Football predictions

On our way back from Iowa Jake and I decided to make football predictions for the season.  I just want you to know that I made my decisions before he made his.  Being that many of our picks are the same, you should just note that Jake must have decided to "follow" me with my big football knowledge. :)  So, here's what we decided.

AFC West
E- Chargers    
J- Chargers
AFC East
E- Jets            
J- Patriots
AFC South
E- Colts          
J- Colts
AFC North
E- Bengals    
J- Ravens
AFC Wild Card
E- Patriots & Steelers
J- Texans & Steelers

NFC West
E- Cardinals
J- 49ers
NFC South
E- Saints
J- Saints
NFC North
E- Packers
J- Packers
NFC East
E- Cowboys
J- Cowboys
NFC Wild Card
E- Vikings & 49ers
J- Falcons & Giants

Superbowl
E- Colts & 49ers
J- Colts & Packers

Superbowl Winner
E- Colts
J- Packers

Superbowl MVP
E- Peyton Manning
J- Aaron Rodgers

So here's how it's going to play out.  We will get points for various things we guess correctly, and winner will get to have a really great day of being queen/king.  Winner gets whatever they want, including having pillows fluffed or foot rubs or whatever.  In addition, winner gets $50 to spend in whatever way they want (part of it might be going out to dinner).  

I am SO going to win.

Feel free to comment on how much better shape I'm in than Jake. :)

Va-cay!

Here are some additional pictures from our trip that Jake hasn't posted already.  It was pretty fabulous!

My parents are weird.

With Paige and Brett

This was right after Joel saw some people coming to the door and remembered he had a gorilla costume in the closet.  I'm sure this is a normal occurrence for his son, Gabriel.  Hilarious.

New schedules

So our church hired a new administrative assistant, and apparently she's really great.  One thing I have already discovered that I love is that having her in the office has changed Jake's schedule a bit.  Instead of working 8-2p, he has been working 11-5.  I know he would much rather wake up at the buttcrack of dawn and be done early, having the rest of the day to relax, BUT....

I LOVE IT.  I SO love his new schedule.  I already see him more since I often work in the afternoons and evenings.  Plus we have time together during part of the "work day," so we can make phone calls and do whatever we need while we're together.  Much more effective.

Don't tell Jake though, cuz we haven't talked about it yet and I have no idea how he feels. :)

Faithfulness

I should be going to bed, but if I don't blog this now, I know I won't at all.

Today was really rough.  It was my first day seeing clients again and therefore, my first day driving by myself again.  I had a mini-panic when I approached the same intersection where I had my accident (not because of memories- because I have none- but because I a lady about ran into me.)  It's a pretty ridiculous intersection with lots of things happening, so after talking to Jake and remembering the guy at the impound saying there are tons of accidents there, I have decided that I am going to avoid it.  Anyway, I was just having a hard time because my brain was overworked during sessions and driving.  I seem to start out the day feeling pretty good but then around about lunchtime I start to get a headache that gets worse if I don't take a nap or at least have a lights-out-sounds-off-lay-in-bed-time-out.

So today I was having a mini-meltdown because things are harder than they used to be and because my job is already pretty stressful.  There's no time for me to take a break because their time-sensitive high-risk lives don't just go on hold for me.

Then tonight I got the mail.  I had my first paycheck for seeing clients.  Finally!  It's like 4 weeks behind because either medicaid or the department of human services has to pay my company first and then they can pay me.  That was such a relief.  Then I opened another piece of mail which told me that my federal consolidation loans have gone through (so no more talking to 5 different loan companies and filling out 5 different forms!!!).  There was also a page that had a table on it and another page that explained the table which basically said:

"Congratulations.  You are so poor that we think you shouldn't have to pay any money on student loans right now."

I REALLY like that.

So the end of my challenging day was pretty nice, and I am thankful for that.  God continues to be faithful, even when I'm not so sure what the heck he is doing.  I'll try to remember that when all the medical bills come from the accident and pray that our car insurance agrees to pay them. :)

Let's hope tomorrow has a happy ending because my brain is going to be swamped!

Update

I haven't blogged in a while.  I mean really, it's been a long time- almost a full month!  I probably shouldn't be blogging right now (I'm supposed to be giving my brain as much rest as possible because of the concussion), so I'll keep it short with a few pictures.  But first, I just want you to know that I still would appreciate prayers... it's been 5 days since the accident and I still feel way "off."  I'm a bit uncomfortable with the fact that I freaked a bit when I realized I only had like 7 percocet left.  I'm trying really had not to need them today.  I've gone to the chiropractor 4 times now since the accident, so I know that helps.  I could tell this morning's adjustment went way better than yesterday.  Anyway, just prayers for quick(ER!) healing so that I can get back to my job (I keep pushing my sessions with clients back), and also prayers for us as we try to find a car that will last us at least 5 years and not be terribly pricy.

Here are some random pictures I just uploaded and realized I really liked.

Yeah for cool fireworks pictures.

At the Colorado Rapids game on the 4th of July.  You can read about our trip in the rain on Jake's post.

Not the best picture of us here, but it was the only picture of the two of us together on our anniversary date.

This picture makes me laugh.

I finally saw Heather after 3 years!  We met her in Fort Collins on Saturday and I was desperately trying to hide the scratches and bruises on my arms.  I still had some on my face though.  Bah.

3.

3 years today.  I like that the little counter thingy at the top of my blog is so simple today.  We have been married for 3 years.  No extra months, weeks, or days.  Simply 3.  Nice.

These past three years have been the most exciting and challenging years of my life.  I'm so glad that I've had Jake by my side!  If I had more time, I'd probably write more about how wonderful my husband is.  (He is pretty wonderful.)  Unfortunately, I have to head to work now.

However, I am working a shorter shift today because... we are staying at a nice hotel in Denver!  I'm super pumped.  We also went to a Rockies-Cardinals game last week as part of our anniversary, and also signed up for a wine tasting event (we have to schedule it).  Our anniversary fund is not going to be able to cover dinner this evening, but we'll just use that toward our monthly budget for eating out (it'll probably cover the whole budget, but it'll be worth it!).  I totally love that we spend our anniversary doing things together instead of buying things for each other.  I am so much more a quality time kind of person than gifts.

Anyway, Jake, I love you super much.  I'm excited to splurge a bit tonight. :)

Monday thoughts.

I want to write the unwritten rules of running/biking on a trail.  I'm pretty sure that there are quite a few people on our trail that could learn from them.  Today's annoyance was a guy who has three spaniels who has a weird leash he puts around his waist so that they can run with him.  Three dogs and a runner take up a ton of room on the trail.  He was running faster than me but he stops sometimes with the dogs.  So, I passed him at one point, and then he was right behind me for a mile.  It was oober annoying.  Then he passed me, but while there was another walker on the trail going the same direction as us, and another walker from the opposite direction.  At least he had them on a leash though.  There are many people who don't leave their dogs on leashes, and there IS a written rule about that.  I'd rather not worry about whether their dog is going to freak out at me when I pass.

Turns out that McDonald's actually still smells good right after finishing a run.  Kinda weirds me out.  It should smell disgusting, but nope.  I really wanted a sausage mcmuffin.

Per Pam's suggestion, I made banana muffins last night.  The recipe is from the milk-free cookbook my mom sent me (still really excited about it!) and they taste very yummy.  Seriously.  Super moist- I think I'm getting good at baking at altitude.  I bet if we ever move away from a high-altitude area, I'm not going to know how to bake anymore.

I have also passed the 40-lb weight loss mark.  I have lost 41 pounds so far.  Despite how I sounded in my last post, I am still excited.  Jake and I were chatting about it earlier, and he mentioned that I've lost 4 average sized bowling balls off of my body.  That's really intriguing and disgusting at the same time.

And Leah, I did try your and Alisa's suggestion with the running shorts.  (sorry for the inside info to everyone else.)  I'm thinking I'm actually not a fan.  Worth a try though!