building systems

"...chloro-fluoro-carbons...somewhat problematic..."

"...compression expansion process.  How is that making sense?"

"...spraying water in the form of mist, tiny droplets..."

"...swamp cooler..."

Picture this:

25 of my colleagues and I, all
laden with
notebooks, iPads, pens, Red Bull, & the like
crammed around
8 rectangular tables
listening to
1 Italian man and
soaking in
as much of the information that we could while
going over
his powerpoint presentations that seemed to go on for days,
covering any & all
aspects of building systems.

For 15 hours.
On Friday & Saturday.
For a very pretty penny that we each had to pay.

I know you're wondering why you yourself did not receive an invitation to such a wonderful and exhilerating event such as this.  Please except my deepest apologies if you are feeling left out.

"...transformers are one of the toughest topics on the test...it's just how they're connected..."

"...the same device for multiple uses..."

"...the most difficult in this section..."

The road to becoming a licensed Architect is no cake walk.  Not that I think that any other degree plan or professional path is just a walk in the park; it's just that architecture & interiors is all that I know.  In a nutshell I have to complete the equivalent of about 3 years worth of specified hours [program regulated] and pass 7 exams [state administered] in order for my Master's degree to count for anything.  All three of these entities have to be paid at regular intervals in order to talk to one another and to hold/store electronic records required by each of them.  It often feels like one of those claw machines where you keep trying to rescue a stuffed animal or iPhone with 'The Claw'.  'Quick!  I need more money!  I'm almost there!!!'  It gives me something work toward, though.

Anyways, I took and passed my first exam back in May [#1 reason for my prolonged absence] and have recently started studying for the next two.  The seminar that I took this past weekend was a prep/study class that is supposed to have an excellent pass rate.  We'll see about that.  So far, though, I think it was well worth it.

"...we will represent with diagrams that physically will not have anything to do with the way they are actually configured..."

"...voltage...""...names do not physically follow the physical characteristics of the object..."

At many points during the most exciting 15 hours of my life I reminded myself that I have three special men in my life that should be able to help me to grasp most of the concepts and material covered on this next exam.  Allow me to introduce them to you:

Daddy...
Biography:  B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Great University of Alabama
Experience:  30+ years as an Oil & Gas Production Engineer and various other roles; ask Daddy :)
Qualifications:  Having known me since the day I was born it is safe to say that he knows me pretty well.  It proves very beneficial that he can differentiate between the many faces of me: the 'I get it' face, the 'I'm nodding yes because I don't want to say no' face, the 'What?!?!?!' face, and the 'Brain overload' face
@ Stake:  Due to the nature of our relationship, absolutely no bribing will be necessary as Daddy does not want me to be a financial burden to him for the rest of my life...especially when he can no longer claim me on his tax return :)

Jeff...
Biography:  B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University
Experience:  Designs things and works with valves.  I probably know even less about what Jeff does/has done than Daddy.
Qualifications:  While we have only known each other for a little under 2 years now, we have dated for 1+ and let's just say he's had a crash course in learning The Faces.  :)
@ Stake:  Due to the nature of our relationship, a tiny bit of bribing in the form of homemade ice cream sandwiches and back scratches may be required.  But ultimately, my success will eventually pay off for him when he no longer has to give me money to buy his birthday and Christmas presents :)

Andrew...
Biography:  currently pursuing his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University
Experience:  Responsible for the care and testing of rats one summer.
Qualifications:  Material and equations should be the freshest in his young brain and he has the most current text books.  As far as The Faces go, well, he is my brother and faces don't seem to phase him.
@ Stake:  Due to the nature of our relationship, bribing would normally be necessary.  But in this one case here he will get to one-up his older sister :)

"...logic is sometimes hard to find..."

There is constant debate and struggle within the courts as to whether an Architect is actually needed; many engineers think they can do it all themselves.  And, according to the list above, it would seem that they definitely do have the knowledge and education needed to pass these exams.  And maybe they do.  But I would like to point out the fact that I [that is, one person] will have to draw from three [more in some cases] different sources and backgrounds to learn all that needs to be learned and understood in preparation for my exam.  And this is only the second of seven :)  hehe  I only kid, mostly ;)

memory verse 10: John 10:7-10

Wow!  More than a month has gone by without even a peep from me :/  Trust me, though, I have plenty to say just little time to say it!  Still trying to get back into the routine but until then read and cherish the following verses.

John 10:7-10

New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

The Shepherd and the Flock

⁷ So Jesus said again, “What I’m about to tell you is true. I am like a gate for the sheep. ⁸ All those who ever came before me were thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I’m like a gate. Anyone who enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out. And he will find plenty of food. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so they can have life. I want them to have it in the fullest possible way. 

2016 Olympic bound!

I LOVE the Olympics!  I look forward to the opening ceremonies from the moment of the finale of the closing ceremonies.  I just wish it came more than once every leap year.

My world pretty much stops from the moment that the Olympic torch is lit.  And thank goodness for DVR, right?!  I mean what did we do before we could watch, pause, replay, & store each amazing feat for later's enjoyment?!

Our apartment also gets pretty intense during the Olyimpic games--much like yours I would imagine--and not because of the crazy conversations that is our usual norm.  In fact, it's quite the opposite as breathing even becomes scarce.  From anywhere within a 10 minute radius of our apartment exlamations of every emotion can be heard:

What?! Wha-huh?!!??!

DID you just SEE that?!

Hold up, You have to SEE THAT.

REwind that...     

I don't even understand...

...is that even POSS-ABLE?!

That. IS.  NOT.  NORMAL.

Awww...I LOVE her...she is too cute and SOOO  sweet...

...he had to OVERCOME so much to be here at the games with us...

...YES, US...we are a team.

Team USA

...and they need me...they said so...it's like I'm standing there beside them saying 'Trust Your Training' as they go on to compete...

....awwwww....Missy Franklin and I would SO be BFFs!

And so forth...and don't act like you have no idea what I'm talking about.  You know good and well that 50% of those exclamations came out of your mouth while watching Gabby fly around the uneven bars or Oscar running around the track while balancing on two hockey sticks.

I got so inspired by the Olympics this year that I went out yesterday and walked/ran 5.42 miles.  I thought for sure I would see one of my new Olympic buddies at the park.  They had come to cheer me on, of course, just as I have done for the past two weeks.  I found out though that Olympians are also talented in the sport of hiding.  They hid so well that I never even saw them in any of my 5.42 miles!  But I could feel their encouragement :)

So I guess that's what I will be doing now in my spare time since the Olympics are no longer on TV.  Regular TV bores me.  Case in point: Emily had to wake me up last night after I had fallen asleep SITTING UP on the sofa while watching 'regular' TV.  No way that would have happened if Missy had been leading her lane to the gold medal!  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the shock my body expereienced on the dusty 5.42 trail just hours before ;)

I've been trying to figure out what sport I want to compete in in the Brazil Games.

Gymnastics?  I've always been too tall.  Although I can do a mean LEFT-Handed kartwheel.

Swimming?  I've always said if I could come back in another life I would definitely be a swimmer.  But do you know how early those swim kids get up for practice BEFORE school?!  No thank you.

Basketball?  I DID play basketball for a few years but have you SEEN how big those girls are?!

Diving?  I jumped off of the middle platform [6ish meters?!?!] ONE time and that hurt.  And that was jumping 'pencil' style.

Speed Walking?  While I AM blessed in the hip category these hips DO lie as they DO NOT work that way.

Volleyball?  That seems somewhat feasable.  I would have to take a 4 hour course to understand the rules and scoring, though.

Runner?  I can barely move today after my stint at the park yesterday.  I'm sure it would get easier...

Or I could be like my uber-cool sister.  Everytime we watched the runners line up she would say, 'UGH; I want a runner's body.'  But when I would remind her that there is literally a track across the street she would say, 'Well I want the body of a runner without the training of a runner.'  Every time.  Don't worry, I let her down easy.

Well...it's looking like the only ticket I'm going to get to the 2016 Olympics is the one that I buy myself. But I'll keep working on it.  A girl can dream!

that can't be you, July, can it?!

Seriously?!  Seriously?!?!?!  Who turned the calendar to July?  I recommend that whoever did so stay in hiding at least until August when I will be on the lookout for whomever is responsible for rolling us over to August.

Wow.

I think this will now officially be my third attempt at coming back from my hiatus.  This relationship is startimg to resemble a breakup that just won't happen and stay 'happened'; time after time trying to come back together and force some sort of peaceful happiness out of obvious misery.  I DON'T WANT TO END UP LIKE ONE OF 'THOSE COUPLES' (Bloggettes & their PDTLS--Public Display of Their Life's Story).  Nope, I won't let that happen.  I do not want that to happen.  I LOVE blogging and by golly it's the only way I can remember all of my life's comings & goings, struggles & victories, dark days & streams of sunshine, much less how many pairs of scissors I own (9: 1-orange handled, 2- black handled, 1-hair cutters, 1-pink bedazzled handled, 1-blue handled, 1-magenta handled, 1-black & red handled, 1-athletic tape cutters.  Plus a handful of scallopped scrapbook ones but we will stick with the original nine.).  I do not normally sit around and count my scissors; although this past week's findings might give me reason to reconsider.

You see, I have been really very busy.  Really.  Truly.  Very.  Busy.  Like most of you if I had to guess.  In my pastor's sermon yesterday, he pointed our need to stop, rest, & relax for one-third of every day.  Wow!  Don't know that I ever have done that consistently.  Maybe when I was six; but then again,  I did, after all, have a new baby brother to be getting prepared for at the ripe ole age of six.  That's it!  It's all Andrew's fault!!!  Well, probably not so but, hey, it did start somewhere.

Anyhow...will leave with a picture from this weekend.  We went to visit J's family.  Both brothers, SIL, and nephew were all at his parents' this weekend.  It was great getting to see everyone and to celebrate Tom's birthday.  Happy Birthday!

Baby Cowboy Cam

Birthday Grandpa....who looks like they're having the most fun?!

memory verse 8: Colossians 1:9-12

I officially fell off the bandwagon :(  But today is a new day; Praise the Lord!  Here are the verses that I am committed to memorizing for the next 2 weeks:

Colossians 1:9-12

New International Version (NIV)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^[e] 10 so that you may live a life worthyof the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^[f] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

playing catch-up

What does one do when the absence from her blog—with the exception of Bible memory verses—is greater than that of 2 months?!  Many things, I suppose: gather all scribbles & journal blurbs found in, around, and under any and all purses, beds, boxes, car seats, and magazines, organize them in some type of logical manner, and start writing from the beginning.  While this is the most comprehensive and informative method it also yields the greatest frustration and inevitably the most inaccurate.  Just think if the scribbled notes got out of order?!

An overall summary of the past 10 weeks could potentially suffice but I'm not sure if blog posts can be that long.  Plus, I run the risk of losing both your interests and mine.

A well thought out and visual timeline could also be nice.  But this leaves me to determine what events are significant and interesting to you as I'm pretty certain you don't care one bit when & for how long I studied every day of my absence.  And yes, I did keep track of that.

I could just go ahead and omit the past 10 weeks of my life, start with today and move on with life as a blogger.  This could cause some confusion; I can only imagine the number of emails I would receive when I start talking about studying for Test #2: What happened to Test #1?  Did you pass?  What was the test even for?!  Do you know that studying and taking tests takes years off your life?!  So you see, this route will simply not work.

There are several other ways I could tackle this task but I think for me personally, my best bet is to do a little mash-up, if you will.  Collect my calendar, iPhone pictures, emails, thoughts, washclothes (oops, that's the laundry list), and the many pink sticky notes that cover most of my surrounding surfaces and do what I can to organize it all.  A whole lot has happened since my last entry; we have lots to talk about.  So, if squirrels start studying for the A.R.E., Zac Brown's Band is uncovered in the depths of my storage unit, or I lasso an apartment, please understand and hold your comments until the end.

And with that, I will leave you until tomorrow...think of this as the Prologue to a really good novel or at least a mediocre one :)

Ciao!

memory verse 7: Romans 1:18-20

Time is flying by!  Can you believe that it's already time for the seventh verse of the year?!

Romans 1:18-20

New International Version (NIV)

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.