Christmas!

With Erin's schedule, we've had a very interesting Christmas thus far! Last weekend we went with some of Nathan's teacher friends to the Symphony for their "Yuletide Spectacular." Saturday morning, Erin went on call and Nathan and Kip went to Magnolia and duck hunted with John and Steven for two days. It was a landmark trip, since Nathan finally got to shoot. They got 7 ducks the first day and 14 the second. It was lots of fun! Christmas eve Erin was once again on call, so Nathan cooked her and her co-workers enchiladas so they had good Christmas eve food! Christmas day Erin slept all day and Nathan cooked (smoked pork tenderloin, wild rice and cranberry casserole, yeast rolls, spinach madeline, and chocolate kahlua mousse) all day. The pictures are our luminarias from Christmas eve, our tree, and Mercedes tired after a long day of helping!

Beer Brewing

Bottling the cider

Pretending I'm not taking a picture of myself...

The Christmas Ale steeping...

Christmas Ale wort chilling before pitching the yeast

My stash...a few Dubel's and LOTS of cider

Yesterday Erin was on-call, so I woke up at 7 am (like I always seem to do when I've got nothing planned for the day), went to the grocery store, bottled my hard cider, then brewed a batch of "Christmas Ale," all before 3pm. Here are some pictures from the day...yes I'm that guy that uses the self-timer and a tripod so that there are actually people in the picture...let's face it, brewing beer doesn't really take much more than the ability to read and use a stopwatch, so I was kind of bored! (this is Nathan, not Erin!)

I've got a short week (Monday/Tuesday) then Colin and I head to Las Cruces for Thanksgiving. Erin's on call a few more times this week, so sadly she doesn't get to go. Actually, it's a two-fold sad-thing: first, We don't get to spend Thanksgiving together, and second I'm no longer guaranteed a bed since I'm going solo! Hope everyone has a good week!

I've been told I don't update this enough, so here goes. Not much has happened in the last month. The Cross Country season ended a few weeks ago and my girls finished 3rd and 9th in state!! The only other team with 2 persons in the top 10 took second in state! Anyhow, I'll hopefully have a larger team next year! School's going well. I'm glad Thanksgiving is coming up soon, since I think the kids (and I) are getting tired of each other. Erin's still on Gyn service and keeping long-ish hours. She's still having fun though! Sadly, she's working over Thanksgiving, so while my brothers and I are galavanting around the great metropolis of Las Cruces, Erin will be working/sleeping. Take care!

Little Red River - Trout for Everyone!

Mercedes likes trout too!

Although always considered an outdoorsman, Nathan has now caugh a bass on a worm and a trout on a fly...my father would be so proud.

Erin and I spent the last two day's at the Alford's cabin in Pangburn (past Searcy). We fished most of Saturday, catching enough for dinner (and then some)! Erin did catch the first fish and the most fish, as always. This morning we went out fishing again and I caught a nice rainbow on my fly rod (first time I'd ever used it)! Erin then caught a mammoth brown trout and a little while later I either caught the same fish, or one very similar. We didn't have a measuring tape, but by my estimation it was about 4 inches longer than my left boot (16-17 inches). We had a very relaxing time! We're back in Little Rock now, but I still have another day off (no school Monday) and Erin is off for the rest of the week.

80s Day

It's been a while since I updated, so here's the quick version: Erin finished up her third month on Labor and Delivery and is currently on a "lighter" Gyn schedule (which means I leave for cross country practice earlier than she has to be at school!). She's doing really well and still loves what she's doing despite all the long hours! As for me, school is going very well, as is Cross Country (despite hurt runners, lazy runners, quitters-who-won't-quit, etc.). That brings us up to the present. This week is Homecoming at Episcopal, so we're having the obligatory dress up days. Today was 80s day, so myself and some other teachers tried our best with varying degrees of success. A few of those pictured were "out on the scene" during the 80s, so the clothing is far more authentic than my Savers get-up. 

I'm also on my third batch of homebrew, a Belgian Dubbel. I bottled it last weekend, so it'll be a few more weeks until it is ready to drink. The first two were pretty good, so I have high hopes for the next one! Right now I'm fermenting hard cider, then brewing a German Lager and a Christmas Ale. You have to come visit to drink one, though, since I have no confidence that the bottles will stay intact in the mail! 

School started last Monday. It was a long week (isn't the first week of school supposed to be a short one?!?) both for me and the kids, but it went really well. I'm getting better at planning lessons and i'll eventually learn all of their names (there are 84 of them). Between teaching all day and cross country practice early in the morning, i'm tired, but its been fun. Erin's still on nights (only one more week!) and doing very well. She got to deliver twins the other night and from the sound of it the surrounding circumstances were absolutely perfect. We both have 3 day weekends next week for my birthday (or Labor Day, whichever you celebrate) so we're trying to decide what we're going to do...maybe we'll go to the beach. Who knows.
The picture is of John and Harriet's new schnauzer puppy. She's about 12 weeks old and yet to be named. They love Mercedes so much they decided to get one themselves! The puppy and Mercedes get along very well, sharing food and toys. It's pretty cute.

Scott's Graduation

Last weekend I got to make a quick trip to Corpus Christi to watch Scott graduate. He wasn't expecting me, so it was a nice surprise (I hope!) that I was there. We ate good Mexican/Seafood, hung out at the beach, drank beer with the biology nerds...all in all a nice time. Sadly, I had to leave early Sunday to get back for a Cross Country meeting...

Otherwise, not much else is going on. I've got Cross Country practice and inservice all week at school and Erin's still on nights. Only a few more days until school starts! Someone asked me today if I needed anything for my room and I couldn't think of anything...not because I'm that prepared, but because I have no idea what I need and what I don't! I'm ready to get started though!

Starting my new job!

I've been going to school just about every day this week in order to get ready for the year. The teacher I am replacing retired, and so left EVERYTHING in the room. I've realized this is both good and bad. Mostly good, because there are three years worth of tests, quizzes, handouts and lesson plans. The bad is that, well, there are three years worth of paper in two file cabinets. I still have a bunch of work to do!!! 

We also started Cross Country practice this week. The team is small, but there seem to be some pretty good runners...Oh, and small means 2 people the first day. I'm told there will be more when school starts...one can only hope! 

Erin started nights this week. It'll take a little getting used to, but I think we're adapting fairly well. It is shift work, so she actually does get done when she's supposed to, which is always nice! 

New Deck, new tomatoes, etc.

Here's a picture of our new deck. It's much larger than we thought it would be, but that's not a bad thing! We were amazed at how little time it took for it to be built (they took about 2 days to tear the old one down and build up the new one)! Now I have to work on landscaping the backyard. The second picture is my tomatoes. I was worried they wouldn't ever come in, but there are a few plants that are putting out fruit...now if I can keep the birds away.

To Exit the Parking Deck...

turn left! That was Erin's residency lesson for today. So far, things have been going very well. Aside from being a little sleepy (due in no small part to getting up at 3:40 am EVERY morning), she's seen and done lots of great OB/GYN stuff (so named because I'm still getting used to the vocab...no worries, Erin made me a glossary!). Oh, and she's not on call and not working for two whole days this weekend, so we get to go to the lake!!!!

As for me, I'm closing in on my last few days at the Bike Shop (thank goodness). The week after I finish, I go to Atlanta for a new teacher conference, then start at Episcopal. Sometime in there I start Cross Country practice...yeah that's right, I'm head coach! Hopefully the lessons I learned at the one Cross Country meet I have ever participated in will come in handy!

**The picture doesn't match the post...we're at the Bellagio in Vegas...good times!**

Evening Stroll

I am taking a photography class at the Arkansas Arts Center. James and Marilyn gave us a wonderful camera as a wedding gift. And to be honest, I really didn't know much but place the settings on auto then point and shoot. I have now learned how to use the other settings-I really like it! So this past week I took out around the neighborhood to capture the beautifull flowers. The azelas are beautiful here in Hillcrest! The first two pictures were taken at our church, Pulaski Heights United Methodist. The third is a picture of a building in the neighborhood.

Nathan and I are considering buying a house. I am apparently very particular...Nathan just wants room to keep his things out of the crawl space. Like many places there are a lot of homes for sale, but we have some parameters that have to be kept! So we'll see how things go.

Easter

This morning we went to Pulaksi Heights for their Easter service. It was a beautiful service, complete with drums, trumpets and all of the choirs. Afterwards, we went to Loca Luna for brunch with a few friends. This evening Erin is cooking Moroccan pork tenderloin and Molly and Rob are coming over to eat with us. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Match Day Pictures!

Match Day!

Match day has finally come! We've been waiting for what seems like years to find out where Erin will spend her residency and on Thursday we finally found out! Erin matched to the Obstetrics and Gynecology program at UAMS in Little Rock, so we will be staying in Little Rock for at least the next four years. We're both very excited and can't wait to see what happens next!

Here are a few pictures from match day...Erin reading her letter, the two of us, and Erin and her fellow OB/GYN interns!