Decisions, Decisions

It has been quite a while since I last posted. Let me see if I can catch everyone up. I stopped working at my old job and have been enjoying some home time. Since I last posted we have managed to blow the engine in Lucia, my Mazda (not my fault), fix it, wreck it and fix it again. In the mean time we traded in our old Saturn for a new 2008 Nissan Sentra. Her name is Iggy and I love her. Not only is she beautiful but she was a great deal!!!
We also helped my brother and sister in law move into a new house and got the exciting news that we are going to have a nephew. Mindi found out that she is having a little boy! We are very excited and have already began spoiling the child with cloths and stuffed animals. Mindi is 5 months pregnant. We are so excited for Preston and Mindi and can't wait to welcome little Jude or whatever name they decide on into the world.
I have also continued my quest for PA schools. As everyone knows I was accepted to Albany Medical College earlier this year and I just found out that I've been accepted to AT Still University's PA program here in Mesa. So now the question is...do I stay here in my beloved Arizona and start school in June of 2010....

or do I venture completely out of my comfort zone and try a brand new city where we have no family or friends or anything really and start at a brand new school in January????

I am well aware that the decision is ultimately mine and Zach's but if anyone has any constructive advice, I'd be very open to hearing it. I have to decide within about a week and needless to say, I'm a little bit stressed.

Finishing Alaska

I thought I'd quickly finish up Alaska. Skagway was probably my favorite place so these pics really don't do it justice. In Skagway we went on a hike and a float down the river. It was very cool. There are a few pics of Price Reupert which was our Canada stop and a pic of the glacier we saw. It really was quite an amazing trip. We had a great time and I hope to go back again.

Chopped

If any of you watch the Food Network you know what show I'm talking about. It's another one of those reality tv shows involving chefs. Basically, there are 4 chefs and one gets cut after each course of a meal. They cook an appetizer, dinner and dessert. This weekend Tessa challenged Dad to a Chopped competition. It was quite the event. They cooked dinner and dessert.

Dinner Ingredients: pork chops, bacon, avocado and a special cheese we found.

Winner: Squareknot

He made chili rellenos with spanish rice and guacamole. It was as good as it sounded.

Tessa made a 3 cheese, 3 meat breakfast taco with avocado, tomato salsa.

Dessert Ingredients: Sugar Cookie Dough, Brie Cheese, mango and coconut.

Winner: Tessa
She made a cookie sandwich with a cream filling mixed with brie cheese, mango, strawberries, and coconut. It was covered with strawberries and chocolate. It was amazing.

Squareknot made a mango raspberry cobler that was very tasty.

In the end it really was a split decision. Half of us agreed that dinner was the most important meal and therefore, Squareknot was the winner. The other half passionatly disagreed and said that dessert was more important and therefore, Tessa should win. It was a very close competition. All in all they both did amazing!

Our "Wii" kend

It's official, we have a Wii. About a month ago I told Zach that maybe we should give each other a Wii for Christmas. I had no idea the stream of events that would set in place. Needless to say, we did not wait 6 months before buying one.

I've hardly ever seen Zach so happy and excited.

The other part of our "wi" kend was Wicked! On the 4th, we had 8th row seats to see Wicked at Gammage. It was one of the most incredibly moving performances I've ever seen. Any of you who havent' seen it, I highly recommend it and sitting up close really is that much better!

Juneau

When I asked Zach what the blog title should be he said in a very Mexican accent, "It was really fun...ju know?" I said no. Anyway, to proceed with our trip, our second stop was Juneau. It was a beautiful place and a lot smaller than I thought it would be. We all ended up doing different things. Dad, Zach and I went on a bike ride, Mom went on a photography trip, and Tessa and Tasha hit the town.

Our bike ride was amazing. We started at a ski resort up on the top of the mountain and rode all the way down. We got a view of the Mendenhall Glacier from 9 miles away. Even that far away it was amazing! We had a little bit of time afterward to shop and Tessa found some amazing truffles and I found some huckleberry ice cream. It was a very successful trip!

This is a quick pic of the mountains around Juneau.

Zach with all his gear on.

Dad with his gear and the glacier in the background.

Me and Dad with our pant legs rubberbanded so they don't get caught in the chain.

All 3 of us adventurers.

Happy Anniversary!

Today was my Mom and Dad's 31st wedding anniversary! Way to go Dad for not screwing it up and way to go Mom for being charitable and patient! Just look at what you're 31 years have accomplished. I'd say you've done pretty well!

We love you and here's to another 31 years!

Ketchikan

Ketchikan Alaska was our the first stop on the trip. We all decided to go kayaking around some little islands. It was incredible!! The only disappointing thing was that Mom and Squareknot promised Tessa and Tasha some good looking guys for our guides...instead we got Eric with the missing teeth, father of a 2 year old and Betsey the Amazon woman. They did end up being very capable guides and even let us kayak a little bit longer than we were supposed to. I believe in this instance the pictures will speak for themselves.

Tasha the blueberry...

All of us with all our gear before heading out in the kayaks.

Zach, me, Tessa and Tasha. You can see some of the islands in the background.



It was very scary taking your camera out to take a picture while the kayak was rocking back and forth.

Two bald eagles...Preston named them Sandra and Squareknot.

It was our favorite excursion. We even got to see some whales. Awesome!!