Evansfam

Maimi Beach

2009-06-08T04:37:00.000-06:00

Our trip this week has been interesting so far. Miami Beach was day 1 and we happened to be there for a very strong thunderstorm that included hail and flash floods:

The streets flooding - photo from our hotel room

Shelly beginning to wade through the flooding streets. It was as deep as knee-high at the worst points we walked through

The rainbow after the storm - as viewed from our room ;)

Photo of 1/2 of our hotel room.

We weren't there long, but Hotel Astor was a nice place. Quite spacious and close everything.

Prom 2008

2008-04-07T10:18:00.003-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Briana was able to stop using her arm sling this past week which was good timing since her Senior Prom was Saturday. She went with Trevor, a good friend of hers. For more Prom photos check out
http://flickr.com/photos/evansfam/sets/72157604421995259/

Briana's Surgery

2008-02-25T11:41:00.001-06:00

With no posting to this blog for quite a long spell, it took a surgery event to get me back. So here goes..... As many of you already know, Briana had shoulder surgery last Friday. A nagging injury from her volleyball playing days a few years ago was causing enough pain not being corrected with physical therapy for Briana and us to go forward with surgery.

Her problem was multi directional instability meaning there was much more movement in the shoulder than there should be. She didn't have a S.L.A.P. tear as the doctor had suspected, but she did have capsular shift that was causing her pain. The surgeon repaired the capsul using arthroscopic surgery (three incisions). The procedure involved talking the loose, redundant capsul and shifting the bottom portion up in an upward direction and suturing it together in place. While the surgeon showed us lots of pre and post pictures of her shoulder that's as much as I can explain about it.

We think Briana's surgery went well. We were at the hospital all day until about 3pm even though the surgery itself only lasted less than 30 minutes! The fact she didn't have a full tear is good and means she'll have a good chance of a faster recovery. She was heavily medicated the first few days, but had a lot of pain the first night. Since then the pain has been much better.

She's stuck in a full-arm brace that keeps her arm mostly immobile. The brace wraps around her waist which is proving to take a bit of adjustment on her part. The next few months should be interesting as Shelly & I will have to "help" Briana with things we've all taken for granted...

Just before surgery with remote control in hand...

Just after surgery. Still smiling....

Here's a couple of photos of Briana from Sunday. These will give you an idea of the brace she's wearing. Good to see the smiles :)

This is the little "ice-pack" device they sent home with us (we purchased from the hospital of course). It fits over the shoulder and is attached via tube to the cooler of ice and water. There is a regulator that allows you to adjust the temperature of the water being pumped to the cooling pad. Pretty nifty but sounds like a fan running all of the time.

Best Gifts

2007-12-19T00:00:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Briana and me with our favorite Christmas gifts - Missouri vs. Arkansas Bowl Game t-shirts. Gotta love that matchup....

Skywalker Loves Christmas

2007-12-18T23:55:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

We exchanged gifts this past Sunday (pre-Christmas) since we'll be on a cruise over Christmas this year.

This is a shot Shelly took of me holding Skywalker after our annual unwrapping ritual. Sky gets a few treats wrapped up in wrapping paper as well as a new squeaky toy. He is extremely funny to watch when unwrapping his presents.

Family Photo

2007-11-28T22:23:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

A Family Photo of the Rogers and Evans Family at Grandma Rogers 89th Birthday Celebration. Quite a Crew....

How To Comment

2007-11-08T10:03:00.001-06:00

I received an e-mail from my parents this morning saying they were having trouble logging in to post a comment on this blog. Well for them and anyone else who's curious, here's how to post a comment:

HOW TO POST A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG

The first thing to remember is you DO NOT have to sign in or know a passsword. Feel free to post a comment just by clicking on the underlined text "0 comments". Note that it might say 1 comment or 2 comments - based on how many comments have already been posted. If there are comments already, you can click on this same text to read what others have said in the comments
After you have clicked on the comments hyperlink text a new window/box should pop up like this one. In here you should type in your your comment in the large box - type in as much or as little as you want. Then select anonymous (circled with yellow in the screen-shot above) and then click on the "preview" button with your mouse.
Now the window will show you a preview of what your comment will look like once you publish it. This is your chance to edit the comment. Once you are happy with the text of your comment, click the "publish your comment"
Keep in mind that anyone who visits this blog will see your comments so anything personal and/or confidential should be sent to me by e-mail. Comments are welcome though and make the blog more fun.

Raccoon On the Deck

2007-11-06T15:06:00.001-06:00

L ast night I was preparing to head upstairs and let Skywalker (our ankle-biter dog) outside when I noticed a visitor on the back deck. A very large Racoon was strolling across the deck like he owned the place. Shelly decided to let Skywalker out in the front yard so we wouldn't have a situation.

I'm sure Skywalker would NOT want to meet the racoon since he's a bit skittish about even the smallest of animals.

Back to Blogging on my Personal Blog

2007-11-05T13:52:00.001-06:00

Well, I've not done a good job at keeping up my personal blog to say the least. Honestly, I probably only have about seven people who ever read this blog so I've been contemplating whether to keep it up or just forward all of you to my flickr page for the photos.

I've been keeping up a very high number of blog posts on my tech blog over the past year and it's grown to over 100,000 views with about 1,000 visits a day by people. I'm really amazed its done that well, but decided to focus on it for at least another year to see how much more I can increase my audience. I'm getting a little income off of it from advertising too so it makes the "hobby" a little more interesting.

Anyway, for now I'll keep this blog up and hopefully not be talking to myself when I post. Just keep in mind I'm spending most of my free time writing for my other blog

I'll post some more photos from the past several months shortly.

Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns

2007-11-05T13:32:00.001-06:00

As always during this time of year, Briana and I did a few Jack-O-Lanterns (well I did one at least.)

One new thing this year, Shelly joined us! Yes you read right, Shelly made not one, but two Jack-O-Lanterns this year and she even "gutted" the pumpkins for Briana and I!!!! Gotta love that :)

HERE'S SOME PHOTOS FROM THE THIS YEAR'S VERSION OF OUR ANNUAL RITUAL:

Shelly hard at work on her pumpkin

Shelly & Briana Into Serious Carving Mode. Notice the Pumpkin Dremel Briana is using -- more power...

Briana made this Jack-O-Lantern for School with the "Arrive Alive: Buckle Up Theme. She is so good at this stuff!

Shelly Made a Jack-O-Lantern with a Jayhawk on one side and a Razorback on the other.

Arkansas Razorback on the left and My messy Jack-O-Lantern on the right

After finishing her KU Jayhawk/Arkansas Razorback Jack-O-Lantern, Shelly made an incredible Missouri Tiger Jack-O-Lantern for me. It's my favorite ever - Gotta love her!!!

I made what might be my worst Jack-O-Lantern ever. I wasn't happy with the end result, but here it is anyway. It's supposed to be a scary tree monster or something like that.

Annette from Germany

2007-10-15T07:09:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Annette is a teacher from Germany who spent the past week with us. She was here for a two week stay with a group of German Students at Park Hill South High School.

Annette's husband stayed with us a few years ago during a similar visit. We're hoping to be able to visit them in Germany in future years as we've really enjoyed our time with both of them.

You might notice the KU shirt on Shelly & the MU shirt on me. This was taken on Saturday morning before Annette left for the airport and we were showing our school colors. Briana had on an Arkansas shirt just to mix up the school allegiances.

The Homecoming Dance Couple

2007-10-15T07:04:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Taken at our house before the Homecoming Dance

The Girls before Homecoming Dance

2007-10-15T07:03:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Briana & her date met up with a group of friends before the Homecoming Dance Saturday Night.

NYC from the tour boat

2007-08-13T21:43:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Liberty

2007-08-12T18:32:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

The Statue of Liberty is one of the many sites during my tour by boat around Manhattan, NYC. More photos to come.

Heineken Can Crush

2007-08-03T08:08:00.000-06:00

This is why I don't get the larger Heineken mini-keg's. To difficult to maneuver :)

Beaver Lake 1

2007-08-02T16:43:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Briana & Leah Pool Sharks

2007-07-09T05:50:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

At Aunt Sue & Uncle Steve's house, Bri and Leah took time out to play some pool.

Fathers Day

2007-06-17T22:37:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

My little girl all grown up. I got to spend some time with her this Fathers Day.

Happy Fathers Day!

2007-06-17T07:24:00.001-06:00

A very Happy Fathers day to my dad today. I can't be there this weekend to share Fathers Day, but I wanted to say how much I appreciate you. Your the best dad a guy could have.

Thanks for your help with our little "project" this year (see photo below).

I hope you get some time on the lake today and take some time for yourself. Can't wait to be there with you for Independence Day week!

Love you,

Brent

Photos of the devastation in Greensburg from Tornado

2007-06-08T14:05:00.000-06:00

One month after the terrible tornado in Greensburg, KS, my coworker just drove through Kansas and took these photos of Greensburgh, Kansas. The only structure left standing was the Co-op grain silo. Simply unbelievable devastation.

Megan Graduates

2007-05-31T21:12:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Megan Graduates first, but she's making Briana & Kit look tall in this photo....

On the Boat

2007-05-31T10:05:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam

Dad was driving fast and Skywalker was enjoying the breeze in his fur. Our dog loves boats....

Dad & Guy Playing "washers"

2007-05-19T07:52:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Washers is a game similar to horeshoes or beanbag toss. It's a fun, outdoor game played by two teams of two people.

We played this at the Genske's during Guy's graduation party.

Graduation

2007-05-16T14:37:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Shelly & I with Guy at his graduation

The Graduate

2007-05-16T14:36:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Congratulations to Guy for a job well done! His graduation from Park University was this past Sunday.

Dark Skies

2007-05-10T06:24:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

This is the view we had driving back to Kansas City from Arkansas last Sunday. A few miles down the road from here we had fierce thunderstorms and very heavy rain. The visibility was so bad I had to drive very slow at times. Not a fun drive.

Uses For Old Wine Corks

2007-05-09T09:12:00.000-06:00

Last night I noticed this site that had some really creative uses for used corks - you know the kind that Shelly & I have tons of laying around the house. We tend to drink a lot of wine so you never know what we might try to create with these corks. This picture is of a lamp they made out of old corks - pretty neat.

LINK

via ZedoMax.com

Briana Playing the Wii Game

2007-05-08T23:36:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Cinco De Mayo

2007-05-08T23:35:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

We drove down to Beaver Lake this past weekend to visit my parents and to attend their annual Cinco De Mayo celebration held at Sentosa (the neighborhood my parents live in at Beaver Lake). It was great fun and great weather. This photo is of My Dad and his Aunt Dean.

My other blog

2007-05-06T22:48:00.000-06:00

Well I know most of you who frequent this blog are friends and family so you're probably mostly interested in the photos and family stuff I post here. Still, I thought I'd mention that I have another blog where I post tech-related stuff (aka geek stuff) pretty regularly. I do the other site to document and chronicle the things I learn with my home-theater PC hobby as well as some other tech stuff. I finally posted a writeup on how I repaired Shelly's old laptop and converted it into a digital picture frame. Feel free to stop by if your interested at www.brentevans.blogspot.com You will note that I run advertising on that site and use the money to supplement my "hobby" expenses.

I've corrected the "how to be a perfect girlfriend" post

2007-05-04T08:41:00.000-06:00

I just noticed that my post on "how to be the perfect girlfriend" didn't have the video. In case you were wondering what the heck that post was all about, I've corrected the error and you should now be able to view the video. Both Shelly & Dad looked at me funny after I showed them this video this weekend so It probably just struck me as funny, but its there if you want to kill some time viewing it...

Go back to the post here to see the video

DIY (do it yourself) dog stairs

2007-05-04T08:20:00.000-06:00

To help out our spoiled papillon dog, Shelly built some dog stairs. Our dog, Skywalker has a bad back and is no longer able to jump up on the bed (I know..... what can I say) so to stop him from trying to jump on and off the bed and further injuring himself, Shelly made this lightweight dog stairs.

For the full set of pictures and a description of how she made them CLICK HERE

If you wonder where we came up with such a crazy idea, we looked for what we wanted in stores and couldn't find exacty what we were looking for. So I (as I often do) googled it and found a nice how-to that described exactly what we wanted. ~~This site~~ ~~had a pretty good description of how to build it and the rest is history.~~

EDIT: The website we based this build on is no longer up so here are the basic instructions for making the stairs :

Goals for dog (or cat) stairs:

Cheap
Easy to build
Light
Not hard so as to prevent stubbed foot.
Cleanable
Looks okay in bedroom

Materials

Insulation wall foam (required)
Self-adhesive rubber feet (or) non-slip shelf covering (optional)
adhesive for foam products (Liquid Nails)
Serrated knife
Material for covering the steps such as cloth etc.

How to Make Your Dog (cat) Steps

Determine the dimensions of your steps. We used 2 inch thick foam insulation and made the step heights in multiples of two, but you can modify this based on the wall foam insulation you use. Keep a 12 inch depth (front to back) on the step at least so there's plenty of room - even with a smaller dog so your dog is comfortable going up and down the steps. Don't get too caught up in a certain size - the most important thing is to make it tall enough and wide enough to give the stairs stability and make it easy for your pet to use.
With your sheet of insulation wall foam, mark your lines for where you're going to cut to create the "bricks" of insulation.
Using the serrated knife, saw your bricks out of the insulation board.
Once you have all of the bricks, put them all in place to be sure they all fit together nicely, using carpenter's triangle marks to then mark the bricks together.
Glue the steps together. You should let these dry for about 8 hours or so before using.
To prevent skidding on a hardwood floor you can use one of the following (not required if using steps on carpet):

Add non-skid feet
Attach shelf covering to the bottom of the steps.
Take silicon caulk and spread it out on the bottom. The caulk dries with a rubbery, tacky surface.

Add a cover over the insulation steps. This helps keep claws from tearing up the foam and makes the steps look better as well. You can use any fabric you can find at the store or even carpeting scraps glued to the sides. We used some washable fabric and velcroed them to the steps so it would be easy to wash to cover every once and a while.

Here's a few more pictures of the final product. It was pretty easy to make and we have (okay Skywalker has - not us) been using it every since.

Sky Really Knows How to Relax

2007-05-03T22:33:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

On our recliner couch, Skywalker has taken over. He's hanging off the couch totally relaxed.

Big Monitors

2007-05-02T22:58:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

At work we're putting in either large, widescreen monitors or at least dual standard monitors at each workstation. A few people got two, widescreen monitors on their desk and I must say it's impressive. I always thought the dual screen was overkill, but I'm hooked. I use both screens constantly now.

How to be the Perfect Girlfriend

2007-04-21T17:01:00.001-06:00

I ran across this funny comedy bit from the BBC quite a while ago and saw it again recently. Thought it might be educational for some of you :)

Briana fully employed for the Summer

2007-04-18T08:02:00.000-06:00

Briana is set for work this Summer. She is now working at Prominent Youth - from their website:

"a non profit organization providing educational, business, and athletic
opportunities to students. It enables them to build, implement, and
utilize a network of programs using creativity and intelligence beyond
traditional public education and employment."

The company has several student developed businesses (for examples of the business's go here). She actually works at the Once Upon A Gift company and is a speaker for the overall Prominent Youth group trying to get corporate sponsors to support the organization.

Her other job this Summer will again be lifeguarding.

Here's to keeping your teenage daughter busy!!!

Briana's New Hairdoo

2007-04-11T06:13:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

I took this photo with my cameraphone inside so it's not the best quality. Bri got a new haircut and is showing it off.

Happy Easter

2007-04-06T11:13:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by pastelginger.

I would NOT do this to Skywalker, but thought this was pretty funny all the same. Have a Happy Easter.

One Minute Can Cooler

2007-04-06T08:05:00.001-06:00

Another gadget for my wish list. This "cooler" is 90 times faster than your fridge and 45 times faster than your freezer at cooling your beverages.

Ten Things Your Restaurant Won't Tell You

2007-04-04T12:16:00.000-06:00

Our family loves to eat out. If we aren't eating out once a week, its because we're trying to save money - not for other reasons. I came across this article and though you might be interested. The basic theme: "Next time you decide to go out to eat, keep in mind these ten restaurant secrets. You may be better off eating at home" STORY

The Godfather Blackhand Edition -- Wii Controls

2007-04-03T13:58:00.001-06:00

I REALLY want this game for the Nintendo Wii. It looks pretty violent, but fun :)

Flickr

2007-04-02T11:45:00.001-06:00

Are you using my favorite photo sharing site "flickr" yet? Do you use it and want to learn more about it? Here is a great tutorial on the basics of flickr. If you join and haven't already, add us to your friends or family list.
READ TUTORIAL HERE

I upload most of my pictures to flickr. Some I keep private and only family can see, but most are out there for the world to see. You can click on the photo album at the top right of this webpage to browse all of them.

Briana wins awards at Deca Competition

2007-03-27T11:25:00.000-06:00

Briana competed at the District and State DECA competition recently. She did well and we're pretty proud of her. At the moment, she hopes to major in Business and/or Marketing in College so she is making the right first steps toward that goal.

From her High School Website:

Several Park Hill School District students placed at the district DECA Career Development conference in February. They competed against students from 16 high schools in northwest Missouri. There were more than 650 entries for competition.

Third Place - Business Services Marketing
First Place - Buying & Merchandising Team Decision (this was a team effort with Briana's good friend Leah)

Stephenson's Restaurant

2007-03-25T08:14:00.001-06:00

Stephenson's Restaurant
Originally uploaded by FotoEdge.

This past month the original Stephenson's Restaurant Closed for good. It was way past its prime, but was a Kansas City area icon.

Happy Birthday Skywalker!

2007-03-25T07:58:00.001-06:00

This weekend was Skywalker's (our Papillon) birthday. Friday night the Sue, Guy & Shelly sang happy birthday to him (he didn't howl I promise) and he's been celebrating with doggy ice cream the past two days and lots of R&R as you can see by the picture.

Nintendo Wii Part 3 - Injury

2007-03-22T22:00:00.001-06:00

I know you've probably heard about the people who have accidentally thrown their Wii controller into their TV or their window. There have also been many injuries from over-zealous

Nintendo Wii Injury
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

game players since the Wii is much more of a participating-type game as opposed to most video game systems.

I actually fell into this trap myself. Look Closely at the picture of my hand. My Parents brought up their newly purchased Nintendo Wii last weekend. Within the first 30 minutes of play, I successfully injured my hand by running my hand into the corner of our coffee table. This was playing bowling no less. Yes, I actually injured myself playing virtual bowling!

For the record, I also seemed to have messed up the wii controller, but was able to fix it with a firm jolt to the controller (I simply banged the controller in my hand several times to jolt it back into place). After that, it seems to work fine. My hand however didn't have such a quick fix. It is still slowly healing.

Just so you know it's not just me injuring myself on this system, click here to see others either damaging stuff or hurting themselves with the Wii. http://www.wiihaveaproblem.com/latestdamage.php

Nintendo Wii Part 2

2007-03-22T14:33:00.000-06:00

My folks bought their own Nintendo Wii this past week and allowed me to try it out at our house. How that went is a story for tomorrow, but you'll enjoy it I think.

For today, I thought I'd share with you something I find amazing. A 22 month old kid playing Tennis on the Wii and quite successfully I might add. For the video clip, click on the video below:

For more Wii baby fun, click on the video below - Laughing Baby

From the Parade

2007-03-21T11:57:00.001-06:00

One of the many red hat society entries in the Snake Saturday Parade we saw. Shelly's Mom is in this group so I thought she might enjoy this one. You can read more about the society here

Snake Saturday Parade

2007-03-11T13:33:00.000-06:00

Shelly & I spent a few hours watching the North Kansas City's Snake Saturday Parade. It was beautiful, warm weather for a parade. It was so nice that neither Shelly nor I remembered to wear a hat or sunscreen. Needless to say, we both have sunburns with "badger eyes" because of the sunglasses. After the parade we had lunch at a bar-and-grill and watched KU beat K-State in the big 12 Tournament.

Shelly was showing her St. Patricks spirit

The official "snake" float (click to enlarge photo)

Nintendo Wii is for adults too

2007-02-22T21:56:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm posting this in fear that I'll offend my folks and our friends at Sentosa. But I couldn't resist so here goes. When my parents were at their neighbors for a superbowl party, they had the opportunity to try out their Nintendo Wii. Mom & Dad left raving about it and are hoping to get one soon. They like the way you participate in the game with more than just pushing a joystick around to control the game.

To give you an idea of the wide appeal of this console, check out this article about the Wii being used in a nursing home. Yeah, I would say this thing will be a hit for all ages not only my young parents :), but even those older folks in nursing homes... Here's the story http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6191

Disclaimer - those are not my parents in this picture

My favorite Photography Learning Sites

2007-02-22T15:48:00.000-06:00

While I haven't spent as much time learning about photography as I want to, I have a few favorite web sites and blogs on the topic.

1. Digital Photography School - this is a site/blog that is updated often. It is oriented in a "lesson" type structure where they teach you a new skill on the blog and then you can discuss the topic on their forums with other members. They have a flickr group where they share the photos so this is a great way to get involved with other photographers or you could just go it alone and learn from the informative posts.
2. PhotoJojo - This site is set up as a newsletter that they want you to subscribe to via e-mail. Instead, I just go to the site and click on Archives. There you will find all of the newsletters (posts) with some great information. It's a little different than your typical how to take a photo site and I like that.
3. Tips from the Top Floor the Photography podast - This site is again a little different than the norm. It is a site that was built around a regular podcast that they publish on photography. If you don't know, a podcast is simply a audio or video recording that is "webcasted" for playback on mobile devices and/or computers. It gets the "podcast" name from the ipod. Anyway, the site has lots of information and you can subscribe to the podcast to listen to the actual show.
4. Flickr. As you probably know this is my favorite photo sharing site. If you haven't already, sign up. Its free and its a great way to share your photos. My membername is evansfam so feel free to add me as a contact and then we can see each others photos (except for the ones you list as private of course). For a good guide on how to get more out of flickr try this article.

Mizzou Arena

2007-02-21T16:23:00.000-06:00

Tuesday night I had the chance to see the Missouri basketball team beat Oklahoma at the new Mizzou Arena. The new arena is really nice - huge improvement over the old Hearnes Arena. Here's a shot from the outside.

Google Reader

2007-02-17T17:11:00.001-06:00

In the past I used MyYahoo homepage as a way to keep up with websites. After a while though, I found that MyYahoo sometimes didn't update well and I would end up going to each of my favorite websites & blogs over and over just to read the latest posts. Last Fall I discovered Google Reader. Google Reader is a RSS reader that "reads" feeds from websites and blogs (sort of like reading the latest newsletters). Using Googler Reader, I subscribe to all of my favorite websites and Google Reader keeps track of those websites. When I go to the Google Reader webpage, it automatically updates each time there is a new post on one of those sites. I can then browse each new post as I have time. Instead of going to each website over and over, I just go to Google Reader and only view the new posts. It saves time and makes sure I don't miss any posts.

Andy Wibbels has a free video tutorial that takes you through the process of using Google Reader. This tutorial is a great way to check out Google Reader. Tutorial

If you want to try Google Reader, the site is here: http://www.google.com/reader/

Bennett

2007-02-15T09:53:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Bennett & Joey sleep in the finished basement Family Room when they visit with Mom & Dad. Bennett prefers the futon, but settled for the ugly, old recliner instead since Dad blocked the futon.

Northland Fountain Kansas City

2007-02-13T23:13:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Shelly took a picture of the Northland fountain last week. Its been very cold so the fountain is pretty frozen, but the water is kept on in the winter to create ice sculptures. I drive by this daily and love to see the different shapes it forms in the winter.

Niagara Falls

2007-02-09T13:56:00.001-06:00

This is one of the more popular photos I have taken. It is a popular one from my flickr.com photos.

The photo was taken in 2005 with my 10x zoom camera looking towards the falls.

This is another one from Niagara that I like

Briana & Tim at Courtwarming

2007-02-04T15:24:00.001-06:00

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Originally uploaded by evansfam.

The Park Hill Courtwarming Dance was Saturday night. this is Briana & Tim before the dance.

Blog Update and Changes

2007-01-31T13:24:00.000-06:00

If you are one of the handfull of people who check our blog you've probably noticed that I've been really awful about updating the blog recently. That was due to a combination of laziness, a change by blogger.com that messed up some of my blog settings and Shelly losing her camera battery charger :)

Anyway, I hope to be updating more frequently now and have added a few new look-and-feel elements to the blog. Feel free to browse around and tell me what you think. Is it to busy, too slow or whatever. Just leave me a comment and let me know.
Thanks,
Brent

The Bar is Finished

2007-01-29T17:32:00.000-06:00

As many of you know - because you've already used it :), we finished the bar in December. It turned out better than I had dreamed and once again I have to say Shelly was right (man I hate saying that...). It really is nice and will make the family room more of a place to hang out instead of a plain basement room. Here are some of the photos after completion. As always, you can click on any of the photos and see a larger photo size.

The pictures just don't do it justice, but it gives you an idea of the look-and-feel of the bar.

We're pretty happy with the results. Eventually we'll be replacing a window in this room, replacing the carpet and getting some new furniture. Be sure and stop by and we'll show you the results in person and serve you a drink

Snowstorm

2007-01-25T14:02:00.000-06:00

We had a nice 6 inch deep Kansas City snowstorm last weekend. It melted from the roads quickly, but gave us a good dose of winter.

Ice Storm-Neosho, MO

2007-01-25T12:11:00.001-06:00

In my hometown of Neosho Missouri (and where my brother teaches school) a very bad ice storm kept the town and surrounding area without power for over one week. The damage to trees and buildings was devastating. This is one picture of the damage, but you can view more here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/smays/sets/72157594488863928/

Sky Recovering from Surgery

2007-01-25T09:14:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, Sky had some minor surgery on his foot. He called it a really rough day and was successfull at getting lots of extra attention. Here's some photos of the results. Note that his doctors put a feminine wrap on his foot instead of a more masculine one...

Go Bears!

2007-01-21T22:54:00.000-06:00

We went over to the Genske's to watch the Bears game Sunday as the Bears pounded the Saints.

Before the game, Guy made this very special snowman:

Is Sky a Illinois fan?!?

2006-12-20T14:38:00.001-06:00

DSC00829
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Last night, Shelly & I went over to the Genskes to watch the annual Braggin' Rights Basketball Game MU Tigers vs. Illinois. As in past years, Illinois won, but the Tigers are getting there - it should be a better year.

The picture here is one that Guy Genske (obviously the Illinois fan) took of Skywalker after making sure Skywalker was wearing the "wrong" hat.

I should be back to posting more regularly now as the Holiday rush at work and at home are about over.

More Bar Progress

2006-11-12T23:05:00.000-06:00

Shelly finished applying the stain and polyurethane on the bar top this week. Today she stained more sections of the base, we attached the "fridge top", we brought down the bartop, attached it and added more trip on the base. nail hole filling, sanding, staining and other "fun" finish work are in order, but its looking pretty nice. We sat drinks on it just to make sure it worked o.k. :)

Shelly Staining the inside of the bar base

Top is on the "fridge area"

Bar Top is attached

Family Room Bar Project Update

2006-11-09T09:55:00.000-06:00

Well, this took me quite a bit longer to post than I thought. Anyway, here are some photos of our progress thus far on the basement (family room) bar project:

The remodel project has moved on to building the bar. Shelly had basic plans she found on the net and then modified them to our needs. We purchased all of the lumbar and much of the hardware we needed and started from scratch. That weekend, Mom & Dad came up and Dad helped out for two days (thank goodness) and gave us some much needed guidance on cutting lumber and that sort of thing.

We spent all of day 1 buying and cutting lumber. No table saw available so we mostly used a circular saw - not ideal, but it did the job.

The second day was spent assembling the base and cutting more lumber. Day three Dad & Mom left for Vegas (business trip) and Shelly & I continued to work on the bar - and more work over that week in the evenings.

The next Saturday we did more work until Sunday when I deserted Dad & Shelly to watch the Chiefs game with Brian and Steve (Brian's father in-law). Good game by the way, but I felt guilty :)

Over the next few weeks we've continued to work on the bar. Shelly has done much more than I. We are in the sanding, staining, steel wooling, rinse & repeat process. Also adding layers of Polyurethane to the bar surfaces.
Here are some progress photos:

We are further along than these photos show - I just haven't taken a picture for a while. I'll post the latest photos soon.

Happy Halloween!!!

2006-10-30T22:54:00.000-06:00

A tradition Briana & I have always kept is to carve Jack-O-Lanterns together. Briana is obviously more talented at this than I, but I always give it a try. Below are photos I took of each of the three pumpkins lit with a candle. They are always pretty cool looking.

This is Briana's Vampire

Briana's Skeleton

My Jack O Lantern - no it's not supposed to resemble me
:)

Briana spends more than double the time I do. She made three jack-o-lanterns to my one and she does much more difficult ones. She's really good at this stuff.

It's been a while since last post

2006-10-30T08:32:00.000-06:00

Sorry to those of you who visit our blog. Its been a very busy few weeks since the last post.

We've been working on the bar in earnest the past several weeks. It actually looks like a bar now. We're doing the VERY slow finish work now, but with limited time it will be another several weeks before we're finished. I'll post some photos of the progress this week.

I had a chance to go to the Chiefs game with Brian last week and had a great time. The team has been finding ways to win so its been extra enjoyable.

Briana & I did the annual pumkin carving yesterday. As always, Briana's look like a piece of art - I'll post those photos tomorrow a.m. for Halloween.

Watch the next couple of days for some new pictures.

Family Photos

2006-10-08T22:48:00.000-06:00

We received the proofs for our family photos taken a few weeks ago. I really like most of them. The photographer does good work. Above is an example of a more artsy one.

Digital Picture Frame

2006-10-08T22:41:00.000-06:00

PA080804
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

I've finally finished the digital picture frame (converted from Shelly's old laptop. It took longer than I anticipated but I like the results. It runs with no intervention required. It gets its photos from an album I set up on the flickr website. No cords requred except for the power cord.

I'll post more about this soon.

Name Voyager

2006-10-04T15:31:00.000-06:00

I stumbled upon an interesting website today that lets you type in a name and it will tell you how popular it's been since the 1880's, whether it was popular as a boy's name, girl's name, or both, and other interesting things. My name "Brent" was ranked 82 most popular in the 70's. Not so popular any more though. Give it a try by typing in your name:
http://www.babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

October 4 Remodel Update

2006-10-04T11:49:00.000-06:00

This weekend we focused on the floor around the bar area. We measured & cut the carpet. Then we spent countless hours scraping and stripping the glue from the floor since the people who did the original basement finish just glued the carpet to the floor. This is a picture of Shelly after a whole night and day of stripping that dang glue. We used some smelly stripper gunk to help, but mostly it was just elbow grease that worked. The beer is a required tool for each of these projects :)

In this picture, Shelly is putting some floor leveler in a corner where the floor was definitely not level.

We put in all of the tile last night. Next steps are to add trim and border around the tile and between the tile and existing carpet. Some day we'll replace all of that old, ugly carpet.

The Basement TV

2006-09-27T09:10:00.000-06:00

This was the scene on one end of the finished basement last weekend. Most of this junk was moved to the unfinished side of the basement. Eventually the only thing remaining from this picture will be the LCD TV which I will mount on the wall after hiding the wires.

The PC here runs a "client" software (I use snapstream Beyond TV) that connects via my home network to the server up in the office. In laymans terms we can watch live tv, recorded shows that were recorded from the living room tv, watch movies saved on the server, listen to music stored on the server etc. For instance, you could watch part of a tv show in the living room, go do something else, then be in the basement and start that same show right where you left off.

This photo was taken after I moved the PC, desk and other junk into the unfinished side. The TV will stay on the stand for now until the bar is finished. If we win the lottery :) we'll buy a larger tv.

The window above will eventually be replaced with glass block or something more pleasing to the eye.

Comments turned on

2006-09-26T08:49:00.000-06:00

After talking with my good friend Jeff K, I decided to turn comments back on for the blog. If you would like to comment on a post, feel free to click on the "comments" hyperlink and tell us what you think. I used to get a bunch of spam on the comments, but hopefully that is improved now.

Shelly & I check this site daily and I seem to get a lot of traffic from family and friends so comment away.

Brent

Basement Remodel Update

2006-09-24T23:03:00.000-06:00

I've taken some photos of our progress on the basement remodel project. I'll post some more this week. As you look at these you can see Shelly has been really busy. I've been busy too, just not as involved on this part of the project :) Shelly installed a new bar shelf and finished the bar mirror. I've moved the basement PC into the unfinished space and ran wiring to the TV which will eventually hang on the wall. From this tv we can watch movies saved on the server, listen to music via the computer and watch live and saved tv shows. I also finally fixed the leaking toilet in the basement - I say finally because I've worked on it at least three times only to find a leak in another place. I think I've now replaced about every part of the toilet now so it should be good to go.

Bar Mirror

2006-09-24T22:48:00.000-06:00

Shelly is adding some personal touches to the bar mirror (formerly known as "just a mirror at hobby lobby"

The finished product looks incredible - while the picture didn't turn out that great, it does show the Evans Martini Lounge and the "tipsy since 1995" logo [disclaimer - I haven't really been tipsy the whole time].

Notice the martini glass in the middle with the olive! Shelly is getting really good at this stuff! When she was finished she was really giddy (or it could have just been the fumes from the acrylic paint she used on the mirror)...

Installing the Bar Shelf

2006-09-24T22:38:00.000-06:00

We bought a long board for the top shelf on the wall behind the bar. Shelly sanded, primed and painted the shelf. Here she is attaching the bar-ware hangers to the bottom of the shelf.

Shelly installed the shelf brackets

The finished Bar Shelf looks great. The newspaper marks the spot for the mirror.

Where the bar will go

2006-09-24T22:28:00.000-06:00

DSC00428
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

The tape is marking where our simple bar will go. The mirror to the right will hang behind the bar.

Game Storage

2006-09-21T10:57:00.000-06:00

DSC00439
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Here is the cabinet with the doors open. Obviously this is mostly full of the tons of board and card games we had piled in this room. Sometime this winter there will be a game table near this cabinet so we can actually play these games.

New Storage!

2006-09-21T10:56:00.000-06:00

Shelly built this cabinet and shelves for storage and display in our finished basement. Looks really nice and its functional. If you look closely you will see there are two tigers and a jayhawk on the top shelf - not something you see together very often!

This is the space before the cabinet and shelving was added. Before the remodel, I had an old PC and desk back there (go figure).

Blue Angels

2006-09-18T21:41:00.000-06:00

DSC00419
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

We had a great show last Thursday and Friday from our windows at work (UBG). The Blue Angels and many other airplanes were doing test runs both days to prepare for the airshow last weekend. We are close enough to the downtown airport that we heard and saw a lot of them. Truly amazing what they can do.
Brent

Photos of tailgating before Sunday's Chiefs Game

2006-09-13T22:04:00.001-06:00

DSC00409
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Steve helped prepare the Fajitas

Steve & Evan

2006-09-13T22:04:00.000-06:00

DSC00408
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

We were all glad to visit with Evan. Steve & Sue were extra excited to have him back from Iraq for now.

Anita & Marilyn

2006-09-13T22:02:00.000-06:00

DSC00406
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Anita & Marilyn did a lot of work and brought bunches of food. We love tailgating with them!!!

Food is getting ready

2006-09-13T22:01:00.000-06:00

DSC00405
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Shelly, Anita, Evan and Steve pose while the snacks are out and the main courses are being prepared.

Chiefs Parking Lot

2006-09-13T22:00:00.000-06:00

DSC00402
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

This is a shot of the parking lot while people were arriving to tailgate before the Chiefs game. Within an hour from this photo, the parking lot was stuffed full of cars, people and great food.

At the Chiefs Game

2006-09-13T21:58:00.000-06:00

DSC00403
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

While we waited for Anita and Marilyn to show up, Steve, Evan, Sue Genske, Sue Barker, Shelly & I visited by the car and watched the crowd arrive.

Go Chiefs

2006-09-09T22:11:00.000-06:00

KC Chiefs
Originally uploaded by Kymbrla.

Chiefs Game Sunday
Had a nice visit.

Anita, Marilyn, Evan, Steve & Sue Barker, Sue & Guy Genske, Shelly & I had a great time tailgating before the game. The seats were very good and under cover so rain didn't affect us. Unfortunately the game didn't go all that well, but we still had a good time. I'll post some pictures of the gang soon.

Gate 1 at Missouri Football

2006-09-08T16:00:00.000-06:00

Gate 1
Originally uploaded by Generation X-Ray.

Go MU Tigers - vs. Mississippi Saturday!

UPDATE: MU 34 Miss 7

New Look for the Blog

2006-09-08T10:08:00.000-06:00

I've been changing the look of the blog a little today. Let me know if you like it or not.

Heading Out on the Seadoo

2006-09-04T21:11:00.000-06:00

DSC00379
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Ready for the Seadoo

2006-09-04T21:10:00.000-06:00

DSC00374
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Project Update

2006-08-24T09:14:00.000-06:00

Finished Basement Project:
We have finished painting the family room in the finished basement. Shelly painted the support poles Sunday and Wednesday so all is complete there. It looks pretty good. I was worried about the color at first, but once it was finished it looks pretty nice. Next we are disposing of some of the junky furniture etc. to clear out the room and will organize some more for now. Next up will be our bar-building experience. That should be interesting given our limited experience :)

I taped and Shelly began painting the bathroom. That should be complete by the end of the weekend if all goes well. Then I'll re-set the toilet tank. I think we might look for a replacement for the old mirror cabinet - possibly just a wall mirror.

Laptop conversion to digital frame project:
Well all I can say here is that old Sony laptop was not meant to ever have the case opened. Talk about a pain, getting to the motherboard on this thing was like getting into Fort Knox! I finally got to the motherboard which I had to completely remove from the case. I desoldered the power connector from the motherboard and have ordered a new power connector. Once that arrives, I'll solder the new one to the motherboard and put it all back together. If it turns on then I'll proceed with the project. Otherwise, I'll need another discarded laptop for this one.

States I've visited or passed through

2006-08-21T10:05:00.000-06:00

statemap
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

Here is a map showing all US States I've either visited or passed through on my way somewhere else. You can make your own map by clicking here . I would like to visit more of the U.S. as part of my future travels. As much has I've had the opportunity to travel, I seem to go back to the same places over and over...

This was re-posted to adjust the size of the map.

Really new color

2006-08-19T23:09:00.000-06:00

Really new color
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

I actually did do some of the painting. Shelly does this much better than me, but I filled in some at the end of Saturday. usually I do the prep work like taping fetching beers etc.

The new gold color is on the left of the picture, I'm painting the new "terra cotta" (aka sort of orangish red) color and the old color that looks like bandaids color is to the right of me in the photo.

We still have some painting to do, but knocked out much more than expected today (Saturday)

Shelly Painting

2006-08-19T23:03:00.000-06:00

P8190717
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

This color might look familiar to some of you. Its kind of a gold color - I like to call it MU Tigers color :)

Junk to the middle of room

2006-08-19T23:00:00.000-06:00

DSC00292
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

All our junk in the family room was moved to the center of the room. Man, we have a lot of junk... Did most of this during the weekday evenings.

Bathroom Before Painting 2

2006-08-19T22:58:00.000-06:00

Bathroom Before Painting 2
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

All the wallpaper was finally removed so I began trying to sand some really rough places around the tape. Unfortunately, the stuff they used to cover the tape peeled instead of sanding down. More spackling, sanding and cleaning.

By later Saturday a.m., I moved on to help Shelly in the main downstairs family room. She was already painting there by then.

Bathroom before we began

2006-08-19T22:55:00.000-06:00

DSC00282
Originally uploaded by evansfam.

This is the bathroom in the finished basement. We were going to begin painting in the bathroom thinking it would be an easy place to finish a room fast. We removed the wallpaper to find it was really, really stuck to the wall. Even worse, the wallpaper was covering a very poor drywall job. Lots of sanding, filling holes etc. was required. We removed wallplates, hardware, cabinets and the toilet tank.