Future Plans

Hello Peoples!!! Well, SOM made Robby an offer last Thursday! Robby told them he would give them a final answer April 13. He also recieved a call from another big firm yesterday, Anshen + Allen, and he is going to interview with them as well. Which ever firm he decides to go with is up to him, but either way we have decided to stay her for about another year or so. We will continue to pray that God will close that door if He wants us to leave, but so far that just has not been the case. Robby and I are kind of looking forward to staying out here with us both working. He will be working in a big firm, in a big city; that is very good for an architect's experience. I have decided to accept the position on the education committee at work. There are a lot of changes I would like to try and make and a lot of things I feel I could learn from my peers on the committee. We will see. Well, I have to go now. I have a lot of stuff to do today to get ready for Ally and Jake's arrival and Robby and I have a dinner date with a couple tonight. The guy whose house we are going to is in architecture with Robby, I have never met his wife. These kinds of things make me so nervous. I am such an awkward person around people I don't know. It would be really nice though if we could make some good finieds out here. Well, anyways, I' ll talk to you later. Bye everyone, Dea

Santa Cruz

Thanks Aunt Linda for these great towels! The boardwalk at Santa Cruz is a lot like Miracle Strip, just older! Thursday, Robby and I packed a lunch and decided to drive to Santa Cruz to spend the day at the beach! Santa Cruz is about an hour and a half away from us, south of San Francisco. It was a beautiful day and we just had a great time together! I have a lot of pictures of us playing on the beach and on the boardwalk, but we are so white it is blinding, so I will just post these pictures of the beach and the park! Of course, we aren't that white anymore! It was windy and a little cool, so Robby's front half looks a little like a lobster! Well, I have to work again today, so I better finish getting ready. Allie and Jake will be here Wed!!!!!! Yea! Bye everybody~Dea

Hood Games Oak Town

Sunday, Robby and I went to a project with Oakland high called Hood Games. It is the same program the he and the other architecture guys are designing Shredmold for. We really had a great time and it was amazing to watch the tricks these kids could do. Hood Games was started by K-dub, the art teacher at Oakland high whos' class is helping to design Shredmold. We couldn't believe how just setting old road blocks and wood planks in a giant parking lot would attract so many kids of all ages. Below are some pictures we took af the day.Above is K-dub talking to the kids, he is standing on the wooden ramp. Below are just some of the things the kids had to skate on. The art class that K-dub teaches also works with the Home ec. class at Oakland high to get the girls involved with Hood Games. The Home ec. class here is just an oh, so much cooler version of what we were taught back home! This Hood games, the theme was capes, and the girls all designed outfits with capes. It was pretty impressive what some of the girls made and they had a big fashion show for them to show off in! Below are just a few of the outfits. This little guy was pretty amazing! He was very energetic and great at freestyling! Plus he has awesome hair!!!! From behind he kind of reminded us of a mini Mr. T! Ok, well Im going to go now, I think I am getting a cold or something. I'm gonna go take some meds. Have a great week guys! ~ Dea

let's go fly a kite

Dragon KiteMan pretending that the Dragon kite is attacking him for like 10 minutes!My favorite kiteCool snake tail kite Me flying our kite This is our Ninja Turtle kite! Such a beautiful day to fly a kite! Everyone else thought it was a good day to fly a kite too! Robby flying our kite.Yesterday was a great day. It was so hot and beautiful outside that we decided to ride our bikes to the park by our apt and fly a kite. Evidently everyone else in the bay area thought it would be fun too and brought their oh, much cooler and expensive kites to the park to fly too! I took pictures of my favorite kites and placed them on here for you guys to see. We really had a great time. Of course, we are both a little sunburned now because the wind fooled us into thinking we were a little cold all day and we didn't even think about the sun! I had a strawberry shortcake kite too, but somehow I lost the handle and string before we even got to the park...sad.... but Robby shared with me, so it was ok. There were kites there that were Ginormous!! but in order to get the whole thing in a picture I had to get really far away and the pictures didn't turn out, but these kites were so big Robby and I couldn't believe they were staying up in the air! It was a great Saint Patrick's day. I wish every weekend was like this one; too bad I have to work every other weekend. Allie and Jake will be here soon and I hope the weather stays like it is. Im so excited about seeing them. I am going to be working a four day weekend stretch this upcoming weekend so I can get a few days off, Im nervous about it. I have never worked that many days in a row! Well, I'm going to go call my big sister back. Love you guys, Dea

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

Hi! I just wanted to say hello and tell everyone that Robby's interview went fabulous! The guy is supposed to call him back next week for "the next step"! Robby has also decided to go ahead and apply to some other places here too, just so he feels like he has made a good decision if he chooses to go with SOM. I also have some good news of my own, I have been asked to be the new hire representative on the education committee and have been promoted to a staff nurse2 in the ICU. I have not accepted the postition on the committee yet because I don't want to if we are not going to stay here. So that is another thing I have been praying about. Anyways, I hope you all have a great day, don't forget to wear something green! Oh yeah, and as a side note, for some reason (and only a few of you will understand) doesn't this little guy remind you of a dance Andy used to do back in the day! Goodbye my dears, Andrea

Shredmold

Hey Guys,

The picture above is of "Shredmold", a skate park that Robby and some other architects are designing for some highschool kids in oakland. This is a schematic design that Robby did of the park. They are using a new form of concrete from Europe (I think) that is as strong as steel, but is easily poured into different shapes. They are trying to make a single part that can be used in multiple ways during skate competitions and stuff. Skate boarding is huge here; even old guys do it! It's kind of funny; if you walk in downtown Berkeley on a weekday at lunch time, there will be men in suits riding their long boards down the sidewalk with their ties flapping in the wind over their shoulders!! Oh yeah, speaking of men in suits, I forgot to write and tell everyone that last Friday Robby recieved a call from SOM! They wanted to interview him! This is THE firm Robby was hoping would call him. I am very proud and excited for him about this opportunity. SOM is the second largest architecture firm in the world. You guys might be a little familiar with them, they are the ones who were chosen the design the new World Trade Center. He actually just left for the interview, he looked sharp, he wore his fitted shirt from China and we even shined his shoes!! It is today at 3:30. The firm is in San Francisco near Embarcadero. If he takes the job and we stay we could just live near a BART station so he could easily get to work and I could easily get to the hospital. The Ashby BART is only like a block from my hospital and the Embarcadero BART is just as close to SOM. But we will just have to see how things turn out, you guys don't need to get worked up yet. We still have not decided to stay or to go. We are praying, and waiting to see how things turn out. I just wanted to let you know so you guys would pray for Robby if you get this today. I'll keep you updated, I always do!! Love, Dea. Here is a link to SOM's website http://www.som.com/opener.cfm

Kate Till

Hey, I don't think I ever mentioned to you guys that Katie and Walt had their new baby girl. Her name is Kate and she weighed 6 lbs. and 10.5 oz.and was like 19 inches long. Walt has made this great website with some adorable pictures of her and her brothers, so I thought I would share it with you. Well, I am off to work, yuck. Here is baby Kate's blog: http://babytill.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the great Birthday!

Well, I had a really great Birthday today. Robby got me this Senseo coffee maker, which is awesome and makes a great cup of joe. We went for a 14 mile run down the Bay towards SF, we went out to eat dinner, and watched "For your Consideration" a new movie by Christopher Guest (a director we like). It was a fun day and thanks so much to everyone who called me, it really meant a lot to me to hear from everyone so far away! I love you guys. Im off to bed now, this 24 year old has to work tomorrow and Sunday! ~Night

My Birthday Haircut

Ok guys, sorry about all the pictures of me, but I just wanted to show my mom and dad my new haircut. They treated me to a day at Peter Thomas Hair design where I was treated like a princess! It was a great Birthday gift and I really appreciated it! I also think the top picture is funny because the sun was so bright and I was trying so hard to keep my eyes open that I am making a crazy face! My new hair designer is Naoma, and if you guys ever come in town and want to have fun and get a great haircut you should definately go to her! Anyways, talk to you later. Dea

Robby

So far this has been a great week for Robby and I. I get to take my birthday as a holiday, so I don't have to work but two days this week and I get paid for my birthday!! How cool is that! I worked Monday and I don't work again until Sat and Sun this week. Of course the hospital has called me to come in and work a couple of hours here and there, but I don't mind that and I can say no if I want to. These are just some pictures I took of Robby while he was working on some architecture stuff yesterday. As you can see in the second picture he can get so stressed out and frustrated with what he is trying to do, but I think it always turns out pretty good in the end, and he takes lots of little breaks. I usually fall asleep curled up on the couch behind him because he stays up so late. Another firm called him yesterday, but he is holding out for the ones he really wants to work for. Well, I just wanted to say hi and post some pictures of Robby, I've got to go put the clothes in the dryer! Dea

Mid-semester already!

This is one of the pictures that Robby did for school. It is more of a collage of downtown birmingham. It is one of the first drawings he did for the project. He had his mid-semester reviews yesterday. They went really well. He says that all of the judges and teachers really liked his project and were able to give him good positive and negative feedback. Yeah, it is already mid-semester here! Can you believe it! Robby recieved a call and an email from one of the architecture firms he saw at the job fair Wed. Yea, most of you already know that we are thinking about staying here. Robby went to a job fair this Wed and he talked to some of the biggest architecture firms in the world! SOM, Ashen and Allen, Ginsler... are just a few of the firms he talked too. These firms are huge and have offices all over the world. SOM is the second largest firm in the world, they have an office in London and in New York that Robby and I were thinking would be fun to visit!! This decision has been kind of hard for us, especially because a few people have been laying on the guilt trips pretty thick!!! But it's ok, we understand that we did tell everyone we would be coming back after Rob graduates; we still don't see California as a permanent home. We will leave eventually. But, we don't have to settle down anywhere yet! We are praying about this and I trust any decision Robby makes about where we will live and what we are going to do. I am not planning on giving up seeing Thomas, Jakob, Harrison, and Hudson grow up, not to mention my own children grow up without grandparents and family close by! Robby and I have decided that if we stay here it will just be fore one more year. I think that when God is ready for us to settle, He will show us when and where. I have no objections as to when and where, I just really want it to be clear that we are exactly where God wants us, no matter where that puts us. Well, I didn't mean for this blog to be so long! I love you guys and I will talk to you later. ~Dea

Robby's Graduation Surprise!

Well, I surprised Robby with his graduation gift today! I kind of had to go ahead and tell him about it because I had to buy it! Plus, I really stink at keeping secrets when I am really excited about something!! So, I am taking Rob to Hawaii for 7 days in May!!!!!!! We are so excited! I have booked us four nights in a hotel in Oahu, Honalulu, near Diamond Head and Waikiki and then we are going to spend three nights in the Volcano National Park on the Big Island! http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm. The National Park has the only active volcano in Hawaii and I am told you can actually see the hot lava flowing!! We will be gone May 20-27. The sad part is that Robby will not be able to walk in his graduation (May22), but hey, he will be walking down the black sand beaches in Hawaii instead. I think that's a fair trade!! It is kind of funny, I love doing this blog for everyone so much, I am already excited about the pictures we will have to post. http://www.pacific-travel-guides.com/hawaii-islands/travel-guide/index.html I love you guys. Dea

The birthday week begins!!!

I would like all of you to welcome the newest addition to our family; her name is Berkeley and she is mine! I have been begging Robby for a giraffe for years now and today he surprised me with her! It is the first day of my Birthday week, as many of you know, and it was a pretty good one!

Indoor Soccer

The basketball court and hockey rink to the laft of the soccer field. Robby is next to the orange shirt guy infront of the goal. Rob Well, Robby and his team, Manchester, had their third indoor game last night. I took some pictures. They are not great pictures, but I think they give you a general idea of how huge the place is. It is this giant recreational building that has rock walls, a hockey rink, three indoor soccer fields with real grass, two basketball courts, a gymnastics area, a karate area, and a workout facility with machines and weights. There is also a bar upstairs in the back, which is where me and Julio were sitting watching the game last night! It is such a large, strange place! Indoor games here have some strange rules too, for instance, if you shoot outside of the circle, the goal is worth two points! It is like a three point shot in basketball, I suppose. Anyways, Robby is really enjoying the game and I have always loved watching him play. I was trying to be indiscrete with the camera, so I wouldn't embarrass Robby, but maybe next week I can get some close up pictures and show you some of the guys on the team. Well, I think I am going to go now. I have some pictures that I want to post that Robby has painted for his theisis, but I need to ask him if he minds first. Dea