Brett and Kermy Journey

What happened today, I do not know

2012-02-02T16:20:00.000-06:00

Today was very strange.

Today's lecture was on transforming graphs of functions. How do we shift functions up or down, how do we reflect them about an axis, how do we make them look fatter or skinnier (yup, those are the precise mathematical terms)? To be honest, I dread this lecture every semester. It's a lot of information about something you can usually just check on a graphing calculator.

But, every semester, I put on a good face. And every semester, the students seem totally overwhelmed. I clearly remember one of my top students last semester saying, "Can we just skip this section? Please?"

I don't know what happened, but today was different. I had their undivided attention. They were so captivated by function transformations it was comical. I wish I could describe to you the hilarity (and joy) of seeing students sit at the edge of their seats, eyes wide with pure interest, as you describe why inserting a negative in front of a function reflects it about the x-axis. Again, I hardly find this interesting, so I was shocked by their enthusiasm. I kid you not, I even saw one girl smile as she mentally reflected a graph and saw that it would, indeed, match the graph on the board.

What is going on?

I have students that smile at math?

I didn't know 18-year-olds could do that.

Maybe they're high...?

I'm still not sure what exactly transpired today. I don't think I really did anything differently. I think I just have a really good group of students. Again. (Which is delightful since Tuesday I thought they were all a bunch of slackers, as I had five out of twelve students show up for my 5th hour class. Lame.)

We ended the day with a scavenger hunt that I adapted from a high school math teacher's blog that I recently discovered (and that is blowing my mind). Here's the worksheet I gave in case any of my math teacher friends would like to use/improve it in the future. Each prize consisted of a clip of a video that I posted a while back.

Sending much love to you all as I continue to contemplate the events of the day...

Corporate Life

2012-01-14T22:50:00.000-06:00

Hello Friends and Family -

Tis the season of taxes and financial statements. It's the most dreadful time of the year for accountants and their loving wives. Instead of working at this late hour, I will blog.

As Rebecka always writes about silly things, I'd like to take the time to write about important discoveries from the last few months.

1. Einstein Bagels
2. NPR radio - Sophistication at its finest
3. Just Dance for the Wii (props to Sarah Davis)
4. Oral Roberts University - A world wonder
5. Find My Friends App --- Steven Wears is in Edmond, Oklahoma, on the corner of S. Jackson St. and Benton Rd.
6. Oklahoma weather - 70 degrees in January is sort of nice.
7. Saving money at Target - buy 6 tubes of toothpaste, get a $5 giftcard

Most Important: Telenti Belgian Milk Chocolate Gelato from Target - Ice cream tastes like garbage after you try it.

In other news, I get the pleasure of working a bunch of hours. I apologize in advance if I'm a crumby friend over the next two months.

P.s. To all of you who are supporting Rebecka though this desperate hour, I thank you. :)

A Peterson Christmas

2012-01-02T12:04:00.001-06:00

We got back from South Dakota a few days ago, and our time with Brett's family was awesome. We arrived at my in-laws' place around seven in the evening on Christmas day. The family had put the festivities on hold until we arrived. We had Christmas dinner together and then had the Peterson Christmas present opening spectacular. This is only the second year I've been a part of the gift giving around the Peterson Christmas tree, but I'm convinced it's like no other. There are always presents piled to about half-way up the tree. We each take turns giving and opening presents. It's very methodical and structured. I. Love. It.

We ended the evening by watching home videos of Christmas 1988 and 1989. I don't know what makes home videos so funny, but they just are. I was rolling with laughter as I watched the one-year-old version of the baby who grew up to be my husband.

The next day I got to have lunch with my dear friend and office mate from USD. Kailee--along with Brett--is one of the sole reasons I kept my sanity during graduate school. It was so great to see her and catch up and hear about what's going on in the third floor of Dakota Hall, the home of the math department.

Our visits from USD friends continued the next day when we got to have dinner with another dear friend, Nathaniel. In addition to being a math student, Nathaniel was the only guy besides Brett that went to our grad student Bible study in Vermillion. So, the two boys share a special bond as they've endured hours and hours of girls talking, laughing, and flirting conspicuously with the single one. Nathaniel would always come over for Friday night pizza as well when we lived in SD. We miss getting to spend Friday nights with him and watching all kinds of movies from Nacho Libre to Ben Hur.

Another highlight was getting to go wedding dress shopping with my newly engaged sister-in-law, Rachel! She found a beautiful dress, and I know she's going to make a stunning bride. We're so excited to welcome her fiance, Joe, to the family and are looking forward to the ceremony in June.

Rachel's Christmas gift to her siblings and their spouses was a night of ice skating and hot chocolate; so our last evening in Sioux Falls, we all went to the indoor skating rink and attempted to skate. I don't know who thought of the unnatural idea of gliding on ice with a thin blade attached to a shoe, but somehow it's just as fun as I remember it being when I was a kid. It was a great way to end our Christmas journey.

For now, we're home again. We had a great time traveling all over this Christmas season, and I'm so glad we got to see so many friends and family. And as the Swedes say, Borta bra, men hemma best--"Away is good, but home is best."

Sheri hand-made all of these stockings!

"We look so South Dakotan!" -Brett

The future Mr. and Mrs. Pope

Once we got home, we finally got to see the lights at Rhema.

Gotta pose in the circles. It's tradition.

A Kermy Christmas

2011-12-25T13:19:00.001-06:00

We are en route to Sioux Falls!

Homemade candies!

Yesterday we spent a great Christmas Eve with the Kermanshahi clan. The couple days leading up to it, the ladies in the family cooked and baked all sorts of Swedish and American goodies. I had an awesome time learning even more recipes from my mom, who's a wonderful cook. However, I'm still amazed at how quickly days' worth of work disappears in devouring mouths, my mouth being one of the foremost culprits.

It was really fun for me to get to share my family Christmas traditions with Brett this year. We ate an enormous lunch (lunner), opened presents (Hanna and I are convinced this activity occurred much earlier than it did when we were younger), watched The Nativity Story, and attended a beautiful candlelight service at Asbury (a tradition we learned from my dear American husband).

We tried, Rhema. We tried.

After the service, Brett, Hanna, David, and I attempted to go see the Christmas light spectacular that Rhema puts on every year. Sadly, traffic was so congested that we decided just to drive by it and wave. We might try again New Years Eve.

Now we're headed up north for Peterson Christmas! We are very grateful that we have the ability to spend this holiday with so many family members.

So, merry Christmas to you! And as we sang last night in a sanctuary lit by thousands of candlesticks, "Joy to the world! The Lord is come!"

Merry Christmas!

Excitement!

And that's a Christmas platter

From Oklahoma to Idaho

2011-12-22T23:38:00.001-06:00

This past week Brett and I visited our dear friends Josh and Ashley in northwest Idaho. We had a great time talking, laughing, playing games, and reminiscing. Furthermore, we got a small glimpse into both the struggles and the joys that a teacher and a pastor experience in a rural, different part of the country. Part of what fascinated me the most about this part of the country was that in terms of scenery, it was one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Yet in terms of wealth, it was one of the most desperate places I've seen. I kept saying, "It's like being in another country."

Josh and Ashley are living proof that you don't have to go very far to find others that are hurting and are in need of love and compassion. And I'm so glad we got the opportunity to visit them this Christmas!

Here are a few pictures from our travels...

They almost made a dog person out of me. Almost.
Please note Ivan's face (the bigger one).

Done!

2011-12-16T15:17:00.001-06:00

Another semester down!

Every year, I can't believe how quickly classes go by. This semester--although there's always much joy in finishing--I was especially sad to say goodbye to my students. I had an incredible group this time around. For a teacher, students can obviously make or break your job experience (unless you're Superwoman/Superman). These students made me look forward to going to work (nearly) every day. And I'm not sure very many people can say that.

While I'm sad to be saying goodbye to these awesome high school seniors, I'm excited to meet a new bunch come January.

But, until then, Brett and I have some wonderful--although crazy--Christmas break activities planned.

In a few hours, we will be boarding a plane to see our dear college friends, Ashley and Josh, in Idaho. Ashley and I were basically glued to the hip during college. Our visit promises to be great, to say the least. Plus, neither Brett nor I have ever visited Idaho, so that will be another location to pin on the map.

After a few days with Josh and Ashley, we're coming back to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Kermanshahis. As you may remember, a continual debate between Brett and myself is when Christmas should be celebrated. This year, we'll get the best of both worlds as we'll be celebrating Christmas Eve with my side and then traveling Christmas Day to South Dakota to spend Christmas night with Brett's side.

I warned you--crazy, but fun.

This will be the first Christmas Brett and I will get to spend with my family since we've been married. I'm very much looking forward to sharing some of our traditions with my wonderful husband.

That's what we've got planned for the next couple of weeks! I hope to post pictures of our adventures.

What are you up to this Christmas?

Why I'm a Christian

2011-11-22T15:47:00.001-06:00

Sunday's sermon was just incredible, so I wanted to write down my thoughts in order to remember it better and to share our pastor's words. To me, his words summed up exactly why I'm a Christian.

The story begins in Matthew 24, shortly after Jesus told off the business men who were using the temple as a place for commerce rather than for worship:

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

And forty years later (a number that is often used in the Bible to signify completion), the temple was destroyed.

The story continues:

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

The word "coming" that the disciples use is the word parousia in Greek, which meant the presence, arrival, or official visit of someone like a king or emperor. When a king (or President, or diplomat of any kind) comes into town, he can make things happen. His presence is known. So the disciples are saying, "Jesus, when are you going to come and rule? When will your kingdom come and your presence be known to everyone? When will you make things right?"

But I don't think Jesus answered the disciples' question exactly like they were expecting. He didn't give a day or a time. He didn't say He'll be heading up a major war or battle (like the disciples were used to their political leaders doing). Honestly, I think Jesus left the disciples more confused than clued-in. But, He did say this in Luke 17:

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied to them by saying, "The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display, nor will people say, Look! Here it is! or, See, it is there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]."

So, the Kingdom of Heaven is within us? We are the Kingdom of Heaven? But, if the Kingdom is among us, this poses the question--why does it still feel the same? Why do terrible things still happen?

Because we live in the age of darkness, as our pastor put it. Heaven isn't here yet, there's no argument there. Death, grief, and sadness still permeate our world. We live in a broken place.

But God wants to restore the earth, and He started this restoration by becoming man and walking the face of the earth, just like the rest of us. Only God incarnate could redeem the brokenness. And God becoming man would change man forever. As God became man, He called us to join Him in His reconciliation. Now, "the kingdom of God is within us and among us"! Now we bear the signs of what's to come. Make no mistake, we live in a broken world. But one day the brokenness will be no more. There will be no more death, pain, poverty, or sickness. And we bear the signs of what's to come. God has called us to bring heaven to earth. Yes, we live in the age of darkness; but the age of what's to come is within us. We are to be the sign of heaven. We are to be the sign that things will not always be like this. We are to be the sign that restoration will take place. We are to be the sign that there is hope, grace, and love for all. We are the "first fruits" of what's to come.

As Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, in a passage that never ceases to amaze me...

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God is making His appeal through me and through you. For me, this is why I'm a Christian. Because, yes, God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son. But then He said, "Rebecka, won't you join Me in continuing to spread My love, just like My Son did?" As Richard Stearns says, "If Jesus was willing to die for this troubled planet, maybe I need to care about it too." What greater purpose in life could I have than to believe that one day things will be as they should and to do my part in bringing heaven to earth?

I think this takes different forms for everyone--that's another beautiful thing about God: He made so many different kinds of us! For me, bringing heaven to earth means loving my husband fiercely so that our marriage reflects God's unconditional love for humanity. It means showing patience towards my students and seeing them not for who they are now, but for the potential of what they can and will become. It means not worrying about the future, because heaven needs to be brought to earth today.

I can't say I do this well every day. Some days are better than others. But I rest in the hope that when heaven does come, I will be made into what I was intended to be...

perfect.

For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes [His parousia]? Is it not you? -1 Thessalonians 2:19

What I'm thankful for...

2011-11-07T21:58:00.001-06:00

As the Thanksgiving season comes upon us, and--quite frankly--as the gorgeous fall weather puts me in a rather good mood, I thought I'd post about the things I'm very grateful for right now. Plus it serves as an update, for which I am long overdue.

First, I'm so grateful that I'm married to the guy who fits me better than I could ever have imagined. I know our union is sacred because there's no way I could have found someone like him on my own. Furthermore, a quarter of a century today, a wonderful woman gave birth to my husband. So, happy birthday to Brett! And thanks to the Petersons for raising such an incredible son.

Which brings me to the second thing I'm grateful for...

Family. While it's hard to be away from the in-laws, we got to spend an entire weekend with them last week! It was so good to catch up and just be with them again.

And while being away from Brett's family is not fun, it's been awesome to be so close to my family and to get to see Gloria and David grow up right in front of our eyes. Last weekend, Brett and I got to enjoy an entire dance choreographed by Gloria and performed by Gloria, David, and Gloria's friend to Coldplay's "Clocks."

Which brings me to my next point of gratitude.

Coldplay. They have a new album, Mylo Xyloto. Check it out if you haven't already.

Finally, I'm grateful for Mondays, because on Mondays I get to go to Starbucks with one of my best friends in the world. It's always good coffee and great conversation. And who doesn't like that?

For now I will leave you with some pictures from two weekends ago. Hope you are all enjoying this autumn day!

Cats!

Oklahoma pumpkin patch

Trendy

2011-09-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

Hi friends!

We have successfully lived in Tulsa for nearly two months. It has been a wild ride thus far, but we are settling down into a routine. Our weekly schedule includes a big dose of work and a little dose of family, church, and Sarah Davis.

Here are a few highlights from the past month or so.

1. We joined Asbury United Methodist Church and now lead 7th grade small group Bible studies.

2. We are on Season 3 of the Big Bang Theory

3. I was robbed downtown Tulsa

4. We traveled to Dallas to shop at Ikea (See pictures below)

5. Rebecka and I are now fully insured if we die.

If you need any additional information pertaining to the above list - please reach out to us.

I'll leave you all with pictures of our trendy apartment.

Bed

Cat on the pot

Stairs

Living Room

Lovista

One of the best parts of the apartment is the view -
Sadly our photography skills are limited

17 Again

2011-08-26T15:29:00.000-05:00

It's official--Brett and I have survived our first week of work in Tulsa!

On Monday I started my first day as a teacher. Not a tutor. Not a TA. But a full-fledged teacher! For those of you who have known me for a while, you know that being a teacher is really all I've ever wanted to be "when I grow up," so it still feels somewhat surreal that I have finally gotten to this point. Others seem as surprised as I am because all week I have answered questions such as, "So...have you actually taught before?" "And, um, how old are you, exactly?" "So do you go to school here?" And my personal favorite, "YOU'RE a teacher, too?! Good lord, I'm getting old. She looks like she graduated from high school!"

Although I'm employed by the community college here in town, my time is split between teaching accelerated classes (aka College Algebra) at the local public high school and tutoring at the college. During orientation at the high school, the principal told me, "I mean this as a compliment, but we are going to have to get you an ID asap because you WILL be mistaken as a high schooler." Thank you for that. But I obeyed, and the first day of class I went to go get my ID. Which now says I'm a senior in high school.

I have not obeyed the "You should wear this at all times" rule.

On the bright side, my 17- and 18-year-old students (whom I apparently look like) are incredibly sharp and (for the most part) motivated. All week, I felt like I was boring them to death (restrain your jokes, please). I finally threw some "challenge" problems at them yesterday to keep their pride at bay a bit (insert evil laughter here). Ah, the joys of teaching.

In addition to working, Brett and I have very much enjoyed spending time with my family, who arrived from Sweden last week!

Tulsa has definitely had its set of challenges, but all in all, we're happy to be here. We miss all of you up in South Dakota but are so very happy to be with our dear friends and family down in good ol' Okie land.

How I know I'm in Oklahoma

2011-08-09T17:23:00.000-05:00

We made it! After eleven hours of driving in separate vehicles with two very confused cats, we finally made it to Tulsa on Friday evening. There were--and still will be--many things to adjust to, but we're getting there, and it's beginning to feel like home again.

There are a few things that remind me I'm back in good ol' Oklahoma:

We get excited when we drive by a sign that declares the current temperature as ninety-four degrees, as this is twenty degrees cooler than some of the highs we've already experienced (no exaggeration).
When ordering at Sonic, a voice through the intercom greets us with, "Wassup?! Welcome tah Sonic! What ken I getchya, yo?"
The best thing about being back is that we're surrounded by a bounty of friends and family that have greeted us with the warmest welcome anyone could imagine. We've yet to spend a single evening just the two of us, and we're so thankful for the company.

Tomorrow both of us have orientation for our jobs. We're both nervous and excited, so prayers are coveted.

That's all I can think of for now! Just wanted to let you know we made it and are still alive and well, though a bit heat-shocked.

Love to you all!

Goodbye Paradise

2011-07-27T22:57:00.001-05:00

Hello Friends! It has been awhile since my last blog post, but my long awaited return has come.

As the month of July comes to an end, so does our time in picturesque SD. I will miss many parts of our life in SD. For instance, close proximity to family is awesome. We eat lunch with Mom and Dad each Sunday --- that will be greatly missed. Other notable misses will be (1) the Ransom Church (2) Becky Dunn (3) Quam & Berglin (4) the USD Bible Study group and (5) South Dakota summers.

Currently we are in the process of packing up or giving away our few possessions. Our apartment is now void of a few essentials such as our couch, kitchen table, and bed which have new homes. Rebecka just loves siting, eating, and sleeping on the ground all day.

As for Tulsa, many of you may be wondering what lies in our future. I am happy to say we both have jobs. Rebecka accepted a Mathematics position at Tulsa Community College, and I'll be working at Ernst & Young which is an accounting firm. We also found a pretty neat town house which you are all welcome to come and visit -- maybe even spend the night.

Thanks for reading!
Brett

Inverse Function Theorem--A Tribute

2011-07-20T12:09:00.001-05:00

Thank you to my husband

2011-07-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

Well, friends, it's official: I'm done with math. I had my oral comprehensive exam this morning, which was not nearly as bad as I've been making it out to be for the past year and a half. I passed, and I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Unfortunately, I still have one teeny tiny elective to finish up, but that will be over in about two weeks, and I will be a Master of Mathematics. (Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?) As a tribute to some of the crazy things I've learned, I've posted one of the proofs we did in a class last semester. It took several hours to prove. I'm not sure it's the longest one I've been through, but I wanted to post it, as my notes will probably end up in the trash eventually. But this way I have something to remember my grad school career by.

One of the primary reasons we started this blog was to keep a record of our lives. I think I've mentioned this before, but a central theme in the Old Testament (at least from my perspective) is to remember. "Remember the Lord your God who brought you out Egypt." I don't want to forget these past couple years because they have meant so much to me. Yes, grad school really, really sucked at times. There were times I had never felt so stupid and incompetent. But, there were times I felt more knowledgeable than ever before. I don't want to forget these times, because they shaped me into who I am.

That said, God really did bring me out of my own Egypt (read "grad school"). He did that in a very special way--He did it through Brett. As I've been sitting here thinking about how much I've learned the past couple years, I keep coming back to one central thought--I could never, ever have done this without Brett. I debated making this note public knowledge, but, then again, the whole point is to remember. So, here's a way not to forget.

Brett, here it is in writing. You have my permission never to let me forget this...

Brett,
Thank you for supporting me and giving me a shoulder to cry on when I thought I'd never be good enough to get through this degree.
Thank you for believing in me--even when I didn't believe in myself.
Thank you for putting up with my glazed-over eyes when we were in mid-conversation, because my mind was wondering to some silly proof. I'm so sorry you had to put up with that. Our conversations are much more important, and I genuinely hope I can keep it under control from now on.
Thank you for being excited for me when I snapped out of it with an, "I got it!"
Thank you for sympathizing with me when I realized, "No, I don't got it."
Thank you for never complaining about all the restless nights before--and after--an exam.
Thank you for believing in me as a teacher, even when my students failed their tests...miserably.
Most of all, thank you for being a constant friend, one who has loved me unconditionally through this emotional ride. I could never have done this without you, and I hope to return the favor someday.
You really are the best,
Rebecka

Get rid of pi?

2011-07-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

If math bores you to death, this post is not for you, and I apologize in advance. However, I feel that I'm allowed a math post every now and then. Furthermore, Brett's the one who showed me all this, so you can blame him.

So, here's the thing. You know pi, that wonderful irrational number that's approximately 3.14? Well, some mathematicians are suggesting we get rid of it. I know, I know. Mathematical blasphemy, right?

Maybe not...

The suggestion is that we don't just get rid of pi, but we replace it with tau, which will equal 2pi.

So...this is what brilliant minds have come up with? Let's just take a number we've been using for centuries and multiply it by two?

At first it sounds crazy, I admit. But, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. The most basic (and, in my opinion, most beautiful) argument for switching from pi to tau is the unit circle. What's the unit circle, you ask? Basically, it sums up everything you learn in trig, except maybe identities. As one of my professors says, "There's nothing left to be discovered in trigonometry. Draw that circle, and you're done." Typically, we use radians instead of degrees to measure the angles inside this circle. Instead of saying a full rotation on the circle is 360 degrees, we say it's equal to 2pi. Weird, I know. So, the unit circle is divided up like this:

Do you notice the oddity? A quarter of the circle isn't a quarter of pi, it's a half of pi...a half of the circle isn't half of pi, it's just pi. You can see how this can be confusing to students.

However, if we switched to tau, the unit circle would look like this:

Makes much more sense, right? Now a quarter of the circle is a quarter of tau, etc, etc.

If I ever get to teach trig, I will certainly introduce this new constant which is equal to the ratio of a circle's circumference over its radius, as opposed to the circle's circumference over its diameter. (Where did we get that?? When do we ever use the diameter?)

If you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend this article. If you consider yourself pretty mathy, you should definitely read the entire Tau Manifesto, which gives many more arguments for the conversion than the one I just described. If you're into connections between math and music, check out What Tau Sounds Like.

For those still reading, thanks for hanging in there.

Long live Tau.

If I wasn't an American before, I definitely am now

2011-07-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

Four years ago this October, I became a citizen of this beautiful and diverse country. Even though I've lived in the States nearly my whole life, it's only been recently that I've truly felt that it's home (I think marrying an American may have had something to do with that).

This Fourth of July, we spent Independence weekend in about the most patriotic place I can think of: the Black Hills of South Dakota! It was an awesome family vacation, and I'm so glad I can now say I've been to Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, and the Black Hills. We got to see the four Presidents, hike Harney Peak, camp in a cabin, and just enjoy each other's company. Here are some pictures of our journey...

Wall Drug!

The Badlands

The Petersons and the Presidents

About an hour into our hike up Harney Peak--we look so
refreshed and relaxed!

At the top--starting to get tired

At the bottom--exhaustion has set in

Donkeys came up to us on our way back!

And buffalo, too!

Goodbye, little cabin

A stroll around Vermillion

2011-06-24T08:48:00.001-05:00

I've had a few people ask if we're back from Sweden. The answer is yes--we've been back for a couple weeks. I know you were all anticipating a fantastic last blog from Sweden. So was I. I had grand plans of telling you all about our last days there (we spent them in the capital, Stockholm). But, alas, all our pictures from those days were accidentally deleted, and that deflated me enough not to post.

So, we're back in the wonderful town of Vermillion, which brings me to my story.

As you may have gathered, winters in Verm are pretty bad. You can't really do much outside unless you enjoy frostbite, and the only things that are open after 5 PM are Walmart and the forty-nine local bars. Since the two of us in a bar is about the worst case of fish-out-of-water you can imagine, we've spent many nights roaming the aisles of Wallyworld. Fun times.

Thus, summer is a welcome season. Brett and I spend most of our evenings taking walks or riding our bikes, trying to persuade our bodies that they're as young and fit as they were in high school, before school and work took over our lives. During one of these strolls, we saw a sign that intrigued us: "Farmer's Market, 3-7 PM every Thursday during the summer." A farmer's market? How hip and cool. How non-Vermillion.

So, yesterday, when we realized it was Thursday, we practically bolted out the front door in pursuit of this farmer's market. I was so excited. I was imagining rows of fresh fruits and flowers. In my head, I'm pretty sure I was imagining a slightly smaller version of the bazaars we used to shop at when we lived in Asia. I know, I got ahead of myself. How unusual.

Surprise, Rebecka, you're in Vermillion. There were a total of five vendors present at the market, selling exciting things like jams and dog biscuits.

We spent about seven minutes there and walked on, visiting a couple of disappointing garage sales along the way.

I had an idea of how to make this all better though. I suggested we go to the hip, new coffee shop downtown (it's open til NINE PM!), Cafe Brule. I had their signature drink and was very impressed when they brought it out along with a torch and blazed the top of my drink. Not sure what it was for, but it was cool. And the coffee tasted so good. I was starting to see the bright side of Vermillion again.

And then she asked it. The waitress, that is. The question we get nearly every time we go out to eat: "Will this be together or separate?" Sigh. Apparently even though our bodies are telling us we're not eighteen anymore, we still look like we're both twelve.

A question for all the couples out there--does this ever stop? Will waitresses eventually assume we're married, or even together? I hope so. If you know any waitresses, can you pass along a message for me? Look at the ring finger.

That's all.

More cat lovers

2011-06-15T15:49:00.000-05:00

Today my sister introduced me to a wonderful site called Today's Big Thing. From what I gather, the site posts one great video every day. I was scanning the titles of recently posted videos and came across one from June 10: "eHarmony Girl Really Loves Cats." This is gonna be good, I thought. I thought right.

I decided to share it with you in hopes of making me and my thousands of cat posts seem somewhat normal. Or at least pale in comparison with this...

National Day of Sweden

2011-06-08T15:36:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was Sweden's National Day! Their National Day can be likened to our Independence Day. According to Wikipedia, "The tradition of celebrating this date began 1916 at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, in honour of the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523, as this was considered the foundation of modern Sweden." To celebrate, the Kermanshahis and Petersons all headed over to Trollhattan's waterfall, where water is released every year for special occasions, such as Sweden's National Day.

We walked over around 3 PM in hopes of being able to take a tour of Trollhattan's Church of Sweden and of making it early enough to find a good seat for the releasing of the water (which was to take place at 5 PM). We were disappointed to see that the church was not open (last year we toured the church and then they gave us "fika"--aka snacks--and I was hoping for a repeat). Not to despair! we thought. We'll just enjoy the Swedish nature for approximately...two hours. So, that's we what we did, assuring ourselves that the wait would be well worth it as surely hundreds of Swedes would show up any minute, and we would have the prime view of the falls. Ha.

So we waited.

And waited.

And Swedes failed to show.

Finally, a voice over an intercom announced that the falls would be released in approximately thirty minutes. A few of us decided to hike a ways so that we could get an even better view of what was sure to be a spectacular event.

We waited anxiously on a decently high lookout. Below, there was no crowd to be found. Only our relatives and perhaps a few other tourists had come to celebrate.

Then, slowly, ever so slowly, a dark cloud began to hover closer and closer. And right as the moment we had been waiting for finally arrived, it seemed as though the locks and the clouds burst open simultaneously, one soaking the rocks below and the other soaking us humans above.

I really didn't mind it a whole lot. It was actually pretty exhilarating. Until I saw lightning and realized we were up high, surrounded by trees.

And that's when we ran back down, as fast as our sopping wet legs would take us.

We still had to walk back home, and by the time we got there we were all drenched. But, as Don and Sheri said, we were memory-making. And, as my cousin reminded us, that's a Swedish summer for you.

At least we got to see the church from the outside.

Before. We look so happy.

Waiting on the lookout

When it rains, it pours.

After. Pay special attention to Hanna's shoe.

Rudskoga | past meets present

2011-06-06T06:05:00.000-05:00

A couple days ago we got to visit the house that my grandmother grew up in and meet with a few of my cousins and aunts and uncles. My mom and her sisters would spend their summers up there when they were young, and my extended family still uses it as a summer vacation home. My grandma has been insistent on keeping the 1860 house the same way it was when she was little, which means no indoor plumbing or electric, and I'm so very glad she did. It's a little piece of history for everyone to enjoy.

I was so excited to see the place I remember spending a couple summers (although it's been eleven years since I've been to Rudskoga last). What was maybe even more exciting was showing it to Brett, Don, and Sheri. Don's family emigrated from Sweden around the same time my grandma's home was built; it was intriguing to think about the different kinds of lives our relatives lived.

I also learned more from my grandma about my great-grandfather than I have ever known. My great-grandpa was a shoemaker as well as a local accountant. My grandma has kept all his tools and shoe molds exactly as he left them in a little shop adjacent to the house.

Again, the pictures say it better than the words, so here you are!

My precious grandma

Two of my favorite people

The front of my grandma's childhood home

The Swedish flag flies high

My grandma's stroller

My great-grandpa's shoe molds

The lake beside the house

Sverige

2011-06-04T04:38:00.001-05:00

After a road trip to Minneapolis, two flights, and three trains, we made it to my family's home in Trollhattan, Sweden, on Tuesday night! We were welcomed to Sweden with an email announcing that I had passed my comps, so I breathed a sigh of relief, and vacation began.

Yesterday we spent the day in Gothenburg. We visited the beautiful Botanical Gardens, took a boat tour of the nearly 400 year old city, visited with my grandma (whom I had to assure more than once that she was not going to be a great-grandmother anytime soon), and picked up my sister who flew in after her semester in Haifa! It was a great day.

Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I shall leave you with a few of those...

Botanical Gardens

Downtown Gothenburg with my grandma

Comps: Why oh why?

2011-05-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

With the exception of a road trip last weekend, the month of May has been devoted to studying for my second (and last) set of written comprehensive exams. The test is tomorrow and I'm so tired of studying, that I thought, hey, instead of studying, why not write about studying. It sounded much more fun to me. So, here we are. Aren't you lucky.

The good news is that Brett and I--along with Don and Sheri--are going to Sweden on Monday! So, if I pass, I will most likely be in a lovely mood the entire time. The bad news is, if I don't pass, I will most likely not be in a lovely mood, and I will have to retake the portion(s) I failed in July. If I don't pass on the second try, I don't get my degree. No pressure. I think my professors like me enough to let me graduate, but, the above scenario has happened before, so there's no room for cockiness.

All in all, while I love to complain, I also really love what I do. I'm so lucky I get to study what I love. I sometimes wish I didn't have to be tested over it, but, if that were the case, there's a good chance I wouldn't study near as hard.

Around 150 notecards filled with proofs that were "suggested"
that I know. Yes, I want your sympathy.

Graduation!

2011-05-09T11:20:00.001-05:00

One Kermanshahi graduated
from kindergarten,
the other from high school
2006

This past weekend was graduation! The day you sit for two and a half hours so you can walk across a stage in two and a half seconds and shake some people's hands. Why do we do this to ourselves? I have no idea. But I do know I love it.

I'm also very grateful that I can tell you what's next for us. I still have some work to finish up on my Master's this summer as well as teach a class. But in August, Brett and I are moving back to Tulsa! While we're sad to be leaving family and friends up here, we're both very excited about what's in store next.

OWU Graduation 2009

I recently accepted a teaching job at the community college. I'll actually be teaching College Algebra again. (I'm starting to wonder exactly how many times I'll teach this class--after next spring I will have taught it nine times.) This time, however, I'll be teaching it to high school students who are taking it dual-credit. The reason this is so exciting is because that's exactly how I got my start in mathematics: I took math classes dual-credit from the exact same community college. So, I'm pretty pumped.

Since Brett has one of those degrees that you can find a job with almost anywhere, we've been focusing on making sure I could find a job first. Now we'll focus on finding him a job, which won't be quite as hard, I'm guessing.

The highlight of moving back will be that we get to spend some more time with my family. We're so excited to spend more time with them and with all our wonderful Okie friends, too.

USD Graduation 2011

The end of an era

2011-04-29T11:47:00.000-05:00

In a half hour I'll be attending my last math class as a student, possibly for the rest of my life here on earth. (Yes, I am certain there will be math classes in Heaven. It's gonna be a party--me and my teachers, Galileo, Newton, and Pascal.)

Anyway, in honor of this passage from student to hopefully-teacher, I thought I'd share this little image with you that I like to share with my College Algebra students on the first day of class. If you can find the error, you get a gold star!

Harry Potter and Ben-Hur

2011-04-25T12:54:00.003-05:00

Well, friends, we did it. I think it's safe to say that Brett and I are two of the few people on this planet crazy enough to have read the entire Harry Potter series aloud. It took us nearly a year to read more than 4,000 pages (thank you, YahooAnswers.com), but we are done. And I'm not gonna lie. I'm a little sad to say good-bye to my fictional wizarding friends.

If you've never done so, I highly encourage you to read this series by J.K. Rowling. Not only is the story captivating but it also contains some of the most profound life messages. Besides, what's a year of your life in the grand scheme of things? Only joking...

The series begins by introducing Harry Potter, "The Boy Who Lived" even after the world's most evil Dark wizard Lord Voldemort attempted to kill him. Harry later finds out that he lived because his mom died trying to save him. His mother's love overcame Voldemort's hatred.

Love conquers. Isn't this the theme of Easter? God's love overcame our failures. His love made us complete, now able to bring His kingdom of peace to earth.

I won't give a summary of the plot in case you do read the books one day. But, in light of this past Easter season, I thought it was an important theme to bring up: Love triumphs. As I've reflected on this theme, I've realized that Harry Potter actually has quite a bit in common with Ben-Hur, which I have now watched twice in the past month and which is a telling of the Easter story. Both Harry Potter and Judah Ben-Hur have tragedies happen to them that are unimaginable. Both Harry and Judah are faced with the temptation to retaliate using violence. However, in the end, they both learn that love--not hatred--is the answer. As Ben-Hur concludes, Judah says, "Almost at the moment He died, I heard Him say, 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.' Even then. And I felt His voice take the sword out of my hand."

I pray His voice takes the sword out of my hand, too. He is risen!

PhD: Piled Higher & Deeper

2011-04-22T11:44:00.004-05:00

Last night our school hosted Jorge Cham, creator of PhD comic strips, who gave his 1-hour lecture, "The Power of Procrastination." For those of you who have never read PhD comics, stop reading right now, and go here.

PhD comics is a grad student comic strip. Cham was a doctoral student at Stanford, studying mechanical engineering, when he started a comic strip to portray the day-to-day life of graduate school. His comics have become so popular that he no longer practices robotics, but instead travels full-time giving his hilarious lecture. (And people say we don't use our degrees!)

I am not sure I have ever laughed so much in one hour before. I'm usually not too into comedians. But there's something very funny about a nerdy comedian. I would try to explain to you how funny it was, but I think it might be better just to leave you with some of his comics...

A taste of Sweden in South Dakota

2011-04-19T22:52:00.001-05:00

A couple of months ago, one of my friends told me that she had a girl from Sweden in one of her math classes.

"Really??" I thought maybe she had confused Sweden with Switzerland, as most people do. As soon as someone mentions cheese, the Alps, or watches, I quickly correct them. "No, you're thinking about Switzerland. I was born in Sweden." Sadly, this usually brings the conversation to a halt. However, this time, my friend really did mean Sweden. She progressed to tell me that this student of hers was recruited for the swim team here and had just arrived a few short weeks ago. So, the next time the student was in the math lab, I quickly introduced myself to a wonderful girl named Lisa. Ever since, we've become great friends and I so enjoy her company. As an added bonus, I get to practice my Swedish at least once a week with someone who is very forgiving of my American-isms.

This past weekend, we took Lisa to Sioux Falls with us. She was a real trooper--she let us show her what church can be like in America, she had lunch with our family, and then she walked around downtown with us in the freezing cold weather.

One of the things I so enjoy about spending time with Lisa is that she makes me think about things I've never thought about. Her comparisons on American v. Swedish culture are always right on and infused with humor. Let me give you a few examples.

"What's the point of bagel sandwiches? Why is there a hole in the middle of your bread? Are you supposed to arrange your meat in a nice disk so as to avoid the middle part?"

To this, I had no intelligent response.

"What do people here really mean when they say, 'What's up?' I thought it meant 'How are you doing?' but I'm starting to realize it more just means 'Hey,' because I start to answer the question and the next thing I know the person is halfway across the building."

Once again, no intelligent response on my part.

"Americans smile all the time. It's great. Swedes just keep to themselves. If you smile at someone, they think you're crazy."

"I liked your church. Back home, the priest would never say, 'Jesus is the man!'"

"There's America and then there's USA. When I think of USA I think of New York, California, and Vegas. When I think of America, I think of everyone else, like South Dakotans."

I wish I could remember all the wise comparisons she's made that have made me stop and say, "Huh, yeah, I guess I've never thought of that..." But this is all I remember now. I hope it brings a smile to your face and makes you think about other strange things we do without thinking about them.

Rain, rain, go away...or come back

2011-04-15T13:11:00.002-05:00

Dear South Dakota,

I'm writing a letter of sincere apology. This morning I was very upset with you because I awoke to cold air and colder rain. I complained. I moaned. But I am truly sorry. I didn't mean for my complaining to turn the rain into snow. I honestly didn't even know that was possible in mid-April.

If you turn the snow back into rain, I promise not to grumble. At least for the time being.

Sincerely,

A concerned resident

What would I do without my teachers?

2011-04-06T14:36:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official. In one moth I will be walking across a stage, ready to receive a diploma! Well...it's not exactly the end of graduate school for me. I still have quite a bit to do this summer, but they're letting me walk early. And I'm not complaining. Anyway, in honor of being very close to being done with my coursework, I thought I'd share some really wonderful quotes from my professors. Most of these quotes require no math knowledge, so don't worry. They're just funny in and of themselves. As I take notes in class, I write down anything funny they say in the margins. It makes studying much more amusing.

**Assume Chinese accent**

It not so difficult to get A or B in this class. However, it not difficult to get D or F either.

By the way, the weather getting cold. Keep you warm. You cannot sick.

Student: It's cold out there!
Professor: I know. I fall.

Believe me. You have bright future. Study hard.

I don't like summation at all. I like integration.

I'm not going to do it for the discrete case, because discrete case very terrible. You have to do a lot of subtraction.

We are so lucky! Y1 and Y2 are independent!

**Assume Chilean accent**

In College Algebra we teach you how to solve linear equations and then quadratics. We give you some ideas for solving polynomials of degree three...some of them are totally worthless...

If you find what you are doing is difficult, don't worry. It's probably correct.

Professor: Pizza without anchovies is not a pizza. That's a lemma.
Student: Good luck proving that.
Professor: Oh, it's proven.

**Assume Romanian accent**

It can be an open set with boundary not of measure zero, which is a really terrible situation.

And now, one of the most glorious definitions of this class...

You look depressed. Let me prove a beautiful theorem for you.

It's like that movie Groundhog Day. Suddenly I wake up and I'm back to the Mean Value Theorem.

Wow! It smells so good in here, doesn't it? Or is it just me?

A spring walk in the eyes of a cat

2011-04-05T19:38:00.000-05:00

Today was a beautiful day in South Dakota. Dad assured us that tomorrow would not be nice again, so Mom decided I could take her out on a walk. Boy oh boy, did I see some strange things today…

First there were the small black creatures—I believe you humans call them birds. Well, something in me said, “Donny! You’re supposed to hunt those things!” I told myself, “But I just ate! I’m not hungry.” Myself said, “Who cares?! Think about how much fun it will be to capture one.” I agreed. I got low—very low—to the ground. I army crawled closer and closer to the “bird.” Just as I was about to pounce, the darn thing flew so high that not even I could jump high enough to catch it. And I’ve been told I’m a very athletic jumper.

I decided it wasn’t fair game—me and the birds. For some reason I don’t have claws in the front like I do in the back (I vaguely remember a time when this was not the case), so I couldn’t climb up the trees to catch my prey. Thus, I started to take Mom on a walk around the neighborhood.

You won’t believe what I saw next: a creature, much bigger than myself, with long, golden hair. “Whoa,” I thought. “What is that ugly thing?”

“Isn’t that a beautiful dog?” I heard Mom say.

So that’s what it’s called. A “dog.” Well, beautiful is not exactly the word I would use, but…Hey! The dog is yelling at me! What did I do? I just wanted to say hello.

I was going to go up to the dog and try to make peace when a human stepped out and yelled, “No, Bella!” I could tell Mom didn’t think my idea of making peace was a very good one because before I knew it, I was being swept up and carried away from the dog.

You humans will never know what it’s like just to be picked up and placed elsewhere.

Well. I was not going to let my outing be unsuccessful. First the birds, now the dog. There’s got to be some creature out here that I can either catch or make friends with.

Then I spotted it.

I had seen these things inside, too, but outside they look so much more scrumptious. I know they’re called flies because Mom has asked me to eat them for her before. I crouched low to the grass. I shifted my weight back and forth on my back paws so as to make my rear end shake (in case Sadie was watching from inside). I took a final deep bend to the ground….I pounced…I flew over the grass…the fly was sure to be mine! And then, just as I went in for the kill, my red leash tugged me backward and I fell to the ground, defeated.

That was my adventure in the great outdoors. Less successful than I would have liked. But next time, mark my words, I will capture something.

Brett's sense of humor--not everyone gets it

2011-03-15T22:30:00.001-05:00

Brett's sense of humor has caused us several awkward moments in the past few months. His sense of humor is...sarcastic, for lack of a better word. Not sarcastic in a mean way, but in a I'm-going-to-say-something-so-ridiculous-obviously-I'm-joking kind of way. Unfortunately, others must not find it ridiculous enough to know he really is joking.

First off, one of my favorites. Last week we had dinner at a friend's home. She asked Brett if he liked tacos. Brett's response:

"I love tacos. They give me an awful rash."

Of course, everyone in room fell dead silent. I seemed to be the only one who knew he was kidding. In an attempt to silence the chirping crickets, I gave a nervous chuckle. Not sure it really helped.

Instance Number 2. Our friend Kaylee is getting married this summer. We got to see her on Sunday, and we asked how wedding plans are coming. Brett's response:

"Are they going to release two doves when you are pronounced husband and wife?"

Finally, Brett relayed this occurrence from work.

One of his co-workers is pregnant and she asked Brett to guess the weight of her baby at birth. She is holding a contest with prizes for the one who guesses the closest (you can see why he needs to resort to humor). Brett's gut reaction was to say, "100 pounds."

However, a small, tiny voice, that I like to think sounded very much like my own entered his head: Don't do it, Brett. They never know you're kidding.

As awkward as the situations can be, I find his humor hilarious--even if I discourage his announcing to a crowd that tacos give him rashes.

"Spring is here!" said the bumblebee

2011-03-14T14:42:00.000-05:00

Updates from the Petersons...

Spring may not officially start till next week, but according to weather.com, it is currently 40 degrees here ("Feels like 32"), and my little heart is singing. Wednesday we're supposed to hit 67, and I'm just not even sure I remember what that feels like. In celebration of the upcoming weather, we bought Sadie a harness and leash (she asked for pink), so she can join the three of us (Brett, me, and Donny) on our spring walks that we love. If you think we're abnormal, you're not alone. Our neighbors completely agree with you.
I only had to reset one clock in our entire apartment for Daylight Savings. Actually, there was one other clock, but we never changed it in the fall (we didn't think we'd be able to get it back up), so it's been an hour ahead for about six months now. I claimed it was good for our subtraction skills. Unfortunately, we did have a few guests glance at the clock, look horror-stricken, and leave suddenly. Ah well.
Today is Pi Day, in celebration of the wonderful irrational number! (March 14...3/14...3.14...) So, go and have yourself a piece of your favorite pie.

A story in pictures, not words

2011-02-19T14:23:00.000-06:00

For those who prefer pictures, here's another story.

Today we went to Walmart to buy fresh litter for our kitties, among other things. This is how Sadie thanked us.

Notice the quote in the middle. How did they know?

"I'm innocent!"
(It's true. Whenever something bad happens, we always blame Sadie.)

"I tried to tell her..."
(Donny can do no wrong in our eyes.)

How can you get mad at this?

Jury Duty and Bob

2011-02-19T14:15:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: I realize this is a really long post, and I'm honestly not sure it's even that good. There's just so much to say about jury duty! I will make up for it by sending a much shorter post with mainly pictures, for those of you who do not read long blog entries. (Becky.)

Last week I got a letter in the mail announcing that I had been summoned to be a possible juror for a trial that was to take place in six days. So, I showed up to the courthouse on Thursday. One of the first things I noticed was that everyone in the room seemed to be either in their twenties (i.e., students at the university) or in their eighties. There really weren't many people in between. This says something about my current city.

We started with about fifty possible jurors. After watching a really great video about the judicial system in South Dakota, the fifty of us got randomly narrowed down to thirty-two. Several of these thirty-two got replaced with members of the remaining eighteen for various reasons. For example, when one older gentleman got called, he didn't move. The people around him must have known who he was because they kept calling his name. "Joe! That's you!" Finally, after four or five times of practically yelling his name across the room, he realized what was happening and made his way over to join the rest of us who had been called. When the defendant's attorney began asking questions to see who would be able to serve on the jury, he started with this gentleman.

"I noticed that when your name was called, it took a while for you to hear what was happening. Do you have a hearing impairment that would keep you from hearing what's going on here today?"

Thinking he would take this chance not to have to stay there all day, I was shocked to hear his response.

"Well, I mean, as long as the person projects loudly, like you do, I'm just fine."

I had to hold in my laughter at this point, because saying that the attorney "projected loudly" was putting it mildly. Personally, I would call it yelling, but to each his own. Long story short, the older gentleman was dismissed and a new person was called to keep the magic thirty-two. This process went on for some time, ensuring that we had thirty-two possible jurors who did not admit to having any biases or any physical or emotional issues that would keep them from being able to participate. (Apparently, having a test in Media Ethics later that day is an emotional issue that can prevent you from being able to concentrate and consequently being dismissed from duty, to which my first response was, "What kind of classes can one get college credit for these days?" But I digress...) In any case, I was under the impression that the new group of thirty-two could all hear perfectly well. This was an incorrect assumption.

The war then began between the two attorneys as to who the final twelve would be. Maybe it's all the legal thrillers I've watched, maybe it was my competitive side coming out, but I found myself really wanting to be selected. By this time, we had been there for almost two hours, and I figured that if I had spent this much time there already, I may as well stay all day and make the fifty bucks as opposed to just getting the ten.

Much to my happiness, I was the second juror called.

The case was a criminal one. An individual v. the state. I could tell none of us on the jury wanted to bring harm to the defendant, but there was just no case for the guy. Even though none of the witnesses' stories lined up very well at all, putting all the pieces together, it was clear that the defendant was guilty, which for a compassionate person like me, was kind of difficult to swallow.

I don't want to take away from the seriousness of the case; however, one of the jurors was just too entertaining not to write about.

I don't know the name of this juror. We'll call him Bob. Bob is eighty-two. That much I do know. My first introduction to Bob was when we all entered the jury room. Another of the jurors must have known him because she struck up a conversation.

"So, how's Helen doing?"

"HUH?!"

"How's Helen?"

"Sean?"

"HELEN!"

"Oh! She's fine. She has a birthday on Sunday. I've been married sixty years."

The last comment seemed somewhat out of place, but I gathered that Helen must be Bob's wife. I also gathered that Bob probably shouldn't have been in that room.

The trial ended up lasting quite a bit longer than the judge had said it would, so we got to order dinner. The bailiff came in with menus and pieces of paper, asking if we would please write down what we would want on the paper. She went into quite a bit of detail, telling us to make sure to specify what dressing we want if we get a salad and to order drinks from the list she had made on a post-it. After she left, Bob's response was, "So! Are we supposed to write "Guilty" or "Not Guilty" on those cards?"

Oh, Bob.

There were several other comments Bob made that made me question whether he should have been there. Either he couldn't hear half the witnesses or he had fallen asleep for half the trial. Either one seemed to be a problem.

Anyway, as I said, the trial went on for quite some time. At one point the judge asked us if we would rather stay and get it done that night or come back refreshed in the morning. He sent us to the jury room to deliberate this. What was Bob's response?

"Well, if I get home late, I can save some money and not have to take my Viagra!"

So we stayed another couple hours and finished that night.

The end.

Warmer

2011-01-24T08:45:00.014-06:00

Today is a good day. Today it's twenty-four degrees Fahrenheit outside. It feels like Hawaii, I'm sure of it.

The past few weeks have been so cold, I haven't quite known what to do with myself. Some people get grumpy when they're tired. I get grumpy when I'm tired AND when I'm cold. We were watching the weather on the news a few days ago, and the weather lady said (and I am not exaggerating), "It's pretty cold out there. Don't worry though, there are a few places in the US that are colder than us...like a few cities in Alaska." Alaska?! Yes, weather lady, of course it's colder in the arctic. Thank you for informing us.

Then came my favorite part--the seven-day forecast. You know what I'm talking about. Seven little rectangles pop up on the screen from left to right, usually with some little graphic on the top and the expected high and low for that day on the bottom. As the last few rectangles popped up, the word warmer spread across them in lovely orange and red letters. My little heart skipped a beat. Warmer. Then I looked more closely. Apparently warmer means it's going to be in the low twenties.

I guess, though, 24 is quite warmer than the -15 (yes, that's a negative sign in front of that integer!) we experienced yesterday morning.

Brett kept telling me, "You're going to be able to feel a difference when we get back into the twenties." To which I usually responded, "Don't be ridiculous; I'll never think that's warm."

Oh, South Dakota, what have you done to my perception of reality?

Apparently I'm not the only one though. I've already seen students walking around campus with only a fleece on for warmth. At least I'm not that crazy.

What's New

2011-01-18T22:26:00.000-06:00

Hello --

So it's really cold here. For everyone wishing they had snow --- trust me that the novelty wears off once Christmas is over.

As most of you know, I am an auditor and thus on occasion I get to count things. Last week, I had the privilege of counting inventory for a small city. This particular city had several enterprises such as electric, water, sewer, garbage, and telephone. All of these services have inventory in case a disaster strikes (Ice storm perhaps).

Since the auditing firm I work for consists of 15 ladies and 4 guys, they typically pawn anything manual over to us. I thought an inventory count was just another "guy thing" but would be overall enjoyable.

In a laughing and possibly sinister voice, my boss told me to "dress warm." I heeded the advice and wore two pairs of socks. I figured most of the inventory would be inside; yet, reality can be painful. Most of the high value inventory items (telephone polls, transformers, reams of electrical wiring) are huge and thus stored outside. Furthermore, the city spread out inventory in various exotic locations such as a nearby cornfield and the local dump.

To help me on this journey, the city provided a guide to track down the items. This guy was a real man. He had just returned from rescuing people from a car crash on the interstate. He was unphased by the blizzard raging around us. For the first half hour, I tried to present myself as tough. Yet my facade quickly vanished. The feeling in my toes went first; eventually, I lost the ability to hold a pencil.

All of this to say... I miss Oklahoma.

The End.

My name's Donny. I like meat.

2011-01-12T18:40:00.003-06:00

Today we are going to have chicken. Since I can never seem to remember to take frozen chicken out the night before and thaw it in the fridge, I always have put it out on the counter, covered, in the morning and it's ready to cook by dinnertime. (Please do not tell me of all the health codes this violates. I am a former food handler. I am well aware of the codes I'm breaking. I'm tellin' ya, I just can't seem to remember to take the chicken out the night before.)

Anyway. I put the chicken out this morning and covered it. When Brett and I got home early this evening, Brett said, "What is that?"

I looked over to where he was standing. "Oh no. That's a whole chicken breast."

Thank you, Donny. Looks like we won't have as much leftover as I was hoping for.

To accomplish this, Donny had to jump on the counter,
take the chicken in his mouth,
jump off the counter with it still intact,
and carry it about twenty feet.

Update

2011-01-07T15:07:00.001-06:00

Hanna and I tried to walk to the grocery store as promised. We failed. We walked for about two whole minutes before we decided we did not want to endure the pain of the cold any more. The wind is terrible today: 30 mph, and it's gotta be coming straight from Canada! I tried walking backwards so that the wind would not burn my face. However, it turns out I wasn't strong enough to walk against the wind. So we ran back to the apartment, legs numb and throats burning. And "snot frozen in our noses," as Hanna put it.

Ah well, more 8 Simple Rules with hot drinks to follow.

What we do when Brett's gone

2011-01-07T13:16:00.001-06:00

Well, Christmas break was quite lovely. Brett still had time off of work that he had to take before the calendar year ended, so between those days, holidays, and weekends, he managed to have ten days off in a row. So, Brett, Hanna, and I had a great time together--celebrating Christmas and New Years' and the days in between of freedom and sleep. And then reality settled in. Brett had to go back to work. And Hanna and I still have many more days of break.

What to do in Vermillion without Brett?

At first, we really had no idea, especially since we are temporarily a one-car family again, so not only do we not have Brett to come up with ideas for us, we also have no means of transportation other than our own two legs. (Today we will attempt to WALK to the grocery store! I'll let you know if we make it alive.) So, we contented ourselves by sleeping in until hours I am ashamed of; exercised in the afternoons (I have some really great DVDs from the 90s); read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; and watched one of our favorite sitcoms, 8 Simple Rules (for dating my teenage daughter), on YouTube. Good times.

But, strangely enough, we started to feel lazy. Maybe even slightly bored.

We needed a new form of entertainment.

So, whom do you call on this blog when all else fails?! That's right! Our cats!

Yes, friends, time and energy have been spent on teaching Sadie how to play fetch. She got this wonderful mouse toy from my mother-in-law for Christmas that she brings to you and expects you to throw. When you follow her instructions, she actually runs for it, brings it back to you, and asks you to repeat your action.

Here is proof.

Donny may have gotten a bit jealous of all the attention. He's a sensitive soul.

So there you have it. That's what's been going on in the Peterson household the past couple of weeks. We get a few more days with Hanna, and then she's off to Tulsa for a short furlough before she journeys to Sweden and then Israel to study abroad for the semester! She will be greatly missed, but Brett and I are very thankful that we get to spend so much time with her before she leaves, and we're also pretty excited to hear about all the experiences she will gain.

Until next time!

The Great Debates of Christmas

2010-12-24T15:04:00.000-06:00

Christmas reminds me that I'm not as old as I like to pretend I am at times. I woke up this morning, and the first thing I did was check my clock: 6:57. I decided this was late enough to wake Brett up. "Merry Christmas Eve!" I gleefully announced in both English and Swedish. Brett, who would normally have to work today, was not quite as enthusiastic as I was. So, I waited. At 7:15, his alarm for work went off. My "Time to get up!" was answered by a slightly amused, "No, no, not yet..."

"Aren't you excited for Christmas Eve?!"

"You don't get excited for Christmas Eve...you get excited for Christmas day."

And this, my friends, brings us to Debate #1: Celebrate on Christmas Eve or Christmas day?

Since my mom is about as Swedish as they come, we always celebrated the Swedish way--a big Christmas Eve dinner, followed by presents and then a birthday cake for Jesus (that may have been a Kermanshahi special). Brett's family, however, celebrates the way I'm assuming most of you do--a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, and then breakfast and presents on Christmas morning. We argue about which way is best, but there's no real bite to either of our barks.

Anyway, as we were discussing who's Christmas is best, another debate sparked: Do you or do you not tell your kids Santa is real? We decided to pretend on each other.

**Rebecka pretends to be mom; Brett pretends to be the child**

Brett: Mom?
Rebecka: Yes, dear?
Brett: Is Santa Clause real?
Rebecka: No, honey.

**Brett pretends to dad; Rebecka pretends to be the child**

Rebecka: Dad?
Brett: Yes, Thabian?
Rebecka: Is Santa Clause real?
Brett: (long pause) Well, Thabian. If you want to believe, you just believe.

I wasn't very pleased with this response (except for the name of the child, which I did find rather hilarious). "You did not answer the child's question!" So, we tried again a few times, none of which yielded a satisfactory response on my end.

We decided to get up to face the beautiful Christmas Eve morning, which greeted us in turn with freshly fallen snow. My sister came up from Oklahoma yesterday, and today we all drove up to Sioux Falls to spend the weekend with my in-laws.

While I'm sad I won't be with my parents and two of my siblings this year, I think being here is going to be rather wonderful, too. We wish you a very merry Christmas from snowy Sioux Falls--wherever you are, however you celebrate.

When two cats fall in love...

2010-12-17T09:46:00.000-06:00

Welcome to South Dakota!

2010-12-11T10:23:00.000-06:00

This morning Donny kept pouncing on our bedroom window. We were trying to get a little extra Saturday morning sleep, but he insisted something was very wrong outside.

We just ignored him.

An hour or so later Brett got out of bed, and I heard, "Oh no. Rebecka, you need to come see this." I immediately thought the cats had knocked down our Christmas tree or had made some other kind of disaster throughout the night. To my surprise, though, I found Brett standing by the kitchen window, no mess and no cats in sight.

And then I looked out the window. And this is what we saw...

What I've learned after a year of teaching

2010-12-11T10:07:00.000-06:00

The end of the semester is coming to a close, and I have officially taught for a year! There are a few things I've learned while teaching College Algebra...

When introducing variation problems, avoid using the letter d as a variable. You may say something like, "So, when you double d..." which will be followed by a short gasp from you and snickers from the front row.
Say things as many times as humanly possible--written verification is just not enough. For example, on the test I gave on Wednesday, I had--in bold letters on the very top of the test--"OUR FINAL IS ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 5:30-7:30 PM, IN SLAGLE 305." As one girl turned in her test, she asked, "Can you tell me when our final is?"
When teaching inverse functions, avoid the ordered pair (a, b). Because when you say, "Ok, if (a, b) is a point on the graph of our original function, what point do we know is on the graph of the inverse function?" you'll realize all too late that the answer is (b, a), and you'll suddenly wish you would have chosen any other letter comination in the world.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
Be very mindful to pronounce the f in the word shifts when dealing with transformations.
When a student says, "This is probably a stupid question," it probably really is a stupid question (i.e., you probably just spent the last thirty minutes explaining what the student is asking and he or she just slept through it all). You can pretend like it's not though.

All in all, I've had a great time teaching these kids some algebra. I even have a student who hated math coming into the course, tell me she really likes it now! YES! Given, most of this is due to her own perseverance in the course, but I like to take some of the credit myself. I've also had a student thank me for being a teacher that she can come and talk to. I say these things not to brag. But because now I have them in writing, so when the going gets tough (which it will), I can remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. And you may have to remind me every now and then.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-11-27T20:49:00.000-06:00

This Thanksgiving has got to rank as one of my favorites.

Last Sunday night, my sister Hanna drove up from Oklahoma to spend the week with us. It's been a fantastic week; I can't believe it's almost over already.

For the first part of the week, Hanna, Brett, and I spent some time together chillin in the metropolis of Vermillion, South Dakota, since Brett still had work and I still had school. Hanna came to school with me on Wednesday and even braved an Advanced Calc lecture! I was impressed.

On Thanksgiving Day, we loaded up the van with our two kitties and their litter box to spend a couple days in Sioux Falls with family. We ate, watched a great 80s movies, ate, played some Wii, ate, went Black Friday shoppting, ate, went to Sioux Falls' annual Parade of Lights, and ate some more. It was wonderful.

We drove back to Vermillion last night and got some much-needed sleep last night and this morning. In the afternoon we went to a Christmas tree farm and found a Christmas tree! We just finished decorating it.

I have lots of pictures, so I'll leave you with those. I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, too, and that this Christmas season is a beautiful one for you and your families.

Donny helping me make Thanksgiving treats

We couldn't find Sadie for the longest time,
until we realized she had been sleeping in a potted plant

Parade of Lights! It was...a bit chilly.

On a mission

Lumberjack Hanna

We can help!

Yes, she climbed up the tree

Decorating our first tree together!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!
Or at least, Brett, Sadie, and I do.

Meet Mercedes

2010-11-18T12:30:00.001-06:00

If you thought we were crazy before, you're going to think we're insane now.

Ok. Before you judge, let me tell you how this all came about. Brett and I were excitedly talking about our trip to Sweden next summer when it hit us. "What are we going to do about Donny?!" Sure, there are plenty of people here in Vermillion that could up and check on him every day. But Donny loves people. Almost two weeks without them would be enough to change that cat forever, I'm sure of it. He needed a friend. A female friend, I decided. So, I batted my eyelashes at Brett and said, "You know what would be a great gift for passing comps...?"

Yes, friends, we have another cat (and, yes, I did pass my comps!).

Unfortunately, Donny didn't take to her as fast as we were hoping. (We were told in pre-marital counseling that we both tend to have too idealistic views of the world. I guess it came into play here.) Donny greeted little Mercedes (or Sadie as we call her) with growls and hisses the first couple days. I was beside myself. "Can't you just love her, Donny?! Have we taught you nothing?" Sadie, on the other hand, just purred her little heart out. She seemed happy to have a new family; even if her older brother wasn't the nicest.

A few days have passed, and Donny's warming up to Sadie. Sadly, I think Sadie had some kind of virus which she may have given to Donny, which caused much gnashing of teeth, but I'll spare you the details. All in all, we now have two cats, and I'm hoping they'll become best friends soon.

And, yes, we are sure this one's a girl. I took her the vet yesterday myself.

We love each other!

Cat vs Wild

Life Update

2010-11-12T22:59:00.000-06:00

The urge to blog hits very infrequently so I thought I'd take the time to write out some recent Brett & Rebecka events.

Rebecka is set to take two comprehensive finals tomorrow at 9am. The tests are simply ridiculous since the coursework for a Math masters is extremely difficult to begin with. Life will be better once the tests are passed. On a happy note, USD offered Rebecka a summer teaching position. Rebecka will have nearly 2 yrs of teaching experience by the time she graduates -- awesome!

Audit work is going swell. So far, my job has been a good mixture of field work and office work. I get confused daily, but so does my boss. I am set to take the first section of the CPA exam on November 22nd. Unlike Rebecka, I am not nearly as prepared. I have much work to do.

In better news, we are planning a trip to Sweden next June. Momma and Pappa Peterson will be accompanying us. Hopefully, this is just the start of many adventures with my parents. We booked with Iceland Airlines so we get to have a layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. The tickets were cheap -- hopefully Iceland Air is legit :)

While in Sweden, we have a mission to accomplish. The Peterson namesake is Swedish so we would like to find our ancestors homestead. According to my Dad's relatives, it is near the city of Linkoping which is where Rebecka's cousin attends school.

That's it!

Sincerely, Brett

When a cat's gotta go, a cat's gotta go

2010-10-14T12:28:00.001-05:00

Recently I've gotten several, "I haven't heard anything about your cat lately." Which tells you just how exciting our lives are: our cat is more entertaining than we are. Sad, but true.

Donny, as we've been calling him after the unfortunate vet visit, is still as hungry as ever. For example, he's currently drinking out of the glass of water I just poured for myself. Yesterday, he finished Brett's leftover barbecue sauce. And as soon as he smells any kind of food, he either cries his little heart out, or purringly jumps into your lap, as if to say, "I'm your friend. I'm nice. I WANT YOUR FOOD!" I know what all you parents out there are thinking: "Well, of course, he always wants your food. You keep giving it to him, you enablers, you." To this argument, I have no rebuttal. You are correct. We spoil our cat.

Our neighbors must think we're completely insane. We bought Donny a cat harness and leash and take him on walks like he's a dog. We've been spotted loading up a litter box and cat food into the car as we get ready to take Donny to Sioux Falls for the weekend to visit Grandma and Grandpa Peterson (aka Brett's parents). We're slightly obsessed. At least we admit it.

This morning I was in the bathroom getting ready, and Donny was in there with me. I had the door shut because I had just taken a shower, and I get very crabby when I have to face cold air after a hot shower. So the door remains closed at all times until I give the go-ahead. Donny kept meowing at me for something, but he's a pretty chatty kitty, so I didn't pay too much attention to it. After awhile, he jumped up on the counter and started sniffing the sink. "There's no food in there, Donny," I thought. A little while later, he started "scratching" the sink (except that he doesn't have front claws). "I'm telling you, you are not going to dig up food under there, buddy."

And then he squatted.

My eyes about jumped out of my face with sudden realization. "NO DONNY! Not the sink!" I grabbed him under his belly and awkwardly carried him to his litter box as fast as my little legs would take me, waddling the whole way to the guestroom, lest the feline let anything out before I reach our destination. I dropped him in his litter, a little less gracefully than anticipated, and watched to make sure our cat finished the task that it looked like he was about to begin just a few seconds ago. By this time Brett had joined us. Imagine two adults, staring a cat going to the bathroom.

Donny was successful, I'd like to announce. Even with his paws wet from the sink endeavor (I'm sure it's not very pleasant maneuvering--no pun intended--in litter with wet hands and feet), he went to the bathroom in his rightful place.

I'll try to be more lax on the door-closing rule next time. No promises though.

Donny in his earlier years (i.e., a couple months ago)
Photo courtesy of our wonderful brother-in-law, Rob

i GUESS I JUST HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THESE PEOPLE. i'LL KEEP PUSHING THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON TO ANNOY rEBECKA AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. MWAHAHAHAHA!

She kept on snoring...

2010-10-06T12:50:00.000-05:00

First of all, thank you so much for all the kind responses to my last rant. I greatly appreciate all of you wonderful friends and family who are such encouragers and help me along the road.

Now, since my last couple of posts have been rather depressing, I thought I'd lighten the mood a bit. I have a quick story to tell you from class today. I should probably be sad about this, but instead it just makes me laugh every time I think about it. So here goes...

I was lecturing this morning when all of a sudden I heard distinct snoring. I paused and wondered how to address it. Usually just a small comment is enough to wake up a dozer, so I looked up and said, "That's funny. I could have sworn I just heard snoring." The class giggled a bit and I thought, "Ok good. The giggle should be enough to wake up the culprit."

So I continued to lecture.

Until I looked around the classroom and saw her.

There she was, in her green hoodie, hood over her head, the back of her head parallel to the ground, legs spread a part, arms dangling from her chair, mouth wide open. And I lost it. The sight of this girl completely knocked out was just too much for me to take in. I burst into laughter. I apologized to the class: "I'm sorry, but that is just too funny," which of course made everyone turn their heads. After a few seconds the entire class was laughing.

The best part? She just kept on snoring.

This is a depressing rant. Again, read at your own risk.

2010-09-24T15:56:00.000-05:00

This week has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster, both as a student and as a teacher. As student, it seems as soon as I conquer one assignment, a new assignment or exam gets thrown at me. I am currently trying to study for an exam, start/finish a set of proofs, start/finish a set of computations, and study for my comprehensive exams in November. It's more than a little overwhelming; however, every time I figure out a proof, there is definite delight.

If that's not enough, I still have a class of my own to teach. And that's where the real emotional roller coaster lies. This week I sent out an evaluation to the class ("What's one thing you like about the class? What's one thing you'd change?"), and the results were so encouraging. I had several people say that they really like the way I teach; many said they wouldn't change a thing about the class! Boy, did I feel like a great teacher...

And then Exam 1 came.

And boy, do I feel like not so great of a teacher anymore. I had fourteen fail. Yes, fourteen out of thirty-seven. I didn't have a single A. And to top it off, the one student who is already one absent away from getting dropped from the course (students are only allowed to miss four class periods, and he's already missed four) got one of the highest grades on the test! He also gave me a nice little note on the back of the test saying that he "find[s] no use whatsoever in this subject." (He also added that I'm an "excellent teacher," as if he could judge that based on the two class periods he's actually attended.) I sent him an email in response (honestly, I do agree with him: when is he really going to use pure math as an English teacher?). We'll see what he says. Could be entertaining, as nearly everything I get from this kid is.

So that's that. Don't worry--I'm not quitting my job or anything. It's just one of those days that makes you realize you're really not all that and a bag of chips. I desperately need those days every once and a while. Even though they're hard to swallow. I still love teaching, and I still love my students--even though I am extremely disappointed in them right now.

If you've made it this far to my rant, you deserve an award! Thanks for listening. I needed to get out some of my frustration, so I decided to write. It's been very therapeutic.

A day in the life of Rebecka. Read at your own risk.

2010-09-10T17:14:00.000-05:00

The first two weeks of school have come and gone, and I am officially one-eighth closer to the end of the semester, which is oftentimes more of a terrifying thought than anything else. But, I have to admit, it's been a very good semester so far.

A lot of people ask, "What exactly do you do in math grad school?" This is a very legitimate question, one which I am only now beginning to be able to answer clearly myself. Obviously, I study a lot and teach a little. I study two main branches of mathematics (algebra and analysis) and then I take some electives as well (like calculus-based statistics, a couple education courses, etc.).

Algebra is what we've all done in high school, but in grad school, we look at it in a much more general setting. As a basic example, in high school--or I guess even much earlier than that--we knew 2x3=3x2 because they both equal 6. But why is this the case for the real numbers; and, furthermore, in general, does axb always equal bxa? The answer is no, actually--it depends entirely on the set of elements (or numbers) with which you're working. So, algebra looks at questions like this and seeks to answer when things like 2x3=3x2 are true statements, and when such statements fall flat on their face.

Analysis looks at the structure of numbers. Like algebra, it goes back to the basics that we learned early on and seeks to prove propositions we take for granted. However, analysis looks more at the calculus side of things and seeks to answer why calculus works as beautifully as it does. Both algebra and analysis require a great deal of proof writing--proofs which often don't come until you've done a lot of outside research and a lot of thinking.

(Ok, math teachers out there, how did I do in my explanations?)

So that's the "boring" part of what I do, which obviously I don't find very boring at all or I wouldn't have devoted the past few years of my life to it. But the more "exciting" part of being a math grad student is the teaching. I get to teach College Algebra every semester to kids who just want get those three credits and get out of there. But I love it. I love the challenge of trying to make some of my enthusiasm for the subject rub off--even just a little--on my students. I get to know students who are scared to death of algebra when they walk in those doors, but who feel rather accomplished when it's all said and done (provided they put a little effort into it). And that's pretty cool, you gotta admit. I've also really enjoyed working at a secular university, where I can be a little glimpse of hope and light to some kids who feel rather hopeless. And, of course, there's always the humorous side of teaching mostly freshmen, who can be rather clueless about school and life in general. Some days I'm convinced it must be akin to teaching kindergardeners.

And that's school for me right now. Some days I love it. Some days I hate it. Most days I love it though--despite my complaints.

No, not the most exciting blog you've ever read, I'm sure. But, remember, we warned you in the beginning: we don't promise to be entertaining 100% of the time.

My Last First Day of School

2010-08-31T11:43:00.000-05:00

You'd think after doing this every single year for pretty much my whole life now, I'd have mastered being a student. A year or two of preschool. A year of kindergarten. Five years of elementary school. Three years of middle school. Four years of high school. Another four years of undergrad. And now two years of grad school. And I'm still shaking in my boots. In fact, I think there's a chance that my level of anxiety is directly related to the number of years I've been in school: the longer I go, the more anxious I get. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I decided to blog in an attempt to calm my nerves a bit.

I have a few theories on why this seemingly backwards relationship exists. For starters, the classes just get harder and harder. I had to work my little butt off last semester for classes that I thought were killer, but they were just the foundation of what I'll be studying this year. As Brett put it so eloquently, "By the time you're done, you'll have no more butt." Probably true.

Secondly, now there's the teaching aspect of going to school, which is still brand-new to me. I have forty College Algebra students under my care this semester. Forty students with whom to share my love of math, most of who could care less about the topic.

Finally, the anxiety may be building up due to pure excitement. I'm so close. One more year (two semesters and a summer), and the pressure is over. I can finally be a teacher, a dream I've had for as long as I can remember. (Hanna knows this better than anyone else. I would force her to play school with me for hours after coming home from real school every day. And guess who never got to be the teacher...)

But, all in all, though I'm always scared about starting each new year, I always end up loving it. It hit me again in orientation last week--How lucky am I to get to both study and teach what I absolutely love? Feel free to remind me of that as the year progresses...

So tonight I'm headed over to the fancy new "Math Emporium" to put some tutoring hours in, followed by my one night class, of which I'll spare you the details. And then tomorrow it's full swing with teaching, office hours, my own classes, and some more tutoring.

Here's to my last first day (or night) of school. As a student. For now, at least.

What to expect when going to the vet for the first time

2010-08-27T12:29:00.000-05:00

Today was Chloe's first visit to the doctor. I was sort of dreading it because I knew it wouldn't be a very pleasant experience for her and that she would probably blame me for it. But it had to be done, so I booked an appointment, put her in the car (with no cat carrier) and drove the full five minutes to the other side of town.

As soon as I opened the door, Chloe and I were greeted by a very flat-faced, oversized Persian. Chloe was slightly taken aback by this fluffy creature (I could feel her heart beating a little faster), but she remained calm and quiet. "What a good little girl," I thought to myself.

As the vet was drawing blood, giving shots, and putting medicine in Chloe's ear, I could tell he was trying to talk to me to keep me distracted from Chloe's obvious discomfort. He asked if I went to school at USD and when he figured out what I was studying, he replied, "Really. You don't look at all like one of those math people." I was highly intrigued by this observation and wanted to ask what in the world he meant by it, but I decided to just smile and pretend like I understood the comment. But that was by far not the most curious thing he told me...

"Well, you've got a good boy, here. You do know he's a boy, right?"

"Um...no. I have HER papers right here; I was told she was a girl."

"Oh, no. He's clearly a boy. This happens all the time. Here, I can show you how we check. See this little opening here...you can actually just stick your finger inside like this..."

At this, Chloe started started yelping in pain...

"...and you can actually feel his penis! Here, you try."

I was not about to go sticking my finger up poor boy-Chloe, so I again just smiled and pretended I hadn't heard the ridiculous suggestion. I think Doc got the hint.

So, I guess we're in need of a new name. The boy name we had picked out was Galileo Galilei (Leo for short), but now I'm not sold on it. I suppose we could just stick with Chloe and tell everyone she's--I mean he's--a boy. Kind of like Peter the girl parrot at OWU.

Well, I do have one thing to say: Ash, I should have listened to you when you told me you thought Chloe was a boy! Next time, I'll take your word for it over the rescue shelter's.

The Adventures of Chloe O'Brian

2010-08-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

In this blog I will attempt to make all of you cat haters out there reconsider your stance. I by no means am trying to switch your allegiance from the canine species to the feline. Nay, I wouldn't dare. I am brutally aware of the fact that you far outnumber those of us who prefer kittens and that you have no intention of changing that statistic. But do consider this: while I myself am most definitely a cat person, I can certainly appreciate dogs...as long as they don't bite me. Now, I will aspire to help you dog lovers out there feel the same way about cats. I will do this not with words, but with pictures.


Chloe O'Brian watching TV on Brett's shoulder. We should have called her Parrot.


She's giving you wink! How can you say no to that?


Laptops fascinate Chloe more than almost anything else. I had mine pulled up while I was baking, and she decided to add her own commentary to the recipe. Check out the bottom right corner.

She even knows how to make a silly face for the camera.

Our dear friends from Idaho visited this past weekend.
Ashley had a special touch with Chloe.

We got a package in the mail today!
Chloe thought the packing peanuts came just for her.

Lesson #1: Stick with Skirts

2010-08-11T13:40:00.001-05:00

If there's one thing I've learned about Chloe O'Brian the past few days it's that this innocent-looking, tiny little kitten is a meat-crazed carnivore. For example, yesterday I had a turkey sandwich for lunch, and that cat smelled the turkey from what seemed like a mile away. I decided to give her little piece of the meat (probably a mistake, in hindsight) because she just kept looking at me with those beautiful green eyes and meowing like there was no tomorrow. Let me tell you, I have never seen turkey go so fast in my life. It was there one second and the next second it was gone. She inhaled it.

For dinner I made tacos. As you know, tacos require ground beef. Problem. Ground beef is meat. Red meat, no less. As I was browning the meat, Chloe cried and cried for some beef. I told her that I would save some without taco seasoning for her but that she would have to wait until it was cooked and cooled before she could have any. It was for her own good. But she didn't care. She stood up on her hind legs, leaned her long front legs on my shin, and meowed her little heart out for food. I hope I can get these meows on tape sometime soon: one meow can last for several seconds. It's more of a serenade, really.

This morning I was washing dishes. My guess is that Chloe smelled the leftover taco meat on our dishes and wanted her share. Today I wore jeans, which I now realize was an error on my part. As I was doing the dishes, our beloved little kitten quickly figured out how to climb up my pant leg, shimmy her way up side, and scoot her body on top of my shoulder, a location from which she could then jump to the counter. I kept putting her back down on the ground, but she wanted nothing to do with floor. I think she made her ascent a total of five times within about ten minutes. I will probably have to learn how to keep moving while working in the kitchen. I'm up for the challenge.

This is the finished result

Here's a video of Chloe's climb. Excuse the bad videography. It's a little difficult to tape a cat's crawling up a person when you're the person she's crawling up.

Oh yes, Chloe is named after a character on the show 24. She's a computer analyst for the Counter Terrorism Unit. The character on the show is feisty, and we wanted a cat with just as much personality. A friend recently told me, "Be careful what you wish for," after I had said that I really want a cat with a lot of personality. Probably good advice.

Meet Chloe O'Brian!

2010-08-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

We have a kitty!

After hours of looking at cats of all ages, shapes, and colors at the Sioux Falls Humane Society and leaving without a cat, we were both a little disappointed; but we kept telling ourselves that we wanted to wait for the perfect cat. I'm going to be home a lot by myself this next year (and by "by myself" I mean me and my textbooks), so I wanted the perfect feline companion. When we were at SFHS, all the cats I took out to come and play with me were not very interested in me.

So, we took a little break from cat shopping and then tried again at a different shelter a few hours later. We walked around, looking at all the cats that were up for adoption, until we landed on a very cute little gray kitten with a Hitler-like mustache etched on her nose, a white stripe running from her forehead down to her belly, and all four paws dipped in white. She wasn't like the other kittens: she was very alert but not annoyingly so. I picked her up and she sat contently in my arms. Then Brett took his turn. And that was that. I just couldn't say "no" to the look on his face. And it's a very good thing I didn't because she's been an excellent little kitty these first twenty-four hours. She's very playful, but when she wants to rest, she makes sure she's in the same room we are. During lunch today, she jumped right into my lap and sat there until we were finished. I'm determined to make this cat a people-cat!

So, that's our story of Chloe O'Brian. Ten points to whoever can figure out after whom she's named.

Goodbye, Sweden | Hello, America

2010-08-06T15:24:00.001-05:00

We are officially back in the great state of South Dakota!

After about twenty-four hours of no sleep, we arrived safely home on Wednesday night. Somehow, on our longest flight (from Paris to Minneapolis), there seemed to be a child occupying approximately every other seat. I didn't pay too much attention to this at first, until the plane started looking more and more like zoo by the hour. Neither Brett nor I got a wink of sleep. There was one child in particular that sat just a few feet away from us who screamed her little head off the entire flight. I kid you not, friends, nine and a half hours of ear-piercing screeches. To make matters worse, I started to experience terrible headaches every time we began to descend (my wonderful researcher of a husband later diagnosed it as Aerosinusitis--look it up on Wikipedia), which were intensified greatly every time I heard a cry at a God-forsaken frequency. "It's ok," I kept telling myself. "Just x more hours and then you'll land and be on your way to Sioux Falls and never have to listen to this girl again." Right?

Wrong.

How many people do you think were on our flight from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls? Seventy-six. Guess who was one of those seventy-six. You guessed it. Miss Screecher herself. Brett and I could only shake our heads in bewilderment. How could this happen?

Thankfully, we landed in Sioux Falls within an hour and were greeted by my wonderful family-in-law and a dear friend from OWU. We did lose the one backpack we checked in, but it has been found and should be returned to us sometime in the future!

I am currently working on unpacking our new apartment while Brett is at his first day of work. For those of you who didn't know already, we moved apartments so we could get a cat. Yes. We're that crazy.

Well, that's it for now. Many thanks for all your prayers while we were on this trip! Hopefully our next blog will be about our new feline family member...

Elvens + Kermanshahis + Petersons

2010-08-01T12:07:00.000-05:00

The past two days have been spent with wonderful family--both immediate and extended. It's been great to visit with everyone and catch up on life. I haven't seen most of my relatives since the last time I was here (five years ago); and, of course, they're all very, very excited to meet Brett!

Yesterday was the Elven family reunion. My mom has three sisters, so all three of my aunts on my mom's side came and all the cousins that were able to make it. We had such a great time together. Most of the day consisted of (you guessed it) eating, as all good events do, in my opinion. Each of the four families also brought some kind of game for everyone to play, which made for highly hilarious moments. To end the evening, we watched our wedding DVD (many thanks, Dr. Turner!), which was wonderful since the distance of the ceremony made it near to impossible for any of my Swedish relatives to come.

Today was a great day spent with just the Kermanshahi clan. First, Mom biked with Hanna, Brett, and me to find a Swedish flag, which has been a goal of ours for a while now. We were very successful: Brett and I found a huge one to hang in our guest room (I hope that image is as funny/awesome in your head as it is in mine). We then met up with the rest of the clan downtown for lunch to watch the Trollhattan Falls open. It was beautiful! The kiddos rode back home with Dad afterwards, but the other four of us ventured around Trollhattan a bit more. We went inside the Church of Sweden (and had free coffee, juice, and cookies...have I mentioned how much I love the Swede's eating habits?) and then took a short cable car ride over part of the city. Finally, we took our bikes to get some groceries and headed home. It was a very good day.


Mormor with her grandchildren--minus three, plus one


My beautiful cousin Malin

Picking raspberries on our bike ride

He's a born Swede, I'm tellin' ya

One looks slightly more Swedish than the other two...

Looking down from our cable car

The West Coast

2010-07-29T11:35:00.000-05:00

We've gotten a few requests for more pictures, so I'll narrate a bit here, but mainly leave you with more photos.

Yesterday we went to the west coast with my aunt and two cousins! It was beautiful. We walked around for a while and went on a little nature walk; then we eventually settled on a secluded place near some cliffs. We had a great time relaxing and just enjoying each others' fellowship. I fell asleep (while Harry Potter was being read to me), but Brett woke me up a few minutes later and excitedly asked, "You want to come catch crabs?!" Discombobulated, I hesitantly agreed. I had no idea how fun fishing for crabs could be. We all took turns holding a piece of string with a clothespin on the bottom, which held a mussel as bait. I think we caught ten or so (don't worry, animal lovers, we let them all go and made them race each other back to the water).

Today we were home with the kiddos, which is always entertaining! It's been a little rainy today, but Gloria and David still managed to show us the way to the nearest grocery store. We had lunch with my dad at a place near his work (Check out the pictures of the pizza!), and tonight my parents are having some friends over for dinner.

And now for the pictures!

This is a Swedish Vacation Hot-Spot for Swedes and Nords

At the bottom of our nature adventure...
(Brett saw stairs and had to see where they went)


...and at the top of our little hike!

Fishing for crabs

Success!

Yummy yummy!


When it rains here, the slugs come out. Yuck.

Sverige = Sweden

2010-07-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

The past week in Sweden has been awesome! We are definitely getting spoiled on our vacation.

My cousin Malin came over on Saturday and spent the weekend with us. She and I are only a few months a part in age, and even though it's been about five years since we've seen each other, it's always like no time has passed at all when we reunite. It was so great to see her and talk with her. And she speaks excellent English, so Brett was included at all times, too. We had such a great time with you, Malin!

Yesterday Dad, Brett, Hanna, and I drove down to Gothenburg to spend some time with my aunt and grandma on Dad's side. We went to the shore, ate at a cafe overlooking the ocean, and got some GB Glass (Swedish ice cream!) on our way home, of course. We also did a little bit of shopping and got to see some of downtown Gothenburg on our way back to Trollhattan. The evening ended with two episodes of Monk (my parents own the third season on DVD), which is becoming a nightly ritual.

Today Dad, Hanna, Brett, David, and myself had lunch by the river. The food was wonderful, and the company was even better. I'm treasuring these moments with my family, to be sure.

Currently Brett's playing the Swedish version of Sorry! with David and Hanna. The game just started, but I'm sure it will get pretty intense here soon.

Hope you're having a lovely day!

The beautiful shore


Great food, great scenery, great people

This is where we ate today

Hej fran Trollhattan!

2010-07-22T05:59:00.000-05:00

That's "Hello from Trollhattan!" We have made it to my parents' place in southern Sweden, and it is beautiful here!

We arrived at the airport in Gothenburg on Monday night. Sweden is so safe they didn't even stamp our passports. When Brett asked an airport attendant if we had missed Passport Control, she replied, "Oh no. We don't have such things here. Welcome to Sweden!" Then again, we had already entered the European Union a week ago, so maybe that's how they check. We'll have to do some more research on the matter...

The next day we took a one-hour bus ride up to Trollhattan. We've enjoyed playing in the parks with the kids, eating Swedish ice cream, and being with my family.

Brett's done so well hanging in there with all the Swedish being thrown at him. He politely smiles and nods or patiently waits for me to translate. He's quite a trooper.

Yesterday was Gloria's birthday, so we went to the lake and grilled hot dogs wrapped in bacon on a disposable grill (it was a new thing for me as well). We had a great time relaxing in the sun and dipping our feet in the freezing cold water, fresh from the arctic. Later, Gloria got her biggest birthday wish--a guinea pig named Astrid! She's a cute little thing, and Gloria watches over her like her own child (Hanna and I joke all the time that she's going to be the first one to produce grandchildren for my parents, despite the big age difference).

Tonight we're going on a Swedish safari to hopefully see some moose! I hope we can get some pictures for you!

Goodbye for now!


Hanna and I used to go sledding right around here. Now Gloria and David enjoy all the different playground equipment.

Gloria took us on a "Nature Adventure."

Forest on one side. Lake on the other. Just how I like it.

The Eiffel Tower at Night

2010-07-19T10:27:00.000-05:00

As promised!

From London to Paris to Gothenburg

2010-07-19T10:01:00.000-05:00

We made it back to Paris! And now we're on our way to Gothenburg, Sweden...

We ended our London trip with a beautiful show of Les Miserables and then spent the next morning walking around Portabello Road (we thought of you, Rachel!), which is an open-air market. The market is famous for its antiques, but vendors also sell clothes and all kinds of delicious fruits and veggies. We mainly just looked around, but we did purchase some delicious British raspberries!

Then it was off to Paris again on the high speed rail! We were able to see everything we wanted to see these last couple of days: Notre Dame, the Louvre, and--of course--the Eiffel Tower...three times. Our hotel was a five-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower so we spent both our evenings there, watching the sun go down and then watching the tower light up magnificently (we shall attempt to post a video of it). This morning, before heading to the airport, we actually got to go up the tower! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. We thought we'd be adventurous (and cheap), so we decided to walk as far as possible, which means we walked 704 steps one way, to get to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. From there, if you want to get any farther you have to take an elevator (thank goodness), which is exactly what we did. It was amazing. Probably the coolest thing was looking down and seeing the shadow of the tower over the city of Paris (Becky told us of its magical powers).

The Louvre was pretty amazing, too. I got a picture with the Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, all the descriptions were in French, so we didn't know what we were looking at most of the time.

And, we finally did taste a French crepe! It was divine--thank you for the suggestion, JJ! We went for the Nutella, per your advise, Linsday. :)

And now, we're sitting at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, waiting for our flight to Sweden. It's been an unforgettable week, and now we get to go spend some time with my family. Hope we haven't bombarded you with too much information the past few days!

Au revoir!

First day to see the Eiffel

The Mona Lisa and me--do we look alike?

Second floor of the Eiffel Tower--notice its shadow

Newton's School, Buckingham Palace, and the Crown of Thorns

2010-07-16T11:31:00.000-05:00

Brett and I agree--today's been the best day yet on this European adventure.

We started our day by doing something very touristy, but it was totally worth it: we took a tour of London via a tour boat on the Thames. We not only saw several landmarks of London but also learned a lot of history and random facts. We saw St. Paul's Cathedral, the London Bridge, the Globe Theatre, the old fish market, and--my personal favorite--both the old and new City of London School for Boys, where Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Daniel Radcliffe all attended!

Afterwards, we walked through St. James Park, one of London's eight Royal Parks, to see Buckingham Palace, which, by the way, is not the official residence of the Queen of England. And then we headed back to the British Museum and successfully found the Rosetta Stone (which is even bigger than I imagined) and the Ancient Iranian Room. Both were very impressive. The coolest thing we saw though (and we found this by complete accident) was what is believed to be a thorn from Jesus' Crown of Thorns. The crown was carried from Jerusalem to Constantinople and then Louis IX bought it for nearly half of France's annual income in the late 14th century. It is encased by a beautiful reliquary.

We're just relaxing a bit right now. In a couple hours we're headed off to see Les Miserables, a musical I've been wanting to see for years and that has only been shown in London recently (but it's coming to the States next year, so keep an eye out for it)!

Here are more pictures!

St. Paul's Cathedral

Getting ready for our Boat Tour (with the Tower Bridge behind us)

Can you see the thorn there in the middle? It's on top of the sapphire.

London

2010-07-15T16:08:00.000-05:00

We made it to London!

Yesterday we took a high-speed train from Paris to London, and it was awesome. The train goes about 210 mph through the north of France, under the English Channel, and then through the south of England, stopping at King's Cross Station in London. The whole trip took just over two hours.

Once we got here, we started checking out the city immediately. It was everything I had pictured and more. We ate lunch at a tiny cafe across the street from our hotel, and then headed to the tube (that's English for the subway system, which we are starting to master!). When we got off the underground, we ran through some rain to make it to the immaculate British Museum. As soon as we entered, I think we both just stopped in our tracks, mouths agape. This place is absolutely incredible, and there's no way to see all of it in one day. We saw ancient Egyptian artifacts (including the beard of the Sphinx and mummies!), Grecian statues, and ancient money. We're hoping to go back tomorrow to find the Rosetta Stone and ancient Iranian artifacts.

Today we walked around London some more and got to see Westminster Abby, Big Ben, and the London Eye! I think I almost starting dancing down the street when I saw Big Ben--I can't quite put into words the feeling of actually getting to see with your own eyes these incredibly beautiful places that you've seen so many times in pictures or in movies.

Afterwards, we headed to the Natural History Museum, which is a must-see for any science nerd. We saw reconstructions and fossils of dinosaurs, a skeleton and model of a blue whale, rare gems and diamonds, and incredible footage of life in the womb, to name a few.

I shall leave you with some more pictures. If you have trouble seeing them, you may want to head over to the actual blog: www.brettandkermyjourney.blogspot.com.

Love you all!

Day ONE

2010-07-13T12:09:00.008-05:00

Bonjour -

I am proud to say that we have survived day one of our Europe trip. We arrived safely but emotionally damaged (see below).

After an extensive study of the French culture, I have a few observations...

1) French stewardesses are actually very rude.

Example: The lady sitting next to me was holding her sister's baby while she prepared a bottle. She couldn't sit down immediately because only parents are allowed to hold their children during take-off. A stewardess came to my neighbor and stated, "So, it's because of you our plane is delayed" and walked off.

2) American tourists are actually annoying.

Example: A group of U.S. teenagers located behind us on the plane talked loudly and refused to eat the in-flight meals. Also, during the descent the girl directly behind Rebecka projectile vomited. Unlike a normal person, the girl had no remorse but laughed about spraying the passengers in-front of her. Poor Rebecka.

3) French people enjoy ripping off Americans

Example: 1) The currency changers charged a 25% premium on the actual exchange rate
2) A group of street peddlers demanded 10 Euro for a string bracelet they made within seconds. I was conned into the whole ordeal when they asked to look at my hand... he then started to form the bracelet on me.

Note: I refused to pay 10 Euro and he threatened to cut off my finger. (Just kidding, Mom)

4) On a positive note, Paris is worth seeing.

Example: See pictures of Sacré-Cœur Basilica (the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). We climbed 300 steps to the top dome which gives an amazing view of Paris.

Love - Brett

Faith + Family

2010-07-12T14:33:00.000-05:00

This weekend was the McDowell family reunion. Brett and myself, along with Don, Sheri, and Rachel, headed down to Washington, Iowa, to meet up with Brett's extended family.

Let me tell you, this was one family reunion. It included all the descendants of "Grandma and Grandpa" McDowell and their spouses. The McDowells were Brett's great-grandparents (the parents of his grandmother on his mom's side), so you can imagine how many people were there. And if you can't imagine, well, let me spell it out for you: one hundred and forty-six. And that's not including the relatives that couldn't make it! Everyone kept apologizing to me for how overwhelming the whole weekend must have been, but there really wasn't anything overwhelming about it. These people are some of the kindest, most welcoming human beings I've ever met...and now I can call them family.

The weekend included all the great camping activities such as canoeing, swimming, and hiking. On Saturday, I experienced what is called a "wiener roast," accompanied by a hay ride; and on Sunday night, we had a family talent show (mixed with "Minute To Win It"). But the highlight of my weekend was the Sunday worship service. One of great grandsons who is a minister gave a sermon and then opened up the floor for people to share memories of Grandma and Grandpa McDowell. The stories that people shared were absolutely incredible to hear. I now know where Brett gets so many of the qualities that I fell in love with. Grandma Ruth McDowell was actually Grandpa McDowell's second wife. She married him after his first wife had died, leaving him with six children, the youngest of which was severely mentally handicapped. Against many warnings, Ruth accepted the challenge of this new family, welcoming the children as her own, and even naming her first child Edna, after Grandpa's late wife. She said that Edna would be the bridge between the two families. One of her daughters (Brett's grandma's sister) said, "We knew in our heads that we were technically step-siblings, but we never felt it in our hearts."

I sat listening to story after story about this couple that loved so deeply and unconditionally. I was fighting back tears the entire time, and I didn't even know these people. I am hardly even related to them. What struck me the most was how important faith and family were to the McDowells. And how they were able to pass that heritage along to their children, who passed it on to their children, and so and so forth--four generations later.

I left the reunion overwhelmed with gratefulness. I was born into one incredible family. And now I have another one to add to the list. Pretty amazing.

PS
We are currently in Omaha waiting for our flight to Paris! We're spending a week there and in London and then heading to visit my family in Sweden! We will attempt to keep you updated via the blog...

Introducing: MASTER Brett Peterson!

2010-06-30T16:31:00.001-05:00

He made it! In just a few short minutes Brett will be walking into the apartment, his last final ever--at least for now--under his belt. On Monday he took his Exit Exam (a comprehensive exam of all the accounting courses he's taken), and he passed! It's not been an easy journey, but he persevered--and it's been so worth it. So, I'm going to take some time to brag about my husband, if I may.

Very few people understand what it takes to be in grad school, and I say that with as much grace as possible. I understand what Brett's had to sacrifice in order to get to where he is, because, well, I'm in the same boat. My dad, of course, went through grad school, too; and I've heard no one say explain it better than he: "It feels like you're a slave to school, doesn't it?" Yes. That really is the perfect tag line. Your mind is constantly thinking about papers, homework, and exams. You spend a good sixty hours a week reading textbooks, working through your notes, completing assignments, studying for tests, and doing any outside research that may help you better understand your field. That's what Brett's endured to get here. The two of us joke that we've probably already knocked off a couple years of our life by the stress we've gone through because of school.

But there are a lot of joys that come with school, too. I know Brett's had to push through rough classes and learn complicated subjects such as corporate tax, auditing, financial derivatives, and whole lot more that I could barely tell you one sentence about. But the knowledge he's come out with is priceless. And though we like to complain about how much work grad school is, or was, the truth is, we love being students. We're so thankful that we even have the opportunity to study what we love and to learn from some of the best professionals in the field. This is our worship.

So, way to go, Brett. Thank you for hanging in there. Thanks for being so supportive, even when there are a thousand other things vying for your attention. Thank you for caring so much about your education, but not more than your marriage. You were asked to do the almost-impossible: juggle school, a new city, and a young marriage. And I say you came out with an A+.

Love you, boy.

Every good and perfect gift comes from above.

2010-06-25T17:00:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, if you would have told me that someone with a BS in Financial Economics and an MS in Accounting, with a near-perfect GPA would have a hard time finding a job, I would have laughed in your face. However, it turns out that in Vermillion, SD, even with outstanding credentials, it's been a big challenge finding a job in the accounting world.
You know Brett and me. We sort of like to have a plan. Or, even better, a detailed description of what the next 5 years (at minimum) are going to look like. So, when we weren't too sure what the next few months were going to look like, our feathers got a bit ruffled.

Of course, I started questioning everything. Did we make the wrong decision by accepting USD's offer for me to start grad school early? Now we're stuck in Vermillion until I finish. Is it too late for me to transfer? Should I take a break from school?

Thankfully, I married a very wise man, who knows when to tell me that I'm being crazy.

So, we prayed and prayed. And, though we didn't hear back from prospective employers (or if we did, it was always, "We're going to go with someone who has a little more experience," which is always exactly what you want to hear right out of college), God was so faithful. Every single need was met and more. I realized one day, as I was begging God to open up this job opportunity for Brett that, HELLO, Rebecka, look around you--have you ever not been taken care of? So I stopped begging and started reflecting on what I think is the most prevalent theme in the Old Testament: Remembrance. "Remember the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt." "Remember that you were once slaves." I'll be the first to admit, I don't really get how prayer works. But I can tell you, at the very least this did wonders for my attitude.

But. Brett still needed a job. I had prayed, months ago, "God, it would be so incredible if Brett could be given a job before he finishes school." Well, today, five days before the last day of graduate school, Brett was hired!

The job is absolutely perfect for him. He'll be an auditor at a firm about twenty minutes from us that specializes in non-profit and governmental accounting. (I know--it has "Brett Peterson" written all over it, right?) So, he'll be auditing schools, towns, etc.

I'm very very proud of my husband. But, even more, I'm so thankful that my God loves us. And as Jesus put it, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Thanks for taking care of us, Jesus.

A Songbird and an Old Hat

2010-06-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

We just got finished reading the second of seven Harry Potter books, The Chamber of Secrets. Brett has read all the books (more than once), and now we're reading them aloud together. It seems like I haven't read fiction since high school, so I've loved getting into this series; and to have someone to enjoy it with makes it just that much better.

Anyone who's read Harry Potter will agree: there are more to these books than brilliant, creative story-telling. To me, Harry's story reveals deep truths about human nature and depicts God's beautiful redemption and His desire for us to be His "messengers of reconciliaton," as Paul wrote to the Corintinhains.

In The Chamber of Secrets, several students at Hogwarts have been found mysteriously petrified, and one of Harry's friends has gone missing. Harry becomes determined to find who's behind these terrible attacks. In the climax, Harry finds himself facing th3 evil Lord Voldemort, the dark wizard who killed Harry's parents twelve years ago. Harry, alone in the chamber with the person who's life goal is to see him dead, is terrified. Suddenly, he receives two gifts--a phoenix, which he recognizes as Dumbledore's (the headmaster) and the Sorting Hat. Harry has no idea what he's supposed to do with these two objects, and Voldemort begins to mock:

"This is what Dumbledore sends his defender! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?"

I had to laugh to myself when I read these words. How many times have those same thoughts tormented me? I'm trying to trust you here, Lord, but you're not exactly giving me the things I need. I don't feel brave. I don't even feel safe...

But, without fail, God gives me exactly what I need--though I'm usually not observant enough to catch it right away.

Harry does defeat the Dark Lord (but for details, you'll have to read the book yourself)! However, he's left haunted by Voldemort's parting wods, "There are strange likenesses between us, after all." When Harry confides in Dumbledore, the Great Wizard tells Harry wisely,

"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

So, thanks, J. K. Rowling, for reminding me that, when I feel inadequate, it is "in my weakness [that] He is made strong." And, furthermore, it's my choices--more than my natural abilities--that will affect my life. (As I tell my students, "It's not the smart ones that will necessarily get the A; it's the ones who choose to work.")

Where am I?

2010-06-09T14:13:00.000-05:00

Today was errand day at the Peterson household. We got insurance for the family van we recently inherited, picked up a few things at the dollar store for Becca and Rob's wedding (wohoo!), and stopped by Cost Cutters for a haircut for Brett.

Cost Cutters. I am very suspicious of this place.

I've only been inside twice. The first time, Brett was getting his hair cut by the usual, talkative, kind hairdresser. She was about our age. She was jabbering on and on (which I never really mind because I don't know what I'm supposed to say in such situations anyway, so it's better that the other person does the talking), and it didn't take long to figure out that she lived in a small town just twenty minutes from where we live. As the monologue continued, we found out that this small town was actually the town Brett's dad grew up in. A few minutes later...wait, what?..."you bought my cousin's old place...?" Yes, folks. Brett's hairdresser lived in one of his cousin's old homes. They both thought it was the coolest thing ever. I was starting to wonder exactly how small Clay County, South Dakota really is.

We went back today. Brett went into Cost Cutters while I made a quick run into the dollar store. When I got back to Cost Cutters, Brett's cut had already begun. I quickly tuned into the conversation he was having with his new hairdresser.

"Yeah...well see, I'm a Hisel."

"So...we're related?!"

My jaw just dropped. You have got to be kidding me. That's two for two, friends. Who knows who will do our hair the next time we enter Cost Cutters. I don't know about you, but this is very strange for someone who spent most of her life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually (though part of me secretly hopes that never happens).

Beautiful Art or Torture?

2010-06-06T08:25:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, the Peterson Clan plus our adopted family (Becky & Rob) trekked off to see Rebecka's dance recital. Rebecka forewarned us that the show might run a bit long, but we were promised ice cream afterward as a reward.

Little did we know, the recital took over 3 hours! Most of the dances were quite excellent, but I figured out there is an awkward stage in which dancers are too old to be cute and too young to be good. Only the parents of these children could be proud of them... the rest of us saw their true talent -- none.

On the other hand, Rebecka's dance was beautiful! I relish the opportunity to see my wife dance.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

- Brett

P.s. We will try to get a video posted of the dress rehearsal, but for now, here's a picture from after the recital. We look happy in the photo, but don't be fooled. Post traumatic stress takes time to fully develop. I am sure Becky will be dreaming of little girls dancing to Boom Boom Pow for weeks.

The Fun Begins

2010-06-02T11:34:00.003-05:00

Welcome, family and friends!

Well, it's official--we're starting our own blog. I've been receiving updates from one of my dear friends through her blog, and I've enjoyed it so much that Brett and I have decided to try it ourselves. We don't promise to be entertaining 100% of the time, but our hope is that we can stay connected with friends and family (who are all over the world!) and that we can chronicle our life together.

So, what's going on in our lives now?

Brett and I have absolutely loved being married. As most of you know, we're both grad students at the University of South Dakota (located in the wonderfully exciting town of Vermillion). Brett's getting his Master's in Professional Accountancy and will be done at the end of this month! I started my MA in Mathematics this past semester and hope to be done next summer.

Brett's in two summer classes, but I'm taking a little break this summer, which means I start all kinds of projects like trying to get all my lecture notes in digital format, starting to read the Harry Potter series (yes, I'm addicted now), and beginning a new blog. Let's hope I can actually finish them all.

Well, that's it for now, I suppose. Bear with us as we get this blog up and running. I'm going to try to figure out how to send these updates to you via email (if you'd like).

For now, grace and peace!

Rebecka