Picture blog...

Yes, i did pass my exam last weekend, just in case you are keeping track. (97%)

This is my new (to me) truck

She is old but still has a lot of life left in her

Side view

Some pictures of our apartment : Living room

Living Room again

Living room take 3

Kitchen Area

Dining room

The office/sewing room.

Sierra as of today


Her with all of her toys (I know, she is spoiled)

and her playing.

Kitty gets a bath



Looks like a drowned rat


Doesen't this look like a happy kitty?

Sometimes when no one is home except me studying, she will watch me...

...And fall asleep. Can you blame her?

This summer Nathan (my brother in law) and I went fishing with my uncle

Nathan



Our catch! And yes, our freezer is full!

The Swing of Things..

As the leaves around these parts are just starting to turn color and nights seem to be getting a bit chillier, it has become aparent that Fall is finally arriving. And with that comes a few other things... hot coffee in the morning... long pants... a retreat from A/C... but mostly SCHOOL!

School School School!

This has been my life for almost a month now. My School schedule is one that requires me to take an exam every other friday. It is a 90% Pass/No Pass system, with an opportunity to get an extra 5% when you retake the test with a designated group, and that 5% comes only if the overall group score is greater than or equal to 95%. (did you catch all that?) If you don't pass on Friday, they give you an option to retake on the following Monday. If still not up to 90%, they give you one more chance: Summer School! (I decided a while back that summer school will not be an option for me... we will see how that goes!)

Ok now envision that, during the two weeks before the first exam, you happen to be downloaded with enough information to take up 3 entire years of undergraduate Chemistry (general chem., Organic chem., and Biochem.) and then you can start to understand what my first exam looked like. Thus, setting the pace for an "exciting" two more years! (the third year is all experiential clerckships)

Now, i fully knew that graduate school was going to be harder than my undergrad, and i also knew that since this school is accelerated (3 yrs instead of 4), it would be even more challenging. What i didn't know is that it would be about 10 times as challenging as i ever imagined. I really have had to change my study habits to better facilitate this style of learning. I don't really call it study habits any more so much as a study theory. Now this study theory has taken time to develop and now i think that i have it. I think that i have finally started to see what the "swing of things" is going to be all about. This new theory can be summed up in a tiny little phrase that goes like this...

"DON'T EVER STOP STUDYING!"

Those of you who may have been interacting with me frequently on Myspace or Facebook may have already noticed a sort of... "absence from all communication" ...this is with my deepest apologies as i have found that i no longer own my own time. My time from here on should be considered "Rationed" so that if it takes me 2 weeks to reply, don't worry! I still like you! You are still my friend! I just suck at having extra time!

Now, you may be wondering where i am finding time to write this blog... well... I am actually astonished, amazed, and feel blessed to say that i finished my test yesterday with a 97.5%, and that means that i have the weekend off. (I also passed the first exam the first time, just in case you were wondering)

This brings me to my goal: I am going to TRY to update this blog more often. This may be in one of three ways.. 1) Every other weekend when i pass my test, 2) When i find that i have finished studying (yeah right, like that will ever happen) and 3) the easy way-- have my wife do it!

So, until next exam,
Chow!

(not so - NEW) Long Time No Post

So incase you haven't noticed, Kat and I have been busy (to say the least), and we have been without internet for a short period of time. It is really amazing how much you can miss the internet!

Our lives have changed quite a bit since our last post! Since then, Kat and I have experienced our first move together. I must say, i know that i had "junk" before, but it seems like i have a lot more of it now! Combining my "junk" with Katherines Stuff and throwing in all of the lovely wedding presents that we got plus a few extra items that we have managed to acuire in the last six months, gave us the privelidge of getting to use a Uhaul that was two sizes up from the last one. Yay! (Now for the shocker... it was only ten dollars more to rent!) They must give you a discount for accumulating more stuff, because i know that i have at least 4 times (yeah can you believe it?) more stuff than i have ever had in my life and still just only 10 more dollars.... What a great price, and .... Only in america!

Another thing that has changed, as many of you may know, is that I have resigned from my job to pursue other avenues in life... (i.e. I quit my job to go back to school). It has only been a week since i have left work and Katherine is already calling me her "House Husband," i knew it had to come sooner or later! I start my Doctorate of Pharmacy at Pacific University on August 27th, and am very excited to do so. It will be a long 3 years, but well worth the effort. I have just a few short weeks to rest, get the house set up, and prepare mentally for this long journey. During this time I have started many (and even finished a few) projects around the house, such as... Staining my new desk a Dark Walnut stain, installing an Air Conditioner, putting together our new BBQer, fishing, etc. That was just last week. I have to say that I like my new free time, but, as with all good things, this too must come to an end some time.

We also have exciting news, we have a new addition to the Wiedemann household....

Yes, it is a baby....

...a baby kitty that is! Her name is Sierra, and she likes to get into everything, especially our plants. But, she is quickly learning that a squirt bottle filled with water is her new nemesis, at least when she does naughty things.

Why do I question?

Isn't it amazing that we still question God no matter how often He proves Himself? This is the life I have been living for the last few months.

As many of you know, I have been working a very stressful job and have been trying to find something that will be a little less stressful but still support Jeff and me once he goes back to school. So, my work life was getting worse and worse. We were getting yelled out daily, called names, and being sworn at continually. On top of that, the job itself was stressful and I felt like my integrity was on the line and I was not okay with that.

But, the Lord is faithful! He used my husband in amazing ways. After putting up with a year (+) of this job, Jeff finally told me that I needed to quit. He was willing to eat Top Ramen every night if it meant me not having to go back to one more day of work. So, after much talk about the irresponsibility of quitting my job, Jeff reminded me to just trust in the Lord. He already has it all figured out. However, I was in my doubting mood again and wondered what God would do.
But, I walked into my office and gave my notice, expecting to be sent home the same day. Instead, my manager called our RVP and asked for the position I wanted to be opened up.

I had been looking to transfer to the Beaverton branch (near Jeff's school) as a processor. No more sales, no more stress, a little more regular hours. And, just like that, the position was opened (even though it really wasn't) and I started two weeks later!
I have been at this job for exactly one week and it is amazing the difference. Jeff said he noticed right away. I finally have energy. I can actually do things after work instead of just going to bed and I am finally happy. I truly feel free! Who would have know that this is what God had in mind! It could not have worked out any better.

So, life is good. Jeff is heading back to school. I have a great job that will support us while He is in school, and we serve an amazing God who is always at work. Our faith is growing as much as our future and we have everything to be thankful for. God is good!

We are Old People!

Ok so the story goes....

We are driving home a few weeks ago from a weekend with Katherine's Parents at a nice cabin in the woods in central Washington. As our car nears the greater Tacoma Washington area, our conversation procedes as follows...

Kat: "Hey! Are you hungry?"

Jeff: "Well, yeah I am... I shouldn't be because of a great brunch, however, lunch sounds good!"

Kat: "I know of some places around Tacoma, but nothing sounds good to me."

Jeff: "Let's try something new... somewhere we have never been. Let's go to Olympia and see what they have there. Then we can look at the Capital building too. We always see it from the freeway, but I have never seen it up close."

Kat: "Yeah, I never have either"

Jeff: "Ok, it is settled."

Fast forward about 20-30 Minutes...

Jeff: "Ok here it is in all it's glory... The Capital Building! Oh, do you have the camera?"

Kat: "Yes, here it is."

A few clicks of the camera later....

Jeff: "Oh... and look at the cherry blossoms."

A few more clicks...

Jeff: "Ok, lets find something to eat."


10 minutes later sitting in an old mom and pop pizza joint...

Jeff: "Oh No!" "We are Old People! We just took pictures of a building and cherry blossoms!"

It was then we realized that now that we are married we are starting to do things that married people do. Wierd! When did all this start to happen? Did it just start out of nowhere or did it just creep up on us without us even realizing what was happening? We may never know.

The weekend at the cabin was kind of nice though. We did get away from every thing for a couple of days, plus we got to go snowboarding and I tried out my new snowboard that I got for my Birthday. It was nice! We also got to give Reggie and Lexie (Katherines step-father and step-sister) a lesson in snowboarding.

Later on that weekend, we got to go see some property that Katherines parents bought. They are going to build a cabin that over-looks Lake Cle Elum in central Washington. We all took a picture where the future living room was going to be. It was really beautiful!

2 months... and counting!

We find that, as we move from the excitement of new things in our life to the satisfaction of life becoming more routine and predictable, we have a deeper appreciation for some sort of normalcy. I love the experience of getting to know how to live with my wife! I am finally able to sleep well through the night (please refer to 'The things a husband learns...' #2). I am starting to know when she is not feeling well (some say all the time) and when she is upset with me (or about to be). I can sometimes diffuse the situation before it starts to happen (i.e I stop being a brat). I am also starting to know what little things i can do to make her feel loved and like a beautiful princess (like putting love notes in her lunch). I am becoming more and more like a husband every day. She is becoming more and more like a wife every day. Yet, there are still a lot of things that are still left to learn.

Which brings me to my next point: I remember a day when I used to be able to do things on my own. When did I become so dependant on someone? Suddenly, and without warning, there seems to be this phenomenon where I can't do simple things anymore (like laundry, and making my lunch, and going out by myself). Laundry seems to have been totally erased from my memory and suddenly my wife is well versed in it. Wierd! Also, what is this whole 'going out by myself makes me feel lonely' bit? It used to be called relaxing, or just getting away from things (I am aware that some older couples have a theory that this will reverse itself the longer we are married... we will see). There also seems to be some kind of exchange program going on now. For example, cooking extra food and taking out the trash more often somehow results in other things getting done, like dishes and that whole laundry thing that was mentioned. In a way it is really kind of cool, it is kind of like a functional family. A family (abeit a small one) that has each-other's backs. What a nouvelle thought in todays society. Who'd have thought that could happen? It is comforting to know that I get to spend the rest of my life with the same person and I get to experience every thing that life has to offer with her.
It is a strange thought to realize how far we have come toward loving each other and yet, knowing that in the in the scheme of things, "we ain't seen nothin' yet!" I am sure most people who have been married more than two months and are reading this are probably thinking... "just wait! The hard times are coming, then let's see how you feel!"
All I have to say to that is.... "Bring it on! I am in this for the long Haul!"

Picture Blog

We haven't gotten our pictures back from the Photographer that we hired, but a good friend of ours took these. When we get the others back, we will post another picture blog.

Our Cake

My Grandparents with Kate and me

Two very important Gals- my wife and my mother!

Brian and Jolene Bickle and Jeremy and Taleah Marcum

Look at the innocent face!

Our Friend Altaf

Kate's Goddaughter- Melly.

The Buechler Clan

Father/Daughter Dance

The Lemanskis

Bouquet toss

My bro (Casey) and me- He caught the Garder

Groovin'

The Twist

Papa Bear

Our Grand exit!

The Flower Girls