Random – The Rottman Family Adventures

Dissertation Defense

January 30, 2013 by Jeff Leave a Comment

So after a solid 5 years the day had finally arrived. Although it is fairly certain by the time you get to this point, it is still rather stressful. I essentially get to stand up and present my last few years worth of research and then get it poked and prodded by both my peers and my committee consisting of my advisor and 2 other professors. I had invited a good number of people and quite a few were able to attend. The little room was standing room only! Many people from my department came as well as Phil and Luke from Rincon and Jon Vandegeest made the trek across the street as well. I really appreciated having them all there. Then, after about and hour of presentation, 30 minutes of questions and another 2 hours of questions and discussion with my committee, it was official!

It was pretty surreal. It was hard to really grasp that it was all done. I think I’ve just now started to realize that I’m never going back to that. We had made great plans for Beth to be able to attend and to let Clara sleep in my office, but Clara just didn’t want to cooperate, so Beth got to hover outside in the hallway. Luckily we got to grab a relaxing lunch afterward with just our family. I was really thankful for all of the work Beth put in to getting snacks and drinks for the defense as well as getting herself and Clara there for the day.

That night Beth and I made plans to do something we had been planning to do for quite some time. I got a tattoo and Beth got her nose pierced! We had debated it since our Spain trip (we didn’t do it then since Beth was pregnant) and decided that we wanted to get it done in Tucson. We went to the Black Rose in downtown Tucson for Beth’s piercing, which went really fast. We then had to go to their other location on 4th Ave to get my tattoo as all the artists at that location were booked up for the night. It ended up being a little bit later night than we had planned, which made it interesting with Clara, but she did great. The tattoo (which I’ll get a picture up of at some point) is of a cross inside of triangle. I chose this design as it was reminiscent of the picture that Ricky Jones (our RUF pastor at State) drew for me when describing the gospel. It represents the cross reaching down from the Godhead to man. It was the first time that I truly understood its power.

October 2012

January 27, 2013 by Beth 1 Comment

A few pictures from October in Tucson:

Here is a picture of the video monitor. When people ask about accessories for a baby… this is one thing we would recommend. Not the cheapest thing but really helps set you at ease. Thank you Nana and Pops!

Walcott and Clara are getting along well. He likes to keep nearby.

Some of my favorites from the month…

Three Month Pictures:

September 2012

January 26, 2013 by Beth Leave a Comment

So, it has been a long time! Also, I think I should note that this is my first blog post! Although I still hold that Jeff is the better writer, he has been rather busy lately so I may be taking over some of the narrating of the Rottman happenings. A lot has happened! Here is just a brief recap of the last few months that we have neglected.

Here is Clara in her swaddle. This was a huge help to us. Initially, she would not have it. We kept trying though and it became a definite necessity!

We had a visit from Memare and all took Clara for her first trip to the U of A. First stop, Allegro, for the best gelato in town before walking to campus. Notice our Arizona gear…

We even wandered through all of the tailgates before a U of A football game.

Waiting at the doctor’s office. Imagine that

Our first trip to the grocery store (just Clara and me) to Trader Joe’s, of course. As you can see, Clara and her carseat take up most of the cart which makes shopping interesting. We both made it unscathed!

Clara, Daddy, and Mortimer the Moose while I was away at an amazing women’s bible study (which I miss so much now). One of the few times I was out of the house without our little girl. It definitely felt funny not to have her in tow.

Two month pictures

Gold Cup

June 22, 2011 by Jeff 1 Comment

Got home a little early to watch the US beat Panama 1-0. It was a pretty slow game, but the result was good. It’s pretty sad that the US national team is in the semi finals and I still have to watch the games on Telemundo. Maybe one of these days US soccer will matter to the US people. Depressing.

Now to see if Honduras can hold of the Mexican onslaught…

Dogs vs. Cats

June 10, 2011 by Jeff 2 Comments

Exhibit one for why cat people are weirder than dog people:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTwcCVajAc&feature=player_embedded

Saturday around the House

June 5, 2010 by Jeff

Beth and I got up early this morning after a late night showing of “Bottle Rocket” in Nick and Betsy’s backyard. We worked for a few hours in the yard before it got too hot. We were able to clean up a little and shovel about 15 wheelbarrows full of rock out to the side yard. I also made a trip to Home Depot and got new pads for our swamp cooler. We’re still looking at upgrading to AC but its pricey so we’re trying to figure out the best plan. I took Walcott to Home Depot (which he loves) and although they technically have a rule against it, the store employees all really love the dogs that come in. I then ran through Chick-fil-a and picked up a free lunch we received that last time we went there. It seems we are always getting free Chick-fil-a items (which I won’t complain about). Also, since I went through the drive-thru with Walcott they gave him his helping of chicken nuggets as well. For those of you who don’t know about this… Chick-fil-a will refrigerate some of the chicken tenders that have been out for a while and give them to dogs in the drive-thru. Walcott seems to know when we get to Chick-fil-a and always perks up. Beth and I then took a trip up to the Mac Store to get her computer checked out and stopped at AJ’s for a drink where I got an awesome ginger beer by Ginger People.

I have been kind of obsessed with ginger lately so it was great. On the way home we swung by the new REI that just opened a few weeks ago. I love that store and could probably spend a ton of money. I picked up some toe clips for my new bike (the replacement for the stolen one). We’re now looking forward to a salad and a nice relaxing night at home.

Easter Earthquake

April 4, 2010 by Jeff 1 Comment

After enjoying a nice game of Bananagrams last night with Claire and Mark, we woke up to a beautiful Easter morning. I have really been looking forward to Easter this year, mostly due to one of the last books we read in our reading group by N.T. Wright. Although he has some odd theological views overall, this book focused on our views of the resurrection and heaven. It also was very challenging about how we should celebrate Easter more than any other Christian holiday. It should be met with great exuberance and joy. This has really spurred me to dwell on the grandiose nature of the Resurrection. It really is a beautiful and truly life-giving time. After a great service we had some friends over for lunch. Beth made a great spread of turkey, green beans, steamed broccoli, pasta, and some mixed fruit. Ben and Lis brought a freshly picked salad, David brought some flowers from his yard (see below) and Karissa brought an awesome angel food/berries/whipped cream dessert.

The oddest part of the day came about 3:30ish. While we were all sitting around the couches, I noticed that the hanging light we have over our dining room table was swinging. I asked whether anyone had bumped it, but it seemed that no one had gotten up in the past 20 minutes or so. After some jokes about our house being haunted, we just wrote it off as odd. Then, on our way out to Bret and Val’s for bible study, Micheal Eiting called and told me that there was an earthquake in Baja California, Mexico at 3:40 and that it had registered all the way in Tucson. Although hard to believe, I took him at his word until I was able to get home and check it out. Apparently there was a magnitude 7.2 earthquake followed by two 5 point aftershocks. Beth then remembered that our friends are down in Rocky Point, Mexico for the weekend and that they probably got a really good shaking there. We look forward to hearing some stories from them when they return. It was an exciting evening and we can now say we survived our first earthquake.

BTO

July 24, 2009 by Jeff Leave a Comment

Beth, Mary and I decided to go to BTO (By the Ounce) Frozen Yogurt tonight after dinner. They just opened a new one near our house and considering Beth’s obsession (and maybe mine as well) we really needed to check it out. It sounded especially good after my 2 hour long soccer game this evening. Beth, Mary and Walcott came to watch and let Walcott run around a bit. BTO was pretty good (and a cool concept that I might copy one day). The yogurt was delicious and they had probably 20 flavors and (as evidenced by the second picture) ESPN.

BTO

BTO ESPNface