It's 2012 ~ Happy New Year!

Lots of stuff happened in 2011.

• Met up with Brian in Rwanda - saw gorillas, the countryside, Kigali. 
• Brian returned from Rwanda and started teaching.
• We got to see Toronto.
• Brian enrolled in Illinois.
• Read 40 books in a book challenge with Angela M. (just barely)
• Received the annual Dedicated Staff Award at work. (My name's on a plaque and everything.) 

Lots of stuff to happen in 2012.

• More teaching is on the docket for Brian.
• Brian to go to Kigali in March with the ABA.
• Moving to a new rental house in May or June. (Just saw it last week, and we're very excited! It will have plenty of room for guest visits.)
• Going to an ABA conference in Miami in the fall for Brian to present on the Kigali trip.
• Brian will make significant progress on his next degree, and probably publish at some point during the year. (Well, cross your fingers. It's not like he won't have a lot of other things on the docket.)
• Angela and I have upped our book challenge to 45 this year.  (Exciting times at the Andersons.)

Have to go start reading now.  Cheers to a new year!!

Happy Advent!

After being taken out last week with horrible colds, we're finally feeling better. We made a very brief trek to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving with the families. (Thank you, families, for putting up with our whirlwind tour.) We were back in Ohio by Friday night. Brian spent a lot of the weekend doing some final prep work for class - he'll be done in 2 weeks or so. And, we put up the Christmas tree.   TA DA:

We also have some news to share that everyone may or may not have heard....

Brian is going to get his Masters in Library Science to become a law librarian. He was just accepted last week into the University of Illinois, which has the #1 library program in the country. He'll be starting one way or another in January, either on campus or online. (If on campus, only for a semester.) We'll have more details soon, when we get a handle on funding and all that jazz.

We'll keep you posted!

Woosh.

There went the weekend. 

A fun time was had by all at our Friday evening festivities. Our friend, Andromeda stayed overnight, and we vegged out all day Saturday. Keesha came over in the evening and we watched a couple movies. Very low key. Brian ended up making the spinach balls on Saturday, because we forgot about the overnight time required in the recipe. They turned out deliciously, and we had a couple requests for the recipe. Good thing I took the picture before they went in the oven. Once they were out, they were gobbled up before I thought to snap a pic.

Bloggity Blog Blog.

This week had no shortage of things to do. Tuesday we did our civic duty and voted. (Note Brian's sticker below.) We proceeded to the Inn to celebrate our friend Beth's election to Village Council. It was a double celebration, since it was also our friend Sue's birthday. 

Wednesday was a late work day - we had our Gift of Education reception. Always a nice event, but still tiring, so it was an early night for me once I got home. Brian picked up friend Chad from the car rental place, so I didn't see Brian much at all.

Thursday was dinner at El Campo with Chad & Jess, since they are both home from their travels. Although, Jess is only home briefly.

Friday - Happy Veterans Day! In addition to thinking about all our military friends and family, we're celebrating the birth of Jess this evening. Lots of cleaning, so we have a presentable place if anyone needs to crash here. And, Brian's making Aunt Judy's famous spinach balls!! 

A parting shot of Brisco, because I'm trying to use the camera more often.

Baker FAIL.

I got home from work and wanted to make something. I couldn't decide what though, so we had a nice dinner. Brian wasn't feeling well, and went to sleep, but I still had the nagging feeling of wanting to make something. After scouring the cupboard, and noting the 2 brown bananas on the counter, I decided on the obvious choice of banana bread. Brian would be pleasantly surprised in the morning, and I would have accomplished something.


Unfortunately, there are too many banana bread recipes. I know the gist, but I wanted to be informed. The cupboards were scoured and now so were the internets. Here's what I went with, a variation from here:

Spiced Rum Banana Bread

• 2 cups AP flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature (I was impatient and melted it.)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup bananas, smashed
• 1/4 cup applesauce (Didn't have, used oil.)
• 1/4 cup spiced rum (Didn't have spiced, used dark rum)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (I added another 1/2 tsp.)
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (make up for the missing rum spice?)
• 1/2 a nutmeg (make up for the missing rum spice?)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and flour a bundt pan and set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Take bowl off mixer and stir in the bananas, applesauce, rum, and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet being careful not too over mix.

Scrape batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a large plate. 

There's also a glaze, but I'm getting tired. I don't want to dirty anything else; I've got it all crammed in the dishwasher and it's clean at the moment. 

Hmm...I just checked on the bread, and it's not looking so good. Looks too liquidy. Smells good though. Maybe shouldn't have melted that butter and substituted for the applesauce. (For the record, I have successfully made banana bread before, but I'm a little concerned.) Give it 10 more minutes.

Hahahahahaha. Janet FAIL. To top it off, a mosquito just flew in that molten mess and is stuck!! If anyone else tries the recipe, let me know how it's supposed to taste!! (That means you, Mary and Jeff!!) 

What we did today:

Made 3 batches of homemade chex mix!! 

And, we watched Dr. Who, did laundry and Brian prepped for class. Productive, yet relaxing  day all around.

Deletion

I was going to finally just delete the blog today, but I couldn't bring myself to click the button. It was kind of fun to read through all our past stories. So here's the opposite of deletion - an update for all your curious minds. (By all, I mean our one reader.)  


Brian is really enjoying teaching the undergrad students, but he's definitely done in December. His students love him though. One of them actually came up to him this week, and asked what he was teaching next semester, because he had saved 3 credits for Brian. Isn't that nice?!? Although Brian will miss the teaching, I don't think he'll miss the intense prep work. There have been a number of early, early mornings when Brian is finishing up the class for that day. Without fail, whenever he gets up early - they don't even make it through three quarters of the material, and I get an email saying how he could have slept for 2 more hours.


As far as what we've been up to; not much. Brian went with a friend to the heartbreaking WI-OSU game last weekend. At least the fans didn't taunt him. I'm now a straight-up brunette, because I was bored with my dishwater blonde color. We met some Tibetan monks that were visiting ONU, and had lunch with them. That was pretty cool. Our friend Randy visited not long ago, so we had a nice little mini-reunion. Our friends Keesha and Andromeda came up from Columbus that weekend too. We definitely need to get to Columbus more often for visits with everyone there though! 

Ummm.

Brian has nearly finished his first week of teaching classes, and so far so good. This weekend will be all about class prep for next week. I don't really have much else to report. My car got smashed last week in the Wal-mart parking lot by a 16-year-old. It will be in the shop until after Labor Day weekend, but the rental and all repairs are covered by the smasher's insurance. In the meantime, we have an ugly Chevy HHR. It is very comfortable, just mildly unattractive.


A brief book recommendation - The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. (The link is to the first one of the series, Hounded.) Sooo good. Fun blend of fantasy, pop culture, and literary references - all of my favorite things!! I love these easy reads for a break from the heavier stuff. While I thoroughly enjoy a wide range of books, I always find my way back to something with a little magic in it. (I think this also explains my love of Disney World.) Who doesn't want magics and miracles in their life?!?!  (Speaking of, keep praying that Brian finds a job miracle for January.)


Enough of my ramblings. G'night.

Dr. Anderson

Brian is now referred to as Dr. Anderson.  At least, that's what his students are calling him.  He started this week helping out in the Political Science department, teaching two undergrad classes on Africa and one on the Middle East (with 2 sections.)  He'll be teaching until December, and then we'll see what happens.  Technically he's only sitting in right now, but he's officially taking over after Labor Day weekend.  


I was in Columbus last week for training on our new donor systems, so Brian got to be a bachelor for most of the week.  I was hoping I would have time for some friend visits while in Columbus, but no dice.  I was kept pretty busy the whole time, but it was productive and I met lots of new people. 


As Brian gets more involved in his classes, I'll give you an update!  (Or try to get him to post something!)

Promised Pics

I promised more Toronto pics, so click this.  (Otherwise, you've probably seen them on FB.)  This one's a favorite.

Something else I stumbled upon this week, the Little Library.  It's like a birdhouse for books, that allows people to pop in and grab a book, return it or return a different one.  Located on nature trails, bike paths, wherever.  I want one!! 

Toronto!

We've safely returned from Toronto and loved it.  The city was very easy to navigate walking or using the subway.  And, all the different districts were fabulous (and safe).  Great buildings, districts, eateries and shopping throughout the city.  We stayed at The Rex, a jazz club and restaurant with a hotel above it.  It was very basic, but much more fun than a traditional hotel.  Here's a pic of The Rex.  More trip details and pics to come later in the week.   

Would You Prefer Maple Syrup or a Hockey Puck?

I just got back from the Gus Macker 3-on-3 Tournament in Lima.  I took Misty, and since I was going to be there, I volunteered to take some photos of the slam dunk contest.  I was afraid to get too close, because I didn't want to be run over.  I'm not paid for my quality photos or artistic ability, but I did get some good action shots.  Here are a couple:

In other news, we're headed to Toronto for an ABA conference and International Law section retreat.  Since it falls over our Anniversary, I'm tagging along.  (Brisco has several sitters.)  Brian's been involved in a planning committee for an ABA trip to Rwanda and Tanzania, so he'll be able to meet a few of the people he's been talking and emailing with.  Send us your Canadian wares request now!

Absence makes the followers fonder??

Widgets placed successfully!  I encourage all of our friends to sign up on goodreads, so we can compare books.

Since we've been derelict in our Ohio updates for about a year, here's what's happening: 

Hopefully you've heard by now, Brian is back from Rwanda, and has received his LL.M. in Democratic Governance and Rule of Law. He has gotten a temporary position with the ONU Law Library. He continues to be on the hunt for something a bit more permanent though. In the meantime, our landlord has allowed us to rent month-to-month.

I am still with Ohio State in the development office. This past year was filled with a number of events for the 50th anniversary of the Lima campus, which was great to keep me busy while Brian was away. At our various functions, I met Archie Griffin, college football's only two-time Heisman trophy winner; Jon Woods, OSU Marching Band Director; and Chris Spielman, OSU football player alum and current ESPN coverage analyst. There was no chit-chat though, it was too busy. But, I am very prepared for some major party planning. Our latest project was the Ohio Chautauqua, which was a week-long event with workshops throughout the community during the day, and scholar-actor performances in the evening on the campus quad. This year, the five scholar-actors were from the Civil War era in honor of the sesquicentennial. The scholar-actors each perform in character (i.e. as Abe Lincoln or Harriet Tubman) for about 45 minutes, take about 10 minutes of Q&A still in character, and finally, step out of character and take questions as the academics and historians that they truly are. The whole Chautauqua committee seems to still be recovering from the week.

Early August, I plan to do a photography workshop one evening in downtown Lima with a friend, so you'll have to watch for my photo attempts to be posted. Brian and I are hoping to get to Wisconsin soon, but we're trying to wait on job news to plan accordingly. Keep your fingers crossed.

HTML Widget Fail.

Re-dedicating myself to blogging. I've been trying to add an HTML widget forEVER, but it will only load to a footer area. Initially proud of myself for getting it to show up at all, now I realize I don't actually know what I'm doing. Watch for my widget over the weekend. (I'll wake up Brian in the morning to help me.)

Old Concept, New Blog

The Ohio Experiment is in the capable hands of Janet (though, neither of us seemed to regularly update things).

In the spirit of new beginnings, check out our new blog, the rwanda experiement, at http://goingtokigali.blogspot.com/ (yes, "goingtorwanda" was taken).

Ohio postings - sure, they'll continue. Rwanda postings, yeah, don't hold your breath either, but I'd say odds look good that you'll get some good reading . . .

B.

Graduation is upon us.

Exactly a week from now, Brian will have completed his Juris Doctorate with all sorts of academic extras. (He's studying for his very last final now.) Looking back it's been a bit of a three year whirlwind. While of course, it's a relief that it will soon be over, it's a mixed bag of emotions. We'll definitely miss all the great friends we've made, and then there's the bar exam to contend with and of course Brian's year-long African adventure. Anyway, we're looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend to help us celebrate!

We have some things to update you on. We have a new animal addition to our family. Her name is Katie Louise. I prefer to call her Kitty. She's a long haired black and white kitty that we got from Brian's professor and wife. She and Brisco have a tenuous relationship, but it's getting better. They've both taken to fighting over me by trying to intimidate one another off my lap. I'm sure we'll post a picture eventually.

In Rwandan news, the President of the Rwandan Supreme Court will be in DC for a week in June, and Brian has been asked to accompany her on "high level court" meetings. His (and therefore, my) hotel stay will be paid for, and they'll be paying him a salary approximately equivalent to what he was getting in the summers at Huntington. We're still not sure what week it will be, but we're excited for the trip!

We have also (almost) secured an apartment for me while Brian will be gone. It's a little smaller than our house, but not by much. Rumor has it that the landlord is great, it's pet friendly, and it's by our friend Joe, who will be here until at least October. It's got a guest room, so I'll still be taking visitors. We've viewed it, but just need to sign the contract.

In work news, it's been busy. We're having our biggest annual scholarship fundraiser of the year, the day after Brian's graduation. We had three weeks lead time to plan it, which is the shortest time we've had yet. So far, so good though. I have off on Friday for Brian's graduation party prep stuff, so hopefully we'll be ready by Thursday evening for the fundraiser on Monday.

You may have heard/read about Brian's "Olympic" decathalon against his friend Randy. Well, they both survived the ordeal, but barely. (I had to literally help Brian into the car to drive home.) And, Brian had a sound victory over Randy. All in the name of the class gift. Here are a couple pictures.



I am in the midst of reading the Wheel of Time series, but took a break to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was EXCELLENT, so as soon as I was finished I had to read the next one - The Girl Who Played with Fire. The third book, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, in the series comes out later this month. I'm looking forward to the movie too, but I think I'll have to wait for it on NetFlix.

So, there's an update for you. I'm going to go make our lunches for tomorrow. (Roast beef & swiss, mmmm!) See some of you next weekend!

Rwanda Update

Okay - you've gotten some information about my pending post as a law clerk / attorney advisor to the President of the Supreme Court of Rwanda. Here is a bit more detail:

the project I'm working for is funded by USAID, and is being administered by a group in D.C. called Chemonics International (a for-profit international development consulting company). The project I'm working for is called "Strengthening the Rule of Law for Policy Reform, 2009-2011." A description follows:

The 1994 genocide left scars on the Rwandan justice system as well as its people. Courthouses were destroyed, and citizens lost their trust in the government’s ability to resolve conflict. To rebuild its judicial system, in 2003 Rwanda began implementing wide judicial reform, overhauling the system to create new courts, procedures, and academic standards for judges, lawyers, and senior registrars. The Strengthening Rule of Law for Policy Reform project is helping the Government of Rwanda in its efforts, working along two tracks: institutional capacity building and regulatory reform. For the first, the project will work with the Institute for Legal Practice and Development to develop postgraduate curriculum for both Rwandan law graduates and active judicial professionals. For the second, the project will work with the government to extend its reforms to promote judicial independence and to enhance civil liberties by supporting the creation of a Law Reform Commission, by increasing opportunities for citizen input on new legislation, and by strengthening the Legal Drafting Units in the Ministry of Justice and the Parliament. E-solutions will be developed to help judges to research and apply the law and allow lawmakers to collaborate on drafting legislation. Through these efforts, the project will be supporting the growth of an efficient and effective judiciary that is more responsive to Rwandan citizen’s needs.

I'm still waiting on details, which should be here in the coming weeks, but all is a go! It is most likely a Christmas in the U.S. for me, but we are not sure, given my time home, whether we'll be leaving Ohio. More details will follow when I get my travel itineraries.

Janet and I are excited, and nervous, and agreed that we're not looking forward to the time apart. We're constantly being creative at how to spend more quality time now, and see each other a lot while I'm in Rwanda. No doubt, I'll be blogging about my experience while I'm away.

Yellow Fever ain't got nothin' on me!

Or, at least it won't come tomorrow. That's right, inoculation day. Taking the trip to Columbus to the OSU Medical Center Infectious Disease Travel Clinic for a panel of pre-travel vaccines.

Besides routine vaccines, the CDC recommends vaccines for Hepatitis A and B, Yellow Fever, and Typhiod. Let's hope for the best with no negative reactions after the shots.

On Tuesday, it's a brief trip to Wisconsin for a couple family visits, and some meetings - and hopefully time with friends. Back to Ohio on Thursday, and to Columbus for meetings over lunch and dinner on Friday. There ends the final spring break of the law school career.

This weekend was spent largely relaxing, visiting with friends, and watching the very close USA-Canada hockey match.

More to follow.

happy belated valentine's day.

We had a whirlwind weekend of fun. Friday night we played the new Wii Super Mario brothers game at a friend's house - you can play cooperatively all at once, and you don't run out of lives. (This last point is particularly important for me.) Oh yes, and it was Olympic kick-off, which we caught the tail end of. Everyone should really be watching the Olympics!!

Saturday we went to a Valentine's Day party at one of Brian's professor's. Lots of other students were there, as well as professors. Everyone was greeted with slippers and could choose any number of appetizers or drinks...brian and I stuck to the wine table and met some fun new professors and an episcopalian minister. We helped close down the party.

Sunday was Little Sister day and we made a "from scratch" chocolate cake and played on the Wii. Misty brought over a game for me to try, so we busted out the Wii Balance Board and used it to roll a marble through a course by leaning every which way.

In other news, I wanted to share a book I just finished for book club - The Wednesday Sisters. It was excellent, about 5 women that start meeting in a park to discuss books, and decide to start a writing group and end up supporting each other through all sorts of trials and tribulations. And, it's set with the backdrop of the late 60s. Everyone in the group LOVED it.

Okay, so that wasn't as earth shattering as Brian going to Rwanda, but it's what we're doing. We'll keep you updated as things progress.

Post-Grad

Here's an announcement:

It has been confirmed. But for a few formalities and minor negotiations, I have a job placement for after graduation.

The past two years of my J.D. elective study has been largely dedicated to international law, and foreign and comparative law. It became somewhat of a career dream, if you will, to practice in international law upon graduation. Come August, I will take the first step in this process.

I will be working for one year with the President of the Supreme Court of Rwanda, as part of a USAID project working to strengthen the rule of law in the post-genocide regime. Details of my job description are slowly trickling in (somewhat delayed by the immense snowstorm in D.C.). More to follow, but to answer the big questions:

No, Janet will not be joining. But, she will have wide latitude to take 2-3 weeks off to come and visit at least once, maybe twice.

Yes, I'm looking for additional funding! If you know someone giving out grants, send them my info!

Yes, we're both very excited!

That's all for now - some news to digest. More to follow.