(Jenn)
They should have another name for dishwashers made before the year 1990.
Any ideas?
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Binkie Free!
(Jenn)Henry has been going through a lot of transitions lately. For this reason, I was going to wait until after the baby came to try to get him to stop taking the pacifier, which he's been pretty dependant on for naps and bedtime. However, fate happened, and good old Henry made the transition all by himself! Here's how it happened:
1. Henry chewed on the binkie so much that it got a little crack in the tip.
2. He kept chewing and bit a little piece off the end.
3. I was worried about choking and cut a straight edge off the end. Henry thought that was a pretty good idea.
4. The next night, he wouldn't go to sleep until I cut the binkie again. I cut a little piece off.
5. Every night for the next week, he asked, "Mommy cut the binkie?" before going to bed. As it got smaller and smaller, he still used it the best he could.
6. Eventually there was nothing left to cut! Mission accomplished. No crying, arguing, or fussing!
He still sleeps with the binkie, but he just holds it in his hands as he drifts off to sleep. It's pretty funny! He also can't sleep without his "blankie," of course. I guess our little boy is really growing out of all of his baby habits. Must be time for another baby around here (5 weeks from Saturday!).
2. He kept chewing and bit a little piece off the end.
3. I was worried about choking and cut a straight edge off the end. Henry thought that was a pretty good idea.
4. The next night, he wouldn't go to sleep until I cut the binkie again. I cut a little piece off.
5. Every night for the next week, he asked, "Mommy cut the binkie?" before going to bed. As it got smaller and smaller, he still used it the best he could.
6. Eventually there was nothing left to cut! Mission accomplished. No crying, arguing, or fussing!
He still sleeps with the binkie, but he just holds it in his hands as he drifts off to sleep. It's pretty funny! He also can't sleep without his "blankie," of course. I guess our little boy is really growing out of all of his baby habits. Must be time for another baby around here (5 weeks from Saturday!).
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Always Put the Seat Down
(Jenn)
I've been trying to teach Henry a little potty etiquette. Just ask him, and he'll recite this rule: "Always remember to put the seat down, and always flush it." As the only girl in a house of almost 3 boys, these rules are both pretty important to me!
He got the flushing part down immediately. Putting the seat down has been a little more challenging (only because we don't want our toilet seat shattering anytime soon). So the past few weeks, we've been working on putting the seat down SOFTLY. Henry got pretty frustrated with this request at first, until he finally came up with a fairly good solution. You have to watch this clip to see how resourceful he is! I love this kid.
Always Put the Seat Down from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.
Next step: "Always wash your hands!" (still working on that one)
I've been trying to teach Henry a little potty etiquette. Just ask him, and he'll recite this rule: "Always remember to put the seat down, and always flush it." As the only girl in a house of almost 3 boys, these rules are both pretty important to me!
He got the flushing part down immediately. Putting the seat down has been a little more challenging (only because we don't want our toilet seat shattering anytime soon). So the past few weeks, we've been working on putting the seat down SOFTLY. Henry got pretty frustrated with this request at first, until he finally came up with a fairly good solution. You have to watch this clip to see how resourceful he is! I love this kid.
Always Put the Seat Down from Ben and Jenn on Vimeo.
Next step: "Always wash your hands!" (still working on that one)
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A researcher I will be...
(Ben)
I'm enjoying a beautiful summer. Although my Ph.D. program at Harvard Business School has officially "started," I literally have no responsibilities or expectations whatever. When I tell people that, they always ask me, "So, what are you doing, then?" Well, aside from some pretty relaxed hours and plenty of time with the family, I'm doing research. It's usually at this point in the conversation that people get this puzzled look on their face as they try to figure out two things: 1) What, exactly, does a finance guy research? 2) What good will that do? For any of you out there wondering, here are my brief, hopefully non-nerdy, answers. For those of you who could care less (and believe me, I'm not offended by that!), feel free to skip this post and hope for a much more captivating one from Jenn in the near future.
1) Economics is, by nature, more of an art than a science. We try to make it as scientific as possible, of course, but it's difficult to actually use the scientific method directly, since it's often unethical to run experiments on people. You can't, for example, take away all of someone's wealth and watch to see how they react. Animals don't make very good substitues for humans either: you can't give a rat a credit card an observe their purchasing behavior. So, economics research in general, and nearly all research in financial economics, relies on historical data to try to learn things about human behavior. Want to know what someone will do if they lose all of their wealth? Look at times in the past when this has happened and try to make guesses about how that will play out in the future. If you want to learn about purchasing patterns with credit cards, then you go to the credit card companies and ask them for all of their data and try to observe patterns from there.
With that introduction, here is what I do as a financial researcher: First, come up with a question and form a hypothesis. Then, a huge proportion of my time is spent trying to find and piece together data to test this hypothesis. Once the data is gathered, I test the hypothesis, usually using statistical tests of one kind or another. Lastly, I write a paper and try to get it published in an academic journal with the results of the study. Ideally, I would have about two of these projects going on at once, with possibly a few other things on the back burner ready to go in case one of the projects doesn't work out.
I won't get into the specifics of what I'm going to study. Suffice it to say that I'm studying risk management, banking, and other corporate finance topics.
2) It's usually at this point that people are thinking, "Okay, you write a paper, so what? Who reads this stuff?" Admittedly, not very many people. I would say that there are three groups of people who read it: First, other academics read it, and then they go on to teach the up-and-coming MBAs these concepts, who will then take that knowledge into the business world. Second, lots of periodical writers are keeping tabs on the academic world. When something interesting pops up in an academic journal, it often makes it in to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time Magazine, etc. Lastly, there are a lot of industry professionals who read this stuff as well. Mostly these are guys who got their Ph.D. and, instead of teaching, work for hedge funds, banks, and other corporations. In that way, the knowledge gets passed directly to the companies that need to know it.
I'm enjoying a beautiful summer. Although my Ph.D. program at Harvard Business School has officially "started," I literally have no responsibilities or expectations whatever. When I tell people that, they always ask me, "So, what are you doing, then?" Well, aside from some pretty relaxed hours and plenty of time with the family, I'm doing research. It's usually at this point in the conversation that people get this puzzled look on their face as they try to figure out two things: 1) What, exactly, does a finance guy research? 2) What good will that do? For any of you out there wondering, here are my brief, hopefully non-nerdy, answers. For those of you who could care less (and believe me, I'm not offended by that!), feel free to skip this post and hope for a much more captivating one from Jenn in the near future.
1) Economics is, by nature, more of an art than a science. We try to make it as scientific as possible, of course, but it's difficult to actually use the scientific method directly, since it's often unethical to run experiments on people. You can't, for example, take away all of someone's wealth and watch to see how they react. Animals don't make very good substitues for humans either: you can't give a rat a credit card an observe their purchasing behavior. So, economics research in general, and nearly all research in financial economics, relies on historical data to try to learn things about human behavior. Want to know what someone will do if they lose all of their wealth? Look at times in the past when this has happened and try to make guesses about how that will play out in the future. If you want to learn about purchasing patterns with credit cards, then you go to the credit card companies and ask them for all of their data and try to observe patterns from there.
With that introduction, here is what I do as a financial researcher: First, come up with a question and form a hypothesis. Then, a huge proportion of my time is spent trying to find and piece together data to test this hypothesis. Once the data is gathered, I test the hypothesis, usually using statistical tests of one kind or another. Lastly, I write a paper and try to get it published in an academic journal with the results of the study. Ideally, I would have about two of these projects going on at once, with possibly a few other things on the back burner ready to go in case one of the projects doesn't work out.
I won't get into the specifics of what I'm going to study. Suffice it to say that I'm studying risk management, banking, and other corporate finance topics.
2) It's usually at this point that people are thinking, "Okay, you write a paper, so what? Who reads this stuff?" Admittedly, not very many people. I would say that there are three groups of people who read it: First, other academics read it, and then they go on to teach the up-and-coming MBAs these concepts, who will then take that knowledge into the business world. Second, lots of periodical writers are keeping tabs on the academic world. When something interesting pops up in an academic journal, it often makes it in to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time Magazine, etc. Lastly, there are a lot of industry professionals who read this stuff as well. Mostly these are guys who got their Ph.D. and, instead of teaching, work for hedge funds, banks, and other corporations. In that way, the knowledge gets passed directly to the companies that need to know it.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Spending Money
(Jenn)
While we're on the subject of spending money, I should give Ben credit for insisting on the GPS purchase. It has saved my bacon at least 300 times already. I cannot imagine a place where we would need it more (Anyone ever heard of putting up street signs? They might be a little bit helpful at all of these 10-way intersections). So yes, that was probably the smartest $130 we ever spent. Definitely smarter than the $100 I get to spend on my first MA driving ticket. I feel I can safely blame the ticket on the GPS, since I never would have dared to drive into the Fenway Park area without it. Or should I blame New Jersey drivers for instilling bad habits in me (yellow light: speed up; red light: hurry!)? I think I saw a total of 3 people ever getting pulled over in our 2 years in New Jersey. Welcome to Massachusetts!
While we're on the subject of spending money, I should give Ben credit for insisting on the GPS purchase. It has saved my bacon at least 300 times already. I cannot imagine a place where we would need it more (Anyone ever heard of putting up street signs? They might be a little bit helpful at all of these 10-way intersections). So yes, that was probably the smartest $130 we ever spent. Definitely smarter than the $100 I get to spend on my first MA driving ticket. I feel I can safely blame the ticket on the GPS, since I never would have dared to drive into the Fenway Park area without it. Or should I blame New Jersey drivers for instilling bad habits in me (yellow light: speed up; red light: hurry!)? I think I saw a total of 3 people ever getting pulled over in our 2 years in New Jersey. Welcome to Massachusetts!
Settling In
(Jenn)
It all started with the green walls. Our living room has green walls. Our living room furniture is orange. I have issues with green and orange being near each other (perhaps stemming from that horrible outfit choice on 5th grade class picture day that caused Toni Jensen's mom to say, "That girl looks like a hot dog stand!" True story). Most people come to the natural conclusion that we'll just have to paint the walls. Oh, that would be way too easy!
So in spite of Ben's denial ("I feel emotionally attached to the couches that I've had for pretty much my whole life") and sincere efforts to thwart my plans (including lots of deceitful calculations "proving" to me that we are going to run completely out of money by the end of the month), I have spent the last two months searching for ideas, poring over catalogues, and even making "paper doll" couches, chairs, and pillows and trying out endless combinations in front of the green walls. I wasn't sure if it would work, but finally Ben must have realized that I would probably never stop if he didn't eventually concede. Or maybe the green and orange finally got to him too. Either way, we finally got to buy stuff! I must say that I have really enjoyed our orange furniture for the past 5 years, and I'm thankful to Ben's parents for giving it to us. It has served us very well. At the same time, it has lived its life, and I get pretty giddy about beautiful, new, comfortable furniture and making a home look pretty -- yay! It makes me feel a lot better about the whole "vow of poverty" thing that comes with grad school.
Okay, with no further blathering, here are the pics:
The rug! This was probably my most exciting find (T.J. Maxx), which I think really ties the room together nicely. It's also super-soft and SOOOO nice. The night I brought it home, Henry was so elated about having carpet that he couldn't stop dancing and spinning and running around on it.
This is quite the conglomeration, and I'm pretty proud of it. :) The sofa (Ikea) is rich and warm and pretty much the most comfortable seat we've ever owned. It also has dry-cleanable covers! The patterned pillows (Crate and Barrel) are my very favorite part of the room -- they were the first thing I bought, and we picked the color scheme from there. The solid pillows are from Pier 1 and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. We also had to get new lamps (Target) because our other ones were orange and cast a hot-dog-standish light on the room.
Here's where I need your votes. First of all, should I keep the small chair, or try to find a different one? It doesn't quite match the wood in the rest of the room, although I love the shape and size. I'm undecided about it. The end table also kind of doesn't match the rest of the room (we already had this). Should I try darkening the stain? I love both of the new chairs (Pier 1), and they're really comfy for this type of chair.
The next vote: Do you like pillow arrangement #1 (2 pictures above), or pillow arrangement #2 (directly above)? Ben and I disagree on this one, so we need your help! You can answer the polls (on the sidebar) or leave a comment. I need your help!
Here's a shot of the room, just to give you an idea of the spacing. Isn't it peaceful and inviting? I especially like how the TV screen matches the color of the rug. It adds a nice touch (at least I haven't made Ben part with this token of his childhood just yet!).
Still working on . . . organizing the playroom! Is it even worth it to organize a room that will only look nice between 8pm and 6am? You'll notice in this picture Henry's latest obsession with spreading things out and lining them up!
And for your entertainment: the current state of our dining room! Notice there are only 3 boxes left to unpack, which I consider quite the feat.
The rug! This was probably my most exciting find (T.J. Maxx), which I think really ties the room together nicely. It's also super-soft and SOOOO nice. The night I brought it home, Henry was so elated about having carpet that he couldn't stop dancing and spinning and running around on it.
This is quite the conglomeration, and I'm pretty proud of it. :) The sofa (Ikea) is rich and warm and pretty much the most comfortable seat we've ever owned. It also has dry-cleanable covers! The patterned pillows (Crate and Barrel) are my very favorite part of the room -- they were the first thing I bought, and we picked the color scheme from there. The solid pillows are from Pier 1 and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. We also had to get new lamps (Target) because our other ones were orange and cast a hot-dog-standish light on the room.
Here's where I need your votes. First of all, should I keep the small chair, or try to find a different one? It doesn't quite match the wood in the rest of the room, although I love the shape and size. I'm undecided about it. The end table also kind of doesn't match the rest of the room (we already had this). Should I try darkening the stain? I love both of the new chairs (Pier 1), and they're really comfy for this type of chair.
The next vote: Do you like pillow arrangement #1 (2 pictures above), or pillow arrangement #2 (directly above)? Ben and I disagree on this one, so we need your help! You can answer the polls (on the sidebar) or leave a comment. I need your help!
Here's a shot of the room, just to give you an idea of the spacing. Isn't it peaceful and inviting? I especially like how the TV screen matches the color of the rug. It adds a nice touch (at least I haven't made Ben part with this token of his childhood just yet!).
Still working on . . . organizing the playroom! Is it even worth it to organize a room that will only look nice between 8pm and 6am? You'll notice in this picture Henry's latest obsession with spreading things out and lining them up!
And for your entertainment: the current state of our dining room! Notice there are only 3 boxes left to unpack, which I consider quite the feat.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Outer Banks Trip
After a stressful week of moving and a crazy couple of months getting ready to move, a week at a beach house was exactly what the doctor ordered. We spent last week at the Outer Banks in North Carolina for the Iverson family reunion. It really was perfect! It included lots of naps, sleeping in, kayaking, biking, beach time, crabbing, board games, yummy food, and good company. Could it get any better than this? I submit that it cannot (unless you could arrange for Henry to not be afraid of the ocean and throw 20-minute tantrums every time he saw sand).
Watch the slideshow to get a better idea of the loveliness we enjoyed. Ah, summer!
Watch the slideshow to get a better idea of the loveliness we enjoyed. Ah, summer!
Officially Here
(Jenn)
We are finally back from vacation and actually living in our new house! That's not to say we're settled, by any means. We still have a couple of rooms FULL of boxes, and the unpacking is going pretty slowly. It's amazing to me how long it can take to unload one box. It's just so hard to decide where everything's going to go! We have lots to do before this baby comes, and the due date (7 weeks from Saturday) is a pretty solid reminder of that.
The more settled we get, the more we enjoy our new home. It feels very spacious and serene. At the same time, I feel quite isolated in our little house on the hill. I've only left the house a few times, and each time I've been reminded how "fun" it is to start completely over getting your bearings in a new town. It took 6 months to feel completely comfortable driving in New Jersey, and from my experiences so far in MA, the roads are much more tortuous and unpredictable. This is the part of "new adventures" that I don't love so much!
Here are some pictures of the move:
Ben with President Mathusek on our last day of church.
With the Stephenson family. They were sweet and had us over for dinner on Sunday, the day before we moved. We'll miss these guys!
Goodbye hugs: Henry and his best friend, Evan.
Evan waving good-bye from the car. They came to see us off on Monday before we drove away.
'Bye Evan! We'll miss you (we already do)!
We made it! After a rush of cleaning and errands and the 5-hour drive, we arrived at our new home. Here are Dad I. and Ben starting to unload the truck. I should mention here that we NEVER would have survived this move without Ben's mom and dad. They just put themselves to work and kept busy with all sorts of projects the whole time they were here. They're amazing!
While we were getting ready to unload, Henry kept busy acquainting himself with our fabulous yard and all of our neighbors' toys.
We are finally back from vacation and actually living in our new house! That's not to say we're settled, by any means. We still have a couple of rooms FULL of boxes, and the unpacking is going pretty slowly. It's amazing to me how long it can take to unload one box. It's just so hard to decide where everything's going to go! We have lots to do before this baby comes, and the due date (7 weeks from Saturday) is a pretty solid reminder of that.
The more settled we get, the more we enjoy our new home. It feels very spacious and serene. At the same time, I feel quite isolated in our little house on the hill. I've only left the house a few times, and each time I've been reminded how "fun" it is to start completely over getting your bearings in a new town. It took 6 months to feel completely comfortable driving in New Jersey, and from my experiences so far in MA, the roads are much more tortuous and unpredictable. This is the part of "new adventures" that I don't love so much!
Here are some pictures of the move:
Ben with President Mathusek on our last day of church.
With the Stephenson family. They were sweet and had us over for dinner on Sunday, the day before we moved. We'll miss these guys!
Goodbye hugs: Henry and his best friend, Evan.
Evan waving good-bye from the car. They came to see us off on Monday before we drove away.
'Bye Evan! We'll miss you (we already do)!
We made it! After a rush of cleaning and errands and the 5-hour drive, we arrived at our new home. Here are Dad I. and Ben starting to unload the truck. I should mention here that we NEVER would have survived this move without Ben's mom and dad. They just put themselves to work and kept busy with all sorts of projects the whole time they were here. They're amazing!
While we were getting ready to unload, Henry kept busy acquainting himself with our fabulous yard and all of our neighbors' toys.
We had time to visit a few iconic sites while Ben's parents were here helping us. Here's Henry at the beautiful Boston temple.
And Ben at the Baker Library on the HBS campus, where he'll be spending lots of time over the next 5 years.
Monday, July 07, 2008
A pair of farewells
(Ben) I meant to post this earlier, but just never found the time. It turns out that moving is rather time consuming....
We sold our Prizm. I was genuinely sad to see it go. It's odd how you can become attached to a car, isn't it? When the new owner (a co-worker of mine) drove it away, it still had the last remnants of decorative window paint on the mirror from when we got married, and I couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic for all that we've been through in the car. I think I'll especially remember strapping Henry into it for the first time when he and Jenn got to come home from the hospital, and then driving more carefully than I ever have the 2 miles back to our home in Provo. Also, I'll always remember driving it across the country when we moved to New Jersey. All in all, we put nealry 50,000 miles on the car while we owned it, which boils down to a lot of time spend behind the wheel. I guess that's why I had become a little attached.
A week after we sold the Prizm, I worked my last day at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. I haven't posted much about the Fed on our blog, but I do want to say that I absolutely loved my two years there. It was an incredible place to work, where I grew a ton and felt like I was making at least a small contribution to society as well. I worked with great people there whom I'll miss as well.
List
Things we miss about our life in New Jersey:
1. All of our great friends
2. Being part of a branch
3. Proximity to Broadway, museums, and Buttercup Bake Shop
4. Ralph's Pizza
5. Samuel Nelkin park in Wallington
6. Our kitchen appliances, which were new when we moved in two years ago
7. Having all six missionaries over for dinner
8. Our attic (the best, cleanest storage room ever!)
9. Great tasting tap water (believe it or not, Ben loved the tap water in NJ)
10. Carpet (hardwood floors are great, but they are hard on your feet after a long day)
11. Shoprite, especially their Strawberry Oat Cluster cereal and double coupons every day
12. Having a fan in the bathroom
13. The accent (although Jenn and Henry have adopted it, so we'll be taking it with us)
14. Living across the street from a farmer's market
15. Bergen County Library System
16. Being within 20 minutes of 2 Cheesecake Factories and 1 Grand Lux Cafe
17. Cheap(er) gas
Things we do not miss about our life in New Jersey:
1. All of our great enemies
2. Crazy NJ driving
3. Getting yelled at by "customer service," among others
4. Carrying groceries up two flights of stairs
5. Trying to convince Henry to walk faster up two flights of stairs while carrying groceries
6. Street parking
7. Moving the car twice a week for street sweeping
8. 1 hour commute to work
9. Getting honked at the very second the light turns green
10. Train station pick-ups and drop-offs
11. La Guardia, JFK, and Newark Airports (the three most delayed airports in the nation, all in one convenient location)
1. All of our great friends
2. Being part of a branch
3. Proximity to Broadway, museums, and Buttercup Bake Shop
4. Ralph's Pizza
5. Samuel Nelkin park in Wallington
6. Our kitchen appliances, which were new when we moved in two years ago
7. Having all six missionaries over for dinner
8. Our attic (the best, cleanest storage room ever!)
9. Great tasting tap water (believe it or not, Ben loved the tap water in NJ)
10. Carpet (hardwood floors are great, but they are hard on your feet after a long day)
11. Shoprite, especially their Strawberry Oat Cluster cereal and double coupons every day
12. Having a fan in the bathroom
13. The accent (although Jenn and Henry have adopted it, so we'll be taking it with us)
14. Living across the street from a farmer's market
15. Bergen County Library System
16. Being within 20 minutes of 2 Cheesecake Factories and 1 Grand Lux Cafe
17. Cheap(er) gas
Things we do not miss about our life in New Jersey:
1. All of our great enemies
2. Crazy NJ driving
3. Getting yelled at by "customer service," among others
4. Carrying groceries up two flights of stairs
5. Trying to convince Henry to walk faster up two flights of stairs while carrying groceries
6. Street parking
7. Moving the car twice a week for street sweeping
8. 1 hour commute to work
9. Getting honked at the very second the light turns green
10. Train station pick-ups and drop-offs
11. La Guardia, JFK, and Newark Airports (the three most delayed airports in the nation, all in one convenient location)
In Boston, but not in Boston
(Jenn)What day is it today? Monday? I guess we moved a week ago. It's been quite a week, and I barely have a minute to breathe! We arrived at our new Boston home last Monday night, spent the next 3 days trying to get unloaded and settled a bit, and then left early Friday morning for the Iverson family reunion in North Carolina. So yes, we made it to Boston, but now we're staying in an incredible beach house enjoying a relaxing time with Ben's family.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to upload any photos of our move or our new house before we left. But the house is perfect and beautiful, and the trees are even better than I remembered! It was great to have Ben's parents there helping us get moved in. Ben's dad just walked around looking for little fix-it jobs he could do. His biggest job was getting our box springs up the stairs. The movers tried to shove it up to our bedroom, and it wouldn't budge between the stairs and the ceiling. The boys had to take apart the aphostery on the box springs and saw a 3-inch piece out of each of the boards going across the back. Then they were BARELY able to wedge it up the stairs before piecing it back together so we could sleep on it.
Ben started "work" at Harvard, and so far he really hasn't had to do anything! He basically just had a bunch of registration/orientation stuff to do. We're hoping for a pretty relaxing summer, although I'm sure he will start actual research when we get back from this trip.
I'm adding these pictures just to give you something to look at before I figure out how to upload our pics. These are Henry's New Jersey friends at a good-bye playdate, and Henry and Evan standing by the trailer truck. We're sure going to miss our friends! 
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