Ketcham Update

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

Hello family and friends!

It’s been a while since our last Ketcham Update, so I figured it was time to sit down and try to summarize the past few months.

Fall is underway up here! The trees are changing colors and the temperature is dropping. It will be nice to experience seasons after so many years of either sun or fog.

We’ve been enjoying living up here in Albany, OR. It’s been nice to be able to have time off to explore things. We did a lot of fishing this summer at local rivers and lakes. The Willamette River is literally 2 blocks away from us, and we’ve taken advantage of the boat ramp several times. We definitely miss Camarillo and all our friends (and family) down in Southern California. It was wonderful to have a group of friends and know that at least one would be willing to hang out at any given time.

In August we went on a week-long rafting trip on the Snake River with Dan’s family (minus one of his younger brothers, Tyler, who was in Iraq). The trip was wonderful, despite some ugly weather the first few days. We ate lots of bass, got really good at putting up our tents in the rain, and perfected the art of packing and unpacking the rafts. It was great to be on the water and get to spend quality time with Dan’s family. We can’t wait until next summer’s trip, and are hoping Tyler, and his fiancé, Chelsea will join us on the water.

Towards the end of August I got the opportunity to go back to CA for a few days. I was hired to drive a woman’s car and her two dogs from Santa Barbara to Aspen, CO. She flew me down to LAX and I got to spend about 4 days with friends and family before beginning my journey. The dogs and I had a nice drive to Aspen - we broke it up into two days. Before flying back to Oregon I got to spend one full day in Aspen. The trees were just starting to change colors and it was really beautiful. I was surprised how similar it was to some areas up here.

Lately we’ve been deer hunting in our area. During bow season we saw several deer (lots of doe, but only 1 tiny buck), but they were too quick for us. Rifle season opened up yesterday, so we got out of bed earlier then we have a quite a while and drove out to nearby “Mary’s Peak“. Several hours of sitting and driving around with no luck. Dan’s decided we should wait until the weather changes before going out again.

Dan just finished his first week of school. He’s in four classes (English, Psychology, Religion, and Wildlife Conservation) and really likes it. He’s currently at Linn-Benton Community College and wants to transfer to Oregon State University to get a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife.

This coming week I will be able to schedule my board exam to get my Respiratory Therapy license. It’s been a long time coming (I’ve been out of school 6 months now) and I’m very ready for the waiting to end. I’m hoping to take my exam before Dan’s birthday (the end of October), but that all depends on what test dates they have available. Sorry, but I’m not going to be telling anyone when my test date is - you’ll find out after I pass. Once I pass I have to wait a few weeks to actually receive my license, then I have to apply to transfer it to Oregon. We’re hoping that I will be able to begin applying for jobs after Dan’s Christmas break.

Last week I decided I needed to do something to get myself out of the house, so I talked to the athletic director at the Albany Boys and Girls Club. After hearing about all the different jobs I performed for so many years at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County he offered me 4 different job options. Two of them required a 5-day a week time commitment, which is more then I am looking for. The other two were with their basketball program - either coaching a Kindergarten team or refereeing games a few times a week. I’ve decided to ref the younger kids basketball games a few times a week. I loved doing it in Santa Barbara, and I’m hoping I’ll like it just as much here.

Next weekend we’re going to the Roloff Family Farms (it may sound familiar if you’ve heard of the Reality TV Show “Little People, Big World” on TLC). The farm is up near Portland, and ever since seeing it on TV I’ve always wanted to go. They have a large farm and sell pumpkins every year. They even have a wagon ride that gives you a tour of the farm (they have a “western town” and other various things on the farm to see). We’re going with Dan’s best friend and his wife, who live about an hour north of us. Don’t worry, I’ll take lots of pictures.

These updates always end up being a lot longer then I plan. I hope that you are all doing well!

All our love,

~Jen and Dan