The Dolphin Video

Here is the dolphin video that I promised!! It is really our first attempt at shooting video with our digital camera, and also my first attempt with editing. It's actually kinda fun! I hope you can see the dolphins in this video. We shot this off our balcony this past Sunday. If your computer has sound, this has music with it. Just a little warning if you're listening at work. (= ENJOY!

It's been a while!

Barley might just be the happiest dog in the world.

The BARLEY CRUSHER. Brian uses this to crush the barley now that he does all grain brewing.



Brian had a birthday! He turned 26 on February 8th. He assures me that being 26 does not make you feel "old".


We've found ourselves pretty busy for the last month! Dad and Kelsey came to visit at the end of January during Kelsey's J-break. It was a nice visit. I just wish the weather had been nicer for them. We took a sailing trip out of Bayfront Park and we each got to take turns steering the ship. The night before they left we found ourselves at a German restaurant with a guy from Peru doing beatboxing on a Karaoke machine and a local Cuban woman (likely a grandmother) singing and dancing as though she was 20! It was a fantastic cultural experience.



I spent the next week finishing up my primary care rotation with a nasty cold. I think I've finally kicked it. But now I'm in my pediatrics rotation, so I might soon catch the next wave of virus that comes around. So far my pediatrics rotation has been a lot of work. We had a giant entrance exam last week. If you didn't pass every single section, you end up with tons of extra work. I studied my butt off! This rotation is only six weeks and I just started week 2. Graduation has never seemed so close or so real!



Last Tuesday I witnessed a terrible car accident. I was on my way to my first day of pediatrics clinic, driving on US-1 (45 mph speed limit - don't expect to see bad accidents here). Just ahead of me a PT cruiser swerved at the last second into a Range Rover that was sitting in the left turn lane. The Range Rover was tossed through 3 lanes of traffic coming in the opposite direction and ended up resting on the opposite side of the road. The PT cruiser continued to slide down the road, smashed to bits. I avoided the debris and parked my car in the left turn lane where the accident happened. I went to help the lady in the Range Rover. The man in the other vehicle was obviously in worse condition, but the accident happened right in front of the fire department and the EMTs were already running outside. The woman rolled down her window, held my hand, and cried. The Range Rover's frame was completely intact. What a safe car!! The PT cruiser, on the other hand, was smashed into about half of it's original length. It took them 45 minutes to get him out of the car, and it doesn't look good. He broke both of his femurs, tore his femoral arteries (LOTS of blood loss), along with significant internal bleeding. The EMT told me he didn't think the man would live. So why did I tell you this story? Three reasons. 1) Please be attentive drivers! Don't text while driving. Be careful if you're checking your cell phone to see who is calling you. Don't take your eyes off the road! In a split second, something catastrophic could happen. 2) If you can help it, drive a safe car. 3) Good samaratins are in short supply these days. Well, at least in South Florida. There must've been almost 20 cars that saw this accident happen. Only 2 of us stopped to help in an accident with obvious injuries. The rest of the people just gawked and nearly ran over EMTs. Unfortunately, the majority of South Floridians are "GO GO GO, HURRY HURRY HURRY, BUSY BUSY BUSY." They'll run you over with their shopping cart. This is part of the reason I couldn't stand to live down here forever. I miss quality midwesterners!

The weather is finally turning back to absolutely beautiful down here. We've been spending some time taking walks or sitting on the deck watching the boats, birds, and dolphins. I took some great video of dolphins playing outside our apartment this past Sunday. It exceeds the size to be posted on this blog, but I think I've found a way to cut out the good parts so that I can put them up.

I have class tonight. I'll try to put up pictures after I get home. Barley's hair is growing back and I've got some great new brewing photos (and if you're lucky, a dolphin video!)

Happy Birthday to Kylee (20)!

and Happy Birthday to Morgan(17)!

Omigosh - we are officially BLOGGERS!!!

I'm not sure what qualifications one needs to be considered interesting enough to have their own blog, but we do have a darn cute dog, we live in one of the most happening cities in the country, we brew beer, and we will eventually be doctors - so I'm sure we've got a least a couple of people who may be interested in what we are up to! Since this is our very first blog, it may be rather "blah"... but hopefully I'll get better at this soon.

Today is another brew day. Lately, that's been about every third Sunday. And in between those Sundays, we usually add a new element to the brewing. A few months ago the all grain brewing began. For me that means that we have a giant Coleman cooler that has been converted into a, uh, well, something that serves a very important use but is tricky to hide with a lack of closet space. Last weekend we drove to West Palm Beach to pick up a 32 bottle wine fridge. Brian calls it "The Fermentator". It was the easiest conversion we've had - only had to take out the shelves!! It sits in the kitchen. We're going to use it for fermenting the beer - now we don't need to turn the air conditioning down to 71 degrees for weeks at a time! Today Brian is brewing a clone of Gumball Head. He's thoroughly excited about it. Sometime he may get on here and post his recipes (he just informed me that they are top secret) or some other fascinating details about brewing. He is the brains of the operation. I'm just the pretty face. Haha! I just asked him what that thinger is called. It is a mash tun. I put up a picture of it with the spent barley in there from today's batch.





Today I received my board scores for boards part II. I passed with plenty of room to spare!! I also passed the embedded portion of the test that covers the treatment and management of ocular disease, which means that I won't have to pay to take that portion of the test separately this spring. However, I do have Part III in a few months and the dreaded Florida boards in July. If all goes as planned, I'll have my license and be a practicing doctor of optometry by September.




This week I gave Barley the puppy cut. I think going from frigid Iowa back to warm Miami was a bit much with her and the long hair. We think she might be angry with us. You know how she is with the way she looks. (= We're doggy sitting Chloe (1/2 chihuaua and 1/2 poodle). They're best buddies and have been having a great time together this weekend.

For the record, I tried to get jocelynandbrian.blogspot.com - but that was already taken. (;