.

His and Hers...

2007-02-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon we got snow... lots of it. Within an hour, I would guess we got about 3 inches. By morning it grew to about 5 inches. All day I was tempted to go out and play in it. I had my lady friends over all afternoon, so I couln't do it. When the last one was leaving she told me was heading to the thrift store to go see if they had any snow sleds. She invited me, so we went on a wild goose chase. Okay, not so wild. First, the thrift store was closed. So, then we headed to the Family dollar store. They didn't have any. The last try was the market next door. We saw these beauties the second we walked in the door! She bought one, and I bought two. One for Shane and one for me.

When Shane got home, we ate dinner pretty quickly then headed out the backdoor! We went across the street to the church lawn. Yes, a church lawn. It was pristine clean snow. Noone had dared all day to break it in. Since it was dark out noone saw us or chased us away. We played in the snow for about a half hour. It was a workout! Now we are back in our warm and cozy home.

More pics from Sedona...

2007-02-06T12:18:00.000-05:00

The day I set out to explore.

I went up some road to see if I would end up at the foothill of what I think is called the Coffepot.

This is another day. I took Shane to check out the Shrine of the Red Rock. The mule deer were still hanging around and Shane got a better picture of them.

Shane found this place. Too bad it was closed. So we couldn't take a picture of our aura.

This was the view from our hotel room.

I took this one on the first day of exploring. I just love it. I should blow it up and make a poster of it!

After the rain stopped and the sun came out for a minute, I took this picture the afternoon we left Sedona.

We are baaaack...

2007-02-05T16:31:00.000-05:00

Sedona was a lot of fun. I didn't do what I thought I would do (read/draw...). Instead I went out exploring. I took off to check out what they call "Tlaquepaque.". It is a shopping center that was designed to look like an actual small town/district in Mexico by the same name.
Now I can say that I have been to both. I prefer the original Tlaquepaque because they have good Mexican food there.

Then I went to look for a vortex... apparently one of several. I heard there was one near the airport mesa. Once there I got to this spot called the "Shrine of the Red Rocks". As far as feeling any type of energy I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. Later I figured out that I wasn't really near a "vortex." It was down the hill on the other side of where I was standing. Oh well. It did have a really good view of the city and the beautiful mountains across the valley. The best part was spotting some mule deer nearby.

They are sitting under a tree (see the middle part of the picture).

Beautiful Sedona

2007-01-29T12:02:00.000-05:00

Shane and I arrived last night. I have not been here since maybe 2002?? Well, I do not remember it being so developed. It is pretty and I plan to go exploring today.

I think I love the desert now more than ever. Virginia is lush and pretty but the desert is something else. I would like to take a class in geography or something related to types of land - tundra, desert, jungle, .... those type of things I would like to relearn. ANyhow, whatever this environment is- it is very pretty. Gotta go explore. C-ya!

Mixed thoughts and feelings.

2007-01-25T10:23:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I reread the previous post and I really feel bad, even ashamed, to have written such harsh words about two complete strangers. Two people that put their lives out there on display (kinda like this blog) exposing some really ugly character flaws. Whether it was for show or drama (maybe the show's editing escalated the drama by showing more of the ugly than good) I allowed it to draw me in. The emotions and feelings that it stirred in me were pretty ugly.

I was disgusted by the inconsistency of moral uprightness. The one person was so ashamed of being dubbed a "racist" but did not express remorse for being mean, rude and awful. That was very strange.

Then the other girl that was two-faced. Enough said. Being a two-face is probably worse than just being a bully. There the person is neither here nor there. Spineless to stand and be either good or bad.

Well, my mixed feelings come from two places. One, I feel ashamed for getting so upset at these two individuals. The show is set up for viewers to judge these people, and so I did. And harshly. That is pretty bad, isn't it? Two, even though I may be right to be angry, where is God's grace? Rather than get so angry, I should feel sad and moved to pray for them, right? Or stop watching the show? Rather than fueling disdain for these individuals, I should be loving them, right?

I am glad that God is not like me. And I wish I were more like God.

UK Celebrity Big Brother ...

2007-01-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

We have been watching the notorious show on youtube (for example, Big Brother, Day 18). I can't believe how much time we have wasted on that show. It helped to stir a good discussion on defining racism. Basically, people have made such a fuss about Jade being a racist yet they don't address the fact that she has just been nasty mean! She cried on air that she wasn't racist, yet she never seemed to apologize for her atrocious and mean behaviour! She never said, "I'm not racist, I am just a real mean big jerk!"

I specifically greatly disliked Danielle. OOOoohhh, what a big weenie! She is such a weak and spineless two-faced loser. (Yes, can you tell she got under my skin?) She was mean and played along with Jade, then turned around all nice to Shilpa. When she went to the "Diary" room she was soooo busted for saying something about Shilpa. She sat there and gave the lamest apology. Her whole tone was so ridiculous as if she was helpless or something. Ugghhh! Like she just couldn't help herself. Weakbutt!!!

Okay, now that I have vented I feel better. The drama! It became my guilty pleasure over the weekend. I even got Shane watching it. Shame on me!

In other news... there isn't much going on. My big brother, Aldo, sent me pictures of Albuquerque... and let me tell you, they got some snow. I am such a scaredycat over some melted snow and didn't leave the house; over there they had a least six inches on the ground. The real stuff! He also sent me pictures of my other brother's (Adrian) dog. The cutest cockerspaniel. I am so happy he got a dog. Adrian is the one brother that is still single, so I am glad to hear that he got himself a furry friend! Chispita's new cousin, Boy!

some pics

2007-01-21T18:13:00.000-05:00

This is the snow that came down on January 9th. Chispita's first experience in the snow. She looked so cute!

Shane out in the snow.

This is us at our Post-Christmas party. It will be our First Annual Post-Christmas Party here in B'burg. (I believe this is the 5th one I have thrown.)

Today, results of the "wintry mix." Icicles on our balcony...

Our first winter in B'burg.

2007-01-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

So far we have had interesting weather. Lots of sun, light snow here and there. I think twice already. Today though, we have what they call a "wintry mix?" What in the world??? I think it sounds like some delicious hot cocoa/peppermint latte.... or a cinnamon spice frappaccino?
But no, it is this. Light snow, that turns into water on the way down, then hits a cold patch that makes it ice when it hits the ground. Or something like that. Basically, it is freakin' cold outside. It looked white on the ground this morning and now it has turned into snowcone type white ice stuff on the ground. Looking outside our window you can see the little icy balls bouncing off the railing on our balcony.
We opted not to go to church this morning due to the weather and have thus dwindled away our Sunday just lounging and reading. Yup, it is 3:30 pm and I am still in my pjs and robe. The robe keeps me warm. Shane is in his pjs, but instead of wearing his robe, I looked up from reading a magazine to find, he's got on his Northface all-climate jacket. His hood is up and the jacket is zipped up to cover half his face! It is a funny sight to see.

At this very moment I can see, through the window, my neighbor is brushing off the ice on his car. The girl, with him, pounded on the hood a little to break up the ice? Weird.

The quest for good pizza...

2007-01-20T13:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the internet connection was down. It just came back about 2 hours ago. Ugh.. I am so addicted. It is horrible. Since we don't get very good tv reception I am constantly checking the computer. My email, the news, the weather...

Anyway, last night it was particularly funny how we are so reliant on it. We wanted to go get pizza and go to the movies. Well we didn't have access to movie listings or previews. How silly! And we didn't have netflix...
Well, I remembered that Movie Gallery called on THursday to tell us we could go rent a movie for free! So we went and picked up, of course "not the new releases", X-men. Then we went to PKs pizza.

We got pizza and beer, then came home to watch "X-men."

The movie was alright- I guess I forgot I had already seen it.
The pizza was pretty good. I guess pepperoni and jalapenos makes any pizza taste good.

It's sunny out.

2007-01-17T15:51:00.000-05:00

It is a beautiful and sunny day. It's cold, too.
I am doing laundry.
Monday, was Shane and my 2nd year wedding anniversary. How cool is that? We've been blissfully and happily married for two years. Although I cannot remember life before Shane, it still seems weird that it's already been 2 years since we said our vows. We had the party of the century!
Two years later and here I am in B'burg just as I said in my vows to Shane: "Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you live, I will live."

And true to that again, next week, I will be following him to Sedona, AZ. :)
I am extra excited for the fact that we will fly into Phoenix where my cousin lives. She has been my cousin for a long time! (LOL! I am so happy that I am being giddy...) Okay, what I mean to say is that we are nearly the same age. She is 19 days older than me. Even though we have not lived near each other, since we were 10 years old, we have been pretty close at heart.

The weekend she got married is the same weekend that I realized that I really liked Shane a lot. Prior to her wedding, Shane and I had been "hanging out" for about 5 months as "friends". So much so that when I left for the weekend, to attend her wedding, I really, really, really missed him quite a bit.

On my way home from her wedding late Sunday night he and I spoke on the phone for quite a while. On the following morning my cousin and her new hubby were flying into LAX, for a layover of about 10 hours. I had promised her to hang out with them and show them around town while they waited for their flight to their honeymoon in Jamaica. Shane agreed to go with me. That morning before we picked them up at the airport, Shane asked me to be his girlfriend. So, my cousin and her hubby were the first to see us officially as a couple! We had a lot of fun driving around LA that day! So, anyway... I am very excited to go hang out with them.

Then Sedona will be cool, too. While Shane is working during the day, I will chillin' like some artsie-fartsie-type at some hip coffee shop... reading, maybe I will draw something... whatever I get inspired to do. I will be doing it.

Shout out to Giancarlo and Sonja, in Pasadena. Congratulations on the 10lb.1oz, bouncing-baby-boy, Elijah James!! Yay! Born on our anniversary, Jan. 15th!!! Talk about time flying by. When Giancarlo was at our wedding- he wasn't married. Now he's married and has a baby! Whoop whoop!!

Isn't this dress lovely?

2007-01-11T23:09:00.000-05:00

Look a little closer....

New York City Double-O Seven

2007-01-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

Screaming at Times Square

Late Nite but No David Letterman :(

Jessica in surreal urban landscape

Great lipstick shot dwarfing Statue of Liberty

Weird Jesus puppets

City seen through hole in ground

Central park

Check out my new boots....

2007-01-09T20:36:00.000-05:00

Now, I am NYC chic.

More about the holidays in B'burg.

2007-01-09T20:17:00.000-05:00

Even though this was our first holiday without our families it turned out to be quite a blessed and wonderful season. We originally intended to take a holiday (vacation in the tropics) but at the last minute after much deliberation we opted to stay in. I had mixed feelings between taking a vacation, flying out to see family, or taking the opportunity for us to establish our own Christmas traditions here at home.

Staying home turned out to be the best thing. Here in B-burg our church held a morning service which was a breakfast potluck, a time of fellowship, a short sermon and we sang Christmas songs. That was fun.

After our Christmas brunch, we came home and I made a fresh batch of pumpkin empanadas. We took them to a dinner we were invited to at Sarah's house. Sarah is a new friend from my Wednesday "Mornings" group. She was kind to invite me, Shane, and another family. Then after dinner we all caravaned to her church's Christmas evening service. Afterwards she invited us to join her as she visited yet another church, where she volunteers. This second church is a Spanish speaking church. (She invited us to join her because she knows that I am interested in working as an interpreter with the Spanish speaking community in this area and also because the other family, that was with us, is Spanish speaking.) It was really sweet. I met more Spanish speakers and the pastor's wife is an educator and Spanish interpreter! (I will be talking with her soon, regarding the interpreter career track...)

After all that, it was still only about 9 pm so we invited them to come over to our house for some hot chocolate and more empanadas. Sarah and her husband didn't join us, but the other family did. They are Salvador, Celia, and their toddler, Chavita (nickname for Salvador). They are from Mexico City. So, they also don't have family here in Blacksburg. We had a nice time getting to know each other and talking about traditions and stuff. I already knew Celia, from "Mornings", but this is the first time we hung out more intimately (?). Her husband, Salvador is a post-doc at VT so he and Shane got to talking about science stuff... physics... and those things they have in common. We really enjoyed their visit. They left a little after 10 pm.

At 11 pm, Shane and I then started what we hope to establish as "our" Christmas Eve tradition. We did some Bible readings and sang Christmas songs. At midnight, we brought out the "Baby Jesus" figurine and placed him in the Nativity set. Then sang happy birthday to Jesus. To keep the spirit of Christmas focused on Jesus, we did not exchange gifts until Christmas morning.

As for the holidays overall... Dec. was a month filled with several invitations to holiday celebrations and activities.
- Through my "Mornings" group, I enjoyed making crafts (santa bread, my gingerbread house and wreath).
- An off-shoot of "Mornings" is the Cooking club. I attended my first meeting in which I learned how to make a "Christmas Log", a French Christmas tradition. It was rich, dark chocolatey, and yummy!!!
- My Thursday morning women's Bible study group held a potluck at someone's house. There were lots of delicious and international foods to eat; Hawaiian meatballs, fried tofu, some type of noodle dish, soup, Philipino stew... and some desserts...!!!
- For Shane's birthday I made my own version of the "Christmas Log". We went out to dinner at the only Thai restaurant in town.
- We went to Shane's work "Christmas Brunch".
- We were invited to lunch at Dave's house(Shane's colleague. He is the person that invited us to have corn at his house back in August). His wife is Taiwanese and she made hotpot soup for us. After lunch, they showed us a new place to go hiking nearby. We had a nice walk around a local pond called Pandapas Pond
- One night we had people (Kyle, Doty, and Eric from the Wed. night home group) over for coffee and dessert.
- Another night Doty and Eric invited us on a drive to see Christmas lights out in the styx. It really was out in the styx...
- Celia and I made sweet tamales. Later we, along with our husbands, went out for pizza. We returned to their place and played a new boardgame called " Tikal."
- We were also invited over to dinner at one of Shane's friends parent's house. His friend Dan, who also graduated from Caltech, was in town, with his wife and two children, visiting his parents for the holidays. It was nice to join him and his family for dinner. (Hi Emily!)
- Lastly, for New Year's Eve we went to Celia's house for some good ol' Mexican Posole. That was good.
Later that night we took off to Charlotte, NC, to catch an early plane to New York.

And that is how we ended 2006. In a new town, new friends, new experiences....

The holidays.. in B'burg.

2006-12-31T12:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry, it's been a while since I last posted. I have gotten busy, lazy, and interested in different hands-on things.
I flat ironed Shane's hair.

I did some crocheting.

Christmas shopped for Shane's gift. An espresso machine.

And with a help from my new friend, Celia, I made sweet tamales.

In between all those activities I managed to buy (at the farmer's market) three little pumpkins and made several batches of empanadas. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of them to show you. But they turned out pretty good and people liked them.

Another craft I brought home...

2006-12-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

From my "Mornings"group.
I messed it up, bad construction.... long story... so it fell down and made a yucky sticky mess. I had to start it over and by then most of the materials (candy, frosting...) became scarce. So I reused some materials and did the best I could given the circumstances. When I first brought it home, Shane almost tried to eat a piece! It looks yummy, but I wouldn't eat it...
So, it currently sits at our dining room table only for decor... And now, it occured to me to share it with the world before we burn it down.
I am too lazy to take good pictures with the camera, upload/download(?) and stuff, so instead I use the neat Mac feature Photobooth. Not the best quality but, you get the picture. (pun, not intended :) )

Die young, stay pretty.

2006-12-19T14:22:00.000-05:00

Last week an old friend from college was killed in a car accident. For those of you that live in Pasadena, I am sure you heard about it in the news. He was the driver of the red bug that was found right off the 134 freeway.
I feel saddened by the news. Especially for his family and my friends that knew him much more closely than I did.

I met David through Shelly, Jose and Monica. They all were a very tight bunch in college and in the many years afterward. When we first met, it was the beginning of a very crazy college year. I have interesting memories of that bunch! David was a star. After college, I saw him less frequently but it was always nice to see him. He was a real sweetheart and he was always fun to be around. It is unbelievable that he is gone. No matter how much I have seen the on-line newstories, the orbituary, the myspace announcements.... it is hard to believe.

His coworkers put up a wonderfulwebsite in his memory. His sister wrote a really nice biography.

Williamsburg

2006-12-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

Not this weekend, but the weekend before this one that just passed, Shane and I went to Colonial Williamsburg.
It was cool.

Homemade...

2006-12-18T17:30:00.000-05:00

I made this holiday wreath last week at my "Mornings" group.
The only fake parts are the red poinsettas, some gold leafs, and the ribbon (that is not counting the yarn, wires and paper used to hold it together...).

Our backyard early Fall 2006

2006-12-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

Sep. 23

Sep. 30

Oct. 8

Oct. 14

Oct. 18

Oct. 21

Dec. 2

Skull found on Mars!

2006-11-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

The Mars Rovers have found a human skull on the red planet! Or so DJ said last night. I couldn't find any mention of it in the news, but I did find it on some zany web site dedicated to "Mars anomaly research".

Before we start filming episodes of CSI: Mars, we should probably ask ourselves some questions. What do we make of this subtle play of light and shadow? Shall we believe that Mars is strewn with human remains? Or reject it as another cockamamy product of the human imagination?

Fe Fi Fo Fum, well I'll be darn here it comes...

2006-11-29T17:08:00.000-05:00

Today was a gray day.
Thankfully it did not affect my mood (it usually does).

Well, I took the local transit bus today. And it felt like it was my first day at school or at a job. I ran late to an appointment I had this morning. All because I missed the bus. Standing at the bus stop (a short block away from my house)I realized, after waiting about 5 minutes,that I had forgotten my cell phone. Even though I knew the bus was due any moment I ran back to the house to get my phone. As I walked out my door, sure enough, the bus passed by. I went back for my phone because sometime later in the morning Shane was going to call me. And so, I missed the bus. That had a domino effect because then I missed the bus that I was to transfer to later. For both bus rides I had to wait 15 minutes for the bus to arrive. So, I felt really lame when I arrived to my appointment exactly a half hour late. Nonetheless, I did not feel bad about the whole thing. I just felt silly. Thankfully, the person I was to meet did not get too upset (not that I could tell, anyway).

Give me a Ho, if you've got your funky bus fare... Ho, HO,Ho...

While in Reston...

2006-11-28T15:47:00.000-05:00

We visited Uncle Alex and Aunt Charlotte's church. The service and worship time was really cool.

With all the traveling I have done this month, I have missed quite a bit of church... I miss the worship services from Pasadena. The band there was jamming. Our current church, they jam but not quite as "hard" or upbeat. It has been, I guess, what could be called more soulful (?)... not a lot of clapping or dancing. We have flags and some people go up and do some modern dance type steps.... but not exactly something I would go do. ANYWay... the church in Reston was a little more upbeat and they sang songs that we used to sing in Pasadena. Knowing them and feeling free to express myself in the old familiar way, I just let go and met with God. He is awesome and so worthy to be praised. We sang "How great Thou art" and it brought me so much joy to sing it to the Lord! It brought me to tears. No matter where you go, worshipping God is still worshipping God. Maybe I cried because it had been a while and it has been a difficult month for me. But God is so good and being able to worship Him is such a huge blessing! I was overjoyed.

So, this church had a visitor center where they sold books and music and stuff. I bought two worship cds and a book. The book is one that Shane used to have. He let someone borrow it and never got it back. I have been wanting to read it so I went ahead and bought it. The cds, one was the church band and the other is a band I have never heard of (not that I know many Christian bands...). BUt the cd is awesome!!! It has songs that I have always liked and didn't know they were hyms! And it sounds pretty cool, not dull or boring as some might expect. Check it itout.

So yesterday I was playing that cd and was worshipping and singing in my kitchen. So cool! So that is what inspired me to write the last blog... :)

This hymn moves me to tears

2006-11-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

I first heard this hymn in Spanish... I only remember one part... "Cuan grande es El, cuan grande es El."

HOW GREAT THOU ART

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shouts of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And there proclaim: "My God, how great You are!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Original words by Carl G. Boberg (1886) and translated and 4th verse by Stuart K. Hine, 1953

Thanksgiving...

2006-11-27T11:36:00.000-05:00

We went to Shane's aunt and uncle's house in Reston, VA. It was nice. We had cajun flavored turkey!

Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Alex are pretty awesome people. A real power couple. They have their own business and they travel the world. Uncle Alex enjoys cooking exotic gourmet food- so they really gave us a treat with every meal. Lots of healthy yet delicious touches to everything served. Wine, nuts, spreads... I came back with some ideas on how to make food tastier and fancy looking!

While on our visit, I managed to finish crocheting a hat/beanie... it was a new stitch that my mom taught me the last time I saw her. It came out pretty nice. I gave it to Aunt Charlotte. It looked really pretty on her. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture.

We had sunny and warm weather while there. We took the Metro to DC and visited the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall. It was crowded! Lots of people. We didn't stay very long. We walked around, and saw the backside of the White House. It really is white... all around. Blah. There were no Christmas decorations, yet.

We had a good time. I am glad that we went. Even though we didn't spend it with my family, it was nice to spend time with Shane's. To get to know them better and such. In Spanish it is called "convivir". Literally to "coexist", but beyond... to spend time together, get to know each other,... it is just nice.

When we returned I discovered that someone stole our pumpkin that we left outside our front door. Oh well, I guess I won't be making empanadas this Christmas! Those bandits!!