Hello world

Yep, that's right. Your favorite tall, smartcastic scholar and chlorine-lovin' journalista have finally started their own blog.

We decided to bite the bullet after receiving several e-mails from friends who deemed blog invitations as sufficient forms of communication. Seeing this opportunity to keep in touch with people without cluttering up our inboxes or racking up cell minutes, we opted to enter the blog scene fashionably late.

I must admit I was initially reluctant to undertake a writing endeavor that I would not get paid for. However, after sitting in the library the other day overhearing an instructor kindly inform her class of 70-year-olds what a PC is and provide a tutorial on how to use a mouse, I realized that I didn't want to be left behind in the tech revolution simply because I considered my preferred methods of communication – calling and e-mailing – as superior to texting, Facebook, and other Gen Z frivolities. So I decided to start a blog because I felt compelled to expand my cultural competence and engage in today's cyber-active social norms. That, and I was bored.

You shouldn't have too much trouble telling which one of us is writing (hint: I try to limit my usage of the terms "awesome" and "booyah" to at least every other paragraph). I should note that Colin is a veteran blogger, having collaborated with Gavin on a site dedicated to Seattle sports fandom. The aptly named Crushed Optimists blog had a good run but sadly fell by the wayside after Colin and Gavin discovered the wonders of Xbox Live. In this blog, we'll try to provide you with the latest Hesse/Brandler family news, commentary on our favorite shows (no Lost 'till January – bummer of all bummers!), thought-provoking theological discussions (our small group is studying Revelation – get your pre-trib/post-trib arguments ready), and of course lots of fun photos, mostly of our crazy-cute-but-also-just-plain-crazy dog, Kaffy.

Those of you who've had the endurance to read this rather lengthy post up to this point are probably wondering, "When is she going to stop rambling and actually talk about what's going on in their lives?" Well, that's easy enough to do in 100 words or less: Colin is finishing his final year of grad school at ASU, where he keeps busy working on his dissertation and representing the minority population of white, heterosexual, Christian males. I'm still working as an editor at a multimedia company in Fountain Hills, home of one of the world's largest fountains and a significant number of old people. Kaffy is currently honing his annoyance skills by barking at the thunder during monsoon season. We are continually grateful for the many blessings God has given us and are extremely thankful that our hope is in Christ and not any particular political candidate. (Much more could be said regarding that last thought but I had to stick to my 100-word limit).

As you can tell from this first post, other than being wildly entertaining, our blog won't contain much in the way of useful information. It'll mainly serve as a way for us to keep in touch with friends and family and as an outlet for our random musings. If that doesn't sound appealing, go read someone else's blog. But I can almost guarantee they won't have videos of ridiculously cute toy poodles being forced to dance to "We will rock you" like we do.