Sealant Trip

Back in October I went on a "field trip " with my classmates to southern Kentucky to work on some poor kids. Her are some of the pictures that I took. The overlook pictures are from Cumberland Gap, which is a point where you are basically in Tenessee, Virginia, and Kentucky all at the same time.

Our trip to the Races

You can't live in Kentucky and not go to the horse races, so when Kristen's mom was in town we went to one.
We felt kind of underdressed because everyone else was wearing dresses and suits while we were in jeans and t-shirts. The race track looks like dirt, but it is actually made of some fibrous material mixed with wax so when it is wet it still has the same consistency. It smelled just like crayons.
Before the races start, they bring all the horses out for everyone to see. I have never seen such muscular horses in my life. You could tell that they were well taken care of. After they are brought out, the jockey's come out and mount them. This was the winner of the first race. They sell programs that give you the stats for each horse telling how much they win, what the odds are that they will win again and this is how people decide which horses to bet on.
It really was amazing to watch them race.

White coat ceremony

So I just had a ceremony to get my white coat and its kind of a big deal. Kristen was in Utah so I had some friends take a picture of me and I photoshopped her into it. Pretty classy isn't it? I felt dumb at the ceremony because I didn't know it was such a big deal so I didn't wear a tie. I, along with Bryce Jones were the only ones not wearing ties (I told him not to wear one). All the faculty think that my name is pronounced Ja-rome, so I was afraid that they would call me that when they read my name. To my suprise, the lady didn't, she called me JAR-UM. I'm sure the people in the audience were thinking to themselves what kind of freaky name is that? Maybe someday they will get it right.

UK Fans!!

I am officially a huge fan of UK. It isn't because of their awesome football or basketball teams, or the fact that they accepted Jarom, it is because they gave me a job. We have been out here for 2 months and I am now just getting a job. I have felt like a loser going jobless for so long, but the market out here isn't exactly ideal. I left an awesome job back home and haven't found anything that even compares until now. I just hope the people here are as great as my friends at Kennecott. I am going to be working in the schools soil testing lab, in the regulatory services dept. I am looking forward to my new job!

Natural Bridge

Kristen and I went to this arch that is about an hour away from Lexington. We went with another couple (Aubrey and Kyle) in our ward who also just moved out here from Utah. It kind of reminded us of Utah since it was the closest thing Kentucky has to mountains. The only difference was the number of trees. As you can see from the pictures, the trees cover everything. It was a lot of fun. There were tons of different trails that you could take to get to the actual bridge. This picture was taken while we were on top.

If you look closely, you can see a few people on top of the bridge. It gives you an idea of the size of it. This picture was taken from a lookout point off the trail.
We had to walk through this crevice to get on top of the bridge. Near the end, it got pretty tight.

We took the Devils Gulch on the way down. It was a very tight and steep trail. It was made almost all of stairs some of which had been carved into the rock.
We are planning on coming back here in the fall when the leaves are changing, because it will be absolutely beautiful.

Bike Rides

Jarom and I have mountain bikes, and on occasion we enjoy going on bike rides. Since we have moved to KY Pippin does not get out much so we feel bad leaving him at home. So we decided that we would take Pippin with us when we go on bike rides, we just had to figure out a way to bring him along. I came up with the idea of putting him in a backpack, so that is what we did. We put him in and zipped him up and secured the zipper with safety pins. Pippin seemed to like it, but it was very funny to look at. We had a number of people staring and pointing. But from now on we know that he can come along.

Maui Pictures

Hawaii Trip July 2008

Jarom and I decided that since it might be awhile before we would be able to go on a tropical vacation after he started dental school, we should go. So we followed Tom and Chanelles advice and went to Maui! We even stayed in the same hotel that they did! We had so much fun and would recommend it to everyone. While we were there we went snorkeling, we found a really cool place called the Fishbowl. To get to it we had to hike through a lava field. It was a very hot hike, but so worth it. We also went snorkeling at Molokini crater, and Turtle Town and saw a few turtles, a couple of eels and other beautiful tropical fish. The water was so clear, you could see so much and so far away. We went to big beach and the beaches by our hotel and they were all so beautiful. Some of the waves were a little too big though. We both got a little beat up by having them crash us to the ground. We also enjoyed some rest at the pools at our hotel. We read a couple of books while we sat by the pool and drank Lava Flows. Jarom got addicted to Lava Flows and still asks for them here in KY, but we have yet to find someone who makes them. The second to last day we were on Maui we decided to drive the road to Hana. Jarom really wanted to see the black sand, and red sand beaches. The road took forever and Jarom just wanted to see these beaches so we didn't get to see much of anything else because he was so determined to see those beaches.