We Believe

We thought some of you might find this interesting. Jane Hoeppner had a 2007 media guide sent to us this week, and look what we found on the first page.Recognize anyone?

Camp fires, cabins, and long drives

Wow, it's been forever since we've updated this thing, and over a month and a half since I've contributed. I got super busy during the last teaching session since I ended up teaching a full load of four classes due to a shortage of teachers. I had two weeks off afterwards, but we spent those going camping at Lake Monroe with our good friends Cary and David, and then taking a trip down to Kentucky and Tennessee to see some family and good friends.

While we were camping, we had the awesome experience of viewing a meteor shower at midnight. Cary asked Eric a bunch of space questions that I had never thought of before, and I ended up being reminded how smart and cool my husband is. It's amazing to even try to fathom how vast our universe really is and very humbling to realize that our lives really are just a "blip" in time.

During our Kentucky trip, we had the pleasure of spending some time at Eric's brother's family's house. Rob and Anne have two kids who are just the cutest and coolest niece and nephew I can imagine. Ian had a lot of fun playing with them, and us adults had a lot of fun watching them all.

From there, we went to Tennessee to meet up with some of our best friends who now live very far away. We stayed in a cabin in the Smoky Mountains and pretty much just played a lot of games and ate a lot of homemade food. On our way back, we stopped again in Kentucky to see my uncle's family and spend the night at the Long's, some very good friends of ours who used to be at Bethel College, but now are located at Asbury Seminary. We always go away from their house encouraged and challenged to be good parents. The Long's certainly are a good example to us.

I guess the biggest thing I'm feeling right now is supreme thankfulness for the wonderful friends and family we have. The past two weeks, while busy, were incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating simply because we were always in such good company. How fortunate we are to know so many quality people and to be able to spend time with them.

Loud...very loud

For my birthday, Lisa, Adam, and Sherri went together and bought me concert tickets for the Collective Soul/Counting Crows/Live concert in Indianapolis. When we got into Victory Field (the concert was in a minor league baseball park) we found out that all of the seating was general admission. As a sign of our age, we immediately bypassed the "standing area" in front of the stage and made a bee line for the bucket seats on the upper level.

When we got to our seats, we were comforted by the fact that we were surrounded by other 20+ year olds (and actually quite a few 30, 40, and 50+).

The show started with Collective Soul; they played a lot of songs off of their greatest hits album. Apparently, about a 1/3 the way through their set a fight/scuffle broke out among some fans in front of the stage, and Ed (lead singer of Collective Soul) called out, "Hey, stop that s***! Don't be interfering with my show!" When security went to throw the guy out, Ed then said, "Don't throw him out...just separate him...we'll all have a good time."

Next, Live performed. I haven't heard a lot of their music, but I really liked it. They put on a great, energetic show.

Finally, Counting Crows performed. Overall, I was kind of disappointed with them. Whereas Collective Soul and Live performed as if they actually wanted to be there, Counting Crows seemed like they were just phoning it in. One neat part of their concert though was that it started pouring the rain while they sang "December." Lisa and I sat in a section by ourselves (nearly everyone else left) getting drenched while we enjoyed "December".

On our way home, we had a major case of the munchies, so we hit Burger King for some cheeseburgers and onion rings.

Going to a concert like that was something I wouldn't want to do very often (based on my work in the Speech and Hearing Sciences department at IU, I have a pretty good idea of the permanent damage I probably did to my hearing), but it was definitely a blast. Who needs those upper couple thousand Hz of frequency response anyway.....

iLove

Many of you know that I finally ordered the replacement for my computer this week. Well, because I'm (still) a student, I was able to purchase a new 30 GB iPod for only $50. It arrived today. I'm in iLove.

Also, as of 7:07 pm Eastern Daylight time, my customized Macbook is in Anchorage, Alaska (say 'hi' to it for me, Adam and Sherri!)...I hope hope hope it arrives tomorrow. :)

Growing Up

Sometimes things happen which make me realize that Ian is growing up right in front of me. I was making supper this evening when I saw Ian go crawling down the hall to his room. A minute or so later, he came crawling back to the living room dragging something. When I reached a stopping point in my work, I went into the living room to see what he was up to. The first thing I saw was this:
Ian had arranged these pieces from his toolbox in a symmetrical pattern. This is actually quite impressive given that there are two of each color. I haven't sat down to figure out the probability of randomly generating a sequence like this, but the odds aren't actually that good.

Second, I looked up to see him sitting in one of the living room chairs with his face buried in a book, and he was talking to himself. It turns out that the thing he drug back to the living room was one of his books. The kid had gone to his room, picked out a book, brought it back to the living room, climbed into a chair, and started "reading" to himself. I just quietly walked back into the kitchen and resumed working...he didn't need me to entertain him.

P.S. Look how old he looks in this picture of him and Lisa...and how much he looks like Rob.

Look out world.

I don't think this needs any explanation.

Baths and Butterfly Lunchions

This is Ian after one of his evening baths (his most favorite part of the day!), "reading" his favorite book. And he loves his birthday suit. After all, what are those stupid clothes and diapers for anyway? He's also decided he doesn't enjoy being towel dried, but would rather air dry while speed-crawling around the house, laughing all the way. When we're particularly tired or feeling quite lenient, we let him have his fun. And, lo and behold, it becomes fun for us, too.




And here is one of my new friends. He comes to the flower bed at the base of our deck every day to sample the sweetness of my butterfly-inticing flowers. I was able to capture him on camera this afternoon while he ate and drank to his heart's content. It was really a joy to watch. I hope he comes back tomorrow for another buffet meal.

Teaching in the IEP

This afternoon is my first day back in the Intensive English Program after taking a break for one session while Eric was teaching his Intro to Linguistics course. This session, I'll be teaching three courses: basic level grammar, basic level communication, and level three communication. Each session is seven weeks and there are six sessions throughout the year: two in the spring semester, two in the summer, and two in the fall, and we're just beginning Summer II. The IEP somewhat follows the general schedule of IU's collegiate calendar, but with these divisions in the middle of semesters. So it looks like my life from now on will be measured by seven-week sessions! Pretty much every session will be different, especially for me since I'm a "newbie" in the department and get the classes that the more experienced teachers don't want. So my schedule will most likely change from session to session, which is kind of nice for me because it will provide me with a wide range of experiences and levels. Hooray for boosting the resume'!

At any rate, I'm excited about the upcoming session, as well as the next year or so as I get my feet wet in institutional teaching. I'll be phasing out my tutoring students, which basically means that as some of them leave at the end of the summer to return to their native countries, I won't be replacing them with new students like I usually do. Eventually, my main focus will be my teaching in the IEP, which will provide me with more time to spend at home (which means less time for Ian at the babysitter's!).

It's amazing how God has worked this all out. The way things have fallen into place with my career is certainly not because of my brilliant planning. Sure, I've worked hard, but God surely deserves the credit for working things out so beautifully and in just the manner that our family needed. Thanks, Lord!

"Hep"

Today, the world lost a great man...but heaven gained one. Indiana's head football coach, Terry Hoeppner, passed away this morning due to complications from a brain tumor that was discovered a year and a half ago. While we don't know Hep very well personally (we only met him once, briefly), we feel the loss. He was an energetic, tough-nosed, yet compassionate man who led IU football for a mere two seasons. He had the ability to breathe hope and fire into a lifeless program, creating excitement that had not been felt in some time. As far as we know, he was also a follower of Christ, and that conviction showed through in his actions. It is encouraging to know that he is no longer feeling pain. However, his family, friends, and players, as well as the IU community, are experiencing hurt due to his passing. Our prayers go out to them, especially to his wife Jane, who will surely miss him. The two of them were a great team and their unity was obvious. We are thankful to have "brushed elbows" with this man while he was alive, and hope that the legacy he started here at IU will continue in the future.

Friday night musings

Not much has been going on lately. I'm rounding the last lap as far as teaching is concerned...it's hard to believe that Summer Session I is almost over. Once school is done I'm taking a much needed break for a week or two. Since returning to work about a month after Ian was born, I haven't really taken any kind of break. Even when I've been traveling or seeing other people, work/school has occupied much of my time and thoughts. Come June 14th, I'm putting an "Out to lunch" message on my e-mail, and I'm not turning on my computer for a week (of course, I may turn on my wife's computer...hard to go "cold turkey" on the internet).

Looking to the future it is hard to believe that I'm getting ready to start the final leg of my formal education. Come July, I am going to start building the last of the infrastructure that I will need in order to write my dissertation. If all goes well, I should have all of my data collected by the end of December, and I can spend January - April primarily writing up the final portions of my thesis. I'm aiming to defend my dissertation late next Spring, and walk for graduation in May. Being the sentimental sap that I am, I have begun to allow myself to start reflecting on the winding academic journey that has led me to where I am today. The further I have progressed in my education, the more I have come to realize that my acheivements are not mine alone. Who I am today, both personally and academically, is a direct consequence of dozens of people who have poured some aspect of their lives into mine. Most anything that we accomplish is not really due to ourselves; the real doers are those who make us into the kinds of persons who can accomplish things. So, as I enter this "year of fruition", I recognize that it is not about me.