Almost done!!!

well, Im finally almost done with my pilots license. 6 months after I started the process and through many battles with our incredibly poor weather, I am very confident that I will take my private pilot check ride next weekend. I just had to brush up on a few things that I was rusty on and thus I have 2 remaining flights before my check ride. Angel is doing great in her summer quarter of school. But then she always does. Last quarter she finished with a 4.0 and made the deans list for the 11 straight quarter or so. Ive lost count. I finished my last semester with a 3.7 so im doing well too.

I Love My Garmin.

I finally did it, I got a Garmin. I got it mainly for work because flipping through a 500 page map book takes too long and I still sometimes manage to get lost. Since I started using the thing, I have only been late to three appointments and that was mostly due to the great Seattle traffic. Now here is the ironic thing. Anyone who knows me well knows that I hate being in large crowds. Large crowds consist of millions of people packed into a mall all trying to get in on the same deals in a frantic frenzy. So this year on black Friday when I looked at Angel and said,"Lets go shopping", She looked at me like I was nuts. On top of that I had the flu but we went anyway. First stop, Circuit City. there is where I found a rapidly dwindling abundance of Garmins. Originally $300, got it for $200. Now I don't leave home without it. Give a Garmin!!!

How many ways can we dress up a dog???

I was browsing through our pictures tonight looking for good ones to send to a friend of mine in Detroit when I stumbled upon these two from last Christmas. So how many ways can you torture a dog by dressing them up humiliatingly and forever capturing the moment in a picture??? Apparently in our case, the possibilities are endless. every year we find new and creative ways of humiliating our dogs and it just gets funnier every time. between the little stuffed hats and antlers that you get at petsmart and the cheaper Christmas day gift wrapping and bows, the possibilities for creating a lasting memory of the fun you had on Christmas day with your dogs truly have no end. Do the dogs like it??? OF COURSE NOT!!!! but then again, watching them try to get whatever you have put on them off is just part of the fun right?!? So I am curious to know... What will we think of this year?

GUMMIBAR Video

We found this video by accident on you tube a few days ago and thought that all of you might get a kick out of it too. apparently there is an album as wel that released last week and is availiable on Itunes for download as are all the ring tones. The song and some of the tracks on the album have been translated into 7 different lanuages including english but the original is in Hungarian. ENJOY!

Happy Veterans Day

Today was the official veterans day. So I wanted to take this moment and thank those who serve, have served, and those who support those who serve. It was a sad day in Tacoma as there was a mildly violent anti war protest at the port that was blocking troops from going home after returning from Iraq. As a former soldier this rubbed me the wrong way and it made me mad that these people would punish those who have been apart from their families for over a year for the antics of the people in the white house. I think that regardless of how we feel about Bush and the war, we should still support the troops in all that they do to keep the United States the land of the free.

On that note, on December 15Th, the Civil Air Patrol will be holding their annual Wreaths across America event all over the country. For us here in Seattle it will be at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent WA. As a part of this event, I will be representing the US Army in the wreath laying ceremony. I see this as my way of honoring the friends that I have lost in the war and the friends that I have that are still in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yesterday was the veterans day parade in Auburn Wa. and I had the privilege to march with the cadet color guard from my Civil Air Patrol squadron in the parade along with hundreds of WW2 and Vietnam vets, High School ROTC's, and even the Seagals!!!needless to say it was a big parade, but it was a great experience. I had many people on the street walk up to me and thank me for my service to our country and despite all the protesting and bad press about the war and military, it made me feel good, like I honored my country, my family and myself by serving. I am proud to be a vet, and I am proud to have a step dad who is also a vet. both of us have served in hard times in the same place and It is only fitting to tell John, happy vets day, and thank you for your sacrifice.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

Holidays and Dogs

Well ok, so in my last post I didnt include pics of the dogs so here I will include them. In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season.

So the other day we were walking through hallmark and what do i see out of the corner of my eye? Rodney Reindeer, the little plush reindeer that adorned the top of our TV every christmas since the mid 80's. He came in tree different sizes but we got the one that was the same size as the one we had when I was growing up. Way back when it fisrt came out, they later released his significan other Rhonda and his little one Randy, but alas they have not rereleased the rest of the family yet. I just couldnt help myself, I had to get one for my own home. Im not even sure if my parents still have the originals mixed in with all the christmas decorations. If not, now is your opportunity to replace them.

Happy Halloween!!!

Its finally here, the one day a year when all the little kids (and some big ones) get all dressed up and go out begging for candy. Of course that also depends on where you live. If you are like my mom, you might see one or two trick or treaters all night and for the foothills area of Yuma, thats a pretty good turn out. We live In North Seattle, granted we do live in an apartment complex in a really bad neighborhood but we do have kids in our complex. Yet alas, no trick or treaters. Now I have to single handedly eat an entire bag of fun size Twix (like I need more sugar in my hyperactive system).

Anyhow, aside from the lack of scarey things knocking at our door, Things here are going great. Angel is driving on with her studies and is volunteering as a crisis hotline counselor for the UW crisis hotline. For those who dont know, she is majoring in psychology at UW and is maintaining a 3.9 GPA and is a permanent resident of the deans list. I could only dream to be that smart. Of course on the flip side of things, I am working as a pest control technician (yes Christi, I know what kind of spider that was), I am a senior member of the USAF auxiliary, otherwise known as the civil air patrol doing search and rescue and working with the cadets as a cadet programs officer and an aerospace education officer, and I am going to school for Korean as a second language. As soon as my approval from embry riddle comes back I will be starting flight school as well. so yea we are really busy. somewhere in all of that I find time to sporatically go to Hockey practice although I am no longer on a team (long story).

The Dogs are doing great, Pearlie is on a diet, Lollo has become a bit more hyper, and somehow our clothes keep magically appearing under the bed. Well thats us in a nut shell. Any questions? Now that I am done boring all of you with our life story, we can get on to the random ramblings that you normally see on these things like my first post and a few of my moms as well. talk to you all again real soon.