7/30/2007 - Jamboree In The Hills 2007! Jessica and Matt joined us for the fun this year. The group was happy to have them and no one would have guessed they were rookies. As usual, everyone had a great time. Note: The second picture below shows marshmellows in flight during our Saturday afternoon battle. Very sticky but very fun...

6/12/2007 - New doors! It only took 2 months but the new doors have finally been installed. I painted the front door (black) last Saturday and we really like the way it coordinates with our house numbers, lamp post, mailbox, etc. The rear entry door has blinds in the glass so they cannot be disturbed by a wet, invasive snout. Also, the new storm door has a roll-away screen only at the top which makes everything very Able-friendly. Excellent!.

6/10/2007 - Whew! Well, sadly, the river birch in our front yard died and we needed to have it removed. Jenn found a great replacement at The Andersons and we brought it home on Friday. The juniper bush also had to be removed (spider mites) and the magnolia tree was dying because it was planted in a bad spot, too. You can see the results of our hard work below (mostly Jenn). As sad as I am to see the older, bigger tree go away, I really like how Jenn's plan came together. :)

5/30/2007 - The Evolution of Dance! Bonnie shared this with us over the weekend and we found it to be quite entertaining. After earning a Master's degree from BGSU, Jud Laipply created this presentation to demonstrate that life, like dance, is apt to change.

5/28/2007 - Happy Memorial Day! We've told a few people about Able's ability to eat corn right from the cob but until now, we haven't had video proof. Enjoy! (click on photo below to view)

5/22/2007 - Bonnie Scotland! Jenn's Mom is back from her trip across the pond. She sent me these photos to share with you and told us that her visit was a mix of great company, wonderful sites, and great technology (Falkirk Wheel below). Jenn and I can't WAIT to visit the family in Scotland later this year.

5/19/2007 - Bark Park opening day! Able met a new friend named Oscar (pictured with Able below) and they played very well together, he took a dip in the pond, and he ran around like a maniac as usual. It was a great day with perfect weather...

5/13/2007 - Happy Mother's Day! Jenn and I visited my Mom this weekend and helped work on her fence and cellar door. As you will see below, they look much better now:

5/2/2007 - While walking Able tonight, I ran into a neighbor of mine from when I lived in Northbridge Village and found out she's been keeping up with our lives via this website. Apparently there are some people stopping by that we didn't even know about. (Hi Sherry!) Okay, here's another photo of Able being cute with his new football. Tired of Able photos yet? Tough! :)

4/30/2007 - Snout! Okay, while not the most flattering shot of our beloved dog, this is a very realistic view into our world. At 7am every morning, we are greeted with THIS:

4/27/2007 - Happy Birthday to me! I just found this on-line and thought I would share it with everyone:

If You Can...

If you can live without caffeine,
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can ignore a friend's limited education,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
If you can honestly say that deep within your heart you have no prejudice
against creed, color, religion, gender preference, or politics,
THEN, you have ALMOST reached the same level of development as your dog.

-Author unknown

3/22/2007 - Vegas 2007! Jenn and I had a great time with a fun group of friends this year. March Madness and St. Patrick's Day make for a great combination. For photos, click on the happy couple below:

3/20/2007 - I just finished this book and it's really good, especially if you live with and love a Labrador...

3/5/2007 - A friend of mine sent this to me. I am so proud of my fellow Buckeyes. :)

3/1/2007 - I stole this directly from my brother's blog. Click on the photo below to read about New York City's very first automated parking garage. I love technology! :)

2/16/2007 - My friend Tony lives in Portland and he told me crazy tales about the city shutting down when 3 inches of snow fell upon it. I was very surprised by his story until I saw this video:

2/14/2007 - Happy Valentine's Day! My brother Jon sent me these photos yesterday and I had to share them with everyone. My nieces and nephews are so cute playing in the snow. Enjoy!

2/9/2007 - My sister's amazing bathroom transformation! Do you like to watch remodeling shows as much as we do? Well, my sister and her husband are in the middle of a huge project and it's going quite well. For those of you who don't know, she's an Interior Designer and this was her baby. It's about 90% complete and the difference is already extraordinary. Click on the photo below to see the progress:

2/2/2007 - Better late than never! We finally received some real snow. It was so bright at night that you could see fairly well with minimal lighting...

2/4/2007 - Ever wonder what Jeff and Jenn do in their spare time? Well, they take stupid videos of their dog, of course. Please click on the photo below to see Able attacking a lime. :)

1/28/2007 - Holiday Valley 2007! Our ski gang had another great weekend in beautiful Ellicottville, NY. Holiday Valley was in great shape and the skiing was amazing. To see photos from the trip, click on the shot of us below:

1/1/2007 - Happy New Year! We went to the party our group organized again at the University Plaza Hotel. Everyone booked rooms in advance and had a GREAT time, as usual...

12/30/2006 - Half bath update. We recaulked the sink (it was a mess), added a new light, new mirror, new paper holder, and a new toilet handle. What a difference! Sorry, no before photo of this one, however, there's a shot below of what the old light looked like.

12/25/2006 - Merry Christmas! We had another wonderful holiday with our families. First, to Cleveland for a visit with the Fink/Burger side. Then, over the river and through the woods to the Swerens side (driving photo below). This visit was particularly fun because we were able to spend time with Marcie and Jason's new baby twin boys!

12/11/2006 - Oh, Christmas Tree! Jenn and I actually put the tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving but I forgot to post a photo. We opted to use this nice artificial that my Mom gave me when I was still living in the condo. It even has fake dead branches scattered about. Isn't that clever?

12/10/2006 - New stockings! Hung by the chimney with care, these new additions arrived just in time for our first married Christmas together. If you look closely, you will see fun photos in our stocking holders, the cute bobble-head ornaments given to us by Bonnie, and the statuette of Saint Joseph poking out from behind a frame on the left (ask Jenn about this).

11/23/2006 - Thanksgiving blessings? We can't count them all. Jenn and I have decided to rotate our Thanksgiving trips and this year we were in Cleveland with Jenn's family (my family now, too!). It was a great time that left poor Able tuckered out after eating so much... :)

11/20/2006 - Another Buckeye Championship! Can you believe Tressel has OSU in the position to win another National Championship? The game on Saturday was hard fought but the Buckeyes did it again. Bonus, there were only about 40 arrests including one that Jenn and I witnessed for jaywalking. For ignoring the officer's request to not cross where he did, the young man will have to cough up $140. That's a lot of Ramen noodle soup...

Da Girls	Da Boys

ESPN College Gameday!	Great Apartment!

11/13/2006 - War of the Worlds! About a week ago, I looked out the kitchen window to see this guy hanging out and enjoying the sun. Did you think the Praying Mantis was endangered? So did I. As it turns out, we were both wrong... :)

11/12/2006 - A taste of Hawaii! While on our honeymoon, we found a little coffee shop not far from our hotel which served GREAT iced coffee and pineapple upside-down cake. We bought this fun pan when we returned and it makes 6 individual pineapple-shaped pineapple cakes. Jenn made some recently and they were quite good...

11/9/2006 - A little paint makes a big difference. Can you tell the things we've changed since we moved in over a year ago?

before	after

11/6/2006 - Bark Park has ended for the season! For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to be there, we thought we'd share a few photos showing how Able likes to spend his Saturdays. Well, minus the bath part... :)

10/10/2006 - New grill installed! It took a little bit of work to convert this new grill to use natural gas but it's quite convenient not needing to change propane tanks. We can officially consider the deck project complete now. What a difference! :)

9/20/2006 - Deck complete and painted! Also, the house trim was painted this week. We are very pleased with the result. If you want to see before photos, click on The House link. Here are some photos showing our new colors:

9/10/2006 - Able swims! Dublin held it's annual Pooch Pond today and we took the puppy over to see if he would finally decide to swim. We started in the baby pool to warm him up and then gently eased him into the big pool. He followed me right in but wouldn't leave my side. I steered him back to the shallow end like a tugboat to a barge. After a while, he became comfortable and even picked up a tennis ball on one of his short swims. We were quite the happy and proud parents. :)

9/1/2006 - Deck progress! We've nearly finished repairing the deck. After replacing the entire railing by custom cutting 76 railing balusters and pre-drilling 5 holes in each, I am ready to have this project behind us. We also replaced about 8 deck boards that were in bad shape. In about a week, it will be power washed and restained a color we choose. At some point, we'll need to buy a new grill, too. The old one has seen better days. Maybe a deck party will be in order once it's finished. Big thanks to David and Jenn for all of their help! :)

8/28/2006 - Wedding photos! Sorry for the delay, we had to go through them all and pick our favorites before sharing with the world. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this weekend the absolute greatest of our lives. Please click on the photo below to see them:

8/7/2006 - Just for fun, I looked at our website statistics today and I see that there was a HUGE spike in June right after the wedding. I didn't realize what an audience we had! Hold tight, we should have wedding photos very soon...

7/28/2006 - The Dublin Irish Festival is coming! We're planning to attend on Friday, August 4th. If you want some more information, click on their logo below:

7/27/2006 - Nothing from the photographer yet but we're getting a few pictures in from various sources. If you have some you would like to send us digitally, drop me a note and I will give you our FTP account information to make it super easy. My e-mail address is jeff@swerens.com. Here are some just sent in from Aaron Stout:

7/17/2006 - Bonnie to the rescue! Jenn's Mom was fortunate enough to get the experience of a lifetime. She was asked to participate in fire school and actually helped fight a fire in a burn building. You win the prize if you can pick her out in the photos below. The stories were great but the photos really don't do it justice (note the name of the street where the building is located):

7/11/2006 - Pure talent! My brother Jon played one of his piano instrumental songs ('Still Waters') during our wedding while I escorted my Mother down the aisle and Bill Semple escorted Jenn's Mother down the aisle. Right before the big event, Jon finished producing his CD of all original music. Some of his album was played during our reception, too. If you're curious about the album and want to hear some of the other tracks as well as how to buy it, please click on the album cover below:

7/10/2006 - We're home! Our honeymoon was unbelievable. In fact, it's difficult to find words to describe the beauty we encountered. Here are some photos (and some descriptions) which we hope you will enjoy (click on the photo of the sunset in front of Mama's Fish House below to open our Yahoo photo album):

6/26/2006 - Love birds! Yesterday, we were unwrapping some of the lovely gifts we received and we looked out the kitchen window to see two doves smooching on our patio furniture. Is it a good luck sign? We'll assume so since we feel like the luckiest couple in the world. Also, if you attended our wedding and you visit this site while we're on our honeymoon, please take a moment to sign our guestbook and share a story of your experience(s). Thanks and we'll see you when we return!

6/25/2006 - We're married! There aren't enough words to describe our happiness with how things went yesterday. While we try to think of them during our honeymoon, please check out some of the pictures by clicking on our photo below. Thanks to everyone (including Mother Nature) who helped make this the greatest weekend we've known!

6/15/2006 - I'm back in Dublin now and ready to help Jenn finalize all of the details still up in the air. Here's a photo I took with my phone during our big trip to Wrigley field. 9 days until the wedding!

6/13/2006 - My kind of town, Chicago is. I am in Chi-town for 3 days of training and a few of us are going to a Cubs game tonight. Yes, I know the wedding is 11 days away but this was necessary. Well, the training is necessary; the Cubs game is just good fun. I've never been to Wrigley field so I'm excited to spend $8 on a beer. See you soon! :)

6/9/2006 - New baby Cooper! I don't have all the details yet but Bill (my best man) just sent me this photo of their new daughter! (apologies to Jackie for posting it but I couldn't help myself) Now Matt has a little sister to protect...

5/25/2006 - Peonies! Jenn really loves these flowers and we are lucky enough to have 2 big bushes on the backside of our home. They are in full bloom (thanks to the ants) and they look great:

5/10/2006 - Here are some project updates for you. The gas light conversion to electric is now complete! All we need to do is bury the wire in the mulch bed and this one is finished. We watched it come on automatically last night and sure enough, it shut itself off when the sun came up this morning. That electric eye is so cool. Here are a couple photos of the new and improved lamp:

I also planted grass in the backyard where the playset used to reside. Since we sold it, we've been looking at dirt until a few weeks ago. The seed is finally starting to grow! Here's a shot:

5/8/2006 - Jenn took some photos of the house in full spring bloom. We are very lucky that the previous owners did such a nice job with the landscaping. We have added to it and maintain it but really, the foundation was there for a very beautiful yard.

5/7/2006 - Just when you think we have taken too many photos of Able, here is another one to throw on the pile:

5/3/2006 - Jenn and I were checking out what the weather might be like the day of our wedding (HOT) and we saw this countdown for our wedding day that we just had to steal. So here it is, the official wedding countdown:

5/2/2006 - MULCH! Jenn put down mulch in the patio area, around the deck, and everywhere else needed in the backyard on Sunday while I was playing volleyball (I'm a jerk). Yesterday, we finished up the front and while it looks great, we're both a bit sore. We really have some HUGE beds. Next project: Converting the gas light to electric. Intrigued? I bought a kit from Charm-Lite. More to come...

5/1/2006 - Congrats to Mitch & Sarah! They were married on Saturday and the ceremony was very nice. The reception was fun and at a great location (The Vault). It's also the last wedding where Jenn's name will be 'Fink' on the place card. Weird. Also, Chris Broz made fun of me for this website so I promised to make fun of him here. Did you know that he's related to Vanilla Ice? :)

Is this Chris or Vanilla? You make the call.

4/25/2006 - Last weekend I planted grass in the backyard to fill in the big dirt patches left from the playset we sold a year ago. The irrigation system is now ready to use for the season so I can finally stop watering the new seed manually. :) Can we have a nice yard this year? If Able will cooperate, yes. What are the odds? :)

4/10/2006 - Tax time! Okay, I spent hours yesterday doing our taxes online and still made a fairly major mistake. I now need to correct my submission with a 1040X. Sounds so experimental, doesn't it? What a mess...

3/28/2006 - The new job! Well, the first day was interesting. The network was down most of the day so everyone was scrambling trying to find ways to work around the issue. On top of that, a Rumpke truck ran into my Project Manager's car and crushed the front fender to the point where he couldn't drive it. Despite these funny events, the day went well and I think I'm really going to like it here at Advanced Computing. :)

3/21/2006 - Well, since my last day with Exel is this Thursday, I had to transfer my mobile number to a new phone and account. I was able to get a new Motorola RAZR V3c for FREE. Very fun phone. The first thing I did was take a picture of the puppy. Surprised?

3/18/2006 - I finally fixed the walls in the family room! Ugh, I couldn't look at them anymore and Jenn went to visit her friend Emily in Terre Haute this weekend so I took this opportunity to get it done. The previous owner had "installed" surround sound speakers running the cable via plastic conduit on the outside of the walls using double-sided tape on every inch of it. When I took it down, some of the wall came down with it. Whew, what a mess...

3/13/2006 - The fact that both Jenn and I have decided to switch jobs recently made me look back on some of the interesting positions I've held. For those of you who don't know, I was in radio for about 5 years. Most of that time I worked either in promotions or on the air. I found this clip on my PC and thought some people might enjoy it. This is from my last shift on Kicks Country 105-7 and we knew we were about to be laid off. Can you tell we didn't care that much? :)

Click here to listen.

3/10/2006 - Exciting news! Not only did I receive my bonus today from Exel, I also tendered my resignation. Confused? Full story: After hearing about my sister's exciting new opportunity with Pro Builders, I became a little envious of her extreme happiness. I've been treated very well by Exel but my role here hasn't exactly been my 'dream position'. Because of this, I sent out a single resume trying to determine what else might be out there for me. After a couple of interviews with Advanced Computing, Inc., I decided that I wanted to be back in the software development world. They made me a great offer earlier this week and I accepted. Turning in my resignation letter was difficult today but everyone has been very nice and definitely happy for me. More details to follow... ~Jeff

2/14/2006 - Happy Valentine's Day! Jenn bought me a beautiful figurine entitled "Together - For Those Who Have Found Their True Partner in Love and Life" (photo below). It's very nice and quite appropriate considering that we are only months from being married. Since I only buy things for Jenn that have a power switch, I gave her a portable set of speakers for her iPod so she can listen to it around the house. I also ordered some "deeply fudgey brownies" for her from Moveable Feast because I saw them on Oprah's Favorite Things for 2005. Did I just say I watch Oprah? Oh well, they were very, very good. We hope you had a nice day, too...

2/12/2006 - Okay, so we had a few Lowe's gift certificates from Christmas and the strong need for a vacuum cleaner that wouldn't clog with all of the pet hair we seem to live IN rather than with. The answer? The DC-14 Dyson Animal! As soon as Jenn plugged it in last night she fell in love. I think it will help with our allergies as the exhaust air is clean and it comes with a lifetime HEPA filter. The main issue we've had is that we seem to keep going through normal cleaners due to all of the hair. If you want to read more about how this thing works, click on the photo below:

2/6/2006 - A picture says a thousand words.

Even better than the Pittsburgh Steelers winning Super Bowl XL, Andrew sent an 'after' photo of his refurbished house (full story on 1/21/2006). They really did some incredible work. Here are the photos:

Before	After

2/2/2006 - Go Steelers! Yes, this is an exciting time to be a Steelers fan. I actually sent away for a Terrible Towel just for the occasion. I haven't cared about the Super Bowl outcome for quite a while. Should be a lot of fun to watch. :)

1/21/2006 - We visited Andrew tonight at his new house to celebrate Jodi's birthday. I have been very curious to see the place due to the renovation stories he shared with us. All I could find on the Franklin County Auditor site was this "before" photo:

Hopefully he can e-mail me some "after" photos to post. He and his Father really did an amazing job.

1/16/2006 - Can you believe we've been in the house a year now? I feel like we have a lot that we still want to do but after thinking about it a bit, I realize we have accomplished a lot in the first 12 months. New stove/microwave installed, master closet painted/redesigned with more shelves/rods added, both guest bedrooms painted, guest bathroom wallpaper removed and painted, new foyer light, two layers of wallpaper removed in master bathroom, master bedroom border removed, new lights in master bathroom, master bathroom painted, new porch light, laundry room painted, new lights/blinds in guest bedrooms, cable routed to office, pantry/coat closet painted, landscaping, trees trimmed. Wow! I hope we can continue this pace in 2006 but with our wedding in June, we may have to slow down a bit and just enjoy this year. :) If you want to see some photos of our work, click on The House link to your left.

12/23/2005 - Able helped us open gifts last night. Yes, we opened them early. Hey, it's our house, we can do what we like... :)

12/15/2005 - Merry Christmas from Able & Pumpkin:

12/14/2005 - Bonus Able photos! He loves the snow...

12/13/2005 - Christmas tree photo as promised:

12/10/2005 - Jessica and Matt are married! It was really a great day. The weather was perfect, the ceremony was wonderful, and the reception was a blast. Now these two newlyweds have escaped the cold here and are in Maui for their honeymoon. If you want to see more photos of the big event, click on the happy couple:

12/7/2005 - We bought our first live Christmas tree for the new house! Both the cat and dog seem to be leaving it alone so far but it hasn't been decorated yet. We will add a photo when we're finished. Jenn has some holiday decor out and about but not enough as far as she's concerned. She did put a Rudolph book holder out in the living room but Able went right for his cute red nose so we had to move it out of his reach. Ah yes, life with a puppy... :)

12/5/2005 - The last of the wallpaper is gone! I also painted the master bathroom this weekend with matching paint from the bedroom and it came out pretty well. Jenn picked out some great new lights and I have installed 2 of them so far. We are very happy we can now use this room again. The guest bathroom was getting a bit crowded. :)

In case you forget what it looked like previously, here's an old photo: