look what I got!

sooo....the hubs pulled one over on me last night!  It was awesome!  We had been talking about getting mountain bikes forEVER.  It was a "we will, we will..." and Josh had been to a few bike shops around looking and doing the research (as he does before a purchase :)) and he told me he was going to go ahead and buy his yesterday and then we would go test some out for me at a later date.  Sounds good to me, at least we're headed in the same direction!  I had a late client last night so I didn't even get to the gym until 7 and home until about 8:45 (oy) and when I got home I was all excited to see his bike!  He brought it inside (it was a little dirty from his 8 mile ride that afternoon.  Way to go Joshy!) and was telling me all about it.  He was super excited!  Then he said, "are you sure you really want to get into mountain biking with me?" and I was like of course I do!  Something active and outdoors that we will do together!  Sign me up!!  He goes, ok good then go look in the dining room.  He bought me my bike!  I was legitimately surprised! He said he wanted to tell me to come straight home instead of go to the gym so we could ride together but didn't want to spoil the surprise!  WINNING! (Get it Charlie Sheen)  Josh is not what you might call a great secret keeper and aside from when he proposed, this is the best he's surprised me since!!  1 point for the husband!  Also, please let me say he bought me a helmet and other gear which is ALL color coordinated :)  He knows what's important here!  YAY!!  Here's a pic of my new bike...and Tucker!

overwhelmed and moved...

I have the great honor and priviledge of knowing an extraordinary woman that has been through more than you and I could ever imagine.  She's been healthy, she's been sick, she's been in between, and she's been on her death bed.  She is 25 years old.  Her name is Joanna and she moves me every time I'm around her.  I have never in my life known anyone with the charisma and spark that Joanna has.  And it's often very surprising to me, given the fact that she has been near death many many times.  It's easy to get caught up in life's "dramas" and play the "oh, woe is me" game, but I have never heard her utter a negative word about what she goes through.  She truly is an amazing person.

Joanna is one of a kind.  I mean that literally.  She has multiple disorders that nobody else in the world has. She suffers from cranial and spinal abnormalities, neurological conditions, a connective tissue disorder, and an immune system deficiency.  She was joking one time about how her scientist father found the probability of someone having all of the conditions that she has and the probability was a big fat zero.  She finds humor in this, and this is why she's still alive. 

I was inspired to blog about her today because she, yet again, had me in awe 2 days ago.  She and her husband (well, ex-husband but they are still together...long story, you should check out the piece 11Alive did on her... Joanna's Story ), sis and her boyfriend, and the hubs and I were all going to get together this friday for a fantastic dinner/game night.  We were totally stoked!  She sent me a message saying how sorry she is because we have to reschedule because she's going in for surgery on friday.  To her, surgery is like Wednesday...just another day of the week.  She has had over 40 brain surgeries in her life. I can't even imagine.  But what's so funny is that she was apologizing to US about having to have surgery!  I mean, come on! And this isn't like having an ingrown toenail removed...she's having surgery around her jugular and her heart and she's busy being concerned about disappointing us for missing game night??  That's just the person she is.  Completely selfless. 

On top of all of this she was threatened with losing her health insurance at the age of 25 when she could no longer be on her parent's.  That's a scary place to be when your medical bills were over a million dollars in 2010 alone...So instead of getting down and depressed about what she was going to do she started an organization called JoannaCare.  JoannaCare is not only for her, but for the millions of people who can't pay their medical bills because they can't get insured.  The statistic for how many people die each year because they can't get insured and can't pay is astonishing...it's awful.  And she's doing something about.

I can't say enough about her.  She is a beautiful person inside and out and I feel greatly honored to know her.

"I don't know if I have a week or decades to live but I am committed to this world having been better for my being in it."  - Joanna Reid

THAT's who she is.  I'm praying for her and her husband, who might I say, is an amazing person as well.  I can't imagine watching the person you love suffer like he does but he is her rock and he is just as awesome as she is.  Come friday any prayers are appreciated for Joanna as she undergoes yet another surgery.  I told her she better get well soon so we can have another date! 

Me and Jo at Christmas time 2010.  Is she not GORGEOUS?!

a non-disastor in the kitchen!

Ok, so I am usually not super excited about food, as I am generally a VERY bland eater.  I don't like a lot of spice, I like my protein, my veggie, and (sometimes) my rice.  Sounds fun right??  Luckily, I'm a big veggie lover otherwise I would get very bored very quickly.  Well in my new, eat 6 times a day life...I know, all I do is eat...well, and pee because I drink water ALL day...tmi?? :)  So, buying things like protein powder, protein bars, etc gets VERY expensive.  Genius idea...make my own protein bars!  OK!  So I did...last night.  I just enjoyed my first one, and I'm not gonna lie it's kind of awesome!  And a LOT less carbs than the ones I was buying before.  Now, I know exactly what's in it too!  hooray!

Ingredients

-4 scoops chocolate protein powder -2/3 cup flax seed meal -4 tbsp natural peanut butter -1/4 cup water -honey to taste

Directions

-makes 4 servings

-mix all ingredients in a large bowl and stir. At first it may not seem like it is enough water, but keep stirring and it will eventually become a sticky blob of dough. Add 1 tbsp of water at a time if needed.


-divide mixture into 4 equal portions and place in separate pieces of plastic wrap placing them into bars. It's easier to shape them by lying plastic wrap on one side of a small casserole dish, pressing the dough into the natural shape of the dish.


-store the bars in fridge or freezer. Once solid, enjoy.

I will enjoy, thank you!

she's here!

Introducing Miss Tori!!  She is so precious!!  I'm so happy mom and baby are both healthy and happy!

My new love! :)  I'm going to squeeze her cheeks too much!! 

i suppose they call this growing up...

Whoa. So when I started this little blog of mine I was determined to keep up with it all the time. Fail. I just realized it's been since September that I've blogged. I think I went into hiding a little bit :) A LOT has gone on since then. First off, my dad went through a liver transplant in October. It was the hardest thing my family has really ever been through. Just emotionally and physically draining. Wondering how the surgery would go...wondering how the recovery would go...would he even survive the surgery...will he reject the new liver...when will we ever sleep again...when can he be on his own...the list goes on. I am EXTREMELY pleased to say that his surgery was a success! It's 4 months post surgery as of this month, and with only a few bumps in the road, so far so good! It's funny, actually, because we were all SO concerned with the surgery and never really thought about the recovery process. They should really tell you that if your loved one survives the surgery, the recovery is way more taxing. And let's keep in mind, we weren't the ones that had just had our organs ripped out, fooled with, and replaced (gross humor lessens the emotion of it :)) Recovery was, for lack of a better term, a huge bitch. What he went through physically, having his organs start working again after they were essentially asleep for a day (during surgery) was hard to watch. Turns out, that's painful. He didn't know what to expect and neither did any of the rest of us. And of course, anyone that knows Jack, knows he wants to try to do things his own way :) Like...the day he decided that he only needed one pain pill. WRONG! That sucked...he had to wait 4 hours before he could have another and was in some SERIOUS pain. He had been cut from one side of his body to the other; sure one pain pill 4 days after surgery I'm sure will be fine... Learned that lesson the hard way. From then on...2 pain pills it was! The staff at Piedmont is pretty amazing. Dr. P was the one that did my dad's surgery. He's a tiny little man (which we get great humor from now) but a fantastic little man. He was just awesome. Pre-surgery he was very calm and comforting. There was never a sense of "you're just another liver I'm gonna take out and replace." He was very genuine and had true concern for my dad and our whole family. All the nurses on the transplant floor were fabulous. The Albertson clan can be a bit much, and they never made us feel unwanted or like we were a bother. (because we were all there, all 6 of us, most of the time) So, long story short, Jack is back! He has 2 birthdays now...his regular birthday, and Billy's (Billy Ruben, his new liver...yes we make humor out of everything) birthday, or the Liversary as we call it :)

On another note, my friend, Sarah, who was mentioned in my last post from when we went to find out she was having a baby girl is due in less than a week! Holy crapballs, it seems like it was 2 days ago they called us and were like...uh...peed on a stick and turns out it's positive! It's been so awesome to watch her every step of the process. I have to give her some mad credit...she has been at the gym her entire pregnancy. It's one of those things where you watch other people go through things that you will hopefully go through one day and can take from what you watch, what you want to. Let me tell you something...my ass will be in the gym my whole pregnancy too because she looks fierce!(when that time comes, I'll need to revisit this post, I'm sure :)) Our trainer, D-Dog as I've named him, said to her that if her ankles and wrists stay the same size then she has done what she needs to and drum roll......she has no swelling. That's pretty amazing. We were texting back and forth this morning about "is this a symptom of labor, what about this, and this" and it's just funny! It's exciting and I feel very honored to have been a part of it with her! Baby T will be here before we know it! Wearing her tutu's (duh, of course I got her one for infant dance class) and headbands! I LOVE BABIES!!

So, I, in general hate to talk about myself in a positive light (weird, I know) but this is my blog so I suppose I'm supposed to do that...I believe I had mentioned some months back that I was starting with a personal trainer. Let me say...best. decision. I've. ever. made. Honestly...not only have I dropped 30 lbs (which is both awesome and disgusting) but I feel amazing. I actually enjoy working out. weird. Only a few more pounds to go before I'm at my drum corps weight. And, now I have some muscle. weirder! Turns out I had gotten fat! I'll call it the "happy fats" :) You know, when life is just being lived...nothing to "lose weight for" and then you realize you've been eating mozzerella sticks and sitting on the couch at night for 6 months...oopsie! Well, not this chick anymore! It's quite liberating! It's something I do for myself and I LOVE IT! But, I haven't done this on my own. My trainer and other health nut friends have really taught me a lot about what I'm putting in my body. And to be truthful, I don't crave the shit I used to shove down my throat, and it's hard to imagine that I used to do that. You know the whole "it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change" bit that used to REALLY piss me off when people would say...well, yeah, turns out it's true. ha!

So all in all, the last few months have been quite fun-filled, and also emotional. I've learned a lot about myself and the person that I am now versus the person I was a very short year ago. I suppose they call this growing up...