My Daily Bread

It's almost embarrassing to say this, but it's probably been at least a year since I've carved out time in my schedule to dive into the Word. Yeah, I read a handful of daily devotionals each day, but it's been quite a while since I've read the Word of God each day. Like many things, my alone time with God would come and go - On one day, off two; On three days; off four. One thing is for sure - I wasn't showing with my time how important the Word of God is to me and how I earnestly try to apply it to my life.

It seems I've been much better at carving out time for work, exercise, treatments, Mckenna, Mandi etc (which, please understand, those are all important), but developing my walk with Christ was more of a "hopefully I get around to it" kind of a thing.

Well, that changes now!

I finally realized that the key to my personal time with God was to treat it more of the way I treat exercise, and that is, knock it out sooner rather than later. With exercise, I'm MUCH better at getting to the gym 6 days a week, if I go to the gym sometime before noon. After noon most days, I start to feel a little more lethargic and the last thing I want to do is bust my booty in the gym. I thought, if that works for exercise, it must work for God, right?? ;)

Starting yesterday, I'll be setting my alarm for 4:45am and spending my first waking hour with God. This move mind you is WAY overdue.

As I've gotten older, I've become much better at allocating my time to the things that are truly important in my life, and this is probably the last stone that was left unturned. I can't tell you exactly why it took this long, but maybe through some Scripture reading I'll figure that out. Ha.

Anyway, please pray for me as I form this much-needed habit. Pray for strength, purpose and clarity in the morning...oh, and pray that my coffee maker doesn't break ;)

Happy (Belated) Father's Day

Happy (belated) Father's Day to the two great dads in my life: my dad and Ronnie. Mckenna and I were/are both blessed with two incredible men as our father's (respectively).

I grew up with an incredible dad. He's taught me so much over the course of my life. He has always been firm and loving in a way that is so unique to him. He has always been there for me. He has loved me unconditionally, correcting my errors and providing guidance, but loving me all the way through. I wasn't the easiest kid, so the patience and love he showed wasn't always easy. He has taught me that it is important to be moral and do what's right, in all situations. I have a few very distinct memories of my dad, the first is stopping with him to get gas and always getting some candy to share. The second is snuggling with him. In the middle of the night, if I got up and went into my parent's room, my mom was a zombie and often wasn't receptive to having me crawl into their bed. My dad on the other hand, would just lift up the covers and have my crawl into the middle, where he'd snuggle me tight. I always felt so safe sleeping like that. The next distinct memory is how he'd always "sneak" me food. When he'd come to tuck me in at night, he'd often be munching on saltines or popcorn or something of the sort. He'd often "sneak" me a bite or two, and I always thought I was getting away with something. The next is the way he would hold my hand in the car. Not always, but frequently. In high school and college and beyond, he'd grab my hand in the car. On my way to our wedding, my dad and I rode together, just the two of us, and he held my hand. He's always held my hand in life, so the metaphor was perfect. And before my dad handed me off to the future father of my children, I distinctively remember being alone with my dad. Everyone else was outside, sitting in their chairs, waiting for the ceremony to begin. The precession was going on. We were all that was left. With a few words of advice, in his typical way, my teary-eyed dad stood with me until the doors open, and I made my way to my groom.

It turns out, I married my father (in many ways). They are both loving in similar ways. Neither are overly sappy, and both like to show their love more than express it with words. They both let you know they care, usually by joking with you and messing with you. Their sense of humor is very similar, and I am certain God prepared me for a lifetime with Ronnie, by beginning my life with my dad. I know with my whole heart that Mckenna loves and cherishes her daddy by the way she looks at him now, but I can also predict what they will be like in 25 years from now because they will be just like me and my dad. Mckenna is so blessed to have a daddy like Ronnie. He is so loving, yet so firm. I watch him parent her, with respect and admiration. We are different as parents at times, but I watch him and think, "man, I hope I can be that good in that kind of situation." Ronnie is the man I have always prayed for, and a man Mckenna will always thank God for him in the future. We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

We celebrated, but nothing over the top (just as Ronnie prefers things). Mckenna and I got heart felt gifts. I looked for crafty gift ideas on Pinterest, and most required me to do most of the work...and that doesn't seem to make sense. So I found a gift Mckenna could "make" (shoot, I think a monkey could have made it). We went and collected rocks and put them into a mason jar, and then I made a little tag that said, "My daddy rocks." Got the job done, and was made by Mckenna for her daddy! She was pretty excited about it too. When I told her to pick out the prettiest rocks for a present for daddy, she kept repeating that they were for daddy and excitedly picked them out. Her standard for "prettiest" was pretty low, as she just took handfuls, but hey, it's a strength to see the beauty in everything, right? Ha! As for my gift for Ronnie, it was practical. I usually would spoil him with his favorite candies, but he's on a diet, so I spoiled him with what he had just mentioned he wanted/needed more of...mustard and apples (not to eat together). Yup, nothing says happy father's day like mustard and apples! As you can see, we are not overly extravagant in our celebrations, but we made sure daddy knew he was loved and appreciated, and loved and appreciated he is. I could not think of a more selfless, patient, loving and impressive daddy. If I can be half the parent he is, Mckenna is going to turn out incredibly.

Thank you, God, for blessing me with an incredible dad, and for blessing my child with an incredible dad.

Thankful Thursday: Naps & Sentences

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for longer naps. We dropped Mckenna down to one nap. She was still only napping an hour...YIKES. That makes for a cranky kid. So after a couple days of tough love (AKA, telling her she'd have to stay in her bed until naptime was over, and that making her stay in bed 1.5 hours) She started sleeping 1.5-2 hours. The few days of transition weren't ideal, but went pretty well. She'd fuss for a few minutes off and on in the middle, but generally go back to sleep. But I'm SO happy she's sleeping a good, solid nap. She's a happier kid!!

I'm thankful for iced coffee. I've been having iced coffees in the morning and they hit the spot...BIG TIME.

I'm thankful for time off IVF meds. We decided to take a little break from IVF (since I've been on some kind of IVF med since November). We are only taking a month off, but somehow knowing I won't be on meds for a whole month feels like the weight of the world is lifted off of my shoulders. Silly to some, I know, but I have a feeling a lot of ladies can relate.

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for a wife who does it all. A couple things I love about Mandi: She is more than happy when I drive the ship and she's more than willing to drive the ship when I'm not. She picks up my slack without a complaint and to be perfectly honest, usually does the job I was going to do, better. I fall more in love with her every day.

I'm thankful for fresh fruit. We've been eating a lot of fresh fruit lately for breakfast and throughout the day. We've been scarfing on pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, watermelon and blueberries recently and they have been wonderful. We actually have some watermelon and cantaloupe growing in the garden that I can't wait to try!!

I'm thankful for "sentences". Mckenna has been talking in sentences lately and it is so cute...if you consider two to three understandable words a sentence or six words of gibberish. It's just so amazing to me how quickly children develop.

So, what are you thankful for today?

How Could I Choose NOT to Exercise?

One thing about exercise...it usually sucks while you're doing it.

I know I can attest to how sucky it can be. It doesn't matter if I'm running, lifting weights, biking, hiking, doing a class or an array of other activities, the "present" usually stinks. I don't know about you, but when I exercise, I experience the following:

Pain from sore muscles
Pain from stiff joints
Some type of back pain
Light headedness
Eye stings from sweat
Shortness of breath
Coughing my head off
and the list goes on...

So as you see, I don't enjoy exercise. Well, let me back up. I certainly don't enjoy exercise while I'm exercising.

I've been on the record many times about two things regarding exercise, I only do it because I love my wife and daughter and, there is NO DOUBT that it's the best thing for my health. When I'm healthier I'm a better husband and father. On the days that not a bone in my body feels like going to the gym, I figuratively, and sometimes literally, slap myself across the face and say "it's not about you!".

See, my present (both from God and in time) is what inspires me to exercise, but it's my past and future that I often think about when I'm in the trenches. When my energy is zapped and I feel like I can't push anymore and when the pain feels like it has blown past my threshold, I often think about how good I'll feel when I'm done and how terrible I feel when I'm not committed to a life of exercise. The great thing about an exercise "high" is that it often lasts all day. Sure, you're maybe a bit tired. A slight worn out feeling. But I assure you the benefits of exercise are working even when you're not. I don't know about you, but when I exercise, I experience the following:

More energy throughout the day
Better sleep at night
More mucus production through out the day
Less viscous mucus
Ability to take deeper, fuller breaths
A sense of accomplishment
Increased appetite
Better "overall" feeling
Pride in myself
Honor (keeping a promise to my wife and daughter)
Better body image
More focus on other tasks throughout the day
and the list goes on...

Now, looking at the two lists, how could I choose not to exercise?

Sometimes You Can't Do It Alone (as well)

As many of you know Mandi and I started torturing ourselves exercising again as soon as I got out of the Hole a few weeks ago. We decided not to go it alone in our exercise routine and rejoin the GPT (group personal training) option at our gym. GPT opens up a wide range of other classes that mainly consist of booty kicking, high energy group classes meant for those that want a little more of a challenge at the gym, have high fitness goals and/or need a little extra attention from one of the many great trainers.

Our general class of choice is called Intensity and is 45 minutes of a variety of exercises at a frantic non-stop pace. For example, yesterday, in 45 minutes we had 3 minutes of break time TOTAL. The other 42 minutes we were doing exercises ranging from kettlebell swings to plank jacks to sumo squats to bar bell curls to decline pushups to straddle jumps. Needless to say, at the end of a 45 minute class, I'm sweating like I just ran across the entire Gobi desert with no water profusely and on a normal day, seeing some sort of star pattern in my line of vision.

This class in one that I love to hate. Every time we commit I'm hesitant (because I'm lazy and don't enjoy pain), but every time we do it, I ask myself why I ever stopped doing the class. Not only am I getting pushed in 45 minutes way more than I would ever push myself, but the benefits do not just stop there - I just simply feel better. I feel better throughout the day, week and hopefully, month and year. When I'm involved in the GPT classes, I'm a better husband, father, friend and human being in general (there's no actual proof of that last one, but I went with it anyway).

Simply put, there are some things in this life that we do better when surrounded by others. We need their accountability. We need their motivation. We need their energy. We need their encouragement. We need their strength. We need their help.

If you're the kind of person who struggles getting to the gym by yourself, stop going it alone. Join some classes. Meet some people. Ask for help. Get a trainer. Commit to two weeks of exercise instead of a lifetime. Go to the gym and sit instead of sitting on your couch (it's more expensive, but at least your at the gym). Stop thinking about how bad it will feel at the time and start thinking about how great it will feel in due time. Side note: I started walking normally again after my first intense workout after about 6 days. It happens.

I promise you're worth it and the person at the gym you haven't met yet that will hold you accountable thinks so too.

"There's a NOW in the pain"

Have you ever heard a sermon at church that really strikes you? That really speaks to you? That is presented in a way you've never heard before? Or maybe it's just the Holy Spirit allowing you to hear it differently?

I heard a sermon yesterday at church that really spoke to me. It applied to our whole IVF situation (still an ongoing saga since November). It really got my wheels spinning. It was about pain and worry. It was about God using our pain NOW, not one day from now, for our good. And that we needed to not be anxious, but pray, and we will receive His peace.

Cool side note: I sat listening and really wanted to write a blog about it. I woke up this morning, sat to write my blog. And couldn't for the life of me remember the scriptures the pastor used, so I thought, "oh well, I can just write about something else." Before I got started I opened my email to do my devotion for the day. The subject line? "Result of Worry" It was a perfect follow-up to yesterday's sermon. The related readings suggested? Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Which is actually one of the exact verses the pastor used yesterday. Sometimes God is so cool in the way He works…Needless to say, I am able to write this blog.

So the thing that really stayed with me from the sermon, however, was the pastor’s commentary on Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Many of us have heard this one…and use it often in our circumstances. I often read it when something isn’t going right. I always thought, “it’s ok, God will use this situation.” But what I failed to acknowledge and rejoice in what the pastor said this verse is actually saying. He said it’s not just saying that He will work all things together for our good in the future, but NOW. That when we are in a hard spot, in pain, in the midst of less than ideal circumstances, you name it, God is using that time. He is working in that time. He isn’t just giving you that situation to one day use it. He is working in that moment, that month, those years.

For some reason that brought me a lot of peace. I’m sure it’s in part because I’m an instant gratification kind of gal. I couldn’t help but think of our current struggles to get pregnant. I found myself feeling grateful for the last 7 months of struggle. I feel blessed to know that God is currently working during the last 7 months. I may not know how He’s currently working for our good, but that’s ok. It brought me a new level of patience in the process…which by new level, really means some patience at all, as I haven’t been very patient through the process at all. It made me thankful that I serve a God who is Good, and who loves me, and who is doing what’s best for me, even when I don’t know it.

I love sermons that cut right to your soul. And I know that many people struggle with their current circumstance, like I was with our IVF. So I thought I’d share this little tidbit that really spoke to me. It sure feels good to know that in pain and bad circumstances, God is currently working for my good! So I say, bring it on God!

She Loves Garden Tomatoes!

Mckenna loves working out in the garden with Daddy. She also loves the fruits of our labor :)

Thankful Thursday: Sore Muscles & "Otta"

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for sore muscles. If you read the post yesterday, you know we started back up with our group personal training class, Intensity. Today, I am maybe the most sore I've ever been. In fact, I woke up a couple times in the night because when I moved in my sleep I felt my sore muscles. HA! I love the feeling of sore muscles because it's an indication that my body is actually getting worked and changing. WAHOO!

I'm thankful for yummy salads. I've been making a salad for Ronnie and I for lunch, and they are SO yummy, if I do say so myself. We do spring mix lettuce, grilled chicken, baked veggies, tomato from the garden, and a little dressing. It is delish.

I'm thankful for summertime. Something about "summertime" is just awesome. Even though I no longer have summer vacation like when I was in school, summer still has a feeling of relaxation and being carefree.

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for getting out of the Hole and feeling good! It was a longer stay than we had expected, but it was just what I needed to get back on top of my game. It's always tough being away from my family for extended periods of time, but we're all thankful when I'm able to get tuned up back to my old self.

I'm thankful for the annual Mexico trip. Every year my entire family takes a trip down to Mexico to spend some time together and relax. We rent a house (or two) on the beach and soak in as much sun as we can. This year was a little light as we "only" had 26 people there. It's truly an enjoyable time and what made it even more awesome was Mckenna's love for the "otta" (water), which of course means ocean :)

I'm thankful for big hats. Now that the summer is upon us, I find myself wearing big hats more often. I'm not a big "sun guy" but I especially don't like having a burnt face. In Mexico, I rocked my big gardening hat almost the entire time and when that wouldn't work, I threw on my old "big" Syracuse hat. I'm proud to report that I didn't get burned!

So, what are you thankful for today?

Workout Wednesday: Back At It

Ronnie is out of the hospital, and we are back from our vacation, so it's time to get back into the gym together. Ronnie's goal is to get his lung function up even more and lose some of the extra pounds he gained in the hospital, while my goal is to lose some of the extra fluff I've gained from back-to-back-to-back IVF cycles (many people who have been on IVF meds can maybe relate).

We decided a great way to do this was to start back up with the group personal training (GPT) classes we did last fall/winter when we were in the best shape we had ever been in. I run and lift 4-6 days a week, but I don't come anywhere near the same shape I was in when we were doing the GPT...so we decided it was time to torture ourselves again. This class is AWESOME. The kind of awesome that hurts so bad...I mean good. The class we usually do is called Intensity, and it utilizes high intensity interval training (HIIT), which is all the rage these days in the workout world. I will say, a 45-minute class is just about all you can take. It's actually so hard that I get a bit anxious before every class because I know how much it will stink...sad, but true. But that's how we know it's exactly what our bodies need.

Sometimes in the gym it's easy to get comfortable. I find I often allow myself to take it a little easy. I figure, eh, I'm here every day, I don't have to go that hard today. This class does not allow you to be comfortable. In fact, it downright hurts. You are panting like a dog the whole time, not a single person in the room doesn't take a break...relatively frequently. By the end of class, if you look around, most people are only able to do a few of the exercises back to back, and then just stand, trying to catch their breath. Now that I describe it, it sounds pretty horrible.

Today was our first day back. It was just about as terrible as we suspected it would be. We both pushed through and neither of us puked, so I'd say it was a win. The trainer did ask Ronnie a handful of times if he was ok, which just tells me that he was really pushing himself...which I totally dig. Guys who work hard are hot, right? Who's with me on that? Ha! I officially felt like I may die about 35 minutes into the class and was thrilled to know I was almost done. At the end, we both had mild headaches, so I'm pretty sure we worked our butts off (or hopefully at least part of them).

We signed up for this for 3 months, so this won't be the last time we talk about it. We will keep you posted on our progress!

The Support of a (CF) Wife

Many of you already know this, but I have the best and most supportive wife in the world. I can't even begin to explain how much of a relief it is to have the support from my wife during times leading up to the hospital. Our family puts my health first, and obviously, we couldn't do that without her. I just wanted to show (mostly to give my wife the public recognition she deserves) what that support looks like in our family. This support happened to come through text messages as I was waiting at an urgent care for x-ray results requested by my pulmonary team.

I love you honey and your support means the world to me.

The 4 Lessons of Cystic Fibrosis

Guest Post by Katie Broekema

Hello everyone! My name is Katie Broekema, I am a 22 year-old from Michigan who has Cystic Fibrosis. I am going to share a little bit of my Cystic Fibrosis story with you over a two-part guest blog, so after this post stay tuned to see the role Cystic Fibrosis plays in my life currently.

I was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis as a young child, but I never really knew what that meant until I was in high school. I was very healthy as a child; I did not even have a nebulizer until I was 16. My parents have always made a special effort to let me live a normal life, including forcing me to run cross country and track for my high school. I did not realize it at the time, but this was the best thing they have ever done for me. It has shaped the rest of my life, and the teams I have been on are the largest influences in my life. It is because of these sports that I have met my best friends, and it was with their help that I am the person I am today. The life lessons and friendships I have gained through this are unparalleled. I ran cross country and track in high school and in college, and this experience has been life-changing. I have had the most amazing support team, and they helped me become the athlete that I am today, with a 5k PR of 19:47 and 10k PR of 42:36. During this time, I have learned a couple lessons that I want to share with you because of their direct application to life with Cystic Fibrosis.

The first lesson is that you need to be willing to put in the work. Just like with running, handling your Cystic Fibrosis takes a lot of time and effort. There are definitely days in college that I did not want to get up and go to 6:00 a.m. practice, but I needed to. Doing the extra work is what made me be a better runner and a real competitor. Similarly, taking that extra time to do ALL your medication and treatments is necessary in order to be at your peak of healthiness. Just like with running, when you put in the extra effort you give yourself the opportunity to succeed. When you do not put in the effort, you rob yourself of the chance to see what can happen. I am not trying to sound pious, preaching this from the point of view that I always do my medicine, because that is not true. In fact, I didn’t do my medicine all the time during my freshman year of college and I got what I deserved; a 2-week hospital stay over Christmas. I have made it my goal to never be in there again because of something that I can control. I know that I will most likely need to go into the hospital again, but I also know that it will NOT be because I was not doing what I needed to in order to stay healthy. Unfortunately there is not a magical formula you can follow to run giant PR’s or to keep yourself super healthy, but doing what you are supposed to at least gives you a fighting chance.  

Along with the lesson about work follows the idea of trusting those who are in charge of you. For running, this is the coaches. Too often I have seen athletes who think that the coach is full of crap, and that they know better so they will do their own thing or not do all of what the coach asks of them. NO! If you are in a position where you do not trust your coach and believe in the running strategies, you need to seriously consider your position on that team; it may not be the right place for you. Similarly, in the healthcare setting doctors and the medical staff are your “coaches”. If you do not agree with the treatments and medications that are being prescribed, then you need to consider finding another place to go. It is not good for anyone if you do not do your treatments, for you or your medical staff. When you say you are doing a specific treatment, but really you are not, you are hurting yourself and the Cystic Fibrosis community as a whole. Medical professionals rely on us to tell them what does and does not help. When they see no change in you and the doctors think that you are doing a treatment but really you are not, it can cause them to doubt the treatment.  That treatment can make a difference is someone else’s life, or even yours, but you were unwilling to give it a chance.

This leads me to the next lesson that I have learned, which is to always believe in yourself. This is YOU we are talking about, who knows you better than yourself? Therefore you should ALWAYS make the final decision about your medical treatment or coaching regimen. This was a running lesson that I needed to learn the hard way. I struggled during my college career running because I did not listen to my body. I spent so much time trying to keep up with the rest of my team that I was not able to compete well during the races. An injury finally forced this rest time upon me, and it paid off when I ran my best time in both the 5k and the 10k during my senior track season. With running, this was something that was my fault. I was in a situation where my coach did not know what was going on with my body. How could he? He does not have Cystic Fibrosis; all he knows is what I tell him. Now apply this to your health in the doctor’s office. The doctors do have an idea about Cystic Fibrosis in general, but they do not know what is going on with you; what would work best for your lifestyle and for you personally. They can only learn this through a discussion with you. As an example, my doctors wanted me to be on Tobi every other month while I was in college to help keep my lungs clear. That is what the medication is supposed to do, in theory it seemed like that would be a good idea but it just did not work with my schedule. I was too busy to commit to that much treatment; and making the commitment actually made me sicker rather than healthier because I needed to sacrifice sleep to do the medication. After having a conversation with my doctor, we decided together that the best plan would be for me not to do the treatment. Without them knowing my schedule and how it made me feel, my incompliance would have seemed like an act of defiance when in reality it was a recognition on my part of what I was able to do at the time.

This leads to my final lesson, find a group of people who believe in you and are willing to be your support group. For me, my running support group and my Cystic Fibrosis support group are one and the same. This is actually very emotional for me to write this now, because they are some people who have been so significant in my life that I know I will never able to thank them enough for what they do for me. I challenge you all to find a group of people like this in your life. Find those people who push you, and make you better than you are now. They are the ones who will help make you strong and able to push past the difficult parts of this disease. This group wants you to succeed, and you want to succeed for them. Because I know once you find a group of people like this, you will be able to grow to your full potential in whatever you do.

These lessons have been instrumental in my life. Although some lessons may have taken me longer than others to learn, I know I am where I am today because I learned how to put in the extra work, I began to trust in my doctors and my coaches, I believed in myself and my abilities to discern what is best for me and I had an amazing support team. I firmly believe having these four things can also help you succeed in whatever you choose to do, like it helped me with my running and taking care of my Cystic Fibrosis. These lessons have also been helping me out with my schooling, which is something I am going to talk about in my next guest blog. Are these lessons something that you feel you have a firm grip on, or do you struggle with some of them?

BIO: Katie is 22 years old and has lived in Michigan her whole life. She graduated from Albion College with a double major in computer science and communication, and she is currently working on a Master’s degree from Central Michigan University in communication; with a focus on health communication. In her spare time, Katie enjoys finding new research topics, preparing to teach her COM 101 classes, helping coach the local high school cross country and track teams, running, cooking and convincing various family members that they should get her a Pomsky puppy. (Look them up, they are adorable!) She would love to hear back from people who have read her posts, her email is Broekema.ka@gmail.com

Top 10 Tuesday: Best Things About Hospital Stays

It's no secret that Ronnie and I have always embraced hospital stays. They look different now that we have Mckenna, but we are still thankful for them and still have a lot we love about them! (List compiled by both of us)

10. Absence makes the heart fonder - While it totally stinks to not have Ronnie around, it does make me appreciate him and how much he does around the house, for me, and for Mckenna. So in that regard, it is a nice reminder of how much I love and appreciate him!!

9. Adventures - Mckenna and I have started using hospital stays to enjoy time together on adventures around town. We have hit up several fun kid spots around town and I think we both dig it.

8. Family time - Since my mom, step-dad and brother live down here in Tucson, I don't get to see them nearly as much as I'd like to. When I'm in the hospital though, I'm only about 15 minutes away from them and see them more than they'd probably like to :)

7. Family time part II - Even though my in-laws (Papi and Nana) are only about 45 minutes away from our house, we don't see them as much as we'd like to (if you can't tell, I'm a big family time kind of a guy). When I'm here in the Hole, Mandi and Mckenna "move in" with Papi and Nana which makes me feel a whole lot better about my time away. I know Mandi loves being around her parents and I'd bet that Mckenna loves it even more.

6. Home cooked meals - I often get home cooked meals courtesy of my wife when I'm at home, but there is always something to be said for my mom's classics. When I'm here in the Hole, someone brings me dinner almost every night and it's usually something made by my mom. Some of the meals brings me back to my childhood, which for me, is a good thing :)

5. FaceTime time - It's not often that Mandi and I have any reason to FaceTime when I'm at home, but we have all of the reasons in the world to FaceTime when I'm not. I absolutely love to chat with Mckenna on FaceTime because she always does something to make me smile. From holding the phone super carefully as to not hang up or giving me 102 kissies during the course of the call, I'm usually smiling ear-to-ear.

4. Rest - I feel selfish saying this, since I know Mandi experiences the opposite, but it is nice to experience unencumbered rest while I'm here in the hospital. I don't feel guilty to just lay in my bed or sit in a chair and not do anything. I tell myself that it's an important part of the tune-up process, and whether that's true or not, I take full advantage of it.

3. A chance to reset - Ronnie had been "off" for a few weeks before going in. I am so thankful he has a place he can go, to get better, and "reset". He always comes back the man I know and love and full of energy!

2. Hospital traditions - While Ronnie and I can't do all our hospital traditions as much now that I don't stay down there with him, we still get the chance to do some (Dunkin Donuts breakfast, listen to radio podcasts, etc) when I go down to visit. It's really nice to sneak in a few of them here and there.

1. Leaving - Even though it's a place we don't hate, nothing feels better then leaving the Hole!!

Early Exercise

Thankful Thursday: Play Dates & Surprise Visits

It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for play dates. Mckenna and I went to the train park with my friend, and her's. Angie and I became friends when we were both pregnant, and Mckenna and Harlow have been hanging out since birth. They love spending time together. Harlow became a big sissy a few weeks back, and now Mckenna gets to play with Harlow and baby sissy, London, on play dates. It's always a blast.

I'm thankful for my parents. Ronnie has been in 3 weeks as of tomorrow, and I have virtually lived at my parents' house with the except of 2 nights. They have made the stay a breeze and for that I am SO thankful.

I'm thankful for water. In AZ, in the summer, water becomes your best friend. I have guzzled a lot of water each day (about a gallon a day) ever since pregnancy and nursing, but it tastes so much better in the summer!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for an adult CF team that is trusting in the fact that I know my body and know what I need. They have been incredibly helpful this stay and definitely putting me in the best position to succeed. I don't feel the pressure to get out of here as quickly as I have in times past and that has made a big difference. I'm getting close to blowing this popsicle stand!

I'm thankful for surprise visits. Yesterday was Mandi and my 3 year wedding anniversary. Mandi didn't mention coming down at all Monday or Tuesday, so I kind of figured something was up :) After seeing that she was not online Wednesday morning at her usual time, I was more convinced that I'd see her. To my delight, Mckenna and her walked into my room just before 11am. I was soooooooo happy. I know that packing up and coming down here isn't easy, and I'm just thankful that I have a wife willing to do that.

I'm thankful for my momma. My mom has spent time here in the Hole with me almost every single day during my time here. As a bonus, she usually comes bearing gifts like Dunkin Donuts coffee or a bag of jelly beans. She also brings me dinner almost every night. I am truly blessed to have the family that I do.

So, what are you thankful for today?