Update From Brent Morris

I am a general surgery intern (first year resident) at Vandy. This is a one year position and I am applying for a residency position in anesthesiology (hopefully here as well). I will know the answer on March 16, so please keep us in your prayers.

Rachel (RN) has not worked since we moved here because her pregnancy was fairly complicated and then she had the baby to take care of, not to mention Drew. She is actually interviewing for part time jobs this week with the NICU and the Labor & Delivery folks at Centennial. We will hopefully have an answer soon and she will start working a day or two per week or PRN (as needed). As you can imagine, she stays rather busy with the 2 younguns, but we are having a tough time making ends meet for a family of four on a resident's salary.

I'll keep you updated on what we find out. I haven't really been including info in my updates because there are so many things still up in the air.

Talk to you soon - Brent

FROM THE HIGH GAMMA (in case you missed the email)

My name is Bro. Tim Armacost and I am the current high Gamma of our Lambda Zeta chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha at Union.

I have set up this new gmail account to provide easy correspondence between alumni and myself. If you have any questions about the current chapter or need anything from us you can email me here and I will pass it on to whoever you wish. We are trying to improve the current
chapter's relationship with alumni, and improving communication is the best way to start that.

I currently have a list of around 300 alumni email addresses but would ideally like to have as many as possible. This message is more or less a test to see which of these email addresses are still valid. If you have a different email that you would prefer to be contacted at, just reply to this email and give me that one.

In ZAX,
Bro. Tim Armacost LZ 606
lxa.secretary@gmail.com

Hey everyone,

It has been too long since we sent pictures. You won't believe how much they have grown. Kendall is 4 months old today and smiles and laughs at us all the time. Drew is speaking in sentences and impresses us daily with how much he can do. We had fun bath time last night and here are some of the pictures to give you an idea what things are like in the Morris household...

Brent, Rachel, Drew, and Kendall

OH BABY, BABY!
So, more news for the blog from Danley Shackleford: "My wife and I found out a couple of weeks ago that we're going to have a baby! October 9th is the due date. Just thought you'd like to know." So we can expect another little long-legged Shackleford some day running across the country. Send Dan an email at: danshackelford@gmail.com if you like.

(My favorite Dan story is when I convinced him to run the 5K race at Union even though he was sick in bed with a bad cold and body aches. It was minutes before the race began when I bugged him, so he got out of bed, walked down to the starting line, ran the race - barefoot- and pulled in first place in the whole race. What a dedicated runner.)

Triathlon Challenge: (correction)

Update: Looks like Dan King, Josh Trent, Paul Whitt, and Steve Moore are in. The one that we would do is the Mountain Bike Triathlon (which is a sprint Triathlon as opposed to a Olympic Triathlon. It is in May 20 - not 21st. Here's the link: http://www.mimmtbtri.racesonline.com/
This one that we are attempting will not be a walk in the park - by any means. Here are details for training: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/sprint%20programs.htm

Original challenge: Myself and Bennie Hotskins are about to begin an official 13 week training for a Triathlon on May 20 (Memphis in May Triathlon). It involves .5 mile swim, 10 mile mountain bike, and 3 mile run.

I thought it might be fun if any other Chops looking for a challenge might want to join us. I've got the training schedule I can send you. We could all meet up in Memphis that day to finish together. We could also post training updates to encourage one another along the way. It's a great excuse to stay in shape. Great brotherhood event huh?

Anyone game?

Chad P. (chadpwilson@yahoo.com)

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO SKI TRIP

Paul Whitt, Brian Mooney, Taylor Crowley, Ben Hoskins, and myself all went skiing in Aspen, CO after December graduation back in 2001. We stayed at Ben's dad's place and had a great trip, a la Ruby's Run wipeout, our free huge feast in Aspen, adventures on Ajax mountain, our trek over the snowy pass in Ben's Pathfinder as we got lost, and other stories that can be told another time.

Paul and I had so much fun we have been contemplating another trip for some time. So, for President's Day Weekend, we went to Sun Valley Idaho for 3 days (Fri-Sun) of great skiing. [Pictured above from the left: Paul, Courtney, Lindsey, Josh]. We stayed with Dale and Brenda, some generous and gracious family friends who were terrific hosts.


The skiing was excellent - Sun Valley had more snow and was colder than it has been for the last several years. Lots of powder and lots of great long runs. Oddly, the greens are more like blues in Colorado or Utah, and there are no double-blacks because the blacks themselves are so intense. Idaho is gorgeous and we enjoyed the historic lodge and resort area - Hemingway, the Kennedys, Gary Cooper, Ahhhnold, Bruce Willis, and others have spent much of their time there. (Willis still has a home there where he spends a good bit of time and owns several establishments in the area).

Paul did have some scary encounters with a large number of ferocious bears in the area. We were all pretty concerned with the aggressive behavior some of the beasts demonstrated, but Paul was able to woo them away from innocent bystanders and save many people's lives by his heroic efforts. One particular incident stands out where Paul convinced the large white bear (left) to not maul three children who were taunting him with a large candy cane (seen on the left edge of the photo.) Paul insisted that he was not a hero, that he just simply found himself trying to "be the bear" and "be in sync with it's life force." He did become bear-like several times and developed a fondness for salmon and honey.

Did you attend Brad Horner's wedding? If you did, pls email me your thoughts or photos to share. Thanks!

Story from Steve Moore -
Last week, I met two brothers from the Union chapter. The first is Chad Rowland, a guy I heard about here in Clarksville but never had a chance to meet. I was enjoying my favorite lunch spot, Backyard Burger with a couple of guys in my band. My drummer spotted Chad walk in and started talking about what a great preacher he is. I found out that Chad Rowland's church
plant had 425 in attendance last week, which is phenomenal. They just started meeting this Fall. Anyway, I had a chance to meet Chad and we talked for a while about mutual friends from the chapter. He's old school (lz 339 I believe), so he's tight with the 95 class. We're thinking about
heading down to initiation together, but who knows. The other interesting brother I got to spend some time with is Dr. TW Hunt. That's right, Paul Monroe's granddaddy! TW came to my church last week to preach. He is an amazing man of God. I had a chance to connect with him early and he filled me on how Paul is married and living in Memphis. Funny thing, as we were
leaving the other night, he came up to me and game me a familiar grip and proudly said "you're a good brother Steve." That'll make you feel good! Pretty amazing how far reaching the Lambda Chi experience goes!
LZ464

Here's a picture of me and a "friend" this past weekend on the hand of The Awakening - a statue in East Potomac Park, at Hains Point past the Jefferson Memorial, on the Potomac River. (East Potomac Park is a public park along the banks of the Potomac, occupying a jalapeño-shaped peninsula between the Potomac River and the Washington Channel.) The Awakening is a unique statue created by J. Seward Johnson. It is designed to appear to be much more than it actually is. It depicts a giant poking out of the ground upon waking up from a slumber. As such, his head, both hands, his right knee, and his right foot are visible. I thought originally it was on over-sized Adam breathing his first breath from the dawn of time. But it's just a giant. Oh well.

Send me some good stories of the good ole days to share!

BEN HOSKINS UPDATE
I am currently living in Jackson, working with the new women's soccer team at Union and working on a masters. I'm getting married in June to a lovely lady who puts up with me and we will be moving out to Northern California so I can finish up school - the Global Studies Program with Union and Golden Gate, so I still have a good bit of school left. I met Tabitha in China actually. She was working there as well, though we didn't begin dating until we returned to the states. She's actually from Northern Virginia, just outside DC. She has since moved to Jackson, where she teaches 2nd grade in Haywood County. We'll move out to California this summer for a couple years while I finish school and then off to ..... who knows where Father will take us. Ben

Josh to Ben: "Is it true your fiancee calls you 'Hotskins'?" Also, some guys might like to come to the wedding if you want to reply to this post with details.

Above is a letter from Staff Sergeant Daniel Clay, USMC. Daniel Clay was mentioned by the President in last night's State of the Union address and his family was in the viewing box with the First Lady. I encourage you to copy the letter, paste it in Word, enlarge it, and read the final words of a solider in his own handwriting. (Or, if you want, email me and I will send you a PDF version.) I was moved by this powerful, gripping account. As we think about our charge to keep and our calls to answer, let's remember the One who said: "Greater love has no man than this, than he lay down his life for his friend."