As you can probably tell from the blog, my name is Jeremy Brazel. I'm a Civil Engineering student and this is my last semester before graduation! My biggest extracurricular activity is being in the Navy ROTC program here. Once I graduate, I will be going to the Navy's nuclear engineering school in South Carolina and after that be an officer on submarines. My other big activity is sports, I love playing and watching pretty much any sport out there.
This summer has definitely been an interesting one. I started off by selling my Mustang and getting an old Jeep, which has been a blast to have this summer. My favorite thing this summer has been the places I've traveled. I got to go to Washington, D.C., Colorado, and New Mexico.
I went to Colorado with a friend for a backpacking trip, and got to see some amazing scenery. We went on a three day, 30 mile trip and were absolutely exhausted by the end.
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| This is a picture I took after hiking up 5,000' to the top of the Continental Divide. |
The last trip I took the summer was to Taos, New Mexico to do some fishing and hiking with my girlfriend. It rained everyday but we had a great time and got engaged along the way!
Next came the not so fun part of my summer. For a few weeks I had been helping a friend remodel the house his family was about to move into. On the very last day of our work, I was using a table saw to cut a board in half and when I was done and going to turn off the saw, I stumbled and my right index finger hit the saw blade. It cut straight through my bone and tendon, but thankfully not all the way through my finger. Just last week I had surgery and there are now pins in my finger holding it together. It will always look weird and I'm not expected to be able to bend it ever again, but at least it's still attached! My whole hand is in a cast which definitely makes typing a slow process!
I thought about posting some gross finger pictures but I chose the mountains instead :)
Oh my gosh, Jeremy, I am reading along here thinking CONGRATULATIONS are in order: engagement! nuclear submarines! Taos! ... but then I got the last paragraph... it hurts just to read about that. So please, don't strain yourself typing and typing for this class; if you need to do some assignments shorter rather than longer, just let me know. I have pins in my ankle from where I broke it many years ago; I will hope for a good outcome and maybe maybe you will have some movement there. And I know you must be counting the days until you get that cast off. I am thinking good thoughts for you!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, thank you for the GORGEOUS mountains instead of scary fingers...
Quick note: I just noticed you don't have the labels widget in your sidebar, and as your blog gets busier and busier (I cannot believe how far ahead you are already: so cool!), you definitely need that to help people find their way to different posts here. The Introduction assignment has info on how to add the Labels widget:
ReplyDeleteIntroduction and Blog Navigation
Oops, I had them across the top and not on the sidebar. All better!
ReplyDeleteWow, that was fast!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know... and Happy Monday! :-)
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteFor my favorite places, I wrote about being in the mountains. I went to Wyoming this summer, and loved it! I went to a different portion of the Continental Divide. I am jealous of your traveling. I don't get to travel much, and everything you did sounds like so much fun! Except getting your finger cut off, of course. Did you go backpacking for the 30 miles or how did you do it? Congratulations on your engagement. I would love to hear the story. I love engagement stories! Haha.
First of all, congratulations on graduating and your engagement! Sounds like you will have a busy upcoming year! I also happen to be a sports fan as well! Coming to the University of Oklahoma has made me become an avid college football fan! I also played soccer for many years growing up and even aspired to play at the collegiate level! In addition, my family and I travel to Colorado practically every winter to go skiing. I hope to someday live in Colorado to enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather it has to offer. WOW! I am glad to hear you did not fully lose your finger, that would have been quite unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! I wish you luck with nuclear engineering!!
Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteHaving read your introduction, I wonder if you know a friend of mine. Her name is Maggie McKee-Huey, and she recently graduated from OU and its Navy ROTC program. The two of us met because we share a mentor through the College of Arts and Sciences; he happens to be a retired Major General of the US Army. In regard to your surgery, I cannot imagine going through something like that! I play piano all the time, and I would have been heartbroken for months after that. It really puts injury into perspective, because small (or in your case, large) accidents can have drastic effects on one's life. The same thing applies to you right now as you take an online course!
Jake, I know Maggie very well and am good friends with her and her fiancé. Small world!
ReplyDeleteWow, congratulations! Sounds like you had a very exciting summer (minus the finger incident). I absolutely love Colorado, it is gorgeous. I went on a family vacation to the Rocky Mountain National Park last year and we hiked every day, it was so beautiful. The altitude is killer though. I've never been to Taos, but I've heard it's an amazing place! I've always wanted to visit. We used to go to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico and I always had fun as a child. I hope your finger heals, good luck after graduation!
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for pursing a route in the military, and being apart of the Navy ROTC program. I can only imagine the hard work and time that you have put into all of your work. One of the things that I want to do when I'm finished with school is the travel the country, and I especially want to visit the nation's capital. Backpacking sounds intense, but by just looking at your picture the scenery looks breathtaking! Working in the ER I have seen many finger lacerations, and these patients have my upmost sympathy. I think many of us take for granted the little things, even our fingers. Haha.
ReplyDeleteJeremy, congrats on getting engaged!! That is so exciting for you! Overall, it sounds like you had an extremely eventful summer from the traveling, life changes, and injuries. I am sure you could have gone without some of it, but at least it all makes for a good story!
ReplyDeleteI really cannot imagine how painful cutting your finger on a saw must have been! I am awful with blood and injuries, so I have no doubt I probably would have passed out at the sight of such a severe injury, so I appreciate your choice of picture for this post! Years ago, my dad also hurt his finger when his ring got stuck on the back of a pick-up truck he was jumping out of. It basically left his finger barely hanging on to his hand. They had to do surgery on it, and now he cannot bend his pinky finger and when you touch the front side of his finger, he actually feels it on the back. It's really weird, but cool!
Well I wish you luck on your future navy career, wedding, graduation and this course!!
Jeremey, sounds like you definitely took advantage of your free time this summer! It’s weird to talk about summer now because I already feel so far removed from it, but I’m glad you had an exciting one! Congratulations of your engagement and I’m sorry to hear about your finger, but it sounds like you are keeping a good attitude about it! I broke my wrist several years ago and had to have my arm in a cast up to the elbow…it’s not fun! Hopefully you will heal up quickly!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jeremy, nice to meet you! It sounds like you had quite a few adventures this summer! The picture of your hiking trip is absolutely gorgeous. Congratulations on your engagement! The episode with the saw sounds very scary, but I'm glad the doctors were able to help the situation with the surgery. I hope you can get your cast off soon!
ReplyDeleteHello Jeremy, sounds like you had quite the adventure this summer! The picture you took looks amazing. I'm not sure if I've ever been up that high outside of a building. Sorry to hear about your finger! I guess at least you didn't lose it. I can imagine it's pretty hard to type with all that, but writing by hand might be worse!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeremy! It sounds like you had quite an eventful summer! First of all, congratulations on your engagement--that is so exciting and joyful, and I wish you the best of luck with that. Your photo of the mountains is breathtaking. I love to go hiking and have always wanted to climb a mountain; I'm sure the scenery would be exhilarating and extraordinary anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear about your finger, though--here's hoping for a quick recovery!
Hello Jeremy, first off congratulations on your engagement. It will be an exciting but also a busy time planning your wedding, but i'm sure you'll have a blast! You sound like you had a very adventurous and outdoorsy summer! I've always wanted to go backpacking, maybe one day I will. Hope you have a great last semester, recover quickly, and also a gorgeous wedding!
ReplyDeleteHey Jeremy! Congratulations on your engagement, I am also a senior this year and will be graduating this semester. As a engineer I'm sure it has been a long an arduous journey, and you are probably so relieved that the journey is finally coming to an end. I know that I am definitely glad to be finishing up this semester and moving on to a new chapter in my life. Having your finger nearly cut of must have been painful. I recently tore my acl and will be having surgery in December, which I am totally excited for.....Anyways I will be looking out for the rest of your stories through the semester! Hope It goes well.
ReplyDeleteHola Jeremy!
ReplyDeleteWow you had an eventful summer! Congratulations on the engagement! That is always so exciting and wonderful news to hear. I love hiking so much. I'm jealous that you got to go to Colorado! I have been settling for the Arbuckles lately, those are the closest thing to hiking I've got right now! I'm so sorry to hear about your finger! That sucks so bad. It's just another battle scar of life! I wish you the best of luck in engineering school post graduation and have fun in those subs!
Wow, it's awesome that you're in the navy! I know quite a few people in the ROTC, it is a great program. Colorado is a beautiful place, I want to go back there soon. The picture you took is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love doing home improvement tasks, I think they're a blast....except I have never almost taken my finger off. I can't believe that happened! Best of luck with that! At least it didn't take the entire finger off though. I can't imagine how bad that hurt!
Hi Jeremy, I could not remember if I’d read your introduction so I decided to check anyways. After reading the title I knew I had not read it yet because it was one to remember! You have a very eventful summer and I hope by now your finger is doing much better! Congrats on your engagement and the fact that you will be graduating in a few short months!
ReplyDeleteHey Jeremy! Well I can definitely tell that you enjoy living a little bit on the wild side. Traveling the country, relocating, getting your finger almost cut off. Sounds like you live a very fun life! I certainly hope that you are able to travel to new and exciting places in your future ventures!
ReplyDeleteWow it sounds like you had a very busy but exciting summer, which is great! I love that you were able to spend time in Colorado hiking and exploring! I am actually from Boulder, CO so I totally can relate to the beauty that the state holds. Have you ever hiked at any other really cool places? I would suggest next to climb a mountain there, it is absolutely exhilarating!
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