Making Stuff

So in case not everybody knows, I’m a manufacturing engineering major. That means when I go to class I usually learn about the really cool stuff and how to make things. Last semester I was in a plastics class and learned about… well, making things out of plastic! Cups, soda pop bottles, nerf footballs, trash bags… you get the idea. I even made a mouse griping pad for my mom so she could have better control over the movement of the computer mouse.

This semester, I’m doing a lot with metals. I have a machine shop class where I work with the REAL power tools (band saws, end mills, lathes, CNC milling machines etc…) and a metals processes class as well (where I do everything from casting metal to bending and welding.) So far in my machining class, we’ve made a hammer and a puzzle cube. The hammer, I made from “scratch” aka a straight piece of solid aluminum stock and a piece of nylon. For those of you who don’t want the process details, go a head and skip to the pictures, I won’t be offended ;-) for those of you who want to know the details of my hammer making, keep reading.

Unfortunately, I didn’t to a step by step picture journal on how the hammer looked at each stage of the game, so you’ll just have to use your imagination until we get to the finished product.

So when I first get to the machine shop, I had to cut the 12’ aluminum bar stock down to 12” so that it could become the hammer handle. That was done on the band saw. From there, everything else was done on a lathe. At the end where the handle connects to the hammer head, I turned it down to the right connecting size, then added the screw threads. Then I flipped it around to the handle side, turned it down to the right size and knurled it (I put diamond shaped impressions on it for better grip.) Then I shaped the middle part of the hammer. After the handle was done I made the hammer head, much by the same process. Then I screwed the two pieces together, and wa la! The final product!
I also just made a puzzle cube. This is a tricky little thing since it actually can’t be solved. There’s a cube with pegs inside of a box frame. I made the box frame with the cube already inside so it’s impossible to get the cube out!

It was a lot of fun to make, after making sure that it was a true cube by using the end mill, I put it into two CNC (computer numeric control) machines, and told them to run their programs. So mostly I just sat back and watched. This one I did a little better job at getting WIP (work in progress) photos.

So you put it in the fadal, which is a CNC milling machine and it comes out like this. Then I put it in the punch EDM (electrical discharge machine) which cuts the metal using electricity - and it looks something like this.

When that gets done you have the finished product which looks like this.
A cube that is permanently stuck inside of its box frame! Tricky tricky :)

So yeah, that's what I do for class.

Gamers....not of the video type.

As most of you know, I'm in a musical at the Sandy Arts Guild. Which means I have rehearsals just about every weeknight in Sandy. It's kind of far and it means I leave Chris at home all by himself. But this week, Chris didn't have anything else going on at night so he came up with me, dropped me off at rehearsal and then went to his parents house to wait for me. Cathi (Chris's mom) was home all by herself until thursday because Larry and Bryson were off at Scout Camp (I think that's what it was). After rehearsal Chris would pick me up and then we'd go back to his parents house and play games!

Now, we are generally gameboard people but we discovered a new one that we absolutely love! I actually got it as a present from Chris's parents for my birthday last December and we had never played it! So we brought it! It's called Time's Up! Honestly...I think there could be a better name for it but it's amazingly fun! It's all about guessing famous people's name. You have teams of 2 or more people (it works best with even teams). You divide 40 cards with names on them between all the players and then 2 additional cards. Each player chooses 2 cards to discard and then the rest are put into the pile. Then you alternate teams with one player giving clues and the rest of the team guessing. Round 1: As many words as you want, sounds and gestures. Team members can guess as many times as they want. Round 2: Clue giver get 1 word, as many sounds and gestures as liked. Guessers get 1 guess. Round 3: No words. Sounds and gestures, only 1 guess! Every round is played with the same names so everyone is familiar with them. The game gets increasingly hilariuos as no words are allowed and it's just way fun! Dustin (chris's brother) and I are an amazing team. We'll take challengers! haha

Maybe I'm bad at this...

So...as my Uncle Reed very nicely pointed out to me this past week, I have plent to write about on our blog! The only problem is, I don't find the time to actually write about it. I'll have to get better at that. I might just be worried about boring people...but I guess the purpose of this is to keep people updated with what's happening in our lives.

So, Chris and I bought a brand new bedroom set! It's beautiful. We found out about this store called Advantage Furniture in Sandy. I asked a friend of mine, Camee, who'd just gotten married and bought a new bedroom set and that's where they got theirs. This store rents the furniture to model homes and show rooms and stuff and then sells it, used, at a discounted price! So we got a great deal for furniture that doesn't look used at all! We had Dustin come with us, who graciously let us use his truck to drive it all the way back to Provo.

That same day about a week and a half ago was the Chipman Family Reunion. They went camping in Spanish Fork Canyon. Unfortunately, Chris was on call for the hospital that week and we couldn't stay the night there, but we spent a few hours during the day with them. It was nice to see family, even if it was just for a little bit. We've planned our schedules better for the next reunion we have planned the beginning of August.

Last Saturday was our 6th month anniversary! :) I know, what an amazing feat we've accomplished! Well, even if it wasn't something huge, we celebrated! We went to dinner at Panda Express (where we went for our first date) and then had tickets to see Hello! Dolly, at the Hale Center Theater in West Valley. It was really good! I'd never seen the show on stage before and it was really well done. I'm so grateful to have husband who enjoys theater just as much as I do, otherwise I don't know what I'd do! Go by myself? Sad. We also bought gifts for each other. An awesome new tie for Chris and and beautiful flirty apron for me!

This week we also got to see my Grandma! She's in town from Dubuque and is staying with my aunt Paula and uncle Reed for the month in South Jordan. We got to spend the afternoon and dinner with them before I had to go to rehearsal. Summer obviously means family, which is nice. :) Marissa, Vanessa and Carson (my siblings) were also all here this week. It was crazy having so many people living in our house for the week. Stuff everywhere...and definitely not enough space for people to sleep. But we had a good time.

Thursday we all got together, my siblings and Chris's, plus Heather, to go to Seven Peaks for the day! It was a lot of fun. We got there about 11:30 or so and spent the day riding water slides, making fun human chains in the lazy river and trying to jump the waves in the wave pool. It was overcast for most of the day and for a little while it was raining slightly...but we still managed to get sunburned! Its those days where you don't think you need sunscreen that get you. Luckily it wasn't too bad. I've definitely had worse.

Fourth of July wasn't too eventful. Chris worked security for Stadium of Fire and was the protection for Glenn Beck and his family. I had to work until 7 pm and then the rest of my family was either out of town or at Stadium of Fire watching! lol So I rented movies and stayed home. It actually wasn't too bad. I just missed the fireworks.

Well, I think that's it! Sorry it's so long. I'll update more often.

Recommendations?

So, I know I just posted but I realized there were a few more things I wanted to say! First of all, I am going to lose weight. I've gained a decent amount of chubbiness since getting married and it's not fun. People tell me it's normal, and Chris and I decided it's because we eat a lot better and don't just have Ramen for dinner. But that still doesn't make me feel pretty. So...I'm going to lose weight.

Also, I counted last week and I've read 14 books since the end of April. Not going to school or work full time really leaves a lot of time on your hands. Really. So now that I've read a lot of the books I'd been meaning to read, I need some suggestions. And possibly some other suggestions for how to pass my free time. Theatre isn't really a hobby you can do by yourself in your free time.

And...tickets! I'd love love love it if you all came and saw Suessical in August. And in order to do that, you must have tickets!!!! :) They're available online right now. If you go to Sandyarts.com and then click on the Sandy Amphitheatre link, there should be a spot for tickets and seating chart. Price depends on the seats you want...the closer the more expensive. Be sure to let me know what night you're coming so I can look for you!

Returns and Rodeos

We've had a pretty exciting week! This past wednesday night we hung out with our neighbors the Cowleys. We absolutely love hanging out with them and their new baby boy, Kale. They were the reason we found out awesome apartment and we love being their neighbors. But last week we found out they're moving! They got this amazing gig as apartment managers and are basically getting paid to live in an apartment. We're totally bummed, but excited for their new change. We just don't know what we'll do if we get crazy new neighbors that worship satan or something. And our walls are paper thin, so any satanic rites and we'll defnitely be up close and personal for them. Good neighbors are so hard to find. :(

Thursday night we had an awesome time with Ryan, Tara and family and went to the Strawberry Days RODEO in Pleasant Grove. I lived in texas as a child, but I don't think we ever went to a rodeo! So this was the first one that I'd ever been to! We got there a little early before the events started and Hayden (our nephew) was so impatient to see the horses! They finally started and did Bare Back riding (bucking horses), calf wrestling, steer wrestling, and of course, bull riding. There were two other events for the night that were just awesome! The second to last act was a dirt bike show! They had huge ramps and did crazy ticks about 150 feet in the air. Hayden was completely mesmorized the whole time. No motorcycle for him. Ever. And then the best event, for me, was the crazy cow milking! There were about 6 teams of men, and then 6 cows were released in the field. They went nuts, running, and trying to tackle to cow to be able to milk them. They had to get a certain amount of milk to win. It was hilarious.

This weekend we also got to drive down to St. George to stay with my mom and Shan. My older sister just got back from her mission this past friday, so we went down for her homecoming. It was really awesome getting to see her and the rest of my family for the weekend. It was the first time we'd been together in 18 months. It was also the first time Chris had ever met Vanessa! And Hayden is now walking and talking, where as when she left he was only 3 months old! Crazy how things change. We loved getting to be with her and the rest of our family.

We saw The Proposal! OH MY GOODNESS. So Funny! Honestly, go see it. I absolutely loved it. I'm a sucker for romantic comedies and this is probably going to be a classic.

News News News

So...apparently we're really not that entertaining. I haven't really had any good stories to write about. Which means our life is obviously not that interesting after all. But, just for the sake of up dating, here's some of our recent news.

Last week, I made mashed potatoes. My family uses canned milk instead of normal milk and I had a half used can of it in the fridge from the last time we'd made mashed potatoes. But...apparently it had been quite a while since we had actually made them. I started putting the milk in, multi-tasking and not really paying attention and then looked over to see a chunk of milk blocking the hole in the can. GROSS. lol. I had already put the milk in though....so we ate them anyway. Haha, feeling a little nervous but hungry nonetheless. I felt fine all night, but apparently Chris didn't. He just chose not to say anything to me until the next day! When you have food, you gotta eat it right? lol

Our fish is still alive! So this proves that Walmart fish live longer than Petco fish, atleast when in the Chipman household.

We also bought flowers and have them in a pot on our front porch. We're domestic. lol. But those are still alive too, despite my usual neglect of watering them. I forget. What'll happen when I have baby? :S

Fun news-I, Bri, got cast in a musical! I will be playing the part of Sour Kangaroo in "Seussical the Musical." It's being done by the Sandy Arts Guild and performs in August. You guys will all have to come see it! I'm really excited to be able to do it this summer.

Chris is working and going to school. He got a promotion at work! :) Which means he gets to boss other people around (can you picture Chris being bossy?) and he gets a raise! So, we're excited about that!

Fish Tales

I never thought I was bad with animals...really, I had tons of pets growing up! But...maybe we're just not fish people? We're renting and apartment so we're not technically allowed to have pets, so we decided a fish wouldn't really be breaking the rules, right?

We bought our first fish...Zues...at Petco. He lived about a week. That same week I was crazy sick. Now, looking back, maybe I had the Swine Flu. Really. Can fish get the Swine Flu? Cause I think I got him sick. We flushed him peacfully.

About 2 to 3 weeks later we bought Bonnie and Clyde, again at Petco. Clyde lived until morning...and Bonnie only until that afternoon. Not even 24 hours! Does this mean that we're horrible people? Are we not fit to care for even things as lowly as goldfish?

We bought our Betta named Bernard at Walmart. If he dies...we're buying a puppy. lol. It's the only rationalization we can think of!