its a beautiful day

the glamorous life of mathematicians

2007-01-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

Our next exotic locale for Chris to study math - Finland!! Just like we went to Italy last summer for Chris to work with a professor there, now we're headed to Jyvaskyla, Finland. All the top researchers in Chris' field work at Jyvaskyla so its a great opportunity for him to meet and study with them. His ph.d faculty advisor is going to be there for 3 months (ie the whole spring quarter) but Chris will probably be there for just the last 3 weeks. Then they'll be going back in August too for a one week summer school session at Jyvaskyla. Now I get 4 weeks vacation at work and I don't really want to spend all my time off in Finland so I'll just be going for 2 weeks in the spring. Chris will head over there first and I'll meet him there a week later. I never would have imagined travelling to so many different places because of math!! Its quite the glamorous life we lead. ;)

Since I'll be there for 2 weeks and Chris will be there for 4 wks total counting the week in August, we decided it would be a good idea to learn some of the native language, Finnish. For our trip to Italy we learned some Italian but figured that most people spoke English or (as a last resort) that our knowledge of French would be able to get us by when reading signs in airports/train stations. Which was true in the big cities, but in little Lecce hardly anyone outside the university spoke English. Even though we still did ok, except for a pepperoni pizza we ordered but i'll post about that later, I think we'll be trying to learn much more of the native language this time, especially since we'll be in small cities again. I really enjoy learning new languages so I'm excited to start learning Finnish, daunting as it seems.

Christmas 2006

2007-01-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

The 3rd annual Camfield Christmas extravaganza is coming to a close. Our first dinner back home in Dayton was Saturday 12-23 and we left Dayton on Wednesday 12-27. Total, we ate & exchanged gifts in 5 different places, not counting when me and Chris exchanged our gifts to each other. A hectic time yes, but also fun seeing everyone. I got a lot of nice clothes this year, but my favorite non-clothes items were a french coffee press from Chris (I'm becoming a coffee snob) and a set of 3 Audrey Hepburn movies, Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Roman Holiday, from Chris's brother and his girlfriend. I highly recommend the coffee press to any coffee drinkers out there! The Audrey Hepburn movies were a nice surprise...that isn't something I ever would have thought to ask for but I'm really excited about watching them. I've seen Sabrina before (no that isn't where my parents got my name) but never any other of her movies. I had the week off from work so Wednesday we left Dayton for the Hocking Hills state park area where we rented a cabin for a few days. It was soooo nice to spend some time just the two of us. And it was a much needed break from work too. Here's a link to some pics of the cabin we stayed in, http://www.getaway-cabins.com/cabin23.htm. It was very secluded and quiet and peaceful...which is quite the opposite of Clifton.

And here are pictures of the some of the places we hiked to:

All in all, a great Christmas. But I guess all good things must come to an end - I have to go back to work tomorrow. When I'm on vacation I'm definitely not one of those people who checks their email and voicemail constantly, whose mind is still in the office even if their body isn't. My mind has been completely away of the office...I can't even remember my password to my computer at work...

new colors

2006-12-21T16:54:00.000-05:00

it had been a long time since my last post! my previous template was too old to be used anymore. (thanks google for buying blogger and making me change everything and sign up for a google account. ) so now i get new colors!!!

i'm back!!!

2006-12-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

wow...its been a while. i haven't posted much because not much has happened or changed in our life. chris is still in school, i'm still working, yada yada yada. we did go to italy and paris this summer. that was really cool. here are some pics from the town in italy we visited, lecce (you've almost certainly never heard of it, no one has) ...

this, on your left, is Piazza Duomo. its one of the squares that wasn't too far from our room. it was one of the first places we learned to find on our own. Duomo is the name of the church you see.

now if you look to your right, you'll see the main city square, Piazza San Oronzo. it was named after the patron saint of city, San Oronzo. you can't see it in this picture, but there's a statue of him on top of that pole-like thing on the left in the pic. after italy beat germany in the world cup semis, we and the rest of the city gathered here to celebrate. which meant a lot of flag waving and singing the national anthem. and lots of air horns.

this is one of old roman city gates that was a couple blocks from our room, Porta Napoli (naples gate). from where we took this picture, to get to our room you would walk straight threw the gate then turn left and go about 1 block.

i'll post more pics sometime, including some of paris and rome (paris was wonderful!!). our next adventure will be to finland this spring...i bet you never knew math so glamourous!!!

pictures of Millie

2006-04-25T11:09:00.000-04:00

here she is! (cute isn't she?)

a new little camfield is coming!!!

2006-04-14T08:43:00.000-04:00

Exciting exciting news -- we're getting a puppy!!! we picked her out yesterday at the kenton county animal shelter and will pick her up today. she's a little 2 year old chihuahua named millie. once we get her home and used to us, i'll take some pictures and post them.

and there's more exciting news - we'll probably be going to italy this summer for 2 weeks. there's a professor at a university in lecce, italy that chris and his advisor have been working with on a research paper. the italian professor was visiting at uc this winter and before he left, he invited chris to come out to italy this summer. so chris will have to do some work while we're there, but his expenses (air fare, hotel, etc) will be paid for. so all we have to buy is my plane ticket! its still expensive, but compared to how much a normal 2 week trip to italy costs, it isn't too bad! more details to come...

A Case of the Mondays

2006-03-13T16:49:00.000-05:00

Monday is now the longest day of my week (as if it weren’t already), but now it is for good reasons. Our small group meets on Monday nights at 7. and last week I started taking a Spanish class at work which runs from 5:30-6:30 on Mondays. So I work, then do the Spanish stuff, then head straight to small group. A crazy day to be sure, but a fun crazy. Reminds me of college a little. Since I’ve graduated and found my “9-5 sit in a cube and stare at a computer” job, I’ve really missed the learning and intellectual stimulation I got in college. I don’t miss the exams or stress, but I do miss learning. So I’m really excited about learning something as useful as Spanish. All that makes Mondays really long days, but I don’t mind. I get to combine 2 of the more fun and anticipated parts of my week (Spanish class and small group) into one day. Not a bad way to start the week off.

Hasta luego!

this is so coo!!

2006-02-07T15:35:00.000-05:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Sabrina!

Sabrina cannot be detected by infrared cameras.
Over 2000 people have now climbed sabrina, with roughly ten percent dying on the way down.
During the reign of Peter the Great, any Russian nobleman who chose to wear sabrina had to pay a special sabrina tax.
If you lie on your back with your legs stretched it is impossible to sink in sabrina.
Neil Armstrong first stepped on sabrina with his left foot!
Edinburgh imports three thousand kilograms of sabrina every year.
The liquid inside sabrina can be used as a substitute for blood plasma.
According to the story, Pinocchio was made of sabrina.
If your ear itches, this means that someone is talking about sabrina.
Human beings are the only animals that eat while facing sabrina.

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Chihuahuas!

The porpoise is second to chihuahuas as the most intelligent animal on the planet!
Chihuahuas can not regurgitate.
Chihuahuas can be seen from space.
Most bottles and jars contain at least twenty-five percent recycled chihuahuas.
The Eskimos have over fifty words for chihuahuas!
In the Great Seal of the United States the eagle grasps 13 arrows and chihuahuas!
All swans in England belong to chihuahuas.
Humans share over 98 percent of their DNA with chihuahuas!
The first toy product ever advertised on television was Mr Chihuahuas Head.
It takes forty minutes to hard-boil chihuahuas.

back in the 'nati again!

2006-01-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

I know...I know...I've been a bad blogger and not posted anything since I don't know when. I got really busy at work for a while (computer problems + busiest time of year = 13 hour days!). Then we moved back to Cincinnati shortly before Christmas. Then we went home for Christmas. And then I run out of excuses.

Anyway, nothing much has happened lately. Ann Arbor was really cool. Its pretty much the complete antithesis (fancy word, huh?) of Cincinnati and Clifton - small, clean, safe, flat. The clean and safe part is great but I love how Cincinnait is neither small nor flat. And of course A2 doesn't have UCC or our innumerable friends and family. All in all - glad to be back. Especially glad to be back in a small group at church. I didn't realize until we started at one again how much I missed that.

Quote of the day

2005-11-15T16:31:00.000-05:00

"Stress is the confusion created when the mind overrides the body's basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some idiot who desperately deserves it."

crime in Ann Arbor

2005-11-07T12:30:00.000-05:00

from UM's student newspaper The Michigan Daily...

Crime Notes

Omelet stolen from University hospital

Hospital security reported the larceny of an omelet at the University Hospital on Saturday around 11:15 a.m. The suspect was allegedly a patient in the psych ward that is currently under investigation, according to the Department of Public Safety.

here's what Chris is going to take over

2005-11-06T22:58:00.000-05:00

You will take over Somalia using only the help of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

watch out dominican republic...here i come

2005-11-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

a fantastically silly quiz i saw on mel's blog that's perfect for my friday afternoon boredom...

You will take over Dominican Republic using only a glass jar containing deadly fireflies

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

work

2005-10-26T15:36:00.000-04:00

what a work week. and its only wednesday. i'm nearing a promotion at work (yay for me!) but it has a lot of requirements one of which is an assessment test. i finally took it monday and tuesday this week and, long story short, it took a TON longer than they said it would. which put me behind in all my normal work. so i've been pretty busy getting caught up.

odd thing though. my office has a big party at halloween every year. every dept comes up with a theme and then dresses up, decorates their area, etc. and you spend a good part of the day walking around looking at everyone else's area. then they give out awards for the best ones and everyone goes to a bar and parties. ie no work is really done and the office shuts down at 3. today was the halloween celebration today for this year. so i've had almost nothing to do all day. i had a couple things i had to get to other people this morning, but until they get back to me i have nothing to do.

to recap - monday, work 10 very busy hours; tuesday, work 9.5 even busier hours; wednesday, work 8 very s..l..o..w hours. go figure. its been a nice break from the intensely-focused hours of monday and tuesday though.

i wonder what thursday will be like...

pictures from the game

2005-10-19T11:07:00.000-04:00

GO BLUE!

2005-10-14T11:22:00.000-04:00

Very very very exciting news - we're going to the Michigan/Penn State football game tomorrow!!! We've been trying since Wednesday night to somehow get tickets. Going to a game has been something we've wanted to do ever since we knew we would be coming to Ann Arbor. Because they only have 3 homes games left (one of which is against Ohio State), this was pretty much the only game we could go to. So if we couldn't get tickets to this game, we probably wouldn't go.

And, believe me, there's been more than 1 occasion in the past 36 hours where I thought all hope was lost. We tried ebay but didn't get anything (except a lot of stress - this was the first time I've ever bid on anything). Then we found a website with tickets but it wouldn't let us ship the tickets to A2, only to our billing address in Cincinnati. But eventually, after a few phone calls and voicemails, they said they could ship it to us here in A2. Yay!!

So if you happen to watch the game tomorrow (3:30 on ABC), we'll be sitting in section 5 row 72. I'll definitely be taking some pictures so I'll post those sometime.

Something I've been thinking about

2005-10-12T17:35:00.000-04:00

I just read an interesting story in the Times. but first I'll preface my post with a few things I've been thinking about lately - namely, the commercialization of Christmas. Its partially my own fault, but when I think of Christmas my immediate thoughts are not of Christ. They're of gifts, family, and food. It disturbs me that this is the case. Maybe especially so (in light of the current Jewish and Islamic holy days, Yom Kippur and Ramadan) because in protestant Christianity we really don't have alot of "ancient holy days". The closest we have is Christmas, Easter, and Good Friday. And they've become very mainstream and commercialized. (I guess Good Friday would be an exception.) It also makes me think about the lack of tradition in Christianity today, but that's another post for another time.

Back to the article...it discusses how commercialized Ramadan has become in the Middle East. Listen to some of these quotes...

You're using faith to commercialize something else.

It is supposed to be about spirituality, but it drives me crazy that it is all about food and banquets,...I call my friend and all she talks about is the 10 dishes her family is preparing for iftar. This is extravagant.

Any of this sound familiar??

Chris and I have decided that this year we're going to try to focus on Christ more and not the stress of last-minute shopping/travel plans/family dramas (I love our families dearly but every family has some drama). It would be impossible for us (the Camfields) to de-commercialize Christmas, but I think this will help. I'm sure I'll have more about this the closer we get to the holidays, but that's it for now.

princess juliet???

2005-10-11T12:20:00.000-04:00

I don't know if anyone has noticed this yet, but (at first glance) the girl on the cover of the latest people magazine (who's reported to be the girlfriend of Prince William) looked very similar to Juliet. Maybe that's why she hasn't posted on her blog in a while... Or maybe I need new contacts...

a case of the fridays

2005-10-07T15:48:00.000-04:00

friday is probably the most exciting day of the week to me now. it's definitely a much stronger feeling when i'm my cube all week (instead of working from home) but its still exciting, even at home. its more than just knowing that i'm free from answering emails and IMs from my co-workers (yes we have IM at work and use it frequently) - its really fun to just spend the whole weekend with chris. lately we've been exploring ann arbor and western detroit on saturdays which has been cool.

i've been thinking about reading brian maclaren's book a generous orthodoxy. i can only find it in hardback right now and since i don't like spending $20 (maybe more?) for a book, i'll wait till it comes out in paperback. (got a recommendation? let me know!)

i think we've found a chuch - the ann arbor vineyard. it reminds us a lot of UCC except we don't really know anyone there and they have AC and functioning heat. but we're going to look into joining a small group so that should help us meet people. its a cool church.

but enough rambling and church talk - the weekend is here!

we're in A2!

2005-10-04T08:09:00.000-04:00

As you may or may not know, me and Chris are living in Ann Arbor, Michigan for a few months while Chris studies at the Univ of Michigan. My company's letting me work from home while we're up here, which is really great (since we've gotten used to the paychecks) but it also means I don't leave the apt often. So I realized how much I miss our friends in Cincinnati and at UCC and human contact of any kind. And since I've started reading their blogs a couple of times a week, I thought I would do one too. I'll post again sometime about what A2 (what us locals call Ann Arbor) is like, but a short summary would be small and expensive but cute. Hope life in the 'nati is going well!

My first blog!

2005-10-03T10:41:00.000-04:00

Wow!! My first ever blog post. Wish I could think of something interesting to say...