11.29.09- Day 192

We left KC this morning to head for Denver. After a relatively uneventful trip, a jack flew out of someone's pick up and I ran over it, dragging it under Matt/Jamie's car for several feet until I could pull over. It was kind of scary. As far as we know, everything is fine- thank goodness!

After listening to Christmas music on the way home, I decided that today would be a good day to put up decorations. Yay Christmas! Here are pics of us putting up the tree and then the living room with its final decorations.

11.28.09- Day 191

This morning we said goodbye to the big sheltons and then Bethany, Amanda, and I went to the City Market in downtown KC. It was so fun! It's a year round farmer's market. I got some spices for $1 a scoop! We also bought more sweet potatoes than we could possibly eat (oops- we overestimated how many we would need for sweet potato fries). I wish Denver had something like this year round! We just hung out for the rest of the day. It was nice and relaxing and good to be with friends.

11.27.09- Day 190

After spending a couple fun days with the Hunt clan, we headed over to Paul and Bethany's for a few days. We love our Shelton friends! Thanks for letting us spend time with you guys. You're good for our souls.

Al was given the responsibility of shading the Shelton family's faces while I took some pics for their Christmas card.

Me and Bethany

Alan and I in the Shelton's new house

11.26.09- Day 189

Spent Thanksgiving with the Hunt family. We enjoyed each other's company, some good food, and taking pictures. Here is some of the fun...

11.25.09- Day 188

Long drive to KC with Matt and Jamie. Look at those macho men. 'Nough said.

Happy Thanksgiving!

(I'll post my post of the day with pics later)

This Thanksgiving I'm thankful for so many things! Both Alan and I graduated from school and were blessed with good jobs. We have all that we need and then some. We have wonderful families that are so flexible, loving, and encouraging. We live close to some good friends. We have found a church that we feel in community with. We've been able to travel (me to Ethiopia and both of us to China). It's also been a really great year for Alan and I. It is so easy to take life forgranted, but thank you Lord. We know that every good thing comes from you!

11.24.09- Day 187

Today was a busy day of playing catch up. I got quite a bit accomplished, including setting up a wheelchair fitting for one child, an appointment at Children's hospital for another, taking pictures of a child doing her home exercise program, and working with the PT team to come up with our equipment order. The picture is of a "Special Tomato Multi-positioning Seat." It's one of the new pieces of equipment that I'm order for some of my kids. We got a large check of stimulus money to replace old equipment and order new stuff! We're trying to take advantage since it's not everyday you get such a large budget. (we got all of our current equipment about 10 years ago). After work, I made dinner, watched the Biggest Loser, and have done several loads of laundry. I should be packing for our Thanksgiving trip to KS, but I'm writing on my blog instead and surfing the internet. How come I'm always more awake in the evenings? Hopefully someday I can transform myself into a morning person!

11.23.09- Day 186

Today was a very busy day at work. I went and went and went and still had more things to do! It's a big rush to get everything done before Thanksgiving (since I'm missing my paperwork catch up day on Wed to leave for KC). I'm happy for the short week though. I stayed late at one of my schools and caught up on notes, so I wouldn't have anything I had to do when I got home. I made delicious shrimp, red pepper, and pea pasta with peanut sauce. I LOVE peanut sauce! After Alan left for work, I went to Barnes and Noble and read about:

This...

And this...

And this...

I'm trying to read up on traveling in Europe, since Alan and I are still planning on Greece/Italy 2010! (the trip may be modified to include countries like France, Turkey, and Romania depending on what we decide to do) Exciting! This trip will be WAY more work than going to China (since Megan basically acted as a travel agent for us- thanks Megs!) But, I'm excited. I hope that other friends may want to join in (Sarah? Paul? Bethany? Steph? Charlie? anyone else?) If anyone has advice, I'd love to hear it! Yay for planning and dreaming and the opportunity to travel.

11.22.09- Day 185

Soon.... my dad gets to be one of these...When he graduates from here....

Woo hoo! Way to go dad on passing your upgrade! He now has ABD (all but dissertation) status! We're going to have another "Dr." in our family soon!

11.21.09- Day 184

Today was the Flag Football/Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner...
Tons of fun!
I even made an interception and ran it in for a touchdown! I also caught another ball and ran it almost to make another touchdown! (I have to be excited about this because if you know me, you know that sports, especially ball related sports are not my strong point!) I was very proud of myself. haha. We had a lot of fun. It did get a little chilly, but the warmth of the house made up for it when we got back home. (the oven was on ALL day long cooking turkey and other thanksgiving foods).

Getting ready to play
The crew

Place setting for 12! We used all of our china and even needed an extra plate when Carissa came and made 13! I need another couple sets of my china! We had SOOOO much food: turkey, stuffing, gravy, salad, rolls, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mixed vegetables, broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce, brownies, and pumpkin pie!!!!! I'm still stuffed hours later! We couldn't even fit all the food on the table, so we brought it in in shifts. Do you like our assortment of chairs? (we even had to bring in one from our patio set)
The crew playing Settlers of Catan

The crew that played Mexican Train and visited about random things

I LOVE holidays!!!! This meal made me so ready for Christmas. I want to put up my tree and decorations tomorrow! At least the real Thanksgiving is next week! I'm also so excited to get to see Alan's extended family. It's been too long. They are such a fun bunch. I'm also really looking forward to spending some time with Paul and Bethany. I guess I can wait for Christmastime until after a sweet Thanksgiving full of friends and family.

11.20.09- Day 183

I found my first gray hair today- ahhhhh! I guess that quarter of a century I've lived is starting to get to me :). Seriously though... with my genetics- I'm doomed! haha. (my grandpa had white hair at 40- maybe earlier?) In other news... I have officially been blogging daily (well for the most part) for over half of a year! Yay blog!

11.19.09- Day 183

I went to the first of a three day conference on Autism Spectrum Disorder. This diagnosis is rapidly increasing all over the world. It's incidence is now 1 in 100 children. This is a videoclip that they showed at the conference. It was made by a woman with Autism. In the first part she shares her language and how she perceives it. In the second part, she eloquently explains how her language is different from ours and how that affects how others see her. It blew my mind. It really opened my eyes to perceptions/boxes I put people in and how these can be totally off base. I never would have dreamed how intelligent this woman is! I want to learn to never place limits on what the children I work with can do with the right equipment and support.

11.18.09- Day 182

Favorite of the Day- cute PT kids! This is one of my favorite PT kiddos. He works so hard at every session. I love how he smiles during everything he does! He's doing wall push-ups here. He is really improving in so many areas: stairs, catching, throwing, strength. (I used a picture where he was facing the wall and covered his face to make him non-identifiable for privacy reasons- sad day because his face is so adorable!). I'm creating a home exercise program with several of my kids using pictures of them doing the exercises. They are all so excited to model for the exercise poses!

11.17.09- Day 181

I felt like I was back in my college days after studying anatomy with Alan. It was how we fell back in love. How romantic :). Another busy day at work. Cleaning. Small group- talked about matthew 3-4. Helped Alan study for his anatomy test tomorrow. After grad school- I could probably teach anatomy at this level! Well... maybe with a little review. I actually feel like I have a specialty when looking at the muscular anatomy of the body.

11.16.09- Day 180

Busy day. Started feeling sick. Drank a bunch of echinacea tea and airbourne. Neti-potted 3 times. Alan went out and got us pizza and churros for dinner. I added salad to help rectify the greasiness a little. We relaxed and watched the Office and 30 rock. I like relaxing with the hubby.

3 Decorative Pumpkins I found at walmart for $1 a piece (.50 for the little one). They are normally $5 a piece!

A picture from the wedding that is actually from my camera: Some of the Denver girls plus Karen Synder

11.15.09- Day 179

Thanks Steph for nominating me to post 10 honest things about my life. (got the hint that my blog needs a little change of pace- haha).

Here we go (in no particular order...)

1. I secretly (until now) want a snuggie. Blankets just don't do the trick sometimes. I generally still like to use my arms when I'm cold :). Especially when I'm reading or typing and it's cold. My forearms need some warm love! (my snuggie of choice would not have LSU logos- hehe).

2. I love living close to many good friends from college. This is no surprise to most. The honest part is that I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible now because it will probably end soon. I think everyone will scatter in the next few years. Until then, this is such a sweet phase of life. I'm so blessed!

3. Running in Stapleton is my favorite. It's kind of lame, I know. I do live in Colorado with trails and paths and mountains. But, if I could pick somewhere to run, it would be in Central Park and the surrounding area. I can gaze at beautiful houses to my hearts content, get xeriscaping ideas, gawk at cute children, plan how I too will be a beastie mom someday and push the stroller/hold the leash/and run while looking hot all at the same time, and gaze at the mountains through the old airport scenery.4. I love DQ blizzards. Brownie Batter Blizzard is my favorite, although I'm also quite fond of the Cookie Jar blizzard and Cheesequakes. About every other week when I get home from work I bug Alan until he will go with me to get a blizzard. I refuse to go by myself and indulge in this habit- I make him be my partner in crime. I'm such a wonderful wife, huh? ;)5. Although I really like being a pediatric Physical Therapist, I can't get the idea out of my mind that there is something else I'm suppose to do eventually. I definitely feel like I'm where God wants me right now, but someday I think I may be working for a non-profit organization on developing child rehabilitation programs or being a life planner or just being a mom that volunteers my time or who knows what. I guess we'll see what happens. I probably shouldn't make judgment calls on my profession/job too quick since I've only been doing it for a few months now :).

6. I LOVE my husband. More than the day he asked me to marry him. More than the day he did marry me. More than on our 1st anniversary. More than yesterday. I'm so reminded of late how precious and amazing it is to be married to such a solid, loving, gentle, funny, hardworking, thoughtful, creative, curious, strong, determined, awesome guy. I truly love him more each day.

7. In a totally different way, I love the Biggest Loser! I love seeing lives changed- the deeper discovery of inner change that comes with outer transformation. This show makes me want to open my own Wellness Physical Therapy clinic. Sometimes I cringe at the way people are lifting weights or their posture during exercise. I love that I learned the skills in my professional training to be a person who can assist people with comorbidities in weight loss and rediscovering healthy lives.

8. My friend Sarah and I are schemers and dreamers. She always needs someone to travel with, I always want to go! Good thing Alan is around to be the reality check sometimes:). We are the AC. Hopefully someday we can scheme and dream with the K as well. I really like reading Better Homes and Gardens. I'm maybe not so great on the follow through though. I never seem to be able to implement the neat ideas that I read in magazines. I have made a few recipes. I think I need to make a binder with different sections for the different types of articles. Then, when I need an inspiration for something, rather than digging through all of my magazines, I can just go to the binder with the magazine pages already organized.

10. I am becoming a blogger. It's slowly coming to me. I've been at it for half the year and hope to have more creative, interesting ideas. Until then, it's just 365 days in my life.

(Silly... but...)

The rest of the rules....

1. Must thank the person who gave you the award and list their blog and link it.

2. share 10 honest things about yourself...

3. Present this award to 7 others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.

4. Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving the award.

1. Nicole

2. Sarah S.

3. Crystal

4. Carissa

5. Lara

6. Alana

7. Bethany

11.14.09- Day 178

Karen and Mark's Wedding Day! (pictures courtesy of Allie Clark's blog since I'm too lazy to upload mine)

Don't they look so happy! I loved their ceremony and how it pointed to Christ during every part. I can't wait to see the ways that God uses them together as a married couple!

Pic of all the Mayfield girls at the after-reception reception- don't you love Karen's wedding fleece!
All the JBU crew together! Big reunion!

Crazy Rice Wedding Exit!

This was a beautiful day in many ways. The weather was perfect- I wore short sleeves to a November wedding! There were many friends nearby. God was honored. Fun was had. Just a lovely day.

I had a conversation with an old friend from JBU after the wedding about how there is just something special about the connection of JBU'ers. We're not sure what it is, but perhaps our hearts were all knitted together in someway to bring Christ's kingdom to earth. We may never even know what specific purpose he has for us as part of his Church, but we feel the bond deeply.

(It could also have something to do with the fact that we all lived in Siloam Springs for 4 years and had to get creative about how to have fun. Several of the boys were definitely jumping over the leaping fire after the after-reception reception. I'm sure Alan would have been right in there with them if he could have come.)

11.13.09- Day 177

A busy day in my life. It was a total scramble to see all of my kiddos, get all of my work done, pack, and head out by 3:30 today, but I made it! Sarah S, Sarah H, Andy, and I headed out from my house around 3:30 to go pick up Dacia in DTC. We hit a little traffic, but picked her up and were on our way before 4. We went through a tiny bit of snow, then it completely cleared for the rest of the trip. I drove 5 hours to Las Vegas, where we had to stop for gas. (isn't it amazing that my car drove for 5 hours on 1 tank!) Las Vegas, NM just wasn't all I thought it would be :). We did get McDonalds sundaes and fries before heading back out on the road. We ended up making it to Roswell around 11:15, then to Karen Synder's (a friend from JBU) parents' house around 11:30. They were such fabulous hosts. It reminded me of going home to my family. They had everything set out for us and even made brownies incase we were hungry when we got there. It was a long day, but the beginning of a good weekend!