Baby Carrot 1 comment

I might have pulled this one a little early…

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May/June Catch-up 1 comment

Well, once again, I find myself at the end of August realizing that we have been to busy to share about our lives or keep this blog up to date. I think the summer that we keep on top of things will deserve some kind of reward. Possibly involving ice cream.

Here’s a snapshot of what was happening with us during the end of May and the month of June.

This year we had a mustache themed birthday party for Matt. Mustaches are always fun!

Then of course, there was the senior trip to Croatia, but you already know about that.

The day after we returned from Croatia, I turned 40. Yes. 40. Sigh. Matt and some of our friends threw me a 39.39393939… birthday party. Matt said I don’t I have to turn 40 if I don’t want to. I kinda don’t want to.

Then the seniors graduated! Wahoo! You can see by all the smiles that they were definitely ready for this day. More pics here: Graduation 2010

During the month of June we had a few friends visiting. Sally, Bekah, and Becca are some of our favorite people, so it was great to see them.

On June 19, our friends Felix and Leslie got married. They asked me to be one of the wedding photographers. Lots of pressure, but I learned a ton. I especially learned that this is NOT what I want to do for a living. Yikes!

We spent the rest of June helping our friends Jeff and Bethany get moved into their new apartment. This was super exciting for us because now they live in our building. Yay!

Stay tuned to for stories from July and August. Things did not slow down. I need a nap.

Running Through the Streets 1 comment

This past Sunday the city shut down for the Vienna City Marathon. Over 30,000 people flooded the streets of Vienna, .

A student and I decided to train for the half-marathon this year, and despite a rushed training schedule, were able to finish the race without too much trouble. I achieved my goal of under 2 hours, just barely, coming in at 1:56:22. Good enough to beat the Kenyans leading the marathon pack. Of course they only needed 12 extra minutes to run twice as far as me, but that’s another story.

After a 2 year hiatus from any run longer 5K, it was a lot of fun to train and run this race, and I’m hoping it’ll be a springboard to other runs in my ongoing struggle to maintain motivation.

It was also neat to see a student of mine, who only started running two years ago, get really excited about training and running this race. He’s come a long way in such a short amount of time.

Disco + Tanktop = Progress in Pictures No comments yet

It’s been a while. I’m sure many of you had given up hope of ever seeing another disco-themed progress report on my ongoing shoulder recovery. Some of you were probably thankful. Rumors abounded that I had run out of tank tops. Today, I put those rumors to rest.

I continue to make a lot of improvement through physical therapy, but still don’t quite have full range of motion. It seems like it’s taking longer to get that last 5-10% of motion than it has to get this far. But I’m sure that’s more perception than reality.

If you’re so inclined you could pray for healing and that I stay motivated to do my stretches everyday. Thanks!

Here they are, my progress in pictures:

VCS Advent Calendar 1 comment

Each year our librarian creates a huge advent calendar in the library. She photoshops fun Christmas pictures with the faces of staff and students. It’s my favorite VCS tradition. Here’s what she did to us this year:

Merry Christmas!

Young Man, There’s a Place You Can Go 4 comments

Back by popular demand! Here is the fifth in the series of YMCA photos. Sooner or later I’ll be ready for my cameo on the Village People Reunion Tour. I’m also making an attempt to break the record for most diverse collection of tank tops in a series of YMCA photos. Someone call Guinness. Or send me a new tank top. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.

Check out my previous attempts below and see how much progress I’ve made.

There’s No Need to Be Unhappy 2 comments

So here’s the week 4 picture. My doctor and my physical therapist are both pleased with how I’m progressing, and I’m definitely getting more range of motion. As you can see, though, I’ve still got a ways to go. Look at me go!

Smells Like Grandma 1 comment

This is a cream my physical therapist gave me to rub on my scar.

Ringelblumen are Marigolds.

This cream is supposed keep the skin around my scar from drying out or something like that.

Tricia also claims that this cream makes me smell like her grandma.

I think I’ll take that as a compliment.

Young Man, Pick Yourself Off The Ground 1 comment

So here’s week 3. I am now seeing a physical therapist once a week, so having some consistent care and advice is very helpful. Please continue to pray that my recovery process goes smoothly and quickly.

For comparison, Week 2 followed by Week 1:

Young Man, There’s No Need to Feel Down 1 comment

So here’s my Week 2 picture. I must admit I haven’t been stretching as much as I should since school started, so I’m not sure how much progress I’ve made since last week. Assuming, of course, that I’ve made any progress at all. You be the judge:

I was able to make an appointment to see a physical therapist on Tuesday this week, so please pray that things go well with that and I can start to get more motion back sooner than later.