Jeep'n

After Boise I went up to Washington to visit family. My brother had a day off of work so we decided to hit the hills with his Jeep. It was snowing on us but that didn't stop us from getting out into it. By the time that we were got home we were dirty and sore but it was a great day in the hills.

Washington

This last week I had some time off of work so I was able to go to Boise for a couple of days to visit my Grandma and uncle Brent, Aunt Jackie and cousins Steph and Shelly. Doug and Stacey also came down for the weekend. It was a lot of fun to see them and be able to relax and visit. The weather was very nice so we decided to take my uncles boat out to Lucky Peak for the afternoon. The snow was still down to the water in some areas and the water was too cold to get in but air was warm and it was a great afternoon. The next day we went for a ride in Doug's Bellanca Cruisemaster airplane to enjoy the, yet again, nice warm day. From there I flew to Portland for the rest of my week before hitting the salt mines again.

Me, Steph, Grandma, and Uncle Brent at Lucky Peak

Doug, Stacey, Me and Steph "chillin" in the back of the boat

Steph trying to catch bugs in her mouth See how warm it was out there!
Out for a nice afternoon of flying

Grandma and Aunt Jackie in the back seat of the plane.

March Snow Storm

This last weekend gave us some shocking weather. It has been in the 60s here lately until this last weekend. On Friday afternoon it began to snow. This wasn't a typical snow storm for this area. When I woke up on Sat. morning there was 13 inches of snow on the ground and it continued to snow for the rest of the day giving us around 15 inches total. This isn't that much snow but you would think it was the end of the world when listening to the news. The whole city shut down. I had Sabbath off this week and wanted to go to church but when I arrived I made the first tracks in the parking lot and found out that it was canceled. Most stores and restaurants were closed for the whole weekend. It was fun to go out and play in the snow though. This city thinks that spreading salt on the roads is good snow management so there were many accidents out on the roads and the news advised everyone to stay at home and avoid the "treacherous" conditions. Here are a few pictures of the snow on Sabbath Morning.

The most snow my Truck has seen in a while!

It is hard to tell how deep it is on the car.

This is the parking lot by my Apt.

The Pond at my Apartments.

A Picture of I-71. I was the only car out there and the only plowing that was done was due to the Semi-Trucks that had passed through earlier.
Work is going pretty well. I am much busier than I was last year but I am enjoying my job. Many people have asked for pictures of the Operating rooms and of me at work. This is difficult to do because of patient confidentiality issues but I am working on trying to get some for you. Hope all is well with you.

Hopefully it will not be as long before my next posting.

Yes, I am still alive.

I know that it has been a long time since I have added anything to this website. Not a lot has been going on for me. I have been working like crazy getting only 2-3 days off a month and working around 12-14 hours a day the rest of the time. One fun event that I was privileged to attend was my brother Justin's wedding. He Married Randi Kingery on September 23, 2007. It was very nice to get a little time off for the wedding. It was on the Oregon Coast and they couldn't have asked for nicer weather. It was sunny and clear and everyone got sunburned. The next day was cold and rainy. I was the best man (and still am). It was a crazy busy weekend and it was great to see everyone. Here is a photo summary of the events of the weekend.

Rehearsal Dinner

Haley, Me, And McKenzie

Me, Justin and Jeff (up to no good)

What a great looking group.

Justin welcoming everyone to the reception

Justin, You know you want to smear that cake on her face!!

The GET-AWAY CAR (on the way to a 10 day tropical vacation to Punta Cana)

The Next Phase

It has been a while since my last entry and I have been very busy during this time. I have now moved from Phoenix, AZ to Louisville, KY (pronounced Loo-a-vul by the locals) to stat my final leg of formal education. This was a big move for me and is furthest that I have ever moved. It was about 1800 miles in total and took about 25-26 hours of driving time. My dad flew down to Phoenix and we left that next morning. I had movers that took all of my stuff for me (this is the subject of a whole different story) so it was an easy drive in my truck. I was here just over a week before my program started. I am now working at the University of Louisville Hospital network that includes about 5-6 hospitals in all that are located in downtown Louisville. I really like it out here and have now been in the hospital for a few days of work. I am in the Operating Room full time and it is quite different than the in-patient wards that I worked of last year. It is a bit overwhelming but I am starting to catch on to how this hospital works. The area is very green and reminds me of the northwest. The trees are all deciduous here, instead of the evergreeens in the NW. The temp is warm and Humid. The average day since I arrived has been around 90 F and 70-95% humidity. This is something to get use to but is overall better than the 118+ F temps that they are having in Phoenix right now. The city itself is a lot smaller than Phoenix too. There are about 1.5 Million people here instead of 7.5 that are in Phoenix. Even though it is a smaller city it still has a big-city feel to it. The nice part is that everything is cheeper. You can park you car for a day downtown for $3 compared to $10-15 in Portland. Everyone is much nicer here than So Cal or AZ but the drivers here are much worse.

I guess this Badge makes it all official.

All of my belongings (only half of which are still in one piece) finally showed up a few days ago so I am finally getting settled. I have moved into a two bedroom apt so that I can have an office area separate from the bedroom. It is a lot older and has a smaller living area than the apt that I lived in before but was the nicest one that I found that was close enough to the hospital so that I would not have to commute 30-45 min each way. This apt is about 10 min away and is in a nice wooded area that feels separate from downtown. I have attached some pictures of the apt for you so see. It is mostly all the same furniture as before but is just a different arrangement.

Here is a view from my Front Door (a little dark)

Here is a view looking back towards the front door and fire place.

Looking out the sliding door to the porch and Tennis court.
This my my very large (actually very small) Kitchen from directly behind the couch.

Here is another view from the Dining Room.

The Dining Room.

Standing by the Sliding Door looking down the Hall.

Mid Hall Laundry Closet Hookups but I had to supply the washer and dryer.

Across the hall is the Bathroom.

A door from the bathroom goes into my Bedroom where I have a second sink and mirror separate from the bathroom area.

Across from the sink is my closet.

Here is a view looking back towards the sink and bathroom.

This is the master bedroom from the Main entrance from the hall.

Across the hall from the Bedroom is the Office/Guest room.

This room also has a closet and a twin bed off to the side just out of the picture.

Alaska Day 7

Tuesday, March 20, 2007 Day seven in Alaska

It is 01:00am and it is time to leave Alaska and head home to Phoenix. I was on the red-eye flight out of Anchorage that left at 01:00am and I got home at 09:30am. I was able to sleep most of the way even though the plane was completely full. I had a great time and hope that I can return to Alaska in the Summer to see what it is like without all of the snow (and hopefully see some bear as well).

This picture was borrowed from the internet since I obviously would have trouble getting a shot of my plane from the air.

Alaska Day 6

Monday, March 19, 2007, Day six in Alaska

Teresa had to work today so it gave the rest of us a chance to sleep in and recover a little from our vacationing. We picked Teresa up for lunch (breakfast for the rest of us) and then we gave ourselves a tour of the town. It was a nice relaxing day to finish up our vacation. This evening we went out to see the Northern Lights which were suppose to be visible but were unable to see them unfortunately.

Mom and Me at breakfast.

Teresa and Dad across the table.

The Furs were very cool but way out of our price range.

Driving down 4th Ave in Downtown.

A popular gift shop in the area.

A Dog-sled team making a food stop.

Alaska Day 5

Sunday, March 18, 2007, Day five in Alaska.

Today we drove about 2 hours south to the town of Seward. From here we boarded a boat for a Glacier and Wildlife cruise. Unfortunately we did not get too close to any glaciers but we did get to see some great wildlife. We saw otters, porpoises, sea lions, and best of all Orca's (Killer Whales). We got really lucky to see as many as we saw. There were probably a dozen or so Orca's swimming together and they came right up to our boat. I was trying to take video but unfortunately the camcorder quit working so I was only able to get still shots which made it a lot more difficult to capture to whales coming up for a breath but here are some shots that I got.

A very nice day on the water.

Enjoying the view.

Killer Whales in the distance.

My favorite picture (I just wish I had gotten the whole whale)