Geocaching and Pho

My best friend, Ray, stopped in for a short visit and so I decided to take advantage of the situation and introduce him to the wonderful sport of Geocaching. Despite the torrential down pour I was determined to help him find a cache. My hope was of course to share with him something I have quickly come to love. My accomplishment was far from my hope. Oh yes we broke out the handheld gps, we drove to the identified area, but it was when it came down to getting out of the car that the hunt went sour. The rain would not stop and neither would my stubbornness on finding a cache. In the end we were drenched but we were successful!

Ray did seem somewhat happy about the idea that we found this hidden surprise but in the end he was very wet and wet certainly does not equate to happy in the middle of the winter. So I figured it would be a good time to warm up to some hot soup. This of course led to me persuading Ray to introduce me to his native palate. Ray was born in Vietnam and although grew up in America clearly had a traditional Vietnamese home life. Thus when I attempt to get him to take me to Vietnamese restaurants he dismisses the idea because he figures he can make the food better than any restaurant. However, he was cold, wet and hungry and so he finally gave in. We headed for Bambu, the local Vietnamese restaurant.

Ray introduced me to the menu which was in both Vietnamese and English. He directed me to some "safe" selections for my first experience and we jumped right in to these BIG BOWLS of PHO (f-u). I thought it was the greatest soup ever, I am soup guy and this was like Disney Land for my belly. Even Ray agreed that the food was very close to traditional and gave his stamp of approval. I mean after all, we are in Missouri, to satisfy Ray is a big deal, at least in my book. We quickly warmed up, ate well and enjoyed some great conversation.

Geocaching and Pho, a good day indeed!

To learn more about Bambu home of Springfield's best Vietnamese cuisine check out their website. www.springfieldbambu.com

passing my time one Root Beer at a time

Training to become a doctor of clinical psychology comes with many rewards. I have learned so much since arriving here at Forest Institute and I have experienced so much more. But it would be a bit over-reaching to declare that it has all been stress-free. In fact at times it becomes extremely overwhelming..... thats where root beer comes in, at least for me anyway.

Last March I began a tasteful journey with an olde-time friend of mine named Jeff. He and I go way back, we served in the Navy together and would send each other root beer through the mail as we explored the country. Well we came up with this crazy idea to make this effort a little more productive. Our idea realized in the form of a blog all about the American born brew known as root beer. Jeff and I submit posts about the current and historical world of root beer and also offer our own commentary on brews we come across.
Having this to distract me has at times been that much needed break from the demands of school and work. Aside from that it has also been one tasty way to spend my time in graduate school.

Certainly I would not prescribe that everyone should "pop a top" and sip down a nice cold root beer and blog about it to assist them through their graduate school experience. However, I would suggest that each graduate student find something that they can use as that personal positive distraction to break up the very relentless demands of our IEP (individualized education plan). If nothing else, you could simply pull up a chair, pop a top, and sip down some of the smoothest blog on the net at The Rootbeer Brothers.

Springfield's Gems: Best of 417 Awards 2008

There are not many magazines I would ever admit to reading. I assure you that the list is short and carries a theme, guy stuff. I am talking Field & Stream, Missouri Game & Fish, Off-Road Adventures, Outdoor Life, Rangefinder and for my spiritual side I also pick up the Ensign. What you will not find on my list is girly magazines, like Cosmo, People, Elle, or Better Homes & Gardens. However, with all that said there is one magazine that is not like the others on my list that I am proud to admit to reading, 417 Magazine.



417 provides the outs and ins of everything Springfield and also the local areas like Branson. In those pages I have often learned about little gems I may never have known of any other way. There are museums, caves, parks, and festivals all usually free of charge or nearly free and all worth checking out. I found them all through 417 Magazine. Over the last year and a half however I have come to learn that the most important issue of 417 during the year is that which reports the "Best of 417 Awards". There are many reasons a person would want this issue, for me it is all about the food. I have followed the advice from the 2007 awards and have never been terribly disappointed. In fact normally I am amazed! These awards are right on the money, trust me.

The categories that I pay close attention to are of course the Best of Cashew Chicken and the Best of Local Restaurants and the Best of New Local Restaurants. I certainly encourage you to pick up your eating and everything Springfield "Best of" guide this month while they are hot off the press.

Best Cashew Chicken 2008
Hong Kong Inn

Best Local Restaurant 2008
Ocean Zen

Best New Local Restaurant 2008
Kai

I got one word for you..... Twins

It was supposed to be just a routine follow-up from Kristy's first visit with her doctor which verified that we were expecting our third child. This visit was supposed to be a health and wellness check to make sure Kristy was doing good. Even though Kristy was told that no ultrasound would be done on this visit she was still hopeful that they would change their mind. We were just excited to get a glimpse of the newest member of our family. Well the check-up went great, Kristy was deemed healthy but there was one concern, the baby appeared to be developing in size way too fast... Kristy got her wish, the doctor ordered an ultrasound to verify the due date. The photo above was just before we obtained the ultrasound, I am sure at this moment Kristy was simply excited that we were going to get that glimpse of our new baby.......

The funny thing about this is that Kristy has always said how much fun having twins would be. In fact one of her good friends just had a set of twins last summer and Kristy was nothing less than jealous. I kept reminding Kristy that she just could not order a set but she was determined that she too would experience this blessing.

The ultrasound technician started the ultrasound and not 30 seconds into it she boldly said "well that’s why, you're having twins" I asked her if she was kidding and she stated that she never kids about something like that. I wish I could explain the excitement Kristy and I were feeling, we were simply overwhelmed. We have been smiling ever since!

Now this will certainly be an interesting experience as we continue on our journey of education but now too will learn something many will never know, the life of raising twins. I can't wait!