Workin' it out!

There has been some healthy eating going on in the Church household! We've been focusing on eating much less processed food, and mainly sticking to things in their natural state. More veggies, fruit, and lots of lean protein. And lots of oatmeal for breakfast! I've learned a lot recently about healthy foods that keep you full longer, so you don't end up craving junk later on. Also, I've very glad to say that both of us have majorly upped our water intake. My whole life, I think I've been on the dehydrated side. I have just never been huge on drinking water, but I know now how important it is and have been making a huge effort to drink more of it! I also just started the 30 Day Shred (workout video) and it is kicking my butt! We've both been doing more cardio, and are excited to get outdoors to walk and ride bikes since the weather is getting nice.

Anniversary Trip

Jeff and I had a wonderfully relaxing time in McCall celebrating our first year as a married couple. We breakfasted at a local (and cute, I might add) coffee shop, and browsed the shops in the area. It was too cold to do anything out on the water, but we still had a great time relaxing and enjoying the time together. We reminisced about our time together (can't believe it'll be FIVE YEARS! in September). This first year of marriage has been wonderful. So many people told us: "The first year is always the hardest," but that hasn't been the case at all. Really, it's been a cake-walk. Here's to all our future anniversaries!! And here are some of the pictures from our trip.

Our year old cake was surprisingly fantastic!! It was wrapped up so well, that it literally was like no time had passed. Tasted just like it did on our wedding day. We brought the leftovers back home, of course.

  

This last weekend Jeff and I had a great visit with my parents at their house. We celebrated my mom's birthday early, and just had a great time relaxing at their house. Thanks for having us, mom and dad!

As we were driving back from Idaho Falls, my sister called and asked if I could go with her the next morning to put our family dog, Bandit, to sleep. You see, when my parents moved to Idaho Falls about a year ago, my sister Jackie and her husband offered to keep Bandit at their house in Boise. They had been talking about putting him down for a few weeks since Banny had lost his bladder control and was pretty much destroying their house---and making it smell terrible too! Plus he was getting pretty old! He was about 14 years old so he had a good run. I told Jackie to bring some dog treats with her, and I even put a little tiny bit of meat loaf in a tupperware to give to Bandit. I just felt the need to spoil the heck out of him. Let me tell you, he enjoyed that! Jackie and I got to spend a few minutes in a room with Bandit to say bye. It started to really hit us then, and we were crying a lot. We then had to hand him off to one of the girls at the veterinary office. As we were walking out, we really started to bawl. We didn't expect to either. But just being the ones to actually take him there made it really hard. I've had that dog since I was 11. We got him not long after my family's car accident, in which we lost our puppy Cody, who was only a few months old. He was a special dog to us, because really he partially symbolized us getting on with our lives after the accident. Forward motion, you know. Banny was always the sweetest dog. I still remember when we went and picked him out at the breeder's house. He was so adorable! We debated for the entire rest of the day what we would name him. Some of the suggested names were: Buddy and Shiloh (from a popular book and movie around that time). There were so many more that I can't remember fourteen years later. The breeder told us: "We named him Columbus--because he likes to explore." Well, there was no way that was going to be his name! Lame. We will miss you Bandit! aka Bandito, Ban-boy, Banny...

This weekend we're going golfing with Jeff's parents! Well, I'll pretty much just be watching, since I'm terrible, but at least I'll be out in the fresh air with great company! On Saturday night we're having our friends over for dinner. I still don't know what I'm going to make--guess it's time to hit up the grocery store. And we're also going to see a show this weekend put on by Idaho Dance Theatre. It will be a full weekend!

Sick! Sick! Sick!

Jeff and I caught a flu bug that's been going around. I left work an hour early because I wasn't feeling well, and after only being home for about 15 minutes, I had gotten sick. On his way home from work, Jeff picked me up some of the typical "settle your stomach" type stuff. A little bit after he got home, he was feeling sick too. The following 12 hours were horrific. Couldn't even keep any liquids down. I started to worry about dehydration. By about 4 in the morning, we were finally able to keep some water down. Then we graduated to Gatorade. We have slowly been feeling much better today, and are now able to eat actual food. So glad this thing is nearly over. My oh my it was awful. And neither of us have had the flu literally in years. It hit us hard! Here's to feeling normal tomorrow!

I just recently finished a great book, and for my next one I've chosen to re-read a book I read my last semester of college. It's Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast, and it's wonderful! Such great description of food and people. The great part of it is, it's a memoir that centers around Hemingway and his contemporaries in the 1920's in Paris. It's also in large part about him and his writing. The process he would go through and such. Here is one of my favorite sections about that. It's what he would tell himself when he was having trouble getting started on a story, or how to continue a story. "Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true  sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say." He makes it sound so simple. Maybe I'll try to practice his technique.

I'm sick, and it's kicking my butt. It's really just a horribly, horribly sore throat, and general body weakness. I've had a lot of colds and I'm usually a champ, just going about my normal day, feeling crappy. But this in particular has been really bad. Jeff has been so sweet. Last night we hung out with our friends (this was before I was feeling totally awful.) We went to dinner at The Reef, which was delicious, and then went to see The Blindside at the cheap theater. Jeff and I had already seen it once, but it was awhile ago and we totally loved it, so were happy to go again! The movie was great, but as it went on, my throat got worse and worse, til I was cringing with every swallow. Even though it was almost midnight, Jeff insisted on going to the store to get the works--cough drops, chloraseptic and Nyquil. I laid on the couch a lot today, and would doze on and off. And apparently, I snored. A lot. That tends to happen with a stuffy nose. Earlier he got me a frosty, in hopes that it would sooth my throat --and it did! And, he made dinner. All he wanted me to do was rest. What a sweetie. Here's hoping I feel better tomorrow!

This weather has really been great this weekend! Feels like we're getting our first taste of spring. Jeff and I went for a walk on the Greenbelt yesterday, and later on we walked around downtown for a bit. I do love winter, but I can't tell you how happy I am to have this great weather headed our way.

So I can't believe we're already approaching our 1 year anniversary! It has gone by so incredibly fast. So to celebrate, in a little less than two months, we'll be headed to McCall to spend our anniversary weekend. It'll be so nice to get away just for a couple days. We'll bring the top of the cake from our wedding that we saved specifically for this occasion. It has been such a great great year, and I wouldn't change a thing. I am so blessed to have such an incredible husband!!