Hey Everyone,
It's hard to think that I have been home for over 4 months from
last
trip to Japan and the Philippines. Since being back home things
have
been pretty hectic. As I emailed everyone before, a 20+ foot fall
in a
cave in the Philippines on July 4, brought me back home on July
24,
because I was limited in my travels. The interesting thing is
that I
was only home about a week before hitting the road again!
My parents have been out West in the US numerous times and really
enjoy
Colorado. They have always told me how much they wanted to take
me to
Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. When you add that the Rocky
Mountains
were in my top 3 spots in the USA I wanted to see, it was an opportunity
I couldn't pass up. So on August 4, my parents and I left Wisconsin
with their pull behind camper for Colorado (Picture -
Bill_Sheri_John_Brock). My parents type of traveling fit well
with the
limitations imposed by my knee. In the US you can drive right
up to the
best sites.
The Rocky Mountains, while not the tallest mountains I have seen,
are
easily the most spectacular (Picture - Rocky_Mountains). The mountain's
natural beauty is even further enhanced by the abundant wildlife.
On
the trip we saw elk, (Picture - Elk - a 12 point bull elk), moose
(Picture - Moose), bison, bighorn sheep (Picture - Big_Horn_Sheep),
several different types of deer, chipmunks, squirrels, minks,
ducks,
coyotes & numerous bird species. Also I was afforded the opportunity
to
do a mountain biking ride for around 35 miles over a 10000 foot
summit
in Colorado. It was tough but also very rewarding. Cruising down
the
last third of the ride after reaching the summit was so beautiful
& I
even saw a moose early on in the ride!
In another great activity, the sky swing, I was also able to
check off
another activity from the "never done" list. This sky
swing (voted
"Scariest in the World") that took me out over the Royal
Gorge (1300
feet down to the bottom). They pull you up and back 100 feet off
the
ground then you pull your rip cord which sends you out over the
gorge
and gives you quite an adrenalin rush.
When I was in the Philippines my camera had been flooder. Well
I
ordered a new one which was quite an upgrade. The new camera is
a Canon
PowerShot Pro Series S5 IS 8.0MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical
Image
Stabilized Zoom. On the trip I was afforded numerous opportunities
to
learn how to use it and take some great pictures :) The trip was
a lot
of fun and the sites were amazing so it helped make up a little
bit for
having to cut my world trip short.
From the time since arriving home and even while in Colorado
I had been
working on getting into the local university. My plan was to attend
the
University of Wisconsin - Platteville (UWP) for a degree in Business
Administration with a Finance emphasis and a minor in Spanish.
Finance
has always been an area that I was very interested in and also
something
that I thought would allow me to work internationally if I were
to find
the right job. It took a lot of work and time but eventually I
got
accepted. I even was able to get into 15 credits worth of the
classes
needed for my degree in the week before classes started. From
my prior
studies I was able to transfer in over 30 credits which starts
me out as
a sophomore, even though some of those credits won't help much
towards
my degree. I also have gotten a few more classes via the "appeal"
process and tested out of the first freshman English class which
was
nice :)
College has gone well but I have to say I really underestimated
how
difficult it would be. The biggest problem is this 5 credit biology
class (the only 5 credit course I will have to take thankfully)
covers
so much material and just about everything is new to me. Plus
the
teacher, while being a good teacher, is a harsh grader and her
tests are
the hardest I have ever done. The other 3 classes have not been
as bad,
although there is a lot of work with Spanish. When you add the
other
activities I have needed to complete being a new student I have
had
absolutely no personal time since starting school. I have 3 weeks
left,
2 weeks of classes and then finals week. I haven't even had time
yet to
see any friends at home, so sorry to all the people out there
I am
neglecting in the US! I am really looking forward to Christmas
when I
have a month off (Dec 22 - Jan 21). I probably have about 3 months
of
activities planned for this time but being able to see friends,
family,
plan my summer trip & get some personal things done will be
really nice.
For all the friends I haven't seen and who want to get together
just
let me know ;)
I usually give a future plans update since if I don't people
always
email me back to ask what I am doing. Since being home I have
put a lot
of time into figuring out my future. I have decided to attend
school at
UWP until my degrees are completed (3-4 years total time needed).
Of
course that doesn't mean I am staying home all the time! Here
is the
tentative plan for the next 3 years:
