The K. Dynasty

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T17:18:00.001-08:00

Ever since Jessica and I were newlyweds, it has always been our dream to host a major holiday with our family--our whole family--all under one roof... our own. The Lord has been more than generous with us, and this year that dream became a reality when we held Thanksgiving at our new home in Kingsport.

Here's a picture of our hostess, who aside from being very talented in the kitchen is also ravishingly beautiful.

There were tantalizing aromas wafting from the kitchen for several days leading up to the actual feast. There were of course the very American Thanksgiving staples: mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, fried chick, fresh bread rolls, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pies... etc. But since this was a Puerto Rican get-together, we also had pasteles, guineitos in escavéche, arroz con guandulez and other such delicacies. My mouth is watering again just talking about it!

Emma Rae had a fabulous time being bounced around from family member to family member, as did all the cousins. She's has also become quite accomplished at using her walker, though, in the last few days. You really have to watch your toes as she zooms around the kitchen or she will run into them at warp speed.

Many thanks to all many cooks in our family that made such a marvelous feast for us. Many thanks most of all the Lord, who allowed us all to celebrate His goodness again this year.

"It is good to give thanks to the Lord

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most Hight;

To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night..."

Psalms 92:1-2 (NASB)

Fall in Kingsport

2011-11-15T16:50:00.000-08:00

At long last... an update. This is the Korzyniowski's 6th month living in beautiful Kingsport, Tennessee. The mountains are beautiful, especially this time of year, and the pace of life in East Tennessee is certainly much slower than it was in Nashville.
Aeva turned 3 years old in September and got a big girl bike for her birthday, which she adores.
Little Emma Rae will be 8 months old this month. She has a sweet and bubbly personality and will no doubt be the peacemaker of the household.
The Lord has been good to all of us in more ways than we can count. More updates later. We wish you all a blessing this Thanksgiving season!

Project AK

2011-05-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Firearms have been a passion and hobby of mine ever since I was a boy. I guess the real trouble began at the age of 12 when I begged my folks relentlessly for a bolt-action .22 rifle until Santa finally stashed one under the tree the Christmas of '92. It has been a downhill slide ever since.

This spring I decided to attempt a AK47 build project from a spare parts kit. I had all the information I needed to pull it off... google and YouTube. I didn't have many tools and certainly no special training. What I did have was a reluctantly tolerant wife and a handful of people that told telling me that laypeople shouldn't really try this at home. So, why not.

At this point let me officially state that you should NOT attempt a kit build of any sort without first reviewing your state, local, and federal laws as defined by the BATF. In addition, kits such as this one have to meet 922 compliance laws. There... I said it. Anyway, here is the finished product. It is legal. Its really fun to shot. If you'd like to see how this was put together, you can view the complete process in photos on my Flickr page.

Special thanks to my father-in-law for his technical assistance and to my wife for allowing me to spend many late night hours in our chilly garage when I should have been in bed asleep.

2011-05-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

The summer is quickly getting underway here in Nashville, and at the current rate I am afraid it will soon be over before I am able to post again. So here are a few quick updates from the Korzyniowski family from the month of May:

Aeva has acquired a passion for tea parties. Truth be known, hot chocolate is much more to her liking than her Papa's herbal tea. More important that the beverage itself, however, is the guest list (as evidenced by photo above) and the appropriate table setting.

Emma Rae is eating like a champ, growing like a weed, and getting cuter every day. She is now becoming very verbal, as all fashionable baby's her age are. Thankfully she still enjoys a good 16 hours of sleep per day which frees up Mami and Papa to keep up with her delightful sister.

Ice cream is the number one hit of the summer. I had previously not though anything could surpass homemade grape juice Popsicles as Aeva's favorite treat, but oh how I was mistaken.

Papa turned 31 on Cinco de Mayo. Aeva was quite proud of having made and decorated the cake herself.

The K family is moving to Kingsport, Tennessee over the 4rth of July weekend to start Andrew's new job. A new home and life await them there.

Summer time with the Watkins is awesome! Our family just spent a wonderful week of vacation in lovely Chesnee, SC with Jessica's folks, Wendy, and cousins Cooper and Morgan.

Cooper met his cousin Emmy for the very first time. Looks like they're going to be good friends.

At home Emma Rae is subject to Aeva's constant attending and handling. Fortunately she's none to worse for wear. Also, Aeva is showing promising signs of pursing a career in medicine.

That's about all for now. Hopefully there will be time for more news soon before the big moving day. God bless you all and may you have a safe summer!

Tortugita Tortugita!

2011-04-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

So here's the story... Last Friday Jessica took Aeva and Emma Rae to the Park near our house, and on the way there they found a critter. Actually it was a baby turtle, which I later found out to be a red ear slider, to be exact. Aeva was ecstatic! Of course it had to come home! All she wanted to do that afternoon was play with the turtle; pick it up, drop it, throw it in the sandbox, pet it, give it food to eat, talk to it, etc...

The story becomes more complex, however, when Sabbath afternoon I was charged with watching the girls while my wife took a much needed nap. Aeva had the turtle in the sandbox and was busy making pretend turtle houses and roads for "Sandy." After a while Aeva decided she wanted to take her tricycle for a spin. Sure, why not? The turtle should be safe in a sandbox right? Wrong.

Upon returning to the house with the girls, Sandy was gone and Aeva was heartbroken. Furthermore, my wife had me in the hotseat as well for my grossly irresponsible behavior with such a valuable member of the family. The only available recourse was to mail order a look-alike red slider immediately, which arrived today. But oh no! We couldn't buy just one... we had to buy them in threes.

This morning Sandy magically reappeared in the sandbox to Aeva's delight. Astonishingly, two additional turtle were soon after discovered hidden in Mami and Papa's bedroom. Now there are three of these things. We'll certainly have to pawn off two of them as soon as possible on some other set of naive parents. As for Sandy, we are just hoping and praying that Aeva loses interest soon and we can return the turtle to her rightful place in nature.

Happy Birthday Emma Rae !!!

2011-04-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our world Emma Rae Korzyniowski. Born March 29th, 12:06pm. 8lbs 7oz. 19.5 inches long.

SXM 2011

2011-01-29T13:23:00.001-08:00

Jessica and I recently had the blessing of attending an anesthesia conference in St. Maarten in the Carribean.

Jessica was 28 weeks pregnant and we figured this might be the last opportunity for a little fun in the sun before the baby comes.

Here's our hotel in the cove of San Marcel.

Look at that Hottie hiking out to the beach!

The beaches on St. Maarten are beautiful and many of them secluded as well. After we hiked an hour to get to this one, we were the only ones there.

Seasons Greetings!

2010-12-04T21:12:00.001-08:00

Seasons greetings from the Korzyniowski family! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of family, blessings recounted, and grateful hearts!

Que Cara!

2010-11-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Its always hard to capture that single expression that says this is my child's personality. Here are a few of Aeva's many colorful sides.

Hanging on to Summer

2010-11-03T19:25:00.000-07:00

Last Sabbath, Aeva's Nani though her granddaughter might enjoy making chocolate cookies.

She was not mistaken. This little girl loves to be in the center of any and every activity around the house, especially if it involves cooking and the potential to help stir batter, dump ingredients into a bowl, and best of all break a few eggs.

After lunch, Aeva was introduced to the feminine world of tea parties by her Nannie. I wasn't sure if Aeva would take to this, but I couldn't have more wrong. Aeva is all girl, afterall, and it shows. After only a minute or two of introduction, Aeva was soon pouring dainty serving of tea with cream in miniature cups to her family, one by one, and making the appropriate "shhhhh" sounds as she poured refills.

It's starting to finally cool down at night here in Nashville, but last Sunday I was determined to stretch summer out to the bitter end with one last boat ride. Here Jessica is idling the boat to shore to pick me up.

It was only about 8 o'clock in the morning and the water looked like smooth glass

starting out. Aeva insisted on riding in the bough with her dolls even though the air temp was only 55F. That didn't seem to matter much to Aeva or her diminutive companions, but her Mami bundled her up tight anyway, as the two of us were freezing with the wind chill. Oh well, it was sunny and cloudless, and absolutely gorgeous outside. What's a little nip in the air in exchange for one last boat ride before the winter?

Life....

2010-10-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Sonia and Brad Tito's wedding in beautiful Central Park, New York.

Central Park's Boat House, where the Tito's had their wedding.

Aeva's love for ice cream becomes more apparent with each passing day.

Carriage ride through downtown Nashville with Nani, Papi, Mami, and Papa.

Jessic'as surprise 31st birthday party at Mark and Guisella's house.

Nice looking rifle, huh? It was gathering rust on Dad's wall, so Andrew had to take matter's into his own hands and restore the darn thing. You'll have to ask Buffalo Bob how it shoots. That .54 cal packs a good wallup!

Curt shoots the ultimate tool of defiance... the AK! Avanza La Revolución!

Jessica in NYC

Nice Rolls! It rode a little rough, though. Could use a little refinement.

Aeva has taken to dressing herself and is especially fond of panties.

Indoctrination begins early. We bought Aeva a toy dyson which she uses when her Mami is busy vacuuming.

Guess who loves Bible stories? Favorites: Baby Moses and Jabel the Shepherd.

Looks who's pregnant with little girl #2?

Look at these mannerisms. See any similarities?

Aeva meets her great-grandpa.

The other Korzyniowskis: Sydney, Katrina, Ryan, and McKenzie. Chilling on the boat after Eric and Betsy's Wedding.

Jessica, her cousing Israel, and Isreal's mom Madeline relaxing at the beach house in Rincón Puerto Rico, during the week leading up to Isreal's wedding.

This little flower girl did a great job with the rose petals. There was lots of practice at home with bits of shredded paper towel leading up to this day, and she did great!

Isreal and Stacy's beach wedding in Puerto Rico. No shoes allowed.

Aeva saying "cheese!"

"Baby Mogin" Aeva's cousin.

Betsy reading her wedding vows to Eric. I'm pretty sure this tough guy even shed a tear or two.

Aeva's 2nd birthday at Sabbath School. Yeah! We get to gradual to craderoll B now!

Blow, Blow, Blow!

Aeva's Birthday party at the Children's museum. Favorite part of the day: the treats!

"Bla Bla" and "Papi"

Andrew and Jessica on their way to Andrew's poster presentation at the American Society of Anesthesiologists convention in San Diego, California.This was a heavy one.

Fun in the corn bin at Lucky Ladd Farms in Mufreesboro. We were there for over an hour!

Baby Chickens $3. Takers?

San Diego coast line at dusk in La Jolla.

Part of a seal colony we visited by kayak off San Diego's coast. Come on... Who wouldn't?

A lot has happened since my last post at the beginning of summer. Don't know really where to begin. Somewhere between three big summer weddings, Jessica's second pregnancy, Aeva's second birthday, potty training, 90+ hour work weeks, looking for a job... oh, and I guess trips to New York, San Diego, and Puerto Rico... things have just sort of piled up with little time to breath. Here are a few photo highlights just for a rapid getting-you-up-to-speed. And no... I don't know how to use Flickr yet. But yes, I do have intentions of eventually learning.

Damage Survey

2010-05-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

Took a small tour of the flood damage by kayak today. Pretty bad all together. A lot of people are out of luck in our neightborhood and surrouding streets.

Curt and I found this friendly black mare stranded on a grass high spot next to a riverside playground. Seemed liked he was pretty hungy. Must have been the swim.

Here are just a few other random shots we got while on our disaster survey.

This house was actually picked up and moved. Can't tell from the picture but its sitting crooked.

"Howdy neighbors!"

Looks like this kid was turning a bad situation into a little fun. I guess no one told him that flood waters are contaminated.

River Trace... quite ironic.

Evacuated!!!

2010-05-03T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday night around 9pm we were evacuated from our home due to the cumberland river rising 60ft above flood stage. Our home was spared thankfully, but many of our neighbors were not so fortunate. I will tell more later. For now, we are all safe, dry, and very very blessed.

The Artist

2010-04-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a little clip of our jabber box Aeva experimenting for the first time with finger paints. Lucky that Abuela was there to provide some much needed supervision and instruction. Need I say that this activity was a hit!

Easter

2010-04-05T05:30:00.001-07:00

This was a perfect Easter weekend! Aeva's Papa was off work, we saw Aeva's grandparents Nani and Papi, and there was even an Easter egg hunt!

We spent a beautiful Sabbath afternoon with my parents on their back porch, where Aeva enjoyed having Nani paint her toes.

Sunday morning we told Aeva that we were going to a party to find easter eggs. She was so excited. She babbled on an on about "pardi, pardi" all the way there and back.

Aeva sacked a total of 11 "eggies" during the hunt. That's my girl!

We f

Daddy's Girl?

2010-03-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

I love my daugther very much. I play with her every mintue I'm home, I let her eat sweets when her Mami isn't around, I carry her on my shoulders, and in general am a pretty good playmate. But as much as I would love to say that Aeva has become a Daddy's Girl.... well, I will let you see the evidence for yourself.

Aeva is definitely a challanging little girl. She is a lot of fun but also a lot of work. Lately, we have been working on the concept of sharing, which frankley isn't going so well. She has learned how to say "shay" and participate on the receiving end but isn't fond of reciprocating.

Sporting Clays

2010-03-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

This week we have seen some of the first fruits of a long awaited Spring, with sunny days and warm temps that irresistibly draw you out of your winter den. Likewise, I called my Dad early in the week and told him it was time to pull out the shotguns and head to the range. Evil company corrupts good habbits, of course, and I think we may have made a new disciple from our friend Toni, who will likely also soon have a shotgun of his own.

My skeet shooting skills are frankly embarrassing, so this time we decided to shoot sporting clays, too. That's basically a walking course through a scenic area, with traps placed at strategic and random positions. You determine when the clay is launched, but you never know exactly in what direction, how far, how how fast, or from which launcher it will come. Ideally, I think it simulates a hunting experience. Talk about addicting!

The Blizzard of 2010

2010-01-30T20:04:00.001-08:00

Snow at last! It finally feels like a real winter here in Tennessee. Daytime temps in the 20s, kids with sleds sliding down the neighborhood hill, and a full weekend without any call. How much better could it really get? I'd say we had a good 4" here in Nashville, though my parent probably had more like 6" or 7" just up the road from us.
Speaking of sleds, we don't have one. This Sabbath morning I improvised with a rope an a laundry basket and took Aeva for wild rides around the back yard. As you can see, however, this particular sled had the unfortunate tendency to dump it passenger out on the right. No worries though. Aeva just smiled each time and said, "Más más."

Aeva has been loving the snow! We can barely force her inside.

It seems that this little one can't get enough of the snow. As much fun as sledding was, she would much rather have sat in one spot on continued to shove more of that crunchy, white, cold stuff into her mouth.

Almost Complete

2009-12-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

Here it is. This is the almost-finished loft. Since last posting I have put down carpet and underpadding, assembled the slide, and completed the suspension bridge. We have also started to put up some decorations like suspending chinese paper lanterns and gold starts from the ceiling, as well as the placement of door bead at the entrance of exit of the first platform.

Here's a shot form a differenct angle. You probably can't tell from this small picuture how I build the bridge, but it ended up being quite the headache. No matter its finished now. Not only can i disconnect the bridge to lower my kyaks from the roof, but I can adjust the tension on all teh ropes to keep the bridge tight and minimize excessive swinging. I also had to place some handles at either end of the bridge since Aeva is still a little timid about crossing by herself.

The best part, of course, is the slide. I can personally vouche and tell you that its not only sturdy enought to support a grown man but its also quite fast! The last big task to do will be completing all the sanding.

Playhouse

2009-12-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend Dad and Curt came over to help me turn my r0ugh sketches of an indoor child's playloft into reality. Its a work in progress, and several design elements have changed in the process of construction. Aeva was excited about helping out as well. As you can see from the above picture, she's holding a wrench in the hands, ready and eager to jump right on in. I have yet to document all the work done to date, but this will catch you up on the major stuff. Don't worry, you will hopefully see a finished product by next weekend.

We had an excellent cheer squad keeping up motivated in our chilly work. The temps last weekend were in the 30s.

Good thing Dad is retired now. I have lots of projects in which to enlist him.

Here's the large platform. This thing is STURDY.

Once finished, there will be a wooden suspension bridge connecting these two platforms. I actually put up most of that today.

Last of all, the platforms will be sanded, varnished, padded and carpeted, and there will be an assortment of doodads like a ship's wheel etc. mounted to the rails. Oh yes--don't forget the 10-foot wrap around slide I bought for the main platform. That will be the final and crowning feature of the playhouse. All of this is a bit bigger than it looked on paper, but we have been cleaning out of garage over the course of several months in anticipation of its conversion to a playroom. Add a little light, heat, and a killer setup like this one and voila--kiddie paradise all winter long.

Christmas Time is Here

2009-12-05T05:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick welcome to the Christmas season from the Korzyniowski family! We have already celebrated and early combo Christmas/Thanksgiving with the Watkins side of the family, but the season isn't over yet. Merry Christmas everyone, and don't forget the true Reason for this holiday season.

SKEETers

2009-11-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

Just picked up a new sport. This week I sold a bunch of junk from my garadge on craigslist, and afterwards went down to the local pawnshop and picked up a 12 gauge Winchester 1400. Logically, it needed an immediate test drive, so this morning my father and I went down to the local clay pigeon range to see what kind of damage we could do.

I let the ole pro have have the first few shots as seen above. Apparently, he has had some experience in a prior life, when some 50 years ago he placed third in a local turkey shoot. Besides, if an untried firearm is going to explode with the first shot, its best if you're not the one holding it right?

I ended up hitting about 20% of my targets.... okay maybe more like 10%. Dad, on the otherhand, was much better than me. Still, I got a good feel for the thrill of the sport, and now am pretty sure that it has won itself TWO new disciples.

Autumn Colors

2009-11-13T21:18:00.001-08:00

This was what treated our eyes the first weekend of November here in Nashville--beautiful fall colors on a cool, crisp Sabbath afternoon. We took these pictures at the historic Grassmere farm behind the Nashville zoo. This is Aeva's first fall that she is old enough to enjoy and its been a treat so far.Here's my little girl getting tossed up in the air by her Papa. She tend to let out little excited gasps just as she leaves my arms.

Too bad such pretty colors are destined to fade so quickly. Shortly after these pictures were taken, we several hard rains that took most of the early colors off right away. Fortunately, there are still an abundance of hearty maple trees in middle Tennessee that cling to those fiery orange and vivid red colors until the last moments of autumn.

Intruders Beware

2009-11-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

After months of talking about it, I finally had the chance to take my wife to the pistol range. The recoil from my 9mm was a little much for her, but this Ruger Mark III .22 that we rented was just her speed. And Jessica is a deadly shot too.

Here she is from 30 feet just as she is warming up. Keep in mind that she has never shot a pistol before.

Right before this video I had asked, "What are you going to do if a badguy breaks into our house in the middle of the night?" Well... here's your answer. Evil dudes stay away!

Marathon Woman!!!

2009-10-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

Big Congradulations to my wife Jessica and, of course, running partner and long time friend Sergeant Alex Larrea for running the 34th Annual 2009 Washington D.C. Marine Corps Marathon in 3h 43 min!!!! Wow! Talk about a feat! An check out that metal. I'd say its well worth it for a job well done, something I will no doubt never ever ever do or even be able to attempt.

Here's the happy mug shot of one half the dinamic duo immeditely after finishing the race. Congradulations to two great athletes and very special people!

Autumn

2009-10-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Autumn is upon us and old man winter is already just around the corner. I haven't had much time to update the blog lately, but here are a few random pics from a trip to a local pumpkin patch. Aeva loved it!

Happy Birthday Aeva

2009-09-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Last Sabbath, September 19th we celebrated Aeva's very first birthday! For those of you who couldn't make it, you might assume this 1-year-old would have been indifferent to the party, presents, and cake. But Aeva understood exactly one thing.... this is all for me!!! Just look at the expression on that little face after diving into her smash cake.

Even though we had set up for an outdoor event, angry overhead clouds threatened to drown us out. The Lord blessed, however, and the rain held off right until the last guests left.

Aeva has been enjoying her new pink scooter.

Can't see it in this pic, but the party theme was puppies. No, we couldn't actually spring for a real puppy at this stage, but everything else was canine: puppy plates, cups, balloons, and most importantly a puppy cake.

Aeva's anticipation before each present was pallatable. She would stand right next to Mami as each present was unwrapped, bounching up and down with excitement, then grab the present and parade around the patio, clutching it to her chest or proudly displaying it above her head.

To see more pictures from the big day, CLICK THIS LINK: http://picasaweb.google.com/akorzyni/BirthdayParty?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzf9p-Ks_igzgE#

More Pictures from Panama!

2009-09-18T20:07:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE to see a few more pictures from our recent Panama Trip.
http://picasaweb.google.com/akorzyni/Panama2009#

At Last

2009-09-18T15:00:00.001-07:00

This post is for you Mom and Dad. At last, after months of waiting, my medical license has finally arrived. I am now official and can hang out my shingle ? Moonlighting here I come!!!

Shootout!

2009-09-16T06:35:00.001-07:00

Finally got the chance to take out my surplus gun collection! You can see me and my Dad holding my 1940 Finnish M91 mosin nagant (left) and my 1933 91/30 Russian mosin (right). Now, those are a couple of mean looking dudes don't you think? Turns out both guns shot pretty well... excellent, actually, considering they are 76 and 69 years old. I can't vouch for the two yahoos begind the sights, however. At 100+ yards, I didn't hit any of the targets, whereas Dad turned out to be a reasonable decent shot.

Here's Dad with my Yugoslavian M48 Mauser, testing the scope. Our friend Tony Reynold's and his British .303 Mark 4 Enfield and also did some pretty impressive shooting that day. All these guns take pretty large bullets, and my shoulder testified to that fact in the morning.

You can see more pictures from our shootout if you CLICK HERE at this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/akorzyni/Shootout#

Aeva's Panama Adventure

2009-09-07T15:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, this is just a cursery post about the Korzyniowski's most recent family vacation--Panama! Actually, the destination was an island off the Pacific coast of Panama called Isla Bastimentos. I just got back yesterday in time to resume work today and left Jessica and Aeva there with Jessica's parents to enjoy a few extra days of sun and tropical weather.

We spent a whole lot of time at the beach with Aeva, who absolutely loves playing in the sand. She didn't care too much for playing next to the surf at first, but gradually did warm to the idea somewhat.

Here's just a quick view from the porch of our house overlooking the jungle and ocean. Don't have much time to tell more now but I'm hopeful to post more later. We saw quite a few cool animals, ate lots of good food, and even got a little healthy sun in the process. More later.

Ammo

2009-07-22T16:23:00.001-07:00

At last! The UPS guy finally dropped off my surplus Czechoslovakian ammo for my Russian mosin nagant. The shells are pretty big. As seen from left to right we have a .22 cal, 9mm, 7.62x54mm. If Vanderbilt will ever give me my life back, perhaps I can acutally get out and shoot it! More to come when I do...

Garden Delight

2009-07-15T12:30:00.001-07:00

Our little garden we planted a couple of months ago has taken flight. Initially I thought everything had shrivelled, yellowed, and died, but after two batches of miracle grow, everything greened up and started growing again. Look at the result.

Walking in Memphis

2009-07-15T12:08:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I took the "fam" down to Memphis to see our old friends Alex and Bernice, and to celebrate a baby shower from another church friend as well. Alex and Bernice's beloved 150lb child Bruno (a bull mastif) was a source of endless fascination and delight for Aeva. He didn't take well to me, but turned into a gentle giant for Aeva. He gave her more than one tongue bath, with each lick easily wrapping around little Aeva's whole head.

Saturday evening the girls stayed in the kitchen talking about who-wants-to-know what, while we guys (Alex, Ronnie, and myself) had good wholesome man talk out on the patio.

Turns out Alex isn't half bad as a grill master. The veggie burgers were great, Alex! Someday soon, you too must become a vegetarian... it is inevitable.

Now, as much as I LOVE baby showers, we boys took a little trip down to the shooting range Sunday afternoon.

Ronnie and me did okay. Alex, on the other hand (Mr. I-don't-know-anything-about-guns) made us look like little girls out there. Somehow, Ronnie and I just didn't believe this marine's claims.

Futher insights

2009-07-07T18:14:00.000-07:00

EPIPHANY #5 - Blueberries are also yummy, and do not require chewing before swallow. Of note, they do not always digest either.

New Discoveries

2009-07-07T17:55:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows that somewhere along life's journey there are certain sentinel events that change the way we view the world. This last week has been one of those pivotal times for Ms. Aeva, though, what what some would call milestones, others might more rightly name epiphanies--for that is what they are. Here are a few of Aeva's this week.

EPIPHANY #1 - Mud. No explanation needed

EPIPHANY #2 - Cherry tomatoes go "Pop!" when bite them. They are also yummy.

EPIPHANY #3 - Sand feels wonderful on your toes. Aeva's Buela bought her a sandbox a few days ago, and now we literally have to drag her away in order to eat and do other things.

EPIPHANY #4 - Sharing is a good thing: Food, toys, pacifiers. The world is a much better place when Mami and Papa get to enjoy then too.

A Piece of History

2009-07-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Much to the dismay of my wife and parents, I recently called the ATF and acquired and FFL-03 . Basically, that's a special firearms license that allows respectable people to purchase what are considered historic or antique firearms directly from wholesalers at dealer pricing and then have your goodies shipped in the mail to your door step (I LOVE America!). Here is my first item for the collection and hopefully just one of many to come. This is a 1933 Russian Mosin Nagant. Note the sickle and hammer as well as the date on the above picture.

So here it is--model 91/30 Russian Mosin Nagant.... the infamous rifle used by soviet snipers and infantry in WWII that repelled Nazi forces. Its takes a 7.62x54mm round that's comparable to an American 30-.06 round. So for all of you not-so-crazy-about-guns people, that just means its a big nasty bullet that kicks like a mule when you shoot it, much more powerful than the standard military rounds used today

This particular rile even came with the bayonet and sling. What a great piece of history! You have to order the ammo online, and mine should come in a few days. More updates then....

Aeva's First Steps

2009-06-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Aeva can now officially walk!! What a great present to give her papa on Father's Day.

fall

2009-06-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

Berry Pickin'

2009-05-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

This week I have been working nights/late shifts at the hospital--kind of a vampire schedule, but with the added perk of being home in the mornings to be with Jessica and Aeva. So this week we went strawberry picking at an area berry farm.

As you can see from the pics, Aeva had a very good time! For every other berry I would pick, Aeva would partially mal one, drop it in the basket, then pick up another and start on that one before I knew what had happened. Talk about a mess... but one happy little girl.

New Patio

2009-05-21T10:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our home got a visit from this 87,000 lb behemoth. After over a month of planning, comparative shopping, and a lot of help and advice from my father-in-law, I finally decided to take the plunge and do a backyard cement patio DYI style.

Good thing captain Curt was there to tell me what to do. A 15x30' patio is no small job for two guys. He drove all the way from South Carolina just to help out.

Fortunately our truck driver, Toni, decided to pitch in a also give us a hand. Still we could easy have used just one more person out there to help us.

In the end, though, I think we've ended up with a pretty nice looking patio. It'll be great to celebrate Aeva's first birthday out there in just 4 months. That means I'm going to have a lot of landscaping to do in between now and then. I'll keep you posted.

Mother's Day

2009-05-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

Happy late Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there. We had our own little celebration here last week with family.

Vacation

2009-05-14T15:47:00.001-07:00

The week of my recent birthday, Jessica and I decided it was time for some much needed R&R. We threw the road bikes on the back of the car, stuffed some groceries and extra clothes in the back seat, left Aeva with her abuela, and headed off the Smoky Mtns. We spent a not-so-relaxing but definitely refreshing week trekking and biking through Tennessee's most spectacular scenery.

We stopped by the Gatlinburg visitor center and for $1 bought a park map with all the day hikes outlined in red. We decided to start checking off all the hikes marked "strenuous" one by one. Here's a picture from the first---Ramsey Cascades. Supposedly these old growth tulip poplars along the trail are some of the oldest in the country. Something inside me says I should believe this, despite the abundant proof I usually require at the hands of google to confirm all of life's greatest truths.

The Ramsey cascades are the tallest in the park, beautiful, and well worth the eight-mile round trip. We were fortunate because this was the only treks we were able to experience without getting rained on.

We also made a bike trip up the mountain to Cades Cove, then rode the scenic loop at the top. As fate would have it, we got caught in such an hard rain that it was stinging our faces and legs at times, making it difficult even to see. Ah, but the faithful were rewarded with a rain free moment when we spotted a blackbear and her cub, as seen in the background to the right. At one point, Mamabear even stood upright on her feet and cast a backward glance at us. Cades Cove is beautiful, perhaps even idyllic. But maybe next time We'll go in drier weather. Here's the view from our cabin's back porch. We sat out here almost each night in the hot tub and admired the view under a full moon. Talk about beautiful. What a way the relax at the end of the day!
Mid week we did a 10 mile-hike up Mount LeConte. The weather was pleasant enough starting off, but soon we were closed in by thick fog, rain, falling temperatures, and a stout stiff wind. The wind would start off like a howl lower in the valley, then rush up through the trees with a roaring sound that was heard long before it finally blasted you! When we had started in the parking lot, we saw lot of hikers donning northface jackets, pants, and hats, even though it was almost 70 degrees out. We soon found out why. Our shorts and short-sleeves soon were grossly inadequate for that kind of weather. We were soaked and chilled to the bone by the time we summitted at 6,000 ft. Fortunately, we discovered a semi primitive, no-electricity lodge at the top of the mountain that had shelter, and karosine heather, and--can you believe it--steamy cups of hot chocolate (3$ each) to wayward and foolish hikers like ourselves.
That same day it had been pretty stormy in the valley as well. The road back was blocked by several fallen trees.
On our last day we did a 22 mile ride up Chilhowee mountain.... that's 11 miles uphill one-way.
Great view from the top, even better ride down!
After a good lunch, we finished off that afternoon with a hike up to the Chimneys.
We reached the top pretty late in the day, but were rewarded with yet another spectacular view.
That night we drove back to Nashville, and back to reality land with leaden legs and heavy eyelids. What a great trip, though. Definitely one, we might repeat.

Crawling!

2009-05-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Aeva officially crawled for the first time today! Maybe it wasn't far, maybe it wasn't graceful, maybe she even worked up a genuine sweat from the effort... but she did it. Congratulations Aeva. Keep up the good work honey.

Garden Time

2009-04-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Watch out hydroponic Bob! Jessica and I decided to grow a real live garden this year.... the kind that uses 100% genuine sunlight and dirt.

A small 8x15' space at the side of the house was the perfect spot (except for my small oversight that it only get a couple hours of full sun per day---oops!)

We were fortunate enough to have Aeva's advice expert farming techniques. We ended up planting several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and even several blackberry bushes that came from a berry farm in South Carolina.

Of course we had to throw in a few herbs like cilantro and basil, for good measure.

I think this will be a fun project. Hopefully one that will bear fruit, literally.

Either way, Aeva has been enjoying helping with the daily watering, weeding, and sampling the soil quality of our little farm.

Mobility Madness!

2009-04-30T07:58:00.001-07:00

The hamster ball... the baby walker. You can't help but note the erie similarities between these two scenarios. Both knock around the house, get stuck, need rescuing, and in general make their captor believe that they are enjoying themselves and the exercise! In all seriousness though, Aeva has finally learned the joy of ambulation, and she is loving it! Overnight, she has learned how to take off in her walker. For example, when her Papa comes home after work, Aeva lets out a delightful squeal and rolls across the floor at lightning speed to see her Daddy, holding her little fists in the air and shaking her arms . True, she often gets stuck when goes to explore the back hall or the bathroom, but she isn't shy about making her needs known. Also Aeva has starting doing a modified army crawl across the carpet if you set some food or her bottle just out of reach. Looks like it won't be any time at all before her Mom and Dad are going to have to start baby-proofing the house.

Fun with Aeva

2009-04-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

This week Aeva had a couple of new life experiences. Number one was her first trip on a bicycle, via our new iBite Bicycle Seat. So far, of the three rides we've taken together she's never made if past the 15 minutes mark before having a complete meltdown. Perhaps she's just not ready, but her Mama and Papa would like to think she is and will likely continue to project their own enthusiasm onto their infant daughter.

Number two, we took Aeva back to the zoo and bought her a ride on the carousel. Talk about excitement. Not only was bright, colorful, and loud, but best of all she got to ride the cheetah!

Lastly, Aeva also paid a visit to the Lorakeets sanctuary. These little critters are apparently quite forthright when they perceive potential food sources, as evidenced by my experience with this rather aggressive one in the photo above. A zookeeper had to shew this one away .

Spring Chores

2009-04-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Now that the weather is finally starting to improve around here and old man winter is beginning to retreat, its time to start doing all those chores that have been put off all winter. For example, rotating tires on the cars, washing the cars (yikes! doesn't happen too often), mowing the lawn, etc. The above picture shows my very pleasant task of rotating Jessica's tires last Sunday.

Hawaii !

2009-04-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to all of you out there that have heard my pleas for quarters and are diligently searching through your spare change. This week my brother Eric mailed me a surprise envelope with a shiny Hawaii quarter inside! That means there are only four left to go: Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming, and Utah (although I did hear a malicious rumor floating about that Puerto Rico now also has a quarter, even though technically its only a territory.)

PLEASE KEEP LOOKING. MANY THANKS!

Island Baby

2009-04-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

We have found Aeva's new passion--Mango! Check out the damage she did to this one at a single sitting.

Latrodectus mactans

2009-03-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

Found one of these ugly pests outside my front door. The infamous Black Widow. Just a friendly reminder that spring time is knocking on the door. This little fellow just happens to be the most poisonous spider in North America. If you really make him mad he'll inject a potent neurotoxin into your blood stream that causes all sorts of unpleasant symptoms such as severe abdominal crams, nausea, profuse sweating, tremors, labored breathing, restlessness, fever, etc. Not to worry, it probably won't kill you or do any lasting harm, and you should feel back to 100% in just a few days after a bite. Anyone got bug spray?

Spare Change Anyone?

2009-03-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? After 11 years of meticulously scouring spare change, my quarter collection has consistently turned up short---five short! Five measly quarter is all I lack in order to close this chapter of my life. That being the case... anyone with loose change? If you have or see a quarter from:

#1 Wyoming

#2 Utah

#3 Arizona

#4 Alaska

#5 Hawaii

... please send it my way. I will even mail you a quarter in return :)

Aeva's Big Day

2009-03-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a treat. This Sabbath after church we took Aeva on her first trip to the zoo! Although she was a bit frumpy to begin with, she livened up pretty well at the sight of the few animals who weren't fast asleep. Without question, her favorite zoo members were the meercats. In between their bobs, chirps, scurrying, and curious peeks at the kiddies behind the glass you would have seen one fascinated little girl making coos of delight at the sight of these comical critters.

You had to watch out for goats. One of these fellows snuck of behind Jessica and stole our zoo membership our of her back pocket, with every intention of making tasty snack out of it! Fortunately Dad was quick on the draw and literally rescued it from the jaws of destruction, prompting the zoo keeper to make a general announcement that all loose paper articles should be kept securely out of sight from these domestic pick-pockets.

This guy was just on the same level as Aeva. They were mutually intrigued by one another.

Today was also Aeva's first time in a swing, and the results are plain to see. Obviously we'll be coming back to this spot.

In Memory...

2009-03-18T23:49:00.000-07:00

Please remember Wendy, Adam, and Cooper

As they grieve the loss

But celebrate the life

Of their son and brother

Austin Carter Getchell

"Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love" Jeremiah 31:3

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands" Isaiah 49:16

Ski Time

2009-03-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

Last week it was time once again for our yearly ski trip. We were blessed to spend six wonderful days in snowy Frisco, CO skiing at Copper Mountain. This year the same ole ski junkies tagged along--Alex and Bernice, Ronnie and Jessica, Dad, Curt and Sandy... plus a couple of newbies, too. Mornings were crisp at around 11-12 degrees F, but the afternoons warmed up into the 30's, which gets pretty hot when you're bundled up in all your ski gear.

Most of the week was uneventful. I banged my head pretty hard in a wipe out and decided to ski with a helmet from now on. Ronnie and Bernice have decided to become snowboarding punks. All of us probably spent too much money end of season ski sales.

Aeva's first glipse of snow was on this trip.

Talk about fortunate! Jessica's aunt Madeline spent the weekend with us and you know what that meant??? That always means lots and lots and REALLY good food!

Aeva had a blast this trip (at least during the day time). She has turned into a real social butterfly, and has become an accomplished flirt. I'm pretty sure this little girl has acquire her mama's social disposition.

Way to go Ronnie! He's a married man this year, as well as a new snowboarding fanatic.

Dad is a real trooper. If there is snow, he'll be around with a set of skiis, even if it mean he has to hang out with a bunch of young folks.

Isreal clearly receiving Jessica's highly prized romantic advice with eager anticipation.

Jessica's uncle Gaby broke his left wrist on the first run of the first day. Curt and I offered to assist him with a needed surgery... can you believe he refused?

No broken bones for Curt this year!

Isreal and his girlfriend Stacy were with us half the week. Fortuantely, Stacy is wonderful with children and made fast friends with Aeva, who found her uterly fasciating.

This was Aeva's longest trip away from home, and she wasn't too keen on having Daddy give her baths in the sink. Seems Aeva wasn't too keen on the altitude either. Most nights she woke up crying every hour on the hour to keep Mom and Dad company (how considerate), which made for a very long and tiring week for her parents. Jessica was sick by Thursday and both of us had racoon eyes before the week was out.

Single Car Family

2009-02-14T18:08:00.001-08:00

Looks like the Korzyniowski's might be down to a single car for a while. Remember that recent post about me fixing my car myself? Unfortunately that was only the tip of the iceberg. Turns out the damage from a minor collision (No, no other cars involved) was more extensive than first perceived. The real trick right now is trying to get insurance to cough up---anything! In the mean time Aeva and her Mami are taking great care of the one car we now are sharing.

Food, Food, and More Food!

2009-02-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

Aeva is really getting into this eating business. She loves to eat apples and sweet potatoes, not to crazy about peas or bananas. However being the good parents that we are she still gets of taste of peas everyday to see if she will learn to like foods we don't like. Thankfully, since Aeva is not eating a little more solid food she is sleeping much better at night, not all night, that would be too easy, but much better.

First Bites

2009-01-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

Young miss Korzyniowski made great gains yesterday, taking her first bites of solid food. It may not look like much. In fact, it doesn't taste like much... but there it is. Today rice cereal, tomorrow the world!

2009-01-25T19:28:00.000-08:00

"Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major categories - those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost. "

Russell BakerUS columnist & journalist (1925 - )

Undoubtedly I'm not the only person in the world who feels like this. As my wife reminded me just a few days ago, while I was (joyfully and with pleasant language) replacing the coolant reservoir in my car, there are those days when it seems like "everything in this house is broken." It may be however, that broken cars, defunct computers, and peeling trim, are sprinkled into our lives so that we men may feel manly once we've fixed them. I keep telling myself that one. So... anyone feel like bringing their tools over and feeling manly???

Cutest Baby on the Block!

2009-01-20T18:24:00.000-08:00

Aeva is finally four months, still not sleeping as we would dream of, but she is so cute that it is okay. Hard to let this little doll cry at all since she is so adorable. We are not partial at all......

Christmas Joy

2009-01-08T18:21:00.001-08:00

Oh Happy Christmas! This year was my first... and boy was it a good one. I got tons of cool new toys that I have no idea what to do with yet. Best of all, though, Abuela and Papi went all out and bought me this cool bouncy chair. Not only can I jump up and down in it, but it makes all sorts of neat animal noises, lights up, and dangles all kinds of colorful bobble just within my reach. And by the way, now I actually can grab those bobbles and stick them in my slobbery mouth. Think that's cool? Check this one out: on New Years Day I started rolling over onto my tummy! Whoa! Now that's a lot of fun.

2008-12-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

Thought it would be nice to show three generations in a line up here: Aeva, Jessica and Sandy.

According to polls, looks like this mini Korzyniowski gets her looks from her papa.

We were lucky to have Sandy with us for a whole week last week since Curt was away on business. Not only does Sandy make killer applesauce, but she is an awesome grandma to boot! Aeva has become ture buddies with Abuela, and we're anxious for her to visit again soon.

Look Who's Talking

2008-12-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

Aeva is 13 weeks old this week! Every day she does something different and changes in some small way. For example, today she began working on her back-to-tummy roll. Heck, that's not an easy one! So far she can only make it onto her side, but I have perfect confidence that she will soon master this challanging maneuver. Also, as you can somewhat catch from the video, she is also working on developing her laugh--another item which takes great forethought and practice. At any rate, she has definitely given signs that she plans on being quite verbal, which no doubt has come directly from her mother. Aeva is a constant wonder and blessing to us. What an increadible thing to watch her personality unfold.

Happy Birthday Susie

2008-12-14T15:48:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Mom! Sorry you couldn't come over to enjoy the icecream cake, but Jessica and I are enjoying it for you! So here's to you Mom,

The Christmas Spirit

2008-12-14T15:12:00.000-08:00

Jessica and I have finally been getting into the Christmas spirit around here. Last weekend we bought a tree and last night we decorated the outside of the house. Talk about cold! Here we were in 40 degree weather wrapping lights around our prickly holly buses, going through our light strings in the dark, trying to figure out why half of them wouldn't light. Finally found most of the shorted out and broken bulbs and things are looking nice. La Got to keep up with the Jones next door, you know. Besides, it really does warm up the outside of the house.

Since we we've been married (5 1/2 years now) Jessica and I go round and round each year about buying a plastic tree. I can't bring myself to do it. Going out as a couple or family and freezing your tail off at the tree lot until you find just the right tree is a tradition that I hope Aeva will grow the love just as much as her Daddy does. Besides, having a live tree our living room has made our whole downstairs smell like an evergreen. Who wouldn't love that!

Paintball Nation

2008-12-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

Cool, damp days, the absence of ticks mosquitos and snakes, fall foliage...Tis the season for paintball again. Sadly, after leaving Memphis I lost virtually all of my clan followers and have come somewhat upon hard times here in Nashville. Andrew is having to raise a whole new generation of Adventist paintball warriors and the going is slow. Now the first time however, a couple of brothers of talking about investing in their own paintball markers. Its a small start, but it only takes a spark right?

Applesauce Galore!

2008-12-14T14:36:00.001-08:00

Here's a new one for you... homemade applesauce. I'd never had any until a couple of weeks ago until our pastor's wife let us try some of hers and then loaned us the machine. Its pretty easy. You just cut up a few apples, boil them until soft, run them through the machine, and voilá!!! Peels come out one end, hot steamy applesauce the other. Hot apple mush isn't that great. But let things cool and add a small amount of splenda or sugar and you've got yourself some kind of natural goodness!

Sandy was good enough to bring us 5 bushels of golden delicious and fuji "seconds" which she helped run the apple grinder. Talk about a production. It was borderline slave labor.

Even little Aeva (now ~12-13 lbs) enjoyed helping Mom with the process.

Thanks giving day

2008-12-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving, the three Korzyniowski's celebrated Thanksgiving day with Alex and Bernice at their mother's house. Aeva, of course, was little interested in the turkey or stuffing and doesn't know what she missed. Talk about some great food! . Unfortunately, the poor creature had terrible gas that night but was lucky enough to have four other Spanish mothers at the table, all eager to profer time honored remedies. After a couple of belly massages and té de anís, she was dramatically improved, and was able to engage in some very deep conversation (as evidenced by the photos above) with her aunt Bernice and uncle Alex.

Mr. Wildman here stole my camera and left a few surprises on it. Evidently, this guy thinks he the stuff!

Studio Baby

2008-11-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Jessica and I were looking at baby photographers online and noticed that there are tons of guys out there that make a killing just with simple baby shots against a black background. Now, I'm not one to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on specialty lighing and a high tech flash, but I would really like to take my own studio quality photos of our daugher. It seems that a $40 throw from Target and three living room lamps seemed to work almost just as well. The highlight of the weekend (sure, seems lame to all you single people) was taking pics of our baby sprawled out on our new black blanket, which she promptly cristened with urine 5 minutes after taking it out of the package.

Fall Upon Us

2008-11-16T06:35:00.000-08:00

Fall has finally overtaken us here in Nashville. As you can see from all of our recent posts, the vast majority of our days are spent focusing on and caring for Aeva--who continues to grow and change daily. There is little time for much else , and it looks like the three of us will be spending a lot of time indoors this winter season. There is hope, though. Jessica and I made it out to our first social event last night since before Aeva was born, in the way of game night at the associate pastor's house. Sure, it wasn't very easy... and we ended up toting about half of Aeva's bedroom furniture with us, but at least we made it and know it can be done.

Korzyniowski Hotel.

2008-11-03T15:04:00.001-08:00

Had lots of family in town this weekend for a wedding of a long time friend. Curt and Sandy, Wendy and her son Cooper, plus two of Jessica's cousings and a college friend all stayed here at some point this weekend. Lots of fun. Lots of free baby-sitting! As you can see Jessica are having lots of fun with our daughter Aeva, who is now starting to smile and making pretty good headway at cooing as well. The Lord has truly blessed us with a beautiful little girl and lots of loving family and all sides.

Sending in the big guns...

2008-10-16T18:56:00.001-07:00

While Jessica was away teaching at the university this evening, I thought I might be in for another interesting evening alone with Aeva. Fortunately, the calvary came in. My Mom and my niece Aislin came to keep my company and help out with Aeva.

More of Aeva

2008-10-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

You know, its always bothered me when I go friends' blog sites to see recent pictures of them, and all I see are pictures of their baby... then more pictures of their baby... and more... but never again see any pictures of Mom, Dad, family, or anything else that might be interesting as well. Now being a new parent and finally comprehending how all-consuming a child can be, I do understand. Nonetheless, I am going to attempt to avoid the common pitfall. Be assured, there will be more pictures of Aeva on the blog in the future, but to make things easier I have decided to put most of them onto our picasa web gallery. Just click on the slide show in the upper right corner to see more of our beautiful litter girl who has stolen our hearts, and will--I am certain--steal yours as well.

Hungry Hungry Hippos

2008-10-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

Wow! Look at me! 3 weeks old and I have already grown 2" and gained a whole whopping pound. Daddy says that's probably because I eat like a pig, as evidenced by mountains a dirty diapers and an insatiable appetite for milk. Every day, I change and look a little bit different. I'm not doing any real smiling yet, or quality sleeping, but overall I'm a pretty relaxed baby. Mom and Dad don't get out much these days with me around, but they've been pretty lucky to have had my abuela there to help them out these first few weeks. They're baby pros by now, which is a good thing, because its now only the three of us around the house. Alright, I've got to go and eat again, and oh yeah---Dad just changed my diaper 5 minutes ago, which means I probably should poop again really soon... don't want him to get too relaxed.

Who Do I Look Like?

2008-10-04T12:47:00.001-07:00

The question continues to be raised.... who does Aeva most resemble? Is it Mom or Dad? I tend to think she takes more after one of her grandparents. Can you guess which one? BE SURE TO VOTE in the upper left corner of the screen. You can vote on more than one name if you like. Thanks for your input.

Paintball Season

2008-10-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were blessed enough not only to celebrate my Dad's 65th birthday, but also Eric and Ryan's 32 birthdays! That's a lot of birthdays all for one day. Its not to often that the whole family can get together in one place, but this was one of those rare occasions. That being said, I couldn't let this date pass by uneventfully without a necessary and celebratory round of some serious paintball ( or woodball, to be exact ). Bet you can't guess who is in which suit. Yeah, kind of redneck I know... but we do live in the South and we've got to be proud of our rebel heritage. If you want to see more pictures, be sure to visit my mother's blog on my links: http://bwconfessions.blogspot.com/

I'm Here !

2008-10-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Its been a little while since writing anything, but Jessica and I have more than had our hands full since our last posting. On September 17 at 5:02 p.m. Aeva Korzyniowski made her grand entrance into this world after a long, and not uncomplicated, exit strategy. After 18 hrs of labor, and 3 of hard pushing, it seems our daughter just wasn't in proper launching position, and the Ob-Gyns had to do forceps delivery with an episiotomy. Poor Jessica's epidural was gone by then, but at least our daughter is safe and healthy, and so is Mom. We can't wait to show you more pictures of Aeva as she grows up into the beautiful little girl we have been waiting on for the last 9 months.

She currently weighs 7lbs and has a voracious appetite. I wonder who she looks like the most... Mom or her old man?

The Memphis Clan

2008-09-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Big congratulations to our friend and model patriot Alex Larrea, or should I say soon-to-be marine Lieutenant Larrea. After finishing six grueling weeks at officer training school Alex & Bernice came up to visit for the Labor Day weekend and brought along a few other favorites from our Memphis family: Ronnie & Jessica (also big congrats on tying the knot two weeks ago!!) and our friend Samwise.

County Fair

2008-09-05T11:03:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since posting anything new, but things haven't slowed down much at the Korzyniowski's. A few weekends ago, Jessica and I visited the Wilson County Fair on a Saturday night. It was a country fair in the true sense of the word, complete with viewings of the world's smallest lady (50 cents for a peek), hog racing, a hypnotist show, clog dancing, and lots of funnel cakes and other unhealthy treats. My favorite event, of course, would have to have been the demolition derby! Pretty redneck, I admits... but then again, this is Tennessee.

Baby Moon!

2008-08-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I took our last trip as a two member family this month. We spent a wonderful week at the Keys. The sunshine and the beautiful ocean water was just what we needed to relax and rest. Excitement was not missing due to the abundance of sea creatures we saw while on a our daily snorkeling trips, sharks, sea turtles, rays, lobster, barracudas, and thankfully some wonderfully safe fish.

I am old!

2008-08-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

My dear husband brought me a yummy ice cream cake for my 29th birthday!

Lightning Storm

2008-07-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, on my way back from DC, I had a spectacular view of a lightning storm from my airplane windown. Apparently, flights were cancelled all up and down the eastern seaboard from widespread thunderstorms, which might explain why the airport was such mess that day. For at least an hour or more while in the air, I witnessed the most brilliant lightning I had even seen. The storm must have been massive, extending from horizon to horizon, to have seemed so large, even from 28,000 feet. I doubt these snapshot from the plane windown can do justice, but they give somewhat of an idea of what is saw.

Selwin's Wedding

2008-07-30T19:19:00.002-07:00

Had the great pleasure of seeing my college roommate Selwin get married this last weekend up in Silver Springs, Maryland. Selwin apparently met the woman of his dreams last year (Pria) and decided to go ahead and tie the knot. Was great the see the old guy, and also lots of my other college friends. We made sure to send Selwin off with a few gifts from some of his guys friends that we thought would be appropriate for his honeymoon. Good luck you two!

Getting Bigger

2008-07-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! It's me--Aeva--communicating to you from the other side--of the belly, that is. I am now 33 weeks old and weigh in at a whopping 5 pounds!!! And let me tell you, things are getting crowded in here. Don't they make these things any bigger? I am constantly having to stretch out my home with punches, kicks, and extraordinary shoves to make more room for myself. Hopefully I will all meet you soon, so you can see how cute I've turned out to be.

2008-07-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Do-It-All

2008-07-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Doctor of psychology, athlete, world traveler adventurer, and now master seamstress. It appears that this soon-to-be mother really can do it all. Just look at these cool curtains that Jessica made for Aeva this week. The baby room is now almost finished!

Old Friends

2008-07-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I got a phone call from my college roommate of 3 yrs. Good old Eugene Van Wyk--my favorite African American. Now a days he's touring America in his 70' rig. Some days I get text saying he's in the high desert plains of Utah, and then a couple of days later he is is Chicago, Atlanta, or somewhere in California. The man certainly does get around, as he hops across the country listening to sermons and memorizing the Bible on CD. The guy is putting some pretty long hours and some hard weeks but he says he likes it, and the time being, he's going to keep truckin' for the Lord. Last night he was passing through Nashville and was able to stop by for dinner and few winks. Sure was good to see him.

Moment of Fame

2008-07-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, my employer Vanderbilt was just named ranked 15th top hospital in the Nation by US New and World Report. And guess who got their picture in the article? Take a look on their website "Best Hospitals: 5 Days and Vanderbilt Medical Center." Check out thier photo gallery:

http://www.usnews.com/sections/photos-videos/index.html

Fun on the Fourth

2008-07-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

Spent the 4th of July with Jessica's family up at "the farm." Don Felix, Doña Gloria, and Madelene were also there. Had a lot of fun and ate lots of Madelene's increadilbe cooking--alcapurias, arróz y habichuelas, yuca... always delicious, never able to get to get enough . Was also our nation's 232nd birthday which we celebrated by setting of fireworks and visiting a nearby revolutionary war battlefield called Cowpens, SC. But lest you think it was all fun and games, I've added some pictures of a few of the extracurricular activities as well. The work never ends with a new home, and we busied ourselved with poring a new sidewalk on Sunday. Pretty hot work, but things looked good when we were finished.

27 Weeks and Counting

2008-06-30T18:20:00.001-07:00

Hi! I'm now 28 weeks old, and boy is it getting crowded in here! By now I weight 2.5 lbs and and am a whopping 15" tall from head to toe. I keep pretty busy during daylight hours stretching out my living space with kicks, punches, and elbow jabs to Mommy's stomach. Just wanted to say Hi. Look forward to meeting you all. - Aeva

Baby Room

2008-06-26T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today I spent some time working on Aeva’s room. I still need some ideas for window treatments and wall art. If any of you have any suggestions or ideas send them my way. The photos aren’t great, the photographer in the family is studying for a big test tomorrow so he is indisposed.

News from the Clampetts

2008-06-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, Jessica and I made the trip in to the hills of South Carolina to help Granny and Jebediah Clampett settle themselves in that there new shack they done got themselves. There was a lot of dern heavy furniture, let me tell you. All in all we had us a pretty good shindig that weekend. We had us some nice county eatin (peaches, homemake strawberry icecream, a some of that La-Tino food). There was also pleni' of fishin n' shootin too. Since it was Father's day, we brought Jeb one of them shotgun so he can rassle up wild turkeys and possum fer dinner as well as teach them country hoodlems up yonder way to keep to themselves.
ountry hoodlems up yonder way to keep to themselves.
\

2008-06-09T16:55:00.001-07:00

Last Sabbath Jessica and I spent the afternoon with our church family at Percy Priest Lake. The water is still a little cool, but with temps in the 90s, it still feels pretty good. As a little bit of fun, four of us (Jessica, Max, Laura, and myself) decided to try a little cliff jumping. I have conveniently cropped the signs that say "Notice. No Tresspassing," since that obviously does not apply to me. Also, as a matter of probable optical distortion, one might say the cliff appears "smallish" but don't be fooled---it was a massive leap, as evidenced by sizeable though somewaht painful splash landing! Unfortunately, Aeva wouldn't let Jessica go, so she was kind enough to take pictures and video from the boat.

Gas Man

2008-06-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

A lot of us probably wonder at times, "So... what exactly is it that guy does all day?" Well, unlike my brother Ryan, I can't show you complex schematics explaining the inner workings of computer chips I created, but I can give you a mini-tour of my office. Its quite spacious, luminous, and reasonable high tech. Looks pretty clean in this picture doesn't it? The down side is that I can't control the thermostat (which seems to be eternally stuck on the "Blizzard" setting), and my organized work space is usually marred by cables, iv tubes, drugs, etc. And on days like today, you do occasionally have to dodge pools of surgical mess on the floor--making sure you don't bring home unwanted souvenirs. All in all, its a pretty sweet setup, and now you know what Andrew does all day.

Berries Berries

2008-05-28T19:50:00.001-07:00

Jessica and I have decided to take our love for fresh blueberries to the next level. This year we bought three blueberry bushes and planted them behind the house. Now, if we can just keep the birds away--which Jessica has so far done wonderfully with the kitchen broom--we should be set with fresh berries for the summer.

Growing ...

2008-05-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Jessica is now 24 weeks pregnant with little Aeva. Due to popular demand, exclusive photos of the upcoming star have now been made public for the first time since her initial ultrasound debut!

Spring Cleaning

2008-05-22T18:39:00.001-07:00

Well it's that time of year again when temperatures rise and the water starts to look very inviting again after a long, long winter. Not all of use are as fortunate as Eric, who can take his boat our 12 months a year. But anytime you have a boat at your disposal, what more can you really ask for. That being said, Jessica and I decided it was high time we pull the tarp off the boat and dewinterize that sucker. There were any unpleasant surprises, but the batter was nearly dead after being out in the cold for the last 8 months, and as you can see there was also a whole lot of smoke involved oncee we restarted the engines. The end result wasn't too shabby, though. There was still plenty enough time to take a spin on Percy Priest and start the summer off right--with a good stiff sunburn across my shoulders.

Visit from Luz

2008-05-22T18:31:00.001-07:00

VISITORS! Last weekend we were privilaged to entertain one of Jessica's long-time friends and bridesmaids from our wedding, Luz Lamneck. Good friends are a blessing from the Lord and we certainly were blessed by her. Rarely have I seen Jessica have so much fun or laugh so hard as when she and Luz are together, usually making fun of me or some other man in their lives---but hey that's okay.

2008-05-16T19:05:00.000-07:00

Kayaking

2008-05-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

A Little bit of excitement today--Jessica's new kayak from Wisconsin showed up at 9:30 a.m. We'd been waiting for it to arrive for two weeks. As today was my day off, we couldn't afford to wait for pretty weather, so we put out on the water right away. Beautiful boat! I had to stop myself from casting a covetous glance its way more than once.