Tangboy's Blog

Hello All!
Just thought I would drop a note to let everyone know what’s happening in our lives lately. I was really stressed out a couple weeks ago because we had made the decision for me to take a semester off and work, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I accepted a clinical instructor position at LMU for 8 weeks starting the 19th of this month. I will have 8 students in their first year of nursing school and I’m actually looking forward to the challenge as well as the extra income. I’m still working at St. Mary’s Hospital and Fort Loudon Medical Center as well. When I do get to see Geoff, I cherish every moment.

I’m also excited about changing universities to finish my family nurse practitioner degree. I’ve enrolled at ETSU and am starting back full-time in the Spring. The awesome thing about obtaining the degree through this university is it’s all ONLINE!! Of course the clinicals will be in a hospital or clinic, but everything else is online! I’ve heard amazing things about ETSU and not so great things/experiences at UTK…it wasn’t a hard decision to switch at all.

Geoff and I are truly blessed each and everyday. We both enjoy our jobs and love being a part of God’s Plan. We went mountain biking with some friends last weekend and got our butts kicked! It was 2 miles straight up a mountain. Rob was like a machine with Geoff right next to him, while Tammie and I were lagging pretty far behind. I think Tammie took more breaks with me so I wouldn’t feel so bad. I went to check my pulse and it was beating so fast I couldn’t even feel it!!! I said, “Tammie, my heart has just given up…I can’t feel it!” She laughed and said, “Come on, we’re almost there.” We finally reached the 2 mile point and decided to come down the mountain before sundown. I thought it would be fun going really fast down this mountain side and boy I was wrong. I hit almost every rock on the way down and thought my handle bars were going to fly right off. That whole experience was painful! It sure did feel good to get out and exercise though. Geoff and I are going to give the trail another try tomorrow and also find a good fishing spot near the river. We love spending time outdoors.

I don’t know if everyone knows this or not, but I have recently taken up fishing. I have my own tackle box!! I’m sure you’ve all seen the pictures. It’s fun. We have a few weekends reserved for camping with friends already…I love fall weather. The crisp, cool air in the morning is so delightful, especially when you’re camping. The camp fire smell with the beautiful fall colors is comforting. We’re going to get Geoff a new mountain bike soon and hopefully take off to Tsali, NC pretty soon. It has over 40 miles of biking trails, we can’t wait to go!

Well, I believe I’ve talked enough. Just wanted to say hi to everyone and to publicly thank everyone for the prayers of healing for Geoff. God is so good to heal my companion and friend. I thank God everyday for him, he is a gift from above. We’re like two peas in a pod.

We love you all!
Amy White

Ok I am sitting in my classes typing time just enjoying the sense of nothing to teach because they are using Mavis Beacon. Life is good right now, school is great, Amy is wonderful as always, new car is driving most excellent!

BMW is a wonderful car, no major complications. Only things I have done so far is get a K & N air filter to work on some air flow, cleaned out the inner air filter (air filter that cleans the air before it comes into the cabin), and wash it like 50 times since I’ve owned it.

Amy is taking a semester off to try and get through a couple of suprise bills. We made the decision because of a bill from my PET scan back in July and a future bill from the PET Scan in January. Amy has also taken on some more opportunities at work. She recently applied for a position as a new nurse trainer. I am not totally sure what is required but I know she is nervous and anxious about being able to impart some newbie knowledge for newbs! She is a wonderful wife and I count myself blessed everyday to have someone to share my days with.

Dakota and Cheyenne are continuing to bring pleasure to our lives. They are wonderful “children” and we are glad to have loving creatures to take care of and the such.

Family in VA is great. Tom is constantly working on projects people are creating for him and is really enjoying Pathfinders and the Wednesday night Prayer meetings. Matthew is back at SAU with Beth-Anne and, so far, is enjoying school. Mom and Dad are swamped with work but find time to relax a bit on the newly created back porch.

I am really enjoying the things that are happening at school. This year so far, we have taken the 7-10 graders to SAU to the ropes course for some team building exercises. Created 4 geocaches (www.geocaching.com for more info) to keep track of as well as 5 travel bugs for several different groups in the school to track around the world. We had a school wide team building day led out by the 9th and 10th grade class. They really enjoyed themselves and came up with some ideas for the next time they are faced with the challenge of facilitating about 15 K-8th graders. So far it is a great year even though I am having to crack down on the discipline. I do not want to have a slack group based on my lack of discipline. The kids are great and I want to have fun this year but I must earn their respect through discipline and love.

Anyway I will try to keep things updated a little more often but life has been rather busy. I dropped many of my time consuming video games and picked up a few of the more easily to stop games like Ulitma Online and the Half Life multiplayer games! Anyway TTFN!