Sunday, July 31, 2011

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Caiden turned three today! (oops, his real birthday wasn't until the next day - "today" was just the party!) He was so excited about all his presents, it was adorable! Getting to hang out with the Musgrove/Willis/Lester family is always really good... They're the nicest group of people! We successfully avoided the (awesome looking, 3-shaped, decorated-like-a-racetrack, turns-your-teeth-black) cake, but we were starving afterward. So we went to Subway with Laurie, Amy, and Jordan, and it was a blast... I laugh the hardest when I'm with them! So yeah, puh-retty good day. 

I keep forgetting to post my juice intake. I know that not many of you care, but it's keeping me honest. Yesterday I had 16 oz of the carrot/apple juice, and today I haven't had any yet but I'm gonna grab myself an 8oz glass of the same juice to enjoy while I wind down for the night. 

Here's to the new week!

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You should probably ask Judy Lomax about the significance of this evening. 

Suffice it to say that after a couple rounds of Ding-Dong Ditch (they hit us twice), she got owned. 
And supersoaked. 

Friday, July 29, 2011

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I realized that I never posted a picture of Josh's completed tile! It's reading a little too pastel-y in this picture.. in real life, it's much more bright and vivid. And I love it :D So sweet.

I don't think I've mentioned that we spent the past couple of weeks deep-cleaning and reorganizing most of our house (I say, "most," because that spare room is still a disaster area). After 1+ month of sickness, things were piling up. (Think massive, malicious piles.) There was a lot to do, so I wrote down a list of all the things that needed to happen, then I planned the last coupla weeks around that list - one thing at a time, baby. I gotta say, it feels so good. The list system worked really well for Josh and I - writing everything down not only helped me feel less overwhelmed, but allowed Josh to see what I was trying to accomplish, and jump in when he could. Which I really appreciate!!! Like, really, really. Josh is wonderful about helping with chores, in general. I will continue to use lists, for sure. I even bought a cute little notebook for it!

So yesterday, the last thing on my list was crossed off. Granted, when I wrote, "vacuum house," I meant more of a thorough job than the quick run-over Josh did before guests showed up (Thanks, sweetheart!) So there'll be a major vacuuming day sometime next week. Including the stairs that I haven't vacuumed once in almost a year - not once. They're in desperate need of some TLC! So that'll happen next week. That, and hopefully we can put a dent in the spare room. Also, I'm going to implement a weekly cleaning routine instead of just waiting til I notice things need to be done. I feel like that makes more sense anyway, haha.

But for the moment, it's the weekend. Josh and I celebrated our 11 month anniversary by doing nothing. Nothing! It was glorious. Nowhere to be, nothing to do.. just hang out with my best friend all day. Josh made a delicious dinner for us, and we're about to watch a documentary that he wanted me to see :) 

Thursday, July 28, 2011

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We got to hang out with our good friends the MacDonalds tonight, for the first time in over a month!! It was wonderful! We just chilled - dinner and games but it was so nice just to all hang out together like old times. We've missed them. Amy and Jordan were here for a little while too, but I didn't pull out my camera until way after they left. 

I need to figure the lighting situation in my house. If I wait until night, I get too-dark photos that haven't been exposed properly.. I'd rather get it right the first time. Prosumer flashes intimidate me, though... 

I forgot to say yesterday that I only drank like 4oz of the red veg juice. Today I did even worse and didn't drink any, haha. In my defense, today was very busy.. But at least it ended on a good note ;)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

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Epic. 

Jordan won his race tonight, even after crashing on the second lap. He totally came back and placed FIRST!  He almost got disqualified for this little celebration. You're not allowed to take your hands off the handlebars when/after you cross the finish line... That would have sucked. Thankfully they just gave him a warning. It was a seriously epic race tonight, though! Scared the poo out of us when he crashed! The guy in front of him slid on a leaf or something, so Jordan and a few other guys went sailing over the first guy. He rolled head over heels and it looked bad. But he hopped right up and rode to "the pit" where you're allowed to rejoin the main group on their next lap if you crash. Then he fought like crazy through the rest of the race and he did great :) He was so pumped! It was a great race. Poor Mrs Laurie almost had a heart attack, though :/ 

Before the race, we met up with Alex, Matt, and Alline at Starbucks, where we ran into Jen (no surprise there...) They all agreed to come out to the race with us, so with them, the Taylor family, and John and Jeremy... Jordan had an extra big cheering section tonight ;) It was a good time!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

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Today was pretty productive around our house. Organizing and cleaning always makes me feel good! But boy, am I pooped. Josh took me out to Fulin's for dinner! It was a great time :) I love dating my husband. We also got to pick up our pottery from Fired Up and they look a.m.a.z.i.n.g.! I'm not going to be able to wait until September to give my mug to the intended recipient, haha - I'm too excited. (Emily, your bowl is adorable, too!) 

Daily juice intake: 16oz of cucumber lemonade (one medium cucumber, the juice of half a lemon, and a few drops of stevia, diluted to taste) SO YUMMY 

Monday, July 25, 2011

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Mmmmmm.. Today I made some delicious Strawberry Banana Bread.. I used this recipe, which I found via Pinterest, as a very basic guide... It's so rewarding to take a recipe, make it my own a little, and then it works. And it's not like, "Yeah this is alright but it probably woulda been better the other way." 

Blog News! I obviously changed the title to the sleeker (365)TwentyEleven. I hated the title "2011 in Pictures" from the beginning - it was supposed to just be a placeholder until I came up with something better... Now here we are, more than halfway through the year, haha.. it took me that long to come up with something better. Pathetic :p

I also added some info tabs to the site! It began as a way to de-clunk my sidebar, but then I started having fun with it. Check out my new About Me, Goals, and Favorite Blogs pages!

P.S. I drank almost 8oz of what I'm calling the "red veg juice." It's the one that tastes kinda like tomato soup. 

Sunday, July 24, 2011

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Lunch and a movie with my family today! :D I love getting to hang out with them. Mom thought we were doing a goofy picture in the above photo, haha... Promise she's not petting Josh's head for no reason. Those are some serious bunny ears going on. They're just.. hidden behind his head.. Also, observe my ghostly complexion. Anyone who feels bad for not getting enough sun this summer, just look at this picture (or any picture of me) and stop feeling bad. :p

Today was one of those days where I didn't get anything done. I mean, I worked on a few projects, but none of them are completed. Here's lookin' at tomorrow. Procrastination ftw! 

I did, however, manage to drink 16oz of my cucumber lime drink today! Gotta start somewhere, right? ;)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

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I was encouraged by today's juicing session! Josh was more than willing to help me with the whole thing, but I excused him from kitchen duty because:
  1. I work better on my own. I'm most efficient when I can zone everything out and tackle one task at a time. Having to delegate brings me out of that zone and puts me a little on edge. 
  2. Our kitchen is freaking tiny. Trying to share that space without tripping all over each other is a joke, and it adds to the stress. 
The whole process went really well. There were a few moments of uncertainty, but I'm proud of how much I accomplished! Can you believe it took me three hours to get that much juice? I'm sure that as I get into a routine and decide which flavor combinations work best for us, it'll take less and less time. 

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't do so well last week with the "replace a meal with juice each day" or even "drink a little bit of juice each day" - Josh did much better than I did. I'm hoping that the variety of flavors this time around will help with that. Maybe I can make it a point to post how much / what kind of juice I drink each day... Nothing like a little public accountability to keep me motivated, yea? :P

Friday, July 22, 2011

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I had too much ice cream yesterday and the day before. Even if it was dairy- and soy-free, the sugar and chocolate and caramel were still there. Thank goodness they were - nothing beats the blues like sugar, chocolate, caramel, and a sweet husband to hold you close! ;) But now I wish I hadn't eaten as much as I did. Thankfully today was grocery day, which brought an abundance of healthy nutrients to nourish my body! Can't wait to crack open that watermelon, dude...

If I'm being honest, I feel a little overwhelmed by this new juicing thing. We're buying so many vegetables and fruits.. I'm not sure how much to juice and how much to save for eating, and organizing it all in our tiny fridge has proved to be a bit of a challenge. I hate when things go bad in my fridge - worst thing ever. So for now it's just a guessing game, I guess. A learning game! Same thing with finding juice/flavor combinations that we like. I need to allow myself some grace while we figure this thing out!

Josh and I are thinking about visiting the Farmer's Market next time we need veggies. I'm excited about supporting local farmers and getting tastier produce, but I know I'll be overwhelmed there too, haha. It'll be fun. When we I get the guts, you guys will be the first to know about our experience, of course. ;)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

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I made this clock in college. My professor said it looked like something you could buy in a shop by the beach somewhere, and at the time, I though he meant that as a negative - he said it was too neat, lol. At the time, I was discouraged and thought that meant the clock was no good, but now I realize that he just meant it didn't really fit all aspects of the assignment. As time has given me perspective, I now really like it and it works great in our kitchen - greater than if I had understood the assignment a little better. There's probably a lesson in there somewhere.

Chill Day: 

Josh worked the first half of the day. I cleaned a little, but mostly just goofed off on the internet. We started the Portal 2 Co-op mode (awesome). I worked on a meal plan/grocery list. Josh is taking a nap while I get dinner ready. So You Think You Can Dance comes on in ten minutes :) 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

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I think this looks awesome. We were trying to scan this instax print into the computer, but kept losing the white border. I wanted to keep it, so we grabbed the nearest sheet of paper that wasn't white (a magazine), with the intention of cropping around that border in-computer. We decided it looked cool though so I used a really loose crop  so you could still see the mag :) I think it looks really graphic and cool. Could be fun to play with! It's like the digital version of a photogram! Well, I guess not really. More like a collage. Whatever. 

It was a rough race this week. First off, it was HOT. Also, Jordan tried a different strategy this week that kinda screwed him. I think he got in still 8th or 9th.. Still top ten! I think he's doing great. He's the smallest and youngest of the cyclists in his group - so impressive. 

The whole family gets into the action. Look at that intense concentration:


It's been kind of an emotional day for me, so after the race, we stopped at Kroger to get some [coconut milk] ice cream (yumm-mm-mmm-ie) to eat during SYTYCD. It was a good episode tonight - certainly cheered me up! Gotta love that Bollywood. Also, they had the first Tango routine that I've ever really liked on the show! Excited about tomorrow :)

Ok that's it. I'm gonna go wind down on Pinterest for a little while. Peace out!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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Wait... something's not quite right here... That girl is not a Taylor! Tee hee.

Last week when I went to Fired Up with Emily and Jen, I didn't finish the piece I was working on. So Josh took me tonight to finish my mug. Our friend Ashley was working!! We couldn't resist the opportunity to take this silly picture. Josh and Ashley used to work together at CTN, so it's a pretty sweet coincidence that she now works a couple nights a week at Fired Up. Have I ever mentioned how much I love that place? :P  While I finished up my mug (which is freakin' awesome and I really wish I could show y'all but it's a gift and I don't want to ruin the surprise), he painted this cute tile for our home! :D He's so sweet. I think I'll keep him. Of course, he had to mean mug the camera when I took this picture. He muttered something about maintaining his tough guy image with all of his guy friends. Or. Something. All the guy friends who read my blog (Here's lookin' at you, Josh Snyder! ;)


After Fired Up, both of our tummys were a'grumblin'a'big'a'time'a, so Josh surprised me with a dinner date to Cheddars! That place is sooo yummy. They were busy, but we had a good time people watching, philosophying, and of course, making each other laugh. Of the three, we're the best at that last one. I love my Josh so much ♥

Monday, July 18, 2011

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Tonight we hung out with the Jordan, Amy, and their new best friends, the Legendary Bonhams! Sarah and John are really fun. Lots of laughter this evening. I really enjoyed it. :D We played Loaded Questions, and Sarah beat me by three! But John came in honorary second for being awesome and getting all the questions right on his last round. It was a good time! 

So, remember this CD-filled shelf that sat up against our long wall, next to our too-small table of games? We got tired of accidentally knocking those games over. And who uses CDs anymore anyway? So we pulled this shelf out of our bedroom (it wasn't really getting used up there) and loaded it up with our books, Josh's records, my camera stuff (neatly tucked away in that bright pink basket), and our games. I get a kick out of the blue and white piggy bank's face. It's so happy to be a piggy bank. :p The whole transformation actually came about because we wanted to move our record player to a place it would get used more. This area is right by Josh's desk, so now he can listen to whatever during his work day, and having the shelves there to store the records and speakers just made sense. 


We also brought our hope chest downstairs to hold the record player and Josh's printer (which freed up some much-needed space on his desk). We love the new set up! Much less cluttered and way more functional.  I'd like to find a way to hide or camouflage those cords hanging out behind the lamp, and obviously that wall above the hope chest needs some art, but I've got a couple ideas to spruce up the area. Just waiting for canvases and paint to go on sale at Hobby Lobby. I'm excited! 


I also got to "rescue" my brother Joshie when he got a flat near our house this afternoon. He was having a rough day, but it was really nice to get to talk to him while I drove him to where he needed to be. He's a good kid. 

Not a bad day! 

Sunday, July 17, 2011

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Soup & Salad lunch at Olive Garden with my family was so good. Everyone has been sick recently, so today was the first day in almost a month that we all got to hang out! :D You can't tell by my brother Joshie's face, but we really were having a great time - ha ha. 

Now Joshie is over for dinner, conversation, and Halo :) Oh my gosh, he just locked Josh on the back porch as I typed that, ahahahahaha. Funny. Those two are quite the pair when they get together. Anyway,  it was cool to get to hang out with him a little and hear about what's going on in his life!

Husband Josh finished editing and uploaded the video we worked on the other day: Healthy Kid Freak Out 2 this morning! Watching Josh drink a pulverized bloomin' onion = worth it. Check it outttttt. 

Saturday, July 16, 2011

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Seriously, how cute is Hannah? Check out her adorable patterned nails - There's a ladybug and a strawberry in there, and that right index finger is a watermelon! How appropriate ;) 

Tonight, the Turners invited us over for an evening of fun and games with the crew. For the first half of the evening, we ate and caught up - it was so nice to see Calista and Alex! It'd been months since we had seen them. They've had a crazy week! They decided to move out of their house on Monday; they found, applied for, and were accepted for an apartment 5 minutes away from their old house on Tuesday; they packed and moved everything over on Wednesday (which was their day off work); and yesterday was their first full day in the new digs. Calista even managed to go blueberry picking in the middle of all that! Are you having as much trouble wrapping your mind around that as I am? They're like Superman's little-known cousins, the Supercouple. Haha. So impressed and excited for them :) They really like their new place! I loved getting to hang out and chat with them for a few hours. Wish they didn't live so far away! 

The second half of the evening, we played Baptist Rook (maybe my new favorite card game) and Spoons.  Mr. David and Donny were pretty close throughout Baptist Rook, but Mr. David pulled it out in the end. Spoons is always a fun time! As you can see in the photo below, Katie was the champion of grabbing spoons out from under the other player's hands, but Mr. David ended up winning again! :P He's the King of the Card Games. 


Many thanks to the Turners for hosting such an enjoyable gathering. Looking forward to the next one :)

Friday, July 15, 2011

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Excuse this noisy photo. They were using the camera for another "Healthy Kid Freak Out" video, so I grabbed my old one to document the goings-on. Amy and Jordan came over today! They helped out with the video and then they played Halo for a while. It was fuuun :) Alex came over later for dinner ♥ I FINALLY got him to watch Scott Pilgrim vs The World! That movie makes me laugh every time. So good. 

I'm TIRED. Not gonna have any trouble falling asleep tonight (thank God). G'night, peeps!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

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We juiced all of this today! It was a little overwhelming, ha - it took a few hours, and the product was not delicious. Or even kinda yummy, haha. But we'll have plenty of time to figure out new combinations/flavors we can deal with. Today we just mixed everything together, in the spirit of getting it over with :p We have enough vegetable juice to last us at least a couple days! My goal is to replace one meal each day with veggie juice - maybe breakfast. Get those nutrients in first thing, you know?


While I'm not thrilled about what I know I'll feel during detox, I am thrilled about how I know I'll feel afterward! Gotta keep that bigger picture in mind.

We also did a little cleaning today.. this house has been pretty much neglected for over a month, so it feels good to have it clean. What a nice, productive day! I'm ready to kick back with some veggie juice, salmon for dinner, and a little So You Think You Can Dance. 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

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Look at alllll the yummy fruit we got today! YAY. We've got a ton of vegetables, too, but they're not as pretty to look at ;) This grocery trip was the beginning of our get-back-into-health initiative. Tomorrow, we're going to start juicing our vegetables (with a little fruit thrown in here and there) and that juice be our main source of nutrients. We plan to wean ourselves off of processed food within the next few months and hopefully for the rest of the year.. I'm not going to go into too much detail about our plan, but just so no one out there thinks we're blindly going into this, I promise, we're not. Please don't try to change my mind about this, I've experienced firsthand the many benefits of juicing, and I'm 100% convinced! We plan to go visit Dr Rawdon (my nutritionist) sometime next week, and he'll keep an eye on us throughout the whole process, just to make sure we're being safe and getting all the vitamins and minerals and protein that we need. (I know you people freak out about your protein! lol) We're not going to do a juice fast - we'll still eat some solid foods too - but the juices will be a major part of our diet for the next few months :) I'm really excited! I know it's gonna be difficult, but it'll be worth it. Josh has wonderfully agreed to go on this diet with me, knowing that without his support, I wouldn't last a month. It's difficult impossible to drink carrot juice when your sweetheart's eating a pizza :P 

And I wanna make one thing clear, because when you say the word, 'diet,' people usually assume you're trying to lose weight. That's not what this is about for us - it's about being as healthy as we can be, inside and out. I know I don't need to lose weight, but I also know that my poor insides aren't getting all the nutrients they need. And if I want to keep me healthy, I need to treat my body better. And Josh too! So we can live long and happy lives, and so our future kiddos don't have to live with lethargic or sickly parents. :D That's the ultimate goal. SPEAKING OF HEALTHY, CHECK OUT THIS PICTURE OF JORDAN BIKING:


How'dya like my awkward transition there? ;) I'm telling you, Jordan is a cycling fiend. We finally got to go to one his races tonight, after a month-long absence. It was great to see him race again! Jordan had a good start, even leading the pack on the first few laps, but he clipped his pedal on the curb and almost wiped out! Somehow, he caught himself by balancing on one wheel AND one pedal, leaned his bike in the opposite direction and he stayed up and kept racing. He said that when it happened, everyone behind him was amazed; they called up things like, "Whoa, good save!" One guy afterward described what he saw saying that Jordan "looked like he was riding his bike upside down." Not sure how that would work, haha, but there it is! Unfortunately, his pedal got bent, his seat fell a little, and one of his brake pads started rubbing against his tire for the rest of the race (not good!). He came in 12th place - despite all the complications - which keeps him in 3rd place overall. The other cyclists kept coming up to him after the race to express their amazement and respect. It was cool to see! We're so proud of Jordy. He did great

I'm totally obsessing over tonight's episode of So You Think You Can Dance. Amazing. Just amazing. Did anyone else almost cry when they realized that Melanie and Marko won't be paired up anymore? Those two should take note and work together after this whole thing is over. 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

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My friends are pretty cute, huh? ;) Tonight was a girl's night! I had such a blast. Panera + Fired Up + girl friends is always a good combination. I didn't finish my piece (shocker) so I'll have to go back in a couple days. I don't hate it. Jen didn't paint anything, but Emily's bowl is the cutest. It was so nice spend time with these girls.. I've missed them. I'm so thankful that they came to hang out with me even though my husband has mono, haha. Seriously, Emily's husband tried to talk her out of hanging out, for fear of me sneezing on her (Which I didn't! And I don't have mono anyway! Haha). 

Speaking of, Josh just continues to improve! YAYY. He's still taking it easy - taking naps when needed and such - but I can't get over how nice it is to see him up and about, without a pained look on his face.

Great day ♥

Monday, July 11, 2011

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WE GOT TO HANG OUT WITH JOSH'S FAMILY TONIGHT! It was so good to go out and see loved ones. Josh is feeling sooooo much better. He still has to keep taking it easy for a couple more months... But his energy level is definitely getting better, and his throat is very nearly healed. :D So today was the first day that he felt comfortable going out and being around people. David was over too, so we had a good time playing Truth Be Told and Halo. Mostly it was just refreshing to get to see everyone again ;) It'd been too long. 

I think my laptop is toast. That's the reason I haven't had any editing software for the past week and a half :/ It's a bummer. Hopefully it just needs a new battery or Josh can fix it for me.. We'll see. 

Sunday, July 10, 2011

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This is one of my favorite things about our current little townhouse... This skylight in the staircase. It keeps us from having to turn on the light upstairs when the sun is shining! Plus it's just cool in general. :P Josh and I have been dreaming lately of owning our own house, so I've spent the last coupla days thinking about the design elements I'd love for our future house to have. And I have some inspiration photos, thanks to Pinterest! I'm learning that I love the look of big windows with airy curtains, the contrast of rustic hardwood floors and crisp white trim, lightly colored walls with creatively arranged b&w photos, and big kitchens with big islands. So. Pretty much the opposite of how I've decorated our current home, lol.. I think that's funny :p I'm having a lot of fun dreaming! 

What prompted my sudden interest in the look of our future house, you ask? Well, we don't plan to actively search for a house anytime soon. We still love our little townhouse ;) But a few days ago, as we daydreamed, we actually worked out some logistics. Now we have a tentative timeline, savings goals, and a new monthly budget we'll have to follow to meet said savings goals in said timeline. So exciting :) 

Josh beat Portal 2 today! It was awesome. Probably my favorite game to help/watch him solve. I'd say that it's comparable to Limbo (which we all know I love). But while the beauty of Limbo is that it's all puzzles and very little story (making it very mysterious and intense), Portal managed to use a greatly entertaining story line to enhance the puzzles you have to perform, without losing any of the mystery that makes it interesting. So yeah. I'm sure I don't have to urge any of my gamer friends to try it - you've probably already beaten it, ha - but I'm just saying. I enjoyed it a lot! We're gonna start the co-op mode within the next couple of days, methinks. Looking forward to it! 

So that was my day. Dreams and Portal. Or if you're my husband, dreams of Portal. Srsly, that game gets in your head... 

Saturday, July 9, 2011

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Today was a good day. Josh is in the silliest mood, haha... He's been cracking me up all day. It's been wonderful! So glad that he's not miserable anymore! And I even got a few kisses from him ;) Best day ever. 

I was gonna go to Fired Up with Emily and Sara, but they had to wait on a service man to leave the house and he took longer than expected :( So we had to cancel, and we'll just have to do it another time! I'm so ready to go to Fired Up. I already know what I'm going to paint and everything. Obsessed!

Now we're gonna watch some The Kennedys and maybe play Portal 2, nobigdeal. 

Friday, July 8, 2011

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We got Boy Meets World season 6 in the mail today! :D Love that show. ♥ Needless to say, we'll be watching a bunch of that in the upcoming days, as Josh continues to get better. Today he's been well enough to work a little :) He's had to take nap/rest breaks, but it's encouraging to see him working again! 

Josh also wrote a new blog today - check it out! 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

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I promise I won't overdo it with the instax pictures. This was just too cute to not share ;)

Today has been fun.. Nothing too exciting, I've just enjoyed hanging out with Josh today. He's felt the best so far today, which is very encouraging! Seems like he's on the mend! We're both very happy about that :) Also encouraging: my foot is barely even a problem anymore. I have to remind myself to keep applying the cream for continued healing.. I can barely see or feel anything bad. Yay!

This week, we've been watching The Kennedys miniseries on Netflix.. it's awesome. Very, very interesting! I'd recommend it to all you history lovers! 

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

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Josh surprised me with an Instax 210 today! I mentioned in passing that I wanted one at some point.. I said, 'Maybe this can be my Christmas present this year,' and apparently he thought that was a crappy idea,, so he just got it for me now instead! :D I'm kinda spoiled, aren't I. He was so excited. He was so sweet. So we had a little fun with the new toy today! Josh's face in this picture (and farmer's tan!) crack me up. 

Josh's throat is feeling a lot better today! Seems like everything we've been doing to relieve the pain is starting to work. We both slept muchmuchmuch better last night, too, so I think that has a lot to do with it. I'm so ready for Josh to get over this mono so I can kiss him again! COME ON.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

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Well, the doc says that Josh has mono. :/ There aren't any meds to speed up the healing process - it just has to run it's course. She said it could take anywhere from two weeks to six months for him to fully recuperate.. it just depends on how things go. I'm praying for the two weeks one! Ha ha. I'm praying he'll feel better by the end of this week. I just hate seeing him hurting, without any real way to make him less miserable. We did find that orange juice popsicles are soothing to his throat! So I'm going to stock up on juices and try to keep popsicles or cold smoothies made up for him. 

Today's been kind of hard. On the one hand, it's nice to know what's been causing his sore throat and fever and all that. But on the other hand, there's nothing we can do to speed things along - we already eat healthy, drink lots of water, and take supplements to help his immune system along, which is what they tell you to do when you have mono. He's just gotta rest... So we're doing everything we can already! Thankfully he's slept a lot more today than he has been the last few days.

So please be praying for us! For Josh that he'll get better quickly (and that his poor throat will stop hurting him! It wakes him up all the time...) and for me that I won't get sick, and that I can get the rest I need to keep my body's defenses strong. I've been sleeping lightly lately, so every time he wakes up with with throat pain, I wake up too. It feels so helpless when I can't do anything for him :(. But I'm already more susceptible to viruses - I need to get adequate rest if I'm gonna resist this thing.

Monday, July 4, 2011

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Obligatory fireworks picture. From the neighborhood.
We got to skype with Jen today!!! Jen's in Romania with her church, working with a group of girls who grew up orphans and she's just loving the heck out of them! I have never seen my Jen look so happy - she's just radiating joy and she's gorgeous! She gave us a mini-tour of her room and awesome back porch - the neighborhood she's in is so charming! Colorful houses with red roofs, white trim, and gardens... It was so beautiful. It was 9pm her time and still light outside! The sun doesn't go down til about 10:30, she said. She told us about a typical day for her and - I just haven't seen her so happy in a long time. I'm so glad she got to go on this trip and I'll be praying with her for God to give her wisdom and discernment and direction about maybe going back again, for longer. So far, that's been the best part of my day! :) We love our Jen. 

The rest of the day, we hung out on the couch watching TV shows on Netflix while Josh fell in and out of sleep. I wish he could sleep longer during the day - I'm convinced that he would feel better sooner if he could sleep more - but he only naps throughout the day for 20-30 minutes at a time, then he'll wake up because his throat hurts him :( We're going to go to the doctor tomorrow. We were gonna go today, but it's July 4 so everyone is closed! We didn't do anything to celebrate Independence Day.. I stepped outside for a little to watch the fireworks from afar, but I couldn't really see anything. Shrug. 

Sunday, July 3, 2011

184


I didn't take any pictures today. I know, I know! I'm a big cheat. (I'm imagining that this picture is Joshie and past-me, reprimanding present-me for breaking the rules of this 365 blog.) Since my husband Josh and I have been sick the past few weeks (and we haven't gone hardly anywhere), I got out of the habit of carrying my camera around with me. Luckily, Alex and his new iPhone rescued me from having to take another boring picture at home! 

So apparently none of us realized how alike Joshie and I kinda look (other than skin tone, OBVIOUSLY - if we were judging solely on skin-tone, that styrofoam cup would more likely be my brother!). But we've got the same eyes, nose, smile, and neck- we've each just got the respective boy/girl version. We're even wearing the same color shirt! Haha. Alex has the same eyes and smile, I'm pretty sure, but he's got a different nose and general shape.


Needless to say, it was a fun family lunch. Lots of hugs and laughs. It was so nice to see my family! It'd been a couple weeks, and I was missing all of them. And of course, the lovely Hannah came too, and it was fun to hang out with her. She, Joshie, and I ran to Providence for errands, and they made me smile. :P So cute.

My poor Josh is still suffering from a sore throat, so he stayed at home. You know he's not feeling great when he skips out on greek food, and then goes to sleep at 7:30! Keep praying that Josh gets better SOON! We'll have to go to the doctor if it's no better in a coupla days.. and neither of us wants to do that.. I wish I wish I wish that my sweetheart was feeling better and that he could've come to family lunch, and that he would've been able to go to Jordan's race. Jordan did really well and got 3rd, by the way! Still in first overall!

Overall, it was a wonderful day. Thanks for all the prayers.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

183


This afternoon marked the halfway point of this year! 182 days to go. YAY. Only six more months. 

Josh's throat is still hurting him :( but he got to go to Jordan's race this afternoon - Jordan did well and got 6th in the race, and he's still in first overall! I slept in, so I wasn't ready to go when Josh left. 

And as the picture shows, we're makin' popsicles! We so excited.

P.S. Update on my foot: it's getting a lot better! Now it just looks like a bruise, and it barely hurts me. The cream the doctor prescribed me has been wonderful - and it didn't make me sick! Such a plus. I've been taking pictures of it every other day to track the healing progress, so maybe I'll post a before/after photo either here or on facebook. One of these days. 

Friday, July 1, 2011

182


Mmmm, strawberries!

Mandatory health update: Josh's throat is still hurting him.. I've started feeling a little iffy myself today SAD FACE. I missed Erika's wedding because of it SADDER FACE. I'm probably going to regret that for a long time. I'm ready for this sick spell in our house to be over!

Josh's good mood has continued from yesterday, and it's still so nice to see him up and about. Oh! I forgot to tell you guys about when his fever was breaking in the middle of the night a few nights ago.. He was talking in his sleep about Adventures in Odyssey, and being on a radio show. I started asking him questions, and he described a room with six studios in it, and told me he was afraid of heights, but ONLY on the radio show, not in real life. lol My favorite was when he asked (out of the blue), "Am I in like a funny house?" and I replied, "No, you're at home, sweetheart," and he said, "Oh, ok," and then he went back to sleep. Haha! Hilarious. At least he didn't have any bad fever dreams.