new fangled technology

sorry about the lack of posting lately... the 'wireless' craze has yet to hit washington.. and we for the most part are without internet.... very sorry.. more to come later...

jeanne, nana with sophie jane

chara and her favorite cousin-in-law

chara gets a real tree for christmas

ben and maddie with chara's real tree

gilbert and ben

momma jane and her girls

Merry Christmas to all

Merry Christmas to all


this was just some cute dog we saw downtown Seattle

we are save and sound in WA and the family is glad to see us. (and that was before they started drinking)

Commencing countdown

19 hours and i am finally done with this semester..
i'm still studying like crazy..
i started with 250 some odd note cards..
i've got 87 memorized..
i've got to pick up the pace..
almost done..

so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight

ben and i got up super early this morning to drive our good friends rhiannon and sissy rachel to the airport... i'm so happy they'll be home for the holidays.. but i'm gonna miss them..
you guys have a great time.. we'll miss you so much.. we hope you enjoy the mitten.. and we hope you miss sunny california.. (especially you sister)
  

and the diploma goes to...

three cheers for ashlee who walked away from biola with her very own degree.. what a great graduation.. and as a bonus i got to see my sweet baby eszter, and momma and mister dave..ashlee's wonderful parents who i like to call my own.. strange being on biola's campus again.. i couldn't even find the gym..
either way..
you done good ashlee.. congradulations.. your the smartest ever...

all grown up...

 
 

I was on a roll

I serioulsy cleaned up at Poker at my Christmas party

i never lost a hand i played

first hand 3 tens
second hand 4 kings

i got every straight i went for, i got flushes i went for, it was crazy, but so fun


 
 

How cute are we?

Here is us for my DivX Christmas party... 20's theme

how cute is chara's hair?

The hair was courtesy of sister Rachael. big thanks for the great hair. everyone LOVED it.

 

good day sunshine

i passed my assessment with flying colors... this has been stressing me out for quite some time.. thanks to every who allowed me to practice on them... you guys were some great guinea pigs..
i also turned in my paper for my history final...
two down and two to go...

Waffle bar day

there's nothing better than leaving the house hungry and mad because you have no food and coming to work to find its Waffle Bar day.

 


seriously, have you ever seen a prettier waffle? 

and the fun continues

...here are some pictures from my 202 class... so much fun.. all assessments all the time.. and no.. i haven't killed anyone yet..

jackie getting a checkup

melody and lizzard bringing their a game

cheers for neeno..

sorry ladies..
our good friend andy is now off the market. he has been snatched up by the lovely crystal and they are now officially engaged and heading out to vegas any minute now I'm
sure.

a thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat

thanksgiving was great... good food.. good fun.. a now we're tired.. and not doing much of anything..

trevor waiting for dinner to get done
 
 

ben and the asian martha stewart cooking dinner
 
 

kai and her babies

 
 

sigh..

did you know we have have an ocean view.. on a day like today we do..
 
 

Seriously... it is so beautiful out

The Santa Ana's have brought us great weather and clear sky for miles


 
 

19th nervous breakdown

only one more month of school, and then i get a break.. i am so done..

It is ridiculous how beautiful it is today

Seriously

today is why I live in California.

its the middle of November and its mid 80's, windows down, cruising to work with the sun beating down on you, radio turned up

If I had my surfboard at work I would not be here writing this post

seriously it is so gorgeous out right now

Going for a run today at lunch. looking forward to it

Ben...

Part 2: not so fast....

Ok so i'm sure everyone already read the article in the post below right?

while i can agree with a lot of what its saying, what do we do about it? What is the other side of the coin look like?

In what ways has technology made a difference? made things better?

its all to easy to sit back and complain about technology and how our world is going to hell in handbasket. How do we fix it? I believe the same tools that cause these problems are the very ones that can be used to make a difference and to make things better.

so here's a couple thoughts to start you off:

This Christmas i will take a DVD i made from video and photo's of my family, dogs, house, travels etc up to my grandmother who is too old to travel and has not been able to come down and see us.

also found this great site today that helps expose you to new music that you will like. Its quite cool. check it out. Simply put in a few songs or artists and it creates a channel of music you might like. and its quite accurate a lot of the time.

ok so thats 2 from me...

what do you think?

Ben...

Look around. Our collective humanity is dying a little more every day.

Eat, Sleep, Work, Consume, Die

is technology making our lives better?

There is a great article from Wired you should read.

i don't want to copy and paste the bits and pieces here because the whole article is very good. give it a read and think about it.

Ben...

mmmm good

actually haven't eaten him yet. he's on the BBQ now. But that is the lobster i caught.



 


update: he was good.

went diving last night. lots of lobsters, but most of them too small. this one was barely regulation limit. so home he went with me. Chara wanted to set him free. but instead i am cooking him now.

and yes i do look damn sexy after scuba diving

Ben...

You can also watch a video of the advanture.

You'll need the latest version of DivX to watch it. (Grab the Play Bundle)

just another manic monday

have you ever had one of those days that you just wanted to fast forward to the very end to get it over with? those days that you just don't want to live through?? a day where you wish disappearing for the afternoon was an option? today was that day... today was my first 'real' day in the hospital.. with responsibility for an actual patient.. i didn't want to have to go through the pain of living through it.. i just wanted it to be done..
but.. disappearing wasn't an option.. i had to just suck it up and do it.. and i did..
and it was horrible and yet not so bad..
i picked a wonderful patient, who was very kind, patient, and understanding.. this patient has a terminal illness (like a couple more weeks terminal)... she was the greatest first patient i could ever have.. there was only one tiny little problem.. her family..
let me say this first.. she has a great family.. they were very supportive.. they were nice... they really love her..
but they were always there.. they never left.. which may not be a problem for most people.. but when i'm doing an injection for the first time.. and i have 9 different pairs of eyes staring at me.. it kinda freaked me out.. this patient needed a lot of care.. and i was happy to help.. but seeing as i have never cared for any one before.. it was all new to me.. and it was all new to me with 9 different people critiquing my style..
i like to be good at things.. i like to know what i'm doing.. i like to be capable.. but there was no way.. on my first day, that i was going to be capable of anything.. and i hate that.. i'd like to believe that i was born capable.. and not only was i not capable.. but i was not capable in front of an entire family..
and really.. it's not like i messed anything up.. i made no major mistakes.. but i wasn't perfect.. and that makes me want to cry...
a couple good things did turn out today..
i did three different injections.. i tested a blood glucose level... i administered a ton of meds... i saw some gnarly wounds.. i help turn a patient with a hip fracture (very very hard to do.. and very painful for the patient..).. i hung an IV piggy back.. flushed a saline lock.. took vital signs.. saw a lot of ass.. and did a head to toe assessment..
and above all.. i fell in love with my patient.. a kind, wonderful, and touching person.. and i realized that as sad as i am that she probably will not make it till christmas.. i got to be a part of her life today.. i got to take care of her. i got to feed her breakfast, and hear about her fabulous family.. i got to hold her hand.. and that made today worth living..

hmmm..

did you know that up until the 14th century the word homosexual never appeared in the bible.. up until then it was translated as masturbation.. interesting..

couple things...

ben forgot to mention a very important part of the recipe for a great party..
if you want a great party have loan cook the food.. she did a more than amazing job..
she totally spoiled me.. and ben.. poor ben doesn't like corn beef and cabbage.. and cannot be asked to eat my special meal on my special day.. so loan cooks different food for him, and my brother.. who are both big babies.. either way.. she had everything totally prepared.. i didn't have to lift a finger.. it was the best corn beef and cabbage ever.. Seriously .. i cannot thank her enough for all the food she made.. i can't imagine how much work went into that delicious meal.. thank you home..

anyways.. also.. learned an interesting fact in my history class.. the word hysterical comes from the greek word for the uterus.. hence hysterectomy..
but that's crazy.. could be why we tend to referred to women and not men as 'hysterical'.... just thought that was interesting..

Big Bounce House Birthday party

Recipe for some serious fun

Ingrediants:
one big spiderman bounce house
add a few kids
throw in a few adults to bounce with the kids
add 2 puppies that just want to be in the bounce house with you
and mix it all up as you bounce around

 


so we had a party for Chara's Birthday this past weekend, much to her shegrin. But the party turned out awesome. We rented a big spiderman bounce house from these guys and it was just awesome. we bounced all day long. I can't believe we bounced so much. it was great. We also had chara's favorite meal; cornbeef and cabbage and poatoes. (yuck) and everyone had a great time. 

Seriously... who carves better pumpkins?

Part of the big birthday bash festivities was pumpkin carving. Many begrudgingly carved thier pumpkins, but they all turned out great



 
 

missing you..

 
 

I love it when a plan comes together

there is nothing that i love more than when you plan and work for something to happen and it happens exactly how you planned and worked for it to.

nothing better.

Ben...

finally friday.. i'm free again..

this was my first day off in a long time..
had the greatest longest day.. met ashlee and eszter at ikea... took deborah to the pumpkin path.. had a family night at irvine spectrum... i'm so tired.. i'm off to bed..

deborah and the great pumpkin

 
 

butterfly deborah at the pumpkin patch

 
 

two of my very cute babies

 
 

sissty and yayah

 
 

loan and deborah in the ferris wheel

 
 

punished with poop

in avoiding studying last night i called my sister.. who makes me laugh..
a couple of weeks ago my sister told me that she feels like she touches poop every day (she has two little kids.. and changes diapers daily)..
so i called her last night and this is what happened:
sissy: remember how i told you how i feel that i touch poop every day?
me: yes
sissy: well i think God is punishing me for saying that because now i really do touch poop every day...
sissy then tells me a story about my niece going poop on the toilet - and because deobrah is such a big girl she decides to wipe herself.. and in doing so she gets poop everywhere.. on the toilet seat, on the sink, on the floor, on the toilet paper holder.. and as i'm talking to my sister, poor deborah is standing in front of her mom with poop on her hands, her knees.. and even a little on her face.. my sister is very upset.. and so she hold up the phone to deborahs ear so that auntie kai (that's me) can tell deborah not to touch poop.. that poop on the hands is in fact bad... and my sister has warned me that if i laugh.. she will kill me.. so..
me: hey babe.. did you touch some poop?
deborah (very sad): yes..
me: babe.. poop is icky.. it's not fun.. you don't want to touch it.. (i wanted to explain that bacteria transmitted by the fecal oral route usually causes bad GI problems.. but i refrained)..
deborah: but i just love you kai.. don't be mad..
ok.. so she is way to cute.. even covered in poop.. not that i can see her over the phone.. but i can imagine..
anways.. sissy take the phone away.. and keeps chatting with me as she puts deborah in the bath.. so now deborahs all clean, and isaiah wanted in the bath.. and now they are both happy playing in the bath..
and then all of a sudden my sister says (very frustrated): isaiah!!! i am done dealing with poop today..".. yep.. isaiah had indeed pooped in the bath..
now.. i didn't think it was possible.. but perhaps god is really punishing my sister with poop..

testing 1,2,3

i have an exam this thursday.. and i'm not quite ready for it.. so i should be studying. and i'm not.. because i don't want to..
this stuff is pretty interesting...
we learned that you can't give someone who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) more then 2 liters of oxygen per minute.. there's an interesting reason why.... in normal people the level of carbon dioxide is what gives us our instinct to breath.. people who have COPD have abnormally high amounts of carbon dioxide in their blood... since these people always have higher levels, their body no longer breaths in response to the levels of carbon dioxide... so.. it's low levels of oxygen that trigger the breathing response in COPD patients.. if we were to give them high levels of oxygen, their breathing response would no longer be triggered.. and they would stop breathing..
i know this seems stupid.. but it's great.. just think of how adaptable the body is..
the body is always trying to maintain balance.. and when something is broken.. a back up system kicks in.. it's amazing.. nerdy.. but amazing..

take it easy

today was my first day working at the hospital...
and i didn't faint, throwup, or kill anyone..
and i do look super cute in my scrubs..
so far this nursing stuff isn't so bad..
we'll see how i feel after next week..

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

So when the power goes out at our house its very loud.

its loud beause i have 3 UPS backup power things spread around the house.

1 is in the computer room, 2 are in the living room, and they all beep when the power goes out. and they beep a lot.

and its really annoying at 2 in the morning when the power goes out and you hear the symphany of beeps coming from the rest of the house.

makes for some crappy sleep

Ben...

And the great retaining wall is finally done... now i just have to fill in all that dirt. Yeah dirt!

Jesus loves horses

Great day to be alive

Today was a great day.

There is a cheesy radio morning show i don't admit to listen to, but they do this thing where they give a top five of things they love today. Its a great idea, and today was a great day so here goes

#5. Early October... 90 degrees outside
#4. The reality that you can learn from your mistakes
#3. Playing soccer on a thursday afternoon with co-workers
#2. My job. It is awesome (see above)
#1. My smart and lovely wife. I am a very lucky man.

If only you could bottle this mood.

Ben...

why i hate ben affleck reason #37

because he ruined alias..
from what i've heard.. ben affleck is responsible for michael vartan being kicked off the show..
alias already started to suck last season when jennifer garner and ben affleck started dating.. now he's completely ruined the show by getting vaughn kicked off.. now there is no hope for alias..
of course.. as my ben likes to point out.. i did get my very acurate info from us weekly..

Last day in NY

So we had some time to run around our last day in NY.

we headed down to the Statue of Liberty in the morning, but there was a crazy huge long line to get onto the ferry and we didn't have that kind of time, so we saw her from a distance.

We then walked up to Ground Zero where the World Trade Center used to be. Not much to see there. Just a big construction sight all fenced off, but still quite moving.

We then walked over to Wall street area (see pictures below)

After that we took the subway back to our hotel, checked out, grabbed some lunch at the Carnegie Deli (big sandwiches!), ate them in Central Park, and walked up to the Natural History Museum. Here we got Chara a wheelchair as she hurt her foot the first day in NY by wearing silly shoes as we walked for MILES! so she has been limping around in great pain ever since like a trooper. But the wheelchair was a nice break for her as we raced around the museum and saw everything that was to be seen.

After that we tried to get over to Serendipity again for another Frozen Hot Chocolate which are just the most amazing thing in the entire world. But alas they are always on a one to two hour wait and we did not have such time. So we made it back to our hotel, and headed to the airport where we are now waiting to get on our flight. (we love jetblue)

Chara will take her Xanax soon and we will be limping to our gate.

see everyone soon

Ben...

an amazing church near Wall St.

Ben and George on Wall street