Stone Cold Nicole

Well, it is official I have finally attended my first "real" wrestling match. The first wresting match I attended as WWF Summer Slam back in 1999 but I found out last night that it didn't count. I guess Jesse the Governor Ventura didn't count as a " real" celebrity ref either. It was kinda like finding out Santa Claus isn't real. I regress, the reason for attending the Franklin Pierce wrestling match was Nicole. She was a celebrity guest for a student who had asked her to be an honorary coach at faculty night. I found out that in real wresting if you body slam someone you lose a point for an illegal move. The same goes for the sleeper hold, flying elbow, figure four leg lock, basically all the good moves they are all illegal. It was kinda boring. I would have taken a picture of Nicole in action but she was such a good coach that her wrestler pinned the other guy in twenty seconds, hardly enough time for me to get the camera out of the case. Anyways Nicole is basically an expert at roman greco wrestling now. So for all your wrestling questions you can go to her, she is undefeated as a coach.

January Day at the Beach

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. We decided to paint the room that our computer is in. We were hoping that we would get it done in just a couple of days, but our high walls are proving to be a challenge to paint yet again. Painting a room always sounds like fun, until we get started with the first coat. After about an hour, we were looking for any excuse to do something else. We are painting the room "banana nut" and are going to hang old sports type pictures on the wall. Doug needs a man room. We will post the pictures of the finished project whenever we finally get it done. Last weekend our excuse to avoid painting was our desire to get out of the house and go for a drive. We ended up driving out to the coast (about an hour and forty minutes). We love going to the ocean anytime of the year. It was about 45 degrees and sunny so we just spent the day walking the beach and checking out some of the near by shops. Doug took the picture next to the tide pole especially for Tom. Pepper (the dog) didn't get to come with though because Doug borrowed her pet porter to the "employee of the month" that adopted Pepper II. Cats are just not my thing, plus Pepper (the dog) was a little too jealous.

Sgt. Pepper's lonely hearts club

It is with great honor that we introduce the newest member of our family. Pepper Numeral Dose or Pep Two. Pepper comes to us from Madison Inn Work Release in Seattle. She has resided there for the last four Months but got out early for good behavior. Actually she was some one's pet whom had to be savvy to pick out a good common sense name like Pepper. But unlike the others who have named their pets after one of the greatest condiments of all time this owner wasn't a very good pet care taker. They abandoned her. She had a tag with a phone number but several voice mails proved nothing and finally the phone was disconnected. My guess Pepper II didn't mind because she made herself right at home with a bunch of murders and drug dealers. Her time served was actually very peaceful. The inmates enjoyed petting her and feeding her despite strong words from the director not to. She was very Therapeutic for those who had rough days. She would meow, purr, and rub against your leg. She was very polite by using the neighbors yard to poop and she entertained the homeless guy sleeping in the back alley at night. Alas, her time ended at the work release when a Department of Correction health and safety officer stopped by. She was offered to the Humane Society but they were full, we called some other cat places but they said no. So Nicole with her kind heart and horrible allergies offered the back yard. Pepper I and Pepper II met briefly after the picture was taken. Pepper I used to being the only child did not approve and tried to nip but Pepper II would have none of it and fought back with three quick swats to the face. The fight ended in a draw. If anyone wants a free cat with no guarantees on the age or health or if its been spaded we have one in Seattle.

Honestly...another picture?

Overall, Doug and I had a pretty good weekend, nothing too "blogworthy." However, I couldn't go a whole week without putting anything on the blog, so I figured that I would share with you my all time favorite picture of Doug. I have titled it "Honestly, another picture..." because those are the words I hear coming out of his mouth when I imagine what he was thinking at this very moment. Doug attributes his expression to the fact that he was missing a tooth so was too embarrassed to smile. I think the suspenders and Hawaiian shirt may have also been a factor. I hope you enjoy this picture as much as I do!

Doug and Nicole's Rockin New Years Eve Party

For Christmas this year I decided to get Nicole and myself a ballroom dancing lessons. To add to my gift I thought it would be neat to put what we practice into use right away. I knew that there would be some sort of dance on New Years eve and thus my internet search began. I found what looked to be a great dance hall called "The Century Ballroom" and purchased tickets for a night of Salsa dancing.

First of all, dancing is a lot harder than it looks. I don't think the dancing instructor was to impressed by my interpretation of the salsa and he didn't laugh at any of my chip jokes either like "what do you call cheese that isn't yours?" "Nacho cheese" (Get it) I figured salsa, or nachos what's the difference. I think he felt the same about me Salsa dancing or whatever I was doing either way he was getting paid.

So the big night was upon us and our dancing skills lacked a little polish but we were determined to have a fun time. When we arrived to the dance something seemed a bit odd about most of the other couples. Apparently I could've done a little more research on-line because I bought tickets to a gay dance hall. So not only were we out of place with our dancing skills, we were out of place with our choice of partner as well. You know there is a stereo-type of gay people being really good at dancing. Well, turns out most of them were. It really wasn't a big deal because Nicole and I had a blast anyways even if we did look and feel out of place.

The Christmas Letter

This year Doug named himself as being in charge for writing a Christmas letter to send out with our cards. He spent hours working on this letter and was really excited to send it out to our friends and family. Unfortunately we got busy, and we didn't have time to edit, print, and send out the letter (that and I was a little cautious about sending out the letter due to the last line) Sorry hun!

SEASON’S GREETINGS to all our friends and family. We hope this letter finds you in good spirits and health.

We had quite a busy year in the Doug Jans household, and by household we mean we bought a house. Not just any house, a foreclosed house that the previous owner did not appreciate losing. The previous owner put a few holes in the wall, broke all the toilets, spilled paint on the carpets, did some creative spray painting, stole all the light fixtures, all that and the kitchen sink, which he really did take. Needless to say we were busy doing home repairs most of the year. Of course I am quite the handy man ( I’m being sarcastic) and the first rule of thumb is safety first. Here is the rundown of injuries.

Doug- Minor cut on index finger. Don’t worry I’m strong and can handle it.

Pepper- Our dog seemed to think carpet samples make for good snacks. She Threw up and became a little constipated. That shag carpet is hard to digest !

Nicole- Electrocuted on her birthday. Her loving husband was installing a dishwasher and decided to turn the circuit breaker back on to make her a cake. The baking didn’t go so well for me, but it turns out Nicole is an excellent baker so she made her own cake. After eating her delicious cake I decided to finish the project but forgot to turn the breaker back off. I tried to reach the wires under the dishwasher to hardwire it but my hands were just to big. So I told Nicole, I bet your small hands could reach those wires in the back. Long story short I Love my wife so very very much, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate her.

Other news, Nicole is enjoying her second year teaching special education. I got a new job in March as a Director for two work releases in Seattle. I like the job but do not enjoy the two hour commute every morning and night. After the carpet incident, it took awhile but Pepper is back to shitting normal.


Merry Christmas

A few good times from the past year

The two of us in West Seattle.

Clam digging at Ocean Shores.

Our new house.

Doug taking a break from unpacking and remodeling to watch the Timberwolves game.

Hiking the Reflection Lake Trail at Mount Rainier

Time to start the blog...

So after much encouragement from our friends and family, we have finally decided to start our own blog to keep everyone back in Minnesota updated on our lives in Washington. The following pictures are a recap of a couple of our favorite memories from the past year. Enjoy!