Water Fun

Hey All,

This spring Jackie and I bought a new camera and it can take video and pictures underwater. We went to the YMCA and tried it out last weekend and here are some of the results. There aren't any videos of me swimming because it looks like I am drowning and I don't want anyone to get worried. I don't coordinate my stroke very well so I look like a paraplegic when I swim. All arms and no legs or vice versa. I am working on my stroke though, so hopefully I will look like at least a minnow in the future.

I have no problem sinking, so here is me at the bottom of the pool hanging out.

Say Cheese, blub, blub, blub

Such a good swimmer, and a crack-up

April Showers bring May.....icicles

Hey All,
I was looking at my last post from march and I thought that spring was just around the corner, well obviously I was wrong. Here we are around the corner and halfway down the straight away and South Dakota had a blizzard warning every day last week. Mitchell, which is about 55 miles away had 12 inches of snow thursday and some parts of the state have gotten 18 inches. I guess this is the norm around here. It sounds like we aren't the only ones since Washington has been hit with winter weather this last week also. Things here are still good. School is winding down and I am still doing well. I have been spending a lot of time on my thesis and have it a little over half done. Jackie is still grinding out the days at the insurance agency. She is pretty bored with her job, but I appreciate her going to work every day. The winter and school was pretty hard on my weight. We joined the YMCA in mid January and have been getting back in shape. I was about 210 pounds but now I am back down to 186, which is about 10 pounds lighter then when I left in August. My goal is 180. No pictures of me in my banana hammock, I don't want anyone to go blind. Working out has been a great way to deal with stress and stay healthy. We hope all is well with everyone back home. Miss you lots. B & J.

Jackie's new do

Hey All,
Jackie finally did something she has wanted to do for a long time, get her hair cut short. She wanted to try something new so she had about 8 inches cut off. She had a hard time watching her beautiful locks hitting the floor, but after it was all over she felt a lot better. It is very different, but it is growing on her. I love it!! It shows off that beautiful face much better I think. Things here are good. We are having one last blast of winter with wind chills -10 to -15 and we got about an inch of snow. It will warm up this week into the upper 40's and I think spring is just around the corner. We hope all is well back home. Take care. B & J.

Still Hibernating

Hey All,
Things here are good. Life is pretty routine and uneventful (Hence the lack of posts). February has been very mild with temps in the 30's and the wind is rarely above 15 mph. Some brave ballooners hit the skies a couple weekends ago when the winds were lite. If they would have gone up in January they would have froze to death and wouldn't have hit ground until Maine. School is going well. We have at least a 50 point "quiz" everyday in pharmacology which is getting old, but I have been doing well on them and it is important to learn since drugs are what my career will revolve around. Jackie is still working at the insurance agency and the days are pretty long for her. Thank you everyone for all the cards and birthday wishes. It was very nice knowing everyone back home was thinking of us while we are so far away. We hope all is well with everyone and that the winter hasn't been too hard on you all. Take care. B & J.

Thanks again for all the cards.

Lucky's new boots

Hey,
Dale and Marilyn got Lucky some new boots for the cold weather and I think he is having a hard time getting use to them. Unfortunately the video is taken with a camera, not a camcorder so the quality is not very good, but oh well. Still funny. 2009 is not off to a good start for the little dog.

Merry Christmas, a little late

Hi All,

I don't know why I am posting this so late, we didn't do anything for Christmas. We had a nice day of sitting around the fire and relaxing. We wished we could have been closer to family and friends. We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Jackie had most of Christmas week and New Years week off, which has been nice. I hope all is well with you all. Take care and we hope 2009 is a great year for all. B & J.

Our Little Christmas Tree

Stocking hung by the chimney with care.

Lights around the door made it much easier to go to the bathroom at night.... uuh...... I mean

ooooh pretty.

1 Semester down, 2 to go.

Hello,


I had my last final yesterday. I had a total of 6 finals last week in 4 classes. I did well on each and I earned a 4.0 this semester. There was a lot of information to know (this is the stack of all the lecture notes- 6 slides a page, 2 reems of paper). Winter here has set in. Not a lot of snow, about 2 inches, but it isn't going to melt anytime soon since we are averaging temps in the low 20's. It is always windy. The temps with the wind chill have been single digits or negative. We have adjusted, but lucky pretty much hates life right now. We are decorating right now and I will post some more pictures next week. I am headed to Council Bluffs, Iowa for a week of clinical. I am excited, but nervous. Jackie is doing well with her job. We miss everyone and wish we could be around for the holidays. Take care and we are thinking of you all. B & J

Done studying, time for a drink.

Winter's here

Hey All,

Winter blew in with a vengeance. It went from mid 70's on monday (right), to mid 20's with a constant 25 mph wind on friday. We got a little snow on thursday night (about an inch) and the wind was at 30-35 mph the entire time it was snowing. I guess this is the norm around here and no one seems suprised. Things here are good. Jackie did her first full quote-sign up process friday and impressed her boss who was stranded in Rapid City (they got over 2 feet of snow there with 50 mph winds). I had a huge physiology test this last week, the toughest yet, and scored a 105% (there were three extra credit questions). Got lucky. We miss everyone and are counting down the days until coming home. Take care everyone.

No more coffee in the morning on the deck.

It is way colder then it looks.

Halloween Fun

Hey All,

I just realized I haven't posted all of October. The month flew by as Jackie was busy with work and I was swamped by school. Jackie is almost at full speed with her job, very little stumps her anymore. I am still doing well and I am glad that the curriculum has changed from a review of systems to more of an anesthesia focus. We bought pumpkins late this year so we didn't have a great selection to choose from. I made a fishbowl out of mine and Jackie's was made to scare all the little kids away. We had a few trick or treaters here. The weather has been very nice lately (low 70's with NO WIND). Next week looks ugly, but tis the season. We are looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed my parents visit in the middle of October. We hope all is well with our family and friends. Take care.

Me and my new fish. No need to feed these.

Jackie and her pumpkin, Scary huh.

Mike and Laura's little girls (Mike goes to school with me and lives in the same apartment complex). Cute little butterflies.

Mom and Dad where here for her birthday. Hope the video works.

Never a dull moment

Hey All,

I am posting a couple days late due to the horrendous schedule I have had the last 10 days. Four tests last week and a State AANA meeting all weekend. This week I have two more tests. Pedal to the metal. Jackie takes her insurance test this friday. After that she will be able to do auto and property insurance. We had an impressive storm move through Sunday night and I snapped a few photos. I am still trying to figure out the best settings for my camera. We will have plenty more opportunities to snap photos of storms I am sure. I hope all is well with my friends and family back in Washington. Homesickness is starting to set in a little, but time is also flying by. Take care everyone.

I'm Mooning you

Hey All,

Just another fun week of school and work. Jackie is starting to do her own quotes now and is asking less questions of her boss. She is really enjoying her job and she has become a big asset to the agency. I only had one test last week, but I have three tests this next week. This weekend has been a lot of studying. We did take a break yesterday and went down to the Taste of South Dakota down at Falls Park with our new friends Mike, Laura and their two little girls. It was alright. I had an Indian Taco and it was pretty good. Jackie wasn't hungary so she just had some lemonade. We forgot our camera, Darn. We had a full moon at the start of the week and on Thursday it rose a bright blood red color. It is the reddest I have ever seen it without a bunch of smoke in the air. We thought we were looking at a huge fire, but realized it was just the moon. The pictures are a little fuzzy (I couldn't find a rest for the camera with the long exposure), but I think they do it justice. I hope all is well back in Washington. Take care.

Moon on fire

A little too much shake and light

Ho Hum

Hello All,

We had a good week here. Jackie is getting more comfortable with her job. Her boss was out of the office all day Friday and she took care of everything without any problems. She is so smart. I had four tests this last week. I did extremely well on three out of four (the three toughest) and alright on the last one. The standards for school are much higher in this program. In order to pass you have to get at least an 85% (undergrad was only 72.5%). I only have one test this coming week, so this is a much more relaxing weekend. The weather here has gotten pretty gray with the leftovers from the Hurricane moving up the Mid-west. We like the cool temps (mid 60's) but the humidity is in the 80's. Wind sustains at 20 mph with some pretty serious gusts. Hope all is well with everyone.

Rainy Days

Braving the elements to take care of business.

Exploring

This last weekend we got out a little bit and did some exploring. There are a lot of little water oasises out in the middle of nowhere. We were driving along and saw a sign for Arrowhead park and went to check it out. The pond is in the middle of a huge piece of flat farmland without any clues that it would be there. We also tried to find the dog park for Lucky to run around, but had no luck. We did find the bike trail that circles the entire city. Our exploring was cut short by the unbearable weather (90 degrees with 85% humitity). The weather has cooled down dramatically since then. No big thunder storms to take pictures of (darn). Other then our exploring, it was a pretty boring week. Jackie has settled in nicely to her job. She is learning new things about the insurance business every day. I had two tests last week and got 100% on both. Easy tests though. This week I have three tests and my stress levels is steadily increasing. Our health is good and we are just grinding out the weeks until we can get back to our family and friends. Hope you enjoy our recent pictures.

Arrowhead park

Waterfowl are happy for this odd oasis

Jackie and lucky dog on a bike trail bridge.

Big Sioux River (nobody swims in it for obvious reasons)

South Dakota

Hello All

As most of you know, Jackie and I have moved to South Dakota for me to attend CRNA school. The move went well, except 1250 miles in a moving van is not fun. We got here and settled in after some minor complications with our apartment. We have been getting to know Sioux Falls and we really like it. Kind of a smaller, more humid version of Spokane. School is off to a good start and I am not as rusty a student as I thought I would be. I will try to post something every Sunday to keep you posted on our progress and adventures. Here are some pictures from the first couple weeks. (Falls Park)

Falls Park

Guess Where? Falls Park

Jackie at The Old Courthouse Museum