Dan and Jen's Blog

Jen, the 25 foot putt, and a whole lot of laundry…

Dan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:20:27 +0000

Last Friday we went to the driving range and then I played a par 3 course while Jen rode in the cart (her choice!). After the first few holes, Jen began to criticize my putting. She was correct to do so as I stink at it. On the fourth green, Jen came out to where I was and told me she had a “friendly wager” for me. She bet me that she could make it in the hole from where I was in fewer strokes than me. The loser would have to fold all the laundry that weekend. I was about 25 feet from the cup and quickly judged that she didn’t stand a chance. I went first, lagging my first putt within a foot of the hole leaving it short for an easy two-putt. At this point, I was certain that she was beaten. There was no way she was going to make that putt. But then Jen steps up to the ball, quickly reads the green and gets her practice strokes in before draining a 25-footer like it was nothing. Needless to say, I underestimated my wife’s putting ability and the amount of laundry folding I would do that weekend.

We need your help!

Jen — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:10:50 +0000

Since we’ll be registering soon for baby things, we really need to know what people who’ve used the stuff think about the stuff. So we need to know about your favorite (and despised) strollers, carseats, jumpers, walkers, toys, dirty diaper managers, breast pumps, bottles, diapers, diaper rash products, clothes, etc. Please leave us comments about what you like and what you don’t and why, your experiences, so we can make some really good decisions. Thanks!

We’re Pregnant!

Dan and Jen — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:27:50 +0000

We’re happy to announce that we’re pregnant! We’re expecting our little one to arrive mid-December (12/19). We’re very excited and Jen is feeling good again now. She’s at the 16 week mark and we’ve already heard the heartbeat twice. She’s starting to show and we get to find out if we’re having a boy or a girl on 7/11! We’re so thankful for this blessing! Dan has been busy doing all the lifting and running to Kroger (thank goodness, just across the street now!) for watermelon or whatever Jen decides she needs right then. He’s also quite excited about all of the cool gadgets he’ll get to play with. Jen has been knitting a blanket, washcloths, and booties and can’t wait to find out what color to knit in next!

Please pray for us as we prepare ourselves for this most momentus of life changes. Pray that we would at the foremost, immerse ourselves in the Word of God and prayer, to make sure we’re in the right place and living the lives that God has called us to!

Tears of laughter

Jen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:52:14 +0000

When I watch these videos of Brian Regan, I laugh uncontrollably. They all go together. They’re from the same night. Dan was skeptical when I said, “Dan you have to watch these, they’re hilarious” but he did it to silence my insistence. Laughter ensued. Enjoy.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Shame on us

Jen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:38:35 +0000

We’re bad bloggers, we know. We get a couple of big life changes and our site goes down the proverbial tubes. For weeks now, I kept thinking, “I’ll blog this weekend and catch it up” and then it never happens. But I guess that it’s better that I take care of things which I must rather than our blog. So here’s a nice bullet-pointed catch-up with all but our biggest news which will be on a near future blog.

late March: Dan got accepted to SBTS’ New Testament doctoral program! I’m so excited for him and so proud of all of his hard work!
mid April: After weeks of my searching online for an apartment, Dan and I stumbled onto a great place and signed the lease the same day
same week: My recurring knee problem flared up the worst it had ever been up to that point, swelling up to the size of a grapefruit and rendering me useless. I worked from home and Dan had to wait on me hand and foot
same week: Because we were moving off campus, we needed a second instrument of reliable transportation, so we bought a new Cobalt. Welcome to the family, Norrin Radd!
same week: We started packing since we were moving in two short weeks
April 26: Moving day. Special thanks to all who came and helped!
May 12: My knee flares up again, imitating the last grapefruit-knee incarnation. I work from home, thank you Zappos, and Dan gets stuck playing nursemaid again. Poor fellow. Yay marriage!
May 16: Dan graduated at SBTS with his Master of Divinity degree. All kinds of family came and celebrated and it was great fun although freezing at the actual ceremony.
Memorial Day Weekend: We went to St. Louis so Dan could help his dad build shelves in the basement (so impressive). We got to spend some time with the Kuntzes and the Brookshires and meet new little Mikail
This past week: We just got back from a double whammy of trips. First, Dan accompanied me to Chicago for the Perl Conference that I went to for work. We got to spend a delicious dinner with the Anizors and the Hutchesons and met the Anizors new little girl. Then we drove to Montauk State Park in southern Missouri for Dan’s birthday to flyfish with his family. Yay, knitting time for Jen! Then we drove back to St. Louis and Dan went golfing with Bob and Jeremy on Sunday before heading back to Louisville late Sunday night. Whew! So exhausting! I love Norrin, but I don’t want to see him again for a while.

Not so fresh and not so washed

Jen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:42:30 +0000

Look at this picture closely.

OK, I don’t know if this is true, or an urban legend, or whatever, but a co-worker forwarded it to me. And then we discussed the plausibility of such an occurrence. Was the lettuce not washed or just washed in dirty water? How fast does a frog grow from the size of something that noone would notice to what looks like a fully grown adult? Do frogs eat whatever was in that bag (spinach or lettuce)? Because I thought they only ate bugs. But obviously not as tadpoles. What the heck do tadpoles eat? It became quite the hullabaloo. You’ll get tons of hits if you google “fresco lavado.” Regardless, the picture completely grosses me out and gives me the heebee-jeebees. That’s right, the heebee-jeebees. And I love bagged salad (so convenient!), though not so much if it contains this little bonus.

In case you were wondering

Jen — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:59:07 +0000

I’ve noticed those equal sign bumper stickers many times before, but today when I saw one during my commute home, I resolved to unearth the mystery. A quick google search of “equal sign bumper sticker” ended my quest. It’s the Human Rights Campaign. I was really excited because I thought that had something to do with the suffering of people in China, North Korea, Iran, or other places where human rights are non-existent. Not so. It’s an organization working for equal rights for gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. Just in case you were wondering.

Great Blog Series on Birth Control

Jen — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:56:41 +0000

Our friends Amber and Phyllis are co-authoring this really helpful and biblically-minded blog series on birth control and family planning. It’s very instructive and I learned several things. I highly recommend it, regardless of your phase in life.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven

Weird News: Episode 2

Jen — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:00:30 +0000

This temp job is awesome! - I have to admit, I’d totally be fine with someone paying me to fly around. The sad thing is, it doesn’t look like it’s meeting its purpose anyway.

Packrat doesn’t even begin to cover this - Take a special note of the walking sticks!

They’re nine years old for crying out loud - Good grief.

Gender issues are getting worse - A 15-20 minute operation to have your life irrevocably changed. How will these men feel about this in 20 years?

Another Example of Bad Marriage Practices in Culture

Jen — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:59:57 +0000

I’m not the greatest wife in the world, but even I can see this is totally jacked up.

Here are some interesting excerpts:

Can a piece of paper save a marriage? One suburban Boston couple figured it was worth trying so they entered into a legal agreement to manage a major source of tension in their relationship - money.

and:

Postnups, while much less common than prenuptial agreements, are gaining in popularity. Nearly 50 percent of attorneys polled by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reported an increase in the number of postnups from 2002 to 2007.

and:

Postnups might be used to determine who owns assets, set a budget for household expenses or remove a business from the table in the event of a divorce. Couples also have used them to decide such things as how often the mother-in-law gets to visit or how many boys-only weekends the husband gets to take.