No Itch

We did it! We made it to the 7 year mark. I don't know how Sharon has put up with me for so long but she did. I am thankful for her and appreciate her for all that she does for me. She has been my support and confidant, She has been my best friend and play mate. She has mothered two children and mothers three daily.
In our 7 years together we have lived in 8 homes in 5 cities in two states. We have moved across the country and across town. We have moved little children and a little cat. we have moved from palm trees and perfect weather to a land of monthly power outages and snowstorms, ice storms, tornadoes, humidity, and worst of all BUGS! She has been happy and loving to our children through it all.
We have also doubled our family size in the last 7 years. we went from a happy couple to a fearsome foursome. We have a three and a half year old who knows everything and a 15 month old that is the mini version of a 10 man demolition unit. We also have the perfect cat that only occasionally yacks on our bedroom carpet. We still have very supportive parents, in-laws, and siblings that we have grown to love more all the time. We both have lost a grandfather but feel grateful for knowing them and know that they will both be there in the world to come to welcome us Home.
When we were married I had been laid off of work 2 weeks earlier. Sharon was working and was supportive to the fact that I would get another job. She didn't realize that 7 years later she would still be waiting for me to start my career. She is so patient. I changed majors twice but eventually earned a doctorate degree and then passed the national board exams. It will be only a matter of weeks until I will be able to be the supporter and husband she saw in me seven years ago. Her patience is inspiring.
We look different too. I have dyed my hair at least 3 times, permed it and gained or lost up to 45 pounds. Sharon has had 5 different haircuts, and gone from her cute little petite self to her "get outta my way" pregnant self and back down again. We have dieted and binged together. We have exercised and been lazy. We have both learned to love new foods, both healthy and less than healthy. It has been fun.
We grown together too. she has been patient while I learned to overcome flaws, as I have with her. We have been forgiving, mostly her, she is almost perfect. We have learned to compromise. I have learned to communicate more freely about my emotions and wants and desires. She has learned to give me an hour or two when I need it.
I love my wife so much more now than I did 7 years ago. I can only imagine how sad and lonely I would be with out her. I could not have done any of the thing I have done in the last 7 years with out her. She is best wife for me. She compliments and strengthens me in every way. She is my perfect match. I don't have the 7 year itch at all. I want another 7 years and then 7 more for eternity!
I love you Sharon!

That's Right World!

Well, it finally came. About a week ago, It seems like no one can actually do what they say they are going to do. The lady at the State Board was supposed to call me when they had everything. She didn't. A few other organizations were supposed to let me know when the things they were doing were done. They didn't either. It seems to me that if you work in any sort of licensing agency that one of the criteria must be that you are short or have to many chromosomes. Seriously. Doesn't it seem like the stupidest people on the planet are in charge of letting "us" (the rest of the educated world) do what we have been trained or want to do. Even public library ladies, (they can be the worst by the way). Why is it that smart people need permission from dumb people to do smart or good things. Ok, I admit that is a bit stereotypical. Not all people that work for licensing or accrediting agencies are retarded. But when I am in such a hurry to get stuff done and checked off the list, every little thing that slows me down seems like a big deal.
There I have it out of my system. I feel better.
My wife just told me that I sound prideful. She is just doing her job of keeping me humble. She is right. I don't mean to sound haughty or better than anyone else. I really don't. It is just frustrating when things that seam so simple take so long and no one keeps their word. I am appreciative of the work that has been done in my behalf so that I could be where I am today.
So Now I am licensed in the state of Kentucky. I have a few things going and all of them look great. I am setting off on my own. It is scary but exciting. I am most excited about getting to meet new people, and becoming a force of good in their lives. I am most nervous about all the business stuff. Treating people = No problem, Running a business = Scary but not unattainable problem.
Wish me luck! Here I go!

Still Waiting

I am hoping this week that I get a message from the state! I learned last week that the State has all the information they need except for the last page of my application that my school was supposed to send in. I gave them the paperwork in Early December and for some reason they forgot that one VERY IMPORTANT page. The lady at the board said that as soon as she gets that page that has to be mailed, it would take 24-48 hours to be complete and issue me a license! I am excited and frustrated at the same time!

The Wait

As of earlier this week I turned in all the information the Kentucky State Board of Chiropractic needs. By now or at the latest Tuesday they should have everything they need. That means soon I should be officially licensed. I am gonna make all y'all call me doc. but only for a little while. Then the novelty will wear off and I will just be Brad again. I feel like the kid in the above picture. We don't have that much snow but I would dig a path just like him. Thanks for all the good karma sent our way!

I passed

I finally got the results back from my last national board exam! I passed! The test is out of a possible 800 points but they curve it to where 375 is a 75%. So since I got a 495 I scored a 99% on the test! not bad eh? Well I just wanted to post a little one to let everyone know how excited I am and to say thank you to all of those who had me in their thoughts and prayers! I send good karma back to you all.

too long

Ok for the last two months I have been kinda busy. I have been to St. Louis twice, had a birthday, my second child celebrated his first birthday, my parents and my sister came to visit, Also my favorite holiday Halloween, happened. so... where to begin.


I went to St. Louis in September for a review class I just got back from. for the big test I have high hopes that all went well, it was hard but I think I did ok. I still worry but there isn't much I can do anymore.

I turned 31 on the 8th of October. Sharon made me couple of cakes. We were trying for sticky toffee pudding. In the end we decided that we need to find a new recipe. It was very good but not one we will make again. I am not having any issues with getting older. I wasn't sure if I would but I feel good, I look not too bad, I have hopes and dreams that have yet to be squashed so, no complaints. That is not the cake by the way.

While I was in St. Louis the second time Oscar turned 1. He won't know the difference so we are going to celebrate this week or next. Still I felt guilty. He is so cute and such a good baby. well maybe Sharon has a different point of view on that one. He is tough and puts up with a lot of beating from his sister. He is lucky to have her though, she really loves him and most of the beatings are unintentional.
My parents were here at the end of September through the first week of October. It was great to have them here, but I didn't get to spend all that much time with them. except that my Dad and I went on a little road trip. we went up to Northern Indiana and took pictures of headstones in tiny little cemeteries in tiny little towns. We got a lot of geneology straighted out and even put some families back together. It was cool to see the places where a lot of my family came from. I also got to see the town where my paternal grandmother was born. I am glad she moved and I grew up in California, but it still was cool. My parents also gave me a cool birthday present while they were here. They took down the shelves in our kitchen pantry and put up new more useful shelving. It went from wire racks to actual shelves that were custom made. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My Sister came out at the end of October and stayed for Halloween. She wasn't feeling all that great when she got here and so I think it wasn't her most favorite vacation, but we had a good time and it was great to see her.

Halloween was, as always, a lot of fun. I single handedly decorated the office I work at with spider webs, skulls, bats , and other good stuff. We also had a Pumpkin decorating contest. There was supposed to be a prize. but the boss never came through on that one. I won with my carving or a simple smiling face with big teeth and long skinny balloons coming out of his head for hair.
It also looked good flying through the air into the dumpster with its multicolored dreadlocks trailing after it.

My hand is starting to hurt, if I took the Phalen's test I would not pass. (props to anyone who knows that one)!

Oh yeah. One more thing. The picture behind the blog title changes with every blog. I love bamboo, and typically look for a picture in google images that is either black or green or something close to keep with the color scheme.

There are green apples

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I usually have a green pic to go with the color layout. Well those apples looked so good, I couldn't help myself. Plus there are some green ones too. The apples made me think of fall, and landscape is just barely starting to change around here. Some of the trees are starting to turn a slight golden, and the grass is losing its vibrant green that it was for spring and summer. The temperature this weekend has cooled down and with it the humidity has dropped. Around here the weather is always a big topic. I guess it is rubbing off on me. I used to not care about it so much but that was because it never really changed. Now it is actually something to talk about.

During the recent storm scare of hurricane Gustav, there were about 1500 hundred people that were flown to Louisville. On Sunday our ward got a call for volunteers, I was one of the volunteers that got to go down to the State Fairgrounds and help out. I worked as a volunteer for the American Red Cross and got a brief training then we got to work. The shift I worked was from about 7:00 pm to 6:00 am. it wasn't really that bad until about 4:30 then it started hitting me. The next day my jaw was sore from all the yawning. We did things like set up cots, make lemonade, move some of the palates of food and plates and stuff around to get it ready for the next meal. We also cleaned and pointed people to the right places to go for the different services offered. The main job I had was working with another volunteer handing out towels to people on there way to the showers. We also had to escort them to the shower area. I guess they had some problems with people taking off and some of them even found a crack houses and liquor stores. I guess if you got an addiction you find a way to feed it. It was sad really to think about that kind of stuff. For the most part the people were very nice and appreciative. A lot of the kids looked like they were having fun. Almost like it was a big sleepover with their whole neighborhood. Not many of the adults looked like they REALLY wanted to be there. no surprise. but there wasn't any major complaints that I saw either. It was humbling. It make you grateful for the things you have and place you live.
After working a 12 hour shift on top of a full days of activities, I got 3 hours of sleep and went back to work at my normal job. that was not that fun. when I got home I knew I couldn't go to sleep right away or I would wake up at 4 in the morning so I started reading Breaking Dawn. I finished it yesterday. That is one seriously good series. It gets a little silly but for the most part there is enough action and drama and romance to keep you interested. but not so much that it loses the story. I thoroughly enjoyed each book but I think my favorites in order are 4, 3, 1, 2. 4 best 2 worst. but even at its worst it was really good. I know there are a lot of guys out there that think I may be a little girly for reading them, but so what. I liked them. I also like to bake, and decorate. Acessorising isn't my thing. but I like the design part of decorating. My point is I like what I like. Twilight is one of them. I still like football and hunting shows, and motorcycles, and power tools too.