Lots of Stuff...No Pictures

Chuck and I check out the blogs to the left quite often just to see what everyone has going on. Most of our friends and family have little ones so it's really fun to check out pictures and watch them grow from a distance. As I noticed a lack of updates last week, Chuck asked me when ours had last been updated...so I'm in Dallas, it's 11:30pm and I'm tired of doing work, so I'm going to update our blog.

We have a new camera...well it's mine, and the pictures are great most of the time. It's due to the camera and not necessarily my skills--I'm exploring lots of the manual functions and sometimes I get really lucky and sometimes I don't. I playing around and having fun, but the learning curve for a really intelligent camera may take a while. Additionally the pictures are huge and now require an extra step to shrink the size to post and we are having a little trouble transferring from the Mac to Shutterfly.

Immediately following our trip to Denver, Chuck had his first round of proposal defense within his department. He did good! Now on to the second round...11 May, then he gets to spend the next two years writing his dissertation and continuing his field research in Oregon.

We made a quick trip to Wisonsin and I was able to meet Chuck's family on his mother's side and see where he gets many of his Scandanavian traits and some of his funny quirks.

Now I am in Dallas for a few days...gave a briefing this afternoon and saw several old friends. I also got to meet a few people from my new base in Alaska and put faces to people I frequently talk to on the phone. Chuck's birthday is tomorrow...I'm excited that I will be home to help him celebrate turning 36!

Colorado Visit

Both of us had meetings in Colorado on either side of the weekend.  We spent a day in Boulder visiting with the Podolak's.  We did our usual walks, found a new spice store, enjoyed Beau Jo's pizza, and entertained Atticus (he actually entertained us and probably thinks we are really weird). 

We also had the opportunity to visit good friends on Saturday and Monday nights in Denver.  As always, it was great to see most of the Podolak clan (Joan was in Wisconsin visiting with her mom) and the Denver crew.  A couple of additional pics.

Big Week

The past week was full of friends, family, and fun.  Andi's favorite time in DC is the spring...cherry blossoms are in full bloom, baseball starts, and it's just a great time to explore.  This year it coincided with her promotion to Lieutenant Colonel.  To help us celebrate Jenny Caballero, Andi's dad, and Aunt Velma came into town (her mom did not make it due to a broken ankle the week prior and is now the proud owner of a metal plate and 10 screws).  Andi's ceremony was on the mall in front of the Washington Monument.  Luckily the weather was kind, except for the gusty winds.  After the ceremony, we took part in a free event at the Washington National's Stadium -- we showed up so the new management team could try something out -- we got as much free food as we wanted.  We actually went home in wheel barrows.

Here are some pics from the weekend.