Happy Thanksgiving!

We're taking this week off with highlight posts...see you next week!

Boasting Bengal: James Barlow

James Barlow ranks high at the top of our list of people with interesting adventures since leaving high school. Since leaving Utah in September 1999, he worked as a hospital corpsman with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA, for 3 years before moving to Iceland for 3.5 years and learning Icelandic while working at the Naval Hospital there. When the base in Iceland closed, he was transferred to Naval Air Station Willow Grove, PA, where he was then deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for 6 months of scuba diving and relaxing on the beach, with a little work here and there. Currently he lives just outside of Philadelphia, PA.

James received his BA in History from the University of Maryland in 2007 and is currently attending Temple University in Philadelphia as a full-time MBA student. He is also in an officer commissioning program, and when he graduates, he will go into the healthcare administration field for the Navy. James was recently selected as one of the the Vice Presidents of the Temple MBA Student Association by his fellow students and school administration.

James spends his weekends with his son, Aidan Glenn Barlow, who recently started kindergarten in nearby in New Jersey, and is one of the few five year-olds on the block who has lived in Iceland and visited Cuba. James has been involved in the 2008 elections and recently had the honor of speaking at a campaign rally in front of a Veteran's group with his Congressman, Patrick Murphy (D) PA-8th, about the new GI Bill and how Congressman Murphy's work on drafting the bill is helping veterans across the country go to college.

[Learn more about the Temple MBA Student Association here, and be sure to check out all of James's fascinating photos on his Flickr account here.]

Boasting Bengal: Andrea Burton

Currently living in Idaho with her husband and three children, Andrea Burton has developed a love for sign language over the past 10 years and has developed a website dedicated to teaching parents the benefits of sign language. Some benefits include clarification, improvement in verbal skills, faster language acquisition, and others. She demonstrates sign language abilities via online videos with her four-year-old daughter, Annie.

[Learn more about teaching your baby to sign on her blog here.]

Boasting Bengal: Justin Wood

It looks like Justin's been up to...well, wherever he wants to go! He's become a mastermind behind the art of rock climbing and outdoor adventures. If you've every had questions about the great outdoors and what it takes to be a serious rock climber, Justin's your man.

[Check out all of Justin's documentaries here, but especially see this post--these photos are enough to make even his mother nervous!]