OK, OK. I know it's been much too long since I put anything up here. But I have tried a few times and the system has been down. Here's the big news...



I'm a Candidate of Philosophy! That's right, I defended my proposal on 10/1/2003. I passed and am offically working on my dissertation now. I started data collection on 10/14/2003. So far, so good. I'll keep you posted.



Marcus nearly choked to death! True. While I was defending my proposal, Michelle was trying desperately to get a checker out of his throat. Thank God Matthew was paying attention. Michelle was in the kitchen and Matthew started screaming for her. She ran in and he was pointing at Marcus who was blue in the face and coudln't breathe. She started trying to get the checker out while Matthew called 9-1-1. What an ordeal. It came out shortly after and all is well now.



ICIS Bound I'm offically going to the ICIS Doctoral Consortium. That is very exciting to me because it was one of my goals when I came to IU. It's a pretty selective consortium and many of the leading people in the field have attended it in the past. Including, Brad Wheeler, Brad Crisp, George Marakas.



More to come later. . . .

We had a WONDERFUL time in Chicago this weekend. We saw two sets of fireworks (on the 3rd and the 4th), spent a day at the aquiarium, rode boats, buses, taxis, trolleys and trains, went to the beach, shopped, rode the rides, and ate like pigs at "Taste of Chicago". Check out the pictorial highlights.

Wonderful weekend in Nashville!! We saw the Beck's this weekend in Nasvhille, TN. We had a terrfic time. Highlights include the Parthenon, Baja Fresh, the swimming pool, a super park, Matthew's first rock-climbing adventure (he went 15 feet!) and a wagon ride through downtown. It also happened to be the weekend for the 50th Anniversary of the Corvette. So we saw about a million 'vettes in town. Very cool. Here are some photos.

No news... We've had a great week or two. Nothign exciting is happening. Just tee-ball, VBS, dance recitals and routine end of year stuff. I"m trying to finish my proposal soon and get on with data collection. Wish me luck.

Great photos of the kids! I took some great photos of the family at McDonalds last week. You can see them here.

Indy 500 weekend! I went to the Indy 500 with my friends Jeff and James. What a KICK! You just can't believe how fast and loud those cars are. It was very exciting. You can see the photos here.

Birthday pictures are available for Madison and Matthew's b-days. Take a look!

Going to the races... the kids and I are going to the races in Indy tomorrow. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I think it may be time trials for the 500. I'll post pictures when we get back.

Donna leaves for Honduras... Our friend Donna left for 11 days in Honduras doing mission work today. Keep her and Phil and the boys in your prayers.

Congrats to Lovelady! Though down by six strokes going into the final day of competition, Dame d'Amour stirred a rousing comback and took the day by eight strokes giving him a 1 day victory and a repeat BLT championship! I'll customize the website in a few weeks, but here are some photos of the weekend.

Cinderella a big hit. Michelle and Madison saw Cinderella on Thursday at IU. It was a lot of fun for them both. Madison went dressed up as a princess. I think it was terrific. You'll have to ask Michelle for the skinny.

Happy b-day Cindy Newland! Monday was Cindy's b-day. She's officially getting older.

BLT begins this week! That's right. It's been nearly two years since the last BLT, and we are finally ready to start again. This year, we are determined to do Davis in! He just had hernia surgery, so that has to favor The Big Load and I. Stay tuned for pictures, scorecards, and trash talking...



Michelle is still beautiful, despite her age! That's right. Michelle turned 37 this week. (4/20). It's hard to believe. She still looks like she is in her mid twenties. I'm so lucky. :) For her birthday she got a "Vaughanberger" basket as well as tix to see Cinderella with Madison and the new "Left Behind" book. Plus some treasures the kids picked out from the dollar store.



Dissertation progress is going very well. I'm hoping to defend my proposal in the next month or so. That means lots of work. But so far, I'm really enjoying it.

Absolutely nothing to say! That's right. THere is absolutely no news in my life right now. I just feel guilty that I"ve not put anything up here in over a month. So I decided I'd add this blurb. BORING.



New website I'm the new managing editor for MISQE magazine. I dont' officially start my job until the fall. However, I"ve already been working on building a new website. You can look at the current version, then see my new one here . I should have it up for good within a couple of weeks.



Birthdays... My birthday is Wednesday (March 5). If you want to get me something, I recommend a gift certificate, or a new knife (I prefer the 10' version), or the Xbox Live enabled hockey game. Also, we're having a co-Party with my good friend Phil. His birthday is Friday. Feel free to send him your best wishes here.



Dissertation news Things are going pretty well there. I've made a lot of progress, but still have a ways to go. I'd like to get it to committe for proposal within the month. We'll see. There is still a lot of work to do.

New photos! You've got to see the photos Michelle took over the weekend. They are really terrific. You can find a link to them from the Photos link on the home page. Great job, Michelle!

Second monthly GFGT was a big success! I highly recommend the tequilla-marinated beef fajitas from my recipe section. Whoa, they are yummy! For added flaver, after 24 hours of marinading in the tequilla sauce, I cooked the beef on my George Foreman grill, then boiled the marinade. I added the beef, marinade, some soy sauce, and some "Fajita seasoning" to a ziploc bag. Tossed it all together for about an hour. Then dumped the meat into the frying pan with the onions and peppers. Y-U-M-M-Y!

Pray for my friend Rita and Mike. I just got an email this weekend and Rita went into early labor on Friday. I think she's about four months early, but it may be less. Keep them in your prayers as do I.

SUCCESS! My great friend, Phil got me a breadmaker as a post-Christmas gift (ain't that sweet!). He also gave me a family recipe for white bread. Well, it took SIX attempts with the same recipe, but FINALLY, I did it! I made a loaf of white bread that was TERRIFIC. I mean it was so stinking good. Michelle and I ate it right away. If you want the recipe, just email me.

Whoa... sorry for the delay. Things are going GREAT here. Check out the photo page for some great shots Michelle took this weekend of the kids.


Marcus is doing GREAT.. He's off of the monitor and all medications. Now he's just like a normal little boy, albeit the most handsome one I've seen in five years!


Michelle is recovered. She seems to be 100% as far as I can tell. She has lots of energy, enthusiasm, and feels great. We took Marcus to church for the first time yesterday. He really enjoyed it and did well.


Matthew is doing great. He is learning to read and doing great at pre-school. He is trying to read everything he sees. He's doing great. He is also doing very well at math. He loves to do long addition and subtraction problems. What a brainiac.


Madison still hasn't taken off the Cinderella dress she got for Christmas. She is so stinking cute. You've got to see the pictures Michelle took this weekend!


I'm back... That's right. Last week I worked ALL WEEK! It was the first time I've worked consecutive days since September 27th. It was terrific. I"m back to work on my dissertation and some other research. It is so stinking fun to be back at work. Not that I didn't love my time with the kids, but I really missed being here too.



I'll keep you posted of other news later.

Going well... Michelle and Marcus continue to do well. They've been home for over a month now and we took a trip to see family in Maryland for the holidays. I officially return to work today. How exciting. Check out the photo links page for all the photos of our holidays.