Garden Update and Obligatory Kitten Picture

Some exciting news is in the works -- but until everything is official, just keep sending some good vibes in Dan's general direction. =)

As for what I *can* tell you -- summer has officially started to plague Texas. While we have not exactly been enjoying the 90+ degree weather, our garden is a big fan. If you look closely, you can see what we had for dinner last night.

The first BLT's of the summer!

Finnegan and Loki continue to be best buds. It's pretty adorable. Loki has assumed full parental responsibility for his kitten -- escorting him to the litter box, insisting we feed him the *SECOND* the kitten cries for food, demanding his release from his daytime/overnight bathroom sanctuary, etc etc.

However.. a certain big cat has chewed off the majority of the whiskers on the kitten's cheeks. We have yet to catch him in the act -- but Loki has his fair share of playtime battle scars too. Specifically, some patches of hair missing on his tail.

I wonder how that might have happened..

And then there were ** two ** !

Lots to update!

These past few weeks have flown by. We had a fantastic weekend visit/Austin vacation with the Connors family. Especially because most of it was spent playing games in the hotel room, and talking over good eats from Whole Foods. I'm glad we will see you again in *under* a month! It had been way way too long.

Here are some pictures from the weekend: enjoying some live Blues in Austin, and taking in a sunset from the deck of Oasis.

Keeping with the adventurous spirit, this weekend we grabbed a friend, complete with his period Viking garb, and headed to a Renaissance Festival south of Dallas. The fairgrounds were beautiful; they had taken great care to maintain the integrity of the natural environment. The majority of the grounds were covered in shade from the large trees, and there were several bridges you need to cross in order to negotiate the creek. It lent an almost authentic air to.. well, lets face it, the glorious campyness that is a Renaissance Festival.

In a strange twist of fate, Dan thinks this man is the same man that hosted Turtle Races in the MN Ren. Fest. from when he was a child. Apparently, when he was young he bought the identical shirt from a Turtle Racer - and the routine was eerily similar. Conspiracy? What do you think Di, do you recognize this Carnie?

In addition to the over abundance of 40 year old men in spandex tights, and busty women -- we managed to find He-Man!

But the biggest news of all, we got a kitten!! We're big softies. After meeting those two foster kittens, and seeing how happy Loki was to have another cat to play with -- we just couldn't say no. So without further-to-do..

I'd like to introduce our new fur baby, Finnegan!

In less than an hour of having him home, Loki and Finnegan became best buds. Wrestle-mania under the kitchen table has been on-going ever since.

Of course, Finnegan can only keep up for 45 minutes before being completely exhausted.

He sleeps like a wet noodle. An adorable, pot-bellied, purring wet noodle. (^^ this is his favorite sleep pose)

When life gives you lemons..

First and foremost, Happy Mother's Day to our Mommies! We miss you!

The past week has been a very crazy one in the Connors household. The moment the stress of Finals week had passed, life opened up a can of worms. Our bank account was hacked into, one of our car windows was smashed in and our Dan's Grandpa's cow-horns were stolen from the backseat (no one can make fun of me for carrying duct tape in my purse now, see -- it came in handy!) and poor Loki developed a swollen paw.

So what do you do when life throws so many lemons at you?

Make baklava, of course!

And then, you use the baklava to bribe friends to visit (with their foster kittens..)

This was Dan's first time being around itty-bitty kittens. And while skeptical at first, he quickly became a big softy. Especially because the little black kitten was working him over -- big time.

Surprisingly, Loki *loves* kittens. He talks to them, smells them, and desperately tries to get close to them. But then flees like a little chicken when they start making a move towards him. He spent most of the evening working up the courage to touch one with his paw.

Almost a month away until we visit Minnesota ! Can't wait to see you soon!

Overdue Update with lots of Good News!

These past few weeks have been very good to us.

First and foremost, this week marks our 4th anniversary as a couple! We both managed to get next weekend off -- so hopefully once the stress of finals week has passed, we can finally get out and enjoy ourselves and celebrate for a few days.

In other good news, whenever someone calls the Hospital to leave positive comments about an employee, they send out a letter to the employee with all the compliments they were bestowed. And yesterday, Dan just got an absolutely glowing letter in the mail talking about how his compassion went above and beyond the call of duty (!). It's true, Dan is such an amazing, compassionate, patient and thoughtful man. I'm so glad he can bring these strengths with him to his job.

And my good news? I am less than a week from finishing my first year as a Ph.D. Candidate. AND. My research from my Master's thesis will be published in a scientific journal in just a few months! If you'd like a copy, I'd be happy to send you one once it hits the press.

April was very good to us.

Other random updates:

Our little garden is really starting to take off. George, the tomato plant, already has two quarter-sized green tomatoes coming in -- and we have been thoroughly enjoying taking full-advantage of our little herb garden.

Texas is really starting to heat up now that April has passed. We are still trying to hold out turning on the AC, despite daily temps in the mid-80s. The biggest beneficiary of this is definitely the cat.

There he is, in his typical window pose, stalking the birds. If you look closely you can see his arch-nemesis: a big, fat robin. He sits in the same spot all day -- right on the very edge of our apartment sign. It drives Loki bonkers. He spends the day twitchy and talking to his robin; and the robin spends the day staring at the cat and singing his happy little tune.

Loki's other recent obsession has been the REI box (and packing paper) that my new backpack came in. He has so much fun with them that we don't have the heart to take them away. Typically, play involves stealing 3-6 highlighters off of my desk, or from my backpack, or from the pencil jar. Then, he hides them under the paper, or his box. And spends all day batting them between locations.

That's whats new in our next of the woods - I'll make sure to take pictures of *us* for next time.

Take care!

Kayaking and Family Game Night

Yesterday, on Dan's day off, we decided to finally check out the Baylor Marina and go for an early evening kayak. It was Dan's first time in a kayak (unless you count Wii Sports Resort), and *maybe* my fifth time. Nothing like the blind leading the blind on an aquatic adventure!

15 minutes into our paddle it started to slightly drizzle. The Marina sent out a motorized flat boat to tell us we needed to come back. By the time we were on shore, the sun was shining -- but they said we were out of luck. Oh well. Better luck next time! We both left feeling very encouraged -- the Marina is only a 5 minute bike ride away, and as students our rentals are free. I think they will be seeing a lot of us in the coming weeks!

Finally, I'll post some pictures from our impromptu game of Risk. I'm a bad student -- instead of listening to the rules, I emptied my container and took over North America. The game quickly escalated to opening other containers in an attempt to "win" according to the new rules. (Sorry Dan, I promise one day I'll have patience to learn the *real* rules)

It should be no surprise that Loki was thrilled with this new game.

I think there are still pieces lodged under the chest.

For your own safety, I highly recommend NOT laying next to the chest as you attempt to fish out pieces.

Spring has Sprung!

We have had one major case of spring fever these past few weeks.

The birds are singing, the wild flowers are blooming and the beetles and moths are emerging and driving Loki absolutely insane. We have especially been enjoying the wild flowers -- look at these bluebonnets. Aren't they gorgeous?

With a little encouragement and lots of advice, we set up a little garden in front of our apartment. (Thanks C & G!) We now have window boxes full of Thai Basil, German Thyme, Chives from Mom's garden and Flat-leaf Parsley. I've already started the habit of eating a chive on my walk to work (sorry co-workers!). And our herb garden has already been utilized for many homemade vinaigrettes. (That basil is SPICY!).

We also have "Big Jim" the New Mexican hot peppers and "George" our Roma tomato plant. I'm so excited to use my new food processor and start making some pesto. (Dan says he is excited for that as well.)

This week we *finally* got around to organizing and unpacking the remaining boxes from our move.. 9 months ago... Getey, you have created a monster. After showing Dan how to hang a cabinet in the bathroom, and floating shelves in the kitchen -- he has been walking around with the power drill looking for projects.

I better wrap this post up; Dan has tied the leather pull from my purse onto a string -- the boys are running up and down the stairs and smashing into walls.

I'll end with my April Fools day baking.

You make a lot of work friends with 5 lbs of dirt dessert.

Hope all is well at home. Can't wait to visit in just a few short weeks!

-K&D

Ok, so it's been a month since we posted last. There's gotta be some good stuff that we can impart to our followers! So, first things first: Its March, and I've gotta say...

Go Baylor Bears!!!

It's really fun to watch march madness coverage when you have a team that's catching a little depth in the tournament. The men's Basketball team was really fun to follow this year, and everybody in Waco is proud to have Baylor into the Elite Eight.

As you may have guessed, I've been pretty preoccupied with the sports for most of the month.

Kristin is really starting to hit the hard end of her semester. Thesis ideas are heating up and she needs to set down and finally pick an advisor soon. On top of that, Kristin is pushing though a great many graduate school classes that all like to have big, important, grade-determining papers and tests all crammed into the same four weeks that precede the end of the semester.

The good news? When she finishes, Kristin will be done with huge class loads forever. Almost all of her course knowledge from UMD will transfer over to Baylor and count as Baylor-Smartness. Kristin is then allowed to count said 'smartness' towards the pursuit of her PhD.

Oh? What did you say? More good news? Well, Kristin's dilapidated backpack will be replaced next week thanks to REI!

(ok, well sure. We paid for it, but it was 20% off because we were members, and we used all $6.50 of our dividend towards the purchase).

As for myself, I'm doing the best to help out where I can, keep clean clothes in the hamper, and help out with dinner on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This past Thursday was a disaster, and I'm not going to say any more about it than the meatloaf had a horrible consistency due to the cornmeal and a horrible taste due to the lemon.

It's usually better when K plans out what I'll be making for dinner in the evenings :)

Alright, I've run out of steam on the whole getting-ya'll-up-to-date-free-style thing, so now I'm just gonna start flingin' pictures up ala slide-show fashion.

Dinosaur Valley State Park!

Gotta start the day with all the essentials.

Then you've gotta visit your somewhat 'odd' attractions.

And the scenery was very nice. Kristin and I had our first hike of the spring walking around this park!

Sadly, the dino tracks that this park was trying to showcase were 'difficult' to see due to all the rain we'd had recently. However, that didn't stop a mass pilgrimage of parents and kids from crossing the now-underwater path to see them!

Random Images!!!

The ultimate way to watch NCAA Basketball.

Kristin's New Haircut!

Awesome Hat!

UpClose Loki and Sweet Potato Pie!