Happy Birthday Wifey!!!

Happy birthday to the one who can always put a smile on my face.

Happy birthday to the one who sits through shows I like even though you might not.

Happy birthday to the one with most precious freckles in the world.

Happy birthday to the one who loves to be held.

Happy birthday to the one who puts up with my random outbursts of signing out of tune.

Happy birthday to the one I love to argue with...in a good way of course.

Happy birthday to the one who loves to be startled by car horns (NOT!!!).

Happy birthday to the one who makes determination and work ethic look so sexy.

Happy birthday to the one who could eat pizza and ice cream for every meal.

Happy birthday to the one who likes "10 minute tidys" so much.

Happy birthday to the one who never forgets to tell me that she loves me.

Happy birthday to the one who still gets excited about the little things in life (Potato Barn?).

Happy birthday to the one who puts up with my many imperfections.

Happy birthday to the one who embraced me for who I was & not who she thought I should be.

Happy birthday to the one who pushes me to my limits.

Happy birthday to the one who I would die for in a second.

Happy birthday to the one who I want to live for forever.

Happy birthday to the one who loves to snuggle.

Happy birthday to the one who goes with the flow.

Happy birthday to the one who picked me...to which I'll never know the reason.

Happy birthday to my best friend.

Happy birthday to the hottie of all hotties.

Happy birthday to my source of strength.

Happy birthday to the best mommy (of Jezzabel) ever.

Happy birthday to those pretty eyes.

Happy birthday to my bride.

Happy birthday to my wife.

Happy birthday to the one.

Happy birthday Mandi.

I love you more than I could ever put into words.

Getting Control of Cystic Fibrosis

I never posted this video on here before, but just ran across it on Youtube...

What the _____?: October 14th, 2010

A while 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 :) 4) I've literally LOLed all weeks so keep it coming!

Alright, what do ya got!?!?

Last week's photo with the winning caption:

[From left to right: Mandi, Me, Josh (Mandi's brother), Chrissy (Josh's wifey)]

1st: "No, we will not sign up for Wife Swap!"

submitted by Marla

2nd: "See, the leashes HAVE gotten shorter!!"

submitted by Mindy

3rd: "Hey guys, we ladies need the love!"

submitted by Sean

Small comments like this...

...mean the world to me. Let me start by saying I appreciate ALL comments that I get here, on my facebook or on my CysticLife profile, but this one in particular really made my day today.

Thank you for your encouragement Ronnie. I have been running about a month now. I am up to a little over a mile ever day (not so bad considering where I started!)____I have to tell you that my FEV1 was sitting at 60% in August (and has been somewhere in the range of 60%-65% for the past year or so). This past week I blew a whopping 78%!!!! I have changed nothing in my routine except running...running until my lungs burn and I am hacking for air! I have to say, as much as I hate running...I have a feeling it will change my life for the better!____Thanks Ronnie!

For me, this is what it's all about. I started this blog to simply have a place to hold myself accountable on my journey back to good health. To be honest, when I saw that people were coming to this site daily, I wondered why in the heck they were doing so. Eventually, it morphed into what you read today- that being a blog in which I share my life, my triumphs, my failures and my CF story. As the months pass by, I see more and more peeps from the community commenting about starting an exercise or running program, from moms/dads to CFers.

This has now become my biggest motivating factor in doing this blog. I want to see people grab the bull by the horns and just do it. Take that leap of faith that changing something up in your life and really taking this thing head on is worth it. Lacing up your shoes for the first time in years. Feeling that same high as I felt when I ran my first mile. Feeling a sense of accomplishment and pride.

I can't tell you how much it means to me when I read these types of stories on other's blogs or a comment referring to such an accomplishment is left on mine. I know that I come off as a little harsh to some people, or some have accused me as being "too happy", but I only do it from a place of strong belief. I believe 100 percent in the resolve of the human spirit. I believe 100 percent that we all have it in us to set our mind to something and get it done. As a friend in this community once said, "It may be harder, it may feel worse and it may take longer- but we can get in shape just like everybody else".

I truly believe that CF will never get in our way. The only thing in our way most of the time is us.

It's tough when you get out of whack

I was all out of whack these last four days. My trip to San Fran threw off my treatment and workout schedule and now it's up to me to power through and get back on track. Let's just say it was Today: 1 and Ronnie: 0.

I guess I should start off by saying that I didn't completely fall off the wagon while in San Fran. Of my 4 days there, I did 3 treatments a day twice and two treatments a day twice. Not terrible, but not great either. It wouldn't have been as bad if I would of stuck to an exercise routine while I was out there, but then again, it could have been much worse if we hadn't walked about 5 miles a day (at least). So, to summarize, there was a lot of give and take on this trip, but I'm afraid I did mostly taking...and I feel it. Not that I feel bad, but I just feel off. I'm going to have to hit the ground running tomorrow and make a plan and stick to it. That was of course the plan today, but as seems to be a common theme of this blog, I blew it.

I was fully planning to run the entire day and then what seemed to be in the eleventh hour, Mandi and I went on a bike ride instead. It was pure joy and an absolutely great time with my lovely wife, but deep down I just know it wasn't what I needed to do. I should of run before the ride. I needed to really step up to the plate today and I failed. It certainly wasn't planned, but it happened. I would have rather said that after my run today I went on a 5 mile bike ride with Mandi, but I can't. I wish I could tell you that I ran, but I won't. Now, the only way to fix it, is to make better decisions going forward.

Tomorrow is back on the wagon for this guy. I really need to get better at adjusting after being out of the same ol' routine for just four short days. I also need to get better at being committed to running even when not in the comfort of my own neighborhood.

Looks like I have a lot of improving to do. Let's hope it's all on the up and up from here...actually, screw that, it will be.

We left our heart in San Fransisco...

...but with that said, we're SO GLAD to be home. Our trip was great. Work was great. Friends were great. Event was great. Nothing beats being home though.

I'm sure we'll have some stories for you about the trip, but for now, all you get is our trip in pictures. We landed about an hour ago and we're sleepy :)

There's about 162 more pictures and videos, but I'm nodding off while downloading these. I'm sure you'll see some other pics in upcoming weeks...maybe even some for the What the ____?? contest!