My Sister's Baby Shower

This last Saturday was my little sister's baby shower. Her daughter is due June 27th. We all had a good time visiting and "ooohing and ahhhing" over cute little girl clothes. My mom did such a great job (as usual) putting things together and it all looked great. Congrats to Karen and Jake!

Want to try Lightroom 2.0 until September?

If anyone would like to try the Adobe Lightroom 2.0 Beta (professional photo editing and workflow productivity software) until the end of August please let me know and I will send you an invite so you can participate in the Beta.  It is awesome software and this is a good opportunity to try it.

I-15 and Construction

I'm quite distressed about the safety proceedures for the lane expansion project between Farmington and Layton. I drive that stretch of the highway every day and I believe that it is a serious danger to the workers and the public. Jersey barriers or some other type of concrete barriers are typically placed between the work area and traffic flow to protect the workers. The only protection that these workers receice is a long row of hollow orange drums spaced some 50 feet apart. The work area comes right up to the shoulder creating a situation that is both very distracting to drivers and life threatening for construction workers.
I am both shocked and disappointed that UDOT would approve that safety plan. I urge both UDOT and the contractor to remedy the situation and improve the safety of everyone that works and travels in that area.

Working on the Site

I'm updating the site. Please be patient over the next few days. :)

My Son

With all of the hullabaloo over our new daughter, it's been a while since we've done a post just about Nathan. He is such a stud!! Just take a look at these pictures. They really capture his personality.



Here is a list of 10 things I love about him (in no particular order):

1-He's really good at going down for naps and bedtime. He doesn't always (or rarely, even) fall asleep quickly, but he hardly ever complains about going in his room and just plays and plays until he falls asleep.

2-He's a true boy. He absolutely loves rocks, trains, getting wet and dirty, and teasing his little sister.

3-He's so stinkin' friendly! He loves to play with any kid that he comes in contact with. He's never shy and gets this incredibly contagious laugh when playing with them.

4-He has the most beautiful eyes and cutest smile. Again, just look at the pictures to see the proof.

5-He's the perfect mix of his dad (tenacious) and me (bored easily) which makes for a very exciting day, every day.

6-His favorite hobbies are coloring, cooking, and playing in water. All super fun things to do with him.

7-He's fast! The kid can seriously run like the wind...and for a long time. He's really good at kicking, throwing, shooting a basketball, climbing, you name it.

8-He loves books. I've always wanted to make sure my children like to read and so far so good.

9-He's a pretty good eater, for a two-year-old. He'll try anything at least once before he decides he doesn't like it. I've never really had to worry about him not eating enough or being too picky (totally opposite of both his parents).

10-He still likes to cuddle with me on the couch during movies.

News on Dark Matter

For those of you that care here is some very interesting evidence of dark matter as explained by Phil on the Bad Astronomy Blog. The original information is posted on the DAMA Project website. This information is very compelling and fascinating.  A great read.

Sweetheart

Finally! Here are the much requested pictures of Madeleine. These were taken at the hospital and then a week later at home. She's a really good baby and puts up with a lot from her big brother. He likes to tease already! It's been a little bit of an adjustment having two kids, but it hasn't been as tough as I was expecting...at least most of the time. Rob and I are really enjoying having a boy and a girl and seeing the innate differences between the two. We can't wait until they can interact more with each other. It'll be so fun!

We have a huge backlog of photos to post. But we promise that your patience will be rewarded!

Hard Drive Crash - Mozy to the Rescue

So a few months ago Julie and I decided that we really needed to get a backup solution that worked for our Main PC.  We have a lot of pictures, music, and a lot of other data that we just couldn't afford to loose. Well, we tried a few services and finally selected Mozy.  Mozy is a completely online backup solution that backs up selected files and directories every night (that is how I set it up and can be customized easily). It works very well and we are very happy with the software UI and that it just works. The cost is 5 bucks per month.

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon the power went out for a few minutes.  When we booted the computer back up it didn't work.  I tried a few things and I couldn't get any thing to work.  I later discovered (my IT guys at work checked it out) that the boot sector and file system were completely hosed!  The drive must have been writing in the area when the power went out!  Crazy!  Luckily our data was backed up early that morning and we were completely up to date!

So I replaced the hard drive and I'm pleased to report that our data is actually on the Mozy servers and we have been able to retrieve our files!  All of them!  It took a little work to figure out how to get the files from Mozy but their live chat people quickly answered my questions and got me going.  They also offer to mail all the files on DVD but this option is very expensive so I choose to download the files.

So to all of you don't have your files backed up (and that includes getting that information out of your house in case of fire, theft, or whatever) I strongly encourage Mozy.  Check them out!  They saved all our data!

Progress

It is very early on Sunday Morning and I just want to announce to the world that the draft of my thesis is complete! This 180 page behemoth has been 2 years in the making (I started it as an undergrad)! I'll send it to my committee chairman on Monday!  I can't believe it that it is written!

Lightroom 2.0 Beta is released!

Adobe has released a public beta of Lightroom 2.0!  It has some killer features!  Check out the list here.  I don't have time to download the beta until the weekend but I'm so excited to work with the new feature!  Right on Adobe!!