Hey everyone!

It's been a long time since I posted so I thought I would take a few minutes to update everyone on what's new with me. Well, as most of you know, I've been back in South Dakota for over a month now. John returned to Nevada. It's been extremely hard being so far apart from one another, but I think in the long-run will be beneficial. I think we both have begun to realize the many things we take forgranted and when we are together again will do a much better job appreciating one another. I'm currently looking for a job here in the Midwest (the sooner the better), in hopes of getting us settled a bit before we officially move back. Although I haven't found anything yet, I have been doing some temporary work and have had some wonderful opportunities to spend time with family and friends. I am very thankful for this time, but will be more than ready to have John here with me in May. My cousin Laci and her husband Brett have been letting me stay with them. I'm so thankful to have such wonderful family that are so willing to open their home to me.
As you can see in John's previous blog, he is doing very well back in Nevada. He keeps pretty busy with work and basketball. He recently moved out of our place and into a new (much smaller) apartment. I'm hoping to make a trip out to see him sometime soon, possibly in March.
Well that's all for now. I hope you all are having a wonderful February!
Amy

Back in the Desert!

Hey everyone, John here, writing from the moderately warm state of Nevada once more. As most of you know, Amy is still in South Dakota looking to advance herself professionally. This blog will be short, as I have only a few items to share.

First of all, teaching and coaching is going great. Once again I am happy to be in West Wendover for my first year of teaching. I am learning a lot, and apparently so are my students. Check this out. Out of the 56 Juniors who took the writing proficiency in November, 39 passed. That is 70%! Now remember that I did not teach all of these Juniors, only 37 of them. You do the math. This is excellent for WWHS students and especially for these students who could not write complete sentences when I arrived in August. This gave me a warm feeling inside. It is really nice to know that I am making a difference. Along with this, one of my fellow teachers told me I am the best English teacher to come to West Wendover in a long time. Of course this comment was not told to me by the other English teacher here ;).

Among these Juniors is a young man named Tyler. I would like to share a letter he has written to Barack Obama. It cracked me up.

"Dear Mr President,
Congratulations on becoming the first African American president in the United States. I believe that this country would be a lot more peaceful and nice if we were to legalize marijuana. We should also raise speed limits. I think we should take over Amsterdam and blow up Great Britain.
Tyler"

You may make whatever assumptions you wish to, just know that he is only one of the many characters I teach here at WWHS. Have a great January!

Love, John

The Holiday Season

Well, the holiday season is upon us, and just like most of you we are busy preparing for the many parties, travel, and likely weight gain! Although we live in a rather desolate area, and have yet to see accumulated snow on the ground, we too have been getting into the Christmas spirit. We have decked the halls of our little apartment with a beatiful tree (which takes up nearly a 1/3 of our living room), and have begun wrapping gifts in anticipation!

This year Christmas feels even more special than years past. At Thanksgiving I did a lot of thinking about my many blessings and the things I am most thankful for this year; first, and for most, John. Although we are going on our second year of marriage, this year has been full of drastic changes in our lives, and I feel as though we have grown so much closer, and much more understanding of one another. Being so far from our family and friends in the midwest, we have truly learned to rely on one another. Also, being so far away has made me more and more thankful for our family and friends back home. When you leave home, you know you will miss everyone, but until you have truly left, you can't imagine how hard it can really be.
Lastly, I am so thankful for the friends we have made here in West Wendover. Although, no one can replace our loved ones back home, I don't think we would have survived without each of these wonderful people, who have continuously supported us.

As I begin planning for our long trip back to South Dakota, Iowa, and our families, I often find myself holding back tears. I am so happy to be able to make the trip and spend some much needed time with each of our loved ones, and yet I am also sad, because I know how much it will remind me of the wonderful times we have when we are home, and how much I will miss it when we leave. This holiday season I feel blessed to have felt a new kind of love and appreciation for each and every one of our family and friends.

4 Guys, a Girl, and Denver!

John and I are truly becoming road trip masters! Every other week we seem to be hopping into the car and taking off to visit a new place. This past weekend we made the long drive to Denver, CO, where we met up with John's brother Dylan, and our two friends, Steve, and Dan.

The main point of the trip was simply to spend some quality time, but while in Denver we figured we should see some of the sites as well. Saturday morning was spent doing a variety of activities. While a few of the guys hit the links, Steve and I hit the malls. For anyone choosing to vacation in Denver; Great Malls! Anyways, after a few hours of rigorous shopping, we met up for quick lunch and then jumped in the car to head to downtown Denver.Denver is a beautiful city! We had such a nice time just walking around and looking at the city. We went to the capital building where we all took turns standing at the mile high marker, and we managed to get some pretty nice views of downtown.
Once our feet had reached their breaking point, we stopped at a downtown resteraunt for dinner and a few drinks, before heading to the movie (James Bond).
Sunday, we spent most of our time just visiting. We were all very sad to see the trip come to the end. It most definitely went by much too quickly. Now we're home and are counting down the days until we get to see everyone! In less than a month we will be back in the midwest, and we're thrilled!

Washington!

As many of you may already now, this past week John and I decided to make the 12 hour drive from West Wendover to Snohomish Washington in order to visit Nichole, Brian, Sophia, and Madelyn. We decided early on, to the dismay of many, that we were going to make the drive non-stop. We left Wendover at 4 pm Wednesday afternoon, and arrived in Snohomish at about 4 am Thursday morning. It was a long drive, but definitely worth it.

Of course, being the weekend of Halloween, we busied ourselves with a few very fun and spooky activities. On Thursday afternoon, the girls and myself spent some time in the kitchen making Halloween spider cupcakes. We had a lot of fun. Both Sophia and Maddie were such great helpers! I think we may have a future chef, or two, on our hands. That evening, Nichole made us her famous fondue and we filled our time with chatting, snacking, and, of course, a little Wii.

Friday, Halloween, was spent sight seeing in Snohomish and Everett. Nichole and the girls took John and I to downtown Snohomish where we mozied through cute little shops, enjoyed some bakery sweets, and sipped on some coffee. After we had seen much of what Snohomish had to offer, we jumped in to the van, and took off to meet Brian for lunch at Scuttlebutt, one of my favorite Washington visit pasttimes. That evening the whole gang bundled up and took to the streets of Snohomish for some trick-or-treating fun! Sophia really had the hang of it. She would run up to the house, say "trick-or-treat", say "thank you", and be off running towards the next house. She was definititely efficient! Madelyn was a little less unsure of the whole process, but by the end of the night was having no problem keeping up with her sister.

We spent a good part of Saturday in Seattle. We walked through the famous Seattle fish market, saw the original Starbucks, and, in true Seattle fashion, got rained on! That evening we spent our time eating a wonderful dinner at home, hot tubbing, and visiting. It was a great last night, to a wonderful trip.

Sunday morning we took off bright and early to make the long trip home. We are so glad that we took the time to make the trip. We had such a wonderful time and made so many fantastic memories.

Hiking to Hawk Watch!

Hey all!
Well, this week I thought I would share about our recent hiking trip to Hawk Watch. Hawk Watch is a non profit organization that sends about 10 bird scientists to live on top of a mountain just a few miles south of West Wendover to study the migration patterns of hawks, eagles, raptors, and other large birds.

John and our friend Brian have made the hike a few times, and we all have been able to get to know several of the scientists that work there. This past Saturday I, along with John, Brian, and Brian's parents, decided to take on this 5 mile hike (2.5 up and 2.5 down). As most of you know, I am not exactly a fitness buff, so needless to say, a 2,000 ft gain in 2.5 miles was plenty difficult for me.
We started the hike at about 12:30. If you look behind the boys, in the picture about you can see a rocky ledge at the top of the mountain. That is where our hike ended, to give you an idea.
The hike up was exhausting, but completely worth it! It took us about 2 hours with several short stops to catch our breath and take in the beautiful view.

When we reached the top we were greeted by several scientists and two sweet dogs that were very excited to have visitors. Although the scientists were having a slow day, as far as bird watching goes, we were able to see a few hawks, and hear about some amazing birds they had seen just a few days earlier. I think the thing that amazed me most is how they had been living on top of a mountain for 2 months! They were definitely a cool group of people and were great hosts.

After about an hour of visiting and bird watching, we began our descent. Surprisingly, I found this much more difficult than the climb up the mountain. Going up is exhausting, but going down is painful! I think my knees are still trying to recover. One of the coolest things we saw on the entire trip happened at the very end of the hike. We were lucky enough to spot a herd of wild horses only 100 yds. from where we were parked. This picture isn't the greatest, but it was amazing to get to see them so close!

Just a reminder for those considering visiting, this is one of the many exciting adventures you could choose to do while visiting exciting West Wendover, NV.

Mom's Visit!

The past few days we have been blessed to have my mom here visiting. I didn't realize how much fun it would be getting to show off our new home, friends, school, and community. We are so glad that she took the time to come and spend some quality time with us. I don't think I could ever express how wonderful it was to have a little piece of home here with us, even if it was only for a few short days.

While visiting, we did our best to show Mom all that is important here in West Wendover. Although the weather was not it's usual sunny self, we were able to get out and do some fun things. Because Mom arrived during West Wendover homecoming week, she was lucky enough to get to participate in a football party hosted by some of our friends. Although we weren't sure how much fun she'd have, we were pleasantly surprised by the fun she had simply getting to meet and spend time with our new friends.

Because of the cold weather Saturday we decided to spend most of the day inside watching movies, visiting, playing games, and even made a batch of caramel apples. We also ventured out into the cold to have a beautiful dinner and do a little bit of touring. If you haven't read my previous blog, you may not be aware that Wendover is home to the airbase which trained and housed the planes and men that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. While Mom visited we took the time to go out and see many of the buildings that still remain from this era. The building to left of us is the building that housed the "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", or the two atomic bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Enola Gay.

Another cool spot of interest on the airbase is the "jail bird". The "jail bird" is the plane that was used in the filming of Con Air. The Wendover area has been the site of several movies, including Con Air, Independence Day, and the 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean. While at the base at we were able to see many of the places used in the Con Air movie; such as the "jail bird", the airline tower, and a old swimming pool.

Sunday, Mom and I spent in Salt Lake City. We had such a nice time even though it felt as though we were in a winter wonderland. Yes. Mom came to visit sunny Nevada, and instead she got cold and SNOW! I still can't believe it. We spent the entire day walking through huge flakes of snow! Although we were cold, we managed to have a great time!

Well, now Mom has left and our lives will go back to normal. I thought I would have a much harder time when she left, but I seem to be doing just fine. Now that we have had a visitor it has made me even more anxious for more! Her trip, I hope, will be the first of many. We had such a wonderful time and we miss all of our family so very much! We hope you can all make it out some time soon!