A much overdue update...(from Sarah)

We'll start this out with a nice photo of us in Switzerland.

Wow. I knew this blogging thing wouldn't last long. I'm picking it back up again right now! I think the big problem is that I update my facebook page and then don't have the energy to hit this page, there's only so much talking about yourself you can do. But this is for those of you without facebook pages, enjoy!

Things we've been doing the last few months (in no chronological order):

• We went to a Ben Folds show here in Houston a couple of weeks ago, it was awesome. I have done nothing but listen to his music since then.

• Kellen has been working like a slave in the lab, working up the geochron of his garnets. He's working with HF a lot and we are starting to get concerned that his latest cravings for milk could indicate that the HF is leaching calcium from him. We'll keep an eye on that. (I'm mostly joking, he is being very careful while working with dangerous acids).
  

• It will not surprise any of you who know me that I, a 27 year old girl from Washington State whose favorite television show is the West Wing, voted for Obama and was overjoyed when he won. No need to go too far into politics, but I'm happy that I'll be able to tell our kids that we watched history happen while in the company of good friends (we went to an election party at Mindy and Jason's). Also, you may be interested to know that Harris County, the county that encompasses Houston and its suburbs went solidly blue. That made me feel a stronger kinship with this city.

• We went to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver and saw Ben Kessel for a weekend. That was a fun, alcoholic weekend. We came back inspired and Kellen has brewed two new beers since then.

• Kellen's canoe has been fiberglassed and flipped over, so now the inside of the canoe is getting worked. I'm sure he can tell you more about that.

• We went on vacation! I spent a weekend in Copenhagen visiting my friend from college, Mike Baab, and then met up with Kellen in Switzerland where he was doing his masters field work. We spent a week trucking around the Alps and Lake Geneva. Blogger is the biggest pain when it comes to uploading photos. That's the largest reason it has taken us so long to post an update about it. If you want to check out our vacation photos, you can do so at Sarah's flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/88306486@N00/
  

• I, along with several of my girlfriends here in Houston, am completely obsessed with the Twilight books. We realize we're a little old for it and that it is a silly obsession, but it's been really fun passing the books around and comparing tales of not eating and sleeping while we read them. We're going to the midnight premier of the movie on Nov. 20th. We wouldn't normally be that crazy, but Catherine is leaving for her Spain vacation the next day and we don't want to leave her out! It should be interesting, since I have to got to work the next day, but I've done worse before (like the time I got the 7th Harry Potter book and stayed up until 4AM reading it, I may have a problem).
  

• Kellen bought me a fancy camera for my birthday. Here's a video I made with it, it is admittedly rough, but illustrates our idiot dog well:

• Coming up, our friend Jamey is moving in with us for a few months while her fiance learns the ropes of his new engineering job here in Houston. We're jazzed to have her around.

• The holidays should be fun. We don't really have a plan for Thanksgiving yet, but for Christmas we'll be in the Northwest, getting our visit on.
  

• Everything else is rather status quo, my job is fine, Kellen's school is good, the dogs are happy, our friends are great, our family is in good health.
  

We'll update again soon!

Canoe, full steam ahead.

Well, there has been some progress on the canoe as of late. I know, we haven't posted any pictures from Switzerland, mainly 'cause we are just too damn lazy. The fiberglass arrived by UPS today, so, I got all excited and managed to successfully lay up the first coat by myself, all after getting home from school!

Shaping the outside stems with a spokesheave.

Looking down at the "football" after the first coat of epoxy.

Looking down the bilge

Stem (fiberglass will be trimmed after epoxy sets up)

Hurricane Ike Images

I (Sarah) am safe, y'all. Kellen's safe, too, but he spent the whole of Hurricane Ike safely ensconsed in Switzerland. This post is mostly for Kellen's benefit, so he can see what things look like over here.
We still don't have any power. I am at a friends house, they're one of the lucky few households that have regained electricity. They were nice enough to let me use their internet, so I thought I'd use the opportunity to post some photos from the storm and aftermath. Once my power is up and running, I plan to write a nice full post about my experience. But for now, enjoy the photos.

See, here's me safe and sound, standing in front of the flooded bayou with Cara.

Paul and Cara's backyard, a little bit of their fence got broken, it shouldn't be too hard to fix.

Memorial Drive, under water.

A busted out building next door to Paul and Cara's house.

The glass in the street from the busted building.

The Texaco station by our house.

Our backyard.

A Shell Station hurt pretty badly by the storm.

Our front yard and driveway.

IKE!

Well Ike is looming, heading straight for Houston.  For any of you who may be concerned, don't worry - we should be fine.  Kellen is in Switzerland right now and I am here on my own (with the dogs, of course).  My plan is to secure things here at the homestead and then hunker down at Paul and Cara Bovet's house (by order of the City of Houston, if you don't need to evacuate, don't).  They live in a nice, new, sturdy house which should withstand the storm well.  We will likely be without power for some time after the storm.  I'll have my phone with me, though, and cell coverage is usually one of the first things up!

Just Beachy

We escaped from the city this last weekend and headed to the beach! We rented a house in Surfside with a bunch of our friends and spent the whole weekend goofing off. It was pretty awesome. We did a bunch of different things:

We barbequed.

(Paul, Kellen, and Ben surveying their masterpieces)

We gleefully ate the hot dogs off the barbeque.

(Ben enjoying a dogger)


We read some great literature.

(Me, Catherine and Becky indulging in some chick lit)

We did some damage on the waves.

(Me, Kellen, Ben, Dave and Paul trucking out to the water)


We napped.

(Dave kickin back)


We played some beach games...

(Kellen pitching the wiffle ball, Brad looking on from 2nd base)


...and some indoor games, too.

(the guys getting taken for a ride by our resident card shark Brad)


We generally relaxed our butts off.

(Kellen and I hanging out on the couch, sandy and salty and actually pretty gross)

The heat! Oh God, the heat!

It is hot in Houston.

Yeah Edouard!

Tropical Storms are great! Our best days in Houston have been those blessed by tropical storms. The reason for this is really quite simple, its not insufferably hot! Tropical storm Edouard turned out to be nothing more than a typical winter day in the NW - well, it was a bit warmer, in the 70's, but still...it rained, and there was some wind. Whats great is that the news media and government panic, businesses and schools close down and everyone hunkers in. AWESOME!! Sarah didn't have to go to work, I didn't have to go into the lab, it was the coolest its been in a month, no traffic, best air quality in a month, shit...I want more tropical storms!