Texas, Part 1

Kat and I are in Fort Worth, Texas, with her sister, brother-in-law, and incredibly adorable nephew. We've enjoyed a weekend full of family, play time with the baby, not an insignificant amount of thunderstorms, really good barbecue, and that famous southern hospitality.





Today we are off to New Braunfels, TX to see Kat's grandmother... I have to say that I really do feel at home here in Texas. The people, the accents, the wide open spaces... It just warms my heart to be here! Cali is home for awhile, but this place definitely has an appeal that seems to defy logic or explanation. Cheers!

Happy Girl!!!

Kat passed her quals on May 23rd with FLYING COLORS! Here's what she has to say, in her own words!

I am pleased to report it went really well this morning! Honestly, it was all God these past few weeks upholding Brent and me, and keeping me on track for this day. The oral defense was very smooth (no technological difficulties, no unreasonable questions that I couldn't answer), and the Committee had lots of positive things to say. I wasn't even that nervous! It has been a whole month of learning that I am not in control, that God is trustworthy and sovereign over all my ways, that I must daily repent of fear of man.

We've learned a ton, about ourselves and each other, during this last month. We approached it with sort of a "work trip" mentality, so that Kat pretty much focused exclusively on the exam. Now we're off in Texas, enjoying the feeling of completion of a job well done!

Tres Uganda

Our team met last night for our 3rd of 6 team meetings in preparation for our trip. Its been beaten into my head through corporate trainings that teams have to DEVELOP... and that there is a natural and healthy process of Forming, Storming, Norming, Conforming, etc. that all go through...

Yet it IS always so nice to see that those trainings are actually RIGHT! Last night it felt like our team was finally starting to hit the "conforming" phase ~ Interesting how at first everyone is kinda shy and awkward ~ We all knew each other in the sense that we go to the same church... But it is a whole different ballgame to be either working closely together or planning something substantial.

So things are good- We are doing a Group Fundraiser on June 8th called Parents Night Out where we will encourage parents to leave their kids with us for an evening and have a nice night out. Our two youngest team members are in charge, which is SUPER! Gives me a chance to ... let... go... of... the control... So... hard... to not want... to control everything!!! WHEW! But I'm learning~ Oh how I am learning!

Kat's quals are today... We'll find out in a few short hours whether or not she is an OFFICIAL candidate for the PhD at the Scripps Research Institute!!! Woo Hoo!!!

And I just couldn't resist...

Pretty natural looking, eh? Borrowed baby of a fellow Scripps-er~

Passages

Kat has been putting incredible hours in at the lab as she prepares for her Qualifying Exam on May 23. The quals are kind of like the midpoint of the PhD. It is the point at which you declare your thesis and plan for the rest of the program.

She was able to take a much-deserved break on Saturday when we went to a going-away party for one of her colleagues, Jonas, who is graduating and moving to Montreal with his wife (Note the lab gift of lots of warm, wooly clothing in the picture below)



Its really neat to see scientists get together to drink European sodas you've never heard of, talk about subjects which are actually making more sense to me (scary), and to celebrate the accomplishments of one of their fellow researchers.

I think this recent season has given Kat a lot more hope... One day, Lord-Willing, it will be US wearing funny clothes in the park with a bunch of grinning scientists gathered round!

Cracked...

So, let this be a lesson to you... And don't say I never warned you!

Pop Quiz: If you should happen to one day walk out to your car, and see that a small crack (say, smaller than a dollar bill) has developed in your windshield, is the proper response:

A.) Ignore it - Chalk it up to one of many things on a 1999 car that go wrong which you don't really want to spend money on to fix

or

B.) Drop everything you are doing and call the window repair guy, or else pretty soon the crack will exapad and you you will have to call the window replacement guy (who charges substantially more than the repair guy)...

Which one do you think I picked?


*Sign* - I don't recall reading about this in the "How to be an adult" manual... Oh well!

Add to my X-mas list: Off-Road Commode

Off-Road Commode, Model# ORC Towing Accessories Northern Tool + Equipment: "When you're out in nature, you never know when nature will call."

Where has this been all my life???

Otterson Hall 1

Otterson Hall 1
Originally uploaded by Rady School.

It's a bird... it's a plane... it's... my new B-school...

Though it may look a bit like something out of Star Wars, this is Otterson Hall, where I will be going to school this fall. The grand opening is June 1st, and I will start orientation on Sept 14

Movin' right along...

This past weekend was "Move Central" - Two couples in our church were moving into new homes, and I was fortunate to be able to help out both for a bit. I love helping people get into new homes. To me, the oft-scoffed "work party" really is the truth. It is so neat to be able to come alongside your friends to help them in that most basic of need... to get a roof over their head... and a 400 lb armoir in their living room! :-)

On Friday I painted doors at Brandon and Abby's new place. Some might tell you that the doors are left to the most talented artisan. Those people are liars. It's the easiest job on the planet, but I was happy for the low-stress work!

Saturday brought our friend's John and Heidi moving into their new place. They got a good crew together, provided the necessary staples for any move (Doughnuts and Pizza), and made the day a lot of fun!


A crew that was Unstoppable...


Thankfully... No casualties


Pizza will get you everywhere with people!

I topped off the evening by heading downtown to the Padres game with my buddies from work. Padres lost 5-nil in an anemic performance, but the game was a sell-out and being San Diegoans, nobody really cares THAT much about sports, so they were doing the wave, having fun, etc. Good times!

Tee-shirt night at Petco - gotta love that!

So you might be saying to yourself, "Hey, isn't this Brent AND KAT in California? Where's the better half?" Alas, my dear wife was slaving away at the lab all weekend. Her qualifying exam is on May 23rd, and she is working so very hard on her proposal. Say a prayer! It's due to her committee on Wednesday!

Late nights with Golden Spoon and Good Coffee

It's cool! Last night we felt like real students again. Kat is working really hard on her Qualifying Exam, which is like the mid-point of her PhD program. She has to put together both her actual thesis, and an alternate proposal for something not related to her field.

Being the ever-overachieving person that she is, her alternate proposal (which in most cases is not going to actually be acted upon) is for nothing less than to cure malaria... No problem! :-) It's actually really neat to see her so fired up about science. She's working long and hard, and that's where I come in with the encouragement of a late night visit to her lab with Golden Spoon, which I have come to learn, is the brain fuel for all great scientists!

As Kat has been working, I have been playing (Fair? Hmmmm?) My ever-ready buddy, Hank, and I went to Sea World this past weekend.

I never thought I would live in a place where Sea World could be a spur of the moment outting. You should see the humble little zoo in my home town... I think it has like two gold finches and a pet goat or something.

Africa - Our effort continues to come together. Right now we are sending out support letters, which is always a kinda weird feeling. I know there is a biblical justification to give the burden to God, and then to let others know of it. I think this is just one of those times to be reminded of the fact that, contrary to all notions of American idealism, we are called to be dependent on God and others. This trip is stretching us both in ways we never imagined!

The Uganda Trip... From the pen of Mrs. K

Hi all,

Here is an excerpt from Kat's letter to her prayer partners for Uganda. She did a GREAT job of summarizing the team (and our) state of mind and current progress about Uganda. And now you can't say that Kat never writes in the blog!

:-)

Brent

Hello, Prayer Team!

I wanted to send a quick update on the progress we are making towards the missions trip. The group had our second team meeting last night, and we covered a TON of stuff. First we addressed and stuffed envelopes to send out support letters to folks within our church. We thought it would be good to send one letter on behalf of the team to people in the church so they don't get 3 or 4 letters each. (We each will then have a more personalized one to send to friends and family.) The purpose of the letter is to ask for prayer and financial support, so please pray that people would give joyfully and generously. There are so many demands on the church body right now, like the building fund, Faith Promise (which supports many missionaries), the Uganda Children's Sponsorship Program, the Deacon's fund, and the regular tithe. So we are trying to be sensitive to this and learn how to walk by faith.

At the start of our meeting we had a great time of praise. We are blessed to have a beginning guitarist among us - a college freshman named Chris - who was brave enough to play for us. Between his playing and my missing the high notes, we had a good laugh about how the Bible says "Make a joyful NOISE to the Lord," not "Make beautiful music to the Lord!"

We covered a lot of logistical stuff about vaccinations and insurance during the meeting, but we also had a devotional on the importance of giving and worked on the team goals part of our Team Covenant, which we'll continue to develop as the meetings go on. To tell you the truth, this was the hardest part of the meeting, since each member has different expectations about what the team should be like. We really need prayer for unity and open communication in our group. Brent and I talk SO much about the trip together, but we rarely get feedback from the other group members in response to the dozens of trip-related emails and phone calls we send. I think that's been particularly challenging to Brent, since it's difficult to trust people with big things (like planning fundraisers) if they don't follow through with small things. So please pray that our team would encourage each other and not resent all the work that goes into planning a trip like this! Pray that each person would be diligent and fulfill the roles we have taken.

One cool idea for a fundraiser we discussed: First Aid training! The Red Cross will come and do training at NCPC for a group of 8 or more for a fixed rate. We were thinking that if we opened it up to our church and other local churches and got a group of 25+ (when the 10% discount kicks in), we could charge people less than or equal to what they would pay for a First Aid and CPR training course at the Red Cross location ($70), but more than the per-person cost to run the on-site program. All the proceeds would then be split between our group members. Please pray for this and other ideas to be carried out, to help relieve the financial burden. Also, if YOU have ideas for group fundraisers, please let me know!

Another item: Brent and I have proposed to a visiting colleague that she rent our spare bedroom for the month of July. She goes back to Connecticut July 31 and is currently staying in a hotel. It would be fantastic for us to bring in some extra cash for the trip, and it would be cheaper for her as well. Not only does she seem kind and interesting, it turns out she is a Christian, too! Something of a rarity among scientists. So, please do pray that Juliet would take us up on our offer, if it is God's will.

Whew! Thanks for reading to the end, and for your prayers and encouragement. Oh--perhaps the biggest thing you can pray about for me, in particular, these next few weeks: I have my Qualifying Exam on May 23. I am working really hard for it, and Brent is trying to do more household things to help me out. God give me the grace to accept help gracefully and show my appreciation and affection towards him, and for him to sacrifice for me and be assured of my gratitude and love. And may God give me success on the writing and defending of my proposals!

Love,
Kathryn