Tutu's & Brews 5k

Going to be in or around San Antonio in two weeks?? Check out this great event. I'll have some family there so you can say hi :)

Got to start 'em early!!

Thankful Thursday: Snaggle Teeth & Marriage Series

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 stir fry. Ronnie made killer stir fry last night. I don't have anything profound to say about it. It was just delicious and therefore I'm thankful for it.

I'm thankful for fall. Fall is such a fun time of year. The weather cools off. Mornings are crisp. Trees turn colors. The excitement starts to build for the holidays. I love it all and I'm thankful that it's that time of year

I'm thankful for snaggle teeth. "HUH?" You're thinking. Yup, snaggle teeth. Mckenna's new name around here is snaggle tooth. She got her bottom two front teeth a few months back. We have been waiting for her top two middle teeth to come in...they're usually the next ones to come, right?! When it comes to Mckenna, WRONG. Instead of getting her middle two top teeth, she's getting one, big, lone tooth to the left of her middle two top teeth. She looks like she has the craziest mouth ever, and I love it. Her little snaggle tooth is so adorable...even if it makes her look like a vampire hillbilly!!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for an active wife. It is an absolute joy being married to someone who likes to stay active. I get great encouragement from Mandi when I see the example that she sets daily. She is willing to get up early, move around her schedule and delay things she'd rather be doing to make sure she gets in her exercise. Example: She often goes to a 4:40am core class and then for a run on days where is looks Mckenna's first nap may run into our regular exercise time. She's amazing.

I'm thankful for our current small group Bible study. We're currently doing a marriage series in our small group based off of a book that was co-authored by a Pastor and his wife. If you're interested, it's called Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together by Mark and Grace Driscoll. The book is a great read, the workbook asks great questions and the videos keep my attention. I love talking about relationships in general, but if I'm able to strengthen my own marriage through those conversations, then it's all for the better.

I'm thankful for a better grasp on foods that are good for me. I've been really into nutrition and clean eating lately, and I've been very pleased with the results. I feel better overall; I have more energy; I'm less bloated. It's been fun coming up with unique ways to create really healthy meals that still taste great!!

So, what are you thankful for today?

My Wife Can't Only Be My Best Friend

Mandi and I are best friends. Beyond a shadow of a doubt she is who I turn to with any joys, sorrows, questions or exclamations. I spend the most time with her by far, and we enjoy doing pretty much anything that we can together. We both can't wait to be done with our work day so we can hang out, and some of our favorite parts of each day are our gym time together or our bike rides.

If my best friend wasn't around often, I just don't know what I would do with myself.

Is being married to my best friend one of the greatest things ever? Yes. Is it enough to keep our marriage strong and our love growing? No.

You see, many of us have had best friends over the years. Best friends come and go. You don't raise children with your best friend. You don't sleep in the same bed as your best friend. You don't join bank accounts with your best friend. And you don't make a proclamation and covenant before God, family and friends that your best friend will be your best friend forever and ever no matter what.

So what am I saying? It's not good to be married to your best friend? Of course not! I am however saying that your wife can't only be your best friend.

She must also be my partner, co-parent, lover, spiritual equal, (sometimes) business partner, co-decision maker, (sometimes) co-wage earner, co-house keeper, and the list goes on. If just one of those relationships is strained, it can negatively impact the rest of them. It can also rock the boat of our friendship.

That's why date nights are so important.

That's when I can show my best friend, that she's still my wife.

And date nights don't start the night of. They can start the day of or the week of, or heck, the month of.

I can start to pursue my wife again. I assure you that she has never changed on her enjoyment of being pursued. That's how our wives were wired. There isn't a woman on this planet that doesn't like her husband to try and "win" her each and every day. I am the first to admit, that often times, I forget this.

It's so easy to get caught up in the motions of just being best friends, co-parents, and business partners. That stuff is present everyday and it happens no matter what we do. We're going to hang out, we're going to be mommy and daddy to Mckenna and we're going to go to work.

What doesn't have to happen everyday however unless I choose to bring it into the day is Mandi being my wife, and I her husband. That's a choice. That's a choice I have to make from the minute I put two feet on the ground to the minute I lay my head on that pillow.

Pursuit happens in many different forms. It could be flowers, notes, back-rubs, head scratches, words and even, just shutting my mouth and listening (gasp!!).

I'm certainly not telling you that I'm the king of pursuit or that I have this husband thing down. What I am telling you however is that my wife deserves to be pursued each and every day and the fact that she is also my best friend is just icing on the cake!

How are you going to show your wife today that she is more than your best friend?

**Women, you of course can do the same! How about you? What will you do today to show your hubby that he isn't just _____________ (daddy, friend, worker, yard guy, etc)?**

Arizona and CF

Question - A friend of mine has a 5 year old with CF and she's been pretty sick ever since they moved to Portland, probably due to the weather. They've heard from a lot of people that they should move to Arizona because the dry heat helps people with CF. What are your thoughts on this? Would you suggest the move? Is there anything they should worry about? I was much healthier when I was living in SoCal out by the high desert, but I don't want to go on just my experiences. I want to know how CFers in Arizona feel. Any opinion and feedback would be much appreciated.

'''''''

Answer - I've lived in AZ my whole life. With that said, I've had the opportunity to travel and stay in many places. The only place that I have breathed any better was southern California. Not LA, but Orange County or SD. I myself do not do well with humidity or cold, but it could be a result of being used to what I'm used to. I've heard many other CFers say the same thing however.

The stuff that you have to worry about in AZ is allergies and dust. A lot of people say they battle allergies a bit when first moving here. And there are some days that dust is in the air, so it is best to stay inside. Those days are the exception however. Most days are clear and sunny and perfect for exercise!!


""""

What about the rest of you? Do you think weather/climate has a negative or positive on your experience with CF? Do me a favor - in the comment section, tell me where you live and wether or not the climate there has a positive effect, negative effect or no effect. Or, if you decide to write a blog on the topic, please leave the link in the comment section.

Thanks guys!!

It's all Relative

Do you ever go to the gym or a fitness class somewhere and feel like a total loser because everyone in there looks like they're kickin' booty and barely breathing hard and you feel like you may toss your cookies at any second?

Well that's how I feel in my class, Intensity, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There are a group of women about my age that are like freakin' animals. The first week we took the class Ronnie and I watched them with admiration. They finish all the exercises before anyone else. They lift heavier weights than anyone else. They are ripped head to toe. We used to call them "those girls" when talking about the class because instantly we both knew who we were referring to. Come to find out a few weeks later that they actually all do fitness competitions. Now they are referred to as "the competition girls"...which is the name everyone in the class knows them by. They are just insane. And I have to be honest, they made me feel like an out of shape loser, which made me push myself harder, but also a little bit dread the class because I knew I'd sit and watch them thinking, "gosh why am I such a loser and they're killin' it?!"

Well fast forward to this morning. I can't go to my normal class with Ronnie because we can't put Mckenna into childcare while she's sick (although it is tempting...I'm not that mom). There are two classes in this group personal training that are similar. The first level is called F.I.T. and the second level is Intensity. Intensity is the one we usually do, but since I couldn't do it today, I went into the F.I.T. class bright and early (at 5:15AM) and I have to tell you, I felt like a rock star. I was doing the heavier weights. I was done before everyone else.

I don't say all this to toot my own horn, but instead to share an eye-opening revelation I had. People will always be better than me, and people will always be worse than me...and who cares. I was so insecure that I was worse than all the girls in my Intensity class. I felt like they all were probably thinking, "oh look at that wimp." But then in today's class when I wasn't the worst, I realized, I'm in the middle of the pack...just like everyone else. And I also realized that as "top dog" in the class, never once did I think, "look at all these losers." In fact, I looked at a couple of the women really struggling and thought to myself, "holy cow...good for them!!" because they were pushing themselves so hard...which even though they were struggling, made them just as much rock stars as "the competition girls."

It was an important lesson for me to learn. It boosted my confidence. It made me realize that we all fall in the middle of the pack somewhere. Those competition girls may get on stage at their fitness competition and finish last...they're in the middle of the pack. Those people struggling in my class this morning may go into another class and be the one lifting the heaviest and finishing first, they're in the middle of the pack. There will always be someone better and someone worse than everyone.

I think sometimes we all hesitate to put ourselves out there at the gym, running outside, or in classes because we're so scared of what we look like in the eyes of others...but goodness was is freeing to realize we all fall somewhere in the middle of the pack...we all are awesome and all are losers, depending on the situation.

"She wanted a haircut"

This will melt your heart and make you smile.