Into the great wide open -->

5 months in...it's something, how time flies. Just flies. At this point I'm 5 months into my pharmacy residency - specifically, Community Practice Residency with the University of Iowa, at Mercy Family Pharmacy-Dubuque (and the Blogger dictionary doesn't recognize Dubuque? wtf?) - so, nearly halfway through my year, which ends next June. I was talking with my residency director today - actually, going through what turned into a 3-hour-long assessment of my first 5 months (which turned out well, if you're wondering) - and she asked me if I'd started looking for jobs/thinking about where I wanted to go post-residency. And I had...I just hadn't hit it too seriously. I haven't updated my resume/CV (maybe tomorrow..) and have only perused a few job opportunities. All of them are at least part-time pharmacy faculty positions, in fact. But, I suppose it's time, even if it's still 7 months until this gig finishes. I was in the same boat exactly 12 months ago, and about to head to Las Vegas for the annual pharmacy residency fair. Surprisingly, I'm also about to head back to Las Vegas this weekend, just for very different reasons. 

 It's my buddy Mike's bachelor party, of course. Based on a pure financial analysis, this might not be the most sound decision I've made in my life. However...however...and it has nothing to do with The Hangover - I've always wanted to do a bachelor party somewhere like Vegas, and I figured this was probably my only chance. Not that I had to...but what the heck.

In other news...the Sunfire is officially dead...and the Sonata, thankfully, takes her place!

Such a huge change from my little Sunfire - 4 doors, V6, A/C, power windows/locks/seats, moonroof, only 35,000 miles, huuuge trunk, every airbag imaginable. Real nice!


And now...for a list of things I currently like:::


- the thought of a 4 day Thanksgiving vacation headed my way in less than 48 hours
- on top of that, a 5 day trip to Anaheim the following weekend (unfortunately, it doesn't look like the weather will be all that fantastic for either trip...)
- wait, there's more: 8 days in Mexico coming up following Christmas at the Laird house (resort) in Mexico (and no, I did NOT know about this until Amy and I had been dating for a bit)
- the Packers playoff/Super Bowl chances this year. They are certainly the best team in their division, and no other team in the NFC really scares me, unless Michael Vick can play like he did last week on MNF.
- the Badgers chances of returning to the Rose Bowl (or a BCS bowl, at worst) this year for the first time in 11 years...Teach me how to Bucky!
- Skillet's Awake & Alive
- The Deathly Hallows Part 1: saw it this weekend, and yes, like the book, it gets a bit long in parts but sticks closely to its plot. Which is what you, I, and everyone else really wants. 
- the coming of snow, if only for two reasons: being at home with nowhere to go while the snow slowly drifts down outside and a cup of hot chocolate in my hand, and the opportunity to finally get back on the slopes, albeit at Sundown Mountain near Dubuque. Amy finally traded her snowboard in for a pair of skis (check that: while she was at work, I stood in line for over an hour at the ski swap, making the exchange) and I can't wait for us to hit the slopes together!
- getting back in to the swing of things at the gym. The last month or so + has been rough, as busy as I've ever been before. I've worked out each of the past 2 days and feel great about it, and have Cali/Mexico to get ready for, of course...
- the new batch of winter lagers coming out...who doesn't love a little coriander in their brew? Check out Summit's Winter Ale and Sam Adams' Winter Lager.

In the mood for some summer skiing?

OK, so this is isn't exactly a picture of a groomed slope, or great off-piste terrain. But soaking in a hot tub after a great day on the slopes is one of life's greatest experiences. The above picture comes from Valle Nevado, the largest resort by skiable terrain in both South America and the Southern Hemisphere. It's located at 3,025 meters (or around 10,000 feet) and is actually open year-round. The vertical drop is close to 3,000 feet, so it's pretty comparable to resorts in Colorado and other western states in that regard. It's only located 30 miles from Santiago, the capital and main air entrance to Chile, so you'd think it'd be pretty accessible. However, paved roads only cover 20 miles of that journey; the rest are on narrow, twisting mountain roads that are only allow traffic up the mountain between 8 am and 2 pm, and down the mountain between 2 pm and 8 pm, and tire chains are mandated by law. Sounds like getting there is half the fun (?)

Makes traveling I-70 up to Vail not seem so bad after all...

Homeless (?)

The last week has been pretty interesting - Amy and I finished moving things from Omaha -> Minneapolis -> Dubuque, using the 14' U-Haul truck towing the Sunfire. Unfortunately, we weren't able to move in to our actual apartment yet, so we had to store our things in an adjacent room. Our landlord, Chris, told us that we'd probably be able to move in sometime early this week - like, today - but after getting off the phone with him this morning, it's looking like Friday at the earliest. That's real convenient, since I start my residency next Monday. In the meantime, Amy's parents have been kind enough to let us stay at their cottage in Door County. It's been relaxing and fun, and I've gotten a good amount of studying done for boards. However, it's frustrating to not have a home, especially when we'd been targeting June 1st for a long time as our move-in date. We are both excited as heck about the new place, we saw an apartment that was pretty much finished, and it looks fantastic. But it'd be much better if we could just move in already! Looks like we'll be continuing to stay with her parents through the week in Green Bay - again, so many thanks to them! - and hopefully Friday works out for Dubuque.

Here's a rendering of what our living room/kitchen will look like - it's going to be awesome with hardwood floors and a mounted 42" TV. It even has a sweet rooftop deck large enough to play yard games, and comes with a grill. For now, though, we can only dream about what it'll be like when we finally do move in...

Back From Hiatus

So, the last week or so has been pretty hectic - Erin graduated from law school, and I've been staying up in Minneapolis with Amy, helping her pack and getting everything together for the move to Dubuque. I just found out from my preceptor that I can start a few weeks early, and get some time in with the current resident to ease my transition. Plus, it means I will actually get to make some money, too...which will be nice considering the current state of my funds. Not pretty...

Tomorrow we head back to Omaha to pack all my things up, and we have 3 days, so I'm not thinking it's going to be very hectic at all. Then, we are renting a U-Haul and dragging the Sunfire back to Minnesota, and finally packing all of Amy's things up and will be on our way to Dubuque next Tuesday. Can't wait to check out the new apartment, we're just hoping it's done in time... Looking forward to using the 42'' TV and the rooftop patio!

I ran across the profile page of a guy I graduated from high school with, Steve Garrington. Apparently he's the bassist for the Retribution Gospel Choir, and is currently on tour in Spain with the band. They've played at SXSW in Austin and are under contract witih SubPop records, which I think is pretty impressive. I listened to a few of their songs and they're pretty awesome! They're opening for Wilco for a few of their next shows. Here's the link to one of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf-r7aRBRHI

Just impressive to see fellow Ashlanders(?) doing well!

Another note of interest is that Amy is finally signed up for classes for next fall at UW-Platteville. We looked at all the classes she has to take as pre-reqs for PA school and sort of put together a mock schedule for the next two years. She also looked at quite a few schools, but is pretty set on wanting to go to Augsburg, since it's in the Twin Cities. However, there are 140 schools across the country, and more opening up next year, so I'm not too worried about her getting in. The nice thing about a pharmacy job is that I shouldn't have too hard of a time finding a job, no matter where she ends up.

We also are heading over to her friends' house in Shakopee tonight for a dinner with a few couples, and then stopping by my sister's in Eden Prairie to pick up a chair and TV stand being donated to us by her for our new place. Coupled with the couch we bought off Craigslist we should have a nice setup in the living room.

One other thing we've been discussing a lot is the unbelievable amount we're going to try to cram into our weekends this summer. Just about every weekend from now through the end of summer is already booked with either a trip to one of our cabins, a visit from family, a trip to Chicago, or a trip to Minneapolis. Sure hope neither of us has much in the way of either homework or research for our classes/residency that we have to get done on the weekends! I wouldn't have it any other way, however - it's going to be a great summer.

Victoria, B.C.

Empress Hotel, Inner Harbor

Everyone knows about Vancouver - everyone. The recent Winter Olympics certainly introduced the city and southwestern British Columbia (i.e. Whistler) to anyone who wasn't aware of the incredible beauty of the Pacific Coast Ranges surrounding the city, and the incredible architecture of the inner harbor area. However, though Vancouver is the largest city in B.C., it's not the capital. That title goes to Victoria, part of the second largest metro area in the province, situated at the southern end of Vancouver Island and about 60 miles southwest of the city of Vancouver. The Greater Victoria Capital District, which includes the city's suburbs, numbers at over 330,000. One interesting fact about the area is that, although it is only 60 miles as the crow flies from both Vancouver and Seattle, because of the rain shadow that Victoria lies in it receives only one-half as much rain in an average year as either city. This may account for the fact that it has become a major retirement destination for those from B.C. and Alberta in the past few decades.

The Azores

(courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

How much do YOU know about the Azores? Because I certainly knew about nil before stumbling upon them. They're an archipelago of islands located in the Atlantic about 1000 miles off the coast of Portugal, of which they are a part. They extend for almost 400 miles, a group of massive volcanoes. In fact, Mt Pico, which is shown above, is the highest point in Portugal. The volcanoes themselves, if measured from the ocean floor base, are some of the largest in the world. Though only 906 square miles in area, they are home to almost 250,000 people.

Angra de Heroismo, one of the three capitals of the Azores (each branch of government is hosted by a separate city), is the oldest continuously inhabited area on the islands. Its central area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Deep Into the Heart of Cambodia...

(courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

...lies the nation's treasure to the world, Angkor Wat. This massive former capital site, built in the 12th century, is the best preserved example of Khmer architecture in existence, which is classical in nature and often likened to early Greek works. Angkor Wat, which literally means "city temple", has put Cambodia on the map for travelers to SE Asia. In fact, estimates say that over 50% of visitors to Cambodia list seeing Angkor Wat as their primary reason for visiting the country. The temple is now part of the Angkor World Heritage Site, which more or less exists so that other nations can pour money into its preservation and restoration. In fact, most work done on the site is done by volunteers from Western nations, rather than by the Cambodian government.