PF Changs, Vampires, and Garage Sales...

So week #2 of recovery has gone by pretty well. I am moving around a lot, but I get tired rather quickly. I haven't been able to work very much this week since personal training does unfortunately require a bit of energy. But I have been busy doing lots of other things besides training! This last Monday night we went out to celebrate our good friend Chris' birthday at PF Changs. It seemed like forever since we had been out with friends. Eating fried rice and sea bass isn't great for inflamed intestines, but I had a great time catching up with everyone.

Eating out with our friends Mike and Amber

Now that I have all this new found time on my hands, I have been reading the Twilight series. I figured I would get with the times and see what all this vampire fuss is about. And to be honest, I am addicted. I'm reading the last book now and I can pretty much guarantee you, I will stay up all night to finish this stupid book. I've been staying up late every night finishing them. I hope that all these late nights don't slow down my recovery time because honestly, the books are pretty dumb. How can a human girl be in love with a vampire and a werewolf at the same time? The plot is so ridiculous, yet I cannot seem to put it down. As ridiculous as they are, I am not ashamed to say... I HEART EDWARD CULLEN.

This Saturday we had our first, and hopefully final garage sale. Not that it didn't go well...it did! We made over $900--all of which will be sent to Guatemala to help distribute wheelchairs to those who cannot afford them. The garage sale was a huge success...but for someone who is slightly OCD, garage sale-ing can be a nightmare. We had so much stuff. So many people were so generous to donate to our cause... but we just had so much stuff we couldn't price anything. It would have taken days. I have never had a garage sale, and it's honestly been at least a decade since I've been to one, so I had no clue what to tell people when they asked how much stuff cost. Thankfully I had several "experts" helping me who would come to my rescue whenever I needed a price quote (which was often). When I wasn't freaking out over how disorganized the whole process was, I actually had a good time. The weather was perfect and we had many entertaining moments to laugh over. Three very furry bathrobes with horses embroidered on them was the cause for much laughter...

James, Mike, and Calvin posing proudly in these new found treasures

Even funnier, James and Mike would actually wheel and deal with customers IN THE ROBES, as if though they were wearing perfectly normal outfits. Here is a good action shot of James!

James selling a car stereo in the crazy bathrobe.

Over all, the garage sale was a huge success. Pretty crazy, but pretty fun too.

How I Lost My Appendix...

So the last week has been quite eventful at our house. It all started last week on Thursday, July 30th. I had gotten done teaching a Pilates mat class and my stomach started to feel really weird. It was a bizarre pain I had never really experienced before. I ignored it, thinking I had just really worked my abs hard or something...stupid, I know...I kept waking up through the night with stomach pains, but I had company coming in the next morning and just ignored it. My good friends Tiffany and Sarah drove all the way from Colorado to come visit and I just wanted to have a good weekend with them! They got in Friday and we hung out, but I just felt weird all day. Again, I ignored it because I didn't want to take away from our time together. Saturday morning we got up and did a car wash to raise money for our Guatemala trip. After the car wash I knew I couldn't ignore the stomach pains any longer! We went to the emergency room and they ran some tests. They ran a cat scan and saw that my appendix was really infected and needed to come out. So Sunday, August 1st I had an emergency appendectomy to get that nasty appendix out! I had waited so long, my poor lil intestines were infected and inflamed so surgery wasn't as smooth as they had hoped. I unfortunately got an extra incision because my belly was so distended. But they got it out and I am on the mend! I have been spending the last week and a half at home recovering. James took all last week off of work to take care of me. My mom came down and and helped us out around the house; doing laundry, cooking, taking care of the pups. Everyone has been so awesome! Makes me wish I got sick more often! Just kidding, not really...Complete recovery usually takes 3-4 weeks, so pray that I get better quick and am ready to go to Guatemala the beginning of September!

Tripped up on morphine! Creepy asian goes to the hospital!

Our Inaugural Post!!

Hello all! We decided to get with the times and start a blog! As James and I travel more and start more projects we thought it would be fun for y'all to see what we're up to! This summer has been super busy, but really fun! A quick recap on what we've been up to...

*James*

James has been busy as ever with work at Wal-Mart. This August is his SEVEN year anniversary with the company! Yikes! We are getting old! He is doing great as a pricing manager in their apparel division.

This spring he laid down a patio in our backyard. It looks awesome. He got some of his buddies to help dig up the yard and lay down the stones. But really, it looks like some professionals came over and laid it!

We heart our patio!

*Steph*

The last few months have been a whirlwhind for me! I ran my first ultra-marathon (32 miles!) in March to help raise support and awareness for what the Josiah Foundation was doing in Kenya. Five days after my race I went to Kenya with my dad, sister, and good friend Harmony Bischof for ten days. This trip was awesome. It was life changing. I have never seen and experienced so much in such a short time. I would love to go back soon.

With good friends after finishing my 32 miler!

Playing with some kids in the slums.

In May I ran the Lincoln Marathon with my good friends from running club. I love this race. It was my third year in a row to do it, and this year was my favorite! Two weeks later I went to Guatemala for ten days with a small team with the Josiah Foundation. We spent a lot of time in different villages ministering to those who needed medical assistance and helping provide physical needs.

This July we took a week long vacation to Cozumel with my family. James and Michelle and her boyfriend, Richard went scuba diving a few times. I like being lazy on vacation, so I spent most of my time snoozing on the beach. It was too short! We wanted to stay another week. It was so much fun.