Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!



Taylor says, "Put 'em up!"

and

"Happy Halloween!"

and finally

"Take this off me now."



She's such a good sport.



Motivate Me Monday

Today I am linking up with Ashley for Motivate Me Monday. 

Photobucket

Before the wedding, Phil and I were working out like crazy.  It is partially because I wanted to look good for my wedding and also because I was in between wedding dress sizes and the ladies at the bridal shop decided it would be better to order the smaller size than the larger one.  And since my hip measurement was about an inch and a half LARGER than the measurement for the dress, I was terrified I wouldn't fit into it.

After the wedding, I kind of let life take over.  And while our intention was always to keep going to the gym, but maybe just not as much (aka we didn't need to work out for 16 hours a week), it kind of became not going at all.

As the weight I worked SO HARD to take off before the wedding began to creep back unto my thighs... I got sad.  I'm still not to where I was before we started our wedding workouts, I certainly don't want to get to that point.

There are always a MILLION reasons why I can't go to the gym.  Especially since my thyroid went all crazy, it is even easier to blow off the gym.  But now that my metabolism is slowing down, it is even more important that I go - If for no other reason than low thyroid function can cause depression.

The half marathon was a great experience.  It made Phil and I want to do another one.  But I won't lie... it was REALLY hard.  I wasn't prepared for it and my entire goal was simply to finish it.  I want the next race to be for a time.  And I want to be proud of that time.  And I want to be able to walk afterwards.  :)

The only way I am going to keep the lbs off and get faster is one step at a time.  And while that is SO FRUSTRATING sometimes... it is the truth.



So let's try to keep each other motivated.  Tonight, before Phil, Taylor and I hand out candy, I am going to the gym.  :)


Sunday, October 30, 2011

Another good David story

Last Saturday, my brother invited Phil and I to come watch David at his "soccer" practice.  Since David is three and a half, they don't really play soccer.  The pretty much play games and some of the games involve a soccer ball.


 See the girl in the green shirt and pink shinguards?  Remember her for the story...



What a ham.

Nick said David was really excited we were coming to watch him, but once we got there David was having a hard time feeling up to participating (aka he was pouting a lot).  It was still really cute.

The last game of the practice, the kids took a jersey and tucked it into the back of their pants to be their "tails."  Then they played a game where they ran around and tried to pull out the other kids' tails.  The first time they played the game, everyone had fun and it went really well.  Since there was a little time left, the coach decided they should play one more time.

Right after the second game started, David gets his tailed pulled out.  He did not like that very much.  So Nick took a jersey David had in his hands and just tucked it back in for David.  He stopped crying and he was off.  We then ran up to the little girl in the green shirt and ripped out her tail.  She was not happy about this. 

To comfort her during this trying time, David took the jersey he had just ripped out of the back of her pants and started hitting her with it.  Since this didn't comfort her adequately, David then grabbed her by both of her shoulders, began to shake her a little and then growled in her face.

The girl ran to her dad, crying her off out.  Nick ran to David to tell him that wasn't an ok thing to do.

I began laughing histerically.

I know Nick was mortified.

Seriously... David never seems to disappoint (HERE and HERE).


Saturday, October 29, 2011

Columbia Gorge

We decided to spend Saturday night before our race last weekend up in the Gorge and make a mini-vacation out of it.  On the way to Cascade Locks, where we stayed, we had to stop at Multnomah Falls and take some pictures.  Afterall, that is where Phil proposed to me in April 2009 (after we went on a super hard 5 mile hike).

Here are some pictures:

We LOVE our Salmon in the Pacific NW.  Can you see it?  And we in the Janney household love Salmon as well.  We just ate some Salmon cooked in tequila and lime juice.



This was the view from our balcony in Cascade Locks the morning of our race:

This is called "The Bridge of the Gods."  According to legend, this used to be a natural rock bridge that fell during an earthquake.  Can you imagine how awesome it would have looked to have a rock bridge span the river?

Friday, October 28, 2011

Roasted Garlic Potato Soup

Casey is throwing a Fall Follower's FEST and I have decided to give it a try and link up.  So HELLO to any new readers from The Wiegand's!!!

Since it is definitely getting chilly here in the Willamette Valley (we actually had frost), I decided it was time to make some soup.  I tend to not like brothy soups very much but since I am also trying to eat healthy and drop my "Newlywed 9," I needed a hearty soup recipe that was also low-cal and healthy.

So I saw THIS beauty on my Pinterest and Jenni's blog.  This soup is Gluten-free and could be made vegetarian if you are into that kind of thing.  And each serving is just 199 calories with minimal sodium.

Roasted Garlic Potato Soup

I didn't need the 5 heads of garlic the recipe called for.  3 heads of garlic seemed like plenty.  And just an FYI... Roasted Garlic is sticky!!



It took about 5 potatoes to get 6 cups needed for the soup.  And the soup took a while to cook.  Give it a try!  It was yummy.

Photobucket


Thursday, October 27, 2011

I Got You

I honestly can't believe it is Thursday.  The week has seemed long and short all at the same time.  Weird.  I am so thankful though.  It has been a rough-ish week.

I may or may not have cried while watching "Sister Wives."  Don't judge.  I am sure it was a really deep moment.

Joanna decided she was up for the challenge of being sad with me and then just hanging out.  I am really bad at asking for help with stuff.  I was pretty much raised to be a strong, independent woman.  And while I am a strong, independent woman (I can open jars, lived alone before I met Phil, travelled the world, financial support myself) I think I sometimes take it too far. 

Just because I can be independent doesn't mean that I should attempt being emotionally independent.  When things are hard, it is ok to reach out for people to sit and cry with you, to hug and hold you, and, when you are ready, help pick you up.  Phil does a great job of this, but sometimes you need your girlfriends.

I have definitely had friends let me know that they are here for me and to let them know if I need anything.  I really appreciate it.  It is just so hard to take you up on the offer.  And that is a flaw within me.  I suck at being vulnerable.

So last night, Joanna and I took Braxton to Target, fed him, bathed him, put him to bed, and then ordered pizza and talked.  And because Jo knows me SO WELL, everytime I tried to avoid talking/crying things out with her, she pushed.

It was really nice and exactly what I needed.  It is so nice to have such an amazing friend in my life.

Plus I got to see this guy:

And to everyone else that has so wonderfully offered up your support, thank you!  I am working on letting myself accept your offers.  :)

Sorry for the downer post.  I am trying to be honest here about my life.  I am told acknowledging my sad feelings will help keep them from overwhelming my life.  It helps.  I feel so much better today.

Thanks Jo (and Brax)!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Prison Wives

During my lunch breaks, I like to watch shows on Netflix.  Yesterday, I found a new one:

Prison Wives

It is a documentary style show about people who's spouse is incarcerated.

And it reminded of a story.

I was a sophomore in college and I was dating a guy who was finishing up grad school at the time.  He decided he would throw a party for his frat buddies and they would make kaluha.  So he found a recipe from a prison family website and threw a party.

He also made ham.  The ham was really good.

The kaluha made a mess.

He had made me a sandwich with the ham on French Toast bread from Winco (it has maple syrup in the bread) and it was delicious.

The moral of the story

If you ever want to make gallons of kaluha, try looking for a recipe from a prison family website. 
And also... make a ham.


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Overly Excited

Lately I have been a little overly excited about things that really aren't all that exciting. 

-  The gym is getting new aerobic equipment.  The kind with the TVs in each individual machine!  I am over the moon about this development.  It makes me even more excited to run.

-  I found my after-race evening snack of a banana and chocolate milk really enjoyable.

-  I got a Carmel Apple Spice when we got home Sunday and drank it while I watched "Sister Wives" and Phil napped.  It was glorious.  I also sat around cuddled in a blanket with no pants because I hate wearing pants at home.

Yesterday, it reached new levels of ridiculousness.

I had called the endocronologist's office last week to ask some questions about my upcoming appointment.  They never called me back.  But that is ok because I had lab work there yesterday, so I decided since they hadn't called me back, I was going to stop by and ask my questions in person.  It is much harder to ignore someone standing in front of you, after all.

I managed to get my questions answered AND schedule another appointment just in case it is needed for 2 days after my appointment.  That way, if they need to stick a needle in my neck, I can have it done as soon as possible.  But hopefully I won't need the needle poke.  Fingers crossed and prayers accepted people.

Anyway, I was SO EXCITED that my impromptu visit with the endo's office went well!!  I had a hard time focusing at work afterwards.

But I am not sure it is normal to be excited about possibly getting a needle to the neck...

Whatevs.




Monday, October 24, 2011

Columbia Gorge Half-Marathon

Yesterday, Phil and I ran the Columbia Gorge Half-Marathon.  It is dubbed as being the most scenic marathon in the country.  And let me tell you... it didn't disappoint.




It also didn't disappoint in the hills.  Pretty sure after 2 miles, I looked at Phil and said, "This is hard" in kind of a whiny voice.  And near the end, you come across a pedestrian bridge and you can see the finish line... and they route you AWAY from it to do another loop.  Mean.  At that point, I wanted to sit down right there and give up.  But I didn't.  Hooray for me.

I started off the race with kind of a outlook on it.  I knew it was going to be hard and so everytime I had to run uphill, I felt like couldn't run.  And everytime I ran downhill, I knew I would have to trun around and run uphill, so I felt like I couldn't do it.  Excellent attitude.


That's me running in the blue.

But I realized about half-way, why my attitude was so bad:

We signed up for this race in March/April.  After we started training, we got bad news, after bad news, a little good news, more life stress.  Possible cancer bug-bite.  Work stress.  Life stress (which I am not ready to get into yet but if we are close, odds are you know about it).  A little hope.  Lump in the neck.  Maybe cancerous lump in the neck.  Still don't know about lump in the neck.

And while I should have been training, my thyroid tanked and I had a hard time sitting up.  I wasn't able to train.  I got in some runs when I could, but it wasn't nearly where it should have been.

I wasn't prepared for the race, and I wasn't prepared for the life stress I have had thrown my way.  And I have kind of had it with all the uphill stuff.



I am hoping that this race has book-ended some uphill challenges I have had recently.  That is the end in a chapter of hardships.  So I ran (and walked) hoping this would be the end of that hard chapter.  And that I will be able to move forward into more of a normal newly-married-26-year-old life where I can plan dinner parties and get cocktails with my friends or something.



We finished JUST over the goal I had set.  By seriously less than 2 minutes over.  SO CLOSE.  We are looking for another race in the next couple of months.  The race was beautiful and it was such a wonderful experience to run it with my husband and have him encourage me along the way.  It is funny because before the race I was pumping Phil up, telling him he could do it.  And during the race, he was the one encouraging me.  Good team.



Friday, October 21, 2011

Camry Dance Party

Yesterday, I left my office to run an errand quickly before an evening meeting.  I hopped into my car and a truly amazing song came on:



Yes... I purchased this song. I'm not proud of it. My husband is probably ashamed to be associated with me now.  It's ok.  Won't be the last time I am sure.  :)  In my own defense, I find it is a good song to run to. As is this song:



Cause it kind of makes you feel like you are in the movie and running for your life.

But I digress...

So "Sexy and I Know It" comes on and I'm trying to manuever my way through some traffic.  I am neck and neck with another car.  And suddenly I have a huge urge to roll down my windows, turn up the music and start rockin' out.

My hope would be that I could start a little dance party in the middle of the traffic, where everyone rolls down their windows and starts bustin' a move while we wait for the traffic light to turn green.

But I didn't do it.

I need to break out of my shell.


Thursday, October 20, 2011

The past couple of days

I just thought I would give a glimpse into the last couple of days we have had.

1)  Phil and I actually got to spend all of Saturday together.  It was awesome and really weird since I have barely gotten to see him in the last month.  We went to the OSU football game, spend some time in the lab, and then went to Costco and Target.  It was super romantic and I LOVED IT!!  :)

2)  Phil went to the lab all day Sunday.  I ran 6 miles.

3)  Then Sunday night I got mad at Phil because he likes to leave dishes in the sink until the sink is full and THEN do the dishes when I start cooking.  We have an agreement:  I cook and he does dishes.  So I calmly talk to him about the dishes.  Then I do the dishes

4)  We just fixed the upstair toilet lever and then the downstairs one broke... like 2 weeks ago.  Phil has been too busy to fix it.  The toilet barely flushes.  It is awesome.

5)  I had a really hard day Monday.  I struggle with anxiety.  It is a problem I have had for a while, but has really reared its ugly head hard this last summer when the whole bug/cancer thing popped up and thanks to thyroid problems, it hasn't backed down.  For some reason, it was triggered bad on Monday.  To make matters worse, I have been really busy at work and there wasn't anyone I really felt like I could talk to about it (especially since Phil is holed up in the lab where there is ZERO cell service).

6)  I decided to try and help my anxiety by running another 6 miles.

7)  I get home and Phil has a horrible headache.  The dishwasher is full of CLEAN dishes.  The sink is full of DIRTY dishes.  And I am now starving.  Everything is sneaking up on me and so what do I do?  I get upset with my husband who doesn't feel good.

It was definitely not one of my proudest wife moments.

8)  I unload the dishwasher, reload it and run it.

9)  Phil and I made up.

10)  I come home today from work... the dishwasher didn't run.  The soap dispenser didn't open.  And it is all my fault.  Which was actually kind of funny.  It took me running it and re-arranging it two more times to get it to actually get the dishes clean.


Obviously I was not really upset with Phil about the dishes.  My fall-back emotion is anger.  I tend to get mad when really I am feeling some other emotion that I would typically consider "vulnerable."  In the case of Phil and the dishes, I have been feeling really anxious and lonely.

I had to ask Phil for a little more attention.

And it made me feel like an even worse wife (like I could feel any worse for yelling at him when he didn't feel good) for asking my super busy husband to show me some more attention.  But life is a little extra crazy right now (you'd be amazed what affect your thyroid really has on your life).  And while I have been doing my best to support him in his work, I need some of his support back.

Once I told him that, everything made sense to him.  And he went out of his way to make sure I had a little more attention today.  While it hasn't made me feel super great yet, it is definitely helping.

Marriage is all about give and take.  And I am so glad I have a husband who will constantly work with me to find the right balance at the time.



And none of you actually read this because it was A LITTLE LONG.  :)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Virginia is for Lovers

At the end of September, we travelled back East to go to JMU's homecoming and spend some time with these guys:

+ Jimmy + Christie + Susan

We had such a great trip!!  It was too short and I am already looking forward to our next reunion with the Maryland Ave guys (Phil's roommates from undergrad).

Here are some pictures from our trip. (NOTE: I don't know why some of the pictures are rotated.  I can't figure it out.  Just tilt your head.)




This is JMU's stadium and marching band.  I think both are bigger than OSU's.  That is weird.  Apparently at JMU, people wait to leave at halftime until AFTER the marching band performs.  Totally the opposite at Oregon State.

Look how happy everyone looks.

This would make for an interesting day at the office:
 My mom told me that they are young engineers, much like myself.  I should have applied for this gig.  I can count cracks.

Jefferson Memorial

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial


FDR Memorial




I should have taken more pictures. 



Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My Mr. is a Mystery

This is going to sound stupid, but I sometimes forget that I haven't known my husband for all that long.  In the span of our lives, we have only known eachother for 4 years.  But this weekend we actually got to spend some time together (shocker!) and I was reminded again of how much of Phil's past I really don't know about:


(Old song comes on the radio)


Phil: This song reminds me of elementary school dances.

Me: Your elementary school had dances? (pretty shocked)





Phil:  Yup.

Me:  Well I guess if you are going to get knocked up by 16, you really have to start socialization early.

Phil:  Yup.  I know it was elementary school because I had a girlfriend.

Me:  You had a girlfriend in elementary school?!?! (Even more shocked primarily because Phil was and still is super shy)

Phil:  Yeah.  And her ex-boyfriend kept trying to cut-in and dance with her.  It was really annoying.

Me:  (Jokingly) Did you fight him?

Phil:  Not then, but I did push him over a desk in class once.


I could NEVER picture kid-Phil pushing another kid over a desk.


Me:  Did you get in trouble?

Phil:  No.  I waited for the teacher to leave the room.


That makes more sense.


Phil:  When she came back in, she didn't believe when people said I had done it.  So I didn't get in trouble.


Learn something new about him everyday.

Going to have to watch out for our kids if they get Phil's sneaky side.


Saturday, October 15, 2011

Work for a living

Yesterday morning, my boss (aka my father) came into my office to tell me I needed to identify drainage basins for my water quality design on an apartment complex we are doing by Monday morning. Basically, I have a day and a half's worth of work to do in half a day.

Now, I have made a point of saying I will not work weekends. Maybe occasionally if I really need to but in general, I am not married to my job. I think this is hard for my dad to understand since he works like 80 hours a week. So because I had this deadline, I had two options: work like crazy to finish by the end of the day or work this weekend. I decided to kick it into high gear.




Don't you like my super old engineering tools? In case you were wondering, this is called a planimeter. It measures areas. I like my engineering old school.

So I skip my lunch, and work like a made woman. It took my five and a half hours but I got it all done. I take the plan out to show the cad tech so he can start drawing it up on Monday and this is when he informs me that they changed the layout and so my whole basin design will change.

Yeah that crap ain't happening.

Well maybe it will. I won't know until sometime Monday if I have to redo all that work. Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled. I especially liked how they made the change while I was doing my calcs and NO ONE TOLD ME!

Whatever. Definitely time for the weekend.



Love, Mrs. Janney

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Random Random Random

I am tired and can't think of a lot to write about.  So I thought I would do a random mix of pictures and words.  So... enjoy!


Here's what it looks like when I slack on the laundry.  I finally fold it and it feels like we have brand new wardrobes.  What you can't tell from this picture?  It took another 3 days to put the clothing away.  My housekeeping skills are awesome.



I got to spend last Saturday here, watching the Beavers finally win a game.  Arizona's coach got fired about 2 days later because apparently if can't even beat the Beaver's you don't deserve a job?  Whatever.  I'm a Beaver Believer through and through.  It's a building year, folks.

Hopefully we can have a repeat performance this weekend against the BYU Cougars.  I especially liked the punt-fake.  And the blocked punt.  Let's do that again, Mike Reilly.



Part of my job this week was to go look at asphalt and take pictures of it.  I was near a field of cows and they did NOT like my presence there.  Camera shy I guess.  I did my best to try and convince them I was no threat to them, that I didn't eat beef.  They saw past my lies.  Who am I kidding?  I made chili with beef in the crock pot that morning.  Man I am offensive.


I took my temperature last night when I was in bed (out of curiousity) and it was 95.8.  95.8!  That is almost 3 degrees below the average.  Pretty sure I am half-way to dead there.  I blame my thyroid.


And I spent most of the day yesterday thinking it was Thursday.  That would make today Friday, which it is NOT!  I hate it when that happens.


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