Oct

26

Fall in Oregon …

October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

As I sit here in the office on this rainy last Monday of October morning, I see green grass, red & orange & yellow leaves, and a bunch of green leaves too.  It doesn’t really seem that October is coming to a close so soon, it isn’t cold enough according to my body.  I went to Church yesterday with bare legs under my skirt, and just a thin sweater over my tank top.  Fall in Oregon is different! :)

We bought Photoshop a while back and I’ve just started to play with it and learn some of its fun features.  I’ve been mostly playing with it for doing digital scrapbooking right now.  I’m making a guest book in a scrapbook fashion for some friends of ours getting married next March (and I think I’m almost done already!).  I was playing with a few features with pictures too, that I found to be quite cool!

Ger

Wedding Group shot copySo those are two things that I have been learning lately … its been quite fun!  Next I’ll be starting on doing the whole wedding album … yea!! :)

oh, and packing!  Did I tell you that we are moving?  We are moving across the complex to a three bedroom unit that became available.  Its going to be busy that week … A is in Boston from Monday till Thursday… I’m probably going with a friend to visit other friends on the coast… its A’s birthday on Friday the 13th… my niece is due that week… another niece has her birthday that week… and we move on that Saturday! AAAHHH :)   I guess I best get busy packing some things up!

hope you are all well, enjoying fall!

Brenda for the Kulbes

Sep

22

Well okay I really don’t have a this, that and the other thing to share … just thought it’d be something to grab your attention … if there is anyone’s attention to grab that is … is there anyone out there reading this??

Well if there is, then you are probably someone that knows pretty much all that is going on in our life via facebook or just talking with us … Aaron was diagnosed with Type II diabetes a few weeks back.  Thankfully we are going to be able to control this with diet, exercise and they have put him on medication for now as well.  Yesterday he went and saw his doctor, after being on the medication for about two weeks, and the doctor is very happy with the progress!  We have been slowly getting into a good walking routine, starting off with about a mile and we’re building bit by bit.  The diet hasn’t really changed much since I started cooking for us, its just more about portion control, less carbs, more protein!

We don’t really have any other things going on in our life, other then general life.  No trips planned for the foreseeable future … but that can change in an instant… :)   We have been known to wake up on a Saturday and just go … to the coast, to the mountains, to wherever … :)

I haven’t really taken the camera out anywhere interesting lately … or found any good shots really lately, so no photos to post this time .. maybe next …

till then …

Brenda for the Kulbes

Aug

27

Well I guess I am not being so faithful with this blog either! I really do want to do better at this, to keep people updated, but yeah … not something that really happens … I’ll try better, I promise!

Since we got married, we’ve been semi busy with things …

We went and spent a weekend in New Mexico for a friends wedding.  Was a wonderful time meeting friends from SGS (www.sovereigngracesingles.com) who were as blessed as us to meet our mate and carry on the Godly sanctity of marriage in His name.  The fun part of it was, that we had only ever met Daniel and Elisa online, never face to face.  So the night before the wedding was the first meeting, and it was great! Congratulations to Daniel & Elisa!

Daniel & Elisa

While we were in New Mexico, friends of ours back in Portland, welcomed there third covenant child into there family.  Esther is such a cutie, and looks so much like her siblings, its adorable!  Congratulations to Eli & Amanda!  The LORD’s blessings as you raise these children in His covenant ways and to His honor and glory.

Shortly after that, Eli’s sister Leah and her husband Ryan welcomed there first covenant child, Patrick, into there family.  He loves to snuggle, and twice I’ve got to snuggle with him, and I’m really looking forward to more chances to do so!  Congratulations to Ryan and Leah as well, and many blessings from our Heavenly Father as you start your family and raise little Patrick to His honor and glory!

This past weekend we drove from Portland to Boise Idaho to visit Aaron’s daughter Andie.  It was a very fun weekend getting to know her, trying to keep up with her active 10 year old body and enjoy time together swimming, building a bear at “Build-a-Bear” and riding the bumper cars!

Aaron & Andie

Now its back to a life of not traveling for a while.  We are working on getting my green card so that I can travel outside of the US, specifically back to Canada.  Hopefully I’ll have that by Christmas at the latest, so that I can go spend some time with my family, as well as meet my first great-niece or nephew!  I am very excited about that!  I can’t wait!

Till next time, which hopefully won’t be as long!  I should do a post of wedding pictures and honeymoon, as well as of our home, shouldn’t I?  I think I’m going to play with the video’s as well as magazines I’ve gotten on Photoshop for a bit before I do those … so I can have some fun shots!

Brenda for the Kulbes

Jul

5

Well as my new husband pointed out in his last post, we FINALLY got married on May 29th, 2009!!

We enjoyed a week down in the Clear Lake area of California, just relaxing and hanging out together.  We then headed back up to Oregon to start our married life.  By the time we got back, we got word that the truck was going to be here with my things … yea!!! No more wearing the same 6 outfits!!! :)   That and I was missing my pillow! :) Also, I could work on making the bare apartment more into a home.

Since then Aaron has worked from home for two weeks on-call, and spent most of one week working from home, because he wasn’t feeling that great.  So this coming week will be a test for me on lonliness and getting into a routine of some sort!

I will be working on posting some pictures here in the next few weeks, as well as posting the wedding video.  I am also going to hopefully post more often here about our life here in general.  So if you want to know, check back! :)

Brenda for the Kulbes

Jun

9

that man should be alone…

This was the only thing that God had a negative description for… during the creation week. :)

He made a helper suitable for Adam. That was Eve.

For me…. God brought Brenda into my life. She is a gift.

Brenda and I finally got married on 5/29/2009. No more waiting for a visa, no more planning of the wedding… it is all done.

Today is the last day of our honeymoon, and I couldn’t have asked for things to have gone any better.

May

27

If you got a random Twitter response from a stranger about Objective-C, chances are it was me.

I have “objective-c” as a saved search in my Twitter client, to watch what people say about it.

Frequently, I see people asking questions about what the best way to learn Objective-C would be.

I end up saying the same thing over and over again, so I figured I’d put it on my blog and just point people to my link, that gives the details as to why I’m recommending “Programming in Objective-C 2.0” by Stephen Kochan.

What caught my eye initially was something he said in the introduction of the book.

When contemplating writing a tutorial on Objective-C, a fundamental decision had to be made. As with other texts on Objective-C, I could write mine to assume the reader already knew how to write C programs. I could also teach the language from the perspective of using the rich library of routines, such as the Foundation and Application Kit frameworks. Some texts also take the approach of teaching how to use the development tools, like the Mac’s Xcode and Interface Builder.

I had several problems adopting this approach. First, learning the entire C language before learning Objective-C is wrong. C is a procedural language containing many features that are not necessary for programming in Objective-C, especially at the novice level. In fact, resorting to some of these features goes against the grain of adhering to a good object-oriented programming methodology. It’s also not a good idea to teach all the details of a procedural language before learning an object-oriented one. This starts the programmer off in the wrong direction, and gives the wrong orientation and mindset for fostering a good object-oriented programming style. Just because Objective-C is an extension to the C language doesn’t mean you have to learn C first!

So, I decided neither to teach C first nor to assume prior knowledge of the language. Instead, I decided to take the unconventional approach of teaching Objective-C and the underlying C language as a single integrated language, and from an object-oriented programming perspective. The purpose of this book is as its name implies: to teach you how to program in Objective-C 2.0. It does not profess to teach you how to use the development tools that are available for entering and debugging programs, or how to develop interactive graphical applications with Cocoa. All that material can be learned elsewhere, after you’ve learned how to write programs in Objective-C. In fact, mastering that material will be much easier after you have a solid foundation on how to program in Objective-C. This book does not assume much, if any, previous programming experience. In fact, if you’re a novice programmer, you should be able to learn Objective-C as your first programming language from this text.

– Stephen Kochan, Programming in Objective-C 2.0, page 9

He starts off, basically, by saying that you can start with Objective-C as your first language. You don’t have to learn 2 or 3 other languages before you can tackle Objective-C.

There’s more. There is a forum for the book. There are also paid training classes. I haven’t taken any of the paid classes, but I’m seriously considering it.

The forums are at Programming in Objective-C 2.0 Forum

Seriously… this is the gift that keeps on giving. The author is also on Twitter, but I don’t want him to get spammed, so I’ll let you figure out how to follow him there.

Steven is an excellent writer. What has struck me about the whole thing is this… he WANTS you to succeed. He WANTS you to learn the language, and be productive with it.

It shows in the depths of his responses, and how often he does so.

Feb

3

Future stuff

February 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Robert Scoble made a comment here where he said if you’re looking for a tech job, that you should be blogging and not simply depending on a resume.

I agree with his advice. It is an excellent medium to use for displaying your skills.

I am not looking for work, but I have plans to start writing about computer programming. Writing about principles of computer programming, and its concepts.

My hope is that, as I share what I have learned along the way, others will be able to learn as well.

Some of the material will be very elementary, and quite possibly review for a lot of people. This is good. Review is always good.

Please give me all the feedback and critique that you can. I will be learning from this process, as well.

Feb

3

Terrible writing

February 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment

One of the things that I said I would do with this year is to learn to write better.

That would involve doing it more often, and more consistently. Given that I haven’t posted since August ‘08, I have not gotten off to the best start.

I aim to change that, as part of my own personal and professional development.

Aug

12

I went out to lunch today, at Red Robin.

I confess. I’m a big fan. I’m a regular. My pocketbook doesn’t like it, but my tastebuds love it.

Those of you who know me, know that not providing good service is a pet peeve of mine.

Well… today was great.

My server’s name was Emily. She came and greeted me, and asked how I was doing.

Not the typical I-am-being-polite-because-that-is-what-I’m-expected-to-do politeness.

She took the time to look me in the eyes and speak directly to me.

It’s not that any one of these things are a big deal in and of themselves, but it’s the exception, and not the rule, to get really good service today – I think.

So… it gets even better.

I asked her if she worked there long. She said since June, and that she came from Canada.

That naturally got my attention. So I asked where from, and she said Ontario. Toronto, even.

I told her about Brenda, that she lives and works in Ontario, and that we were going through the K-1 process.

She was excited, and explained to me that she’d been through it too, but elected to come into the country as a student first, as that would be much quicker for her.

I asked her what her major is, and her answer was “Education. I am going to be a teacher, God-willing.”

WOW.

That floored me even more. A Christian, and not even the least be shy to say so, in even so quiet a way.

Now the reason for her servant’s heart is clear.

I told her I attend RCC in Oregon City.

It was time to eat, and she took good care to see that I was taken care of.

I mentioned that Brenda would be in town soon, and that we should all go out to dinner while she’s here.

Thank you, Emily. I hope that we get a chance to talk again, while Brenda is in town.

I will definitely come see you again.

Jul

14

I recently bought an Amazon Kindle. If you’re not familiar with it, check out the link I provided.

It’s not cheap, ringing in at $359. But I’ve been saving up some Amazon.com gift cards. I paid just over $200 for it.

It comes with a very basic Internet connection, that uses Sprint’s EVDO network. Amazon’s nickname for it, is called WhisperNet. This connection allows you to buy books directly from Amazon.com’s online store.

I bought the Kindle, because I’m usually carrying around 2 technical books in my laptop bag. It makes for a significant amount of extra weight I’m carrying around with me.

The Kindle consolidates that to a single device that is very light.

Not all books and publishers are available in Kindle format. However, this number grows daily.

Another reason is that I read a lot of technical books in PDF format, or other ebook formats. It’s much harder to stare at an LCD for long periods of time, than it is to read off the Kindle screen. E-Ink is MUCH nicer to your eyes.

I’ve been able to convert almost all of my existing ebook collection into Kindle format.

If there was anything I’d like to see different, there would be two things:

First, I would add the ability to organize your books into folders.

Second, if you have already purchased the book in traditional format from Amazon.com, offer some kind of significant discount for getting the digital version. You can do this already, with the Amazon.com reader, that only adds $5 to the price of the book.

It would be nice to have the Kindle option with that, as well.

All things considered, I’ve been very satisfied with my purchase. I cannot recommend the Kindle enough.


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