Chronicles of Marathon #2!

I went back and read last years marathon of a post after I became a "marathoner". Although it probably bores my readers, I really enjoy remembering the details of the day. Now, will I do another one? Probably not. 26.2 miles is brutal on the body and that last 10K is by far the most painful experience I've ever felt in my life (reminder: I have not endured labor). I would consider New York or Chicago...but I think my time at White Rock Marathon is complete. Onto the day...

Caleb decided about a month ago that he, too, would run the marathon. Not too much training, but to his credit, he did bust out the 18 miler and 22 miler in training and did really well. It was fun to anticipate the day together, go to the expo, rest the legs, set out our clothes, etc and discuss expectations and strategies as we lay in bed not able to sleep on Saturday night. When he decided to run the marathon, I told him I did not want to run together, as he really messed with my mental psyche (and running a marathon is so mental). He then decided instead of a goal of finishing, he would have a goal of a sub 4 hour marathon (he made it, by the way!). He went with some other friends the morning of and I picked up Shannon.

Here's what the floor of our room looked like when we went to bed Sat night:

Morning of the marathon around the AAC brought back many memories. We did use the inside bathrooms this year which went really fast and eliminated the stress of missing the start from waiting in line for the outside johns. Went to the Luke's tent, sat and rested the legs as I ate my cereal and banana. Then over the speaker "runners, get in your corrals, the gun will go off in 15 minutes". The knots started in the stomach....but completed relaxed when I saw Caleb amongst the 20,000 runners in his mustard fleece he bought specifically for race day for shedding. Big hug. "Good luck". And he went back to his start..and I went to mine. I do remember thinking "I sure hope that's not our last goodbye"! Looking back, that's so morbid, but I've heard of too many marathon "death" stories the past few months!

Here's our starting line picture, I was so glad to see him before the race (and made him shed that ugly fleece off so it would be a cute pic!):

The gun goes off....we see it on the big screen and the Kenyans take off. We don't move for atleast 3-4 minutes, then start walking to the start. Cross the start line at 8:08 gun time , start my watch, and it's here. I'm no longer nervous, but excited. About 2 minutes into the race, I feel a familiar pat on my back and "see you in 5 hours". Caleb's passing me and running his race. I'm running mine. See you in 4 and a HALF!

I start the ipod early this year. Focused. Manage the water stops well. Only take Gu when I need it. My favorite sign I see about mile 7 and then again at 23 when it was really needed "You all have Kenyan legs. Find yours". Go through Highland Park, Turtle Creek, run the tangents. Hit the lake at mile 9 and still feel strong and focused. My running buddies Shannon, Danna, and Brian--we're all still together. Hit the half marathon marker at 2:17. Rockin' it. Feeling strong. The lake is familiar territory, pass the bath house, I own this route. Finish the lake about mile 18. Go around the curve, look to my left and see Stephen, Diana, and my Mom cheering. Boost of energy! See the 19 mile Cliff waterstop and see the Latimer's to my left. Perfect timing, another boost when I need it, don't even stop at the waterstop. Up the Dolly Parton's, still rockin' it. Up Tokalon, tired but strong. Realized we lost Danna and Brian, but Shannon and I are still together!

Around mile 18, still smiling :)!

Then...it hits. I was thinking up to this point I was not going to hit a wall. The infamous 18 mile wall was over and I'm strong. Wrong. I hit the wall and I can't climb it. Thankfully, Kimberly comes at just the right point around mile 20 and runs with me for 5 MILES. I can't talk to her. Can't say thank you. Just nod as she encourages me all along the way. Reminding me of the course. Swiss is downhill, then downtown and the finish. I lose Shannon somewhere around mile 21. Kimberly goes back and forth between us, encouraging us both (we end up finishing about 30 seconds apart). When she's with me, she tells the supporters "cheer for Julie!" and they start cheering "Go Julie!". I wish I could say it helped, it didn't. I was in pain--not leg pain, but just my body saying "please stop, I can't get oxygen and I don't want to move any more". This was my BIG mistake this year: from mile 22 to finish, I never stopped for water or gatorade. I ran through the water stops, as I felt like if I slowed down or stopped, I could not start back up. Now, I did this in training...but only for the last 3 miles. Marathon day was different. The sun was coming out, temps were heating up. I didn't listen to my body, but tried to mentally get through it.

I think I became a little delirious. I was literally moaning with breathing. Closing my eyes. Get into downtown thinking I'm almost there. Those last 2 miles were the longest 2 miles of my life. My 4:40 prize is a night at the Ritz. I never thought I would get it, but now I know I'm close and visualize in my mind what I think the beds at the Ritz look like...fluffy, comfy, me in a soft robe---if I can make it 20 more minutes, I can spend 20 hours in that bed. It gets me through. I thought they forgot to put out the 25 mile marker, insistent I had run over a mile from 24...and the flag came what felt like an hour later (it wasn't really, I actually maintained my pace that last stretch). Every turn downtown I expect to see balloons, the finish...nope, just people running in front and turning again. And again. And again. Hit 26 and those last .2 are also brutal. Just have to finish.

See the ballooons. The gates with the cheering. Think I hear Caleb to my left, some lady voice to my right yelling "Go Julie!". I just want to finish. I cross the mat. Stop. Cross the 2nd mat. Faint I just remember people in red shirts catching me and saying "stay with us". I can't talk. They put me in a wheelchair. I have no head control, remember thinking...if I lean forward, I'm going to fall out,but I can't keep my head up. Lean back. They pick me up to put me in another wheelchair and I have no control of my legs, my head, my body, I'm literally a limp noodle totally dependent on them. The weirdest feeling of my life. They place me in a wheelchair and wheel me around what feels like forever. I can't talk, they're trying to get me to say my name and count. I'm gesturing for water. I know all I need is water. They finally get me to a tent and give me water. I'm getting better. See Shannon, but can't talk--feel like a 1 year old communicating with gestures, wanting someone to get Shannon (I can tell she's looking for me) and I'm pointing, nobody gets her. She walks away. Someone will come get me. I wait. Drink my water.

Finally feel like I can walk, the man with me holds my arm to make sure and I'm okay. I walk, get my finisher shirt, then see Caleb. Grab his arm and he takes me to the curb. My first words: "I got all my prizes". Ask him how his race was, he says "good" and looks GREAT! My Mom, Stephen, and Diana see us and my Mom was a little freaked as she saw all the finish line drama, but relieved I'm okay. We attempt to get food, I feel nauseous the whole time, just want to go home.

Here's us on the curb, the official "finisher" picture. I really wanted one that showed us holding our medals and standing UP, but that just didn't happen! This is more realistic, and ended up being our Christmas card pic this year!

Made it home and I've felt great since! Just a little dehydration and body shock I think :). We showered and then watched the 2.5 hour marathon special we had recorded while we sipped gatorade and laid on the couches. Caleb and I were both hobbling around on Monday but getting less sore each day. I'm so proud of him, I hung our medals with our stockings :). I do hope our children get his athleticism! It takes me 26 weeks and him 4, but like I always say, I do the marathon for the training. I still stick by it, I love the training, the marathon itself...it's okay. We're recovering this week...so we can go skiing next week! Woo hoo!

Official times:

Caleb: 3:58:25 : I love this pic of him finishing. Doesn't he look awesome!! So proud!

Julie: 4:36:21 (a good 29 minutes faster than last year!)
No finish line picture yet. I'm curious to see what the professional pic looks like this year!

We're both MARATHONERS!

Here's us the night of the marathon at a celebration party with our fabulous sign the Basden's made for us:

Marathon #2

Tomorrow is the big day. Marathon #2 for me, #1 for Caleb. We've spent the day carb loading and resting. Caleb cannot stand being lazy, so he's opted to go to the movies this afternoon to "rest his legs". I'm enjoying a little quiet time by the fire with the Christmas tree lights brightening the room :). The ipod mix is complete. The clothes are set out. Advil is in it's baggy. Prizes are complete. I think we're ready, we shall see what tomorrow brings....

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful...

that even with all the change, the Lord's love will never change. I can turn away, and He will welcome me with open arms. His grace is sufficient.

The past 6 months I've been in the trauma/neurosurgery ICU and it's a daily reality check. Do I play more "movies" now regarding the worst of the worst happening? Of course I do, I think it's just the reality of working in the ICU and seeing even worse than you can imagine everyday.

But then I have to remember, the Lord is in control. He works out everything for the good for those that love Him. Sometimes, that means breaking you of everything you hold so dear so you will have to trust Him. And sometimes, just sometimes, I have the courage to pray that prayer--Lord, break me.

"Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson:

Ruin me, I am unclean
A sinner found in your presence
I see you, seated on Your throne
Exalted, Your glory surrounds You

Now the plans that I have made
Fail to compare
When I see Your glory

Ruin my life, the plans that I've made
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place
'Till it's You ALONE I live for, You alone I live for

Such a hard prayer, but it's the only way. Those of you that know me well know I'm such a planner. I have a plan for my life. However, I know that the Lord's plans are better. A verse in Proverbs says that in his heart a man plans his steps, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. Praise the Lord.

I do heart TX/OU weekend

It's like a holiday weekeend for me. I took off the Friday before to preparefor the weekend. My stomach gets so nervous and excited, I just can't sleep! I know for months in advance the date...and when people say "oh, I'm doing x on 10/17" lands a response from me "don't you know that's tx/ou weekend"?

This year again was no disappointment. Getting tickets was a little more of a scare than it's been in the past, but my fabulous friend Stephanie has the biggest network of friends you could imagine, and she scored us some tickets for FACE VALUE. The tickets we got could have easily gone for $400/each. Granted, they were in the Sooner section....but, just getting in that game makes me happy :).

Friday night Jessica, Evan, Ryan, and Margaret came into town. We kicked off the weeekend by grilling out at home before heading to Who's Bad?--a Michael Jackson cover band at the House of Blues. Evan is still hoarse from screaming "I love you Michael!". Caleb busted some great dance moves as well. We get home about 1:30 in the morning and....

I'm so giddy I can't sleep! It's TX/OU weekend! I wake up off and on from about 4 till 6. I finally decide at 6:30 I can wake Caleb up. He wants to sleep longer. I wake him up every 5 minutes, singing Texas Fight!, The Eyes of Texas, prancing around with my horns up :). He tells me I'm like a kid at Christmas and finally gets up around 7. We're out the door by 7:30....off to enjoy the fair! Kick off is at 1100!!!

Catch a little of GameDay, catch a little quality time with Stephen and Ali, and get a burger and curly fries before heading into Sooner land. Tickets were great seats, 40 yard line. The fans were actually very respectful of us standing up singing The Eyes and the fight song. We didn't partake in the "OU sucks" chants, but other than that, we cheered on our boys, even though it was a mess of a game. I kept my tradition of drinking sprite, as I was so nervous! Game was over, we scooched to the UT section (the sooners were leaving=losers) to sing The Eyes. Since we won, we enjoyed the fair for a few more hours. Had some friend butter, not my thing but Caleb liked it. Dart was a disaster getting home, but got home, showered, ordered pizza and sat and watched more football with our friends. Fabulous day.

You would think it was over....but oh, no. We sure did watch the entire game AGAIN on Sunday on the DVR. Analyzed the plays. Then, we watched GameDay. It surely was a messy game, but a win is a win....and are those roses I smell?!

This may be my 2nd favorite holiday (after Christmas of course!).

Hook 'Em.

Fall, oh how I love thee

The fire is a blazing in the fireplace, Texas football is about to kick off, and Mr. Gatti's delivery man should be here any minute. Not to mention a 17 mile run this morning with perfect running weather (50s), market in the meadow (the neighborhood shopping expo), Caleb mowed the grass and is now shampooing the carpet, and the anticipation of OU weekend in just 5 short days. LOVE it.

Now off to watch my boys.....hook 'em :).

Summer of '09 in pics

I can't change the formatting and the pics posted in backwards order...so, here we go :)Caleb loved having fans come support him for 'Texas 2 finger' ultimate tournament in the heat of August....I haven't uploaded the 'action" shots yet, but Caleb played great!
Anniversary dinner at the Driskill! Chocolate treats and champagne, complimentary (as well as our room, room service, and club level lounge) of the Stephen F. Austin. Caleb surprised me and took us to our wedding night hotel for our 5 year anniversary. Long story short, he booked room #911 (our honeymoon room) and they gave it away, so they threw in all the above free! Fabulous weekend!
The Cavalier attempted to die ON our anniversary, but no sir-ee, it just needed a new battery. It's alive and kickin'!
Caleb completed his first triathalon with some friends from work. He had no training, had never swim a lap in his life, and did great. I sure hope our kids get HIS athleticism :).

(I JUST ACCIDENTALLY DELETED OUR PORT A PICS! WILL ADD LATER....but, just to keep the chronicle going, the whole Ratliff clan went to Port A to celebrate Mamie and Grandaddy's 60th anniversary. We had a great time!).
4th of July party at the Wood casa. I'd always wanted to "make one of 'dem cakes with the flag". After washing and cutting all the fruit, Caleb beat me to assembling to flag.
Finished patio!! Ready for our party!
Caleb is good--always gets me an ice cream cake for my birthday, just like when I was little.
Harrison turned 3 in June! He's getting so big, so fast! Love this little one :).
Patio is finished! Amigos and sno cones to celebrate! Thanks, Edil for all your hard work on our ENTIRE house!!
My first trip to the city dump to drop off concrete/bricks from the old patio. It was sooo stinky!

Caleb at work at the dump!

*We leave Friday for our 10 day road trip on the west coast! Seattle to San Francisco.....can't wait!

5 YEARS!

July 31, 2004--in so many ways I can't believe it's been 5 years, but in others, I really can't remember life before marriage.

From life at 1226 Baylor Ave in Waco to Uptown livin' in Dallas, to the last year establishing our home both working "real" jobs, I've had a blast. I remember at one of my wedding showers my bridesmaids made a video asking Caleb questions. One of the questions was "what are you most looking forward to about marriage?" and Caleb responded something to the effect of "we don't have to say goodbye at the end of the night and we just get to have fun together". Reflecting back, that is so true. I would definitely use the term "fun" to describe the past 5 years. Sure, we've had our struggles. We've learned a LOT about each other. We've learned compromise and sacrifice (during the first year I could not go to sleep if something was "out of place"; Caleb now wonders when Rosa is coming next because it gets to the point where he can't stand the mess!). But most of all, we've had so much fun. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. 5 years is just the beginning...

Summer of '09

What we're up to....

Julie:
-training for marathon #2=running workouts 5-6 days/week--lately been braving the treadmill as this Texas heat has become unbearable!
-looking forward to vacation Aug 14-23! we're finally doing our roadtrip from seattle to san fran!
-now on the "critical care" rotation at work= lots of intubated/sedated patients that don't need speech tx :). it's kinda slow, but it's nice for the summer!
-loves morning coffee on the new patio under the fan!
-is reading the "One Year Bible" starting from my bday this year (6/23) to next year


Caleb:
-had try outs and made Grit--the "A" ultimate club team=Tuesday night practice, Saturday practice, weekend tournaments every 2-3 weekends
-just completed a triathalon with NO training; is now into swimming at the gym
-doing more employment litigation at work--he doesn't love it, but the hours are pretty decent
-is still driving the Cavalier, although Julie is second guessing this car after all the car crash kiddos she's seen at work lately :(. On a side note, the Honda got hail damage last week and the Cavvy baby...of course, was under the garage at C's work!


We:
-just got back from a fabulous weekend getaway with the entire Ratliff gang at Port A to celebrate Mamie and Grandaddy's 60th wedding anniversary!
-are embarking on the big 5 year mark, July 31st--I'll try to devote an entire post to that one :)
-are loving life this summer. The Lord gives and takes away, and we're cherishing this time of "giving"....friends, family, house, low stress, great marriage, ahh.....

Picture post next!

Memorial Day....

So, I made a post earlier today regarding today as a day to sit by the pool, relax, and enjoy a backyard bbq. I just spent some time reading online about Memorial Day and now feel somewhat ashamed...Memorial Day is a day to reflect on those that lost their lives fighting for our country. I always think of "veterans" and "war heroes" as old men, but it's not that way anymore. These men have left behind wives. babies. siblings. parents. Check out this link:

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0604/temple.html

So although it's fun to be all "American" and go to the lake, hang out by the pool, and have a bbq, I encourage you all to reflect and be grateful for our troops, and those that have lost their lives.

On a quick note, I think Edil and Carlos enjoyed our "American" evening of a backyard bbq--and now they're hooked on washers :).

patio

The last of the "big" house projects is in the works! Edil and his friend Carlos are up here working on building us a patio. Picked out the flagstone on Saturday :). I have taken pictures to chronicle this project (including Caleb with the jackhammer and "Steve" from the stone shop riding down the alley in his forklift carrying our 4 tons (yes, 8000 lbs!) of stone). You know me though....have yet to post those pics, so they will come eventually. Today Caleb is doing a little work then has ultimate practice. I've spent the morning calling gravel places--and they also, like the rest of America, are taking Memorial Day off. So, I've now donned the swimsuit for the first time this season and am going to do some chillaxing poolside for the day! We plan on grilling burgers, eating baked beans, potato chips, and watermelon tonight. Yum!

Perspective

I love my job. I love learning something new every single day. I love to sit and hold babies that have tubes and monitors and everything else on them so it takes 5 minutes to position in my lap, but as soon as we are both still that heartrate starts to calm. I love to pray for my patients, and it's amazing how the Lord prompts very specific prayers for each child. I love getting to see kids talk for the first time after they've been in a coma and see not only the faces of the parents, but the light in the child's eye when they realized they just spoke with meaning. I love getting to help a new Mom feed their baby for the first time and the cameras come out and it's such a special, "normal" moment--even though the baby is 2 or 3 or 6 months old. I love getting to work so closely with brilliant people who teach me so much, yet listen to what I have to say and even ask my opinion. I love all these things, but most of all, I love getting to know the families. The stories. It's so so so hard to have your baby in the hospital, but I think at this time the families are most vulnerable and just share their hearts. It's such a blessing to me to just listen and see the way the Lord weaves in and out of each and every story and each story gives me such perspective. His creation. His sovereignty. Even in the sick, very sad cases of abuse, neglect, drug/alcohol use, etc He is SOVEREIGN. Autism. Cancer. Inoperable brain tumor. Coma. Rare genetic syndrome affecting ability to eat by mouth. Heart transplant. Nonaccidental Trauma (abuse). Trach/vent baby whose family has abandoned him after 5+ months of hospital stay. Those were the diagnoses in the order that I saw my patients today.

Tonight I was looking at the blog of one of my patient's families and a Mom shared this. It's so true, so I'll leave it with my blogger buds :):


Holland:

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip-to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy!".

But ther's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would have never met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced that Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for awhile and catch your breath, you look around...and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills...and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned".

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away....because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss.

But, if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things....about Holland.

-Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987

Swine Flu Special Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was talking to my brother on the phone last night, and the one thing that I really envy about Stephen is the fact that he goes on vacation. A lot. And I LOVE vacation :). Now don't get me wrong, he definitely works hard....but then he plays hard :). I'm not about the working so much, but I can definitely do the playing!

Anyway, he said that he got a "swine flu special" and he's going to Mexico for memorial day weekend at an incredible deal. So, as I'm sitting in outpatient today awaiting my patient to arrive for her evaluation, I just happen to check out these "swine flu specials" (not a technical term) online and WOA! I'm ready for Mexico! I'm not sure if Caleb is on board with it, but I'm in the beach mood now, just blogging in my bikini (haha, just kidding on that one!). I mean, no kids...no responsibilities at work (well, atleast for me).....what a perfect time to be spontaneous and just hop to Mexico for the weekend?! Who's in?!

Adios for now....the dryer buzz just brought me back to reality :)

Lots 'o pics!

These pics are in reverse order from May-Feb :). Sorry if that's confusing, I just wanted to get these posted and that's the way it formatted!

Camping this past weekend at Lake Mineral Wells with our community group. We had a great time....and for those of you that know me, it was really great company for me to have a great time camping :)

We went to a Rough Riders game as a volunteer celebration with our church. Here's Caleb with Joel ....he will be 1 on the best birthday of all, June 23 :).

Joel with cousin Noah at the baseball game. Noah's Mommy is in my Bible study (Joel's parents are in our community group). We love watching these sweet boys grow up!

And another precious little one who's growing up way too fast, Mr. Hudson, our nephew (17 months)
Here are all the boys (Caleb with Hudson, Harrison in green, Hayden shirtless) in the backyard! Caleb and I had a great time keeping our nephews for the night while Emily and Jeff celebrated her birthday downtown!

While we're on the subject of precious little ones growing up, here's 'lil miss Abby sporting her "I heart cupcake" shirt just for Steph who didn't make it to Bible study that night. This is for you, Steph....sorry I'm just now getting it to you :). Abby is almost 15 months.

The Arkansas Derby contestants (hmm...is that what they're called? probably not)....

Us at the horseraces for our getaway weekend :).

My wonderful friend Kate (in the middle of this pic) is going overseas to serve as a missionary in Marseillles, France. Chelsea and I hosted a going away party for her....we love you and miss you Katya!

My cousin Amanda came in with her 2 precious gals, Kylie and Payten, and spent the weekend with us back in March. Here's Miss Kylie at the Children's Mueseum

Caleb's Mom bough us the Ticket to Ride expansion set.....which has filled many of our nights these past few months. I guess Caleb won this night, but that's not always the case, as I can hold my own :). Thanks, Ava for the wonderful surprise!
Caleb's winter league team, "The Handlers" finished up in March. No worries, friends, club season just started this past Saturday, and spring league ends in about a month.....Caleb still gets his ultimate on a weekly basis :). Here's the winter league team:

We celebrated Connie's 50th birthday in Waco over rollerskating and fajitas at La Fiesta. Here's Jenny, me, Ali, and Stephen (and when one of the "5" grandkids isn't there, we always hold up a plate for the one missing....in this case, Lindsey (who has red hair, hence, the red plate). Haha, what a quirky, but fun family tradition :).


My Mom, Ali, and me with the birthday girl :)

Last but not least, a sneak peak of the remodeling Edil did upstairs in January. He did the gameroom, both bedrooms, and office in January and came back up a couple of weeks ago and did the bathroom upstairs. The patio in a few weeks, and then we're done ;). Still got to do the decorating....

swine flu mania

What is this craziness? Personally, I feel like many people are overreacting to this "epidemic"....and, maybe I just see all the crazies because I work in a children's hospital. But, seriously.....today I saw probably 100+ families come in all wearing masks (granted, I'm totally with it for those immunosuppressed kiddsos), many parents had CNN on in the rooms where it's 24 hour coverage of all 16 americans with "swine flu", AND as I was literally logging off my computer to leave when a code yellow was called and we were required to stay an hour and a half late at work (good think I'm an hourly employee!) . For what you ask? And, what is this code yellow you speak of? Well, my blog friends, our ER was overflowing with all the crazy parents wanting their kids tested for swine flu....so, they made a special "swine flu testing area" in the auditorium. That's cool, whatever. THEN, the auditorium overfilled because it seems like every kid in Dallas with a cough now is a suspect for swine flu. So, code yellow called, which means it's lockdown and all medical personnel are to be available to help hand out masks, do screenings, forms, etc. I was actually kinda excited to go see all the crazies, but they ended up not needing us. So, my productivity went from 60% to 50%. Too bad :).

Okay, that's my soap box :). Last night we went to trivia night and it seemed like 80% of the team names had "swine flu" in them. However, none of the names are appropriate for this family friendly blog, much less, my ears :).

On a slightly more positive note, maybe it was good I got home late today....remember all that bulk trash that we hauled to the curb? Well, I drove out front today and saw that they had picked it all up except for the 100 lb mirror. I was already heated up from the "code yella" (the way our announcer at the hospital says it, we joke it's like a SNL skit) so I just went and found those bulk trash men 2 streets over and told them to come pick up my "mirra" (haha). And they sure did come back and get it. Then my neighbor sticks her head out the door and says "you go girl! those guys are so lazy! way to call them on it!". Whew. Feel much better :)

Back on the blogwagon :)

I was perusing photos on the computer tonight for a 'lil house deco project and came across these that I thought needed to get on the blog :).

What do you think about blowing these up for the "Texas" themed gameroom upstairs? Hahaha! These are from a recruiting event when Caleb was a clerk. This is when the economy was doing well and the firm could just have a BBQ....and why not a live longhorn to take pictures with all the adults (as this was an adults only shin-dig). Cracks me up but so glad I kept these! Happy Monday Y'all!

I wish more weekends were like this

What a great combination of being productive, relaxed, alone, and with others :).

Friday night: Money and Marriage event at church, asleep by 11 pm :) Although I feel like Caleb and I are united on our thoughts of saving/spending/giving/investing, it's always nice to refresh my mind that all we have is really not ours, but the Lord's. Our time. Our money. Our gifts. We are to be good stewards of what He has given us.

Saturday:
1) "Run the Highlands" 5K in our neighborhood--I got our bibs/chips switched so Caleb was actually wearing "Julie" and I was wearing "Caleb". No big deal, right? Right, what I thought....until "Julie Wood" won 2nd place in the women's 20-29 division! Although Caleb wanted the silver metal to hang on the mantel, I frantically found the award announcer prior to announcements and the rightful owner when home with the silver :). My forever true runner buddy Shannon ran with me....as a bandit (shhh!) ! It was so fun and so encouraging to run with her again....I think we're going to start training for marathon #2! I also want to start running more races with Caleb, it was a great start to our Saturday.
2) Indoor/Outdoor house stuff:
-donned the workgloves and hauled all of our demolition/boxes/remodeling waste to the curb for bulk trash pick up--Caleb is convinced that my Bible study book is telling me to do things, because this was "the most I've ever done hard, manual labor without complaining". Haha, thanks for the confidence, babe!
-vacuumed house
-laundry
-clean out/sweep/hose out garage
-mow/fertilize front and back yard (again, Caleb...but, I picked up the sticks in the yard if that counts for anything!)
-dig out 15 foot tree with ~100 pound root and haul to front (I can take no credit, this is all Caleb while I was inside, showered, reading my new book! this is probably more like me!)
*there was a break in there that included Sonic (diet cherry limeades and burgers! yum!) and a Home Depot run!
3) Took the Cavalier to the shop....we had a scare on Friday as it overheated. Thankfully, we took it in about 10 am, they called us about noon saying some sort of fan that they replaced this past July went out, so they repaired it all FREE OF CHARGE and we picked it up! Caleb looked at his last receipt and it was almost a $500 bill. Yay! Caleb also repaired his rear view mirror...please read last post for explanation!
4) Watched the Mavs/read my book/chillaxed at home
5) Fun, relaxing dinner with friends
6) Asleep by 11 :).

Sunday:
1) Awake at 8! Yes! Sleeping in!
2) Einstein's for breakfast/coffee
3) Church--I love our church. Not the ins and outs of worship style, sermon style, etc but the honesty, vulnerability, and accountability that our pastor exhibits and encourages in us every week. We're doing a full year series studying the book of Mark and praying the prayer "Jesus, we want what you want". I will hopefully blog one day about what I've learned, as it's amazing to really study who Jesus WAS and how He still IS today.
4) Grocery shopping together--for those at church today, I was craving colby jack cheese and ham from the deli....so then we went home and had healthy, yummy sandwich lunch!
4) Read the Sunday paper together (well, each took different sections of course, but sat next to each other)
5) Met my Mom and went to see a movie and did a little shopping/Caleb went into work for a few hours then met up with ultimate guys for a finance meeting
6) And here I am.....clean house, relaxed, and it's only 6:45 :).

Ahh...what a great weekend. I'm refreshed to start the week :).

Is that you, Woody?

Yes, it's me Buzz.

I was just perusing blogs and realized a friend is "following" my blog on the side which said "last updated 2 months ago". Ouch. Then I remembered my friend Alison telling me about a month ago how she was looking at my old blog posts and how interesting it was to read from 2 years ago. So, after going back and reading things I had forgotten, I decided I need to keep this 'lil journal going. Even if I don't have pics. Even if I don't have anything to say. One of the funniest things I had totally forgotten about is that Caleb said when I'm ready to have babies he's going to set the alarm every 3 hours and make me hold a flour sack for 20 minutes! Ha, he's such a funny.

What's going on in the woodworks? Well...

We spent Easter weekend in Hot Springs, Arkansas. LOVED it. Seriously one of my favorite weekend getaways yet (like we do them all the time, right?). We stayed at fabulous bed and breakfast named Wildwood Inn that I would highly recommend. Experienced horse racing for the first time, during the Arkansas Derby of all days! Now, when I found out it was the derby I was like "Caleb, it's derby day! That means I have to wear like a dress and a hat" (my good friend Lindie lives in KY and I do think that's true for KY), but Caleb quickly reminded me "Julie....it's Arkansas.". Not to hate on Arkansas.....I'm just sayin, he was right :). We saw a little of everything! Not only did Caleb experience his first horse race, we also got a couples massage which was Caleb's first massage and I think (although he probably won't admit it) it won't be his last. Sabai Massage Therapy--great rec as well if you're heading to that area. We lounged, each read an entire book, played checkers, played Ticket To Ride (with our new edition, thanks to Ava!), napped, ate 3 course breakfasts on china, and most importantly....spent 3 whole days without checking the blackberry constantly. Bliss!

We're still loving the house, and the bed, as the angels still sing every night as I crawl into that big 'ol bed of love (please see post from april 08) :). Edil came in January and brought his friend Lorenzo with him and they stayed with us 3-4 weeks and remodeled upstairs. Speaking of him, I hear him upstairs right now laying tile in the bathroom :). That's right, he's here again remodeling the jack and jill bath upstairs. He plans on coming back in a couple weeks to make us a 'lil backyard patio and then, my friends, that list of ~300 projects will be finished :). I'm not saying we're done by any means, that decorating bug has still yet to bite and as all you homeowners know, the work is never done. We do have on our list to buy a baby gate.....community group will start meeting at our house and we got to be careful with those babies and the stairs! It continues that more and more of our friends are prego....and we love watching the babies grow and become little toddlers! I saw my post of Hudson on his birthday and that little guy is now 16 months and walking and talking like crazy! They grow up so fast! Hayden just turned 5 on Monday! Geez, I saw him on his birthday too......

Caleb's still doing ultimate, club season is about to start back up. I've taken a long hiatus from running, but ready to get back into it. I think I'm going to do marathon training again this summer. More for motivation and accountability.....we'll see if I do a 2nd marathon :).

Caleb' s still driving the Cavalier. He drove to lunch today with some guys from work and the rearview mirror just FELL off while he was driving. I'm stilling laughing out loud about that.

We planted bushes in the front yard about a month ago. They're still alive! Have yet to plant those flowers....

I'm now on a trauma/neurosurgery/hem onc rotation at work. It's a nice change of pace from the cardiac babies, but I do miss them. I like working with teenagers :). I do have some crazy stories though....there I things I see on the trauma unit that I could never even imagine or think up. Like....ATV vs. car (car always wins, please don't drive ATVs!), handlebars going through the chest wall and out the other side, and sadly, way too many "nonaccidental traumas" (or child abuse, shaken baby, etc).

Speaking of work, today I emailed Caleb and told him I felt like I was in a disasater area. We had a water mane break and it took out all the running water and air conditioning for all of the hospital. Sheesh. Just picture biohazard bags on toilets, very hot rooms, and people walking around providing bottled water. Granted, it only lasted 4 hours, but boy was it a sight. A nice little change of pace, I guess you could say :).

Caleb has a trial set for May. He's not working too crazy of hours yet, but we shall see.

I think that's...
all I got, how'd you like that?

Like father, like son

Caleb and I went to Sears tonight. This is how I found him:

Those of you who don't know his father, David Wood is infamous for finding things off the clearance rack at Sears. It made me smile. I caught him off guard and he was so engrossed in the clearance rack, he didn't even notice me taking pictures!

I have to give him credit....he has become much more handy now that he's a homeowner. In just the past week he has installed a ceiling fan (that's an " intermediate" project according to Home Depot), installed a shelving system in the garage (with one hand he drilled, I held it on the wall, please notice in the pic), and helped his Dad put together another shelving unit for the garage. If anyone has any projects, please call Caleb. He has a workbench :).

In other news, he has his 9 week appointment this week for his broken wrist. He's decided since he only has 1 arm, his leg works great as a 2nd arm for ultimate:

Now, since I finally updated pics from the marathon until now, here are just a few of my favorites:
The Kenyans running the marathon....

...and us right behind them :)

This cracked me up. My friend Stephanie hosted an "tacky Christmas sweater" ornament exchange party. Heather created this beautiful sweater with Christmas lights and ornaments....complete with a battery pack to turn the lights on "twinkle"!

Uncle Caleb reading to Sofia...


and sword fighting with Harrison. How true of those 2 personalities!

I love this picture of the kids praying before they eat at the "kids table":

And last but not least, the girls wearing the 3D glasses for the halftime commercials of the Super Bowl:



Shout out to my cousin Jenny for completing her first marathon yesterday! I'm SO proud of you!!