Saturday, February 21, 2009

Calais the World Traveler

I think just about everyone who reads this blog knows our good friend Calais. Johnni and I have been friends with her for many years, and we always love getting to catch up with her whenever we get the chance (which is not often enough!).

You see, Calais has spent most of the last several years traveling around the world. In my mind, her attitude about traveling and everything she's done makes her a World Traveler. As it turns out, STA created an internship position with her in mind. It's conveniently called the World Traveler Internship -- and wouldn't you know, Calais has applied for it! She made her video application and posted it on YouTube, as per the instructions from STA. She needs our help, though, because the more times her video is viewed, the better her chances are of getting the internship.



The great part about her traveling is that she shares her experiences with all of us through her artwork, photography, and her blog. Johnni and I read her blog whenever we can, and after talking the other day with each other we decided that she's going to write a great book some day. We haven't told her yet because we don't want to put any pressure on her. Because we feel so strongly that this would be an awesome opportunity for her, we wanted to share the video with our blog readers. If you wish to rate or comment on the video (recommended to help her more!) it's located here.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

It HAS begun!

Matt officially started flight school last week. He has taken several courses leading up to it, but this is where the long hours begin. So far he's studied more than I can ever remember him studying for any of our classes in college! He didn't really need to do much for those classes, because he tested well by understanding the main ideas / applications. Here, there are a lot of concepts/ limits/ emergency procedures that they are required to have memorized verbatim. He'll start in the simulators next week and be in the air within the next two or so. I think he's getting excited :)

What does that mean for me? Earlier mornings, more work here at home with the business, and lots of brief quiz sessions with Matt at night. It's kind of fun actually. We've been implementing some good processes with the business since being down here. It's to a point that we need a systematic way of going about things (inventory, accounting, purchasing, payments, etc.) to stay organized.

As always, my days stay eventful taking care of the pups. One of Kadea's favorite things to do is what we call the "roomba dance." She'll hop on top of the iRobot Rooma (seen in the background below) and tap / do a move like in the movie Happy Feet until the Roomba turns on, at which point Chaz goes completely ballistic because he things the vacuum is going to kill him. She LOVES doing this, and repeats the dance until we physically get rid of the Roomba...


She is such a trouble maker. I caught her in the act this time!We added a 3rd dog to the mix for a day. I found Willow wandering around post when I was on a bike ride. I told myself before I left that I should have brought my cell phone, but didn't. So, I hopped off my bike, coaxed her to me, and was glad to see that she had a tag. I rang on the nearest doorbell for a phone, but the1-800# on the tag had outdated information. I jogged home with the dog (she was struggling more than I was, so we walked the rest of the way). Long story short, Matt and I did everything we could think of to get a hold of the owners (we knew their names). After no success, we eventually had to drop her off at the stray/adoption facility on post. Fortunately, her owners picked her up the same day. Unfortunately, I've found out that she's wandered off again since then... that darn nomadic Husky nature!


Another big thing -- my mom joined the Vita-Mix family, so now she can do the experimenting and give me all her best recipes! :) One of my favorite post-work-out smoothies is pictured below.

It has all sorts of goodies in it, and sometimes turns out better than others, depending on the ratios:

  • Strawberries
  • Raspberries
  • Blueberries
  • Blackberries
  • Grapes
  • 100% Cranberry Juice
  • Vanilla Yogurt
  • Flaxseeds
  • Ice Cubes
  • Stevia
On another completely different note, if you haven't already, take a look at Ashley's new website. It's awesome -- she's such a natural and I'm proud of her! She's great with people and it's obvious that she loves photography.

www.ashleyschragephotography.com/

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Just Because

These are a little late, but reminded me of some of the holiday fun we had :)

Joe & Les wishing everyone Merry Christmas:Lots of the little one... always ready to check things out. Too bad she things everything is hers to play with...





Fun with the fam:

This bread looks great, but I think we forgot to add one thing:


FLAVOR!

Random, I know... more later!
 

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