Sunday, April 30, 2006

Cash in action and gathering with friends


/\ Hangin' with my other fam.



Cash loves his new frisbee. I love this picture of him in midair!

Shower


The crew from Sarah's shower - we had a great time!

Loco's gathering




We had our semi-annual gathering at Loco's - lots of baby fun to go around! Jill and Chuck (that's Chuck's arm in the picture above, I promise!) were actually there, but we didn't let them spend too much time with their baby :)

Korean update

Hey everyone, it is me again. I am doing well in the land of Kimchi. I have been busy as usual with school and work. Will I ever get out of this joint? I am soooo ready to leave. Today, I have 68 official days left. Time is really flying by fast. The only good thing about being here is the weather. We are finally getting up in the mid-70s. This is the perfect golfing time of year. I start my intramural golf season on May 22nd. I am excited because this will make my time go by much faster.

I have a friend that arrived in Korea a few days ago. I met him when I was in Arizona and we used to play b-ball, golf and play PS2 all of the time. It will be like old times for us- at least for the next 68 days. I wish he would have gotten here earlier; my time here would have been a lot better. Anyway, I guess the timing was a little off.

Well, I just wanted to drop in and tell everyone that I am doing fine. C-Note, you better be polishing up your game fool. I have shot a 78 and an 81 since I have been here. I'm on the verge of going on Tour and giving Tiger and Lefty a run for their money. Anyway, enough with the smack talk. Peace.

Love, Brent

Sunday, April 23, 2006

ALIAS night at my house


/\ Popo in his usual spot, clearly not interested in the show.

/\ Johnny Cash getting some good lovin' from Mandy.
The ALIAS crew - it was a nail-biter...not really.

Birthday celebration


/\ Colby and Jason

Birthday dinner at the Last Resort for friend and colleague Jason. Time to celebrate his 29th birthday, again :)

Jason's and Brent's birthdays are just a day apart. I had to have a birthday dinner somewhere, right?!? Though I was not able to celebrate Brent's birthday with him, I did send him some little gifts and his friends took him to Chili's and the golf course. I think he had a good day, as good as you can have when you are that old :)

March of Dimes





I know I'm not in the pictures - that is always the problem, isn't it, when you are the picture taker? :) The March of Dimes walk was very successful in raising money for the cause.

"B" month

I'm sure most of you have a music selection much like mine - a burgeoning collection of CDs, many of which you've probably forgotten existed. While organizing my CDs over the holidays, I decided to systematically revisit each CD - each month would have me listening to CDs in alphabetic order. Now, as Kob and Jonathan will tell you, "A" month lasted a little too long, but I have finally moved on and am now in the midst of "B" month.

Its a good idea - I encourage you to do the same. You get to listen to old favorites, and if they are slightly embarrassing (e.g., Michael Bolton and Time, Love, and Tenderness - okay, more than slightly embarrassing :), you can just explain it away with, "But it is "B" month." It is also an opportunity to purge - for example, I realized that BNLs Stunt album is in no way comparable with their wonderful live album with "If I had a million dollars" on it, and since I didn't enjoy listening to it and could not remember why I purchased it, I will now get rid of it. It is also a period of enlightenment - I realized again how much I love Garth Brooks - what is he up to these days anyway?

And now we've reached the conclusion of "Deep Thoughts by Jess".

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Happy Easter Weekend

It has been quite a whirlwind. My Pops was rushed to the ER early Fri morn w/ difficulty breathing. He is fine now - released on Saturday - thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Jonathan spent most of the day with me - he met my students at the middle school where I work, and seemed to really enjoy the experience. Kobi watched after my bro while I attended a service with my father. The service was a Tenebrae, a musical service in which the events leading up to the death of Christ are expressed via music and scripture reading by candlelight. Very powerful. One of my favorite songs was included in the musical score - "How deep the father's love for us". My favorite verse of this song was excluded, but it played in my head anyway, and I will share it with you.

"I will not boast in anything - no gifts, no power, no wisdom. But I will boast in Jesus Christ - his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from this reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart - his wounds have paid my ransom."

Later that night, Jonathan, Kobi, and I watched a movie - Take the Lead. It was pretty good - dancing, drama, etc. The next morning, we went to my nephew's t-ball game - I don't really know the score, but it was great to watch.

The rest of the weekend has been yard work, chatting with my neighbor, homework, church with friends, and more home- and house- work. I'll continue to keep you updated. Love - Jess

Fun times


/\ My nephew's t-ball game. I love this pic - oh, the tired and stressed ball player.

/\ My brother coaching his son on first-base basics.


/\ My brother at his last golf tourney

\/ A day of fun with my nephew. Look at him, riding without training wheels!



\/ Ear candling with mom and bro. I've never seen my mom so freaked out before - it was great.

The dog bite


Not the greatest pic - but it was in a hard to self-photograph spot. I'm mostly healed now - still a little soreness and minimal bruising and scarring.

Pet pics


/\ Napoleon
\/ Mr. Johnny Cash

Saturday, April 15, 2006

I'm back

I just wanted to drop in and say hey to everyone. Also, I had some X-rays done of my heel and I think X-rays are cool, so I wanted to show you all the reason for my pain for the last 1 1/2 years. I have surgery scheduled to remove the boney spur (I am a dedicated Spurs fan, but am I getting too carried away?), but I was a little hesitant of having this procedure done in a Korean hospital (1 hour from where I live and no chance to contact anyone). The doctor's said that it would take me 4-5 days to recover and I wouldn't be able to call Jessica. I knew she wouldn't like the fact that I wouldn't be able to call her for that many days.

I am doing fine in good ol' Korea. Everything is exactly the same here. However, the weather is getting better and I have been playing a little bit of golf lately. In fact, I am going tomorrow and get a round of 18 in- I am looking forward to it. I recently got some new golf clubs. A buddy of mine put in an order from China and they arrived last week. They are a set of Taylormade's and I got them real cheap. By cheap, I mean free. I was supposed to pay for them, but my buddy said Merry Christmas and he wouldn't take my money. I felt weird. I am not good with accepting gifts. Anyway, I have to get used to them, but they hit very well.

I am still in hacking away at school. I have 8 more classes to go and I will finally be finished. My job is the same thing as it always is, but of course, I can't discuss it here. I could tell you, but then I would have to kill you.

Anyway, I will post more later.

Love, Brent

Sunday, April 09, 2006

It was a bug

It was a bug. I issued a challenge - (a bat, a dog, ...anyone else?) - and a bug answered. I was riding along on the one week anniversary of the dog bite (last Tuesday). Since I am a relatively new biker, I had not yet learned to keep my mouth shut while riding. So, I'm breathing heavy, open mouth style, and enters the bug. I'm gagging, trying to spit it out, but this activity is making me lose control of my bike, and a wreck at that speed would have been disastrous. So, I had no recourse but to swallow the bug. It still grosses me out when I think about it. But, I had only eaten salads and soup that day, so a little protein was probably in order. The bug was just trying to round out my diet I guess.

And I learned something new - keep my mouth closed while riding - and learning new things is good.

Keep Brent in your thoughts and prayers please - he is very sick, either the flu or the "Korean Krud" (as they call it).

I will post pics later - I have a lot of catching up to do - my dog bite pics, my outings w/ friends and family, my pets. I'm on it, I promise.

Well, must get back to work - a litte reading to do before Grey's Anatomy. Love - Jess