Someone Remind Me It's Just A Tree

I realized I needed serious help when I was having difficulty finding a tree. I mean, really, who freaking cares what the tree really looks like. Apparently I had something so stuck in my head that it took me loops around the Christmas tree farm to pick this extra special tree that ended up not having any scent, being a bit too big for our tiny place (Ty cut off part of the bottom to make it smaller), and too much too it. I think my mind was set on something very minimal...kinda like a Charlie Brown guy, just taller and a few more branches. Poor Ty was on his knees about to cut down a couple until I quickly stopped him due to my indecisiveness. This is how it turned out:

Hay Rides!

What's awesome is that this isn't the tree we even got...just one of 

those first thoughts of mine that changed right before

he chopped!

We even took a picture by another one I thought was the one...

it wasn't!

Here it is!

Caseman had a great time helping Uncle Ty pick out a tree!

And the best for last...Ty just looks great. He was so

stoked he didn't even know what to do but this here.

Welcome Christmas...bring on the holiday!

Tis The Season!

Have you been wondering where the H we've been? Probably not. No big deal. We're back now. If you had any interest, we have been busy fools! Crossfit parties, hosting a craft night with 13 ladies from the gym at our house, family gatherings, doing crafts and Christmas carols at a women and children's homeless shelter, and finishing up our Christ-STAN-mas have made it seem as though hours were more like minutes and days were only hours. I had to go back to work way to quickly and soon enough Ty will be back in the classroom! Here's a little snipit 

of all those lovely activities:

Craft Night with the CrossFit ladies!

Homemade hot cocoa bar...pick your poison, salted caramel or peppermint!

Veggie tray thanks to Aubry! I made this yummy dip and all it is is pureed roasted red

 peppers and walnuts, dash of salt, and a bit of cumin. Throw in some 

olive oil until you get the consistency you want!

Part of the craft night spread! The buffet comes in handy for displaying food...

Add some cute Target napkins to spice up the plain white plates and you're set for any holiday!

Christmas brie...top your brie with some cranberry sauce and walnuts. 

Use a simple cracker for dipping (we used nut thins since we 

didn't want to make paleo crackers) and enjoy.

I modge podged glass ornaments and put paper on some...

 

Others were done by blowing up a balloon, wrapping very thin yarn 

or twine around it. Let them dry overnight and pray they work. They 

look much better from a distance, trust me!

Or cut up some pieces of paper and stuff them into an ornament.

Unfortunately when I went back to the craft store, the entire

company was out of them...also the reason I had to make

those other modge podge ones.

Ty wasn't actually at the craft party, but earlier in the week he made

the poster for the 12 days of Christmas song. This has been

a part of the Cosby tradition to sing the entire song

every year. Ty spent many hours working on

them, but we now have our own copy!

CrossFit-Ugly Sweater-Paleo-Bunco Party

                 

I had no sweater to wear, but Ty managed to find this sweet little outfit...a little girls dress, brand new 

gold pants, and a Xmas decoration made into a necklace. I must say he did well!

At the craft night, we made props for the photobooth and we

reused some of our wedding chalkboard frames for decor at the party.

Christ-STAN-mas

As Christmas approached, we had to cram two days of our chosen activities together while other days were taken on by the events we attended. I had to use "sleep" as one of our activities since we were desperate for some shut eye. It was well needed! Ty used a few days to give gifts which I may have already said in a previous post. Here is one of the gifts he gave us...

so perfect for us to add to our first tree!

Each little ornament guy had a different hat color. One for me and one for Ty!

Christmas
We decided this year that we were only to do stocking stuffers for each other. After a full year of wedding planning (and spending), getting the house more home-like, and such we thought we'd keep it simple this Christmas. I made Ty his favorite no bake cookies, topped it with a nice little note to Santa Stanley-Claus, and awaited Christmas morning for him to see it all. We woke up early and had cookies for breakfast, opened our gifts, and went back to sleep. Our plan was start the tradition of walking every Christmas morning, but the down pour put a damper on that one. So why not just go back to sleep? We took to all the rest of the Christmas festivities with our families...at the white elephant exchange Ty (for the second year in a row) stole his gift back. All it is is movie tickets and candy. Why he doesn't just go to a movie on his own, I don't know. For some reason he has to buy them as a gift, gift them, then steal them back. I on the other hand got some cute napkins with the chalkboard napkin rings along with a Papa Haydn's gift card. For all of those who don't know, Papa Haydn's was the first place I thought Ty was the creepiest person ever. Turns out he was just really in love from the get go...but still creepy, nonetheless! He swooned me over so apparently I'm married to a creepy guy. Now we can go celebrate at PH as a married couple!

Holy smokes...I may have gone a bit overboard there, but I was pumped I could finally post some pictures! Beware, there may be a flood of posts after this one!

1/2 Off CrossFit For 1 Month!

In lieu of the family/friend 1/2 off deal that the gym is putting on, I figured it was time you all had another workout to try out. Plus the weather is so lovely, some of you may not want to get off your behinds to go to the gym. So why not do it at home? This WOD was one of our activities the other night when I got home from work. I apparently slept in and couldn't get up early enough to do a workout, so Ty planned it as an activity when I got home so we could get it in. How sweet! I'm sure many of you are thinking that this Christ-STAN-mas activity seems like a terrible activity.

Anyway, let me know if you're interested in the 1/2 off deal. I have a few passes left! They offer so many classes during the day unlike some of the other CF gyms, Jack and Aubry are great, all the people that go aren't d-bags like you get at any other gym, and to top it all off you could see Ty and I more! It's good til February, so holler atcha girl ;-)

Now, time to get your booty in gear. Find a space in your place and get after it!

"Jump & Clap" for Christmas
5x for time:
10 clapping push ups (do regular if you can't do the clapping)
20 jumping squats (do regular squats if you can't do the jumping)
10 burpees

Have fun!

The Day After 12-12-12

Well, I was super pumped we survived "12-12-12" until Ty made me realize that we're actually suppose to die on 12-21-12. Minor number issue, no big deal. We celebrated surviving 12-12-12 anyway. We had a lovely pork loin dinner with brussel sprouts and cooked carrots. If I ever drank wine, it seemed like dinner tonight would've been a great pairing for it. Instead I had water to celebrate.

As for Christ-STAN-mas, we have had some fun little activities. One night Ty came up with "partner stretching" and no it wasn't dirty so stop wherever your mind was going. Creative activity, hilarious in fact. That same night he included a "Did you know?" which I bet none of you knew this fact...you can go to school to learn how to act like Santa Claus. There is a Masters degree program at the International School of Santa Claus. I imagine you've got to put in your app early on if there are very few spots, so get after it if you're interested.

Tonight was not only a fancy dinner night in our workout clothes, but we mixed day 13 and 14 together since Ty will be gone tomorrow night. I got awesome Christmas socks that I must wear with spandex shorts to the gym one day so be ready for it CF friends! My activity tonight was walk to Main St. to a neat ice cream parlor that does seasonal flavors and grab a few scoops. We never get the same thing so we can try each others. I got egg nog and cinnamon, both of which were to die for. Ty got a piece of marionberry pie with peanut butter fudge ice cream. He told me he did that mix because he liked the idea that it was kinda like a pb&j sandwich. His creativity never ends! So yes, we splurged on nonpaleo items tonight. The flavor was so worth it, the feeling in my gut not so much. Good thing none of you guys have to put up with it though...

Alright, I was saving the best for last. On our walk home we had to do a nontraditional version of Christmas caroling. This meant we walked and sang. None of that ringing and singing. That would've been the most terrible thing for all. It seemed as though we were loud enough for people to hear if a window was open, but probably loud enough still for people to know we were walking by outside their home. We sang an awful version of Silent Night, but nailed the ending together. Then we attempted Joy To The World, but the bummer deal was that we couldn't seem to get the words right amongst all the laughing.

Next time we thought we'd carry the Ipad through the neighborhood blasting Christmas songs from Pandora. If you start hearing Christmas carols outside your house, we've come to bless your holiday season (feel lucky)...from our house to yours, have a silent night all!

3 Things. That's It.

So I stayed up til just after 3 this morning trying to get those silly Christmas gifts done. Then I woke up early and have been doing them ever since. I know Christmas isn't tomorrow, but there was a deadline. A shipping deadline that is. Ty tried to hang with the night owl (ya, that's me...my dad use to call me that), but he couldn't. I caught him snoring with his Outside magazine on his belly in our room. Don't tell him.

There are a few problems with having OCD issues. One, I can't stop. Two, which lends it hand tonot going to sleep. Three, I hate sleeping in or I consider it a wasted day. This all leads to one big problem, which is no sleep. The great thing about it is that I get lots of stuff like all these crafty little Christmas decorations I've made. Again, wish I could show you but that's one thing I can't get OCD about is figuring out this whole blog thing. A few of you have been fortunate to see the projects. The unfortunate part about it is you've had to look at the picture from my really cool "crackberry." That means you only kinda get to see it.

On that note, the crackberry...it's getting to that point. I don't think it's going to make the turnaround like it did in September. For those of you who don't know, I have had the same blackberry since I got back from Africa. That's been over 4 years ago. Ancient, I know. It still can call and text. Now it's just that I can't receive picture messages anymore or even bother sending them, the buttons are so worn that you can't tell which is the menu button, sometimes it reboots itself at Ty's parents house over and over again until the battery dies, and you get the point. I apparently have a weird attachment to this awful phone. To sum this up, yes I need a new phone. Yes it will happen in the next couple months. And yes, I may have to bring back the flip phone ;-)

Ok so the real 3 things I'm obsessed with at the moment is what I was suppose to get on here to tell you about. I know, I got distracted. It happens more than I'd like it to. Trust me, eat all three of these things and you'll be happy. Or eat them and don't be happy, either way. My tastebuds are different than yours, I get it.

• Breakfast: (almost oatmeal) no sugar added applesauce with either sunbutter (homemade is awesome) or almond butter (the winco maker is my favorite plus watching it is always amusing). Eat some protein with that too...an egg, bacon, whatever your buds like.

• Lunch/Dinner: cook up some ground turkey, saute some veggies (we used chopped onions and  grated sweet potatoes since thats all that was left around the house), mix them together, make some guacamole or slice an avocado for the top, throw some salsa and/or hot sauce on it and you're set. Our friends, Nick and Pennie suggested doing it cuz it's quick and easy. We ate it plain, but with more veggies we've turned something like this into a taco salad when you put it on top of an acorn squash. Double it up and you've got leftovers to satisfy your belly!

• Snack: blend an avocado, a couple or few tablespoons of cocoa powder, 3-4 good squirts of honey, and a big pinch of salt in your food processor. Top it off mini dark chocolate chips (I use Enjoy Life..nondairy-soy-gluten mini chips) This is my new drug. Well if I was addicted to a first drug, this would be the next. Don't worry, I'm not addicted to drugs.

I lied when I said "3 things, that's it." Never believe me. Well believe me on some things because I'm not always a liar. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday because before you know it Monday will be in your face.

25 Days of Christ-STAN-mas

Well, I've been sitting on my ass (apologizing up front for the language) since I woke up...I take that back, I've been on the same spot on the couch since umm, last night! I've also been sitting in the dark all day too. Weird. I have gotten up for only a few things. One time I made avocado chocolate pudding for breakfast along with a meatloaf muffin. That's weird too, I know. Then I got up because I HAD to plug in the computer. Last time I was up I warmed up some leftover pumpkin chili and finally brushed my teeth at like 1:30pm. Weird and gross. Don't judge.

Anyway, I've been on the couch because I'm in a rush to get some Christmas gifts done. And no, I won't share them on here because they're obviously for the only few people that read the blog. You'll have to wait for Christmas...or for some, your birthday. You know who you are. I figured why bother getting up quite yet when I could sit here on the computer and update you guys on what we did this week. Get ready, it's pretty exciting!

I made this really cute advent calender a year ago in preparation for this year. I'd love to show you a picture, but we're still having issues in that area. Just go with it, it really is a little masterpiece. Ty and I have divided up the days so we each have 12 days we're in charge of coming with either an activity or giving a mini gift (like under 5 bucks). Obviously Christmas is an activity in itself, so by default it gives us each an even amount to do. The final rule is that we have to do majority of the days as an activity and limit the gifts. ChriSTANmas is now a week underway and here is what we've come up with:

• Ty: I gave Cori Santa Claus cupcake liners with little santa hats to put on top of the frosting. The boss was in charge of making chocolate peppermint mocha cupcakes with a light peppermint flavored frosting. They were a hit when I took them to share with everybody at school. I strayed away from that paleo business so I could try them. They were so worth it! Not that I'd tell her any different anyway... ;-)
• Cori: I wanted to start out ChriSTANmas with a bang. I swooped up a pair of "naughty" briefs for my man along with some "bad to the bone" skull head socks. The undies were red and said naughty all over them. The socks just had skull heads at the top and were black. So much more fun to put a name on them though. Anyway, the "bang" was that he had to put JUST those two pieces of clothing on, pick his favorite song to dance to, and had to dance however he wanted. I'll leave it at that Ty picked a great song (Lollipop I believe it's called), really danced (I'll keep it PG here haha), and was a trooper for going along with my first activity.
• Ty: I found a letter 'C' sticky note pad in our desk drawer and thought it would be a good idea to write my activity(ies). Cori informed me after she picked it out of the day 3 box that I'm doing the activity thing wrong. I had put all the activities I could think of that started with a C on the sticky note assuming we could do one of them another time. I didn't realize we were suppose to do it at that moment. I've learned since...It was getting late into the night, so we ended up Cuddling. It started with a C so I went with it.
• Cori: I made Ty a little card with a bible verse relating to Christmas, a reason why I loved him, and included the activity. This one was sure not a bang like the last. In fact, it was the complete opposite. We started a puzzle of New York, tried a new fruit, and went crazy and popped open a gingerade kombucha. It literally popped when we opened it. So back to the fruit. Have you guys tried a persimmon? I suggest you do. More for the sake of something weird to try and something that is hilarious to watch people eat. The stuff tastes good for the first 3 seconds, then all of a sudden your mouth turns to chalk. No joke. To the point that it took a lot of fluid to get it to wash away. Try it, seriously.
• Ty: I copied Cori and did a bible verse on another letter C sticky note (different one though), told her a reason I love her, and planned our activity for the following morning. We love our two mile walk we do around downtown Vancouver, so we had to get get up before 5am and walk before she had to get ready for work.
• Cori: This time I made a card that started with the activity, which was kiss under the mistletoe (I bought a weird box of mistletoe at Walmart last week). The card listed funny facts about mistletoe...I'll include you in on one. Apparently mistle means "dung" and toe or what was "tan" in another language meant "stick." They said mistletoe was "dung on a stick." The activity didn't seem quite as appealing after hearing that fact. Oh well, just another weird thing for the day.

That's what we've got for you for now. It's probably about time I get off this spot anyway. We could potentially not have anything left to this cushion when I'm done with it if I don't. Here's the link to the paleo pumpkin chili (no beans people, it's the paleo way)...it's great to serve for company, super easy, and if you make a double batch when you have it with company I will bet you'll still have so much leftovers to freeze. Great to pull out of the freezer if you don't feel like cooking later down the road!

http://www.health-bent.com/soups/paleo-pumpkin-chili

Life's Whirlwinds

I worked this weekend and also went to bed way too late both nights. Not the best combo! I must've been really excited about the start to the 25 days of ChriSTANmas. It was proved by the fact I got to work and right before I could clock in, I had to rush to the bathroom (there's really no in between when it's time to go). Well as I was fixin' to be done on the throne I realized my undies were on INSIDE OUT. Apparently I was a little out of it this morning when I was getting dressed. I didn't have time to fix them so they stayed that way. The little things in life that make my day!

Well that isn't what I call a life whirlwind, but figured I'd share it with you guys anyway to start this out with a chuckle before it gets more on a serious note. What I'm talking about is when I see families who come in to the hospital only to find out after several tests that their mom and or dad has cancer that has metastasized and that they most likely have six months or less to live...or those who have a family member who have had a couple acute diagnoses in the past, but would've never thought all of those were caused by one disease many years later. I give these two examples that stand out in my mind.

1) I ran into a daughter of a patient I had at the beginning of the year and the first thing she said to me was 'you were my mother's angel.' If that didn't just about make me want to cry, the sad part was that I found out she passed away only a week after leaving the hospital. This woman was wonderful. I loved the fact that she was kinda grumpy, but she came around to me. She loved hearing any stories I had for her (especially the engagement story) and she fired her stories right back at me. I was fortunate to be with her and her family before she asked to go home so she could die there.

In nursing, there's something that I've come across when I have dying patients...those who have some sort of faith have confidence in the dying process. They are ready to confront death and somehow appear at ease with it. This woman's faith got her through that full week before she passed.

On Sunday, I was reminded why I went into nursing when that woman spoke those strong words...nurses can be angels I suppose in one way or another. I suppose this means I'll continue my career in nursing.

2) The second whirlwind is in regards to my sister, Allison. If I had any way to stop "life's whirlwinds" from coming at her I would. Al has never been given the easy route on any health issue. This gal can't seem to catch a break with one thing after another, but somehow she keeps pushing through it all. When news came last week, I felt unlike a nurse. Unlike a nurse in the sense of, this was my family, this wasn't my patient's family. Honestly, I was at loss with words when Mark told me. Although the news is a prelim, the medical thoughts in my mind wouldn't stop. Ty went directly to the computer to research so he could know what those words meant, but quiet he was. Best part about this all was hearing Al's voice...you would think she'd be down, but that woman still has this inner drive whether she knows it or not. Something keeps telling her to push on even after life keeps throwing another thing at her. We now have to sit, wait, and pray until she makes it through all her appointments.

As we all know, we can never expect any of life's whirlwinds. I suppose they are meant to knock us down and make us get back up somehow or another. As I see it, it's not just teaching us how to get back up but it's telling us to live each day. For those patients I see who don't get that chance to get back up, it makes me realize that you can't go back to fix or to do. For Allison, I see her living every day by pushing through each day with pain and exhaustion with no complaints, continuing to be an amazing gymnastics coach for those girls, making the best of every minute with her kids, and not letting her illness slow her down. Ty and I see that in her and are always amazed by how she keeps going. If that doesn't give us all some motivation or strength to see someone do so much in life all awhile being ill, I'm not sure how to inspire you.

Yes I know, it's so easy to say live life to the fullest or any of those other quotes but let this inspire each of us to go, do, live, etc. For us, we see living as us traveling, staying healthy, and spending our time with family and friends. For all you others (those 5 or so of you that even read this blog haha), you make that decision.



(For those interested, I found a website that you can purchase apparel and accessories that donate money to Crohn's charities.

http://gifts4awareness.com/cgi-bin/store/cpshop.cgi/shop.gifts4awareness.9428965+crohns-disease-keep-calm-fight-on-shirts.html#.UL5V62Cy2eZ )