Hello!

Miss me?  Haha.

Its definitely been a while since I've posted.  Here is what has changed!

Dan turned 27 so we had a big party to celebrate.  The theme was favorite historical character.  This was emotional for me because earlier this year we didn't know if he'd make it to 27.

Speaking of, Dan had his 6 month oncologist appointment and his test came back clear.  His next appt is in March.

Penny is now 6 months old.  She has learned how to sit, shake, and high five.  We are working on staying and laying down.  She's now fully potty trained and asks to go outside.  She wakes up early every morning between 7 and 8am, so I will never be late for work.  She also LOVES the snow.

I'm now a named hasher!  :)  I haven't hashed since being named, but I'm blaming it on the cold and snow.  I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather so we can start hashing again.

Dan and I went on vacation!  We went to Washington, DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity.  We couldn't hear very well at the rally, but afterwards we were able to walk around DC and see a lot of the sights.  We had a lot of fun, minus me getting car sick on the way home.

Some sad news.  My grandma passed away.  She was an amazing lady and she is missed very much.  I have so many wonderful memories of my time with her.

Some more happy events.  We were very fortunate to have another chance to have our pictures by MLP.  She did an great job, as always.  She's launching a new website next year.  Keep your eye out for a neat video she put together.  Again, I recommend her to anyone!

And, the big news is that Dan got a job!  He starts Jan. 3rd and we can't be more excited.  Its such a great way to end the year, and start 2011.

Phew...I think that's about it.  I'm currently on vacation until Jan 3rd.  I'm sure we will be very busy with Christmas and New Years, especially with our upcoming trip to San Antonio with my fam!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Fostering

Things have been pretty hectic at our house lately.  Not soon after Sierra found a new family, we were asked to foster a cat from Minnie's first litter.  3-spot (Tiger as named by his family) has found his way home and its amazing how much he looks like Buggs, just with a tail.

 It's definitely been an adjustment for everyone.  El Tigre took about 5 days to adjust to everyone.  Daisy still isn't too sure about him, but he and Buggs are friends, and he'll even let Penny play with him a bit.  His mom has to move in with her grandparents and can't have him anymore.  Her friends are hoping to move into their new place in October, and then he'll go to them.  If not, we'll be searching for a new family for this handsome fellow.

In other news, Penny is almost 14 weeks old!  She's getting so big.  She's still hyper as ever, and isn't needing to nap as often.  She comes (mostly) when she's called.  She's getting the potty training thing down with very few accidents.  She even came upstairs to tell me she needed to go out.  She knows the word "no" and doesn't challenge you.  She's a dare devil and enjoys jumping on the couch so she can jump on Daisy's back to play.  She's hilarious, but a handfull.  BTW, she does this to herself on a daily basis.

Healthy Snacks

I wanted to share a couple new recipes I've created lately.  The hardest times for us to eat as we should are breakfast (pre-coffee, do I need to say more??), post-work out (completely exhausted and now I need to make something??), and night time (my butt is not getting off the couch!)  These recipies are great to snack on.

Roasted Walnuts - You can also use pecans or almonds.

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a bowl combine:
2 cups nuts
3 Tbsp brown sugar splenda
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp white splenda
1/8 cup melted Olivina
Mix together ensuring the sugars get all melted and gooey, coating the nuts.
Spread mixture in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 7-10 min, or until you start to smell the nuts.  Do not over cook!
Immediately remove the nuts from the pan.  I put the pan in the freezer to quickly cook and stop the cooking.  Plus they are immediately ready to eat!  These are great in a spinach and strawberry salad.  Store in a sealed container, in the fridge if you don't devour immediately.

Protein Ice Cream - It doesn't have the creamy nature of ice-cream, but it definitely satisfies the cravings.
Peanut Butter Chocolate
In a good blender combine:
4 cups of ice
2 scoops chocolate protein
3 Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts - optional
1 cup milk - almond milk also works
1 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp Splenda
Blend until well mixed.  You can stick in the freezer to re-freeze, but protein freezes quickly, so I wouldn't leave it in the freezer for more than 30 min.

Vanilla Blueberry
Blend together as above:
2 scoops Vanilla protein
4 cups frozen blueberries
1 cup almond milk
3 Tbsp Splenda

And finally, our new favorite breakfast treat.
Oatmeal Raisin Bars - Tastes like pumpkin spice bread.
Preheat oven to 350F

In a bowl combine:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Cinnamon to taste
3Tbsp brown sugar splenda
1 scoop vanilla protein
1/3 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup raisins

In a separate bowl combine:
1 egg white
1 whole egg
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp EVOO
1/2 c apple sauce

Mix together the two mixtures and pour into a greased 9" pie pan.  Bake at 350F for 35-40 min.
Store in fridge.  Makes 8 bars.  Microwave 30 sec to reheat.
To change it up you can substitute the apple sauce for pumpkin or mashed ripe bananas.  Yum.  Great for breakfast on the go, or for a quick snack.  You can also add your favorite fruit - apples, cranberries, ect.

Visitors

Yesterday my mom and nephew, "A", came up to visit.  We were hoping to go to the zoo, but it was full!  I guess everyone else had the same idea.  "A" wasn't too disappointed.  I think when we said "zoo," he thought we were talking about my house!

It was beautiful out, so instead we walked along the canal and went to the Rib America Festival.  Yum.  "A" played a couple of games, and won prizes with each game, including a sword!

We came back to my house where Dan showed "A" his real swords.  No worries Mom, "A" stayed across the room.  We also took Daisy and Penny down to our "lake" to show off Daisy's swimming skills.  Unfortunately, Daisy is moody and did not feel like swimming.  But, "A" needed no convincing.  He went swimming and proceeded to play fetch with himself all the way around the pond.  Daisy life guarded, I guess.  Afterwards, everyone got a bath.

Its been a while since I spent an entire day with a 6 year old.  I sure do wish I had his energy!  We had a lot of fun and were still able to enjoy the beautiful day!  Plus, I got a good work out in just trying to keep up.

When they left, Mom took Sierra home with her.  She's lonely with Dad gone, and I think she needs someone to spoil with everyone moved out.  Sierra has always loved Mom, and I'm sure will love to have a house to herself.  We'll see if Dad will let the furry roommate stay when he gets back into town.

September Mental Checkup

This has been a crazy year so far. There have been so many ups and downs, and I have been turned around far too many times. This was supposed to be our year off to relax and settle into our lives. Well, maybe next year we can get around to that.

Now that Dan is back to the man I remember and love dearly (not to mention completely healthy!), I’ve decided I need to focus on me. I know it sounds cheesy, but I took Monday off from work, and I literally sat and stared at the wall because I didn’t know what I did for fun. So I cleaned. I took Wednesday off for a Dr. appt and to see Caleb before he headed back to Seattle, and ended up spending the rest of the day on the couch. I have been so negative this week for no reason and I’m tired of it.

So! In attempts to get out of this funk, I decided to make a to-do list. Here are some things that I would like to NEED TO do from now until May.

1. Run a 5k. I would prefer the time to be in 30 min or less, but since I haven’t ran consistantly since before Dan’s surgery, I’d be happy to just finish without walking.
2. Participate in 15 hashes (and get named!)
3. Try Geocaching
4. Legally change my name on my license and work badge.
5. Get a passport
6. Complete the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Training so I can…
7. Volunteer for something.
8. Give to three charities.
9. Go to a High School football game
10. Go to a college football game
11. Go to a college basketball game
12. Go on a Wine Tasting Tour
13. Go camping.
14. Pay off my car
15. Plan/purchase our honeymoon!
16. Complete the NIH Pharmacology Course
17. Finish making the blanket I started 2 years ago.

Phew, I feel better already. I guess I really just need something fun that I can work towards.

Oncologist

On Tuesday, Dan met with his oncologist to get the results for the microsatellite test and to decide on whether he should do chemo or not. We didn’t take this decision lightly, and had many discussions about it. Of course, ultimately we hoped the microsatellite test would be positive, so we wouldn’t have to make a choice.

Unfortunately, the test was negative. The good news is this doesn’t change anything. It’s good to know that there is less of a chance for Dan to get more tumors in his colon. The bad part is that Dan has a slightly higher risk for a recurrence with a negative test. He’s still at around 25%, so it doesn’t really change the outcome. Also, chemo is still on the table.

Dan had decided not to do chemo. We did a lot of research into other treatment options, and even looked into additional testing and clinical trials. He feels, and I support him, that he’s healthy, and he doesn’t want the constant reminder of his cancer. He’s ready to move on and start living his life again.

From here on, Dan will see Dr. H every 3 months for blood work, and at one year he will have a CT scan and a colonoscopy. It’s a big relief to have this plan in place and to start moving on from this whole situation. Dan is back to training full time and is currently looking for a part time or flex time job so we can pay these medical bills off. I don’t think things could’ve turned out better for him, and I can’t wait to see how quickly he will make gains training now that he’s 100%. Not to mention, I can’t wait to see him in the cage again.

10 Weeks

Yesterday our little pup,Penny Layne turned 10 weeks old. Yes, HER name is Penny Layne.  :)  When we picked up the puppy, we were told it was a boy.  I thought the puppy had "parts" similar to Daisy's and asked Dan, but he agreed that the puppy was a boy.  What do I know?  Well, we took the pup (who we still couldn't get a name to stick) home to meet my family.  There, my SIL, Beth, who works at a pet store, informed us that he was a she!  Well, then it was really easy to name HER!  Haha.  Dan's blonde.  What can I say?   

Well, we got Daisy when she was 10 weeks old, so now we can start to really compare the two. Penny has a lot to live up to.

At 10 weeks Daisy was pretty much potty trained, knew the word no, and hated her leash. We hadn’t started teaching her tricks yet, but she loved her Daddy from day 1 and was a snuggler. She had sooo much extra skin it made her look like an old man. She also hated car rides and would get very car sick.

Penny at 10 weeks, after living with us for a month, is almost potty trained. We occasionally have a few accidents when we aren’t paying attention, but she does ask to go outside. She walks on a leash, but mostly she just follows Daisy. She has learned sit and up only when you put your hand up.

We are still working on verbal commands. She’ll come to you when there isn’t a cat around (her favorite toys besides Daisy), and preferably when you have a treat in your hand. She is very good at the stairs already.  You can find her chasing the cats up and down them.  Now there is no where you can hide!  It took Daisy a looong time to learn how to use the stairs. Penny is great in the car with me. She is afraid of water, but hopefully Daisy will have her swimming in a month or two.

Penny has doubled in size since we first got her. She is taller than Daisy was, but not as stocky. She also seems to listen to me a little more than Dan.  Her bad habits include trying to bring in the dead things the cats kill up to the house, and she’s very loud, but she's getting better.