This weekend we ran into one of those unexpected hurdles that comes with the whole paralysis gig. On top of that, Dana's phone died and we needed to go shopping. Now, we usually do pretty well keeping up with life's demands, but this box of monkey wrenches definitely clogged up our New Year. Even yesterday Dana ended up sticking around the house because the night before was miserable. Really cheery -- right?
A few days being pitiful in bed makes us both stir crazy. Monday we eventually got up and at 'em, dogs bathed, hooked up Mike's smart phone for Dana, and hit the shopping. A fresh episode of Brothers and Sisters and dinner w/ dessert and we hit the hay. When we finally settled into sleep Dana realized, "this is the most time we've spent together since our honeymoon."
It isn't the perfect little life, but the love we share and encouragement from family and friends that get us through the tough days.
I'm borrowing a page out of the Kolette Hall playbook. I followed along last year on her blog as she took a picture each day of something she was grateful for. I do not know Kolette or her husband Jason personally, but we are internet friends, and Kolette has already been a shoulder for me to lean on because we are in somewhat similar situations. I enjoyed and was encouraged by her journey in 2009. So, I'm attempting to do the same this year. I'd like to share my pictures here, as I try this year to focus on just how much I do have to be thankful for.
January 1: I am thankful for the bottle of champagne that symbolizes our New Year's turning around. We saved the cork to keep as an "altar" to remember that turning point.
January 2: I am thankful for Skype. And for the conversation I was able to have early in the morning with my dear friend Ann, who is in Thailand. Her friendship is exceedingly special to me and her smile and voice are always an encouragement.
January 3: My couch cushions. I have never been so thankful for my couch cushions! I made breakfast burritos yesterday morning, and because of those two back couch cushions, we were able to enjoy breakfast in bed together.
One thing I plan on blogging about frequently is what we eat! We do not eat anything special, or different than anyone else. I just love to cook and try new recipes and nothing puts a smile on my face faster than plopping a good, home cooked meal down in front of the Hubs for him to enjoy! So, I plan to share with you "What's For Dinner" on a regular basis. Please comment and share your tips and recipe ideas! I read several food blogs and get lots of recipes online - so bring 'em on!
We unfortunately ushered in 2010 with an, ahem, setback. I'll spare you the details, but what I will share is that this setback has led to Mike having to spend a lot of time in bed, healing. This is the first time we've faced anything like this together, and I am learning that I have a lot to learn! How fun, right?
I am such a routine addict. I love my routines and feel very uncomfortable whenever they're thrown off. Mr. I'm okay with anything and everything is fine, of course. While I was sobbing my eyes out thinking "this is the worst New Year's EVER!!!"
The truth is, with a little perspective (I'd happily give up what is apparently my new addiction... learning all about "perspective") it really wasn't that bad after all.
Here we are, January 3rd. Still standing (so to speak). Definitely closer than ever. And looking forward to all that 2010 has for us.
We were able to get out and about for a little "date night" last night. So glad we did.
Hey everyone! The Hubs and I are co-writing a new blog!! Please bookmark it and follow us! I don't know how much I'll be posting over here (I'll try... but honestly, I'm also starting a new White House Blog for work... and well... how much can one blonde really blog!?!?!)
Our first married Christmas was a blast! We road tripped it (in the snow - White Christmas!) down to NC to see M's family. I always love seeing them because they are all so sweet and I'm just completely surrounded by that deep southern accent, and what doesn't sound sweeter through that accent, right?
Michael and I exchanged presents Christmas Eve and read the Christmas story from the book of Luke, that's now our tradition and I love it! Christmas morning, we packed the SUV, you should see all that we take with us when we travel for just one night, it's obscene. Pretty much need a U-Haul trailer. The "granny cart" is a total must when packing/unpacking the car.
We had an awesome dinner. Tonja made these little green bean things wrapped in bacon that I'm drooling over just remembering. And I finally got to taste that Dirt Cake and Butterfinger Delight, and boy am I glad for that! Bonus - we got to take quite a bit home and enjoyed it all week.
M and I rocked the night away playing Rock Band with Caitlin and Shanhui Xu (their Chinese foreign exchange student - another cute, sweet accent!!). It was such a blast!! You know I loved playing the drums, even if I never advanced past the "beginner" level! Haha. I loved hearing M sing and Caitlin was cracking me up, she's such a pro - she's got the rocker posture and everything!
Seeing the little ones, Marissa, Brody & Grey was awesome too. Love those little people.
Here are a few pictures.. and I edited a video of our first Christmas Season (I know, totally yupped out but I have no shame. I own like 8 scarves and I bought M one for Christmas, whatever!) I hope y'all enjoy:
Love to all of you!
No denying this family resemblance!
Pops is a man after my own heart... devouring some of my homemade cinnamon bread :) And this man almost always has a cup of coffee in his hand! Gotta love that!
The girls rocking out!
Get a load of this crooner!! This is now the wallpaper on my laptop, I don't even remember what he was singing but he was into it! :)
And look at M's concentrating face here. Haha. I'm glad no one snapped a picture of me, I'm sure mine was worse! It gave me such joy that M was able to fully participate in Rock Band. Last year, we played Wii and he was just sitting back telling everyone else what to do, haha. But thankfully, yours truly thought of sticking the drumsticks down in his gloves so he could "hold" them. I think it was a pretty good workout too! :) Haha. FUN!
Crystal always looks like a celebrity. And Greyson, don't even get me started. I love him, he's the cutest little chunk on the planet. And you should hear his baby laugh!!! Aaaahh, nothing like the sound of a baby laughing!
Marissa is so domestic.
Brody rocking out to the Chipmunks on his new walkman.
We had an awesome first married Christmas! I'm such a lucky girl.
Here's our cheesy, yuppy Christmas video:
If you want to watch more videos like this, and read the latest from us.. check out OUR NEW BLOG!! We'll be documenting our lives over the next year at: www.lovelikethislife.blogspot.com
Dana wrote about "Love Like This" being our song. She is right that I am horrible with details, but I do remember when she showed me this song and I thought, Yeah. This is ours. I loved the reggae and the fun of it all. Dana was special and I thought that really caught how I felt. Looking back I see how we are more in love. We say that all of the time. This love grew over a long time. Even before we met we knew each other from years of emails. I already knew about this gal and how much we had in common. We were falling in love and it was special. We are blessed to have a love like this because we waited so long for God to bring somebody right along. Day to day I see how special this love is. We miss each other when we're apart and have a way of making things better just being together.
The title of our blog is the name of "our song," which is "Love Like This" by Natasha Bedingfield. How it became our song: In February of 2008, I was visiting Michael in Texas for Valentine's Day (woot, woot). We had been officially a couple for just a few months, since November, 2007. I doubt he will remember these details, but that's my job as the woman, anyway, right? Michael was nursing a pressure sore at the time, so he had to spend more time in bed than usual. This was new to me, I was just starting to learn about these things! I had just recently gotten my Macbook, and brought it along for the trip to show to my computer loving boyfriend.
We spent Valentine's morning playing with the computer. We ended up on YouTube and watched the video for "Love Like This, " and decided right then and there that that would be our song!
It was months later that we were driving in the car together and Michael said something about the line "I sit here in this chair and I wish for you not to leave me now..."
I rolled my eyes and smiled. Of course he would pick up on that. It made me love "our song" even more. I listen to it all the time!
Hello! And welcome to our new blog! We are launching quite the project for 2010. People are always telling us how inspirational we are and that we should write a book.
This blog is obviously a long way from publishing a book... but we're committing ourselves to documenting our lives over this year. Day in, day out. You'll see us as we are. I (Dana) am kind of a private person, (believe it or not!) so honestly, opening up to the world like this makes me a little nervous. *I better not come out looking like Kate Gosselin!
But... if I zoom out and see our love for what it is, it does inspire even me. I write and tell stories for a living, so I'm qualified, however partial, to say that we do have an incredible story.
It's crazy to live it. It'll be fun to tell it. Jump on board and follow us this year! We're armed with our computers, two flip video cameras and our sparkling new Nikon D3000!! (I'm falling in love all over again!)
We're going to cover it all. Marriage. Work. Ministry. Managing our household. Meet our families and our three pets. We're committed to journaling, shooting and editing and sharing it all. Our prayer is that someone, even us, will benefit from and be blessed by this project.
