Britain's Got Talent Video

When I started this video, I thought it was going to be very funny. A male baton twirler isn't something you see commonly. As it turns out, I was incredibly touched by the courage of this boy. He had a dream, and nobody was going to tell him that he couldn't do it. It was actually quite inspiring to watch this!

Some Random Video From YouTube...

The Next Generation American Idol!!!

This two year old girl sings the Lord's Prayer with such passion!

Danielle: Miss America!!!

Some video of Az Jr. Miss:

Hot Stuff!

My sister Danielle participated in Jr. Miss Arizona this past Saturday. She was absolutely AMAZING from head to toe. She was stunning in her evening gown, performed her lyrical dance flawlessly, and answered the onstage question without an ounce of hesitation. I was so proud, and the whole extended family would agree with me. She took First runner up, She made it look so effortless, and she looked liked she owned that stage on Saturday night. She did own it as far as I'm concerned. I will be posting my video footage on the blog in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Soldiers First AKC Hunt Test

Soldier turns 11 months pretty soon and the Hunting Club that I belong to was hosting an AKC Hunt Test out in Buckeye, AZ this past weekend. We were already down in the valley for family reasons and so I decided to give it a try. It ended up being SO FUN! He passed both days, and received lots of compliments from other dog owners. It was great to feel like all the time spent training is really paying off. Look at Soldiers face after he brings in a retrieve. He actually looks like he is smiling!
(Hit play, then hit pause on the movie. For some reason, it takes a second to load or the movie is choppy in the beginning)

See If You Can Make It Through This One With Dry Eyes!

After Sunny & I hit the slopes, Sunny offered up the idea that we get me an early Birthday present: A snowboard, so that we didn't keep pouring money into renting one for me. When I saw the pattern on this one, I was SOLD! Pretty Fly huh?

Sunny & I celebrated our 2nd year Anniversary on Jan 7th. Because Sunny wasn't able to get much time off around the holidays, she got to take a full week off for our anniversary. It was GREAT! The first day we woke up only to find that we had received about a foot and a half of snow. DARN! We reluctantly decided to sleep in, watch lots of movies, and enjoy lavish breakfasts (homemade of course) for the rest of the week. It was terrible!

It may look like we are all dressed up in the picture above, but don't be fooled. It was just excelent camera work...

Sorry, cover the kiddies eyes on this picture!

Soldier even got into the celebration. After all, he's part of the family!

I gave Sunny a snowboard for our anniversary. We had a chance to hit the slopes on the weekend, and Sunny was like a PRO! She was tearing it up so much that one of the ski lift operators started calling her Hollywood. She's a natural!

Our Second Year Anniversary

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

The stocking were hung at the fireplace with care...



David (My Brother) Testing his manliness as he stands on a pond that has been frozen over.

No Ducks In Flagstaff

Finals finished, Soldier's training was shaping up nicely, and my brother came to visit. WE WERE READY FOR OUR FIRST DUCK HUNT ON SAT. We went out scouting FRI morning only to find that all the roads to the lakes in town had been shut down to motorized vehicles. So unless we wanted to walk uphill in the snow for 9 miles (both ways of course), we were out of luck. Oh well, I think that all this snow came as a surprise to most Flagstaffians, and I have heard that this is going to be the first white Christmas is 3 or 4 years. We are so excited. Here is a funny Far Side that my brother showed me. You have to look closely to get it.

More Snow!

We got about 4 feet of snow in total here! Snowbowl opened up, and Soldier's backyard is a winter wonderland!

My pathophysiology teacher gave us an interesting current article to read on tattooing.

A couple of NAU undergrad students are researching "tattoo inks to determine if any inks pose health threats in the form of heavy metals or other dangerous chemicals." I quote one of the students. "I don't think anyone is aware that the FDA doesn't regulate the tattoo process. The inks in tatoos are subject to regulation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as cosmetics, but the FDA does NOT regulate tattoo ink for injection, nort does it regulate tattooing itself." The article continues by saying, "...the various inks do not have to have ingredients listed. So far they have found that some inks have as many as 14 elements in them, with some instances of lead. But just how much of these elements exist in the inks has yet to be measured. Gathering quantitative data is the next step." Here's a link to the article if you want to read it in its entirety.
http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/3_17_05/tatoo.htm

Since this research has surfaced, other "reports have surfaced indicating that tattoo ink can cause adverse effects in wearers, such as allergic reactions, burning sensations during MRI scans, and the migrationof tattoo ink into different areas of the body, including the lungs." That quote was from:
http://health.excite.com/article/id/524476.html

Our First Flagstaff Snow

Jacob & Sunny's Documentary On Snow

Getting Soldier Ready For His First Duck Hunt Next Weekend

Soldier Learning For The First Time That Snow Can Get Into Your Eyes

Furry Sunny, Furry Soldier

Jacob And Soldier


Soldier Chillin By His Warm, Cozy Doghouse

A Fun Filled Weekend!

We hiked Mt. Humphrey with our friends Brian and Joy on Sat. Brian is in my PT program, and Joy works with Sunny in the Radiology dept. at Flagstaff Medical Center. It was a PERFECT day for a hike and a picnic, and we had a great time!

Sunny Soldier and I at 11,700 ft. elevation...Soldier was looking a little dizzy. I guess that answers the question "Do dogs get altitude sickness." No, I'm just kidding. Soldier was a trooper!

Soldier will be turning 8 months this week. What a mangy looking BEAST


With all the work gone into the dog house, I wanted the paint to look nice so we primered it first to ensure that the paint will last a very long time. Once this project is done. I'm retiring from dog house building!

I really like the paint color that Sunny chose for us. It is called Smouldering Red. It sounds tough. We have one more coat to lay down so the paint should look even richer than in the picture (a little poetic rhyming, is that allowed in blogs?)

I've never laid shingles before, but there is quite an art to it. Luckily the packaging described the step by step "git er done" technique. Still a work in progress.

New Doghouse Pics

Here is mine and Sunny's Halloween costumes for this year. Doesn't the "Queen Bee" look cute?

Here is the latest development on the dog house. It's coming along! The left side of the roof has tar paper stapled down. The asphalt shingles will lay on top. I got an open case of shingles from Lumberman's warehouse that would have normally cost $50 for a grand total of $7. I got the tar paper for free from the scrap bin at HomeCo. The only thing I had to pay full price for was the metal flashing that goes around the outside lip of the roof to keep rain off. All said and done, the roof alone will weigh about 100 pounds.

Here is the underside view of the removeable roof. I added the 2 x 4's as support to the eaves of the roof because when I first picked it up, the roof split right down the middle. Yowsers! Hopefully, it's solid now.

Here is the last wall I insulated. The toughest as well, due to the angled cuts for the gabled roof. Sunny said it had to have a pitched roof, so that is what I did. I ended up using 40 feet of R11 insulation on this doghouse. That's the same stuff you would use in a regular house. It is rated down to 0 degrees F. That should keep Soldier toasty warm during the chilly Flagstaff months.

Biting Off More Than I Can Chew!

With the weather cooling off, I mentioned to Sunny that we should get a warm dog house for Soldier. Sunny had other plans for us though. Her heart was set on building him a dog house! "Well," I thought. "That shouldn't be too tough. A month later, I'm still working on it (Granted I've only had the weekends). Soldier had better like his house or we might have to get a new dog. Once it's finished though, it should be toasty warm. There will be insulation that's good down to 0 degrees F in all four walls, the roof, and the floor. I told Sunny that I wanted to build it big enough that if ever I get in trouble with her, I can sleep in the dog house. Here's some recent pics!


The roof is built to be removeable which will make it lighter and less awkward to move, and it will be easier to clean out!

Here has been Soldier's temporary sleeping quarters. Right next to our bed. Spoiled right? He loves it!

Me, ready for a night of sushi, and a movie!

Mormons involvment with Hurricane Katrina!

Here is a quote from the documentary about Mormons that was aired on PBS. This is a quote from a Louisiana resident, James Madison, who had suffered from the hurricane Katrina disaster:

“We were hearing stories on the radio of troops coming in. Helicopters were flying over. We even heard the president was flying over in a big helicopter, looking at us. But nobody was there on the ground with us except for the Mormons in their yellow T-shirts who showed up to help us clean up. And they didn't just come in to hand us a piece of food, a piece of bread or something, and say, ‘Here's something to eat,’ you know, ‘while you're working.’ They actually got down and cleaned and worked.”

SOURCE: http://www.pbs.org/mormons/etc/script2.html

Attention K-mart Shoppers!

I've been a bit busy with school, so unfortunately, blogging has suffered. Anyway. School is going great. The teachers are awesome, Sunny is loving her job at FMC, and Soldier is still as spoiled as always. His picture just got posted up on the website of the hunting club group we joined. Here's the link:
http://www.copperstate.homestead.com/Calendar.html
Hope all is well!
Jacob