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

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".

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

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

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

first a bat, now a dog...anyone else?

The following occurred b/w 6:00 and 7:00 pm on Tuesday evening:

Running along my usual route, minding my own business, making pretty good time.

A dog (chow mix) that has never ever never bothered me before (with the exception of barking at me, making a little noise) comes running after me.

Bites me on my leg.

I yell.

He backs off.

I run away.

Fast.

I look at my leg.

I'm bleeding, badly.

Run the rest of the way home.

Drive myself to the EMT station.

Don't need stitches.

File a report with the sherriff because we don't have animal control.

Cry.

Friend comes over, cheers me up.

Try and go to bed, but it hurts.

Cry.

The good news in all of this:
--> I ran a 7 min 39 second mile home
--> Everyone in Oglethorpe County got to see my very hairy legs since I haven't shaved since Hawaii. I've given them something new to talk about, and that is rare in "these parts."
--> I don't think it had rabies.
--> I now know what to do when you get bitten by a dog. Learning new things is good.
--> "Pain heals. [People] dig scars. Glory lasts forever." (Keanu in The Replacements)

I'm feeling much better now, it just threw a wrench in scheduling, sleeping, and my tri training (coming up in May!!!). But, I have survived!!!! Maybe the dog sensed that I was "not one with nature" since my accidental murder of the bat. (Get it M.? Our latest chick flick...)

Love ya- More later - Jess

Alooooooooooooooha

Hey everyone, I am checking in because it has be a minute since I last posted anything on this blog. Things are going fine here. I am just missing Jessica right now. I know I just saw her, but we had a fabulous time in Hawaii and our time together went way too fast. I used the word fabulous because Jessica always uses descriptive words like this and I usually say," I had a good time"- I am just giving her a hard time. We will definitely be going back in the future. We both wanted to get our surf on, but there wasn't enough time in the day to do all of the activities that we had planned. It was a well-timed vacation for both of us. But, with all things, I had to return to reality. I have 104 days left here and I can't wait to get back home. I miss sleeping in my own bed. The bed that I have here is very uncomfortable and I live very close to the flight line, so I have dreams of planes taking off in my sleep. I also miss the pets. What can I say, I am an animal lover. I pass by the veterinarian clinic on my way to work everyday, so I usually stop by and play with dogs. They don't get a lot of visitors, so I think they are glad that I take the time to see what is going down in the pooch playpen.
The weather here is currently in the mid50s, but sometimes we get into the 60s and I get very excited about playing golf. As of now, this is really the only sport that I can play because of the issues that I have with my heels. I am paying for being stupid about 2 years ago. For those that are unaware of the situation, I went to my sister's (Heather) graduation about 2 years ago and we decided to play some late night basketball afterwards. I was not prepared for this occassion because I was wearing dress clothes, and of course, dress shoes. Regardless, I was pulling J's like MJ in his prime. I was dropping dimes (assists) to my teammates (Jessica/Eric) and Jess was pretty unstoppable with her up-and-under move. That girl has skills! All that aside, after I got out of the bed the next morning I could barely walk. It was pretty bad. That one event gave me a pretty severe case of plantar fasciitis. So, I have temporarily retired from high impact sports. It kills me, but what else can I do? I have gone to see my Doctor a few times now, but the pain has not subsided at all. I have another appointment in April, so maybe I will get better news at that time. That is all of my news for now. I will check back in soon. I hope everyone is doing well.

Love, Brent

The happy couple - together at last in Hawaii

\/ Brent cooking our steaks and seafood at the Shore Bird


\/ Walking on the beach at Bellows AFS


\/ Brent acting a fool

Pearl Harbor

/\ Aboard the submarine (The U.S.S. Bowfin)

\/ The U.S.S. Missouri


\/ The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial from a distance

\/ Inside the memorial

Hanauma Bay and Halona Blowhole

/\ Brent and I at Hanauma Bay after our morning of snorkeling

\/ Halona Blowhole - so cool!

Kualoa Ranch

We rode 4-wheelers here - this is where they make lots of movies and shows, like Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, Lost, etc.