Running

I'm going to do it. I really mean it this time. To keep me accountable I want to announce it to the blog world...

I am going to start running!

In the past, this would not be a big deal. I remember Saturday soccer practice at Huntsville High consisted of hours of running, I could beat out a good bunt to first base, and I could swim for hours. Now I get winded walking up steps and I feel like drowning after 4 laps of freestyle. Not sure how I would feel after sprinting to 1st base but I have an educated guess...not great.

BUT (yes, there is a but) my legs have issues. Caylen and Mary Martha can back me up on this. They witnessed the torture every time we went on our walks together a few summers ago. I thought I was alone but Ben looked it up. It is a very real thing! Whenever I walk/run my legs turn red and itch uncontrollably. It might sound minor but it is very, very uncomfortable. Just to prove it exists...

http://running.about.com/od/illnessesandrunning/ss/embarrassing_5.htm

If you read that, please notice the condescending "which, by the way, is fine for a sedentary person." Thanks. It also said the only way to get rid of this "embarrassing running problem" is to increase your fitness level. So now I have to do just that.

Ben likes to give me a hard time about this. I try to remind him that not every one is made to run a half marathon. Well to return the favor it is my turn to give him a hard time. If anyone is a fan of The Office you my understand why I call him 'Nard-dog when it comes to running.

*please note - I have his full permission to post this, wouldn't want to offend the hubs*

Andy Bernard (aka Nard-Dog)

Maggie

*Warning: we might have taken too many pictures. Get over it, we're excited*

Well we did it, we have a dog! We have wanted a dog for a long time and now she's here! Our friend Meredith who lives in Birmingham had a friend who was giving away puppies. His black lab had puppies and he didn't know what to do with all of them so we were happy to take one off his hands! These puppies are black lab/blue heeler mix and ADORABLE. We walked into his back yard and were immediately taken over by 7 puppies. I was immediately overwhelmed by the choice. To help make the decision we decided we wanted a girl, so that took 3 of them out of the equation. I would hold one and like it, then want to look at another one so I would put it down and then forget which one I had just held. I was getting nowhere and at this point willing to take all of them.

Then I remembered I was not the only one making the decision when I heard Ben say "I want this one." First of all, we had just gotten there and in my opinion he had not given the others a chance. Second, I wanted the fluffy one with the bright blue eyes.

But no, apparently this was the one. I told him we would think about it but I really wanted to hold and look at all of them. So he put her down to pick up a few of the other puppies. While he was holding some of the others, this puppy patiently followed Ben around the yard and sat down staring at him when he stopped walking. She loved him. The other puppies were all playing with each other the moment we put them down but not this one. She wouldn't leave his side.

Then I picked her up...and it was over. She had me.

We went to look at the puppies on the way to Ben's grandparent's house in Bham for Thanksgiving. After a quick call to make sure it was ok to add one more dog to the 4 already there we were on our way with our new puppy. I don't think Ben had ever been this happy (except for our wedding day I'm sure...) and we were loving every minute of it. The downside: the name debate. All dog names I liked were boy names and I was fully prepared to call our female dog Javy Lopez but Ben likes the more traditional names. He's probably right, I don't want to confuse her. We both had a few names in mind and we never could fully agree or commit to just one. Finally we just had to pick one...and we ended up with Maggie. It really didn't come from anything we just think it's a cute name. Here's our first family picture. Aww.

Maggie got along great with the other dogs. She was especially cute with the Calvert's dog, Lucy. Lucy was a great sport and very gently played with her.

All that playing really wore her out. What do you expect? She's only 6 weeks.

Maggie would see all the other dogs playing fetch and chasing after their tennis balls and she tried to join in. Too bad the ball was bigger than her head. At least she tried. She seems stubborn. That might not be as cute when she gets bigger...

No story here, just cute.

Maggie during her first Iron Bowl. Unfortunately we lost but WAR EAGLE anyways.

We are so excited to have Maggie, despite the fact we wake up to her whines every 2 hours to let her go outside. We might be sleepy but we are happy to finally have our puppy.

Love in Action

My husband loves me. I am very confident in this, and he tells me often. But it sure is special to have it demonstrated to you...

Ben came home during his lunch break today to help me study for a validation I had this afternoon. He could have gone to his lunch favorites like Chick fil a or Five Guys but he came home to eat leftovers to help quiz me. And let me tell you, this wasn't just your average study material. Catheters anyone...? Ben doesn't even like hearing the word "blood" or "needle" so this was a stretch for him. He had to look at sentences I am sure he regrets laying eyes on, and while he was quizzing me he kept on staring at the catheter I had laying on the floor and wincing. I don't think he was aware he was doing that...so funny!

This is what he walked in the door to see. Poor guy.


Ben - I love you and thank you. Hope you don't have nightmares.

Half Marathon

Well he did it! Ben just finished his first half marathon. I am so proud of him despite the fact that my alarm went off at 6:00am on a Saturday morning. On our way there I was so nervous it was almost like I was the one running! We didn't know what traffic and parking would be like so we got there pretty early. We had an hour to kill so we just did some serious people watching. Everyone was in such good shape, it was actually very convicting. I was just thinking about how much I need to start running when I saw a very pregnant woman with a t shirt that said "Pregnant and Fit" walking towards the starting line. Geez. Slap in the face. But good for her.

I was not sure how I was going to watch the race so my plan was to go back to the car and study after the race started, and walk back up in time to see him cross the finish line. When Ben walked over to the starting line I got a phone call from my parents. They were on their way and had a spot picked out where the runners passed by at the 5th mile and the 11th mile. I got in their car just in time to miss the runners and went to meet Mrs Terry at our spot. I am so glad they called. We had a great time cheering on the runners while looking out for Ben and Mr Alan.

Here is Ben right before the race. I was THAT wife taking pictures at every stage.

Here is Mr Alan at mile 5.
And here's Ben.

I can't believe he's smiling. I would be in respiratory distress at this point.

Mile 11 - Almost finished Mr A!

Still smiling at mile 11?? Maybe because it's almost over...?

He finished!

I am so proud of Ben. He's been working hard for weeks. Now he's excited about doing more of these in the future. I also really enjoyed the whole experience. Maybe we can find races that have a half marathon and a 5K so we can both run. We will see! Caylen and David - excited for you guys to run your half marathon soon! You can do it!

about the time management...

So here I am again...playing catch up. School and life have been BUSY, and after taking a look at my calender I realize it's only going to get busier until Christmas break. But at least I get a Christmas break! Most of my friends have careers and I can be jealous at times but THEY will be jealous when it's time for my (almost) month off. I might call them during the day *forgetting* they are at work since I am at home taking it easy. And yes, I would be that mean. It's out of love though.

Remember when I said that I had Wednesdays free? Apparently not. I guess that means no scheduled class but you will have to come in for group work/labs/study sessions/tests. This takes away my Wednesday morning Bible study. That has been a pretty big bummer. I really appreciate the encouragement, prayer and fellowship from that Bible study and I miss it! I know I am not a big talker in groups (surprise, surprise) but I feel like I learned so much by just sitting back and listening. Hopefully I will get the chance to go back soon.

I recently had the chance to visit friends in New York over a long weekend. Most of you know that NYC is not my top pick in vacation spots. In my opinion if I am going to pay for a plane ticket there should be mountains or some body of water waiting for me upon arrival. A huge city....ummm no. But getting the chance to see so many friends from Auburn was too good to pass up. Ben was not able to miss work that Friday or Saturday so I was on my own. I can't put into words how much I appreciate all he did for me so that I was able to go. I missed him the whole time but I know he enjoyed getting the chance to play golf and eat a whole lot of pizza. I felt like I ate the whole time we were in New York. Nothing wrong with that! We walked off all the calories! We also bought the half price tickets and went to see Memphis on Broadway. Two friends with us are from Memphis so it was neat to be able to see that with them. First experience with Broadway, and I loved it! I can't even put into words how good it was to see friends from all over the country, just wish Ben had been there. I also wish I had some pictures to show you but I didn't take a single picture while I was there! Oops! In my defense, it was raining most of the time.

For now I need to get back to studying. Pathophysiology test on Tuesday. That is by far my hardest class. At least I get to study with the Bama/LSU game in the background. Let's hope both Tiger teams get a win today...

Fall Break Update

If I haven't mentioned this enough, school has taken over my life. That means my blogging has been nonexistent. A lot has happened since my last real update so I am gonna hit the highlights.

- We went to Auburn! Anyone remember the rain delay for the West Virginia game? Rain delay is deceiving. It should have been called "more rain than I have ever seen in my entire life all in the span of 30 minutes" delay. We were sitting in our seats waiting for the pregame to start when all the sudden everyone around us started putting on their jackets and ponchos. It was almost like an announcement came over the speakers telling people to start getting ready for the monsoon. There was no rain at this point so it seemed a little silly, until we looked up. Over the stadium was the darkest cloud I have ever seen. Thirty seconds later it starting pouring. There was no warning sprinkle or light rain, it went from nothing to a downpour. The kind of downpour that laughs at your rain jacket and somehow soaks every inch of you anyways. Not the best night to wear jeans. Trust me. But the game started (late) and it was an exciting one. Lots of turnovers, lots of frustration but we won! It was fun sitting with Ben and Jammers!

-Ben had his second infusion last week. The doctor's office and infusion center are in Cullman so we drove down the night before and spent the night with his grandparents. April and Andrew were down there as well so we got the chance to spend some time with them. I don't want to go into too much detail on that night because I am still bitter I came in last place in our card games. It wasn't even a close last place, trust me. His infusion went well! No complications, no reactions and no side effects! The hardest part was the boredom of sitting there for 2 1/2 hours but I had a Francine River's book so I was good to go. We know how many people were praying for that day, and we feel so blessed to have you in our lives.

-We joined the University Fitness Center once I became a student at UAH. We have been loving it. I am well known for my *intentions* of going to the gym but not really following through. Ben, on the other hand, goes almost every day for 2 hours. I've always been proud of how dedicated he is to working out. Sooo once again I joined the gym with my good intentions and my lack of follow through. That is, until I found out about a school project...I have to attend at least 3 workout classes a week all semester long. This was not the only option I had for the project but you do really think I would choose a 15 minute oral report or a poster presentation? Those require creativity and speaking in public. No thank you! So if you need to find me I will be at the nursing building or taking Muscleworks (and even Yoga...don't judge it can be relaxing if I don't feel like working that hard) at the Fitness Center.

-We are keeping Molly and Jamie while my parents are out of town! Jamie gets back in town tonight, but we already have Molly. To clarify, Molly is the fam's dog and Jamie (Jammers) is my youngest sister. VERY excited to have both of them! So far Molly has spent 95% of her time here staring at the squirrels and chipmunks in our backyard. I love her, but she's not the brightest.

I will try to be better about blogging from now on. It's alllll about time management.

Those Calvert boys...

I realize that I have been slacking on the blogging.  My deepest apologies.  School has me crazy busy right now.  Just to hold you over until I have the time to give a full account of the game/monsoon in Auburn, here are a few pictures I found on Ben's computer.  Notice a pattern?  Those crazy, rebellious preacher's kids...

WAR EAGLE!!!

The day is finally here! Oh how I love the sound of College GameDay. I'm serious, I stayed up pretty late last night studying so I would have the morning off to watch it. I love, love, love this time of year!!! Here's a hint, during commercials go watch youtube videos of old pregame videos. And if you are thinking at this moment, no way because I am not an Auburn fan...then I pity you. I really do. It's great to be an Auburn Tiger!

Whenever I think about our new coach the same phrase pops in my mind..."Don't blow this for us Gene!" It's not that I think Chizik will be bad, it actually has nothing to do with him at all. I like the guy! The name Gene just makes me think of the SNL more cowbell skit when he yells "Don't blow this for us, Gene!" Anyone....just me....? I shared that thought with a friend and I only got a blank stare in return.

War Eagle!!!!

Big sigh of relief

I just talked to Ben. He had his first infusion today in Cullman and it went well. Maybe a better way to say it is nothing bad happened. Ben's view of something going "well" does not include needles. When I was sitting in class during the time of his infusion I was about to have a panic attack. When I found out that I could not go with him...I freaked out. I've been on the verge of tears all week. I'm not a big cryer so that means something. It's not like I have any control over what was going to happen but I just wanted to be there. Thankfully his mom was able to go with him. He would have been fine on his own, which he told me over and over again as I didn't listen, but I am so glad she was there. I might as well have made the drive to Cullman with him because I was not paying attention in class at all today. Oops. I kept on looking at people wondering why they were acting so normal when MY husband was doing something scary today. Just being honest.

They are on their way to get another MRI, and then they will be heading home. I can't wait to give him a hug! Thanks for your prayers today!

  Hey guys, it's Ben. I usually leave the blogging to Jess because she's so good at it, but I wanted to take a few minutes to update you on a few happenings in our life. Jess has done a great job keeping ya'll up to date on things as they develop regarding our battle with MS. That's important to us because so many of you pray for us daily and I can't tell you how much that means. Sometimes I think a few of ya'll actually pray for me more than I do, which really amazes me. 

We took a visit to the doctor a couple of weeks ago and it looks like the current medicine I've been on isn't doing its job. I'm starting a new medication this week that is a monthly IV infusion. The good news is that I don't have to do any more weekly shots or deal with the nasty side affects that  come with them. For a person who hates shots to begin with, the weekly battle with a 2-inch-long intramuscular injection was starting to takes its toll. Not to mention that I've had about enough of the completely unpredictable fever, chills and body aches. 

   This medicine is supposed to be a lot more affective and a lot cleaner, meaning that it is very specific at what it does so the side affects aren't as violent. As far as I know, most people don't experience any bad side affects after an infusion. 

The down side is that I have to take a day off once a month and go down to Cullman to do the infusion. I think it takes about an hour and a half to do the infusion and then you have to sit there for an hour to make sure there aren't any negative reactions. Also, the bill runs about 80-90,000 dollars a year, most of which we will never see (praise God for health insurance). All in all, I'd take that any day over the old medicine. 

There is however one little thing about this medicine that I'm not so excited about. A small number of people who take it get this really bad brain infection that is fatal. I think there's only a .00125 percent chance of getting it, but to be honest that terrifies me. 

I really struggled with making the decision to switch to this medicine for about a week and a half. We kept praying and finally God gave me an answer. 

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." - Isaiah 12

If you're running out of things to pray for hopefully this will give you something to add to the list. I really appreciate ya'll and can't being to tell you how much your prayers mean to me. 

Outdoor table

Dear Creative Friends,

I need you. I am not being down on myself. I know I have many strengths ( even though after 5 hours of studying Pathophysiology today I discovered that subject is definitely NOT on my list of strengths). I can listen, I can climb a mountain and I can take your vital signs but I am not creative. That is where all of my talented and creative friends come in.

I have this table...

...and I want to make it over. It's like HGTV minus the cameras, awkward staged moments and any experience. This table was my grandparent's kitchen table. Dad has film of his 1st birthday eating cake from this table. You can't just throw that away and buy something new from Target. I would like to use this as outdoor furniture on our back covered patio. So, how do I do it? My first idea was to fly Caylen in from Phoenix for the weekend so she could do it but I can't really afford that. So moving on to Plan B...I've got nothing. It needs to be thoroughly cleaned. That I can handle. After that I don't know what to do. The black paint is chipping so I know something needs to be done there. The black is fine but I am not emotionally attached to it so that can be changed. Here are a few photos to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with.

One thing I do know is I want to recover the seats. I am sure there is a certain kind of fabric I need to use. Right now the fabric is wanna be Williams Sonoma, itchy if you sit on it with shorts, and full of stains.

Please help. Suggestions, ideas, any thoughts at all would be greatly appreciated. You can comment or just email me. Trust me...if you don't help I will paint it blue, with a different shade of blue fabric on the seats, and plant blue flowers around it. And no one wants that.

Ben's grilling break

I had to sneak up on him to get this. He wasn't exactly asleep, but he was getting there. He assured me he had everything under control. I'm glad he knows what he is doing...he makes a mean pork tenderloin! I would join him but I think the mosquitoes are drawn to me and there is an entire colony of the blood suckers in our back yard. Maybe I will make it out there in the Fall.

Our new home!

Here it is!!
Ok I lied, that's a country club in Atlanta. Now for the real thing. Ben and I have been living here for a few weeks now. My Grandparents are so wonderful to let us rent from them! This house is a 45 second drive from school. Ben is closer to work as well but I am not sure if this is a good thing. He keeps on complaining that it cuts into his Rick and Bubba time. We went from a 1 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom/2 bath house. We don't know what to do with ourselves! For now our home is a combination of new furniture, old furniture and my grandparent's furniture. And by old furniture I mean "bought this at a garage sale to furnish a college apartment 4 years ago" kind of old. But it works great for us.

Here is a closer look. Please forgive the bushes, or lack thereof. They were taller than the windows so drastic measures had to be taken. I've been told they will grow back.

Something we quickly learned...more space, much more cleaning. It's worth it.

Things worth sharing

Since I haven't taken the pictures I promised (Caylen) of the new place I figured I would update on a few things first...

See these books? I bought these today from the UAH bookstore. 15 books for 4 classes. 15 required books for one semester. 15!!?!?!? It's a bit overwhelming. This will be my life for the next 2 years.

Last night Mary Martha came over for dinner. Unfortunately it was a goodbye dinner. She is moving to St. Louis to start the counseling program at Covenant Seminary. She will be wonderful up there. I will miss her so much. Actually just thinking about it now makes me very upset so I am going to move on to a better topic...like food. Ben grilled steaks, and I made corn casserole, english peas, and my favorite salad with poppy seed dressing. I could finally make a salad and someone would eat it! We had Lemon Blueberry Cake for dessert. The food was good, but the company was even better. We will both miss you very much MM!

Now that we live in a house we have more responsibilities than we did in the apartment. One of these responsibilities is cutting the grass. I am fully capable of this chore, the Martin girls were taught how to use a mower, but having a husband to do it is very handy. Unfortunately the lawn mower broke down in the middle of the yard. This is Ben (a very frustrated Ben) dragging it to the garage. He was not thrilled at the moment but I enjoyed watching the scene from inside.

This was my birthday surprise from Ben. Roses, a sweet card and creme brulee from Fresh Market. Well done Benjamin. I even got to torch it. I am sure that is not the correct terminology but "torching" it sounds very hardcore. So I am sticking with it.

Goodbye Apartment.

Goodbye Apartment. You were perfect for our first year of marriage. A couple's first place is very special. We will always remember coming home from our honeymoon and walking through the front door in OUR place. It was so fun to say that!

We really enjoyed the apartments, but the opportunity for more space came along and we grabbed it. More updates on that later. For now I just wanted to say a proper blog goodbye to Hampton Falls. I will miss you and your proximity to a gas station that sells amazing fountain mountain dew. I will not miss the stairs.

Our view from the back porchliving room (with crooked mirrors...oops)
kitchen

other side of living room

(and yes, of course that's a Braves game on tv)

Apparently I never took a picture of our bedroom. Bummer! Bye bye 1 bedroom apartment...

loooong week

If you need me this week, just walk into the lobby of Huntsville Hospital. Twice a year I work for an apparel show at Huntsville Hospital. It's a good opportunity to earn extra cash, but it also means working about 14 (atleast 14...) hours a day. I'm not a morning person and I leave the house when it's dark outside. The dark a.m. is NOT my friend.

I realize this is a horrible excuse for a blog post. I just wanted to offer an explanation for why I haven't updated the blog on all the major things going on in our lives. To those of you who don't know yet...we moved!!! No worries we are still living in Huntsville, just a completely different side. So more details on that later.

Until then wish me luck. If you get bored come and see me. And buy a shirt or tote bag.

Boone, NC

See, I told you we would see that bridge! It was our first stop when we got to Grandfather Mountain. Most of the pictures I took were from our hiking day. I would have taken some when we went white water rafting but I couldn't risk taking the camera. We LOVED hiking up Grandfather Mountain. It had enough ropes, ladders, and difficult climbs to keep us on our toes. The weather was perfect. The highs stayed in the 70's. I had to start hiking in a long sleeve shirt in July! I could get used to that...

The 2nd day of the trip was white water rafting. I was the only Calvert family member who had never been rafting before, and I was so excited about it. Ben and I will definitely be doing that again soon, preferably in warmer water. It was 41 degrees!! Don't believe me...? Ask Joe. We both jumped in (I don't like being told I won't be able to handle it) and I had never experienced anything like that. Joe did a manly flip of the side of the boat while I back flopped and my shoes fell off. When we were in the water Joe tried to talk but words would not come out, while on the other side of the boat my mind was telling my body to turn around but my body didn't listen. We escaped hypothermia and I made it through my first rafting experience. Next stop: Ocoee River. Anyone interested?? We would love to go in a group!

On the 3rd day the girls when shopping while the guys played golf. Worked great for me, they had outlets!

We had such a great time in Boone with Ben's family. We really appreciated the opportunity to go on this trip and we treasure the time we had together as a family!

the bridge

the "kids" before hiking

a few photo ops along the way

looking back, we were super close to the edge. oops.

the Calvert men

the first of many ropes

steep ladders!

me and Brooke looking over the edge. halfway there!

the very last ladder, almost the the peak

We made it to the top!!

Yummy Southern Food, family style!

So tired from all the hiking, you better believe we ate it all!

it was such a cute place

I could handle living there.