Alternative Fuels

Little Debbie's Oatmeal Cream pie- my cheap high energy food of choice

One of my core beliefs is that people need to move more.
Our bodies were made to exercise. By design, we were made to withstand physical labor. It seems like technology has nourished the caustic idea of trying to get away with doing as little physical exertion as possible. While working in Sports Medicine Clinics for 4 years, I saw more herniated disks, muscle tears, and replaced joints from inactivity than any other cause. Years of negligence wear at our joints and muscles and then people find themselves baffled why their body spontaneously defects.
Since we have moved to Michigan, one of my primary modes of transportation has been jogging. I put Liam in my jogging stroller and I run to work, to the library, to return videos, to church and city council meetings, to get things from the store. . . .(Yes, I'll admit, I am detered on days when the snow burms overcrowd the side walks) It is my hope that as people drive past the lady jogging in the snow enough times that they will eventually be motivated to dust off their treadmill, tune up their bike, and get their bodies moving. Give it enough time and your body will thank you.

Liam's New Tricks of the week-
Opening doors (most of the doors in our house are sliding doors)
Taking off his pants when he's sick of them
Turning pages of books when cued

Cordially Invited

Saturday evening Brady and I rubbed shoulders with DeWitt's finest, dining with state senators, former governors, the mayor, and other people who looked like newscasters and mostly drove really nice cars. We were the youngest people there by about 15 years, and were of a handful of people under 50. I'd like to think that we add a little diversity to our city government. We even now have a family postcard from our state senator. Why he's passing out extras in February beats us. We're actually pretty surprised that guy could be a senator... But if you ever want to write to Senator Jones, we've got his address on our fridge. Ordinarily, you kind of assume that if the words 'cordially invited' are included in an invitation, you're sure to be the recipient of fine food and great entertainment. Well, we got a Christmas card. And funeral potatoes. And some free mints we stole from the centerpiece. But we still love DeWitt, and will definitely be active in the next state election. And I'm still trying to get more sidewalks and bike lanes up and running.

8

These lists aren't necessarily in order from 1 to 8.

8 things I’m passionate about:
1- Knowing that I have the coolest husband and cutest kid
2- Trail running/enjoying the outdoors
3- Teaching people how to be healthy
4- 'Women Helping Women'- helping women feel better about themselves
5- Infrastructure!!! Building up parks, sidewalks, trails, fitness facilities, bike lanes, etc.
6- My rabbit, Gabe. Love that rabbit!
7- Spending time with family in AK
8- Traveling, and the Russian people.

8 things I want to do before I die:
1- Run a trail marathon.
2- Go to St. Petersburg.
3- Earn a graduate degree in health promotion, cardiac rehab, or something along those lines.
4- Become a good speaker.
5- Be well read- keep learning
6- Play in a symphony
7- Be taken seriously. (That actually might be in the #1 position)
8- Check everything off this list by the time I'm 30.

8 things I say often:
1- Love that rabbit!
2- Man, people are so lazy!
3- I'm serious!
4- Does this make me look older?? Do you think people would take me more seriously if I...?
5- Tubby time, Liam!
6- I should send them a card... (whether I send it or not is a different story)
7- Maybe you just need to take a bath!
8- But I don't wanna get out of my blankets.


8 songs I could listen to over and over:
1- Brandenburg Concerto #5, movement 3
2- If you had one shot, one oppuhtunity, (Lose Yourself, Eminem, EDITED)
3- Love Somebody Like You- Keith Urban
4- Because I Have Been Given Much (Hymn 219)
5- The Broken Road- Rascal Flatts
6- Shut Up (I'm About to Break)- Linkin Park
7- Barber Adagio
8- Clocks- Coldplay

8 things I’ve learned this past year:
1- Parenting is actually harder than it looks, so give people a break
2- Even if you have boobs, breastfeeding does not come naturally
3- Even if you don't live close to family, they're still there.
4- Don't wait for new friends to come to you, or you'll be missing out.
5- God answers prayers in the way that's best for us, even if it doesn't seem like it at first or it's not what we want.
6- It's important to be involved in other activities as a mom.
7- Sometimes, take criticism, othertimes, ignore it.
8- To feel better about yourself, help somebody else out.

North Carolina

Last week I got back spending a week visiting my family, the Carlsons, and meeting up with Melissa in North Carolina. We don't get to meet up together often enough so it was definitely a treat. We had a great time hanging out, eating good food, going shopping and visiting a Revolutionary War battlefield. Lisa, Keith and cousins are great hosts. I was actually very impressed with North Carolina. It was absolutely beautiful with lots of trees and lovely homes.

I ride the short bus

So Brady and I are still sharing a car and so far it really hasn't been too much of a hassle. We drop each other off, I jog, or I ride the short bus. This is a county bus that takes you door to door. The only people that seem to use this service that I've noticed so far have been disabled but hey, that's alright with us.

For most of you it's probably been too long since you've heard this kid get tickled

hand delivered messages

So you may be wondering what the following two pictures have in common....

Saturday evening we were bringing things in from the car, when all of a sudden a police car pulled up in front of our house, and an officer slowly got out of the car carrying what I started to think could only be a warrant, or something to that effect. Quickly, my mind started going down the list of things that I could have done that would get me arrested. After crossing off the possibility that I could be headed to the slammer on an anonymous phone tip about rolling through that stop sign a week ago, I landed on the high likelihood that he was here to ask questions about our herb-loving neighbor.

Instead, he graciously handed me the packet, told me they were for a Mrs. Danielle Firth, and said good night. I asked him if it was ok if I gave the packet to Dani, or if they needed to be hand delivered (thinking it would be even cooler if they were handcuffed to his wrist and he needed to scan his eye to get them off or something like that. Maybe next time).

Turns out, Dani's city appointment onto the Recreation Board puts her in the privileged class of citizens who receive hand delivered packets from the local police chief. Maybe we'll get to be in next year's parade.

(the packet contained the agenda of next week's board meeting, as well as plans for several proposed parks- all topped off with the city's nuclear response codes.)

Here's Dani with her notification letter, informing her that the city of DeWitt has granted her VIP status.

I love my wife. She'll be fantastic for this city. She's got a passion for helping people better their lives, and this will be a great outlet for her.

Now onto my son- the happiest kid I know.

The other day I gave him a Balance Bar (protein candy bar) for him to play with, because he likes wrappers. He was being awfully quiet for about 40 minutes afterwards, and Dani went over to discover that he'd somehow opened the package and eaten a good third of the bar, which was covered in chocolate. Of course it got everywhere, and he didn't seem to care that he'd been busted, as this shot shows. He even smiled and laughed when he threw it up five minutes later. What a happy little explorer.

These last two shots are of him playing in... and in...

...his little exercise-saucer thingy.

Also on the news updates- we're happy to report that other than a few fluke nights, he sleeps for at least 7 hours through the night now