Posts Tagged ‘tucker’

The Sunshine State

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Howdy-

I thought I would get on and give a quick update on our life in Florida. Currently we have about 2 weeks till Baby Tucker will be here and we are getting really excited. Nichole has spent time getting the baby’s room together sewing and crocheting. I have just been going to work and spending the rest of the time with the horses and projects around the house. I have really enjoyed spending more time riding and working with the horses.

It has really been sunny lately as we have not had rain for about three weeks and we have enjoyed time outside and playing beach volleyball with the branch. But tonight we have a thunderstorm forming and had a lightening storm that I caught on the video camera. It was pretty cool and storms like this was one thing I loved about the south on my Mission. Also I have purchased a weather station and will be putting up a weather page and webcam on the website that will give everyone a live feed at our house and the weather so you can see the weather here. We hope everyone is well and talk to you soon.

http://www.tetonedge.net/videos/Lightening.flv

Love

Derek and Nichole

The Big Move

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

So first of all we are all safe and sound here in Florida. That being said there was some pretty interesting stuff that happened on the way.

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The first day we left it was Saturday morning the 16th. We got up and got everything ready, thanks to Wendy and Charlie we got the hay secured in the front stall of the trailer and then caught the horses and got ready to go. Istu was great, but Emma decided she really did not want the shipping boots on and did not really want to get into the trailer. After we did get the boots on and her in the trailer she kicked at Derek as he was closing the door. He got a bruise on his hip but is fine. We eventually came to figure out that she was coming into heat and that is why she was such a butt on the whole trip. We were able to stay at a boarding barn about a mile from Derek’s Aunt and Uncle’s house. The second night they stayed at another boarding place in TN which was really nice, we were able to put them out for a little while on pasture which seemed to help a little. Emma did fine the first and second days in the trailer but did end up kicking Istu on the third day so he is a little swollen on his right hind leg. He is not lame but it is tender as she gave him a pretty good kick. They did really well overall and are adjusting pretty well to the new place, though Emma is still not sure what is going on with the goats at the next door neighbor’s place.She keeps Nubian milking goats and sells the milk so it gets a little loud around milking time.

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Summit did really pretty well, she stayed in the truck with Derek and did sleep some. She got on pretty well with Derek’s Uncle and Aunt’s dog Shelby when we stopped at there house in Kansas City KS the first Night. Thanks so much Uncle Gene and Aunt Marjean for letting us stay! The second night in the hotel she was so tired she just crashed with Sam on her bed. The final day she was really glad to get here and be able to be in a house. She has really liked going out to the barn to be with the horses and inspect the property every few hours, though she still has not gotten a sleep schedule down so she is pretty tired. She made a new fried, Souki, the great Pyrenees puppy from next door. They like to wander around the property together and she is really cute.

The cat did not fair quite so well on the trip. She spent the first few hours of the trip car sick and threw up in her carrier. She then proceeded to poop in the carrier as well so she was just not feeling very well. After Sam got her cleaned up, since I can’t touch the cat poop she seemed to do ok for the rest of the day. We fed her a little the next morning and she threw that up so on the third day she did not get breakfast and did really well all the way to the new house. She is liking the new windows and all of the lizards that move around the windows.

Derek, Sam and I all weathered the trip really well. The first night was great thanks to Uncle Gene and Aunt Marjean for letting us stay with them in KS. It was a little long for a first day but it was nice to see the family and spend a little time with them.  The second night was not too bad. We stayed in a hotel in Fairview TN, just out of Nashville by about 20 miles. It was close to the place where we were keeping the horses. We all got some sleep, though not a much as we would have liked. The third day seemed to be the longest, even though it was the shortest drive time. We got stuck in traffic after an accident outside of Nashville, so we were moving along at a crawl. That was when Emma got Istu in the trailer,  After the Accident things moved pretty well until we hit just this side of the AL, FL line when the speed limit started dropping. It went down to 45 in some places with stop lights through the small towns so it was kind of frustrating, but we made it through. We stopped at the official Florida welcome center, mostly because I needed to go to the bathroom for the hundredth time it seemed. We were all glad to get to Florida and be able to be at the house. Thanks so much to my sister Sam who helped me drive, and even though it was a little scary sometimes, we made it and I could not have done it without here.

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I have taken some pictures of the new house and put them in the gallery. It is just the outside, since we don’t have any furniture yet so I figured I would post pictures of the inside of the house once we get unpacked.

Hope all of you are doing well!

Derek and Nichole

Thesis Done!

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Well the thesis was completely finished on friday with printing and is off to the binding. It was a relief that it is all done. The pdf for the thesis is below for anybody that wants to read the 137 pages. I also reposted the slides from my defense as well which is a nice summary of the thesis. Hope all is going well.

JDT M.S. Thesis

MS Defense Presentation

Derek

Passed!

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Well I have just passed my M.S. Defense and have that step out of the way on to my PhD. So stress has been relieved. I have posted my slides from the presentation below and will be posting the actual thesis once it is finalized. Also I have more pictures of Nichole I need to post as she is looking more pregnant. We also have our ultrasound on March 3rd and are really excited for that. Well I better go take a break and prepare for a class, there never seems to be a break.

MS Defense Presentation

Derek

Linux and Code

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

I have started working on coding programs again in Linux and have a link to the menu for my current work and to my archlinux repository which contains the binaries of the programs. Hope everyone is doing well.

Derek

More Updates

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Well we have both been busy with school, work, and play. We just had another Doctor visit and the report was that the mother and baby are all healthy. We also scheduled the ultrasound for March 3rd and we are really excited for that. Also, everybody has been asking for a picture of Nichole, so we there is one below for your enjoyment. As you can tell she is not really showing yet, but soon will.

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Nichole has just been keeping busy with work and teaching riding lessons. Derek has finished the actual writing of his entire thesis and now is just finishing up the revisions with his advisor and that is the part he really loves ;-) .  Also we spent the last weekend with Tim and Amanda and went skiing up at Loveland at had a beautiful clear day and a great day skiing. We have posted pictures in the gallery from the top of the resort and you can see Grey’s and Torrey, Keystone Ski Resort, and Breckenridge Ski resort so everybody enjoy. We then spent the rest of the weekend with the Millers and the Haynies going to church and watching the Superbowl. We had a great time seeing our friends. Hope everyone is well.

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Love,

Derek and Nichole

Skiing in Jackson and a Baby update

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick note to update you on everything.  First, we went to the Doctor on Monday and everything is good. The Doctor met Derek and was able to listen to the heartbeat. He said it was good, right in the middle around 150 bpm. Everyone says I am still pretty little, meaning they can’t even tell I am pregnant, but I am only 14 weeks so I am sure I will be getting bigger soon. We have also added a counter to the blog for everyone to keep track.

We were also able to go up to Jackson with Tim and Amanda Miller to go skiing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. It was so much fun. The weather was great, with some sun in the morning then some good snow in the afternoon. It was the first time for me and Amanda there and were were able to have alot of fun on the blues, double blues and even some blacks. We ventured up the Gondola, but not on the tram this time. Derek and Tim were up the Tram and in the bowls most of the day. We all came home mostly exhausted  but really glad that we went. It was a great day and fun to spend time with our friends. We have some great pictures and a video so check it out. We hope you are doing well!

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Love

Derek and Nichole.

Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

Well we just got back into town from Nichole’s parents in Chesapeake, VA.  We had a wonderful time with her family and it was a good relaxing break from school and work for the both of us. We had the usual Christmas exciting festivities with presents and so forth. We also made a trip down to a museum in Norfolk, VA which had a tour of the USS Wisconsin and displays of US Naval History and was very interesting and enlightening. We also went to a gun shop in downtown Norfolk which has three floors, one for the guns and supplies, the second was nothing but ammunition, and the third was an indoor pistol range. We took some time at the range and Derek showed everybody how to shoot a pistol. We were able to shoot a Ruger 357 Mag Revolover, Ruger 38 Special Revolver, and a Glock 27 .40. Also at the range they had target called ‘Al Quida’ and Derek just had to shoot at it.  For the final dinner we had a lobster, crab, and shrimp boil which was a fantastic feast. There are plenty of pictures in the Gallery of all our Christmas events.  Hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Love,

Derek and Nichole

Christmas Letter

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

Merry Christmas All-

I figured most everybody has received our Christmas Card and letter. But for those of you have not I have posted it below. I hope everyone has a great holiday this year. Nichole and I will be going to Virginia to spend Christmas with her parents and we are looking forward to spending some time with them. Also we went skiing this past weekend and the slopes are looking good and even got a few good powder runs in.

Christmas Letter 08

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Love,

Derek and Nichole

Published

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

So this is pretty cool. I got an invite to submit an article to sea technology magazine and it was published this month. I will post the pdf of the article when I get a chance.

http://www.sea-technology.com/

It was neat to see this on on the website

COHERENCE-BASED TARGET DETECTION AND
CLASSIFICATION FOR SIDE SCAN SONAR IMAGERY

J. Derek Tucker and Mahmood R. Azimi-Sadjadi (Colorado State University) explore the use of canonical correlation analysis for sonar target detection and classification.

I hope everyone is well and Merry Christmas!

Derek


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