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...