Today is a very special day

One year ago today, Mandi and I took a HUGE leap in our relationship and got engaged. It was certainly one of the most nerve wracking times of my life (as you can see on the video here), but also the best decision I have ever made. I can still remember picking up the ring at the jewelry store and just sitting in my truck for what seemed like hours staring at it. I can still remember all of the stories I had to give Mandi as to what I was doing to cover up for all my covert-ops to pick out the ring. Most importantly I can still recall all of the crazy emotions that I was feeling the days leading up to and the days after the engagement.

As I sit here and reflect on the year that has passed, I'd have to say that the best thing that has happened is those "new love" feelings haven't changed a bit. I still feel a rush every time Mandi walks into the room. When we were engaged I could look you in the eye and tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I had the best fiancee walking this planet. Now I can sit here and tell you that my wife is undoubtedly the best wife known to mankind. I'm just so proud to be her husband. I respect everything about her and am just floored that I actually landed her. She's WAY out of my league and I'm still trying to figure out what drug she was on to think I was an alright guy.

So Mandi, I love you, I cherish you and my love for you has never wavered and only gets stronger by the day. I still can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with you. Whether it's one year or 100 years, know that I will always live my life as if it was our final day. You deserve more than I could ever give, but I will spend every day of my life trying to show you, through my actions, that you've made me complete and I am forever grateful. Love you honey.

What the _____?: November 11th, 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!?!?

We didn't have enough qualifying entries last week for the picture below, so you guys are getting another stab at it. Let the creative juices flow!

Last week's photo:

Anything on the second time around? If you have a creative caption that works for both you get super creative double trouble triple dog dare points.

I Coulda, but I Didn'ta

It seems like I'm posting the same type of a blog whenever I return from a trip. It goes something like this:

Man, I've got to figure out how to get my runs in when I'm out of town. I fell off the wagon again and it's so hard to get back on now that I'm back home. Not feeling great because of all of the missed workouts. Blah, excuse, blah, blah, excuse. You guys have any tips for me?

I think I have figured out what's happening...I'm chalked full of excuses when I'm away from the nest. It sucks. As I sit here and reflect on this most recent trip, I can point to at least a handful of times each day that I had at least 30 minutes to spare to get a workout in. On the days that it just didn't seem like it was possible, I could have gotten up 30 minutes early. When it comes down to it, life is choices. I choose not to work out while I was in Dallas. There was nothing physically wrong with me while I was away, it was all mental, and it was all on me.

So now as I sit here, I'm left with regret for my choices these past few days, but I'm thankful that I still have the ability to get back on the horse. I made sure to ride him early this morning as I took a walk in the neighborhood before I even gave myself a chance to fully wake up. I got on him again when I laced up my running shoes and went for a run/walk this afternoon. I won't lie to you, it stunk. I coughed so hard during the run that I was pretty sure that my brain was about to fly through my forehead. It was that kind of cough that made my shut my eyes and whence in pain mid-cough. What a great reminder for my "sins" of the past! :) (I honestly couldn't wait for the run to be over, but the good news is that I made it and wasn't too far off of my normal pace.)

So what's my point? My point is, I coulda, but I didn'ta. I'd love to sit here and blame CF. Blame my job. Blame a lack of time. Blame my physical state. Blame my mental state. Blame the weather. Blame my feelings. Blame this. Blame that. There's only one thing to blame here and that's the person who made the choice not to exercise when he was away on a trip. And that person would be ME.

So what's next? Do I beat myself up? Do I throw a pity party? Do I just throw in the towel and say that I can't hack it? Of course not! I wake up tomorrow and I get back on the horse that I rode today. I know tomorrow is going to be busy, but I don't care. I need to show me who's boss. It's not the guy who will put a TV show before working out, but will put working out before almost anything in this world because he's convinced that's the key to staying here a while. It's the guy who's going to wake up at a ridiculously early hour because he knows that will give him the best chance to get his workout in. It's the guy who just realized what he committed to...and with that, the guy who better get to bed!

Dallas In Pictures

We didn't get a whole lot of pictures taken during our trip to Dallas (we're both pretty bad at remembering to break out the camera), but I have managed to put up about 75% of them.

Not sure what's going on here.

Mandi taking a picture of me taking a picture with my phone of the big board leading into the Farmer's Market.

Said Farmer's Market

I'm going to have to find one of these near us. It ALL looked so delicious.

Representing The Cats

Sometimes I feel like a nut, sometimes I don't.

Coke with real sugar??? Where do I sign up?

Outside of the Granada Theater for the super awesome CF Concert Series.

Sound check before the show.

The bar.

Setting up the CysticLife table.

Apparently I'm excited that we're all set up.

Informational handouts about CF.

Special VIP sing-a-long with Rhett Miller

Just livin' the dream.