Adult?

Okay, so we don't have any fun new pictures, but I'm sure we will have a lot after Stephen's wedding this weekend. I don't want you to give up on our blog due to lack of posts, so I will have to get creative and think of something interesting (even though we all know pictures are the most fun).

I was giving a guest lecture the other day on the transition to adulthood (my research area) and one of the students asked me if I thought I was an adult. Despite working in this area for years, I hadn't thought about it lately. I realized that over the last year, I have started to feel more like an adult. So here are some signs that I'm approaching adulthood:

1) I like routine. Yes, it's true. I now like having a schedule, where I know what I have each day. I also dream of not moving every few years.

2) Going out on Friday nights is laughable. Saturdays, sure! Fridays I just want to crash on the couch and watch a movie after a long week. By Fridays, we have trouble even staying awake through a movie, even if we go to a theater! If we do muster up the energy for Friday night, then Saturday night=home. Don't get me wrong, we always enjoy ourselves seeing friends, whatever the night, the week just takes it out of us now.

3) I feel emotions much more deeply. I don't know if it's because I can relate to experiences more (now that I've had a little more life experience), or if it's because I roomed with Michelle in college who taught me it was okay to cry, but I just feel others' pain and joy a lot more lately. Seriously, put on Extreme home makeover or read a blog about God's love, a parent's love, or about someone who gives to others, and hello waterworks!

4) I like to cook. I think learning to cook from scratch was the key. I love fresh ingredients. There is also such a sense of accomplishment when you are done.

5) I feel like my students are really young. Hearing that they were in elementary school when a song or a movie came out that you remember from COLLEGE, makes you feel old.

6) My parents are some of my favorite people in the world to hang out with. They are incredible and am realizing I took their incredibleness a little for granted as a kid, and want to soak as much of it up as I can now. While some people may experience a littel disillusionment when they realize that their parents are human, the more I learn about them as people, the more I am amazed by them. I think our relationship is becoming more of a two way street and I hope I can be there for them as they have been there for me.

8) I love civic events. Pretty much anything free or educational that the city offers, I am down! This is a far cry from the cable-loving adolecent I once was. I also so wish I would have taken advantage of all of the great lectures SPU and the U of M had to offer!

9) We (Will and I) feel a strong desire to be vital parts of our community. Serving and giving back is really important to us. We feel that we have been so blessed by incredible role models that we want to give back and be that for others.

Okay, so these are just a few. I promise, pictures will be coming soon from the wedding!

Until next time,
Kirsten

(S)Hot Dog

We have a dog of steel! Only in the life of Mosby, would this happen:

A couple of weekends ago, Mosby was playing outside (in the suburbs mind you, not out in the country) and followed some deer into the woods. He was gone for about 15 minutes, but he usually comes back eventually so we weren't too worried. When he did return, he was soaked and had a cut behind his ear. What adventures had he gone on? Did he go for a swim in a marsh? Cut his ear on a fence or get in a fight with one of the deer or another animal? Little did we know....

After a week, Will noticed that his ear wound wasn't really healing very well (it was underneath all of his fur so we couldn't really see the wound itself). He brought him into the vet and it turns out......HE WAS SHOT! Apparently, there was a bullet lodged in his neck all that time! It looks to be a bullet from a 22. Who shoots at dogs in the suburbs?!

You might wonder how we didn't notice this earlier. The actual place that the bullet went in did not bleed significantly (the part where the bullet grazed his ear was what bled more and even that was a very small amount), he didn't whine during the week, he didn't scratch at his ear or indicate that it was hurting him, and he had the same energy level and appetite as always. All I can figure is that it was barely under the skin and that it was in the scruff of his neck, so there is a lot of exra skin there. It totally fits Mosby's personality to be completely oblivious to the fact that he had a BULLET in his neck. We are so lucky it wasn't any more serious!

So he had a little surgury Monday to remove the bullet and put a tube in to drain the fluid. We have to pretty much stay home with him to make sure he doesn't scratch the tube out, because he refuses to wear the "cone of shame". We take him back to the vet on Friday to get it removed. I have attached some pictures below of the bullet, Mosby's new "do" and drain, and him on a walk earlier in the week, totally oblivious to his injury.

We love our pooch and are so glad he is okay!

Until next time,
Kirsten

We're Gonna Win Twins

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

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

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:)

Happy Spring!
Kirsten

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

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