Now all I need are aviator sunglasses

Good news! I now have a job lined up for after I graduate!
And the not exactly great news, we may be moving away from Oklahoma someday.

This means it is official now, I’ve signed my contract with the US Air Force and I’m now 2nd lieutenant Kennedy. They’re going to pay for the rest of my tuition and I have a minimum commitment of three years, although I will likely serve longer.

We’re not going anywhere just yet. I’m still going to finish all of my classes at OU and graduate from the pharmacy program in 2012. After I graduate and get licensed I’ll go to Commissioned Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama then begin my career as an Air Force Pharmacist. We’ll be able to ‘preference’ our bases, but ultimately where I work is dependant on where I’m needed.

Why go to work for the Air Force? Why not a local chain pharmacy? Ultimately it came down to a lengthy series of interesting coincidences that has led me to believe that this is where God wants me to be and I believe this is where I can best provide for our future.
This was one of the more interesting coincidences. Over the summer I was volunteering with my current Retail Chain Pharmacy employer (now referred to as RCP) at an event at the Bricktown ballpark. At that time I was still weighing the pros and cons of staying with my RCP after graduation or going to work for the Air Force. I went for a walk around the ball park to clear my head, the volunteering wasn’t going very smoothly, and just as I was asking myself “what am I doing here tonight?” I felt something weird on my back, (this is a little gross) I looked back and saw that a bird had pooped on me and the ‘stuff,’ was now covering the RCP’s logo that was on the back of my company t-shirt. I couldn’t help but laugh, the last time a bird ‘expressed,’ themselves on me, I was in my first semester of college, unhappy, at an engineering major picnic, debating if I should stay and stick it out, or transfer to OU and pursue the science/medical field. Those birds didn’t make my decisions for me, but I feel like they may have summed up how I was feeling, but had trouble admitting to myself.

Last Friday I was sworn in and took the officer oath.



No, the Air Force hasn’t decided to change its colors to purple. I was sworn in by Lieutenant York, a 3rd year student at the college who also happens to be a proud Kansas State alum (KSU is doing pretty well this year in basketball).

Thank you all for your encouragement and support throughout my application process. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to and we’re very excited about our future.

Yo Quiero.... Tarahumara's???

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A small break from the usual blogger, Bob will now be filling in for Becky until April. I apologize for the break in Disney themed blog entry titles, Becky is awfully busy with her National Board Certification work and I’m afraid I’m just not that well versed in Disney Literature.

This entry was inspired by a recent visit to the website:

http://www.urbanspoon.com/lb/46/best-restaurants-Oklahoma-City

If you don’t feel like clicking on the link, I’ll just tell you that Tarahumara’s of Norman is the number 1 ranked restaurant in the OKC metro. While I was happy to see a Norman restaurant in the number 1 ranking, I was a little un-eased seeing that it was Tarahumara’s.

I should start by saying most of my pre-college memories where I was first introduced to Mexican cuisine come from a medium for Oklahoma sized town of Bartlesville. We really only had two Tex-Mex restaurants. One called Monterey’s and the other called Alfredo’s. Two years after I graduated the owners of Alfredo’s were arrested by the FBI on money laundering charges (no joke). People at church joked, “Oh that must have been why their food tasted so good,” I never got the joke, because I thought their food sucked. Monterey’s on the other hand was pretty good for a medium sized town Tex-Mex. The rice wasn’t dry and they had just enough spice to satisfy my taste. I mention Monterey’s (I think there’s three locations in Tulsa now) to say “I’ve had some decent Tex-Mex to compare to.”

So back to Tarahumara’s, to be fair, the last time I ate there was maybe 5-6 years ago, so maybe their recipes have changed, maybe my taste buds have matured, I don’t know, I just remember the last time I ate there thinking, “well, I guess this is ‘okay,’ Tex-Mex for Norman, man, I wish Monterey’s would opened up here.” Are they getting more hype than deserved because where else are you going to go in Norman for Mexican food? Or is my judgment too quick and too harsh for someone who hasn’t been back to Norman recently?

To be constructive, here’s a small list of some of our favorite places to eat for South OKC:

-Belle Isle Brewery*

-Lemongrass Asian Bistro

-Alvarado’s Mexican grill

-Bricktown Brewery*

-Sodapop’s (Not Pop’s, although Pop’s is good)

-Papa Murphy’s Pizza

-Dan McGuiness Irish Pub

-Louie’s

*I know, these are north of I-40 but I think they’re still worth the drive

I do think the great majority of the restaurants listed in the top 100 belong on that list, and if we haven’t been to one of them, it’s on our ‘to-visit,’ list.

But the #1 spot goes to Tarahumara’s… really?