Will and I went to our first game at Target Field today! Our friends, Matt and Sarah have season tickets and had a couple extras for the game. We weren't sure we'd be able to see a game this season since most games are sold out (and the tickets remaining are generally expensive), so we jumped at the opportunity. It was a great time- thanks guys!
The pictures or images on TV don't do the field justice. It looks much bigger and is more impressive in person. The collective excitment was palpable. The stadium is all the buzz here in Minnesota, and man, do people love their Twins. There are some pictures below of the field.
Sadly, we lost the game. We threatened to come back in the bottom of the 8th, but left 3 men on base. Oh well. Far less depressing when at the new ballpark!
Until next time,
Kirsten
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Storytime
I loved reading as a kid. My love of stories began before I could read myself. My mom would read to me every night, and I would beg her to read just one more chapter. Waiting until the next night to find out what happened next seemed like torture (even if I could barely keep my eyes open because I was so tired)!
Now I read all the time, and I love that it is part of my job. BUT because I read so much for school, I haven't really read novels in far too long. I will admit, my love of stories now translates more into my love for TV on DVD. Lately I have started reading for fun again, and I forgot how much I love it! So if you have read any good books lately, I would love some recommendations!
In other news, we are still having a beautiful spring here. Will and I are going to our friends' house to grill this evening, and so Mosby can play with his girlfriend, Anja (they are the same age, size, and energy level). Then next weekend, Will and I are running our first 5K of the season with our friends Nick and Shannon. Hopefully the weather will hold until then!
Until next time,
Kirsten
Now I read all the time, and I love that it is part of my job. BUT because I read so much for school, I haven't really read novels in far too long. I will admit, my love of stories now translates more into my love for TV on DVD. Lately I have started reading for fun again, and I forgot how much I love it! So if you have read any good books lately, I would love some recommendations!
In other news, we are still having a beautiful spring here. Will and I are going to our friends' house to grill this evening, and so Mosby can play with his girlfriend, Anja (they are the same age, size, and energy level). Then next weekend, Will and I are running our first 5K of the season with our friends Nick and Shannon. Hopefully the weather will hold until then!
Until next time,
Kirsten
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Ready to Run
It is finally warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. It was 65 degrees today! Yes, I do know this won't last, but with the ice gone, I can at least go running again. I have missed it the past few months, but unless you had a death wish, it was pretty dangerous to run on the sidewalks covered with inches of ice (expecially with a dog that could pull you over). I was a little disappointed because I bought a lot of warm layers in hopes of running through the winter, but it was definitely not worth risking another broken bone to try and run on ice. So alas, I am starting essentially all over (I did retain some of my endurance, but it is pretty humbling). But man, it feels good to breathe that spring air, and I think Mosby might be even happier than me about it!
I have run pretty much since high school, but I always hated it. I pretty much just did it because it was good exercise. But for some reason, last year I really started to enjoy it. I ran a couple of 10K's, definitely the longest I had run, and it was really quite comfortable (in other words, I wasn't dying). The pictures below are from one that I ran a few days before my dad had a heart procedure, so I ran it in honor of him. I just found it to be such a great stress reliever (especially as I was teaching my first class at the college level).
I am trying to pinpoint what was different about last year (why I enjoyed it), and to replicate it this year:) All I can figure is that I started out really slowly and let myself stop whenever I wanted. I never started out with a goal or anything; when I felt good I just kept going, and eventually it ended up being more and more miles. Keeping it fun like that has already proved to be more difficult this year because I have a goal of running a 10 mile race this year, so I have a plan of adding milage as the season goes on. I really hope I can take it slowly enough to keep enjoying it though, because I love the time outside, hanging out with the puppy, and people watching. I also have a friend that is training too, Shannon, who is going to run races with me this summer, so I will have someone to talk to:)
Kirsten
I have run pretty much since high school, but I always hated it. I pretty much just did it because it was good exercise. But for some reason, last year I really started to enjoy it. I ran a couple of 10K's, definitely the longest I had run, and it was really quite comfortable (in other words, I wasn't dying). The pictures below are from one that I ran a few days before my dad had a heart procedure, so I ran it in honor of him. I just found it to be such a great stress reliever (especially as I was teaching my first class at the college level).
I am trying to pinpoint what was different about last year (why I enjoyed it), and to replicate it this year:) All I can figure is that I started out really slowly and let myself stop whenever I wanted. I never started out with a goal or anything; when I felt good I just kept going, and eventually it ended up being more and more miles. Keeping it fun like that has already proved to be more difficult this year because I have a goal of running a 10 mile race this year, so I have a plan of adding milage as the season goes on. I really hope I can take it slowly enough to keep enjoying it though, because I love the time outside, hanging out with the puppy, and people watching. I also have a friend that is training too, Shannon, who is going to run races with me this summer, so I will have someone to talk to:)
Kirsten
Monday, March 15, 2010
A well overdue post
It has been a while since our last post and for good reason- it has been a busy few months! Will's hours have really picked up. He has been working long days (one day last week he left home before 7 am and didn't get home until after 9pm), and I have to brag about how dilligent he is:) It is definitely not always easy work either, so our weekends have been spent charging up the batteries for the week. I just defended my doctoral preliminary exam last week, which has been taking up much of my time, so now I get to move on to my dissertation proposal and preparing a class I am teaching this summer at the U.
At least being so busy made the winter really fly by. We packed in some fun times to keep us going (here are a few pictures):
*Dinners with friends
*Hiking at state parks
* Going to concerts
* Going to hockey games (Gophers and the state tournament)
*Getting ready for Kirstin and Stephen's wedding
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
A very white Christmas
We had a classic Minnesota Christmas this year, complete with a bona fide snowstorm. The winter storm warning lasted three days, starting on the day before Christmas Eve. Now we are used to forecasters exaggerating around here, so we were not expecting it to be too bad. Will and I worked until about 7pm that day and headed down to Caledonia just as the snow began to fall. The roads in the Cities were fine, but after we passed the Hastings exit on 52, the snow started blowing pretty hard. A few miles outside of Cannon Falls, the cars in front of us started braking and as soon as we tried to do the same, the car fishtailed and spun us into the ditch. We were going about 50 mph, and though everything turned out totally fine (thank God), I would prefer not to do it again- it is a pretty helpless feeling not knowing when you are going to stop! After that little adventure, we drove ridiculously slow the rest of the way.
We had a great time down in Caledonia with the family. It was awesome to have Kirstin and Stephen with us from Chicago (Kirstin's family is from MN too). They are in the midst of planning a wedding that we are looking forward to in May! The four of us read and lit the Christ candle at the service on Christmas Eve- it just wouldn't be a Christmas at home without being roped into taking part in the service in some way:) Unfortunately, the weather did change our Christmas Day plans. We weren't able to go up to the Guthries'. It is the only time that our whole extended family can get together, so we were so sad to miss it this year!
So now it is 2010. To me, this is the year of becoming ABD (all but dissertation)- all that will stand between me and a job as a professor is that little thing called a dissertation. Though it sounds like a lot left, it will be really exciting to have classes, my prelim (cummulative exam) and my dissertation proposal behind me. As of now, we don't have any other major plans set in stone, so we will let the year take us where it wants!
Until next time,
Kirsten
Monday, December 14, 2009
O'Brien Christmas Greeting!
So I wanted to make a nice Christmas Card this year and post it to our blog, but unfortunately the photo card makers actually want you to buy prints of their pretty designs, so instead you get a funny card! Click the link below to check out our video Christmas greeting! It really took Mosby a while to get the moves down....
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/m1OdEyIjHdnM9wTmk5N6
Couldn't help myself,
Kirsten
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/m1OdEyIjHdnM9wTmk5N6
Couldn't help myself,
Kirsten
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Words of Wisdom
A friend of mine, Ryan Alaniz, from the department is doing research in Honduras this year and is documenting his time on his blog (http://buildabetterworld.blogspot.com/). He has such a heart for people. The other week he put up a quote that was really encouraging and thought I would share it with you all.
Ryan says, "The Archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero's story is a beautiful one of conversion and sacrifice for the poor. Indeed, activists throughout Latin America continue to call on his spirit for inspiration. I do the same below, citing one of his most famous homilies:
“It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us…We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.”
Ryan says, "The Archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero's story is a beautiful one of conversion and sacrifice for the poor. Indeed, activists throughout Latin America continue to call on his spirit for inspiration. I do the same below, citing one of his most famous homilies:
“It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us…We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.”
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
I finally was able to decorate for Christmas. I am usually all about Christmas immediately following Thanksgiving, but this year it took me a couple of weeks to really get into it. I think it was probably because we had the second warmest November on record here, so it still felt like fall. Well fall is definitely gone now and we are supposed to get 7-10 inches of snow tonight, so it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Here are some fun things we are looking forward to during this season:
*Holidazzle Parade
*Mates of State concert
*Cohort Christmas party
* Waiting in line to get Swedish Sausage at Ingebretsons
* General Swedishness
*Attempting to take a "family picture" in which Mosby will sit still, preferably wearing a Santa hat
*And of course, Christmas movies!!!
Until next time,
Kirsten
Thanksgiving in Willmar
We had a great time in Willmar celebrating Thanksgiving! Most of our time was spent laughing until our sides hurt and catching up with one another. For some reason I was not in picture-taking mode, so here are just a few pics to give you a "taste" of our Thanksgiving.
Pic 1: Grandma must be telling one of her hilarious stories. She is cute AND funny- at age 94!
Pic 2: Telling some more stories (and me sitting exactly like my mom).
Pic 3: My cousin Jean and Uncle Doug (AKA Connan O'Brien).
Pic 4: The best table at the Willmar Bowling alley:)
It is always so fun to get together, so we are already looking forward to Christmas at the Guthries!
Pic 1: Grandma must be telling one of her hilarious stories. She is cute AND funny- at age 94!
Pic 2: Telling some more stories (and me sitting exactly like my mom).
Pic 3: My cousin Jean and Uncle Doug (AKA Connan O'Brien).
Pic 4: The best table at the Willmar Bowling alley:)
It is always so fun to get together, so we are already looking forward to Christmas at the Guthries!
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