BME Becks

What happens when two biomedical engineers get hitched

Sept Update

		Tuesday, 09 September 08 - 03:20 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

So we are totally horrible at updating this and we know it.  The problem is that it takes forever to upload photos because you have to upload them one at at time.  We need to find a place where you can upload a hole photo album at a time (like on Facebook).  Buy the way, the pictures get on facebook a lot sooner, so if you were considering facebook do it! 

Right now, I am on vacation in Florida helping my sister Amy with her new baby Ariel.  I am learning a lot about babies!  It's fun but hard work.  We are definitely waiting a few years before starting our family (God willing ;)  I fly back tomorrow.  Rich stayed in Minnesota because he has classes and research to attend to.

I just added photos of my adorable niece Ariel for everyone to see.  Also, I added photos of our mini vacation to the North Shore on Lake Superior for Labor Day.  It was a great get a away before the fall semester started for Rich.  We absolutely loved it. Saturday we biked 10 miles to Goosebery State Park.  Walked around 3 hrs to see all the gorgeous waterfalls.  Then, we biked back 10 miles.  There were a lot of hills so by the time we got back, I was exhausted!  That night we just relaxed in our room and watched a movie.  On Sunday, we found a United Protestant church to attend.  It was nice (reminded me of my grandparent's church).   Then we biked 5 miles to Split Rock Lighthouse.  We toured the lighthouse and found out that it was built in 1910 (I think) because the Nov before 29 ships crashed into the North Shore.  The glass prism was amazing!  Once we got back, we read a book beside the lake for the afternoon and then had an amazing dinner (my first time having Walide). 

Monday, after we woke up we went canoeing for a short time (we were too afraid we would fall in Lake Superior and freeze to death) and then took a 6 mile hike on Lake Superior Hiking Trail (it was absolutely gorgeous!).   So to say the least, I enjoyed the weekend!

January - March

		Monday, 14 April 08 - 04:16 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

Hello.  Well upon the request of my Uncle Danny I am updating the blog.  I didn't think any body looked at it so it hasn't been a high priority with everything else going on.  I have added pictures of January, February, and March.   Please take a look at them in the Image Gallery and you will see what's been going on. 

We are doing well.  Rich got above average on a test last week (Hurray, we knew his studying would adventually pay off).  We spent Saturday spring cleaning.  We were glad to get thing organized and really cleaned.

I am personally very tired of snow.  Spring is my favorite season and I haven't seen it yet.  However, although it snowed last week, they say its suppose to get up in the 60s this week.  I will believe it when I see it.

Rich and I are walking in the American Heart Association's Heart Walk in two weeks in Minneapolis.  We are excited about support this great cause.  If you are interesed in supporting us, please email me (SaraRuth02@yahoo.com).  We are 3/4 of our way to our goal.

Well its time for bed.  I hope you enjoy the new pictures.  Also, if you actually look at this let me know and it will motivate me to update it.

January 14th

		Monday, 14 January 08 - 01:53 PM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

I apologize for taking so long to update the blog.  May friends have told me that Thanksgiving has long passed and I needed to update it.  So for now, I am going to give you a quick update.  I was trying to wait until I got all the pictures from Christmas break in Ohio uploaded until I update this but oh well.

We really enjoyed our time with family in Ohio over Christmas.  We were there almost two weeks.  One of the biggest highlights was my older sister and her husband (Amy and Dave) driving up from Florida to surprise us!  It was the best Christmas present!  It just isn't the same if everyone is not there.  They were not supposed to come because of Dave's job.  I also really enjoyed going to my cousin's high school basketball game with all of my extended family.  There was like 15 of us all yelling!   Afterwards, my cousin's coach and team teased him about having his own fan section.  My family was really loud and it seemed that no one else was making noise but us.

Rich and I also really enjoyed seeing his nieces.  They have changed so much in 6 months.  The oldest, Rachel, is now 3 and she is so smart.   She is also talking now (her muscles in her mouth didn't develop properly so she was slow to start).  Rachel and I played together all New Year's Eve.  We watched "Beauty and the Beast" and put together tons of puzzles.   Rich and I got to take Rachel outside to play in the snow too.  We sled, made snow angels, threw snow balls, and Rachel's favorite wrote in the snow with a stick.  Becky (the youngest) is now 1.5 yrs old.  She now longer is a baby but a little girl.  She is all smiles and loved playing house with Rachel and me under the covers even though she was sick.  Rich and I made Christmas cookies and decorated them with both the girls.  We also played with play dough and made things.  We really wish we were closer to have fun with them more often. 

The past weekend was a good weekend.  On Friday after work, Rich and I went to the Olive Garden and then watched "Pirates who don't do anything" at the theater.  It was a great movie.  On Saturday, I spent the morning with SWE (Society of Women Engineers) talking to high schoolers about engineering.  I was able to take my prototype artificial shoulder from DePuy Orthopedics to talk to students about.  They were really fascinated by it.  Saturday evening we went to a wedding shower with our Sunday school class.  On Sunday after church, we went over to a friend's house at church to have dinner.  We had some awesome India food there. 

 

Thanksgiving

		Tuesday, 27 November 07 - 03:44 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

I just added 55 pictures to illustrate our first Thanksgiving together.  It was a great Thanksgiving, even thought it was my first Thanksgiving away from my family.  Rich and I loved cooking for our guest and spending some quality time with each other.  Today it was back to work and school.  Of course, they both were very challenged but we were energized and ready to face the challenges.  Please keep Rich in your prayers as school is very challenging, especially these last weeks of the his semester.

It's hard to believe but as of today we have been married half a year.  So much has happened in these last 6 months for us. God has definitely blessed us with each other and a great place to serve Him.

On Saturday, while we were sanding and staining our bed boards we finally meet some of our neighbors.   It seemed like before we never saw anyone.  It was great to get to know some of the people that live under the same roof as we do.

New post

		Sunday, 21 October 07 - 11:22 PM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

Ok...so my friend Allison checks my blog everyday and has reminded me that it's almost been a month since I have posted anything.  So this post is for her and my family too.  :)

The last month has definitely been busy.  At the beginning of the month, I found this new workout place called LifeTime Fitness.  It's only 5 minutes from our condo and it has hard core exercising classes every night after work.  I had been going to the YMCA but it only had kickboxing classes two times a week.  The new classes were kicking my butt but I loved them because I knew I was getting into shape. 

However, a week ago from this past Thursday, while I was attending the hardest workout classes, I sprained my ankle.  Major bummer!! Rich had to come get me on his bike so that he could drive our car to the urgent care center.  I was on crutches a few days.  Now I am walking and I am glad, but I still have a few weeks before I can exercise on it again.  There are a few pictures of my ankle in the gallery. 

Work has been very busy too.  This month I have been running test on my parts to make sure they will endure being dropped.  It was kind of fun but caused me to get behind on my everyday stuff.  I was also given 3 more projects, which is great!  Now, I just have to try to figure them out.

Rich is "hanging in there" when it comes to  grad school.  Some days are really bad and frustrating for him, while other days he trys to stay positive.  By Nov 1, he has to pick an advisor.  He is really stressed about making this big decision but we are just praying that God would once again direct him.

On Wednesday, I leave for the National Society of Women Engineers Conference in Nashville, TN.  I am so excited!!!  SWE is always fun.  I will also get to see Dr. V and the girls from Akron.  I love being in a place with so many other female engineers and  all the opportunities to grow professionally.  Although, it will be the first time Rich and I are apart since we have been married.  I am sure we will be fine but it probably will be different. 

I posted images in the gallery from our pumpkin carving party.  Our friends in Akron always got together this time of the year and carved pumpkins in years past, so I decided to do it at our place this year.  We invited people from church and Rich's school.  10 people came and we had a lot of fun.  I was glad it gave Rich time to get away from studies and enjoy himself.  After, carving pumpkins, some of us played spin Uno.  

Sunday, Sept 23rd

		Monday, 24 September 07 - 03:45 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

This was a good week over all.  For one, Rich brought home flowers for me on Wednesday on the bike.  Check out the pictures in the gallery.  They are so gorgeous and big.  I couldn't believe he brought them home on the bike.  For those of you who didn't know, one of our church friends is letting Rich borrow his bike to ride to school and back everyday.  It takes Rich about 25 minutes to get there but he really enjoys it.  He enjoys the physical exercise to get him to wake up and also that he is saving gas. 

Rich said that as he rode past females on his way home they all smiled at him.  This was because the flowers were so big that they stuck out of his book bag.  Rich also spent a couple of hours with me on Wednesday which was great!!  In the past three weeks of school, the only time he stops studying is to eat dinner with me.  I was glad for the extra hours (he did not have anything due the next day).

Rich has to pick an advisor to do research under by Nov 1st.  He was really excited that he was able to visit a potential lab this week.  The lab is called the visible heart lab and its located in the University's basement.  They were doing a surgery on a pig and he was able to touch its heart and lungs.   He was pretty excited about all the work the lab is doing on hearts.  This lab is not only apart of the University of Minnesota, but it is also supported by Medtronic.  Rich had to fill out a non-disclosure agreement, which meant that there were certain parts of his day that he could not tell me since Medtronic is one of my companies competitors.  They were even talking about Transoma, so he made sure to tell them that "my wife works for Transoma."

I also posted pictures of our china cabinet that Rich fixed after the movers broke the glass.  Last weekend, which Rich was studying, I worked on cleaning it up and put all my glassware and china in it.  It was glad to get our last boxes unpacked.  We are also grateful to finally settle with the movers.  They paid for just about everything they broke.

We would love to hear from you.  Send us an email when you get a chance.

 

Minnesota State Fair, Hiking

		Tuesday, 04 September 07 - 01:09 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

Hey!  We hope everyone had a great Labor Day.  We enjoyed our weekend with Lois.  Check out our photos in the Gallery.  The Minnesota State Fair was definitely an experience.  We were impressed.  We also enjoyed hiking at a new state park and then taking Lois to the "Mall."  We road a roll-a-coast for the first time.  Lois loved the fact that Sara screamed the whole time.  We love to hear from you.  Send us an email or give us a call.

Pictures of our new home and I-35W bridge

		Monday, 20 August 07 - 04:40 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

Hey everyone!  We know it has been awhile, but you will have to forgive us.  These last few weeks have been crazy. Also, only last week we had high speed internet installed for our home.

Today we finally finished hanging up some pictures in our room and the guest room.  We are glad to get rid of most the boxes.  Now that the boxes are gone, we realize we have plenty of space. God has truly blessed us.  Look at the gallery to see a lot of pictures of our place.

We also added pictures of the wreckage of the 35W bridge collapse.  We live about 6 minutes from it, but on a normal day we do not head that direction (south) because Sara's work is north of where we live.  However, the University of Minnesota's BME building where Rich will be is very close to the bridge.  When we went to show Sara's parents the University we saw the bridge.  The pictures we took of the collapsed bridge are also in the gallery. 

 

Painting our condo

		Monday, 30 July 07 - 04:05 AM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

This weekend consist of painting and more painting.  Check out our pictures in the image gallery of us painting.  Our condo is starting to feel like our home!!

We have a permanent place to stay!

		Thursday, 26 July 07 - 01:52 PM (GMT) By Sara Beck in General

Today we became owners of a homestead.  A couple weeks ago we made an offer on a condo in Roseville, MN.  Much to our suprise the sellers accepted the offer, even though it was $12,000 less than the listing price.  The older couple that owned it just wanted to be done with selling.  It was great for us because we need a place to get into quickly.  

The condo is very nice. It was built in 2001 and has only had one owner.  It is on the third floor and has vaulted ceilings.  Additionally, there are big windows that let in lots of light, a nice size kitchen, and a pink master bedroom (LOL.....we plan to paint it right away). It is also right between Sara's work and the University. 

We just started going to a church and folks there have volunteered to help us paint.

God continues to bless us!  He is so good.

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