ACCEPTED

So just a quick post to update everyone. I have been accepted to both the UNLV and NYU schools of dentistry. We are hoping to be accepted to the University of Colorado, but if we are not then as of now we are leaning towards UNLV because it is so much cheaper. We love NY a lot more than Vegas, but $120,000 says otherwise. Either way, I will get a great education and am for sure going to be a dentist! We are so excited to have been accepted and feel so blessed.

The most exciting thing in life right now is that Tammy is now 7 months pregnant! We are so excited to welcome Gideon into our family. Tammy had a baby-shower in Pleasanton over the weekend. It was a lot of fun and we received many great gifts. Thanks to everyone for all their love and support.

School ends in 3 days and we could not be more excited. Life is great. We hope that everyone is doing well too.

School

Today is December 1! Wow, I cannot believe that this day has come. Starting today dental schools are allowed to send acceptance letters out. I hope to hear from some soon.

Life is great. Tammy is doing so well with the pregnancy. Gideon is moving a ton! It is so much fun to sit and hold Tammy's belly and feel him move so much. You should check out her blog to see some pics of how her belly is growing.

School is almost finished, only two weeks left. We can't wait to be done and go home for Christmas. 

Our new car is great. We love it. I still look at it and have to catch myself when I think "I would like to have a car like that." It is a lot of fun.

Overall, life is great. I know that I don't post that much, so I invite you to check out Tammy's blog. She is good at posting, and does a lot of pics too.

Oh, my other blog (the fishfools one) is no longer. I had a problem with my computer and lost it all, so once I create a new one that one is gone. Enjoy it while you can.

UNLV

Today I found out that we have an interview at UNLV School of Dental Medicine! We have already done a tour of the school there. We were able to go through Vegas on our way home from our trip to AZ. It is a great place because it is between our families and there are a lot of things to do there. Tammy isn't a huge fan of the heat, but is willing to go where ever we are supposed to be. One other thing that would be great about being in Las Vegas is that our friends the Mengs might be there too for law school. It would be great to have friends there with us.

Because of interviews, these next few weeks are going to be crazy! Next Tuesday we leave Rexburg to start our trip to New York. We will be there for five days. We will come back on Monday, October 27, but then leave Rexburg again on the 29th to go to Las Vegas. On our way back from Vegas on Halloween, we will get to Salt Lake and fly to Denver for an interview there on November 1. I cannot believe how blessed we are in having so many interviews now.

Tammy is doing so well with the pregnancy. She isn't sick at all anymore, but is just getting bigger and bigger with child! It is so awesome. She has to be the most beautiful pregnant woman ever. Baby Gideon seems to be doing very w

ell too. I finally am feeling him move on a regular basis (the placenta is in the way, so I only feel really good kicks 

and punches). We are so excited to meet him.

Life is going so well. We couldn't ask for more. I am so ready to be done with school. Only a couple more months of classes and I will be done.

Another Interview

So, yesterday I received another invitation for an interview. This time with the University of Colorado! We will be going to Denver for the interview on November 1. I cannot say how excited I am to interview there. This is our second invitation for an interview at a western school. Obviously we would like to be near the west so we are near family. Also, the University of Colorado has recently finished an orthodontics school. This means that we might be able to stay in one place for all of dental and possibly specialty school.

As you can tell, we are very excited to interview there. Wish us luck.

Tammy at 21 Weeks

So, I said I was going to not be so lame... so here is Tammy at 21 weeks. Isn't she so beautiful?! She is so happy that she doesn't look fat now, but instead pregnant now. We are so excited to have baby Gideon join our family.

Also, we are so excited for Stephanie to have her boy very soon too. We can't wait to meet him!

Lame

So I have been looking at a lot of blogs recently and realized that I am lame in my posts. I don't do cool pictures or anything, just words. I don't keep pics on my computer so I don't have any to put on. I will try to get some new pics on my comp. so Tammy is not the only one that has the sweet pics of our family.

We are so excited to go to NY in a few weeks. We are going to be there for five days! Tammy is calling it our "Baby-moon" (I think that is a cool name for it). We are so excited to have a break from Rexburg by getting to see the real world. I think that we are in for somewhat of a rude awakening, but I am looking forward to it.

Life is great!

We are having a...

BOY! 

We are so excited to have found out what we are having. Now instead of calling him "it" we can be gender specific. Also, we have all but decided on the name. It was really a cool experience. The ultrasound tech. went through and showed us that the baby is developing normally in all aspects (we even got to see some blood flow in the baby...so cool). When she finally told us what we are having (25 min. later) Tammy and I both felt that we this baby is our baby Gideon. Obviously we still have 4 months left, but we are somewhat sure about this name. We are probably going to go with the name Gideon Carl Herring. I really want to name our first son Carl after me, my father, and my grandfather. The legacy in the name is a big deal to me. Also, since my brother Mike has named one of his kids after me (Cody Matthew), I don't really care to use my name as much.

It was a great experience to have another ultrasound. Tammy and I agree that having them makes the pregnancy seem more real. We also found out why I am not able to feel the baby. The placenta is between the baby and the outside world. I don't mind too much since that location is a good location for the placenta to be in for birth.

Another piece of good news is that the head on the baby is growing normally (no huge head like the Herring's have). Tammy was really happy to hear this. 

Finally, I have been invited to three interviews so far. One in San Francisco at UCSF on December 8, and two in New York. One at NYU on October 23, and the other at Stony Brook on October 27. Tammy is going to come with me to all these interviews. As she said on her blog, we are going to see the play Wicked while we are in NY (since her birthday is on October 22). We are both really excited. Also, when we are in SF she is going to have a baby shower in her home town since it is so close to SF.

Life is great. We love and miss you all. We hope to hear from you soon.

Having Some Fun

Life has been great for the past few weeks. We have been having a great break from school. School starts in just over a week. I am excited because this fall is my last semester of classes. All I will have left is an internship. Tammy and I are both so excited to be finished here and move on to dental school. We are waiting to hear from schools for interviews. We should start hearing from them soon.

One great thing that happened this week is that I felt the baby move for the first time. Tammy and I were standing in line to get a Redbox movie and I was holding her tummy. Suddenly I felt a small push on my hand. It was so cool. I cannot explain how excited Tammy and I are to become parents. I am really excited to start putting together the baby's room, but I know that we need to wait a little longer before we do that. We will find out at the end of September what we are having. 

So life is great. Our stake just was split, but I am still on the high council and Tammy is still the primary president in the stake. We are staying busy, but loving every minute of it. We hope that you are all doing well too.

An expansion to our school

So now that all of our families know, I can tell everyone else. Tammy and I are going to be parents beginning next year. Tammy is due on February 12, 2009, with our first. We are so excited. We have wanted a child for the last two years, but have not been able to get pregnant. We cannot express how excited we are. If you want a picture of the ultrasound or to watch the entire thing, check out Tammy's blog (on the right).

Other than that, we just got back from the Herring Reunion in AZ. We camped on Mt. Graham for a few days, then spent a few days in Gilbert with the Welch family. Congrats (or our condolences) to Jared for being called as a new bishop in his ward.

We also spent our 3 year anniversary in Las Vegas. We did a tour of the dental school there and then spent the rest of the day celebrating. We had a lot of fun walking the strip.

As far as the search for a dental school goes, we heard from the University of Washington this week, as well as UCSF, and the University of Colorado. We are busy filling out secondary applications and are really praying to know where we should go.

We hope that you are all doing well, and loved seeing all the Herring family. We love you all.

We're Going to AZ

So we leave today for AZ and a family reunion with the Herring side. We are both so ready to leave Rexburg for a while. Also, while we are gone we will celebrate our 3rd anniversary. We will be in Las Vegas for it. Our friends the Mengs gave us tickets to see a show while in Vegas too. We are really excited. Tammy's mom has been in town this weekend. It has been fun. We saw the new X-Files movie (we thought it was really stupid). Also, the Mengs returned to Rexburg and we had them over for some Japanese food last night. Shaun and I made Chicken-katsu. I have to admit that this was probably the best we have ever made it. I am proud of us. Also, Tammy made chocolate filled cream puffs and they were so good. 

Life is great. We can't wait to see all the Herring's this week, and maybe some other friends.

Summer is here

So the summer semester has finally ended! Tammy and I are both so happy. We had a good semester, but not being in school is always a great thing. During the semester we took a bowling class together. It was so much fun, like we had a free bowling date every Tuesday and Thursday for the entire semester. I was also in the advanced physiology class here. I have to admit, that class has been my favorite class here at BYU-I. The information that I learned was so interesting. I loved going to class and lab.

Tammy and I manage some girls housing near campus, so during this break from school we have a lot of repairs to do. We are installing new cabinets in an apartment, putting a new foundation in another, doing a lot of yard work, and any other emergency that comes up during the break. We are so lucky to be managing these places because we get free rent, and a house instead of an apartment. It is such a nice set-up. We have a nice big yard, swing set, fire pit, a garden, and fruit trees. It has its days, but overall it is a great blessing to have this job. Other than that, I am working in the IT department on campus still, and we have a lot of time to just play with friends and relax. 

We are going to Thatcher next week for the Herring Family Reunion. We will be on Mt. Graham for a few days. Then, we are going to stay with Bridget and her family in Gilbert for a few days so Tammy and I can go tour a dental school that we are applying to. Our 3 year anniversary is on Aug. 5, and we will be in Las Vegas doing a tour of UNLV (another school we are applying to). It will be fun to spend our anniversary in such a fun city. We are really excited.

I have heard back from 7 schools so far saying that they either have my application completed and are reviewing it, or that they want a secondary application (and more money). We have heard from UNLV, but are still hoping to hear from Boston University and the University of Washington. If we are accepted to any of those schools, that is probably where we will go. 

Life is great. School is out. We get to see family soon. We are both happy and healthy. What more could we ask for?

Oh, we saw the new Batman movie on opening night. It was so good. Very dark, and not for kids, but a great show! The Joker is frightening to say the least. I hope you all get to see it soon. Enjoy!

It's Been a While

So I realized that I have really neglected this blog, so I decided that I would post here again. I have recently had a blast from the past by visiting the blogs of a lot of my friends from high school. I cannot believe that I have been gone from good ol' SJ for 6 years now. And boy have those years been full of life. I have lived in Rexburg (unfortunately) for most of that time. However, I did get to live and serve for two glorious years in Japan. What an amazing time. And now I have my best friend with me all the time. Our three year anniversary will be on Aug. 5, just after we get home from my family reunion near Thatcher on Mt. Graham. We are both really excited to be able to see all of our family again... it has been a year for us.

My application process to dental school is going well. I have heard back from 6 of the 12 schools that I applied to saying that they want more information from me. I still haven't heard back from Boston University (which is my top choice as of now), so I am really keeping my fingers crossed. I should start hearing from schools for interviews beginning in September, and I won't hear if I am accepted before December 1. However, by the time we go to SJ for Christmas this year we should know where we will be going for dental school. Needless to say we are both excited and nervous to find out where we will be living for the next four years.

Life is really crazy for us right now. School gets out in two weeks, so I am really busy finishing up the semester, as is Tammy. She has been teaching English 111 on the block this semester, so she has had class daily unlike her normal 3 times a week. Tammy is always keeping busy with her calling as stake primary president (she had to speak three times last month in ward conferences hahaha). I too have been kept busy with my calling in the bishopric. But, I am getting released from that this week because I was called to the high council in our stake. This means that for the first time in almost two years I will get to sit with Tammy during sacrament meeting! We are both really excited for that. Also, I will only have meetings twice a month instead of twice a week. For the 4th of July weekend, my parents came up so my dad could ordain me a high priest. It was so nice to see them. Normally we see them once a year, but this year we will see them 3 times! 

I only have one more semester of classes before I graduate, then one semester of internship, so I will graduate with my bachelors in business (and minors in Chemistry and Biology) in April of next year. I am so ready to be done. Tammy is really ready for me to be done as well since she graduated over a year ago and has had to stay in Rexburg for me. Wow, she really loves me to do that! We will leave next year in about July or August. Again, I am hoping that we will be going to Boston. Since we don't have any kids yet, we figured that it would be a great time to live away from family if we are ever going to do it. But, we will have to wait and see if we get accepted to a school in Boston.

Life is great! we are both healthy and happy, as are our families. What more could we ask for. We can't wait to see our families at our reunions this summer, and hope to see some friends while there too.

Family Web-site

I have created a new family website for Tammy and I. It is password protected, so if you would like to view it, please e-mail or call me. The link is http://web.mac.com/fishfools/FishFools/Home.html Enjoy. I don't think that I will be posting here anymore.

Books

Since I have not been in school this semester I have decided that I would read. Last night at 3am I finished a great book that I wanted you all to know about. It was "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. Two weeks ago I read "Anthem" by her also. I have to admit that these two books have been my favorite books that I have ever read. They are because they have taught me a lot about myself. They both really made me think about my life and what I am doing with it. I hope that because of them I am a better person and more self-sufficient. I am going to read "Atlas Shrugged" as soon as I can, but all the libraries here have it checked out. I invite anyone who reads this blog to read "Anthem" "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." They are books that all Americans need to read and understand for they show what we are in some instances, and what we might become in others.  Please enjoy these great books!

The Office

So Tammy and I took a test today to see which character from the Office we are most like. I am most like Jim, and Tammy is most like Pam. I guess we are meant for each other like they are. Oh, and by the way, the Office starts again in two weeks!!! We can't wait!

Changes

So as you can see I have edited this blog a little. I hope you like it better. I feel that it flows better now. I have put links to some of our favorite shows on the bottom of the blog so you can watch some funny clips from them. I hope you enjoy.

Life has been great. I have finally started my job on campus again and am happy to be working. The shower that we are working on is all but finished, we will finish it this weekend. I will be so happy when it is done.

One big thing that has come up for us is the chance that we might be leaving Rexburg at the end of this year instead of just before my dental school starts. We have decided that UNLV is going to be our top choice for dental school unless we feel very strongly otherwise. UNLV has a policy that once you have lived in the state for at least a year you can gain residency and therefore get in-state tuition for dental school. By moving to Vegas at the end of December or the beginning of January we will save between $14,000-$15,000 in our first year. We figured that having to pay rent for a few months will still make it so we save around $7,000. So, we might be moving, it just depends on how we feel at the end of this year. One thing is for sure, we are ready to leave Rexburg and move on. This summer I am taking a few hard classes. I will be taking the highest biology class that I need while here at BYU-I, physics, and my business capstone class. The business class has a lot of busy group work that I will have to do, and the biology class teachers pride themselves on having the hardest class on campus (it is one of the only 5 credit classes because of the workload). I am looking forward to getting back into classes though. I like being busy and this semester has not been for me at all.

Tammy is doing great. She is the best wife that anyone could dream of. She is enjoying teaching her English classes, and keeps busy with them. She is not looking forward to this summer since most of our friends are either moving from Rexburg for good (Giles) or moving for an internship (Mengs). But she will keep busy with her garden and other things around the house. She is wonderful.

Some Pics

So these pics are from a party that we had with our friends in November. It was a lot of fun and we had a great photo shoot with our computer. I hope you like these pics.

Valentine's Day

So yesterday was Valentine's Day. It was so great to spend the day with Tammy. I have to admit that her present was the greatest. She made me a heart shaped box filled with reasons she loves me and also little memories that she has that we have had together. It was so much fun to go through with her and read them all. She is so thoughtful.

So the last several weeks have been crazy. First, I took the DAT and did well. I ended up with a 20 overall and a 19 on the sciences. I am content with that score because all of the schools that I am going to apply to have about that score or lower as the average of the students that are currently there. I am so grateful for all the help that I had and for Tammy for allowing me to spend 8-9 hour days at the library studying. She is so wonderful. The next week Tammy and I were very sick. We stayed in bed all day for a week. Well, I guess I have to say that we set up the air-mattress in front of the TV so we were not in the bedroom all day. I am grateful that we were able to rest, a lot of our friends had school and stuff that they had to do so I feel really bad for them. We are trying to remodel a bathroom right now at the apartment complex that we manage, but we don't have a truck to go get all the materials that we need. We were going to go but since we were sick we haven't been able to go yet. I hope that we can go soon.

The weather here has been a little better. It has been warm enough that the roads have cleared and I feel safe to drive (mostly). Since we still live in Rexburg I cannot feel that safe with all the horrible drivers here. It is scary just thinking about it.

We had great news in that we found out that Stephanie is pregnant. We are so happy for her. She and Adam deserve it. I can't wait to find out how many she is pregnant with. Tammy and I think it will be twins.

I am still jobless, but have been told by Melaleuca that as soon as there is an opening I will get it. Until then I am working on the apartments doing other little repairs here and there. I just really hope I get the job soon. We really need it.

We can't wait to see anyone who can come visit, so come on up and visit us. We hope that everything is well with all our family and friends. We love you all.

New Year

I cannot believe that  a new year has come! It seems like we were just having this celebration. I am so excited because this semester I am not taking classes. I have taken classes for the last year and a half with no breaks, so this is really nice to not have homework every night. I am going to be taking the DAT on January 30, but once that is finished I will have nothing. I am so excited. I am looking for a job right now since I cannot work on campus unless I am full-time, so hopefully I can find something soon. 

Tammy is enjoying her teaching. She is teaching two sections this semester so she is a little more busy, and will be a lot busier once she has papers to grade.  We are both enjoying having a little more time than normal to spend with each other. 

We are still managing Danbury Manor, so free rent (YEAH). This semester I have a few repairs and renovations to make, including remodeling a bathroom. I am also doing an internship with a free dental clinic in Rexburg. It is going to be a great experience since we the students run the entire practice. We get the dentists to volunteer and we schedule all the appointments. We are also do the assisting and we make sure the clinic is fully stocked with the proper materials. Basically, I am getting to see how to run an office. I am really grateful for this experience.