My Half-Black Test ... Half-Black? Is that like gray?

I had my half-black belt test today. I know you're probably thinking what is half-black? No, it's not gray. It is a belt with a black stripe and a red stripe. It is the belt in between red and black. It was a very long test ... at least it seemed that way to me. Although it is only a fraction of the length of my next test though. I was pretty tried after this test. But in the end I passed. My next test will be about an hour of just me doing every kick I've learned, every basic (punching & kicking routines) from every belt, and some stuff that I have to make up myself. The stuff that I will have to make up is three different routines of 20 hand strikes/blocks in 5 seconds and three different routines of 10 kicks in 5 seconds. There is no way I could do it all yet, but I'll try to get there over the summer. I'm surprised that I have come as far as I have. It feels good to know that I am getting better at Tae Soo Do.

Surprise Gettaway

I surprised Davin last weekend with a little early anniversary/happy father's day/babymoon gettaway. Since baby's due within days of our 4 year anniversary, going out of town like we normally do is out of the question. So I booked a room at the hotel where we spent our first night together on our honeymoon. I packed our bags and checked in early to get the room set up with some roses, pictures, candles, and sparkling cider. I also ordered pizza to be delivered for dinner. Then I picked Davin up from the MAX station after work and surprised him by driving straight to the hotel. We had a relaxing evening, and it felt so good to sleep in! (Only about 3 more times to sleep in on the weekend!) Happy Un-Iversary!

Camping the Studer Way

About a week ago the forecast for Memorial Day weekend was sunny and mid-70s. Perfect! Once we realized we both had a three day weekend and that it would be our last three day weekend before we have a newborn, we decided to go camping. Well... the Studer way of camping, as Davin informed me last time, is that it always rains! (Unless we join a group of other people in which case the curse of rain seems to be overruled.) A few years ago we camped out at Beacon Rock and nearly called it quits in the middle of the night because it was raining so hard that our drenched tent was starting to leak. I told him next time we need to camp my way... in the sun! As soon as we planned to go camping this weekend, the weatherman started changing his story. What? Now the forecast is for rain and upper-60s! Unfortunately, I too, am a Studer and I guess that means I cannot escape the camping curse of rain. If we cancel our trip I'm sure the forecast will change back to sun, but if we're going it's going to rain. Sorry, guys, we're going! So if you're joining us in the great outdoors this weekend, be sure to bring a tarp!

Pics from our trip:

Conservation

I've been on a conservation kick, and I must admit it's not for the environment as much as it is for our budget. The bills are just so expensive! Our house is on oil heat, and for a partial winter in 06 we spent $1000 just to run the heat in the evenings. I was worried that this winter would cost close to $2000 since we lived in this house for the whole winter and the cost of oil is getting ridiculous. We bought space heaters and hung curtains to close in our living room area. It worked! With our recent oil fill we found out that we only used half as much oil in 07 as we did in 06. Our bill was under $500. With that big 600 gallon tank, we have enough oil to get us through a couple winters! I've also recently added gallon jugs in the toilet tanks to displace some water. That's the next huge bill we have. Water at our condo only cost $20/month, but here it's more like $80. Good grief! Every time I flush I think, "One gallon of water saved." I'm curious to see if we notice any change in the next bill.

Birthday Season

Birthday season is nearly over. Grammy started it off with her 80th birthday on February 26th, then Dad's 60th was on March 1st followed by Grandpa's 84th on March 4th. Daniel turned 25 on March 6th, Davin's sister was 33 on March 14th, and my 28th birthday was on March 15th. Aunt Marcia's birthday was April 4th, and Davin's dad's birthday was April 8th. Jeremy wraps it up with his 18th birthday this Saturday, April 12th. Whew!

I invited Nathan and Daniel to my party and they both came. This is the first family event we've all been at since my brother's left the family nearly 6 years ago. It was a bit weird, but it went really well, and hopefully it won't be so long before our next family thing. Strange how complicated relationships can get.

Jeremy, Daniel, Dad, Mom, Me, Nathan

Breaking a 4 1/2 Year Routine

Today is Davin's first day at work, and it's very lonely at the house without him around. :( Ever since we started dating in 2003 we've both worked at Multnomah, so we could connect at any time during the day, and we always had lunch together. Over the last few month's I've definitely been spoiled having him home with me all the time while he was job hunting. Now when I have a question (like I can't find the cell phone!) or something on my mind, he's not here to talk to. I can't even call down to his cube in IT because he's not there. He's a real business man working downtown now. I'm sure he'll get GoogleTalk up and running on his new work machine soon which will help a little. *Sigh* I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets home at 5:30 or 6... depending on the MAX schedule. I can't wait to hear about his first day! I know this is "normal," but it's really hard to break out of a 4 1/2 year routine! I'm going to make lunch now... all by myself.

Job No Longer Hunting

Well, I got a job. It is with a company called Scan One. They are located in downtown Portland. Best I can tell they do document scanning and storage. I say that because the website isn't very clear about what they do. They use lots of corporate jargon that doesn't convey a clear picture of what they really do. Anyway, I'm apparently going to be working on an accounts payable web application. It should be a big learning curve, since I know pretty much nothing about accounts payable. Ok, I can can add and subtract and do calculus. So, I probably know something about it, but not much. I start on Monday. So, thanks to those who have been praying for me.

Job Hunting

Well, I'm currently looking for full-time employment. At the end of January my part-time job at Multnomah was dissolved to help find the money to create a new full-time developer position. I applied for that job and waited to hear back. I found out the other day that they have decided not to interview me for the position. So, I'm in full force job hunting mode right now. I'd like to find something close. If I could find a position that allowed telecommuting that would be great ... especially with baby coming. In the meantime, when I am not actually submitting resumes I have been trying to be a good house-husband ... cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc.

My husband can beat up your husband

On Saturday, Davin earned his red belt! I have had to pause my pursuit of Tae Soo Do to nurture my growing belly. I couldn't do half of the advanced stuff we're supposed to be working on, so Davin has officially passed me. I've always struggled with jump kicks. My body likes my feet to be on the floor, but Davin looks like he can fly when he jumps. He could easily kick anyone in the head. He had a great test though he was disappointed that he didn't break his jump spin heel board break (the hardest kick ever!). He's had a 100% break record up until now which is excellent, and he's very motivated to get it the next time. He'll probably be working on his black belt this summer, and then he'll be ready to test in the fall... depending on how preoccupied he gets with the arrival of his son. By the way, our son is very proud of his daddy and is already practicing little punches and kicks.

New Windows!

Here's what our nursery windows used to look like. Yup, vintage 1906 wooden, single-paned windows. The ones in the nursery face south and therefore were arguably the worst windows in the whole house. We wrapped them in plastic when we moved in over a year ago and never bothered taking it off. The plastic kept out the wind, rain, and trapped a couple dozen lady bugs, a couple spiders, and a fly. Well, with baby Studer coming we wanted to actually open the windows this summer since it gets swelteringly hot up there. The windows we've managed to open in our house take about half an hour with a hammer and screwdriver. Even then, sometimes we give up. We wondered with the nursery windows if they'd actually fall out if we tried opening them. So we requested new ones... pretty please - for the baby? They were updating some faculty office windows, so our timing was great, and they easily added ours to the mix. They even replaced the ones in our bedroom. Wow!

And here's our new nursery windows. I can't rave about them enough! They're not only beautiful, they are double-paned!!! And they open and close effortlessly!!! Incredible! It seems a bit warmer upstairs now (but then the weather is warming up too). It's also noticabley quieter, and we won't have to wrap these ones in plastic. Ah, modern technology. I had to go out and buy fabric to make curtains. When they're closed and the sun is shining, the room glows a pretty blue.