Dear Parents...

I saw this blog over on CysticLife and wanted to share it with all of you...

I can not imagine what went through your minds and hearts when your child was diagnosed with CF. I have always felt i should help parents by giving them some tips. I am not a parent with a child who has CF but i am a wife of someones child who has CF.

From the second I met my husband i knew he was special. We were in highschool and every once in a while he would miss school because he was sick. I never knew the severety of CF because it didn't define him. He was very smart, determined, had a rock band, was drum line captain and worked. It wasn't until we got serious that his disease ever came up. His parents have always had high expectations of him and his abilities and never allowed him to be a victim.

I know as a parent you may feel helpless at times and that there is nothing you can do. The best thing you can do for your child is treat them the same way you would if they didn't have a disease. I can not thank his parents enough for raising him this way and helping me to pick up and follow their lead. The reality is it sucks at times and you can get sad or pissed at the world, but then get over it. It won't change anything. There are some things you can't control, but your attitude towards them is 100% in your control.

I want you all to know you have the opportunity to raise a child who can inspire many and experience a full life. My husband has gotten to go to college, get married, have a successful career and now we are attempting to have children. I understand not all kids are as fortunate as my husband has been, but give them the tools and strength to have a chance. I hope to one day have my own children and I will teach them how to live their life and never feel like a victim.

Have hope in your childs future. My husband is 28 and we will celebrate 5 years of no hospitilization in February. There is no cure but there are great doctors and treatments. Giving your children strength and determination to deal with the life they were given is the best thing you can do for them.

Thank you Cheryl for writing such a powerful blog. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

"I can never imagine myself running!"

Guest post by Erin Goodrich

"That is awesome, but I can never imagine myself running!" Those were the first thoughts that filled my mind when I cam across Ronnie's blog RSR last October when I was sitting in my hospital bed, PICC line in my arm, wondering how I got to the point where admission was becoming a yearly affair and the nurses actually now remembered who I was.

Let me back up a little. I was diagnosed with CF about 3 months old from failure to thrive. Throughout my whole childhood and teenage years I never felt any "true" affects from CF. Yes, I had doctors visits every 3 months, and yes every time I left the doctors I always seemed to be on some oral antibiotic for the next two weeks, and yes I took all the pills and did all the treatments that went along with this disease. However, I never really "felt" it. Then there I was, 22 years old, about one year exactly from the time I had transitioned from the pediatric to the adult clinic was my doctor saying "I think it's time you have your first hospital stay seeing your PFT's have dropped" Tears, anger, frustration, fear all came rushing on me. I thought at that moment my life was ending, silly as it sounds, I was scared to death, and what the hell was this so called PICC line they were going to put in me!?!

Fast forward 3 years, and 3 hospital admissions later. CF was affecting my everyday life, now having that cough that almost never goes away, with a lot more mucus than I was EVER used to (thank you pseudomonas) and that constant worry that I had, yet never really expressed to anyone. On the outside I was a positive girl, who was living her life to the fullest. On the inside I was a mess.

I started googling CF groups on the Internet during my hospital stay and I was surprised and comforted to come across multitudes of blogs with people who had CF just like me! I started reading Ronnie's blog with amazement, I even emailed him to get some tips! Once I got home from that hospital stay I hopped right on that treadmill!! Then, about 2 weeks later, I got preoccupied with many "other things" so I stopped for a little while; this cycle would continue for the next 8 months. Then May came, another admission (twice in one year, yikes!) During that time I went home on IV's and started walking on my treadmill the whole time. When the PICC came out and my PFT'S were up a little, I was ready to tackle this whole "exercising" thing head on! Also, during that time I started to share some of my fears and concerns to my boyfriend of 2 years and my closest friends, everyone was EXTREMELY supportive, which really helped.

Throughout the whole summer I walked with intervals of running, loosely following the couch to 5k program. I set a goal for myself that I would run the Troy Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. Once the fall came, I could still only run for 3 minutes at a time; gasping for air. I started to tell people I was thinking of running the Trot, but wasn't sure if I could do it. EVERYONE I told about this was extremely encouraging, all these people believed in me! My boyfriend and other friends signed up for the 5k and they were going to do it with me. Well there I was, out of EXCUSES, if others believed in me, I had to believe in myself. I had to do this, not only to prove to my friends and doctors that CF was not going to hold me back, but I owed it to myself to overcome the one thing that I thought I could never do, and that these past few years that were really hard for me were for a reason; a wake up call to put me on the proactive route with my CF rather than the reactive.

One month until the race I started to up my minutes of jogging, one night I ran 1.5 miles without stopping, when I got off the treadmill I was beaming with excitement (and dripping with salty sweat!) The next week I ran 2 miles without stopping, the week of the Turkey Trot I ran outside (in the cold weather) and ran 2.5 miles with only having to stop a couple of times. During this whole process my lungs were even feeling better and I could feel a difference! Then there I was, at the start line Thanksgiving morning, 29 degrees and cloudy skies with my friends surrounding me, good luck text's flooded my phone that morning. All I wanted to do was to FINISH, and be at least a little under 45 minutes. I was so nervous I wasn't going to be able to do the whole 5k. I took a deep breathe and thought to myself, think about what you can do, not what you can't do, and I CAN DO THIS.

Before I knew it I was off with the other 4,000 runners, my friend Samantha ran side by side with me the whole time. When we first started out the cold temperatures were killing my breathing, and I found it hard to settle into a slow pace that I could stay at. I looked around and everyone else seemed to be running with such ease. Meanwhile, I was praying that I could just make it to the first mile. We finally passed the first mile, and at that point you could see the leaders already coming back around. Once we made it to the turn around I could see that I was actually ahead of quite a few people! Up a ahead was the second mile marker, I could feel my body tiring, but I kept on only taking a break to walk up the steep hill. When we roundedthe corner towards the finish line I heard Sam say "Erin look at the clock we're going to be under 40 minutes!!!" At that point a small burst of energy kicked in and I raced towards the finish line, with people on either side cheering for me and all of the other runners.

I cannot put into words the feeling inside I had when I crossed that line. I even fought back a few tears, it was almost like a dream, I couldn't believe I DID IT!! No one could take this small victory away from me, not even CF. This was a new chapter in my life, this was a chapter where I started believing in myself a little more, working harder on my health by incorporating exercising into my life, and being more proactive. That way, the next time I'm sitting in that hospital bed, PICC in my arm I will know I am doing everything possible to keep myself healthy. I also know I have a very long road ahead of me, and even though they'll be some bumps on that road if I keep running full speed ahead I'll make it to the smooth ground again.
I also wanted to send a special thank you out to Ronnie, if it wasn't for you, I NEVER would have done this, thank you for inspiring and believing in me. I can't wait to see how far I can get these PFT's up! :)

Erin's Bio: I'm 26 years old and was born and raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I went to college in Worcester, Ma and then moved over to New York. I currently live in Clifton Park, Ny and work as a dispatch operations manager for a phone company based in the Capital District. My interests and hobbies consists of traveling, going out to eat, reading, shopping, decorating, EXERCISING and spending time with friends. "We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time" :)

Note from Ronnie: Thank you SO MUCH Erin for taking the time to write this inspiring guest blog. I've known you for quite some time now and I can't tell you how proud I am of what you've accomplished. What a shining example of saying "enough is enough" and stopping at NOTHING to achieve your goals. I'll always be here cheering you on and I can't wait to see what you "beat down" next :)

Thankful Thursday - Who's coming with us!?!?

Last week, Mandi had a great post about thankfulness that we really wanted to build off of and continue this week. We can't stress enough how important we feel it is in our own lives that we remember to slow down when things seem to be getting a "fast" and just think about the little things that we're thankful for. Many of you expressed a similar sentiment last week and sounded interested in joining us in highlighting stuff throughout the week that we're thankful for and sharing them on our respective blogs or through the comment section of this blog. I have a little "Linky Tools" at the end of this post in which you can link your thankfulness post up to (I hope it works). Feel free to spread this around to anyone you know that may like to participate.

We all have GREAT things going on in our lives and sometimes it's just a matter of sitting down and putting it to paper before we realize how good we really have it.

Mandi's List:

1. As some of you may have seen, we're doing a 12 Days of Christmas Campaign with CysticLife...where we're sending out daily emails featuring articles by some of the incredible members of the CF community. It has been my job to create the emails and send them. And let me tell you, I couldn't help but think how thankful I am for technology and MailChimp.com (and no, this is not a sponsored plug. I do in fact just think it's the coolest thing)!! It has been a breeze to put the emails together, update the mailing list, hit send, and that so cool to be able to track the number of opens, clicks, etc. Technology blows my mind sometimes!

2. Thankful for insurance. We have incredible insurance and are SO blessed to have the insurance that we have. And in assessing potential baby makin' cost (all of which are out of pocket because I think it's one of the only things our insurance doesn't pay) I couldn't help but think about how blessed we are to not have to worry about medical costs with all of Ronnie's meds, hospital stays, clinic visits, etc. Insurance can be a headache at times, but man oh man, what a blessing it is to have a $4000/month med become a $10 co pay!

3. I am so thankful for the fact that we got our patio furniture this week, and it's all in good shape, no issues, fit perfectly on the patio, and is as comfortable as Ronnie required furniture to be. We ordered our patio furniture 6 weeks ago (it was brutal waiting 6 weeks to get it, as I'm sure you can imagine), and got it on Monday. I was nervous to see it in person and in the space, because there were a lot of variables we weren't sure about (color of the iron, color of the cushions, size, etc). But it all turned out perfect, which leads me to:

4. I'm thankful for arizona weather. It's been in the 70s the last few days (gotta love Arizona - it's December and in the high 70s). We have been able to sit outside on our new patio furniture quite a bit. It's been incredible to enjoy some meals and just spend time together outside, and really enjoy our yard and the weather.

5. I'm thankful for 2 legs that work. As many of you know, I'm training for the Phoenix Half marathon in January, so I am now needing to get in some longer runs. I feel so blessed to be able to run. Don't get me wrong, I hate running and I'm not really built to run (my body naturally moves slow, I have short, stubby legs, and my knees and ankles generally like to act up), but I am thrilled that I have the ability to stand up on two legs and exercise - whether it's for a run, a walk, or just a quick bike ride.

6. I'm thankful for my hubby (was this on my list last week too? I'm feeling like this may be a trend). Yesterday I went with Ronnie to a respiratory college to listen to him speak about CF, and I sat there the whole time feeling so blessed to be his wife. There's something about watching Ronnie speak that takes him out of the context of "oh that's just my husband Ronnie" and helps put into perspective so many of the traits I take for granted or don't notice all the time - like his sense of humor, compassion, passion, and intelligence. These are all traits I know he possesses, but seeing them from a different lens always makes me feel so blessed to get to call him "mine". (I know I know, CHEESY)!

Ronnie's List:

1. We're so blessed to live in a neighborhood we love with neighbors who we like. Recently we've had a chance to talk with some of our neighbors for an extended period of time (not your standard hi and bye talk) and come to find out, they're really cool! They're both young families who have quite a bit going on, but both guys love to talk sports. Sold!

2. Speaking of neighbors, I'm thankful for the little "bromance" (as Mandi calls it) brewing with my next door neighbor Rob. We spent the whole weekend doing projects on each others' houses and were able to really bond over some DYI stuff around the house. He's quite the handyman and really took the time to teach as we went along.

3. I'm thankful for good groups at our church. We're part of a group called "After I do" that's made up of couples who have been married for less than 5 years. Tonight we went to a small group which spun off of that group and enjoyed ourselves very much.

4. I have such a helpful wife. She's willing to do whatever it takes to assist me in getting into the best position for better lung function. Whether it's cheer me on , hold me accountable, move around my treatments or pound my back; she'll do it and won't complain. She's actually convinced me that she'd like me to be around for a very long time :)

5. I got a really good deal at a yard sale last week. I paid 20 bucks for an electric scooter, and guess what, it actually works!! I'm going to have to replace the battery for optimal performance, but for 20 bucks, I'll take it.

So there you have it. We could both probably go on and on, but that ought to do it for tonight. I hope to see many blogs shared or comments posted telling us what your thankful for today or this past week. It seems the positivity breeds positivity, and in my opinion, you can never have too much of that!

Rondi's Recipes: Slow Cooker Beef Curry

In our quest to become better cooks and pushing ourselves to new levels in the kitchen, Mandi and I will attempt to do a food blog once a week with pictures and reviews included. We realize that we did miss last week, not because we didn't cook, but because we forgot to take pictures. We'll also be posting pictures of our hamburger cake shortly :)

So here it is, week 2:

Slow Cooker Beef Curry

The ingredients: Curry, Jalapeno, Ginger, Onion, Stewed Tomato, Garlic, Beef Broth, Stew Meat, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper

Mandi chopping up the jalapeno and ginger root.

Browning the beef in olive oil.

Chopped onion goes in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Browned beef goes on top of the onion.

Check on Jezzabel to make sure she's comfortable on the burlap sacks used to cover plants, while laying 2 feet away from her bed.

Combine juice from browned beef, garlic, jalapeno and ginger.

Add in stewed tomatoes and curry powder.

Smell...

...and serve. Oh yeah, we served it on top of rice.

Prep Time: About 15 minutes (with two people)

Cook Time: 6-8 hours on low heat in slow cooker

What we liked:

I like that it was only about a 15 minute prep time.

It was relatively idiot proof - you can't really screw up browning meat and pouring ingredients into a slow cooker.

It's a great meal for when it's cold outside, the heat of the meal really warms you up, without being an overly heavy meal, like most winter meals

You can put it all together and let it sit all day. Great for dinners when you're busy right up until meal time.

I loved smelling the different spices while this meal was being prepped. I think I could walk around with a ginger root tied to my neck.

For me, it had the perfect "heat". I could feel that heat in my mouth, but it didn't make me sweat like spicy things often do.

Brown, chop, mix, dump, turn on slow cooker. Not even I could mess this up.

The meal felt really light to me and had a fresh taste all of the way through.

What we'd change:

I would add more of each of the key spices: more garlic, ginger, and curry. I would mind more jalapeno, but it still had a pretty good kick to it with just 1.

This isn't something you can change, but something that is a bit of a con. It takes 8 hours in the slow cooker, so it's a meal that you need to think about the day before.

I would increase the curry, ginger and garlic. It had some good flavors, but I wanted more.

I would think about adding some chopped potato.

I'd love to have some naan bread with this meal.

Here's our overall rating (with 1 being the worst meal we've ever had and 10 being the best):

Mandi's Rating: 8.5

Ronnie's Rating: 8

Again, if you guys have any suggestions on how this is laid out or what you guys would like to see answered/done differently, please let us know :)

I don't care if I live...

...but it's not all about me.

(I don't know where this post is coming from, but for some reason I felt pulled to write about this tonight.)

Let me just cut to the chase (fair warning, you may hear this very differently than I'd like you to hear this): I haven't cared whether I live or die for as long as I can remember.

What?!?!?! Let me clarify. I LOVE my life. Always have, always will. I love the family I was born into. I love my friends. I've loved every job I've ever had. I love living. I love breathing, walking, talking, running, skipping, hopping and just about anything else you can think of. It's not that I'm eager to leave this planet, but I've always been ready.

I've had a very good grasp on why I'm on this earth since I was a youngster and I understand that ultimately I'm not in control of when I check out. How many years I'm able to be in this earthly shell was decided LONG before I was born and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. I was set here, in this time, in this life and in this place for a purpose and when that purpose is met, I'm out. Now, do I hope I'm here for a very long time? Of course I do! Like I'm said a million times, "if I die, Mandi will kill me!". I want to be a booty kicker for the next 100 years. I want to be able to be a great husband on May 22nd, 2060 when Mandi and I celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and our kids are having kids. The fact that I'm 100% comfortable with leaving this earth has absolutely nothing to do with my motivation for being here.

Growing up, my mom even had a sense that I felt this way. She would always say, "Ronnie, I know that you don't care if you go, but remember that you'll be hurting a lot of people that you're leaving behind". Now, she knew that I had a vigor for life, but she knew that my eagerness to be with God was even greater. It's funny, as I write this, it almost sounds like my last farewell. It's not (I hope) :) Point is, a big reason I took care of myself growing up WAS because of the people around me. The last thing that I ever wanted to do was to crush my mom's heart by dying before she did. The first time I held my brother(s) in my arms, I knew that I wanted to be the best big brother ever. When I married Mandi, I not only made a commitment to love her unconditionally till death do us part, but I promised her that I would do EVERYTHING in my power to have that death part be a long, long time from now.

So what's the point of this blog? Honestly, I don't know. I was thinking about how much of a motivation Mandi is in my life and then all of the sudden I started thinking about this. I guess my point is this: If you're reading this and you're looking for some motivation to take better care of yourself, find someone you love and that loves you back. Ask them how they'd feel if you got sick and ultimately died. If their response doesn't motivate you to be more faithful with your treatments, get active and just simply "do what you need to do", then I don't know what will. You may not think you're worth it, but I guarantee there are ton of people out there who think that you are. Now all you have to do is find them, hug them and let them know that you're ready to kick some butt.

The Things I Love to Hate

I opened up a blank blog to write my Mandi Monday and found myself staring at the screen for awhile. I don't have much to share (other than a HUGE congrats to my sister-in-law's brother - my brother-in-law once removed? - he got married yesterday, Sunday, to a WONDERFUL girl. It was an awesome ceremony and a fun reception). But as I sat staring, wondering what to write about, Ronnie sat next to me doing two things that I love and hate all at the same time. With that, the writer's block was gone. "I know," I thought, "I'll write about the things that Ronnie does that I love and hate all at the same time." Figured you might like to learn some odd, adorable, annoying stuff that Ronnie does.

You know the kind of stuff I'm talking about. It's that stuff your spouse does that kind of gets under your skin at the time it's happening, but you actually find it really adorable and endearing when you think about it. Ronnie has a handful of habits that test my patience at times, but they make me smile when I think about them. Some of the things I knew before we were married, some things I found out after we tied the knot. But they're the kind of things that you pick up on when you know someone really well. They're things that aggravate me at times, but some of the things that I love most about him - because they are so unique to him. So here they are - what I love and hate that Ronnie does:

1. Ronnie will sniff, and then get caught in a spastic, uncontrollable sniffing frenzy. It's like he gets "stuck". He'll sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff without realizing it. It drives me nutso. I generally have to get him to snap out of it by saying, "do you need a tissue?" or "knock it off, you're sniffing"...because I don't think he even realizes it.
2. During University of Arizona games (doesn't matter what sport) he sits on the edge of the sectional, closest to the TV. Not comfortably and relaxed. He sits WAY on the edge, upright, generally fidgeting with his fingers or toes, COMPLETELY focused on the screen. Then if they win or there's a good play, he'll stand up and clap LOUDLY walking around the room. Not so much annoying, but it makes me tense to watch him watch a game!
3. Ronnie has a face twitch (which he claims he does when his eyes are dry). It's the craziest face twitch ever. It's like an incredibly intense blink, only it's a circular motion of his whole face. It's like his face does the wave. One side of his face scrunches and then the twitch hops to the other side, all in a quick second. I always know what he's mid face twitch because I can hear that "spitty" sound from his mouth, when his cheek moves away from his teeth. This, like his sniffing, can become compulsive, and he'll start doing it really frequently until I tell him he's twitching or simply mock him by doing it back at him...ahh a wife's love.
4. He INSISTS on making the bed in the morning. This is typically an awesome thing (because he usually just does it by himself before I can even help), but it turns into a not so great thing when we're running late, need to leave to get somewhere, but we have to first make the bed. Realistically, it's only a 1 minute job if we're both doing it...but 1 minute seems like a lot when you're late!
5. If we're watching TV and I make comments or share my analysis of the situation happening on screen and he wants to just focus on the show OR I'm stating the obvious he'll say, "RIGHHHHHHHT" but in a crazy voice that starts quiet, gets loud, and goes quiet again, that sounds more like, "wwwhhhhIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIte." (capital "I" being the loud part)
6. He knows I scare easily, so he'll hide in random parts of the house when he knows I'm looking for him, so he can catch me off guard and startle me - it almost always works unless Jezzabel finds him first, ruining the surprise. (I sometimes try to get him back by hiding and jumping out at him...but somehow he ALWAYS knows I'm there).
7. Ronnie thinks it's funny to randomly honk the horn while driving. He probably wouldn't do it very often, but the first time he did it I got on his case, telling him, "it's illegal" (I did in fact google it...and I think it is actually illegal to honk for no reason, although no very easy to enforce). Needless to say, he probably only does it so often because he likes the exchange. HONK. "Ronnie, no. It's illegal." Recently, he started making up reasons to honk the horn, so my "it's illegal" would be unfounded. Now he'll randomly honk the horn and yell, "GET OUT OF THE ROAD" while "shooing" the imaginary people out of the road. And another car thing he likes to do (maybe could be #8 or tied into #6, but I'll just put it here) is that if he's driving and knows I'm zoned out, he'll tap the breaks and throw his arm across me as if we're about to get in an accident, just to make me panic.

Welp, that's all that comes to mind. Perhaps I'll have him post a list of the things I do that he loves to hate. I tell you what though, writing this list I had the biggest smile on my face...so I think that means I love these things about him far more than they drive me nutso at the time :) I'm not crazy in this right? You guys must also have things that you love to hate about people you love and care about. Leave comments of all the adorable, endearing, annoying things you favorite people do.

What's in a Google? HOW DO

Here's something I started a while ago on RSBR, cause as we all know, the weekends are slow around here. I call it "What's in a Google?". It's simple really; type one word into Google and see what the magic bot suggests for you. Once in a while, you can get some pretty funny suggestions. What's crazy, is I'm pretty sure that it means these are the most common searches.

Word: HOW DO

Top suggested searches:

how does facebook make money

how do you dougie

how do you tag someone in a facebook status

how do i find my ip address

how does fushigi work

how does criss angel levitate

how do i get a passport

how do i get rid of bed bugs

how do you multiply fractions

how do you know

My First U of A Game...

...this season.

Just got back from the U of A vs. ASU "Territorial Cup" football game. Heartbreaking. We lost in double overtime by a point after our kicker missed an extra point. Ouch. Mind you, he missed an extra point for it to go into overtime in the first place. Don't quote me, but generally, kickers make 99.9% of their extra points. Our guy missed two on the same night. Oh well, enough about that, he's a kid and life will go on.

I absolutely love football, but I like to either be on the sideline coaching or on my couch watching. Being at the stadium of course has a nice feel to it, but listening to clowns cussing about our coach or "why is he running the *&%^%$^&&*^%&(* ball?" gets a little old. I also like to DVR the games so I don't have to worry about TV timeouts.

My step-dad was able to go with me tonight and that was the best part about being there. We got to hang out, talk sports and cheer on our Cats. I think I only need to take in one live football game a year though and I'll be good. I will say though, being there did make me miss coaching. I may have to look into getting back in the game at some point.

I'm glad it's now basketball season.

Thankful Thursday is Back!

On Sunday, our pastor gave a GREAT sermon on thankfulness (it's not available via podcast yet, but when it is, I'll post it). Now let me tell you, I love our church. And most Sundays I walk away with more knowledge and a little something rolling around in my mind. But this Sunday was different. For some reason, this sermon really struck a cord. The gist of the sermon was this: Thanksgiving is a time of year to be thankful for what we have, but a lot of Thanksgiving is now spent talking about what more we can get the next day (Black Friday).

It's funny because I probably hear these same sentiments each year around this time, "what are you thankful for?" People often ask around the Thanksgiving table. But this Sunday, it really resonated with me. I walked out of the service feeling as if I needed to make a change. Ronnie's very good at being thankful. I can't tell you how many times a week he'll stop and say, "Man, we're blessed aren't we?" And I always agree. But rarely do I sit back on my own and really think about how much I have and how thankful I am for what we've been blessed with. It's so easy in a new house to think, "ok, now we just need to get x, y, and z to make it complete." Or with all the upcoming baby makin' stuff, I all too quickly I allow my mind to think, "why does it have to be so difficult to have kids?" Instead, I should be thinking, "Wow, how blessed are we that we own our own home?" or "How incredible that people who are infertile can now have children. We are so blessed to have great options." And those are just a few options. How many more basic things do we take for granted? Like not fretting over gas money; access to good doctors; a fridge full of food; a cupboard full of meds that we only paid co pays for; two working legs to run; I could go on forever.

Therefore, Thankful Thursday is back! For the next several months, I want to take the time to really appreciate all that we have been given. So each Thursday Ronnie and I are going to write about what we're thankful for. Some weeks it may be silly little things like, "this week I'm really thankful for a dishwasher, because man I hate washing dishes", while other weeks may be bigger items. I just want to make the conscious effort to rework my brain and my thoughts. Truthfully, to make my attitude a little more like my husbands' and A LOT more like it should be. One tip our pastor suggested in his sermon was to set aside 5 minutes a day and write out what you're thankful for. So I'm going to try this for the month of December. Anyone want to join me?! If so, leave a comment to say you're in and what you're thankful for this week. If we get enough people that want to participate, we'll set up a blog hop!

I'll leave you with what I'm thankful for this week:

1. A helpful husband - call it newly wedded bliss or just one helpful husband, but Ronnie does A LOT around the house...probably more than I do. He hung 2500 christmas lights (yes, 25 boxes!) all on his own, installed lights in the house, and cleaned this weekend.
2. A roof over my head - this one may sound a little silly (because it's so basic), but with it getting cold outside, I am so thankful that I have a place to go to get out of the cold. I can't make it 5 minutes outside without freezing these days (and we live in Arizona!)
3. Hot chocolate - Can you tell it's getting cold out? After a FREEZING run, I like nothing more than to hold a toasty mug of hot chocolate in my hands.
4. Other CF spouses - This week, I've emailed back and forth with another CF wife. I can't tell you how awesome it is to talk with someone who's been there and done that. It's nice to know that there are people there to answer questions and learn from, when needed!

So that's it for today. Hopefully next week I'll have a better list after taking 5 minutes a day of reflection. Who wants to join me this month?!

I can do just about anything for one minute

One thing you have to know about me when I go for runs; I talk myself out of running the entire time my legs are pumping. Today was no different. I took off for my run (not the least bit excited) in what felt like 0 degree weather and my lungs instantly tightened up. I started coughing like crazy and I'm pretty sure I was tasting the snot running down my face. Delicious. I pushed on (mind you, it had only been about 25 seconds) and then my legs started to hurt. It may have only taken about .15 miles for me to start thinking about walking to "ease into it". I mean, things got a little crazy during the holiday weekend and I thought I may be smart not to push it. Luckily that thought didn't last long as I instantly thought, if I don't push through today, when will it be? That often seems like the problem doesn't it? It's always tomorrow, or next week or next year. For whatever reason we always expect conditions to be perfect when doing something we really don't feel up to. Today's run was no exception.

Nothing is ever going to be perfect though. I pressed on. After getting over the initial shock of the cold and frigid air, I eased into a comfortable pace and kept moving forward. I was still thinking about all of the other things that I would rather be doing, but those were balanced by thoughts of all the stuff I've been able to do thanks to my new "lease on life" since changing some things up regarding exercise and treatments. Just as I was getting more comfortable with the idea of running the full 1.8 mile loop, it hit me. Numbness. See, I had on two shirts (one of them being long-sleeved), but I had on my running shorts. Roughly .5 mile into my run, my legs were numb. Sweet! The fact that I didn't have to deal with the pain in my legs during the last part of my run was an unexpected bonus. It's almost as if I had been given a gift.

Since I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I knew that my regular 1.8 mile loop wasn't going to cut it. My breathing pattern was holding steady and I couldn't feel my legs; this was as perfect as it was going to get. I pressed on. I extended my loop and tried to pick up my pace. While I wasn't able to keep an increased pace for the last 1.5 miles of my run, I did sustain a quicker pace for at least half of it. My legs certainly tired after the first 1.8, but that's only because I'm pretty conditioned for that distance. One thing I need to get better at is switching up the lengths of my runs so muscle memory doesn't play to large of a role in fatigue. I guess we can just add it to the ever-growing list of things to work on :)

As I was nearing the home-stretch, I thought about all of the times I wished I had pushed it a bit more during the last part of my runs. There are many times that after getting home and figuring out my pace, I think to myself "if only I would have pushed it a little bit more I could have gotten under XX minutes. Dangit!". I didn't want this to be one of those times. But wait a second, my legs were tired, my coughing was picking up and I wasn't breathing nearly as well as I was a couple miles back. I wanted to push it, but did I really have the capacity to do so? That's when a little voice popped in my head, "Come on Ronnie, you can do ANYTHING for one minute!".

True. I took off in a sprint. I mean, if I had to endure one minute of being short of breath, in pain and even more tired, was it worth it? Absolutely! I wanted a better time. I wanted to show my body who's boss. I didn't want the same regret that comes after some of my other runs. I knew I could pick up the pace for a minute. And wouldn't you know it, 53 seconds later I arrived at my doorstep. Mission accomplished.

Imagine if we started doing stuff that we really didn't want to do for just a minute longer? All of those minutes would sure add up. I'm sure one minute would then lead into two, then to 5, 10 and so on. With most of the stuff we put off or avoid it only takes that first step. The decision that enduring "pain" for one more minute everyday may be worth one more year to us. Now, maybe you don't see that kind of return on your minute, but I'll tell you this, you'll never ever regret doing something good for yourself after you're done.

So here's the question, what can you do for one more minute today?

50% is not going to cut it

Out of all my goals that I set out to accomplish last week, I'd say my rate of success was about at 50%. That's simply not going to cut it. If my ultimate goal is to be the absolute healthiest I can possibly be, knocking out half of my mini-goals will have me falling short every time. Good thing is that I'm able to look back and see what I can adjust from last week to try and make sure it doesn't happen again, bad thing is I can still feel last week this week. So let's go through my goals and see how I did and why I came up short:

I refuse to miss any treatments. My middle day treatments always seem to get caught in the crossfire when things get busy. When this happens, I generally feel like dookie at the end of the day and my lungs get super tight. Even with that foreknowledge I'll still put off my middle treatments for some reason. Doesn't make sense. This week, I can't afford to do that. I need to stay on my game by staying on top of my treatments.

I'd say I was 3/7 (42%) on this one. I REALLY wanted to do all 4 treatments every single day (which did happen Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday), but I ended up only doing 2 Thursday, 3 Friday, 2 Saturday and 2 Sunday. I wish I could tell you that "life got in the way" but I can't put it all on that. I did have the opportunity to squeeze in another treatment each weekend day, but I decided to put other things first. I could have brought my vest and compressor down to Tucson on Thanksgiving day, but I chose not to. Excuses 1, Ronnie 0.

I will go for a run everyday. My runs have been going well for quite some time now and I refuse to let this crazy week derail the train. Lately I've been running every other day to let my legs rest, but have been going on long walks or bike rides on my "off" days. This week, I want to run every single day. I want to run every single day to make sure my body knows who is in charge and even though he's not going to feel like lacing up his shoes and hitting the road, he's GOING TO DO IT!!

You'll see a reoccurring theme happening here. First three days of the week were good, last 4, not so good. I did not run at all after Thanksgiving until today. I still got in some bike rides and my morning walks, but that wasn't my goal. My goal was to run and that I did not do consistently. I can feel it this week as my mucus is thicker, darker and generally harder to get up and out. Excuses 2, Ronnie 0.

I will not forget to remember all that I am thankful for. This shouldn't be too difficult to stick to as Mandi and I have made this part of our daily lives, but out of any week of the year, I want to make sure this isn't the one I forget to be thankful. If I started listing everything I had to be thankful, we'd be here until next year, but I definitely want to be more vocal about it his week. I want to make sure the people in my life know how thankful I am for them.

I'd have to say that I nailed this one. I don't think a day goes by that I don't voice how thankful I am for my wife, family, friends and life. I was able to reflect even more on that this holiday weekend, but in general, I'm a very thankful guy. Excuses 2, Ronnie 1.

I will not overeat on Thanksgiving Day. Now, I don't want you thinking that I'm watching my weight (although I probably should be); Thanksgiving Day and I have some history. I had my first ever full intestinal blockage in 2003 on Thanksgiving Day and it was not pretty. I won't go into details right now, but I'll try to write about it this week. Long story short, know when to say when when it comes to turkey.

I'm proud to report that I did not overeat. I had seconds, but they were a small seconds. I even managed to throw away some dessert after I started feeling full. With my history of stomach blockages on Thanksgiving, overeating is not something I can afford to do. Excuses 2, Ronnie 2.

They say a tie is like kissing your sister, but I'd rather that than be shut out 4 to nothing versus Mr. Excuses. It looks like I'll have something to work on for this next holiday week coming up shortly. I can only hope that I do better.

'Tis the Season!

First things first - Thank you guys soooo much for all of your love, comments, and prayers with my carrier test. We couldn't be more thrilled that I am not a carrier and that we can possibly make "Rondi" babies!! We'll keep you posted once there's actually news to report. For now, we are just thankful for our options and we'll continue moving the ball forward. We scheduled a December 21st appointment with a doc to start discussing options. But I'm bracing myself for the long road ahead. I think the fact that the earliest appointment available was December 21st is a good indicator that it will be a LONG process! We'll keep you posted!

Now onto current events - As you saw in Ronnie's post on Saturday, we had an awesome Thanksgiving! His family does holidays up right. All 30+ of them get together at either his mom's house or one of his aunt's houses, and there's always a lot of food, a lot of games and a lot of fun. This Thanksgiving was no exception. There were kids all over (even a baby that most people couldn't pry from my arms), so much food I couldn't even think of eating a little of each (and I went into the meal with my game face on and an empty stomach...still no go), and the annual cousin bake off (in which each cousin brings a dessert and then all the desserts are judged...winner gets to take the traveling trophy home) went really well. We came in second - a shame, but perhaps next year we'll have to focus on looks AND taste. Our dessert looked awesome, but tasted not so awesome.

Thanksgiving got me into the holiday spirit. I had told myself that I couldn't decorate for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving, and it didn't take me very many hours into Friday to start getting the itch to decorate. So Friday night we went to Hobby Lobby (does anyone else have a Hobby Lobby by them? It's the best store EVER) to buy Christmas decorations. I kicked off the holiday decorations by making my first ever wreath...that's right, watch out Martha, this girl is getting domestic!! It turned out pretty well (said while patting myself on the back)...I may or may not have had my mom on video chat walking me through the process, but hey, you gotta start somewhere! I also set up a little tree on our kitchen island (we are doing a big tree too, but we won't do it until the end of this week). After the wreath and mini tree, I had run out of decorations, so I wrapped up my decorating for the night. But I got an early start Saturday morning with a another trip to Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx and Walmart. I came home with a car full of Christmas cheer! After a full day of letting my creative juices flow, our house was turned into a winter wonderland...with only one tiny hitch - we bought about 1/4 of the lights required for our house...so right now we have the most pitiful looking Christmas lights outside, covering the side of our house, and the garage. The lights we need we couldn't find at any of the 15 stores I went to today. So that will be Ronnie's job tomorrow :)

All this decorating really got me into the Christmas spirit. I went around all weekend, singing my thoughts in the form of christmas carols (awesome for me, terrible for everyone else). I just can't help but be merry! I love this time of year. Everything has a warm and cozy feel. Everyone's more friendly. Everywhere you look there's something "jolly" feeling. Everywhere you are there is Christmas music playing. Everything is buzzing. I absolutely love it. But my favorite part is to come: My parents will be coming home from Shanghai (where they are currently living), so we'll get to spend a ton of time with them; everyone will be taking time off of work to just sit around and enjoy each other; we'll head down to Tucson so celebrate another Christmas just like we did Thanksgiving with Ronnie's HUGE, awesome family. I LOVE this time of year.

Here are some pictures of the decorations we have so far:

The pot is always there - so I just tweaked it to make it Christmasy

On the right and left are glass jars will cranberries and candles. In the middle is just a bowl of ornaments - quick and easy!

A grapevine wreath that I stuck berry-type things in. On the right and left are glass jars with cranberries and candles again..you'll notice a running theme.

A mini Christmas tree on the far end, and a cluster of glass things with cranberries and candles (told you there was a running theme!)

The wreath I made...super proud of the bow (thanks mom for walking me throw how to make a bow like that out of ribbon!!)

A glass jar with bead-like things stuck in it...same as what's stuck in the grapevine wreath. Wish I knew what they were actually called!

And now that I've shared how we're getting in the Christmas spirit, leave a comment to let me know how you are. It's our first Christmas living together, so we're starting all new traditions...I'm working overtime to make my hubby feel like his home is set for Christmas. So hook me up with some tips of what you do around your home - so I can steal your ideas and maybe get a wifey of the year award for my outstanding holiday performance :)

Thanksgiving 2010 (in pictures)

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration with family and probably both ate more than we needed to. Here's Thanksgiving 2010 in pictures:

We roll deep!!

Mandi looks focused and ready!

We almost ran out of food...

Feast!!

Here's 2 of 3 tables

Seconds.

Some of the desserts this year

The judges for the 2010 cousin bake-off

Hanging out afterwards

Where'd everyone go??? Video games!!

What the _____?: Last Week's Results

A very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone stopping by to read this blog today. We all have SO MUCH to be thankful for!!

Here's the winners from last week's What the ______? contest!

1st: "Ronnie! I didn't mean to literally put your Big Girl Panties on!"

submitted by dawn

2nd: "Something old, something new. Something borrowed, Ewwwwwww."

submitted by Kelly

3rd: "Finally...a desperate housewife who isn't willing to share all "

submitted by Candice

tie

"Hey baby, will you be my TSA screener?"

submitted by Marissa