Good ol' Family Fun...

It's not Monday - but it's Mandi here..

Ronnie and I saw Despicable Me, starring Steve Carell, with some friends last night. We were going to see Knight and Day, but Chrissy, my sister in law, had her little sister (not real little sister, but little sister through big brother, big sister), so we decided to go to a kid-friendly movie so they could join us. BEST.DECISION.EVER!! It is an adorable movie, perfect for kids, hilarious for adults. We laughed quite a bit through it and I absolutely fell in love with a little girl in it. Steve Carell did a GREAT job. You could barely tell that it was him. I wanted to share a clip, to hopefully convince you to spend your hard-earned money on some good ol' family fun!

**Please note, the little brunette is my FAVORITE character. I wish she was real, because I would adopt her!

Enjoy!

Flash Me Friday - Outdoor Space

This week's addition of Flash Me Friday call for pictures of our outdoor space. The backyard and outdoor space was actually the determining factor when Mandi and I purchased the house. We knew the neighborhood that we wanted to live in, but we were disappointed with the backyards in many of the properties. Just when we thought the "perfect" house wouldn't come available until after we were married, this one showed up on the listings...

Outdoor fireplace which is perfect for making Smores!! Also, it's a perfect holder for that dead plant I planted a couple of months back :)

The old owners actually built on the arbor which definitely comes in handy on hot summer days!

My two girls playing around :)

Look right into the garden...

...and look left into a lawn that requires mowing :)

Are you interested in also participating? This brainchild of Jen over at The Groettum Familyblog is going to be a weekly series in which we have to take a picture of her choosing without any cleaning up whatsoever. If you want in on the action, please visit here for the "rules".

What the _____?: July 8th, 2010

A couple of weeks ago we started a little contest on this blog in which I post a picture and whoever comes up with the most clever/funny/witty/etc caption gets put into a drawing for prizes at the end of the year. Still don't have everything figured out as of yet, but we do know a couple of things 1) There will be multiple prizes 2) I love the participation so far 3) If you think your submission is inappropriate for others to see, you can always email your answer directly to me at ronnie@cysticlife.org, as Andrea R found out two weeks ago (which by the way was hilarious) :) 4) I've literally LOLed both weeks so keep it coming!

This week's picture:

Alright, what do ya got!?!?

Last week's photo with the winning caption:

Winner: "And I thought the need for extra calories was for better lung function!!"

submitted by Lynsey

2nd: "Mandi, meet my best man. He's a real "stand up" guy"

submitted by Teresa

tie

"Maybe we shouldn't have waited..."

submitted by Amara

3rd: "I said I wanted chipolatatas on the wedding menu. Not my wedding night..."

submitted by Helen

There was a definite theme in last week's submissions...get your mind out of the gutter guys!! Just kidding, leave it in there, it's usually funnier that way :)

The New "Sort Of Detailed" Workout Plan

Alright, so I was asked what my new workout plan consisted of and I will try my best to lay it out for you. As we all know, sometimes these things can be flexible, but we are going to try our very best to make sure we get done what we set out to do every week.

M, Tu, W, Th, F- Wake up between 6am-7am to walk at least 1 mile at a decent pace to get all of the junk out that's been kicking it my airbags as I slept. We always will take Jezzabel on this morning adventure and it usually turns into closer to 2 miles. We will usually go for a walk on Saturday and Sunday also, just the waking up at 6am part doesn't hold true.

M, Tu, W, Th, F, Sat, Su- I will do AT LEAST 3 treatments a day and hopefully 4 barring in legit excuse. My treatments consist of Albuterol/Atrovent (3-4 x a day), Pulmozyme (2 x day), 7% (1-2 x a day), Cayston (3 x a day) and the Vest for 30 minutes a session. This is an absolute vital part of my workout plan. If I mess up on this, everything else goes down hill.

M, Tu, Th, Sat, Su- This is the tentative running schedule. We're still trying to figure out when leg day will be at the gym and we don't want to run that day plus we get one rest day. So the days could change, but the goal is to run five days a week. We'll start slow but then get back into a plan similar to the first running plan I ever tried.

Monday, Thursday- Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Flys, Pinwheel Curls, Standing Barbell Curls, Cable Preacher Curl

Tuesday, Friday- Deadlift, Barbell Rows, Lat Pull Down, Seated Cable Row, Seated Calf Raise, 45 Degree Calf Raise

Wednesday, Saturday- Seated Barbell Press, Seated Arnold Press, Barbell Front Raise, Dumbbell Lateral Raise, Close Grip Bench Press, Seated French Press, EZ Bar Skull Crusher, Cable Tricep Extension

Friday Only- Squat, Leg Press, Front Squat, Leg Press, Leg Curl, Romanian Dead Lift

Sunday- Long Run, No Gym

We also ride our bikes to and from the gym and usually find an excuse to ride them around again at some point during the day. It's usually to get the mail, but then sometimes we just end up cruising around.

So there it is!! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Did Anybody Get....

...the license plate number of the mini-van that just ran me over?? Wow, I hurt (and I expect it to feel like a truck in a couple of days). Something told me that it wasn't the brightest idea to play tackle football/rugby/murderball in the pool for six hours yesterday if I wanted to get back on the workout horse today. That person's name was Common Sense and I didn't listen. I knew it was going to be a rough one today when it felt as if I had walked on sandpaper for 36 hours straight the minute my feet hit the carpet as I "hopped" out of bed. I use that term very loosely as I'm sure it looked more like a beached whale trying to roll his way back into the water. But, because of my amazing determination and commitment, I was able to push through it and get ready to face the day ahead. Ok, I just lied to your face right there. Mandi's determination and commitment to get me back on track was the SOLE reason we got up so early and hit the pavement. And, of course, I'm so glad we did.

We've actually been good about riding our bikes and going for walks, but this morning was different. It was like walking with a purpose. And if that purpose was to decorate the sidewalk and all surrounding areas with my mucus, then mission accomplished. I coughed up so much junk this morning it was CRAZY. I was getting out plugs, followed by green, yellow, white, clear and repeat. Admittedly, during the walk it didn't feel like I was King of the World, but man, it sure set the tone for the rest of the day. I felt so clear and like I was actually using all five lobes today. My lungs were open and ready for business.

My body was actually holding me back on my other workouts today more than my lungs were. Now, don't get me wrong, when we went on a run/walk after the gym, I was really pulling for air. It wasn't the "oh my, I'm going to faint" pull for air, just the "seriously, this really stinks" pull for air. So, in my mind, I'm ahead of the game. The last first time I got back on the workout horse, I would have bet you money that I was about to faint. Now, having been through that experience multiple times, I've learned that it's just my lungs lying to me. It's almost like they want me to fail. Like there some school yard bully who just gets gratification by picking on me. Well, today was the day I started to fight back again. Fighting back is the only way to do it.

If anybody is actually reading this, I want you to know the reason why I'm writing this post today. I want you to know that it's hard. It sucks. It's not going to feel good. Just a few short months ago I was running for almost an hour straight. Now, the thought of that almost makes me puke. But, I have a goal. I have a mission. I have an opponent. I'm going to get back on the horse that got me to the point were I could lace up my shoes, turn on my ipod and just run. This horse has a name: it's sacrifice, hard work, sweat, tears, pain, agony and no excuses. I know what I need to do and I know what's going to get me there. Now I just have to stay on this horse and ride him until he dies.

**If you have some extra time today, please check out Jesse's blog CF Fatboy. He wrote an incredibly touching blog about Mandi and I that really put a smile on my face. We're both married to incredible women who keep us going and pick up our feet when we feel we can't go anymore. Thank you Fatboy!!

The Honeymoon is over...

I absolutely love Monday Holidays. I totally get that having a Friday off is just as long as having a Monday off, but somehow having the day off added to the end of the weekend makes it feel so much longer. Am I alone in this? Truthfully, I'm not quite sure why I don't have to work today -the day AFTER a holiday - but I'll take it!

We very much enjoyed our 4th of July. We spent it with our brothers (Josh, Grant, Andrew), sister (Chrissy), cousin (Steven) and friends (Mike, Brittany, Brendan and Julie) in the pool; playing any game we could make up with a football. It was a good time, but man-oh-man, it was also a good reminder of how out of shape we've gotten. I mean, I just thought my new scale ran a bit heavy....but unfortunately I don't think that's the case ;-)

So hence the title - the honeymoon is over. Tomorrow is the day we get back into our normal workout routine. Between the wedding, honeymoon, new job, hot weather, family trip, settling into married life, etc etc etc, (insert more excuses here), we haven't quite settled back into a good workout routine. We rode our bikes daily and took short walks, but based on our performance in the pool today, it's not cutting it. SOOO it's back to morning walks, the gym, and runs daily. It's not going to be fun, or comfortable for that matter, but we're going to have to force ourselves to do it until it feels natural again.

We've decided that we're going to take a Day 1 photo of ourselves and hop on the scale to get our starting bodies well documented, and then take weekly photos of ourselves to chart the progress. We'll also keep track of what kinds of weights we're throwing up at the gym, as well as how far/long we're running each day. There's no better way to see progress than to actually SEE the progress.

Anyone want to join us?? It's not gonna be pretty, but it'll be worth it!

Happy Birthday Brother!!!

So today is the 4th of July and I plan on spending it with my wonderful wife and family. My brother Grant has been staying with us all week and was joined yesterday by my other brother Andrew. We're going to be having a BBQ at Mandi's parents' house and hang out by the pool. 4th of July is cool for fireworks, independence and all, but I think what really makes it special is that it's my brother Grant's 18th birthday!! I'm so proud of the man he has become and I can't wait to see what life has in store for him. I love you Grant with all of my heart and I'm so happy that I can spend today with you in celebration of the big 1-8!!!