Most beautiful hydrangeas ever

Lunch was here

Ned went with the buffalo burger. MB went with the more familiar beef
tri-tip sandwich. Both were good. Tonight, we'll explore Albany, OR;
bound to be better than Albany, GA.

Breakfast from the French bakery

So good that it's far more interesting than the sea state tests!

OSU Campus

OSU Engineering

Art and engineering.

Corvallis Farmers Market

Since it's 105 degrees, we went with the ice option.

Portland Farmers Market

Super shady. Beautiful flowers. Everybody brings their own bags. Plus,
they had Ranier cherries. Yum.

Afternoon snack

I had a chocolate mint cookie. Think large Oreo with mint triple stuffing dipped in chocolate. Low cal, I'm sure! Poor Ned was working during this adventure. Bakery's in Eugene. Eugene's okay, but I like Corvallis better. I am amazed by the size of their athletic complex, and I find it amusing that MLK Boulevard there is home to boutique stores and a co-op, but otherwise the place was rather vanilla.

Yum-lunch!

Boys with toys

The causeway in the wave pool. Check out the Corps flag (red) hanging under all the signs.

Lil' Sambo's

Ned wouldn't let us eat here. I really wanted pancakes. There's a giant statue of a tiger on the top of the building wearing fine clothes and holding an umbrella. I'll upload and share it soon.

Despite warnings

We braved it. No sneaker waves attacked us! (see warning #1)

Freezing at the beach

60 degrees at the beach. 100 degrees 45 miles away, in Corvallis, where we're staying. Crazy place, this Oregon.

Bridge over Yaquina Bay

You've got to be kidding...

PORTLAND above
VICKSBURG below

Guess where we are this week? (Well, technically, Corvallis, but it's close to Portland.) So much for our hopes of 70 and beautiful. At least we've been in training all summer for this weather! The 11 o'clock news last night was funny -- lots of stories with tips for locals on how to handle the heat.

Ned submitted his dissertation!

Now the advisor just needs to submit paperwork. Ned's already dressing the PhD part. How 'bout those plaids? UPDATE: We made it safely to Oregon. It's dark, or else there'd be photos.

Birthday breakfast for Ned's dad

He's famous!

In his lab. Ned's still working on revisions, but his dissertation defense made the office newsletter. Here's the text: Researcher Successfully Defends Dissertation: Ned Mitchell, ERDC-CHL, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation before committee on 13 Jul at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. His dissertation is “Fluid-Structure Impact Modeling and Risk Assessment” and features research focused on the Space Shuttle solid rocket booster (SRB) splashdown sequence. Quantitative risk assessment for structural damage to the SRB during splashdown requires accurate and robust modeling methods, since full-scale failure testing is prohibitively expensive. The research included model verification and validation studies for coupled finite element analysis of fluid-structure impact. Laboratory experimental drop testing with a thin-walled aluminum cylinder was conducted for comparison with numerical model predictions. The research was funded through NASA’s Graduate Student Researchers Program and also through the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program.

Heirloom tomato season!

Bad career decisions?

So here's a list of the most lucrative college degrees from CNN. I can't help but notice that American Studies/Gender Studies/Southern Studies does not appear here. I guess lucrative and FUN are two different things, so I won't be too upset. At least I married an engineer. But wait...his kind of engineering isn't on this list. He's the civil sort. Dumb luck for Team Mitchell--AGAIN.

Seattle was a year ago (tomorrow)

One year ago tomorrow, Ned and I flew to Seattle for a family wedding weekend. Here's a flashback photo. With Ned still at the office and me pushing my own deadlines, we didn't have time to do anything interesting today. This flashback will have to do...

Falling off the blog wagon...

So, even after the diss was defended and pageant lunches finished, we're still crazed. Will there ever be relief? Answer: none in sight. Sunday we leave for Oregon, where Ned has to do some testing at OSU on the causeway project. Between now and then, Ned has to submit the finalized diss to the grad school (on Friday), we have to find time to cut our overgrown yard, we've got two farmers markets, and then there are these things called jobs that we have to attend to daily. Oh yeah -- we fly to Oregon separately, because we waited so long to book our tickets and prices were outrageous for me to fly with Ned, so we won't even have time on the plane together to decompress. I don't mean to wish away our lives, but I'm ready for August already! After a quick trip to the OSU bookstore, of course.

Surprise!

Thanks to all who helped gather the surprise flowers Ned brought home from Pontotoc. Now, the big question: where are all those Tootsie Rolls hiding? At the guest house?

Fresh pita for supper

We'll enjoy with baba ghanoush, made with eggplant from our garden. Yum.

Yeah, right...

My camera is broken...again. The lens cover doesn't close, so I mailed it in for repairs (second time in a month). But it gets me to thinking about a new camera, which I've been wanting for a few months now. I went online to pick out what I really wanted, and was pleasantly surprised by the price. Then I noticed that it doesn't come with a lens. And if I thought I'd have a hard time convincing Ned of price #1, I have a feeling that price #2 will never be negotiable. Ah well...a girl can dream. Click here to see it and sigh with me. Maybe they'll offer something new right before Christmas and the price on the older model will drop. And then we'll win the lottery. I'd need both of those things to happen to find this under my Christmas tree.

Did you know?

The Vanderbilt campus is a national arboretum. They say so in the
football program.

Our zinnias love the heat!

Bottle Jersey=Auto Accessory?

I'm thinking a football jersey for your cold beer is not going to impress the officer who pulls you over...

After a few revisions

and a phone call, Dr. Ned Mitchell will be official!

Happy 30th, Jessica!

Hope your Big 3-0 was better than our turns at the big mark (i.e. no tears or hangovers). Love, MB & Ned

Move over Obama

There's a new favorite shirt in town.

A little practice engineering

After valet parking at the Atlanta Sheraton left my lights on, killed my battery, and activated the security system that locked me out of the radio, Ned had to do a little roadside engineering on the way to Nashville (read: disconnect the battery to reset the radio). Kicker: the hotel still tried to charge me for valet parking! Ned let me challenge the charge and they did refund my parking fees, at least. Next question: why does a basic radio in a Honda Civic need a security
feature?

MB had gum, so Ned ordered the reuben

Great deli for lunch today. Now Ned's in meetings and MB's working poolside at the hotel.

Fast Cars in Bristol

It's a slow news week in Vicksburg, so I'm filling the blog with fun news from a few weeks ago. This is the crew that took me on fast laps around the Bristol Motor Speedway. We did a 22 second lap. During the race, the cars run about 18 second laps. But 22 seconds was good enough for me.

Lunch Flashback

Check out this hamburger from the Burger Bar in Bristol. This is the place where Hank Williams ate his last meal (though it was take-out, I believe). The burger was good...but not to die for, I'd say.

Daniel at the U.S.S. Cairo

Sunday night at home with the fam

Pat returned to Batesville. Daddy's reading. Boys are watching a movie. Girls are headed to bed. It's been a good weekend, filled with lots of vacation naps. We missed Sarah and Brian.

July 4 on the river

Squashbug strikes again!

So it has to go. We'll replace with tomatoes.

They're here!

Finally!

With the most pressing diss deadlines behind us, we can catch up on a few things we've let go. Today: hedges. Thanks to Ned's good work, our house no longer looks abandoned.