Kunz Fest

Aloha Hawaii

2011-11-07T23:54:00.008-05:00

We made it! We are here in Hawaii and enjoy living in paradise. We still don't have a house due to us waiting for base housing. One should be ready in December. Hotel life gets a little uneventful after four months though. We are just grateful for a roof over our heads.

Max is enjoying a free ride.

Local Hawaiian Sweet Bread and Homemade Guava Jam: Delicious!

Kevin's favorite aisle at the store: Macadamia Nuts and Chocolate

Family outgoing hiking Diamond Head

Part of the 270 something stairs up to Diamond Head

Max went on a trip to the ER:

Who knew an iPad falling off a bed could cut the face to need two stitches?

Temple trip to Laie Temple

Ahh...just beautiful.

Visiting Kevin at work

We went up to the Dole Plantation: Dole Whip is delicious!

Max loved the train ride.

Golfing on Ford Island

Brothers just hanging out.

For Max's 2nd Birthday, we went to this restaurant. It is hands down the best breakfast place!

Once Andrew learned to crawl, we couldn't keep him out of the water.

Hanauma Bay

Andrew couldn't get enough of being pulled on the boogie board.

Guess What? There is a pumpkin patch on the island. Who would have thought?

Pali Hwy Lookout Point: Winds strong enough to knock people over

That's it for now.

Farewell to Florida

2011-11-06T00:41:00.006-04:00

There were lots of great memories created in Florida. Our last few weeks were a whirlwind with graduation, out processing, moving and getting in last minute beach, boat and friends time.

Max on his first boat ride in Florida thanks to good friends

Andrew "flying" in the evening sky

Kevin graduating from his AEGD program

Shaking so many hands

The family cheering him on!

Fallen off the earth

2011-11-06T00:38:00.006-04:00

At times it feels like that. We, the Kunz family, are still alive and well. Six months went by quickly with numerous changes and new experiences. I will try to be brief in recapping.

Our Next Duty Station

2011-04-15T23:02:00.002-04:00

After several agonizing days this week awaiting our next assignment, we FINALLY received word!

We have been assigned to Hickham AFB in Honolulu, HI!!!!

We could not be more thrilled about the prospect of living in Honolulu for three years. We can't wait for continued good weather, SCUBA diving, mountain biking, hiking, hanging out at the beach, etc. The base dental clinic is on the smaller side with only about 7-8 dentists. They requested someone who enjoys doing root canals!! Should be fun! We can't wait but are still trying to soak in the final few months we still have in FL!

Guess our next Duty Station!

2011-04-03T12:27:00.003-04:00

There are 43 locations available that we could be stationed at next year. Here is how we ranked them from most desirable to least.

There are many factors that played into our rankings (location, size of clinic, # openings, skill set needs of the clinic) so you may not agree with our rankings but they are calculated on our part.

We are curious how far down the list you think we will slide. Leave a comment of where you think we will end up going next year and whoever gets it right may win a prize!!!

1) Hickham AFB (Honolulu, HI; probably a long shot)
2) Lajes AFB (small island 150 miles off coast of Spain)
3) Luke AFB (Pheonix, AZ)
4) Vandenberg AFB (north of LA, CA)
5) Spang-Bitburg (Germany)
6) Hill AFB (Utah; most requested base in USAF dental Corp!)
7) Beale AFB (northern Cali)
8) Macdill AFB (Tampa, FL)
9) Charelston AFB (coastal SC)
10) Tyndall AFB (Panama city, FL; only an hour from our current location)
11) Kirtland AFB (NM)
12) Peterson AFB (CO)
13) Misawa AFB (Japan)
14) Lakenheath AFB (England)
15) Ramstein AFB (Germany)
16) Seymour-Johnson AFB (SC)
17) Upwood AFB (England)
18) McGuire AFB (New Jersey)
19) Kadena AFB (tropical Japan, excellent SCUBA diving)
20) Shaw AFB (SC)
21) Mountain Home AFB (Idaho)
22) Pope AFB (NC)
23) Fairchild AFB (WA)
24) Davis-Monthan AFB (NM)
25) Little Rock AFB
26) Vance AFB (OK)
27) Tinker AFB (OK)
28) Sheppard AFB (TX)
29) Columbus AFB (MS)
30) Maxwell AFB (AL)
31) Cannon AFB (NM)
32) McConnell AFB (KS)
33) FE Warren AFB (WY)
34) Goodfellow AFB (TX)
35) Dyess AFB (TX)
36) Whiteman AFB (MS)
37) Yokota AFB (Japan, about 150 miles from nuclear plant)
38) Scott AFB (IL)
39) Moody AFB (GA)
40) Malmstorm AFB (Montana)
41) Minot AFB (northern ND, northernmost AFB)
42) Grand Forks AFB (ND)
43) Barksdale AFB (LA)

Good Luck! We should find out our next duty station within 10 days.

Did we fail to mention...

2011-01-30T13:58:00.005-05:00

our little one has arrived? Opps. Life is busy being a family of four now. Andrew Robert Kunz was born January 18th 7:58am. He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and was 19" in length, almost exactly like Max. Everyone is doing well even two weeks later.

Here are pictures of the grand day and days that followed:

Kevin messing around in the OR waiting

He's out and screaming.

He's not sure about this earth life thing.

Max trying to be "soft" with his new brother.

Max learning to hold Andrew once home.

Andrew wide awake for a few minutes.

Naptime

December Highlights

2011-01-05T16:33:00.011-05:00

So December was a little busier than planned. Hence no posting. Here's what we were up to:

Nov 30th: First Time Max has fallen asleep while eating

Dec 3rd: Max's first Happy Meal (Kevin was in charge while Amanda went out with friends.)

Dec 4th: Dental Squadron Christmas Party

Dec 9th: Saw lights at Gulf Breeze Zoo with friends

petting a snake

Dec 10th: Went camping at Timberlake with friends (forgot to take pictures)
Amanda and Max didn't stay the night

Dec 11th: Noah's (another resident's son) 2nd Birthday Party - Polar Express Theme
Santa arrived. Max wasn't quite comfortable sitting on his lap.

Dec 19th: Tried nursery for the first time

Dec 23rd: Grandma and Grandpa Kunz arrive
Grandma helping with bathtime

Dec 24th: Christmas Eve dinner at our house with friends and family
(too busy making glazed ham, mushroom risotto and grilled asparagus to take many pictures)

Dec 25th: Christmas Day with too many gifts to open

Kevin using a gift already for Christmas breakfast!

Max playing with his new steering wheel. Kevin attached it to his saw horse for better real-life feel.
We had to go to the beach on Christmas day!! It was in the low 40s when we went with 20 mph winds. It was cold to say the least for these new Floridians.

Dec 27th: Fishing at Pier (the true catcher of the fish is debatable between Jeff and Kevin)
grilled to eat!

Dec 28th: Shooting at Hurlburt Field followed by dinner at McGuire's Irish Pub

Jeff taking aim (Root beer only)

Dec 29th: Found out the baby is breech at doctor's appointment. After failed maneuvering, a c-section is scheduled for January 18th.

Dec 30th: Sailing in the bay

Later on in the day..making homemade ravioli

Max devoured 4.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-26T00:06:00.000-04:00

A local church was hosting this really cool pumpkin patch sort of deal. It was real fun to take Max. He obviously had fun picking up a bunch of different pumpkins. The only problem is that either they were to heavy for him or he would treat them like this bouncy ball at home and try to throw them. Luckily none of them broke or got damaged. We went crazy taking pictures. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for all of you) I can only post 5 at a time at the moment. So here are just a few of what I would have liked to share!!!

Underwater Pumpkin Carving Champions!!!

2010-10-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if you have heard but this is a pretty big deal! My buddy, Nate, and I are champion underwater pumpkin carvers!!! We went into the event with low expectations but we came away champions!!! It's a pretty big deal! It was lots of fun too!

Trip to Biloxi

2010-10-25T23:51:00.001-04:00

As you may recall, I am a dentist in the USAF and am currently in a residency program at Eglin AFB near the beautiful Destin, FL. Well, this week they have decided to send the residents to a 1-week pathology course at Keesler AFB near Biloxi, MIssissippi. So far it has been a fun course. As you can see in one of the pictures, one of the residents participated in a demo in which the ENT doctor stuck a camera probe up his nose and all the way down into his throat. Then he had him talk and we all watched his vocal cords on a monitor. It was rather neat.

On our way into town, we stopped at a very popular restaurant called "The Shed". It might as well have been called the shack because it was nothing more than just that. In fact, apparently it was constructed from scrap materials. The establishment is just sort of thrown together with seemingly whatever they could find. There were no bathroom doors. Instead, shower curtains! It's a BBQ joint and I must admit, it was some dang good BBQ. Apparently the place was featured on the Food Network's "Drive INS, Diners, and Dives". It really is worth a stop in if you are in the area. It is definitely funky and the food is fantastic.

One of the reasons we love Florida!

2010-10-07T11:44:00.000-04:00

It hasn't rained in a couple weeks. No rain in sight. Yet or garden continues to do pretty well!

365 days later

2010-10-05T11:11:00.002-04:00

It's crazy to realize Max is one year old today! So much has changed with him growing and in our family. How grateful we are for each change and growth. Let's visit memory lane:

Morning Of:
Afternoon of:
First home bath:

First night home:

Scanning through the months:

Enjoying life, Trip to cider mill, First Thanksgiving

Christmas Time, Blessing Day, Valentine's

Growing up

Cinco de Mayo

Crawling everywhere, walking everywhere, climbing everything

Does he look like us yet?

Finally, the birthday boy today:

Happy Birthday Max!

Terrible Two!!!

2010-08-26T22:21:00.009-04:00

Max isn't two years old yet but based on how mobile he is becoming (see video below) he is going to be a load of trouble when he finally gets there!!!

But two years of age is not the kind of terrible "two" I was referring to in the title of this post ... Nope, the "two" refers to the number of rowdy young boys Amanda will soon have to supervise (in addition to myself!!) That's right, Amanda is pregnant with baby boy #2 with a tentative due date of January 23!!!!

Amanda had an initial ultrasound today which revealed that our baby boy is happy and healthy! Amanda is quite a bit further along than we initially anticipated (we figured a due date of around mid-March?!?!?! Oops!). Because she is so far along, this first ultrasound is considered "tentative" because that particular ultrasound machine is only rated through 12 weeks of labor and Amanda is currently weighing in at 18 weeks! Another ultrasound is scheduled ASAP in a nearby clinic. Although the first ultrasound suggested its going to be a boy, it is possible that the gender is wrong but based on the pictures below, we don't think so. (The final ultrasound pic seems to illustrate the gender characteristics best)

Now, we figure a lot of people will wonder or want to know why we are having a second child so close in age to the first. Well, I can honestly say that ... well, "mistake" isn't quite the right word so I guess I will say, "It's quite a pleasant surprise!!!" And it truly is! We could not be more happy and feel more blessed to be welcoming another baby boy into our family!

Now, I you are wondering how we are handling the news ... Amanda isn't quite sure how she is going to be able to handle two boys and I am glad I have a full-time job!!! Just kidding!! (But not totally!)

Just two more thoughts:

(1) My brother and sister-in-law are expecting a baby girl due in December. We wish them the best. My brother really wanted a boy ... check with Amanda around mid-February or even earlier. She may just grant you your wish!!

(2) Not many of you will be aware of how busy January is from a birthday standpoint. My birthday is January 3 (please pause and take a moment to mark that in your calendars now), I share my birthday with a niece (Bailey Herbert), Amanda has two brothers with birthday on the 6th and 9th (Jon and Josh respectively), I have a sister-in-law with a birthday on the 19th (Rachele), Amanda's parents' wedding anniversary is on the 24th, Amanda's birthday is the 25th, and BOTH of my parents' birthdays are on the 26th! So what is one more!!! We sort of celebrate them all at once anyway!

P.S. We have not told my parents yet! This is sort of a test to see how often they check our blog and how quickly they will call us. Also, my younger brother announced over facebook last December that he was engaged before ever telling my parents (they were basically they last ones to find out several days after the fact and had to do so through from a third-party). So, in honor of that method of announcing important news, we are following suit! So, if you run into my parents or just want to spare them from being the last in the know, feel free to contact them! But I am confident that they follow our blog regularly and will be among the first to know! So, call them anyways!

Gator Lakes Golf Course

2010-08-21T14:02:00.004-04:00

There are a lot of cool things that one gets to participate in and experience as a member of the military. This past Thursday, I took Max along with me to The Dennis Walters Golf Show held at the local Air Force Base golf course. Check out the webpage to find out more about the show. But in short, the show consisted of a paraplegic who demonstrated a variety of trick golf shots. The guy was amazingly consistent ... dead straight and about 225 yards each and every time basically while sitting down on the side of a golf cart! The show was quite entertaining and it seemed to keep Max occupied.

Following the show, one of the base squadrons began holding some sort of training exercise in the nearby lake. This lake is immediately adjacent to the 18th green. Literally, the edge of the green is 20 feet from this lake and the exercise took place about 80 yards from the edge!

The exercise consisted of two GIANT helicopters (the HUGE twin-propeller type) flying just a few feet above the tree-line (the trees would bend nearly sideways under the thrust of the twin propellers) until they were just over the lake. They would drop down to about 15 feet above the water (at this point we were getting showered with mist from the lake) and 4-5 airmen would drop a raft in the lake and then jump out into the water, they would then swim to the raft and then paddle ashore and then reload into the helicopter that would land nearby. Now, keep in mind that the name of the golf course is Gator Lakes Golf Course. It's not named GATOR LAKES because of all the gold fish swimming around!!! It is quite some serious training. They made several trips around. It looked like a lot of fun. I will have to find out how I can get hooked up with an opportunity to do that!

Last night Amanda and I returned to Gator Lakes Golf Course for another event. This time we attended an outdoor movie which was preceded by free golfing at the driving range. Thanks to our friend, Cristy Tilton, it was a nice date night away from Max!!! And, much to Amanda's satisfaction, we didn't see any gators!!!!

TD 1. Thats all folks!

2010-07-30T12:37:00.001-04:00

Today we graduated. Had a parade! Received final words of advice from our flight commanders! Its good to be done. Destin Beach ... Here I come!

The Warrior Run

2010-07-25T14:28:00.001-04:00

The picture is of the prop-and-wings pin we all received at the end of our "Warrior Run" on Friday. You may ask, "what's the warrior run?". Basically it was a 4.5 mile sight seeing tour of Maxwell afb. The catch is, everytime we would stop for a break to see a plane or something, we would have to do some extra exercise. For example, we stopped at the B-52 bomber, received a brief history on its significance to the USAF, and then "in honor of the b-52, everyone do 52 push-ups!". Needless to say, we worked out hard in addition to 4.5 miles of running. The tiny pin does not even begin to express how tired I was when we were done!

More from our day off!

2010-07-25T13:54:00.001-04:00

So, can I just say that I love days off during OTS!!! It was great. In the morning, I visited the BX (military shopping center) to get a hair cut and pick up a few things I needed. In the afternoon, our flight went to a BBQ restaurant. I got the "BIG DADDY" pulled pork sandwich which was sooo GOOD!

There was a gelato stand at the BX so I bought some grapefruit flavored! Gelato is so good and this was no exception! It was so smooth and the grapefruit flavor was awesome!

The two swords you see are the gift we are giving to our flight commander. We are "Echo" flight (E = echo) and so we nicknamed our flight "Excaliber" so we found the perfect gift for our flight commander. We got the sword tips engraved with a couple of his favorite quotes:

"Don't dork it up" and " kill people and break their toys!"

These last two posts were short because they pushed our two night fed exercise up a few hours and so I am rushed to get this done along with a few other things! This exercise is basically a mock deployment in which we will be staying in military tents on a mock mini base where we will likely be woken at absurd hours of the night by mock mortar attacks! Till tuesday!

A day off OTS campus!

2010-07-25T13:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday night we made use of our day with no responsibilities. We went to the Montgomery Biscuits baseball game. They are the AA affiliate for the Tampa Bay Rays. They ended up winning a close 6 to 5 game! The pictures are of our flight and we all had a great time. I was even able to introduce amanda to everyone when I did a live video stream during the game so amanda could see and meet everyone!

TD 16 is done!

2010-07-21T23:40:00.001-04:00

Ah, the dreaded "341"! I got one today! You may be asking yourself, "what's a 341?" Well, a 341 is the merit/demerit system that they use here. If you do something extraordinary, you get a merit 341 (only two total have been given out in 3 or so weeks now) and if you mess up, you get a 341 demerit!

A flight-mate got a 341 the other day for saying "Sir" to a ma'am!!! It was pretty funny! Its kinda nerve-racking everyone is bound to mess up at some point. You just hope it's not in front of an OTS staff person. Well, our flight-mate messed up right in front of staff. It might have been his only flaw of the day but such is OTS!!!

So, back to my 341. Its kinda ridiculous! We ate MREs in our flight classroom which normally has a no food policy unless permission is granted. We were granted permission to eat MREs in the morning. Well, in the afternoon, an instructor was 15 min late to our class (highly unusual for military personnel to be late like that) and I had my folder open as I was working on something. Earlier in the morning I only ate part of my MRE and decided to save the beef ravioli and crackers to give away since I wasn't hungry. So I had put them in my folder but since I was working on something I had seethe unopened packages on the table. When the instructor walked in he noticed another girl eating and questioned her whether she had permission to do that. She didn't so she got a 341 and then the instructor saw my packages (again, unopened and individually wrapped) on the table so he had me get a 341 as well. Kinda stupid but such is OTS. I don't love the place but I don't hate it either. Its not too bad. I'm keeping it as light and enjoyable as I can and i feel it is really paying off.

I'm not sure I mentioned it, but our flight has lost on average about 5 pounds of weight per person since coming here! I personally lost eight pounds but I took a "biggest loser" approach to weighing in ... I didn't drink any water the day before (Sunday), I wore my lightest cloths (actually my initial weigh-in was in very light cloths), and I used the bathroom immediately before weigh-in!! Before you say I cheated, I will tell you that I also lost an inch off my waist too! So at least some of it is legit!

The pic is of me after our 5k run this evening for exercise. Since I passed my final fitness test, exercising is all of a sudden a privilege and an enjoyment again! It is really humid here. When you work out here, all your cloths get totally soaked! Its kinda disgusting! Maybe a little bit of TMI!!

TD 14 DONE!!! Onto TD 15!!

2010-07-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

Less than two weeks left!! I know I has been a few days since I updated things. ThT is because we have been real busy with lecture, studying, tests, and preparing for our briefing/PowerPoint presentation today. It has not been an exciting week but the upcoming days ought to be fun.

The highlights have been:

1) I passed our third and final test to finish with an average of the three well into the 90's. Lots of people were obsessing about studying but I felt calm about it all. I worked hard and trusted it would pay off.

2) this morning was the second and final fitness test. I am pleased to say that not only did I meet the minimum requirements, but that the weight training and all the extra work I put into training helped me achieve a score of 91.9! Anything over a 90 is considered "excellent".

I will hopefully post with good news about the briefing and how it went. After that, the rest of COT will be pressure free and ought to be a ton of fun!

TD 11 of 23!! We are getting closer!

2010-07-14T23:16:00.000-04:00

So, today was another early morning with MRE breakfast. Mine was chicken and dumplings. It came with peanut butter, grape jelly, and some sort of bread. I skipped the chicken and dumplings and just ate the PB and J!

We had a field exercise all morning. It was an orienteering type exercise. Basically the point was to put us in situations we are not not used to (navigating with a compass), they give us a task to complete, a very shot amount of time to complete it in, then they grow in some variable to mess with us, and then they sit back to see how we react.

I was the "leader" for the fourth task. We had to get a "missile" (a heavy pressure treated log) from one point to three separate waypoints and then to a final destination. The missile had a hole in it with radioactive material inside that could spill out if it is tipped more than 30 degrees from vertical! So, all was going well, I had assigned one person the task of navigating, he had two people to help him, the two other strongest and heaviest people were assigned to carrying the missile, and two other people were assigned to keep a lookout for the terrorists who would be coming to search for their missile. All was well until the missile tipped past 30 degrees (I swear it never broke 30 degrees, but whatever) and our biggest and strongest guy got "incapacitated." So now we had to carry him AND the missile. Somewhere along the lines our navigator got mixed up and took a wrong coordinate (in order to get a correct coordinate you had to answer a question correctly, yet another way to introduce stress into the situation). We ended up taking this heavy missile way off course. Then it tipped slightly again and our next biggest guy got "incapacitated." It all sort of fell apart at that point. Our flight commander controlled who he wanted to be incapacitated. In the previous exercises they had stretchers to carry people or he would incapacitate the smallest and lightest person. So our challenge was basically impossible! But that is also sort of the point, they just want to see how we react in challenging circumstances.

The rest of the day was spent in lecture. Below is a picture from the exercise this morning!

The weekend and TDs 9 & 10

2010-07-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

We didn't earn privileges this past weekend. That meant we were confined to the OTS complex. That also meant there was no real point to going outside of the dorms! Imagine the entire weekend spent mostly indoors. Of course we are required to make all our dining priorities, I did get out for church (also indoors), and I did get outside for some exercise on Saturday for a couple hours.

We originally thought hey didn't give us privileges because they wanted us to do well on our exam we had on Monday. But we later found out that it is because people are still talking too much in the hallways, while standing in lines, etc. Seems a bit annoying to me. Oh well.

The exam went very well. I got a 97% ... The second highest score in my class! That means the next exam next Monday won't be as difficult since we need only an 80% average between the two.

Not much has gone down on Monday and Tuesday. Between the two days, we had 16 hours of classroom lecture! Good thing Wednesday morning is an outdoor "orienteering" challenge. It should be fun.

Things are going to be real busy until next tuesday. Before then, we have (1) another exam, (2) a physical fitness test, (3) and a briefing (basically a PowerPoint presentation) that all need to be completed. So, things will be busy and exhausting until then. The picture kinda describes how we all feel at this point ... Tired. We run on only about 5 hours of sleep a night!

Training day 8 of 23 is over with!

2010-07-09T22:27:00.001-04:00

So today was a lot of fun. But before I get into the events of today, let me explain how COT and OTS almost stooped to the level of dental school.

Today, we participated in a "confidence and obstacle course". It was different from yesterday's obstacles but more on that in a minute. In order to participate in today's activities, you had to pass your fitness test which consists of running 1.5 miles, a waist measurement, and one minute of both push-ups and sit-ups. The scoring of the fitness test just changed (we are the first class with the new new standards). Well, historically only a handful of people failed the fitness test per COT class. That's because there were no minimum requirements. Therefore, if you were not overweight and could run 1.5 miles fairly quickly, you would pass without a problem. Well, with the new standards, about 1/3 of the class failed the fitness test. That includes me ... I was a single sit-up short of the standard despite having an overall score of 88, the 5th highest in my flight of 16 people, AND my scores for both the running and waist measurement portions of the test are well within the "low risk for cardiovascular disease" parameters!!! But passing this fitness test was a requirement for participating in the obstacle course this morning. Well, up until after dinner yesterday, they were telling us that those who failed the fitness test would have to take pictures for everyone else that was participating. Basically they were being totally unreasonable and rude about things. They made everyone who did not pass sign a counseling form stating that we failed and that we need to "dramatically" improve or else we could be kicked out of COT. It was total garbage. So that is how they were stooping to the level of dental school, totally ridged and unreasonable. They originally claimed that not passing the fitness test means you are a safety risk?!?!?! That may have topped the worst policy in dental school. But in the end, they let those with 75 or higher scores participate and like I said, I had the 5th highest in my flight and only missed passing by a single sit-up!!!

The obstacle course (its actually called "the assault course") was a ton of fun. We had to wear our ABU uniforms. It was HOT and humid. The course consisted of things like crawling under wires with your face in sand, traveling across while hanging from monkey bars, walking across balance beams, climbing up and around a rope ladder, going over and under and back over an entire line of parallel bars without touching the ground, etc. It was a ton of fun. By the end, everyone was totally soaked from sweat and totally filthy from crawling in sand and dirt. It was a lot of fun to work as a team/flight. We have a flight chant that we would call out as we went around the course. All around, it was challenging and a TON of fun. Im real glad they let everyone participate and not keep some unreasonable policy from us all having fun!

I took some more pictures. One is of the entire class lined up and waiting for the buses, another of our flight waiting to return back to the OTS complex, one of our flight all sweaty with our ABU blouses off immediately after the assault course, and one of us doing a team building exercise this afternoon.

TD 7 of 23

2010-07-08T22:43:00.000-04:00

You know, they repeat a lot of them same foods at every meal here. For instance, outside of breakfast, they have had mashed potatoes at every single lunch and dinner! At the same time, outside of breakfast (which has never had any variation) each meal almost always features at least one new food that they had not had previously. Today's new dish was fried okra. And to be honest with you, I might not have ever tried fried okra before. I have to admit that it was pretty good. Much better than the canned green beans I got to go with it.

This morning we participated in what OTS calls "Project X". Its about a half mile hike from our dorms and down by the runway. Basically, Project X is a big playground of a bunch of scenarios that need to be completed in a short 20 minute time period. For instance, one task was to get an injured comrade across a "river" (nothing more than a shallow pool) using a cable that was already in place. There are penalties for touching out-of-bounds and such. One that I participated was that we were stuck in a booby-trapped house with the only way out being the roof which was about 12 feet high. Another scenario was getting 7 people across an "acid" pool using only 4 small barrels! Its hard to explain but basically they were technical obstacle courses in which we were evaluated for teamwork and leadership. Our flight participated in four exercises with each member of the flight doing two of them. We didn't successfully complete any of the tasks but from what I gather, almost no one completes them. The whole point is for our commanders to evaluate us. It was fun. I am told that they may have videos on YouTube. Search "ots, lrc, Maxwell afb, cot". That may being something up. We are not allowed to search right now as that is considered a breach of the honor code and academic integrity so I really don't know what is on the web other than we were told there is stuff on there and not to seek it out

I included a few more pictures. A couple were from this morning as we ate our breakfast MREs! One is of a proper salute (the left person is my roommate and the other is a flight-mate). Another is of a flight-mate drinking from our camel-baks before the start of Project X this morning. And another is of a flight-mate adjusting the Excaliber sword since we renamed our flight from "E / Echo".

That brings me to another topic. Today we had a "tattoo" ceremony. I'm still not quite sure of the significance and background and meaning of the ceremony. But all I know is that now we don't need our commander to walk us around everywhere. The tattoo ceremony was basically a transfer of authority and responsibility more to us and from the staff. In other words, we are getting better! We are headed toward graduation!

Till tomorrow!

TD 5 and 6 of 23

2010-07-07T23:21:00.000-04:00

So the past two days have been more of the same ... Mostly classroom work mixed with meals. We are getting noticeably better at marching. Our flight commander acknowledge our improvement. Lecture subjects as of lately include management and organization, leadership styles, the art of war, weapons of war, etc. I finally got brave enough to carry around my iphone to use as a camera (cell phones are prohibited). Other people use cameras so I feel safe doing what I am doing. Anyway, here are some pictures. A couple of them were taken in our large lecture hall. One is of our flight practicing our chant. The other one was taken in our flight room our small lecture room. Enjoy!

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-04T19:02:00.002-04:00

I didn't post yesterday because it wasn't a true "training day". Saturday was the first day in which we were able to somewhat sleep in. We are still required to meet all of our "priorities" including breakfast which is at 0700. That means we had to be up at 0630 in order to get to the dining hall on time.

Following breakfast, we had one hour to study and prepare for out exam covering our entire OTSMAN (Officer Training School Manual). The exam was 25 questions and ended up being open book. Everyone did fine and I am glad I was one of the few not to stress over the exam ... one of the benefits of taking this highly stressful and structured environment not overly seriously and keeping things lite!

The rest of saturday was spent doing PT (physical training of 1.5 mile run, 2 minutes of sit-ups, and 2 minutes of push-ups), reading, talking to Amanda and Max on the phone, lunch and dinner, various meetings, and getting some work done (they give us homework).

Today (Sunday) we again woke up at 0630 in time for breakfast. We are allowed to attend church meetings and so following breakfast all the LDS trainees boarded a bus and we headed off to the local LDS chapel. Of the 330 trainees at COT/OTS, nearly 50 of us are LDS. That's quite a significant percentage! During the religious toleration lecture we earlier this week, they highlighted the info for the LDS services. I believe that is because such a significant number of their trainees are historically LDS! The percentage of LDS people at COT far ahead of the general public! For whatever reason, LDS students love joining the military. It's probably due to the fact that they can stay largely debt free following medical/dental school.

Church went well. I think we tripled the size of the ward we attended. For now, until we earn privilages otherwise, we are required to wear our camo uniform (our ABU) to religious services so that is what we did.

The rest of today will be spend reading, some of us will take a walk later, and relaxing. I don't believe I will see any fireworks this year?!?!?!

Nothing is planned for Monday as it is another day off for the OTS staff. We are down to 19 TD's left.

The picture is the Air Force logo!

TD 4 of 23

2010-07-02T21:42:00.002-04:00

I don't have any pictures for today. This will be a quick post. It was a long day and I am exhausted from getting roughly 4.5 hours of sleep the last 4 nights.

We also had a physical assessment test this morning. I ran the 1.5 mile portion in 11:15. That's a pretty good time for myself. I was pretty happy about that.

The rest of the day consisted of meals (no time for shower after the physical assessment test) and lectures ... NINE of them to be exact! Five of them were in a small room in a building where the heat stopped working. The outside temp was 89.9 degrees and the temp inside our room was 80.6 degrees. It was hot and humid!

I'm off to study. We have an exam over the first week's worth of material. Wish me luck.

TD 3 of 23

2010-07-01T21:11:00.001-04:00

Today was another bright and early day. Actually it was still dark out when we woke up. We had another drill session this morning. Although, today the drill pad (the area that we used for practicing and learning our drills/marching) was far away and we ended up drilling for a total of 4 hours. Today was not so hot but it was VERY humid. Everyone ended up sweating a ton! Our ABUs were soaked by lunch time.

I was the first designated flight officer of the day. That means it was my responsibility to lead the flight where ever we were to march today. Needless to say, I got yelled at a bunch. Who would have thought that glorified walking (marching) would be so hard? But it is. There are so many things to do wrong. As our Flight Commander says, it is attention to detail that will get him to stop yelling at us. The problem is that the flight leader job (my job for today) actually requires a ton of coordination to bark orders, march, and think ahead. On top of that, there are 16 people in the flight and any one of them can mess up at any time and then there you go, we get yelled at!

After lunch, we got a nice break from the rigors of marching, the heat and humidity, and yelling from our flight commanders. Instead, we had four hours of lecture. Topics included the honor code, suicide, chaplains and their roles, and integrity and service before self.

The chaplain spoke for two hours, including about the lecture on suicide and how to prevent it. The chaplain was a funny character he reminded me of Ned Flanders from The Simpsons! He also spoke on religious tolerance. Also, nearly. A quarter of those at COT right now are Mormon and historically there are many mormons in COT. Therefore, he highlighted the LDS off-base meeting schedule for COT students. I hear that it is a pretty good deal. We will sort of have our own ward that an older couple hosts. They may be missionaries assigned to do this or something. I would say that outside of the LDS trainees, nearly everyone else will be required to stay on campus but we get to get off base for church. I hear they have a nice lunch or something to serve us as well. One non-Mormon trainee here said he had a friend that is Mormon that said COT is the time to join the church because church is so good here!!

The picture is of me in our dorm room. I really wish i could take more pics but I'm afraid they don't allow that at this point.

Till tomorrow!

TD - 2 of 23

2010-07-01T00:46:00.000-04:00

Correction: TD stands for "Training Day" and not tour of duty as previously suggested.

So, day two of training! Another early 4:30am morning. This time we were not woken up but we had to get up on our own. After assembling, we were marched over to an auditorium for a lecture on 'dress and grooming'. Its not rocket science, guys!

Following the lecture we ate breakfast before having a two hour marching or drill training session where we learned how to properly perform marching maneuvers such as turning right, left, backwards, standing at attention, etc. One may wonder why we need to learn all this marching if we will never use it in the dental clinic. I believe the answer is two-fold. First, it instills discipline and second, we I'll out-rank enlisted folks and they will expect us to know the proper marching skills and techniques and therefore we need a working knowledge of how to properly march. In other words, since we will out-rank others, we need to at least posses some of their basic skills.

It was VERY hot during the drill session. We had to wear our ABU's today (Airman Battle Uniform) which is the very thick, almost denim-like camouflage uniform. It got very, VERY hot!

Following the drill session, we had a couple more lectures followed by lunch. Following lunch the REALLY real fun began! We are assigned to "flights" of 16 trainees. Well, today we met our Flight Commanders and let's just say they were not happy to meet us!! All they did was yelled at us, loudly corrected us when ever we were wrong (pretty frequently), and barked out orders to us! Nothing is ever good enough for those guys! It is really a test of endurance. There were times when I almost had to laugh because of how predictably ridiculous this whole experience has been. There is no way to meet their expectations because no matter how good you are, they will say it isn't good enough. Bit let's face it, we are good enough for government work. But I have to say, they are pushing us toward perfection and it is working. They are pushing us to pay attention to the fine details. In the end, it will pay off. It just makes me laugh though because you know there is now way to please them so you just go along with it with a good attitude.

For dinner, of course I mentioned that eating any meal is quite an ordeal. There is a particular way of approaching the dinning hall, of entering the dinning hall, of ordering your food, of sitting down at your table, of eating, and of leaving the table. I never knew there were so many ways to mess up eating dinner but there are. Some details included, in what order you arrange at the table, when to sit down, how to sit, when to eat, no talking (period), and who cleans the table when you are done eating. No detail is left unaddressed. They call them "tight meals" and all our meals are like this until we earn privileges such as the right to use the backrest of our chairs. The idea is the meals instill discipline.

Following every meal, we exit the dinning hall and line up accordion to flights outside. Well, today a huge rain storm pour buckets on us. We all ended up totally soaked from head to toe. Its not so bad considering that was the coolest time of the day. It was rather refreshing. I don't think some of the girls enjoyed it too much!!!

We received all our study materials today. Just a note about COT ... I love how organized everything is. Not detail is left unattended to. The lectures are perfectly organized. Instructors are on time. They finish early or on time. Simply put, it is much higher caliber than dental school ever was. There are two totally different ideas of professionalism from dental school to the military. I have to say that I enjoy the military a lot more! I cant say that I love this place but i don't hate it! I certainly have not been bored yet. I miss my family but I appreciate this experience for what it is and what it is teaching me and what I am learning.

It has been great so far but ask me how I feel in another week or so!!! FYI, I am the designated flight leader tomorrow. I have to lead the flight in marching. Lots of opportunity to mess up, little room for doing things correctly. I will keep you posted on how it turns out!!!

TD-1 of 23 (TD = Tour of Duty)

2010-06-29T23:48:00.001-04:00

Today the "real" fun began ... at about 4:30am! They told us not to set our alarm clocks!!! That's because instead they had someone that came and banged on our doors and yelled at us until we woke up. Now, I am normally not a morning person. In fact, I have the hardest time getting up just to play early morning basketball! But you know, its not tough being a morning person when a loud and angry man is pounding on your door. In fact, I wasn't even tired anymore!!!

From there we got dressed, headed outside, and "detailed" (or marched as they call it) to an early morning ceremony where we heard the National Anthem and then recited the Air Force chant or creed or whatever it is.

Following the ceremony, they packed us tighter than sardines onto some bleachers and where we ate boxed meals for breakfast. Mine consisted of an orange, grape juice, a multigrain bar, milk, and a cup of cinnamon-toast crunch cereal. I didn't mind it the girl next to me was obviously not enjoying her selection of coco puffs!! But you know, you take what you get in the military and you make the most of it.

Following breakfast, we picked up MRE's (or meals Ready to Eat) to eat later for lunch (I got sloppy joes!) and then we headed off for a day of additional in-processing.

The in-processing consisted of filling out various paperwork, getting my photo taken for my new ID card, getting blood drawn, height, weight, and waist measurements, purchasing uniforms, getting a haircut even though I had just cut it the week before, and a urinalysis.

The problem with the urinalysis process is that they make you hydrate all day and then the name of the game is "hurry up and wait". I'm talking about more than an hour of waiting to relieve myself. Needless to say, I had no problem obtaining a sample!

My sloppy joe MRE was not bad, not really good either! It is kinda high-tech though. There is a heating pouch that is activated by water so you can achieve a totally warm meal as long as you have a few ounces of water. Pretty cool!

In the evening, it was more marching/detailing to the dining hall. I got a bit of a lecture from one of the female staff for not giving the proper greeting of the day, "Good evening, ma'am." But you know, everyone will get lectured by the end of COT. I'm just glad I got around to it early!

We are living in some dorms which are really quite nice. They have people who come through every day to straighten our beds and vacuum the rooms. They are not quite as nice as a hotel but better than what I had at BYU. My roommate is also very nice. He is a medical student from Tampa, Fl.

They assign us to "flights" or groups of trainees. In my particular flight, I out rank all but two other people. That is because everyone else seems to be medical students and since they have not graduated, I out rank them!!

The picture is of my uniform all ready and prepped for another early morning at just after 4am!

Day "00" of COT

2010-06-28T23:30:00.000-04:00

Despite me thinking today was the first day of COT, it is actually day "00", as I am told. The REAL fun begins tomorrow, I guess!

I arrived at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL around 3pm. From the minute you arrive they are on your case about everything (how to stand at attention, your shoelaces are not tucked in, your toes are a half inch over the blue line, addressing everyone as ma'am or sir, etc).

There was some initial in-processing where they give you more information than one can handle then ask us if we understand to which we all respond with, "yes sir!".

They gave us a ton of paperwork to read over including an operations manual which we are to constantly be reading anytime there is downtime (such as standing in line and waiting for whatever, which is often). I have already learned to not hurry up otherwise I end up standing in line reading the operations manual!

Dinner was interesting! AL is HOT. Well, I don't know if the AC was broken or if the dinning hall was intentionally hot, but it had to have been around 100 degrees in the dining hall. It was hot outside but it was significantly hotter in the dinning hall. They didn't give us many napkins at our table but the few we did have we used to wipe all the sweat from our faces. Dinner ended up being short simply because it was so hot in there and because talking is not allowed. I'm sure it is by design since the the dining hall is not nearly big enough for everyone yet everyone needs to eat in such a short period of time. So The name of the game is get-in-and-get-out, ASAP!

They gave us hydration packs (basically camel-backs). They are constantly reminding us to hydrate. The problem is that the water gets pretty warm in the hydration packs after a short time and ends up not being real thirst quenching.

Below are a couple pictures I took during my stop in Knoxville on my way to COT. I visited one of my dad's friends, Mike L. His hospitality was excellent. He cooked up the ribs and shared some family cooking secrets with me. I cant wait to try out my new skills on the grill when we finally get down to FL.

I also visited an old roommate, Pat, in Cincinnati, OH on the way down south. It was great visiting him and his wife who I also knew in college. I had a great time catching up with them as well. They too showed excellent hospitality and served fresh, homemade lasagna for dinner. I wish I had pictures but unfortunately I don't.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom

2010-06-20T23:05:00.008-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there! It was my first Father's Day as a father and it was GREAT!!! I hope it was just as good for everyone else!

For church this morning, we had a "special" Stake Conference in which Elder Donald L. Hallstorm of the Seventy was the keynote speaker. The remarks from everyone were very well prepared and uplifting.

I was particularly interested in Elder Hallstrom's remarks because I have been a fan of his ever since he was the first general authority to visit the Korea Seoul West mission while I served there as a full-time missionary back in 2000!

I vividly remember his visit to our mission. I remember him shaking hands with all the missionaries, including mine. I don't quite remember what he said to me but I do remember his conversation with my companion!! He asked my companion if he was following all the mission rules to which my companion responded by saying, "I'm trying." Elder Hallstrom told him to stop trying and start doing!!!

Some of you may remember Elder Hallstrom's talk from the Priesthood session of the October 2007 General Conference. He began his talk with this rather humorous story which he used to illustrate the behavior of procrastination:

When our oldest child (who is now a father of three and sits in this priesthood congregation this evening) was 11 years of age, he was given an assignment, along with the other sixth graders of his school, to submit his favorite family recipe. As its contribution to a large spring fair, the sixth grade was producing a cookbook that would be distributed throughout the community. When the teacher announced the project and a deadline of a week from Friday, our son Brett immediately concluded there was plenty of time later to get the job done and dismissed it from his mind. Early the next week, when the teacher reminded the students of the Friday deadline, Brett decided he could easily complete the required task on Thursday night and until then he could occupy himself with other more enjoyable matters.

On the appointed Friday morning, the teacher directed the students to pass their recipes to the front of the class. Brett’s procrastination had caused him to forget the assignment and be completely unprepared. Flustered, he turned to a fellow student seated nearby and confessed his problem. Trying to be helpful, the classmate said, “I brought an extra recipe. If you want, use one of mine.” Brett quickly grabbed the recipe, wrote his name on it, and turned it in, feeling he had escaped any consequences related to his lack of preparation.

One evening several weeks later, I arrived home from work to freshen up before going to my evening Church meetings. A few days prior, I had been called as a stake president after serving several years as a bishop. We were somewhat known in our community as members of the Church who tried to live the tenets of our religion. “There’s something you need to see,” my wife, Diane, said as I walked through the door. She handed me a bound book with a page marked. Glancing at the cover, titled Noelani School’s Favorites—1985, I turned to the identified page and read, “Hallstrom Family, Favorite Recipe—Bacardi Rum Cake.”

The entire text of the talk titled "Do It Now" can be found by clicking this link.

The choir for the special Stake Conference was also fantastic! They closed the meeting by singing the song "Our Prayer to Thee", the text of which was written by Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2003. The choir was so good today that I would say they rivaled the talents of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir which has sung the song on occasion before. The choir today was absolutely fantastic!

Trip to Monterey, CA

2010-06-14T19:31:00.020-04:00

Hey Everyone!

We just got back from Monterey, CA to celebrate graduating from dental school and our 5-year wedding anniversary. Here are some pictures:

Max enjoys flying. Here he is looking out the window during our flight to California:

I caught Amanda scarfing down a burger from In-n-Out!! Clearly that burger is more important to her at that moment than our son!!!

Walking the trail with my parents along the Monterey Bay shoreline:

Paris Bakery ... Amanda's favorite food joint in all of Monterey, CA. Every time we go there, we have to stop at Paris Bakery and order up some Shrimp Pasta Salad. Delicious!!

Some guy had a bunch of birds that he brought to an outdoor Memorial Day concert. Max seemed to enjoy himself:

The entrance to Fisherman's Warf ... lots of good food, specifically Clam Chowder:

Max was particularly fond of the Clam Chowder!!

Another thing we always do when we visit Monterey is we spend an evening at the local Farmer's Market. Lots of fun and again, lots of good food!

A morning of kayaking in Monterey Bay. We had several up close encounters with Harbor Seals and Sea Otters:

Hiking at Point Lobos State Reserve. BEAUTIFUL!!

I rode my bike along the famous 17-mile drive. Below is a map of my route:
View Larger Map

The entrance to Pebble Beach, located along my bike ride on 17-mile drive. Pebble Beach is the site for the 2010 US OPEN golf tournament:

The famous Lone Cypress tree also located along 17-mile drive. Additional pictures can be found HERE:

This is the view from the cottage we stayed at:

Cannery Row ... Monterey's tourist shopping district:

My friend, Eric Park, came to visit for a day. I took him to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, perhaps one of the best aquariums in the entire US!

Some VERY interesting Sea Horses:

Eric fell in love with the Harbor Seals and Sea Otters while he was there!!

He also fell in love with Max!!! As you can tell, Max got along just great with Eric too!!

Another shot of Point Lobos State Reserve which I took during a hike with Eric:

Max's first time visiting the ocean:

Amanda's Mother with Max and Peyton Werry, another granddaughter and Max's cousin:

One day about 300 Harbor Seals showed up on this beach. It was very odd. Normally the Harbor Seals totally avoid this beach because it has easy access for the public:

Additional pictures of our vacation can be found HERE.

Victory Field in Indy!!

2010-05-25T21:45:00.001-04:00

Bryan and Molly took us to a minor league baseball game tonight at the picturesque Victory Field, named America's BEST place to watch a baseball game. The field is located in the heart of downtown Indy. It was a hot, sunny, and beautiful setting. It's the home of the AAA
Indians, part of the Pittsburg Pirates minor league system. All around a fun night made better by the 2-for-1 coupons we used!!!!

Biking in Indy!!

2010-05-25T18:48:00.001-04:00

Bryan took us all on a long bike ride while we were visiting him. In and around the city of Indianapolis, there are miles upon miles of paved trails. Several of them are right around my brother's home. We made good use of them. We also gave Max's bike trailer it's first real
good test before we take it with us to California next week!

Geocaching in Indy!!

2010-05-25T18:33:00.001-04:00

Bryan and I went geocachig. Here are some pics of one of our finds. Pretty clever. Amanda wasn't patient long enough the previous day for us to find it so it took a second attempt. In all we found about 8 caches during the two days we were there.

Trip to Indy!!!

2010-05-25T18:29:00.000-04:00

We visited my brother in Indianapolis, IN. Her are some pics!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

2010-05-04T15:47:00.004-04:00

Thanks to Jeff and Mary we are celebrating in style.

Pictures of Max

2010-04-28T02:18:00.002-04:00

Max's Grandparents enjoy seeing pictures of him so this post is for them!!!

Max wants an iPad

2010-04-05T07:44:00.001-04:00

Saturday was launch day for Apple's newest revolutionary product, the
iPad. Max begged his mom and dad endlessly for a new iPad on Easter!
We couldn't get one for him so the least we could do is take him down
to the Apple store and let him check one out for a while!

Trip to Houston

2010-03-23T20:10:00.003-04:00

Kevin's brother, Scott, got married over the weekend. We enjoyed the quick trip to Houston. Max was amazingly good. I was expecting the worst i.e. screaming, fussy child but was pleasantly surprised. Here are a few captured moments:

: Finally asleep on the flight home
The happy couple.

Family photo

Just me and my boy with his adorable bow tie

Hanging out with dad

Rolling OVER

2010-03-23T19:44:00.003-04:00

Two days ago I went to get Max after a great night sleep and found him on his stomach (I always put him down on his back). I was shocked and thought it was a fluke. Then he awoke from his nap on his stomach again. Throughout the day I tried to get him to roll over for him but to no avail. For the past two days he has awaken on his stomach.

Well, this afternoon I finally witnessed the roll. He rolled from his back to his stomach. After getting mad, he rolled again to be on his back. I was so excited and shouted for Kevin. That scared Max though, and he started to cry. I can't believe how quickly he is growing. It's a delight to watch.

Here are some recent pictures of him.

Sewing Projects

2010-03-23T17:59:00.003-04:00

I am not a seamstress in any regards. My mother tried to teach me the skills of sewing when I was young. All the projects I would start though she would finish for me after I had given up or lost interest. I have a great mother.

Since stop working, I have found a few extra hours a day with nothing to fill them with. The house can be cleaned only so many times a day. I'm not a scrapbooker (that is what my sisters are for). A good friend introduced me to a great website for sewing kids clothes
(www.dana-made-it.com). Since then I have made two skirts, one toddler and one adult size and a pair of boy's pants. They are far from being perfect or looking store bought. I at least have something to show for my spare time though.

Little Boy's pants with pockets

Girl's Wrap around skirt

2010-03-10T16:23:00.003-05:00

Max is ready for summer!

2010-03-06T18:08:00.002-05:00

Max is looking pretty chill and is enjoying the warmest and sunniest day of the year so far. It may appear that Max is asleep but I assure you he was awake, alert, and very much enjoying his sun glasses! That's what was so funny about it to me. He really seemed content with just chillin in the sun all day!

What's Your Favorite Cookie?

2010-02-05T20:56:00.005-05:00

Cookies are certainly a favorite food for just about everyone I know. I mean, who doesn't like cookies?!?! You'd have to be crazy not to enjoy them!

When I was a kid, my favorite cookie was the Oreo. What I loved to do with them was to make Cookies n' Cream Milkshakes. Oreos are an American classic cookie and since milkshakes enabled me to practically drink them, they were hands down my childhood favorite.

Some friends of ours once made homemade Oreos which were amazingly delicious. I have tried to replicate their recipe on a couple occasions but have never succeeded quite like they did.

Recently, Nabisco came out with a variation of the classic Oreo called Oreo Cakesters. They have the same classic Oreo taste but with a much softer, chewier texture. The only problem is that they make you pay significantly for a softer and chewier cookie ... they are relatively expensive. Perhaps some of you can afford them, but not us!

In high school when we lived close to the Somerset Mall, I would visit Mrs. Fields and order a chocolate covered peanut butter cookie. First off, Mrs. Fields is the inventor of the soft cookie (so they say) and she clearly has the art down to perfection. Second, peanut butter and chocolate may just be the perfect combination. If its not, at least it is in the conversation!

Now that I am older, I have been searching for a new favorite cookie. I have tried making my own and experimenting with various recipes to find the perfect cookie, but I have found little success. I did try a really, really good gingerbread cookie around the 2008 Christmas holiday season. I never got the recipe though. It could have been my favorite cookie, but then again, how can a seasonal cookie really be a year-around favorite? It can't, I concluded.

A few years ago, my older brother began flying (as a pilot) for an airline that services many routes for Delta Airlines. Now, there are many perks of being a pilot, one being that the sun shines brightly 365 days a year (that is a HUGE perk for anyone who has lived in Detroit!). But the perk I'm most concerned about right now is that the pilots get to take home the leftover snacks that were not used during the flight. And Delta may have the BEST snacks. Those of you who fly Delta may be familiar with the tastiest airline snack and my new favorite cookie ... the Biscoff!!!

If you have not flown Delta before, not to worry. You can pick up Biscoffs in your local Walmart, and who doesn't have access to a Walmart! They are very tasty and they sell for a great price. I have looked up recipes on the internet to try and make them myself but I have decided, "why mess with a good thing?"

If you get a chance, pick up a package of Biscoffs the next time you are at Walmart. We would also love for you to share your favorite cookies (and recipes) with us. We are always looking for that next favorite cookie!

What's the BEST / WORST purchase you have ever made?

2010-01-08T21:55:00.003-05:00

The question was posed to me the other day what I thought the worst purchase I have ever made was. In the comments section, please list the best and worst purchases you have ever made. We'd be interested to know!

I like to think that I am pretty smart about how I spend Amanda's paycheck each month, but every once in a while she makes it clear that I missed the mark.

One year for Amanda's birthday I got her one of these:

That's a dough docker for those of you who don't know. It punches a bunch of small dots in your dough. I saw it on the food network one day and I decided Amanda needed one. Then on her birthday I learned she didn't need one.

At least I'm getting some mileage out of it. I'm not going to lie, I make some killer Cinnabon Cinnomon Rolls thanks in part to that dough docker.

I really can't think of any other really bad purchases off the top of my head. I'm sure Amanda could think of a few. I suppose our home wasn't a great purchase considering how the market dropped. But we love the home and have enjoyed it.

I almost got Amanda a remote controlled helicopter once. I returned it before her birthday! Maybe another was a remote start for the car. Amanda I think likes it but it has not caught on with me after 3 years or so.

On the flip side, the BEST purchases I have ever made have to include:

Professional Grade Lawn Mower for $800 back in high school. To this day it is still the best investment I have ever made. I think I made over 1000% off of it in just a few short years. It cut my lawn mowing time by 60% and it taught me that commercial grade is always better.

iPhone 3GS - the thing is just amazing. I love it.

A second Ford Focus with heated seats. We have a guy who we purchase salvaged title Focuses from. I think our family is responsible for probably a dozen cars being purchased from this guy. We have bought so many from him that my dad was featured in a commercial for the guys business. At any rate, the cars are VERY reliable and come at maybe an even better price. We have a combined probably 10 years in those two cars and we have had only very minor maintenance and repairs on the cars.

I LOVE scavenger hunts!!!

2010-01-02T16:01:00.002-05:00

Especially when you are hunting for gourmet chocolate.

We came home from Utah yesterday and found a few obvious pieces before we went to sleep. In the morning, as we were unpacking from our trip, we kept coming across hidden pieces of chocolate. Then we began searching for them. We are up to 32 pieces so far, each with a nice note, quote, or fortune attached!

New pasta roller!

2009-12-25T19:49:00.000-05:00

Amanda got a new pasta roller for Christmas. It is the attachment for
our Kitchenaid mixer. She is excited to make fresh pasta in the
future. I'm excited that it is NOT the hand crank version! Check out
our recent video uploads at the right for a quick video I made showing
how to roll out and cut the pasta!

Chocolate bandit!

2009-12-12T17:30:00.002-05:00

Our chocolate bandit struck again! We need to hide our key better. This time it was when we failed to make our bed. Amanda wants to know why we didn't get gummy bears!!!! Thanks anyway to the chocolate bandit!

Sleeping on the job!

2009-12-08T15:03:00.001-05:00

We entrusted grandpa with the job of watching Max and this is what we
found!

Amanda teaching Max about Christmas

2009-12-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

So, I heard Amanda talking to Max tonight as she was explaining what
all the characters apart of the Nativity scene are for. Amanda: "This
is a shepherd, he protects the sheep from wolves!".

Healthy little one

2009-12-04T22:16:00.002-05:00

Max's two month check went great. He is growing: 11.3lbs and 22 1/4" length. The doctor said he is perfect. I readily agreed. Here are some shots I got after a good three hour nap. Enjoy!

A good night's rest

2009-12-03T20:04:00.004-05:00

Guess who got 6 straight hours of sleep last night?? No, not me. Max did. It was so nice. Most of you reading this know I love my sleep. Having a little one now hampers the sleeping ability just slightly. He hasn't been an awful sleeper, 2-3 hours most nights. There have been nights when I thought he'd never sleep more than 3 hours at a time. It's nice to realize that the day will come when he will sleep through the night. I know it won't be tonight but in the nearer future.

Stake 5K Fun Run

2009-11-21T10:39:00.002-05:00

We are pretty sure this was the first time 3 generations participated in the race! It was a lot of fun!

New outfit

2009-11-14T14:43:00.002-05:00

Max got a few new outfits the other day. One of them is this authentic pancho (from our friends in Mexico)!

Probably thing we are going to miss most about Michigan ... CIDER MILLS!!!

2009-11-14T13:22:00.003-05:00

We took Max along with us to Franklin Cider Mill. The cider gets especially delicious around early to mid November right before they close for the winter. One year we bought 8 gallons and froze them to have through out the winter and clear into spring and summer. Sooooo gooood!!!!

Max meets the neighborhood dog, Buster!

2009-11-14T13:18:00.002-05:00

He doesn't look friendly but we like him and we feed him lots of scraps!

We're Headed to Florida

2009-11-06T09:45:00.002-05:00

Amanda, Max, and I found out yesterday that we are headed to Florida with the US Air Force (USAF) for next year. I was hoping to get into an Advanced Dental Residency for our first official year with the USAF. I was extremely pleased to hear that I had in fact been accepted and we were assigned to basically my first choice of locations. So, we are headed to Eglin AFB which is adjacent to the city of Fort Walton Beach at the very tip of the panhandle of Florida.

View Larger Map

I could not be more excited, but Amanda could not be more afraid of Alligators!!! In fact, when I was guessing our location (she was the one to actually answer the call from the USAF and get the news first) I asked if the location was going to be Alaska. She said, "Nope, it doesn't snow where we are going," to which I was VERY happy about (I need a break from the cold), "but they do have alligators!" she continued. Amanda is terrified of snakes (Ask Alcea Nielsen!!!!), alligators, and other crawling reptiles!!!! I reassured her that Floridians always walk their alligators on a leash and that there are special alligator locks we can purchase to keep them out of our house ... and the bathtub!!! (She is deathly afraid of going in to take a shower and finding an alligator in the tub!!!!)

Anyway, we could not be more thrilled. One of the first things I learned is that the AFB has a SCUBA club. I'm signing up the minute I get down there! There are tons of recreation, outdoors activities, white sand beaches, we're a short drive from New Orleans, etc. It's going to be a fun year!!!!!

Announcing the Arrival of Baby Max

2009-10-11T12:45:00.003-04:00

Amanda and I are pleased to announce the new arrival of our first-born son on Monday, October 5 @ 2:43pm. He arrived weighing in at 6lbs 8oz and 19.5inches! Mom and baby (and Dad) are all happy and healthy!

We thank all those who have congratulated us or otherwise helped in anyway. In particular, we thank Bob and Marty Watts and Jeff and Mary Kunz for being such great grandparents!

He IS...

2009-10-02T18:25:00.002-04:00

not here yet. So, our little one is taking his sweet time coming. I still feel great and haven't had any signs of labor even though I am now late. Only time will tell. We'll keep everyone posted, don't worry.

Utah Vacation Highlights Part 3 - Tubing Down the Provo River

2009-08-23T16:13:00.004-04:00

This was an interesting trip! The water was freezing, my nephew went overboard and had to be rescued, and we were at the mercy of the river without anything to aid in steering, but it was still a blast!!

I am usually more of a thrill seeker than to float passively down a slow moving river but since I had never floated down the Provo River, I thought it was time to try it out and then move on to greater adventures. It turned out to be just about all I could handle!!!

I took my nephew, Ethan, with me on the trip. We decided to tie our tubes together to prevent us from getting separated and so that I would always be nearby in the event he goes overboard. It proved to be a wise decision. First, the water was cold ... much colder than anticipated. MUCH COLDER. It was freezing!

Second, we did not bring anything to steer down the river. I assumed the current would do that for us. And, well, it did. It threw us from one bank of the river to the other. All the while we were dodging whatever branches and shrubs that came into our path. At one point, I told Ethan to help push us away from the river bank. Well, instead he ended up grabbing a hold of this one branch as I kept floating down the river. Since our tubes were attached, his slipped right out from under him and he was left without a tube. Eventually he let go and floated back to me in his life jacket and we were able to get him situated again on the tube. During the process he lost both of his water slippers. You'll notice in one of the pictures that he is wearing one of them. That is because a fly-fisherman along the way was able to catch and return one but not both of them. We never found the second one.

Eventually we made it all the way to Vivian Park where we exited the river. But is was not until after at least two other near tippings.

Despite the unexpected thrill, it was a lot of fun!

Utah Vacation Highlights Part 2 - SCUBA Diving at Bonneville Seabase

2009-08-23T15:38:00.004-04:00

Ever since becoming SCUBA certified during my last semester at BYU, I have loved SCUBA diving. In fact there are decent opportunities for diving in Utah so every time I go other there I make it a point to try and go diving. Some of my favorite dives in Utah include the warm waters of the Homestead Crater, crawdad diving at Strawberry Reservoir, and night diving in Blue Lake just a few miles south of Wendover, NV.

One dive that I had never done primarily due to the site's reputation for having poor visibility was diving at Bonneville Seabase. Well this time I made the trip and it was well worth it!!!

Bonneville Seabase is considered Utah's inland ocean because of the high salt content of the natural springs that maintain the Seabase. In fact, the facility has to take salt out of the water in order to maintain an environment for the marine life to survive. The facility was opened a couple decades ago for diving and was stocked with only a few varieties of fish. The owners were told by some marine biology experts that they would never be able to sustain marine life for any long-term period of time. Those "experts" turned out to be wrong. The marine life has flourished. They began with just a few dozen fish and now there are hundreds of large fish and thousands of smaller ones. If it were not for a bunch of ducks several years ago, the Seabase would be home for a number of shrimp as well.

The pictures below were taken shortly after we arrived at the facility. Each morning they feed the fish a healthy diet of anchovies and squid. My dive buddy (Devin) and I are pictured petting the two resident nurse sharks at the Seabase. We were surprised at the roughness of their scales! I don't have any underwater pictures but what you do underwater is you take romaine lettus with you on the dive and you get practically engulfed by dozens of fish all wanting a bite!!!

At any rate, it was a very fun dive. They marine life rivals what you would see on an ocean dive which is VERY remarkable for inland SCUBA diving. The visibility was a bit poor but the abundance of marine life made up for it. Devin and I mainly stayed in the same place during our dives as recommended by those our guide. I think next time I want to explore the facility a bit more!

Utah Vacation Highlights Part 1 - Overnight Hike to Catherine's Pass

2009-08-23T14:31:00.004-04:00

Amanda and I recently returned from our trip to Utah and wish to share some of our highlights. There are many highlights to pick from so over the next few days, both Amanda and I will be sharing pictures and stories from our favorite parts of the trip. I will begin by showing you some pictures and telling you a bit about the hike I took with my brother, Scott, to Catherine's Pass.

Catherine's Pass is the trail/pass which connects Big Cottonwood Canyon with Little Cottonwood Canyon East of Salt Lake City. It happens to be the most grueling portion of the Wasatch 100 race (a 100 mile, 30+ hour race through the mountains) of which my brother has competed in a few times. The pass is most often accessed by hikers from the Alta Ski Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon due to the shorter hike distance and smaller elevation gain.

Our hike originated at Brighton Ski Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The plan was to spend the night at the pass and then hike it back down in the morning. By the time my brother got off of work, got a bite to eat, and we drove to the trail head, it was already about 10:45pm.

All 1450 vertical feet of the hike, including our camping gear, took us less than 1.5 hours and was done in the dark aided only by a nearly full moon and our flashlights. I have to say that there is something amazing about being away from the city and breathing in the crisp mountain air.

We eventually pitched our tents at the summit at an elevation of 10,224 feet (Salt Lake City is at roughly 4,600 feet and Brighton Ski Resort is at roughly 8,800 feet). My brother boiled water for our dry-pack Pad Thai dinner, I updated my facebook status on my iPhone, and then we called it a night.

Enjoy these pictures were taken on my iPhone the next morning as we descended down the mountain. It was one of the best hikes I can ever remember doing and I highly recommend it to everyone. In fact, if any of you would like to try it, let me know and I would be happy to be your guide. It was that good of a hike.

Summer vacation to Utah

2009-08-13T00:32:00.001-04:00

I'm on vacation to Utah right now. More posts to follow in the next
few days. But I wanted to quickly blog about this hot dog stand near
the BYU campus. I ate there for lunch the other day. I had always
heard good things about them but never got a hot dog there while I was
a student at BYU. So I picked one up and it lived up to all the
reviews. It was very good and the key is the "SPECIAL SAUCE" that they
put on. It is a sweet BBQ sauce that just tastes so good. This place
is on my list of places to eat on my next trip out there!

Summer Update

2009-08-03T16:05:00.004-04:00

Now that the "guess fest" of finals week is over and that I have some time on my hands sitting here on our flight to SLC while listening to yesterday's podcast of the Dan Patrick Show, I thought I would take the time to quickly update our blog.

The first picture is of Amanda and me roasting some marshmallows as we make smores. It is important to note the tools we are using to roast the marshmallows. Notice that Amanda is using a single prong tool whereas I am using a double prong tool. This is important to prevent slipping of the marshmallows when it becomes soft in the middle. Once that happens it is nearly impossible to get an even roast. So, you'll thank me for the tip ... Always use a tool with 2 prongs AND melt the chocolate. It tastes so much better that way.

This pic was at the Tigers' game from a few weeks ago. I have to give Travis credit for the free tickets. Thanks Travis! Here is to hoping that the Tigers don't choke it et then end again his year.

Just a fun pic at our pick-up softball game a few nights ago!

Amanda has me reviewing the latest pregnancy literature. How hard can it be!!?!!!?!?

This pic was taken at our Stake picnic last weekend! Great food! As you can see, there was a lot of it too!

Car repairs

2009-07-18T23:24:00.002-04:00

The past few times Amanda has taken the car into the dealership for an oil change, that have been warning her about an oil leak from an engine gasket. They wanted some $250 plus another $100 I suppose for parts. Since we never had oil stains on our driveway, we declined the services every time. On occasion they would warn us of a leaking thermostat gasket as well.

It wasn't until recently that Amanda has been smelling burning fluids coming through the car's air intake system when she would turn on the AC. So we finally decided to do something about it and take up a
friend on an offer to help remedy the issue.

We first identified the problem and then I went off to pick up the parts. It wasn't more than an hour and a half or so after I had the parts that the first of the two problems was fixed and it was only another 45 minutes or so to fix the other problem.

If it were not for the help of our friend Alex, we'd still be breathing fumes. Not only that, I probably would have made it worse
trying to fix it myself!! Since we owe a great deal to Alex for helping us out we made arrangement to take him out to dinner next week ... I hope he likes McDonalds!

All-in-all, the total in expenses to fix the car came out to just under $50! Not bad compared to the more than $300 the dealership wanted to charge us!

Trip to Las Vegas

2009-07-11T13:36:00.003-04:00

I recently took a quick, two-day trip to Las Vegas to interview for a dental residency program. Although they say "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", I'm willing to depart from that and offer up a few highlights.

I originally reserved a smaller compact car like a Ford Focus since that is what i am used to and drive all the time at home. The rental car company upgraded me to the above convertible. Since it was 95 degrees plus then entire time i was there, i did not complain about the free upgrade.

Pictured above and three of my favorite foods all of which are only available in the west. Each time i travel out in that direction, i make it a point to stop by these three restaurants. Pictured above are (1) a strawberry cheesecake concrete from Neilsen's Frozen Custard, (2) a cheeseburger "animal style" from In-N-Out Burger, and (3) pork salad from Cafe Rio. De-li-cious!!!!

Pictured above are three pics from touring the strip. The first pic is of the set for the pirate show in front of Treasure Island Hotel, the second and third were taken inside the Venitian Hotel, and the fourth one was taken in front of the New York New York Hotel on my way to the airport.

This last pic was taken somewhere along the 15 mile ride through the scenic Red Rock Canyon west of Las Vegas. I decided that the route would be a perfect route for my weekly bike ride!

We were robbed by a bunch of 7-year oldsters!

2009-07-06T18:06:00.000-04:00

So we were on our way home from a friends house when we saw a group of
kids congregating around a table in the front yard of someone's home.
Since it was a hot day, we supposed they were selling fresh lemonade.
And boy was I thirsty. Amanda and I both agreed that a glass of
lemonade would hit the spot. We rolled down our window to inquire of
their asking price. Buy two get one free for the price of 10 cents
each. We thought that was a steal so we paid them immediately. What we
failed to realize is that they weren't selling lemonade ... They were
selling the neighbor's freshly picked flowers! I feel robbed!

4th of July Fireworks including the finale

2009-07-03T23:42:00.002-04:00

At about the 5 minute mark the finale begins and last roughly 1.5 minutes. Enjoy.

Amanda helping with the yard work

2009-06-29T19:43:00.001-04:00

I guess since she is carrying a little something extra (the baby), she felt she
was better suited for the task. I swear I would have done it if she
were to ask.

Free DSO Concert at Kensington Metropark

2009-06-26T20:19:00.001-04:00

I went geocaching today. Can you find the cache in the pic below? (see the second pic below for the reveal!)

2009-06-24T18:33:00.004-04:00

There it is!

2009-06-24T18:32:00.001-04:00

Meth mouth immediately prior to restoration with composite

2009-06-23T19:27:00.000-04:00

After restoration with composite

2009-06-23T19:26:00.000-04:00

Future bartender

2009-06-21T20:44:00.001-04:00

I caught this on video at a friend's house tonight.

My first post from my iPhone

2009-06-19T23:43:00.002-04:00

This was Amanda's reaction when she found out I purchased the iPhone today!

Amanda's Ultrasound

2009-05-14T07:13:00.000-04:00

Major Recap of last 6 Weeks

2009-05-10T14:46:00.009-04:00

Yes, we have slacked off once again from keeping our blog updated. Kevin was anxious to post the ultrasound before we even really announced that I am pregnant. Sorry about that. It's been a little busy around here. Here's a brief recap with words and pictures of what has been happening in the Kunz Koup.

April 4-5th: General Conference weekend was of course the nicest weekend we had had weather wise since last summer. So instead of sitting couped inside both days, we grabbed the laptop, a couple of speakers and sat outside on our back patio to enjoy the beautiful day while listening to the music and speakers. For the Saturday afternoon session, a list of newly called area authorities was read. To our great surprise, we actually recognized one of the names. It turns out Amanda's uncle was called. That doesn't happen all the time.

April 12: THE BIG DAY-Easter
Easter was a beautiful day. We spent it with family and friends.

After dinner when all the friends had left and all the dishes done, we gave Jeff and Mary their Easter basket: a goodie basket full of baby items.

They didn't get it that Amanda is pregnant. Jeff thought it was an April Fool's joke. The joke was on him. They were in shock for a good 10-15 seconds before it hit them. It was funny to watch.

Now the news is out and spreading that Amanda is pregnant. Her due date is October 1st. All has been well. Amanda feels great, but Kevin says she's cranky sometimes.

April 24th: We were offered tickets to the Pistons playoff game against the Cleveland Caveliers. They lost, of course. We had fun in the box seats though.

End of April: Kevin finished his finals. Hallelujah!!! His third year is over and finally a fourth year. One more year to go.

April 30 - May 8: Washington D.C. trip
With Kevin having a break off between semesters, we headed for DC to visit. We met Amanda's parents there and spent a week seeing more and walking more than anyone had imagined. It was amazing to see so many sites and historical places that we had only read about in books. It was a great vacation. Everyone was worn out by Wednesday. Kevin even got in an afternoon of golf. So, here are a fraction of the pictures taken. Enjoy.

That should bring everyone up to date with our lives.

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

2009-04-10T21:31:00.003-04:00

MSU Final Four Practice @ Ford Field

2009-04-05T22:08:00.002-04:00

As you all should know by now, the Michigan State Spartan Basketball Team has made it to the Final Four and now Championship Game of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Since the Final Four is being played at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, there has naturally been excitement for the hometown favorite.

Last Friday, i had the morning off of school before an afternoon exam so i was able to be one of 25,000+ fans in attendance for MSU's practice the day before their game against the UCONN Huskies. It was a lot of fun and had a game-type atmosphere including cheerleaders, mascots, and Go Green - Go White chanting from enthusiastic Spartan Fans. It was a really electric atmosphere and the team put on quite a show!

I did not have my camera with me so i didn't take pictures but check these out:

The BBQ Season Has Begun!!!!!!

2009-03-27T16:55:00.004-04:00

Amanda and i had our first BBQ of the season the other day. We broke out the grill from our storage shed, hooked up a brand new tank of propane, and let the food begin to sizzle!

Our first BBQ consisted of Sweet BBQ Pork Ribs for Kevin and grilled chicken with BBQ sauce for Amanda.

Just a few days later, we invited friends over for cheese burgers and homemade potato chips, deep fried in 100% pure peanut oil ... yum!

Finally, tonight Amanda and i decided to grill once again before we sit down after a long and exhausting week to watch some basketball. On the menu tonight was the famous Santa Maria style BBQ highlighting Tri-tip steaks, baked beans, garlic bread, and baked potato wedges.

Enjoy the pics and don't salivate too much!!!

Pancake Breakfast

2009-03-27T16:42:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday, Amanda and i decided to make a home-made breakfast. It is a rare occasion that we actually eat breakfast on most days, let alone make something from scratch for breakfast. For that matter, it wasn't really from scratch either!!!

A few weeks ago, my parents went on a trip to San Antonio. They decided to bring us back a gift ... so represents San Antonio? My parents apparently thought a bag of pancake mix is a good representation!

Anyway, the pancakes were super easy to make, only required adding milk (no eggs), and i got to use our griddle for the first time that we received as a wedding gift!

Enjoy the photos!

I went golfing on Tuesd ... first time of the year

2009-03-18T08:53:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday we had tremendous weather. It got up to 68 degress or something like that. It was too good to spend the day inside playing hockey like i planned. So instead my friend, Joel, called me up and we went golfing instead. We played at the local course called Rackham which is a Donald Ross designed course (for those who don't know, Donald Ross is a legendary golf course designer. His work includes the local Oakland Hills among others). So the course, although it wasn't in great shape, it has a great design, is very fun, and it used to host some pro golf tourneys. So really, it is a great all-around course.

Anyway, i was please to have a pretty good first round of the season. I hit the first two greens in regulation and had long birdie putts at the first two holes. i ended up 3-putting on the first hole (that's because of all the aeration holes on the green) and i ended up making about a 20 foot putt on the second hole to get the birdie. It's probably down-hill for the rest of the season from there but it sure was a good start!!!

I missed a whole bunch of putts by millimeters!! I would say 10-12 putts caught the edge of the cup and spun right out. So, although disappointing missing all those putts, it was encouraging being the first time of the season and considering the condition of the greens with all the aeration holes and the fact that most of those putts were from well beyond 10-15 feet.

I ended up getting a second birdie on the 17th hole. My goal is usually to get at least one birdie but i was fortunate enough to get a second so i was pretty please with the performance!

I'm playing ice hockey this week

2009-03-13T18:37:00.004-04:00

I have a week off of school and i have decided to use the time to play some ice hockey. Local rinks offer "drop-in ice hockey" for roughly $7 for the 1.5 hour session. So, i thought since i played collegiate hockey when attending BYU, i should sharpen my skills with the week off from dental school.

I don't have much gear anymore so i had to borrow some from friends. However, most people that play hockey have enough stuff for themselves and some extra gear but usually not two sets of gear. So I am borrowing gear from a couple friends who i have to give credit to ... Thanks Troy Johansson and Jeff Day!! I had to get my own stick and neither guy had shoulder/chest pads so i went to the local Play It Again Sports to pick out those two items.

Normally i would not care about the shoulder/chest pads but Amanda and I have a story about why i am concerned about my gear:

Amanda and i were at a BYU Ice Cats hockey game back when we were attending BYU. The game was a blowout after 2 periods so we decided to leave. On our way to the parking lot and as we were driving away from the arena we saw an ambulance drive up and we thought it was odd and figured a fan had fainted or someone on the adjacent rink had fallen and hit their head and got a concussion or whatever. The next day we read that a BYU player had gotten struck by a puck in the chest right at the end of the 2nd period. He was able to make it to the bench with a few seconds remaining in the period. He collapsed there, eventually went into cardiac arrest, and ended up passing away. We could not believe it when we heard the news the next day. Even the guy's own teammates had no idea what had happened until well into the intermission. Even those teammates who were on the bench when the player collapsed just went to the locker room when the period ended because they figured their teammate had simply collapsed from exhaustion.

It was pretty dang sad and so now that story is in the back of my mind as i prepare to play ice hockey this coming week!!!

More weekend fun

2009-03-12T22:16:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, we watched a family that lives in Kevin's parents' ward. There was a ward ice skating party on Saturday. We went not planning on skating. However, Jeff (Kevin's father) convinced us otherwise. We did have a great time. Kevin remembered how much he likes to skate. Here's the evidence:

Tradition....Tradition!

2009-03-12T20:58:00.003-04:00

Sorry for slacking the last few weeks on posting anything new.

Last Friday, we took Kevin's parents to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Detroit Opera House for their birthdays. The opera house is beautifully designed and so ornate. The musical was so good. I forgot what a great musical it was. I kept singing to myself and noticed other people in front of us tapping their feet or bobbing their heads to songs. Kevin dozed off for most of it. (He did have a long day ... "a long week" he just told me!) I'm not sure what Jeff thought. Mary and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a wonderful evening and got us out of the house. Here are a few pictures remembering it:

Tiger Woods returns to golf

2009-02-25T18:09:00.002-05:00

If you are interested in golf or maybe a Tiger Woods fan, you might like to know how the other players dealt with Tiger being gone and how they are handling his return. Take a look!

A picture is worth a thousand words

2009-02-19T17:12:00.004-05:00

I think this one says it ALL!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

2009-02-14T15:29:00.004-05:00

This Valentines Day just happens to be the 5 year anniversary of when i tricked Amanda into our first date. I have to say that there was probably a loooong list of guys who asked her out for that night but none of them as good as me!!!!! Please allow me to tell the story of our group date...

The day started out totally different than any other day in my entire life. Why? Because i spent the night sleeping in the trunk of my 2001 Ford Focus!!! Yes, you read that correctly! I had planned a SCUBA trip to Blue Lake which is located about 25 miles southeast of Wendover, NV and just inside the Utah border.

View Larger Map

I didn't own a tent or sleeping bag, and instead of asking around for one, I decided that sleeping in my trunk would be a adequate idea. Well, it wasn't!! It was freezing that night (even with a down-comforter) and in order to sleep in the car, i had to fold the back seats down but the folded seats and the floor of the trunk did not meet in a smooth transition. So, i was left sleeping on a platform with a 3 inch step in the middle of it. Boy did that thing hurt! This image does not adequately depict how uncomfortable it was:

At any rate, most of the day was spent SCUBA diving. Although Blue Lake is fed by hot springs and stays at a constant temperature of about 86 degrees, the air temp that day was below freezing!! And, as you can see from the map, the distance from the parking area to the actual entry point is a good 500-600 feet over a poorly constructed board walk. It took about 3 trips back and forth to get our equipment to and then again from the lake, in the freezing cold.

Despite it being an inland lake, it is one of the top 5 diving destinations in all of Utah ... not saying much though.

It was a long drive home and when i got there i was of course dirty, stinky, and exhausted. On top of that, our apartment was a MESS! Since i was going off for the night and the mess really wasn't mine, i asked my roommates to clean up the place since they were in on the group date as well which they failed to do. Not only that, but Amanda was coming over in less than an hour, everything was a mess, nothing had been set up, and no one had started cooking the meal. So i was frantically doing everything. I was frustrated and a bit annoyed that nothing had been done the entire day. Not that i had much room to complain myself since i was off diving the whole day.

Amanda arrived right on time, probably a bit early. It was embarrassing for me when she offered to help with the cleaning and cooking since we were still a good solid 45 minutes from being ready. I recall that one or both of my other roommates weren't even there at the time!

It ended up being a fun and enjoyable night! Amanda did give me quite a hard time about the cheddar cheese jello that i made even though it is VERY delicious. We played Rummikub and Amanda and i rocked winning all three games!!! It was simply meant to be!

Killer work out this evening

2009-02-10T21:35:00.004-05:00

So, i just joined the local YMCA so i can get in shape since dental school doesn't exactly encourage fitness. I got a great rate because i am still under 30 years of age. It comes to about $1 a day. I think that is a great deal considering all additional classes are free (i have signed up for the twice-a-week "spinning" class) and they give you a complementary 1-hour training session for joining. I say "complementary" instead of "free" because nothing is free and while this "complementary" work out did not cost me anything additional, i paid dearly for it ... mainly in my abs and forearms!!!

At any rate, my personal Trainer was covered in "tatts" (tattoos for those unfamiliar with the urban lingo). This has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to put the word "tatts" in our blog!

Moving right along ... he had me do this "functional" workout or training or whatever he called it. I remember "functional". At any rate, the point of the workout is to make you stronger at doing everyday movements such as standing up, sitting down, getting out of bed, etc. His point was that the weight machines or free weights often target a single muscle or small group of muscles. But this "functional" workout targets the range of muscles needed to do everyday tasks. His other point was that he is trying to help ordinary people get in shape so that they can avoid having to live in assisted living until much later in their life or not at all.

Basically the work out consists of doing four different exercises: Squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups. You three sets of each of them: 21 reps in the first set, 15 reps in the second set, and 9 reps in the third set for a grand total of 45 reps. It doesn't seem like much but trust me when i say it was killer.

The cool thing about the work out is that, with the exception of the pull-ups, everything else can be done without any special equipment. It also relies on your own body weight so the work-out is customized to your body. And finally, it is very high intensity but you go at your own pace. Of course the aim is to progress through the workout as fast as possible, the trainer encouraged breaks whenever you need them. The point is to push yourself, complete the workout, but do it at a pace that is both intense and at which you can handle.

Overall, it is the best and most intense workout i have had in years. I'm sad to say that. I also like it because it gets back to the very basics. I mean, if i can't even do these basic workouts with ease, why should i be concerned with all of the fancy machines and free weights?!?!?!

For those of you who like pictures to maintain your interest, i included a few!!!

My favorite Superbowl commercials

2009-02-03T18:54:00.002-05:00

Perhaps not the VERY best of the 50-some commercials that night. But two of my favorite because of Will Ferrell and Jack Black.

MOTAB 'Praise to the Man' Music Video

2009-02-03T18:27:00.003-05:00

VERY good music video by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I'm not sure how many of you have viewed it. It is well worth the 6 minutes! Enjoy!

Car Troubles - 2001 Red Ford Focus

2009-01-30T11:40:00.007-05:00

For those of you looking for more information on Ford Focus ignition drill-out, please leave a comment and i will try to respond. I check for comments regularly. I am getting a fair amount of traffic for this one post alone.

About three weeks ago we started having trouble with our Red 2001 Ford Focus.

More specifically, we were having troubles with the car's ignition switch. And even more specifically, the keys were either getting stuck in the ignition switch or the keys were unable to turn the ignition switch to start the car.

It all started about three weeks ago on a bitter cold day. I went to back the red Focus (Amanda's car) out to the street so i could get to my car (the silver Focus) which was in front of her's in the driveway. After parking her car in the street and turning it off, i was unable to pull my key out of the ignition switch. I chalked it up as cold weather freezing the key in the switch momentarily because after a few seconds, i was able to jiggle the key loose.

Several days later, Amanda was unable to even turn the key to start the car. But again, she assumed it was due to the freezing conditions because after a few moments, the key turned and she was off to work.

Because the symptoms came on suddenly rather than gradually, we figured moisture had gotten into the ignition switch and was freezing during the night thus preventing us from turning the key to start the car. We never really entertained the thought that perhaps we could have been in real trouble if her car would ever not start with mine parked in front of it and unable to access it!!!!

Well, about 4 days ago, the ignition switch gave up for good. It happened to be on a day when i had a later start time at school so Amanda left before me. Well, we are fortunate because usually we like to have our cars arranged in the driveway so that the first one to leave is the one who's car is parked closest too the street. This particular day, i had parked closest too the street so Amanda had to back my car out to get to her's. How fortuante were we? Amanda's car would not start for good this time. The ignition switch had totally locked up and no amount of banging, rattling, or jiggling was going to make it work. Since we still had access to may car, I had to drive Amanda to work and but due to poor driving conditions, i ended up getting to school quite a bit late.

After a call to our expert Ford Focus mechanic and a brief internet investigation (and i mean brief as in it only took one google search), i learned that the ignition switch on early Ford Focus' ('99-'02) is a know issue and that the switches can bad at any time. The consensus of the forum i found was that the factory switches are made of poor quality materials. When i spoke with our mechanic, he said he refers 2-3 people a month to his locksmith for this very issue (he only sells ~4-6 cars a month).

I also learned from my internet investigation that if i could not turn the key at all, i would have to "drill-out" the ignition switch in order to replace it because in order to remove an existing switch, you have to turn the switch to get it out. Most internet sites i viewed suggested this is NOT a DIY project because if it is not done correctly, a lot of additional damage could result.

Well, if you know me, you know that unless it involves some heavy machinery or expensive power tools that i don't already have, I will make it a DIY project. Sure enough, that is what i did. It took me two nights in the freezing cold, but i did it!

Below are some picture i took as i completed the project.

This is the ignition switch with all the covers off and immediately before i began the "drill-out".

This is after i had drilled to a depth of 1 inch. the duct tape marks 1 inch.

This is a look down the hole i drilled. You can barely make out the "locking pin" at the bottom of the hole. I did not see it the first night. Found it within 5 minutes of looking the second night!

This is what it would have looked like drilling out the ignition switch

This is the ignition switch when i finally removed it. You can barely make out the space on the upper-right side of the hole where the locking pin was located.

This is the stinking locking pin that took me a second evening to find (my toes and fingers were frozen after 3 hours of trying the first evening!)

The new and improved ignition switch from Fred's Locksmith located in downtown Detroit, MI and less than one mile from the dental school. What a coincidence!!

And this is right as i am installing the new ignition switch. It took two nights to get out, 30 minutes for the shop to "set" the new switch to my existing key, and only 5 seconds to install. The car started right up!

I have to give some credit to a few of the following websites that were instrumental in my success in this endeavor:

This site showed me how to remove the ignition switch. It is also the site that gave me the referral for Fred's Locksmith in Detroit, MI. I also looked up Fred's on google maps and read some reviews. They were all positive and i found them all to be 100% true. Of all the people that post on the forum there, the one specific place that was recommended was Fred's in Detroit, and not only that, it is 1 mile from the dental school. I went there on my lunch break!

This PDF file is actually the instructions i used to "drill-out" the ignition switch.

All-in-all, it was a fun experience and we saved at least $150 in the process. I certainly didn't save any time but at least i had fun. Also, now i am an expert in "drilling out" ignition switches!!!

Wow 25 years thus far

2009-01-25T20:37:00.000-05:00

So, it finally has come to pass. I am now a quarter of a century old. I think the gray is coming in already. In reviewing my life thus far, I have put together a little list of the past and future for me. Enjoy

25 - years of life on earth
24 - dishes hand washed as a surprise birthday gift by a dear friend
23 - people wished me "happy birthday" today
22 - days since Kevin's birthday
21 - months I knew Kevin before we got married
20 - the number of times Kevin has mentioned the iPhone this week
19th of May 2005 - the day I married Kevin
18 - years since I started playing the piano
17 - years since was baptized
16 - the amount of time in minutes it takes to get to work each day
15 - months till we leave Michigan with the Air Force
14 - the number of time each week Kevin reminds me that 'I LOVE HIM'
13 - the age in which I got appendicitis
12 - months till my next birthday
11 - the number of children Kevin wanted to have when we first met
10 - fingers used to type this up
9 - number of times we have traveled to Utah visiting family over the last 3 1/2 years
8th - my spot in the Watts family including my parents
7 - years ago I graduated from high school
6 - the number of brownies I consumed in celebration of my birthday
5 - the number of times I've eaten Korean food this weekend
4(almost) - the number of years I've been married to the love of my life
3 - down, one more to go (living in MI that is)
2 - the number of children Kevin wants since getting married! (TIC)
1 - great life I am living and enjoying!!!!

Axium, why do you hate me?

2009-01-21T14:01:00.002-05:00

So, Axium is our electronic charting system. The bean counters picked it out. It is not very pleasing to the eyes and it works no better.

Well, today, Axium all of a sudden showed that my PM pt had canceled her appointment. I got all excited that i was going to get to go home early. I was walking out of the building when someone stopped me and informed me that Axium had a glitch and everyone's PM pt got canceled.

Dang you Axium!!!!! I was half-way out the door. Why do you hate me, Axium?

TIC

I missed my early meetings this morning

2009-01-18T08:12:00.002-05:00

The car got stuck in the snow at the curtain of our driveway. I caused me to have to miss my early Sunday meetings. The roads are actually plowed pretty well, but all the snow from the roads ended up in our driveway. I took a good look at it and thought i could plow right through it. Apparently not!

I almost burnt the dental school down today. Too bad i didn't!!!!

2009-01-09T12:56:00.003-05:00

So, in dentistry, we work with a lot of different materials and chemicals along with a lot of different types of waxes. Each wax has different properties but the one thing they have in common is that they all require a flame or hot tool to soften or melt them. Well, today i had made a bit of a mess at my station when i spilled a small bottle of adhesive. At the same time, i was working with one type of wax and, of course, i had an open flame nearby to assist me.

I ran into trouble when i melted the wax a bit more than i wanted (i was aiming at simply softening it) and it started dripping. Some of the drips landed on the flame. One drop caught on fire and then landed on the adhesive that i had spilled earlier and immediately caught the adhesive on fire (the adhesive is extremely flammable). Keep in mind that we cover our work bench in paper. So, the adhesive, which is on top of the paper, is now on fire. Instinctively, i blew out the flame. It happened a couple more times and i blew it out a couple more times, and then i finally decided to moved the flame to another area so as to stop catching the adhesive on fire!!!

Looking back, i should have let the flame go!!!!!

For those who like APPLE products

2009-01-04T19:17:00.001-05:00