Mckenna Chasing Jezzabel

Thankful Thursday: GPT & Challenges

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for hard workouts. We started group personal training at the gym and HOLY COW! I have never been so wiped in my life!!!! It is the hardest 45 minute workout I've ever done. It's going to be SO good for us. I hate it and love it all at the same time.

I'm thankful for Ronnie. I never quite realize how much Ronnie does around the house and for me and Mckenna until he's gone. Since he was gone for 2.5 weeks for his tune-up and now that he's back, I realize just how much he does around here and I am SO thankful. Let's put it this way, when he's gone I actually have to ask what day garbage and recycling goes out, because that's the only time I've ever brought it to the curb.

I'm thankful for a baby with personality. God created Mckenna with so much spunk and so much personality. I think she is going to be quite the handful, but I love her so much and love all her spunk. She's constantly laughing (even fake laughing) and smiling, making "jokes", making sounds. She is quite the blessing that I will never take for granted!!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for new challenges. If I'm not challenged, either personally or professionally, I get bored. Thankfully we have taken on a few new personal challenges centered around our workouts and nutrition. Both are going to take extreme discipline and will power, but I'm confident I can see this through with the support of my family and with my future with them in mind.

I'm thankful family bike rides. Now that we're both up earlier in the day, we've been able to take daily bike rides in the morning as a family. The weather is great in Arizona in the summer...before 7am. We take advantage of what we can get and have really been loving it.

I'm thankful for different chicken marinades. Often times, the slightest hint of a certain flavor can really put chicken over the top. Since we've decided to eat more chicken, figuring out different marinades is going to be key in not going crazy :)

So, what are you thankful for today?

Success In This Life

After 17 days in the Hole, it's good to be home. As many of you know, I don't fight going into the hospital, as I see the forrest through the trees, but that doesn't mean I'd rather be there. Sure, the Hole serves as a place to "get me back on my feet" and find some of the energy that I have lost, but I still miss my family every day like we've spent decades apart.

The hospital is one of those "necessary evils" in life. I use that term loosely as I don't think for one second the Hole is an evil place, but nevertheless, it is necessary for me and it isn't the opposite of evil :)  Fortunately for me, I've always been able to look to the other side of my hospital stays. I tend to be a "live in the moment" kind of a guy, but not in the hospital. In there, I'm looking towards the future and it always looks sunny. I focus on the energy that I'll have when I get out. I'll start making plans for change for when I get home. I know that I'll have more spunk behind the workouts that keep me out of there.

And I think most importantly, the only time I look into the past, is to learn lessons from it and apply it to my present for a better future.

It's not always easy. Not being able to pass Mckenna off to Mandi before she goes "night-night" is gut wrenching. Snuggling with a hospital issued pillow instead of my wife, in a word, sucks. But, I can tell you what would suck even more - Not being here to do either...forever.

I truly believe that the hospital stays put me in the best position to succeed. Success to me in this life is two-fold - LIVING an incredibly active and loving life with my family for as long as possible and raising Mckenna in such a way that her walk with Christ is so strong, that mine pales in comparison. If I can say those two things when God wants me Home, it will undoubtedly be a success.

For me, it's simple. Putting my health as my number 1 priority is the ONLY way I'll find success in this life. Even at times when it calls for me to put my family in a distant second place, I need to stay focused. I need to see the "end game" and not the game. Focusing on the game would make me go crazy in the Hole.

My only chance at success is to focus on my God, my health and my family. The hospital always seems to make the focus more clear and for that I am so, so grateful.

A New Lifestyle

Some of you who have followed the blog for awhile may have recognized a trend, and that is, after each hospital stay, we kind of reset our lives. We set new goals, start a new workout routine, and sometimes, makeover our nutrition. This hospital stay is no different. We like hitting "reset" after a hospital stay because it's when Ronnie is at the top of his game, physically, and it's great to capitalize on that momentum. We like to see if we can get his lung function up even higher post stay (which we usually can), and therefore, he's feeling better a month out of the hospital than when he leaves! So anywhoo, while Ronnie was in the hospital he did some research and reading, and decided that it was time to do an overhaul on our diet and exercise routines, for both of our well being! We eat pretty healthy already, but decided to really step it up, and we worked out 4-5 times a week before, but wanted to step that up also (not in frequency, but in intensity).

Ronnie got out on Thursday night, and it was go time. We went to the store Friday and got all unprocessed healthy foods. You know how they say to only shop on the perimeter of the grocery store (that's where the fresh stuff usually is), well that's what we did. We put together a meal plan that was uber nutritious and set an eating schedule with 5 meals a day...yup, that means we pretty much eat all.day.long!

We also went to the gym and signed up for group personal training. I will admit, I knew it would be tough, but I thought to myself, "I'm in decent shape. I'll be fine." Boy was I wrong. I don't know if I underestimated the "class" or overestimated my fitness level, but we had our first class today and holy cow. The first 25 minutes I was cocky. I was winded, but was thinking I had this in the bag. The last 20 minutes, I thought that I would likely pass out or puke, and that I maybe, just maybe, might die. Ha! It was tough. It had us breathing like crazy! It had our muscles begging us to stop. It was JUST what we wanted and were looking for to get our bodies into shape that we couldn't get ourselves into.

We are jumping in with both feet this week, and it feels good. I tell you what, it's crazy what a healthy diet and getting your butt kicked at the gym will do for you. We are hoping it'll make us both healthier, and who knows, maybe we'll look like a couple of sporting goods store mannequins - HA! I love stepping back and reestablishing goals for ourselves. It makes for a fun way to get re-engerized about our lives!