Top Ten Tuesday: Rocky Point

We have our annual family trip to Rocky Point, MX coming up and I couldn't be more excited to head down south of the border! My family has been going for 30+ years and now bringing a family of my own is a dream come true. Here are the top ten things I love about the Rocky Point trip.

The drive down - We usually have 20-25 or so people caravan down at the same time to Mexico and stop at the same places every year. Since half of us are coming from Phoenix and the other half Tucson, we meet at a town called Why before heading down into Mexico. We usually stop at an ice cream shop right on the border before crossing and the taste of that ice cream signals to me the trip has officially begun!

The changes in Sonora - It's been amazing to see the first border town we drive through in Mexico change over the years. They are constantly building and are looking more and more like a "city" instead of a town in a third-world country. Don't get me wrong, they still have mainly dirt roads, plenty of buildings in shambles and are behind about 30 years, but progress is happening.

The first peek at the ocean - On the drive down, you always get the first peek at the ocean at the same spot. I can visualize that scene in my head right now because I have seen it so many times. The desert landscape changes to sand dunes, the dunes seem to roll for miles, and then all of the sudden, a bright blue ocean.

The first breath - I love taking in that sea air after we park the car at the house. The crispness of the air. The humid feeling on the skin. The sounds, the smell; it all brings back so many memories.

The assembly line - After traveling down as a large family for 30+ years, you learn some things. My family has learned to unpack and set up with the best of them. You should see how quickly we can unpack 6-8 cars! People are coming and going in all directions, taking stuff out of the nearest vehicle and then putting it where it needs to go. I'm telling you, we're a machine.

Sand beneath my feet - The first walk on the beach is always nice. We've been going to the same beach house now for about 8 years or so and the beach is literally steps away from the backdoor. Taking that first walk down the beach and dipping my toes into the ocean is always such a treat.

The meals - In Rocky Point, each family is assigned a day in which they take care of preparing and cleaning up each meal. We have many of the same meals each year and I always look forward to them. The dinner nights are usually hamburger/hot dogs, BBQ chicken, Shredded Beef Nachos, Steak and chicken soup. My family is in charge on steak night, so I really have to hone in on my grill skills!

The conversations - I don't get to see my extended family as much as I would like (mostly only on holidays), so it's nice to be able to catch up with everyone while we're down there. We have fives days to get all of the updates on what's going on with everything and there is always a surprise or two each year that I had no clue of regarding someone in the fam.

The bread/tortillas - I love the fresh tortillas and bread that we get each year. I know bakeries are here in AZ as well, but there is just something about the bakeries in MX that get me every time. The smell and the variety is always so awesome to take in. Plus, it always seems so cheap...and yummy.

The joy - Everyone has so much fun on this trip. And now, I especially love to see Mckenna running around with her cousins with a gigantic grin on her face. She loves the ocean, sand, sun and everything else that comes along with this trip.

Writing this blog post has me even more excited than before! We are so blessed to be able to do this each year and the fact that I'm taking my own young family is a dream come true :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Popping The Pills

Man, it's been quite some time since I've done a Top Ten Tuesday!

Recently, or to be more specific, just over a month ago, I started a new clinical trial. I'm not able to tell you which drug is being researched, but I would bet good money that you have heard of it. It requires me to take a few pills in the morning and a few pills at night. Other than some trips to see the research coordinator for PFTs, weight, height, blood work and EKGs, it's super easy peasy. I've never been involved with a clinical trial that just required swallowing some pills. Usually they have involved inhaling medications which of course is more time consuming.

Anyway, here are ten things that I've noticed while taking the drug, or placebo, over the past handful of weeks...

1. Almost immediately, I felt like I had a bit more energy for everyday activities.

2. I've been able to push harder with increased stamina during my 45 minute "throw-up" class at the gym.

3. I usually run on the treadmill at a max of 5.0. Recently, I've been pushing it to 6.5 or 7.

4. I was unusually nauseous the first week of the trial. It has subsided some, but still present most days.

5. Could be a figment of my imagination, but I seem to sweat more (maybe because I can work harder).

6. My cough has decreased.

7. My sputum production increased the first 2 weeks and has now decreased from my baseline.

8. My lungs feel clearer.

9. I don't know my PFT results, but it feels like I'm able to take a bigger breath and blast out with less obstruction.

10. I'm more excited for the future. I've always been excited, but this could change some things.

There you have it. I'm sure there are more both good and bad things that I've experienced, but I wrote down the first 10 to come to mind. Keep your fingers crossed that others are experiencing the same positive effects that I have while taking this drug or placebo. Because, even if it's placebo, I'm very, very thankful for the results.

Top Ten Favorite Candies

Before I get to my top ten favorite candies...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! Love you and thanks for reading this blog every day :)

These are in no particular order as it's almost impossible to decide...except for the top 3! Actually thought of this post after devouring my second favorite candy today.


Cherry Sours - I dig anything cherry, especially pies.

 Chewy Sprees - Favorite are red or purple.

 Hot Tamales - Recently cracked my top ten...bumped out Milk Duds.

 Mini Chewy Sweet Tarts - You can get a big ol' box of these at Sam's Club...and we did...last week :)

Pumpkin Candy Corns - Love eating these while at the gym...don't ask me why.

Skittles - red and purple all day.

Starburst - If the bag only had pink ones I wouldn't be disappointed one bit.

3. Mike and Ike Original - I've eaten far too many boxes of these than I'd like to admit.

2. Conversation Hearts - I love it when Valentines Day is right around the corner!

1a. Brachs Jelly Beans - I go crazy on these things when I'm in the Hole...love the pink ones!

1b. Canadian Wintergreen Mints -  I've loved these since my Grandma gave them to me to keep me quite in church :)

Top Ten Great Things About This Weekend

This past weekend we had a bunch of good stuff happen to us. So much stuff in fact that I figured I would put it all down in a list of the top ten cool things about this weekend. These are in no particular order except for the last one - it's definitely #1 on the list:

Grilled pineapple with cinnamon and sugar - Nancy (mom-in-law) made some excellent side dishes to our dinner on Friday night. I don't know how she managed to pull it off, but after flying for 24 hours, she still had the energy to whip up dinner. That woman has some serious skills in the kitchen, and the grilled pineapple did nothing but bolster my opinion.

People watching at Starbucks - I like people watching period. People watching with Eric (pop-in-law) just brings it to a whole new level. His comments are entertaining and it's always a pleasure to join him at one of his favorite spots back in the states - good ol' Starbuckaroo's.

Breakfast at the Post Office - Before church on Sunday we all went to one of my favorite breakfast spots in Scottsdale. It's called the Post Office and pretty much everything they make is good. I got a create your own omelet with one of my favorite combinations: ham, american cheese, tomatoes, spinach and green chilies. Mmmmmm, mouth is water just thinking about it. As a bonus, we were a couple of tables away from Jared Allen, defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings. Big dude.

Movie watching - I love sitting down and watching movies. I actually prefer to watch movies at home rather than go to the theaters. Not only is it cheaper, but I can stretch out as I please and pause when necessary. We ended up getting a very "manly" movie which, cussing aside, was pretty good. And by good of course I mean entertaining. Just a lot of fight scenes, shootings and things blowing up. What's not to like?

Pool lounging - I've never claimed to be a "sit in the sun and fry" kind of a guy, but hanging out in the pool is one of my favorites. We always end up coming up with whacky games or challenges that make it even more enjoyable. This time it was seeing who could throw a ball across the pool and make it land (and stay) on a raft as well as going back and forth across the pool without swimming and only pushing ourselves off against the wall. I guess you had to be there :)

Watching Nancy adjust to the new timezone - So you can probably imagine that it may be a bit tough adjusting to a country that is 15 hours behind the country that you just left. One of my favorite things about the in-laws being back in the states is watching Nancy fight to keep normal wake and sleeping hours. Sometimes she adjusts rather "quickly" and sometimes she doesn't adjust at all. You can bet your bottom dollar however that you will catch her napping on the couch every single day at various times. Maybe we should start making bets?

Picking the folks up at the airport - It's always very exciting seeing Eric and Nancy for the first time in a long time. Granted, Mandi and her mom webcam almost every single day, but it's obviously just not the same. Seeing the smile on my wife's face as her parents make their way to our truck is a particularly special moment for me.

Coming home to a painted house - I know that Mandi touched on this yesterday, but I have to reiterate how good it feels to come home to a painted house. It's amazing how a single coat of paint can seemingly transform a room. We know have every single room in our entire house painted to our satisfaction with the exception of our master bathroom toilet room. Now that the painting is done, here comes the fun part: Mandi coming home with furniture to fill the newly painted rooms. First up, the nursery.

Hiking - We all set out on a hike Saturday morning to the mountain where Mandi and I got engaged. The entire loop is 4 miles and Mandi and I did 3 miles of it. Eric and Nancy were considerably faster on the way up and we didn't want to make them wait for us to make it to the top, so we stopped at the second check point. I'm proud to report however that I hiked all 1.2 miles to the first check point without ever stopping - that's the first time that has ever happened.

Time with Family - Do I really need to say anything else about this?

Top Ten Reasons to Find Out The Sex

On Friday we posted our latest ultrasound video. Being 15 weeks, we thought we could possibly find out the sex, since with the right shot, you can take a really good guess at it. But as you saw in the video, our nurse went back and forth, initially thinking girl, then suspecting girl, and ending the appointment with her best guess, "boy...but we'll have to wait and see." Our IVF clinic is still giving us ultrasounds (just being nice) so we're going to sneak in one last one on Thursday before the baby doesn't fit on the screen, with the hope of finding out the sex.

We got a lot of comments on the video saying that being surprised was the way to go. And I felt the same way most of my life. I always thought I wanted to be surprised. In fact, when I played out my baby's birth I envisioned hearing "It's a ____" out of the doctor's mouth and being so shocked. However, since getting pregnant, my perspective as changed. I figured I'd put together my top 10 reasons for wanting to find out the sex. So here is goes:

1. I hate calling the baby "it". We call our baby Peanut as much as possible, but sometimes there are contexts where he, she, or it is necessary. And something about calling my sweet, precious, totally-loved baby "it" feels cold.

2. I constantly am running my own movies of the future, and having a gender would help my movies along. I want to know if I'm picturing a little boy playing with trucks and begging his daddy to play catch in the yard, or a little girl feeding a bottle to her baby and wearing around mommy's high heels (How's that for fitting your child into gender-specific roles? I just realized as I was typing that that I don't quite have to force my children into stereotypical roles. And I will say, a little girl of ours will be a complete tom boy...but these are my made up movies - so that's what I envision).

3. I don't want a gender-neutral nursery. The nursery is one of the best parts of pregnancy. You get to put together your child's space and make it a place that suits the baby, while still being a room that you'll enjoy in the wee hours of the night. I want a nursery that is perfectly-suited to a little boy or that is girly for a girl. Plus, I'm not that into yellow or green - two of the go-tos for gender-neutral nurseries.

4. Gender-neutral clothes are hard to come by. My friend recently had a baby and in shopping for her little bundle, I found that the girls' sections and boys' sections are huge, but you have to search high and low for cute gender neutral clothes. And being the advanced planner that I am, I know I will want quite a few outfits on hand before baby comes home.

5. Narrowing down the name game. We've started playing the name game since finding out we were pregnant. But we have a tough time narrowing it down to less then 5-10 names. Once we know the sex, we can really start to focus on just the boy names or just the girl names, and finally reach a conclusion. Otherwise, we're constantly churning names for both and I have a feeling we'll never get there by D-day.

6. Bonding. This one sounds a little silly, but I will say it anyways. Something about knowing the sex of the baby seems like it will help me bond while the baby is still in my tummy. When I feel Peanut kick, I want to be able to picture who it's coming from. It kills me that I have to wait another 6 months before actually seeing this little nugget's face, but being able to at least picture a little boy or girl helps - who knows why.

7. Hand-me-downs. We have cousins and friends who have kids of both sexes. And they are generous enough to pass down some things they're no longer using. However, it seems like our house could become a giant store unit pretty quickly if we're collecting both boy stuff AND girl stuff. And then, what do you do with all the stuff of the wrong sex? So knowing the sex will keep our selection limited at least by 50%.

8. Ronnie needs at least 6 months to prepare if it's a girl. Ronnie has ben very honest since the beginning that he wants a boy. "Why?" you ask. Because he knows that a little girl will have him wrapped around her little finger. So he needs some time to strategize how he will remain THE boss-man, while he would be melting inside when she simply looked at him. The joke is on him though, I think a little boy may have the same effect on him :)

9. I'm impatient. I LOVE surprises, but I have always had a tough time not peeking at Christmas gifts before their wrapped and under the tree. It's the same way with the baby. I want to be surprised, but I just can't keep myself from peeking!

10. Ronnie needs to plan exactly what the tattoo will look like on his bum...

KIDDING! There will be no tattoos in this household.

So let's hear it! Did I forget any reasons? Do you TOTALLY disagree? There's still time to change our minds...so let's hear what you've got!