Intro

Yes, I've been pestering Jessica with the idea of setting up a blog for awhile now… The bloggish contraption we setup on our website wasn't working out too well—It is fairly easy to update, but I have to be the one to update it… so it doesn't happen very often, or much at all. The other drawback is that it isn't formatted or programmed as nicely as this one. I think it also makes sense as Jessica is around Miriam more and can blog about those daily events, happenings, and quotes…

If history is a good teacher, my posts will probably be infrequent and short, with few pictures (you can go to our website for those). But with both of us contributing, I'm guessing we'll have regular updates to the blog.

So my current update on life is that I will graduate with a master's in Civil Engineering in December; I have finished my project, will present on my work today, and then I focus on finishing the writeup. I have the first rough draft completed, so now I just need to go the rounds on my committee and get it accepted by everyone. Currently I work at Aquaveo developing the Watershed Modeling System (WMS), HY-8 (culvert design software), and Hydraulic Toolbox (a simple calculator for hydraulic structures). I am looking at a few different companies as opportunities for employment after I graduate, but Aquaveo is looking the most promising at this moment of time.

Miriam is growing bigger, faster, and more fun every day. Somewhere between Thursday and Saturday she developed a lot more speed and confidence in her crawling. Until then we could put her down, leave for a few minutes, and expect that she wouldn't be more than 5 feet from where she started. Now she covers that distance in seconds! And it changed in just a matter of days! Then while we were at church on Sunday, we put her on the floor, and she took off towards the podium, and climbed the stairs as if she had done it hundreds of times, no hesitation, and didn't slow down from crawling—it was the first time we had ever seen her climb stairs! It seems she has a certain fetish about eating hair—but more than just mommy's long hair, even daddy's short hair—or anyone else's hair that strays too close, even another baby's… We have also been locked in a vicious circle: Miriam will come and give me kisses somewhere on the face (generally open-mouthed and very slobbery) but the whole thing makes me laugh, which than makes her laugh, and often will encourage her to do it again, which then makes me laugh harder… Hearing her laugh alone is contagious… Last night was a night filled with laughter—I don't recall the last time I laughed so hard or much. She is so fun to have at home. She brings so much joy and love.