One Year Later

Holy cow, it's already been a year since my last post!? So much has happened. We moved to Idaho Falls, had a baby, I got a real job, and Genna is back to work part-time, too. If you want details, call Genna. If you don't have her number, email her. If you don't have her email address, then you don't matter.  :P

We are now back and settled in from our whirlwind vacation. For those of you who don’t know, we went to Florida, the Bahamas, Island Park, and Salt Lake City. All in the space of two weeks!

We left Houston on the evening of the 19^th of December. We flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and spend 2 whole days lounging around on the beach. The weather was nice, upper 70s to lower 80s. On Saturday, we got on a little cruise ship that took us to Nassau, Bahamas. The boat was pretty small compared to the others at the port, but it was really old too. Actually, it was all wood design-y inside, so that was cool. Since we had never been on a cruise before we didn’t really have any idea what to expect. At dinner we were shocked by the impeccable service. As soon as you were done eating something, the plate would vanish and another plate of food would take it place. It was magic. Ok, it wasn’t magic, it was Philippinos. Anyway, since the boat was pretty small and waves were pretty big, people got sick. But, never fear the Phillipinos magic was at work again. All of a sudden there were barf bags tucked in the banisters and other places all over the ship. Barf in bags, good, barf on floor, bad. Luckily there wasn’t any floor barf, none that we saw at least.

The next morning we docked in Nassau in the clearest blue water ever. We got off the boat, stood in a line, got propositioned, and then got on another boat. This second boat took us up the channel out toward the sea. There we snorkeled around. I had a much better time before I realized I may have jumped in the water with my cell phone in my pocket and after I found out I hadn’t. The time in between wasn’t very fun.

After we returned to shore we were taken on a shuttle bus to a hotel were we ate at a buffet and lounged around on the beach again. This time the sand was white and packed down really hard, instead of the small broken shells and salt crystals of Ft. Lauderdale.

So, back to the boat, with one more night of disappearing dishes, but no need for the barf bags. The next morning we got off the boat and drove three hours to Orlando where we spent that evening and the next day at Universal Studios. Genna says she likes Lagoon better. I don’t think there is even a comparison. The next morning we hoped a plain the Salt Lake City. With a nearly 3 hours layover in Cleveland we finally got there by 7pm, to late to start driving up to Island Park. We stayed that night with my brother, Chris, and the next morning we all, including his two kids, drove up to Harriman State Park for Genna’s family’s annual cross country ski vacation. We spent the next two nights in the lodge at the park and the next day skiing around the park, visiting with Genna’s family and playing games.

For those of you still reading, it’s now Saturday morning. We drove to Idaho Falls, visited with my grandpa and parents, and slept and Genna’s parents house that night. The next day we had a get together with those in family residing in or near Idaho Falls, then headed on down the road to stay that night with Genna’s sister in Pocatello. My brother picked us up from there and we all went back down to Salt Lake. We stayed the night there and the next morning we went to some friends’ house in Lehi were Genna got her first bangs since she was five. Our flight home was that day in the evening so when we got back to Chris’ house we had some time repack all of our things and head off to the airport. We got in to Houston just before midnight on the 1^st.

School started again on the 3^rd and this time I’m getting paid. That’s right I’m finally a working stiff.

Well, thanks to those of you who actually read the whole thing, or at least skipped to the bottom to see if there was anything worth anything. I hope there was.

There is a zip file with some pictures for you to enjoy. If you want to see email me.

New Blog

I never thought it would happen, but I started a blog. I thought that it would be a nice way for people to know what's going on in our lives now that we are living so far away.

I just completed my student teaching, today actually. It has been an experience. I don't think that I will ever have a classroom where, in their spare time, my students free-style rap (one student taps out a beat on the desk with a pen(cil) and/or palm, while another "throws down" rhyming verse). It is actually quite impressive. Anyway, I have had a few interviews with other schools around the district and will be getting offers soon. I have pretty much already decided which school I will choose. It is a magnet high school, called Carver, where I would be teaching Algebra II. Of the five or so interviews I had, none were for for chemistry positions. Oh well. Math can be fun, too. The semester starts after President's Day in January, so I will hopefully be substitute teaching full time until then. It will be nice to be getting two full salaries between us.

For those who do not know, we will be in Idaho from December 26-January 1, although most of that time will be spent at Harriman State park with Genna's family cross-country skiing. If you would like to see us, drop me a line or an email.