Baby it's Hot Outside.

I will admit that Jackson was hot and humid, and maybe I didn't spend enough time outside there to appreciate it, but College Station Texas is HOT! We are now proud owners of a new home in Bryan, TX, Cloud Dancing is the proud owner of a back yard to play in. I am preparing to start graduate school at Texas A&M at the end of this month and Lesley is settling into her work as well. I last updated you a couple of month ago and now that we are settling into life in Texas I can fill in the gaps. I am listening to a little Willy Nelson/Calexico rendition of Bob Dylan's "Senior" thinking of tequila and trying hard to avoid the 106 degree oven out my front door; I think I'm ready to begin.
We had a most trying adventure attempting to purchase our first home. Between the task of actually finding a suitable structure and signing the papers we had a slew of mishaps that started with our inability to sign a contract. At first, entry level homes were going fast in this part of the country and it was difficult to get an option on one, and then appraisals, inspections, and upgrades needing to be complete; we applied for a loan that we weren't qualified for because the sellers had not held title for 90 days so we had to go back to the drawing board with a different type of loan, and then did I mention that our underwriter decided to quit. I could go into a lot more detail about the tortures we endured, and there were many, but all in all we closed about 15 days late. During this time it was also important that we began to pack up our small little one bedroom apartment. Cloud was not exactly thrilled with the changes that she witnessed. When we closed we had about one week left before the move so needless to say we were busy packing, saying good bye to our friends and family in Jackson. I think we had something to do every night for three weeks before we moved.
When Friday the 31st came around we had to say good bye to all of our coworkers whom we had worked with for the last two years and then grab our Penske and prepare for the packing party. We have made a great group of friends from our small group in Jackson and they all graciously came over Friday afternoon to help us pack up the truck; I don't know what we would have done with out their help. Tucker was the director of the operation down in the truck and the 15 of us moved the goods three flights of stairs at warp speed. I don't know how Tucker and I got all that stuff up there the first time. We had a pizza party afterwords and said good bye. The next morning we hit the road to Bryan/College Station, TX. The first part of the trip went well. We needed to make a pit stop at the farm to collect our dinning room table but as we approached Shreveport an ominous look storm approached, and wouldn't you know it but it started pouring. For two hours on the farm we got nothing but torrential down poor, now I didn't know it but that would be the last time I would see rain... so far, and had to pack in the rain. Lesley's dad Bruce followed us along with Mary Beth to help us unload. We were lucky and stayed out of most of the rain as we drove through Texas. We got to 720 Mary Lake a little after dark and after eating some fried avocados decided to camp out in sleeping bags on the floor and unload in the morning.
We got our stuff unloaded thanks to Tucker, Bruce, and Mary Beth and that evening Jane flew in to Houston and drove down to help us settle in. Aug 3rd was Lesley's 32nd birthday and with all of the moving we unfortunately had very little chance to celebrate it. We spent most of it settling in buying lawn mowers and packing.
We didn't have much time to settle as we had plans to fly to Santa Cruz for a much needed vacation. Little Cloud Dancing headed off to camp at Aggi Pet Zone and Me, Lesley, Jane, and Tucker drove to Houston to catch our flights. California was great! The temperature was in the low 70's and we had a fabulous condo on West Cliff Dr. overlooking Cowell's bay, arguably one of the best long board waves for honing your surf skills, when it's not a zoo. Ross, Newt and Kristy flew in and we began our vacation.One of the highlights of our trip was the Redwood Canopy tour at Mt Hermon. Once connected to a harness you zip along through the canopy of the red woods in the Santa Cruz mountains at 150 feet you are only half way up the tree but you get a good view of the unique ecosystem and the massiveness of the red woods. Our friend Laura joined the rest of us for the excursion. We started out at ground school learning how to control our zipping, breaking and other emergency procedures. After ground school we jumped right in and fro two hours swung through the trees. The longest distance zipped was over 400 feet and there was also a great bridge crossing. We recharged with fish tacos and then went back to the condo to prepare for our party. We have met a lot of people in the Santa Cruz area, manly because Lesley lived and worked there for four years, and it's always fun to catch up. It can be hard with so many acquaintances so we decided to have a big get together and say hi to all of them at once. We had about 30 people over and enjoyed a little southern cooking aka red beans and rice. It was great catching up. I think we determined that I have made the trip to Santa Cruz at least every year for the last five years; I love it every time.
Lesley and Kristy decided to take surfing lessons on Friday morning so I went with them at 5:30 a.m to join their class, and I'm glad I did. Their instructor was Sean Penn straight out of Fast Times at Ridgmont High. I will not try to describe the lesson as all you have to do is picture Specoli giving a harrowing demonstration of wave formation and the dangers of rocks, reefs, sting rays, sharks and other surfers. He was, as Kristy stated, "A fish out of water" as crazy and awkward as Specoli was on land he was the opposite in the water and quite adapt at helping his little "duckies" learn the finer points of long boarding. With his instructions to "follow papa duck" the yellow clad class all caught waves and improved greatly.



A long morning of surfing under our belts and as a way to relax we rented some time at the Tea House Spa. A little tea, hot tubs, and saunas to help sooth the sore surfers. We had big plans to kayak moss landing the next day and Justin and Missy were coming up from L.A., but first I wanted to surf at Cowell's. At about 6:00 I went out to enjoyed the early morning waves, but Cowell's being what it is I was crowded out after about an hour and a half. Justin and Missy rolled in at about 10:00 and we headed to Moss Landing. The estuary is a wildlife refuge and home to seals, sea lions, otters, birds and more jelly fish then I have ever seen in my life, and I'm talking huge jelly fish. We had a great time in our sea kayaks viewing all of the wildlife, it was very peaceful. We got back to Santa Cruz and drove to Aunt Pam's house for a BBQ in the Santa Cruz Mountain, another great end to the evening. Unfortunately all vacations come to an end so after saying good bye to Justin and Missy we drove to the airport in San Jose.
Now we're back in Texas and ready to settle down. Tucker gave us a smoker/grill/BBQ as a house warming gift and I have been using it extensively in the last week. We are slowly getting our home together. I have about one more week until I have to start training and orientation as a teaching assistant and then on the 31st I start school. It's been a long time since I've been in school and this will be a new experience. We'll keep you guys updated on our journey. If you're ever close by come over will grill burgers and enjoy the heat.

Transitioning

We will be transitioning and moving to Texas over the next three weeks.... oh, and then a short vacation. I promise that the blog will be re-tooled and started back up sometime in August. Until then everyone enjoy your summer.

~ Jeremy & Lesley

We've been in Jackson for almost two years now and my job at Ducks Unlimited has been a fantastic and rewarding experience, but I have been given the opportunity to continue my education and so we move on in our life. At the end of July Lesley and I will be moving to College Station, Texas so that I can begin my graduate education at Texas A&M in Biogeography with a teaching assistantship. Scary and exciting it is just one more page in our story. I thought this little video would do a better job than I at explaining my choice of attending A&M. I had many options and my final decision on which school to attend came down to faculty reputation and productivity in research. We'll have fun and look forward to seeing our friends and family when they come and visit us in Texas.

I'm Yours

"I won't hesitate no more, no more it cannot wait I'm yours" On March 7th 2009 Chris and Elizabeth were married in Colorado and Lesley and I had the great pleasure of witnessing the occasion. Chris met Elizabeth about a year ago on a bus to Los Angeles and over the short course of the last year they fell in love and decided to jump into the world of marriage. As the months of their engagement flew by the anticipation grew, we bought our plane tickets and packed our bags and hit the air to Colorado. Upon landing at DIA we were met by mom, dad, Justin, and Missy, Justin's great girlfriend. Let's see, that's 1..2..3..4..5..6 people and 1..2..3..4 large pieces of luggage and 1 small Audi a6, we squeezed in. It was an eventful trip back to casa Johnson. We had only a short time to relax say hi to grandma, sip a Fat Tire, and get back into the car to go to the rehearsal...at least we took 2 cars this time. Chris asked Justin and I to be ushers in the wedding so our role would be to escort the family in as well as all of the guests. Not much to practice but it was fun to watch Chris and Elizabeth go through the hoops. After the rehearsal we drove to Boulder to have the rehearsal dinner at Via Tuscana. We had a nice room that was very reminiscent of an Italian catacomb or wine cellar. We ate and drank and then had toasts to the bride and groom. The rehearsal and dinner were held on Thursday and the wedding would be on Saturday so that meant that we had a day to explore. Missy had only been to Colorado once and that was to go to Vail on spring break. We thought we would try to show her around with the little time that we had. We started with a driving tour of downtown so she could see all of the places that Justin had lived, worked, and gone to school before he moved to LA. The next stop was Red Rocks. This was a lot of fun for me too because I had never been to Red Rocks outside of going to concerts. Les and I got to jump around on the same stage as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and countless other great bands. After Red Rocks we drove to Boulder via the Coors brewary in Golden to meet Chris and Elizabeth for lunch at the Mountain Sun brewery for lunch and to hang out. We had some very good Colorado beer and a visit with the bridal party. Next stop, Pearl Street. We went to the walking mall in Boulder for a short visit before heading up to Chautauqua to hike around the flat irons. We managed a lot of Colorado in one day, I was impressed. Chris, Justin, Josh, and I decided to have a little bachelor party up Boulder Canyon so we dropped the ladies off at Chris and Elizabeth's new apartment, grabbed some cigars and brandy and headed up the canyon. It was fun hanging out with Chris the night before the wedding. Saturday was the big day. We relaxed a little in the morning but we had to get ready and be at the wedding by 2:00 p.m. for pictures. Chris showed up and he got ready in his very own storage closet. The pictures started and me and Justin even held the post of door bouncer for a short time while Chris and Elizabeth first saw each other. Guests began to arrive and it was time to jump into action seating them haphazardly by evaluating who they wanted to sit by, if they were friends or family, or just in the last seat available, you see ushering is a challenging, multi-tasking, job that requires thinking on your feet to get everyone seated. The time had come for the big job, escorting in the family, and it went off without a hitch. The groom came in, and then the bride and the ceremony was fantastic. Chris is now married and I have a new sister-in-law. Time for a bit of dance party... can I get what what. We danced and ate into the evening and watched Chris and Elizabeth drive off to begin their life. I don't think I got to talk to them during the reception, so Chris and Elizabeth, congratulations and I look forward to seeing your life's progress as husband and wife. The party couldn't last forever and Les and I had to catch a flight back to JAX early the next morning. It was fun and I look forward to our next event... As I write this a month and half has past and Chris and Elizabeth have been to Hawaii, Mexico, and at this moment are in, what I think, one of the most beautiful spots in the country, the desert of Utah, Indian Creek.

Quack!

Ducks are great! I work for the Ducks! Or more specifically, for a great organization that works endlessly to restore and conserve habitat that benefits not only ducks, but all of us. I am in the process of trying to raise a little extra $ to help with one of our initiatives to conserve our wetlands. Do you see the little box with the dog on the side of the screen that says Ducks Unlimited? Of course you do. Click on that and make a donation in my name for $5, $10, or $100,000,000. Whatever you are able to give means a lot towards our goal of conserving North America's vanishing wetlands. It's hard times right now and it's hard for the Ducks too, so throw them a little bread and they will love you for it.

60 years and going

We had a fun weekend at the end of February celebrating Lesley's Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Not many people have the opportunity to take part in a celebration of a 60th wedding anniversary, but we did and it was a blast. Newt, Ross, and Les all made it in town for the celebration. Their aunt and cousins from California flew in for the festivities, as well as cousins from North Carolina.
The weekend was filled with adventures in the row boat, watching little Sam "test drive" his first John Deere tractor, gathering the chicken egg with Emory, fishing and hiking and playing with the dogs, and of course celebrating with the whole family. It made for a memorable weekend. February 23, 1949 Bruce and Margaret married each other and managed to make many memories and expand their family over the past 60 years. We had a wonderful meal with family at the "Big House" (way to go Aunt Pam and Aunt Donna) and then enjoyed visiting into the wee hours.. about 10 p.m. The little ones were entertained playing with their Mardi Gras beads from the recent Mardi Gras parades. 40's Jazz played in the background and I think we can all agree that we can't wait until the 70th comes around in 10 more years.

Mystical Krewe of Barkus

Some people lead a secret life and I can accept that, what I didn't realize was that our dog, Cloud Dancing, also leads a secret life and that is a bit more disturbing. During the days and weeks when she's with us she's a cute little puppy but by cloak of night and weekends she is the Caped Destroyer! This past weekend we decided to take a trip down to New Orleans, or as we have begun to call it NOLA, for a Mardi Gras experience. Tucker and Jane came and we stayed with Newt, Kristy, and Trout in their new place. I know, I know, when am I going to get to the Caped Destroyer? Just hold on and we'll get to that. We arrived early Saturday morning, Valentines day too, and got the dogs comfortably playing while we looked into the Mardi Gras parades that were taking place that evening. We chose to go to the Knights of Sparta, and Krewe of Pegasus. Before we left for the parade we planned a valentines meal for the ladies. Whole Foods had just what we needed for a great dinner. Newt, Tucker and myself decided to make blue cheese, bacon, and onion stuffed NY strip, with salad and pie for desert. And we would make that as soon as we returned from our parades. We got the dogs situated and took off toward the part of town known as "Center City" and found ST Charles Ave where we didn't have to wait long for the parade to start. It was dark out and the parade started with Drunken vagrants and then Fire and then Drunken Horsemen. I'm not at all sure that one of the horsemen made it through much of the parade. The floats and bands were fun to watch and we landed a lot of beads, and cups, and plush stuffed swords, and I think an alien. The second parade was a little more tame but it did include the one and only Chris Owens on Her/His very own float. She/He didn't look all that good in the Autumn of her/his life. The parades were everything I thought they could be and we were all ready to get home and work on those steaks. Upon returning from the parade we found a Stripper and a Super Hero hanging out in Newts house. What, you ask, am I talking about? It turns out that our furry companions are leading an altered existence as members of the Mystical Krewe of Barkus. They turn tricks for cash and destroy things for justice in their spare time. As it turns out they had a gathering of the Krewe members scheduled for Sunday the 15th in the French Quarter of NOLA. We woke up early, ate breakfast and made our way to Armstrong park in the French Quarter. We were surprised at the number of Barkus members, probably in the thousands, and handlers. Little Caped Destroyer was quite shy around other super pups, maybe for fear of someone recognizing her as Cloud Dancing. It took CD about 2 hours to calm down enough to want to march in her parade. Trout on the other hand was quite excited and was able to amble about the park making contacts and pulling in a little cash with a wiggle here and jiggle there. At one point a man in a bathrobe and shower cap stuffed a cool mill into Trouts little G-String. We lined up and stepped out of the park onto the busiest French Quarter I have ever seen. Wall to Wall people crushing in to see the masked canines. Normally in a Mardi Gras parade the floats and marchers throw beads to the parade goers, and they did in this parade too, but the parade goers also had throws consisting of dog treats. I suppose it's their way of saying thanks for keeping us safe in this dangerous place. The route was 2 miles up and down the streets of the quarter and then across Jackson square. By the end we were tired and the Krewe disbanded until next year. I think both Cloud and Trout had a great time and who knows... when you're in need you just may see the CAPED DESTROYER!