The Goodrums

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I actually sang that Psalty the Singing Songbook song while driving out on our recent camping adventure. Only my family will appreciate the song. Even Jen Nelson commented that the CD we had listened to about 45 times already was just fine (we forgot to bring the CDs and there's not much radio to be found in the mountains). Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video or MP3 of the "We're going camping" song - but I did find this clip that should give you an idea of its excellent quality. It's no wonder we all had major socially awkward stages growing up... :)

Anyway, this first weekend in August, we embarked on a little mountain get away - redemption for this post.

My college roomie, Jen, joined us from Texas for the adventure. Jen flew in Friday night. Saturday morning we packed up and headed out to the Glenwood Springs area. Our original plan was to spend time in Glenwood Springs - hanging out at the springs, vapor caves, perhaps rafting or paragliding - but we ended up spending almost no time in that area.

The first thing we did after our longer-than-I-expected drive was find a campsite. We were fortunate and someone else hadn't shown up for their reservation the night before so the campsite hosts offered it to us. We earned quite a reputation as campsite stealers! We pitched our tent, ate some lunch and headed down to Aspen for the afternoon.

Amazingly, after almost 3 years in Colorado, Michael and I still had not made it out to the Maroon Bells - the most photgraphed site in Colorado. Although we'd never quite understood the allure, we did once we arrived. They were well worth the drive and we now see why they are so photographed. We hiked the "scenic loop trail" along the river that feeds Maroon Lake.
























We made it back to our campsite for a late but yummy dinner. The fire was stubborn so it was dinner by moonlight.

In the morning we broke camp fairly early and headed further west to Rifle Falls. The falls are pretty but we were disappointed to find some human intervention in the falls when we hiked to the top. We grilled a quick lunch at the picnic spots by the falls and then started back east.

















We did stop off in Glenwood Canyon for a hike up to Hanging Lake/Sprouting Rock. Beautiful hike. We then trekked back through Dillon and stopped at our favorite sushi place. We arrived home late Sunday evening.



















We dropped Jen off at the airport first thing on Monday morning and jumped into a new work week. Packed weekend - but it was oh-so-nice to get away.

View the full picture album here.

Yesterday evening we got to hang out with friends and carve a few pumpkins. I'm going to have to wait for pictures of the complete pumpkin collection (including friends' creations), but here are a few pictures of Michael's masterpiece for the year.

I uploaded more pictures of the 2008 pumpkin and a chronicle of pumpkins through the years here.

Aggie finds healthy fatty acid in brisket

Texas A&M researchers have found that favorite of barbecue lovers is high in a monounsaturated fatty acid that can aid in production of good cholesterol.

A 23-year-old Texas A&M University researcher has given brisket-eaters another reason to cheer. Brisket — long known as the toughest chunk of meat you can cut off a cow — is good for you. Or at least it's not a s bad as some nonmeat eaters would have you believe.

Aggie graduate student Stacey Turk's master's thesis shows that fat from brisket contains significant amounts of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that can promote good cholesterol in people.

The study was publicized by A&M officials in late April. Stephen Smith, the professor who supervised Turk's study, says it shows that oleic acid in brisket "is like olive oil, and, as far as I know, has no downside to it."

Smith, whose doctorate is in biomedical research, said the acid's "effects are either neutral or positive (in a diet). And other studies confirm that good cholesterol goes up in men who consume fat high in oleic acid." We did not know we could get that kind of fat from brisket," Smith said.

For those who don't know exactly what part of the cow brisket comes from, it's basically the chest. "Looking at the animal head-on, it's the broad portion separating the front legs that has a point to it," the professor said. "It's like the sternum on a human."

Smith, who has been at A&M for 25 years, said the cut's fatty ridge generally is trimmed off by butchers and tossed aside. But he thinks that meat processors should save the beneficial fat and use it when they produce ground meat. "It could make for a healthier hamburger," Smith said.

For more information, click here.

For real, I think you could craft a new Aggie joke out of this one.

For the past several weeks, the following ad has shown up in our weekly Denver A&M Club e-newsletter:

~Aggie Looking for Internship in the Denver Area~

Howdy! My name is Jane and I am finishing my first year at Texas A&M Galveston majoring in Marine Biology. I am looking for a summer job or intern position in the Denver area that will ideally be connected to my field of study although I am not limiting my search and will consider any type of employment. I am honest, hard working and dependable and will be available to work from mid-May to mid-August, 2008. Please call or email me anytime and I will furnish a resume and references for your review. Thank you for allowing me to network with the Denver A&M Club. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks and Gig 'Em!
Jane Doe '11

emphasis added; *name changed to protect the not-so-innocent

Is it just me or is there something just inherently incongrous about searching for a marine biology internship in Denver "land-locked, no-ocean, water-shortage-central," Colorado? If you want to live in Colorado, it might be time to think about changing your major!

In honor of the beginning of college football season... Go Ags!

My college roommate, Jessica, and her husband, David, welcomed the first baby of our college friends last week (it's starting...). Jordan Joseph Daniel made his debut on July 12th at 1:10 a.m. He is one good-looking newborn!















Jordan Joseph Daniel
7 lbs., 6 oz.
21.25 in. long

Congratulations, Jess & Dave! I can't wait to come and meet little Jordan.

This is a great little way to start or end your day. I got a big laugh out of it...

After having dug to a depth of 1000 meters last year, Scottish scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 1000 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Scots, in the weeks that followed, English scientist dug to a depth of 2000 meters and shortly after headlines in the newspapers read: "English archaeologists have found traces of 2000 year copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a thousand years earlier than the Scots."

One week later, Texas newspapers reported the following: "After digging as deep as 5000 meters in West Texas, Texas A&M scientists have found absolutely nothing. They have therefore concluded that 5000 years ago Texas inhabitants were already using wireless technology.

As my boss said so facetiously today, "Since when did A&M get a basketball team?" They beat Texas last night and Kansas on Saturday to take first place in the Big 12. Go Ags! Who would have thought?

P.S. Michael should really be the one posting this... since he's been the one that's been hovering over ESPN constantly for the past few weeks monitoring the games.

Whoa! I just found out that one of my college roommates is PREGNANT!! This is the first little one among my college friends. How fun! I can't wait to spoil the first little Daniel. Congratulations Jessica and David!















David & Jess - Parents to be...

Here's one more picture that our friend Ramy took at the game...







Click on the picture to make it bigger. This is the view from the second deck (student side) of Kyle Field. Wish we could enjoy it more often!

This weekend, Michael came to Houston to attend the Grand Opening of our new building at work. He also got to travel to College Station and attend a real, live Aggie football game. It's been over 3 years since we went to our last football game at Kyle Field. Most of our close friends from college came in town for the game. It was so much fun to get to see everybody and catch up.















The new "mega"-tron
Whoop! The Aggies beat Missouri!















Whoop!
From Left: Ramy, Amy, Jen Nelson, Jessica, David, Goodie (Michael)

Jessica and Nelson were two of my college roommates.















How many people will fit in a Jeep Liberty?















Teri & Wes came over to hang out for a while after the game
From Left: Me, my sis Teri, her super fun boyfriend Wes, Goodie/Michael

Why is it that we sometimes feel helpless when "all we can do is pray," when, in truth, that's the most powerful and effective thing we can do?

Yesterday I found out (quite belated) that a college friend of mine lost his wife in a tragic car accident in March. He was also severely injured. They have a little boy, Isaac, who thankfully escaped the accident without serious injury. They put together a website that details the story and recovery.

My heart is just broken for them. I can't begin to fathom the pain or depth of loss. It hits far too close to home for this to happen to a friend - someone you care about, even though I haven't seen or talked to them in several years. I shed quite a few tears, just knowing the burden they must be carrying. God is faithful even through times like this - even in questions and hurt. My heart is burdened for them and I am continually reminded to pray for them. Please pray for them also. Read more here.

Is giving us heart attacks again! We played Army on Saturday night and Army came way, way too close to an upset. Hopefully the team will pull it together - and quickly. We don't have many games left before we get into conference play (Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Baylor - in the Big 12 South).

We got together with the local A&M club and had a great time hanging out (until the second quarter anyway - when I began nervously pacing the room...). Here's one picture from the get together.















Jen & Ivon Hallmark
Thomas Hallmark (Ivon's husband) was one of Michael's classmates in the NUEN program at A&M. Thomas & Michael both work for the same company now - although in different groups. We have enjoyed having them nearby!

The airline adventures continue...

At work, we are quickly coming up on our annual conference in Washington, D.C. (June 3-6) and there's a lot to do. So last week I went to the "real office" to help with some of the preparation.

On Friday morning, a series of strong storms rolled through Houston but they all cleared out by mid-morning. Friday noon, I went to lunch with some of my former coworkers (so fun!) and then headed to the airport for my 3:50 pm flight. I showed up to learn that my return flight to Jackson had been cancelled due to "weather." Note that by now it was bright and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Love it!

Thankfully, Continental was good (like usual) and rescheduled me back to Jackson later that evening. Their remaining flight for the evening was full so they rebooked me on Northwest through Memphis. Of course, the rescheduling meant that I would get into Jackson at 8:10 instead of 5:20, which messed up my evening plans (missing Aggie Muster, stink!) but at least I was getting home.

So all was well and good until mid-way through the flight from Houston to Memphis. Evidently the pilots didn't notice that there were some huge thunderheads in front of us. Talk about turbulance! I fly a lot - and I'm not afraid of flying at all... In all that experience, though, I've never experienced turbulance like this! We banked and pitched and then all of the sudden we dropped several hundred feet through the air. The plane completely bottomed out and went into a free fall. The nice little beverage service cups hit the ceiling - literally - as did the bag of trash that the flight attendant was carrying through the aisle. I was very thankful to be wearing my seatbelt. I think that's the only time I have actually ever truly needed my seatbelt on a flight. I went slightly airborne out of my seat and pulled up against the seatbelt. Wild!

The guy sitting next to me and I felt really bad for the guy sitting across the aisle. He was in the bathroom when that happened! We couldn't help but laugh a little. How awful is that! Airplane bathrooms are bad enough without turbulance!!

I did eventually make it home and was very glad to be safely on the ground in Jackson. I made the tail end of the Aggie Muster event - where they nominated me to be chair of next year's Central MS Muster in my absence. Perciate! :) Michael and I started dating 5 years ago on April 21 (Muster) so that was a fun little milestone to "celebrate." Wow time flies (and hopefully the other kind of flying will be a little more uneventful in the next few months - because there's a lot of it scheduled!).

How cool is this?




















An Aggie and an Aggie Gingerbread Man (check out the thumb!)

Our crazy fun weekend continued on Saturday. We drove 6 1/2 hours back to Jackson for a Halloween Party. Our friends Kevin and Christy hosted. It was a blast! We carved pumpkins. I haven't carved a pumpkin since I was probably 8 years old. We had a lot of fun.

Party Pics:















Pumpkin Pi
My pumpkin - he he! :)















Michael hard at work




















The Masterpiece!
(Michael's pumpkin)
















The full effect...














The Pumpkin Parade
(Everybody's pumpkins, minus Michael who was still diligently working away on his pumpkin in the garage :)

It has been a busy couple weeks. The pace of life always seems to pick up for us as we hit late fall and the holiday season.

I spent last week in Houston for work. We had our quarterly Board meeting and hosted a construction party at the new building we are building. It was a busy week but fun! I really enjoy having coworkers around - a luxury I normally have to go without. (See pictures of the new building at http://www.iacprx.org/foundation/bldgarchive.html).

I also got to hang out with my beautiful little sister, Teri, at Texas A&M over the weekend. What a blast! We celebrated her 20th birthday, hung out with her friends, and visited the Bonfire Memorial, which was an emotional experience for me.

Back at "home," Michael and I went to a David Crowder Band concert last night (http://www.davidcrowderband.com/). There are actually three bands on the tour - David Crowder, Shane & Shane and the Robbie Seay ("C") Band. They played at First Baptist Jackson.




















First Baptist Jackson
Post-concert picture
(David Crowder tour bus in lower right corner :-)

The concert was a taste of home (i.e. Texas) for us. Shane & Shane used to lead worship at a bible study (Breakaway) we attended at Texas A&M. David Crowder is from Waco - and he also used to play fairly regularly at A&M before he was a big name.




















Michael by Shane & Shane's Equipment Trailer
NOTE: Texas license plate - WHOOP!

It was a great concert. As Michael put it, it was a joyful, fun and energetic time of worship. It also stirred our hearts. There was something as they shared that resonated with us - something that was so authentic, deliberate and intimate about their walks. It is something we have sincerely missed since moving away. It made us long, once again, to be around the kind of people that continually inspire you to take your faith to a deeper level. The kind of people that refresh you and whose passion is contagious. It's our hope that we will be able to find those kinds of friendships again - in Jackson and wherever else we may go.

Howdy all!

Welcome to our new blog. We actually started it so we can post comments on my sister's blog - http://kellyinperu.blogspot.com/. But hey - it's also a fun new thing to do. We'll try to keep it somewhat updated. :o)

Jen and Goodie err... Michael