Message from Germany!

Nique finally mass mailed everyone about her first week overseas. Here is what she had to say:

Hello Everyone! I apologize for not sending out this e-mail sooner, but life has been pretty hectic this past week! I'll try to keep this somewhat short, but I do have a lot to tell all of you!First of all, the biggest blessing since I have been here has been the four other people that I came in with, one of which is my roommate, Laura. When I got off of the plane, there were three other girls and one guy that had been waiting with the resort representative until my flight came in (I had a few travel complications due to the weather). All of us clicked almost immediately and have been inseperable since we first got in. Laura is my age and from Kansas. She's just as (if not more) outgoing as I am, and I think that we are going to have a blast together. The accomodations for the staff are really nice. The bathrooms are all very modern and stay amazingly clean. Since there are quite a few people leaving, Laura and I were able to buy a lot of second-hand stuff to furnish our room. The biggest surprise came on Tuesday when we all found out what our jobs were going to be. As most of you probably already know, I'M NOT A HOUSEKEEPER! I will be working in Alpine Adventures, which is the gift shop/activity central. All of the tours, leisure activities, hikes, kids' programs, etc. are run out of our department. Right now they are mainly just exposing me to all of the different facets of the job, so I can get a taste for what I like and don't like. Basically, I will be getting paid to do what I would probably do anyway. Can life get anymore perfect? For my first day of work, I went on the big tour to the Neuschwanstein castle, which is what Disney modeled their signature castle after. Even though the castle itself was beautiful, standing on the Marienbrücke (a steep bridge that goes over the Pollät Gorge) and looking out over the countryside with the castle in the foreground brought tears to my eyes. I felt like I was looking at a life-size post card. On this same tour, we went through various towns in Southern Bavaria, stopping at a little wood-working shop and the Wies pilgrimmage church. On the way back, we swung down through Austria, but due to jet lag and a huge bowl of Käsespätzle (basically really thick macaroni and cheese), I was snoozing during that part.The most frustrating thing has definitely been the language barrier, but I know that will come with time. Every Friday morning, there is a market with fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, and various baked goods. We went this past Friday and enjoyed coffee on the terrace of a small cafe with the Alps as our scenery. That was enough to make any frustrations that I had disappear. We are planning on going to Oktoberfest in Munich this weekend, so I will make sure to write and send pictures after that.Thank you all so much for all of your e-mails, thoughts, and kind words. It has meant so much and been so nice to know that I have all of you thinking about me! I miss you all terribly! For anyone that is interested in coming to visit, I am able to sponsor guests at the resort. Unfortunately, you have to pay full price, and you are only offered the standard rooms, but it would be well worth it. There are also little apartments in the actual village that you can rent out for about 65 Euro/ night. (I removed the mailing address. If you would like it, let me know.) I would love to hear from all of you and know how everyone is doing, so drop me a line when you get the chance!Lots of love from Deutschland,Nique:)P.S. I'm working on setting up an online photo album, as my pictures are too big to send via e-mail. Please bear with me!

As soon as I get the pictures, I will put some of them up!

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

A New Angel In Heaven

I learned this morning of the passing of a dear friend and certainly a lifelong mentor. My fellow co-worker in Dallas, Martha Dealey went to be with the Lord on Monday, September 10, 2007. Martha was always a source of strength and wisdom. She always knew how to put a smile on your face. As, I sit here in shock at this news, many great memories run through my mind. Martha was always first to let me know what she thought about the latest TCC concert of which I had performed. She always had a sharp opinion, but also let me know that I shined. Now Heaven is shining brighter each night. There's a new star up in the sky. Heaven also has a new angel. I can only imagine how wide the Pearly Gates opened to welcome Martha home. I'll miss our phone chats and her advice.

My heart hurts today. God Bless you Martha.

You will forever be missed, but never forgotten.

Martha Dannel Dealey

1938 - 2007

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

A Little Bit of Good and A Little Bit of Bad

Well, I will start with the bad. Softball sucked last night. We lost 9-7. I missed three line shots down third which allowed them to advance the runners. My defense was horrible last night. I did manage to bat okay. I was on base 2 of three times. I shanked a horrible pop fly. Sucked. So now we are 2-2 on the season. .500 is ok I guess, but .1000 would be better.

Now some good news!

I finally got an email from Nique! She still loves me! I had to threaten her though. It shouldn't be that difficult to get an email from a friend! She says she is off tomorrow and will send me a lengthy email as well as some pictures.

In other news, Tom got a job yesterday. He is going to be working at RELICS here in town. He will be helping decorate for the Holidays as well as working the floor some. Thank goodness! Finally he has something to do besides just go to school. I mean 19 hours is a lot of school, but you need a break occasionally. Even if it is work.

I got to talk with an old friend today. My buddy Russell, from Philadelphia sent me an email. Instead of one liners back and forth, he just picked up the phone and called. It was great to hear his voice. I haven't talked to him in quite a while. His says Philly is still the same. I miss Philly. Especially the chicken cheesesteaks from Emmit's on 69th Street. Russell says he is going back to school. I asked what for and he said that he is going after a teaching certificate. That's awesome for him. He is going to teach Food Science or something like that. Right up his alley, considering he is chef. A damn good chef. Those kids don't know how lucky they are to get some of his cooking everyday at lunch.

Mom got tickets today for the Tech vs tamu game. I always love going to that game. Tech seems to step it up a notch for the damn aggies. The last time I was in Lubbock for the game was my 30th birthday. Hopefully, they can pull out another win for my 32nd birthday.

Damn, I am getting old. 32! Shit how time flies!

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

Another Anniversary

Well, here I sit exactly two years from the date I started a second time at Abilene Regional Medical Center. A lot has happened in those two years. My original boss left to take a CNO job in Livingston, TX. She is now the COO. Way to go Barb! Then I learned I would have two bosses. Tony got here and took over two of the five critical care units. Then came Kevin. He took over the other three. Tony is now gone, less than a year after he got here. So it's just me and Kevin. Well, there is Michael. They say he is the Interim Director over Tony's old units. So I guess it is back to three. ARMC is no longer a Triad facility. In July, CHS purchased Triad. So that merger is currently being implemented throughout the hospital. Hopefully, that will go smoothly.





Yesterday was the sixth anniversary of the attacks on our country. Do you remember where you were when you heard about the Towers? I was sitting at my computer checking email and I got an instant message from a buddy that said the World Trade Center was on fire. I thought he was joking until I turned on the TV. Hitting the power button on the remote that morning, forever changed my life. It changed life for everyone. I knew that my roommate from Disney was now with the NYPD. Last I had heard his assignment was at the WTC. I worried all day. I couldn't get in touch with any one in his family. I couldn't get in touch with him either. It was about 5:30 that evening when I finally heard from his dad that he was okay. Whew! A sigh of relief.





Another worry I had was our Current Miss Texas, Stacy James, was in Atlantic City getting ready for the Miss America pageant. What was going on with her? Would they still have the pageant? Yes, they did. She was fine and called to say she was kinda shook up but that she was okay.





Fast forward six years. You know what my worry was yesterday. I was a bit upset that Nique hadn't sent me a damn email yet. It seems she has been emailing others, but why not me? I guess I shouldn't get in a twirl about it too much. There are bigger problems in the world. Right?


I guess I should just be thankful that she made it Germany safely and that she seems to think she made the right decision to head overseas. I conclude my emails to her with "My Heart Hurts!" But today I guess it is happy for her. It won't truly be happy until she is back in the States. I mean what's a guy to do without one of his best friends? Not much I can do with an ocean between the two of us. Maybe sometime in the next 13 months I can take a short jump across the "POND" and visit Deutschland.





I think I have finally decided what to do for my DIFFA jacket this year. It seams that the theme is "Le Cinema de Vie." Something to do with classic movies and the Hollywood glitz and glam! I have decided to bleach out the dark blue denim coat. It doesn't have to be solid white, but certainly lighter than the deep navy that it currently is. After that I am going to dye the coat pink. I also have some pieces of denim that I am going to dye as well. Now that the base of the coat will be pink, I may paint some other pink swirls or marbleized looking texture to it. I am certainly going to paint the pieces of denim pink. The pieces will then be shaped in to a huge bow for the bottom of the back of the jacket. The actual jacket will be scattered with AB rhinestones. If I can manage to get my hands on some pink fox tails, I might add them. But the over all look I am going for is Marilyn in the pink dress from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." So we will see how it goes. I will post a pic of the jacket before and after.

That's all I got for ya right now. Until next time.

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

Unexpected Surprise!!!

Surprise!!! You have been selected to receive the ARMC Auxiliary Scholarship. No Crap!

I got an email today stating I was getting $400 bucks for school. Damn, I actually forgot that I had applied for the scholarship. I guess it actually does pay to fill out the applications. The email stated that I am eligible for $400 the next two years as long as I have a GPA of 2.5. I think I should be able to do that.

Obviously, I survived that Nutrition test. I wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. Thank goodness for the practice tests on the book's website. I will make certain to do those for every chapter from now on. The only thing that concerned me about the exam was the fact the professor wasn't there. She had a proctor to administer the test. Not very bright in my book. If I am paying almost $1600 for this class, I would like the professor there to answer any last minute questions I might have. I guess I can't have everything. Oh Well!

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

She's Landed!!

Well, I just got an update to my Facebook account. Nique is in Germany. She said her flight plans were changed slighty. But I didn't get any more details. I'm glad to know that she has made it safely to her new home. now I can't wait to hear what wild stories she will have to tell. I can only imagine.



I am still trying to get ready for this nutrition test. We'll see how that goes tonight. Not really sure what it is I needed to have studied. Her notes aren't all that great.



Well back to the books!

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

auf Wiedersehen, Nique!

Well, I just got off the phone with Nique. She was sitting in the airport in Amarillo. She's got a heck of a travel plan ahead of her today. Amarillo to Dallas. Dallas to Chicago. Chicago to Munich. Munich to the Edelweiss Lodge. The last leg of the trip is by car. Two hours or something close. She says she will email when she gets there. Hopefully her travels go smoothly. I asked if she got First class. She said no. So I asked about Business Class. Again NO! "Economy," she says!

In other news, Tech won last night. First game at home. 2-0 on the season. GUNS UP!! Can't wait for October 13. The aggies come to town. Always a big party and one helluva game! Wreck'em Tech!

I have my first exam tomorrow. Nutrition. So I need to quit jacking around and study. Four chapters. I am having a slight case of deja vu with this class. It reminds me a lot of A & P last semester. Anything but A & P please!!!

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

Softball & School

Well, I have managed to survive three weeks of softball and two weeks of school. Playing softball for the first time in 5 years really takes a toll on your body. I think my muscles and bones are finally getting over the shock of doing more exercise than they have in quite some time. Our team is doing pretty well. We recovered this week from a 30-9 butt whooping last week. We won the game in the last inning with a two run shot over the right field fence. 21-20 was the final. We opened the season with a pretty good showing 15-2. So that leaves us 2-1 on the season. Not bad considering we are playing in the Rec 1 division of Co-Ed. Rec 1 is the most competitive division.


As far as school goes, life at ACU is pretty different. But all in all I think it will turn out to be a great decision. The classes seem to be shaping up to be pretty interesting. Nutrition is prolly going to be the hardest class. It seems that it is a little more than discussing what is good to eat. It's a good thing that I paid attention in A&P at least some of the time. My Poli Sci class is going to be a lot of fun. I was a little hesitant about it last week, but after Tuesday night, I think I will like it just fine. My Ethics class will be the most interesting. I can't wait for some of the discussions that will present themselves as the semester continues. I'll keep you up to date on my progress as the semester continues.

Keep going beyond, you never know what's on the other side.

JRH

A WELL NEEDED BREAK

Well Labor Day Weekend wasn't lost all together. Even though I had to go to school on Monday, we managed to have a little fun. After spending all evening Friday and all day Saturday helping Mom and Joe unpack and set up house in their new home, we were all ready for some well deserved fun. So we headed to the lake for a couple of hours...Yeah right! We ended up being out there all day. But we had earned a day of fun. My parents long time friends Brenda and Tony met us out there with their jetski. Below are some pictures of our spins on the water.

Here's Joe giving me some quick driving instructions before hitting the gas. Oh and that's my mom giving me some back seat driver hints as well.

I knew hearing all three of my names meant I would be in big trouble, but honestly it only meant one thing to mean...FULL THROTTLE ahead.

Okay, I'll slow down a little.

"Justin, you let me off right now. Then you can be as wild as you want too. You are scaring me to death." I heard that several times as we caught a little air crossing the wake.

I decided I had better let her 0ff while I was still alive.

"Wooooooooooo Hoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!"

Brenda stylin in the boat!

Now it's Joe's turn to drive.

I guess he can do what he wants. He's the one that has to live with her.

He obviously let her get back in the boat as well!

Go Speed Racer, Go!

Joe actually had several unsuccessful tries at soaking those of us in the boat.

Brenda is just a speed demon. She doesn't like getting air!

"Anybody else want to ride?"

Speedy Gonzales!

Tony tried to soak us in the boat too. TRIED... is the key word there!

Postcard view from Lake Ray Hubbard.

Joe waiting for us to return from Bass Pro Shop. That place rocks!

Looking from the inside the boat at the boat slip.

Packing up and ready to go home. I have a three hour drive to Abilene ahead of me.