Frustration

Well, for those of you I have not told...I have been diagnosed with asthma. My doctor's exact words were..."At any given time 10% of the population has asthma and 10% of that whole have asthma all of the time. You are part of that 10% that has it all of the time." Great. My exercising has been put on hold really since October. I was attempting to run and do body pump from October through December with much pain, coughing, discomfort, and misery. Now, I am on a costly regiment of antibiotics (to get my sinus issues under control which only hinder my asthma) and two different inhalers. I feel like a medicinal toxic mess. I did run for the first time in about 3 months on Thursday afternoon, but I was still frustrated because I have to tote my rescue inhaler in the gym and then keep it on the treadmill for all to see. People are probably wondering what in the world I am doing on the treadmill in the first place, oh well gotta get back in shape. I am hoping to run the Apple Blossom 10K in May. If the regiment of antibiotics and inhalers does not work by May it is on to bigger and more costly efforts, shots. The shots are new but have been helping people in my position. However, although they may help they are monthly and range from $1,000-3,000. AHH, not quite on a teacher's budget. So, right now I am really happy to be feeling a bit better, getting my asthma under control, not coughing all night long, sleeping, and sleeping with my husband at that. I will let you all know how it goes as the time goes by.

Christmas and the New Year

It has been quite a while since my last post due to the holiday season. What a busy, wonderful, exhausting, and splendid all at the same time season it has been. Here is a top ten list of this year's great festivities.

10. In our house for the first Christmas

9. Decorating and putting up two Christmas trees in the new house

8. My first Christmas married

7. Spending the 23rd with Vernon, Patsy, my parents, Chad, Charity, all the kids and Jeff's stepsister Amy for the first time

6. Two extra days of Christmas vacation due to the 2 feet of snow, gotta love this!

5. Christmas Eve church service--singing Silent Night in the candle light

4. Cooking Christmas dinner for the first time, Jeff fried the turkey, Patsy made the sweet potatoes and stuffing, and I did the rest--had a little assistance for the first go round. Loved every minute of spending time with the entire Brinegar, Cunningham, Blackburn, Fink crew (those of you that know my family will understand this ;)

3. Having my Dad and Sherry stay at our house for 5 days

2. Spending New Year's Eve and day laughing with Darlene and Vince(Jeff's mom and stepfather), Chad, Charity and all the kids

1. Knowing that Jesus truly is the reason for the season

That is one heck of a top ten list. All though everything truly was wonderful and I know that my family is blessed, there was a bit of sadness in my heart for my brother and all of our troops. Every time I sat and started to think about him and his sacrifices I just cried. He is so brave and I truly miss him everyday. Our military men and women are so brave and I hope that all Americans really swallow the depth of their service; especially during the holiday season.

Ok, off the soap box and on to a few pictures. These are pictures of New Year's Eve and Day in Mannington, WV. I hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas vacation as much as we did.

General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan

General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan

I have so much respect for General McChrystal and I have no doubt that my awesome brother will be following in his footsteps. Thank you to all of our troops and their leaders who are risking their lives to protect us and our freedom. God Bless you all and Merry Christmas! We sure do miss you Willy, but we know what your purpose is. ;)

Belated Thanksgiving Pics

Between our families, Jeff and I end up having 3 Thanksgiving meals. Ughhh, they are wonderful, but the pants are a little tighter now ;) I cooked a meal on Wednesday for my mom, Jeff, the kids, my brother, sister, and her roommate. We had a fried Turkey (yummy) and I had so much fun cooking in my new kitchen. I love it! Then on Thursday we went to Jeff's dad's house for dinner. Patsy (my mother-in-law) can cook! She makes the best mashed potatoes and gingerbread trifle. Then on Friday after my first ever Black Friday trip we headed down to Mannington to Jeff's mom's house where we ate another turkey dinner. So, here are some pictures of our extended Thanksgiving.

Maybe it wasn't.....

Well this is my first post since the Browns lost in the playoffs. There is nothing more gut wrenching than watching 8/9 year old pad clad, helmet wearing, sweaty boys cry after losing a playoff game. It was horrible. Those poor boys were so sad and disappointed and I have to say so were the coaches. Jeff was depressed for two days afterward. All that work and time makes them very close to the kids. But, we are moving on. Cheerleading and football are over next up gymnastics and basketball. We like to keep ourselves busy. We have about four weeks to rest and rejuvenate before our new sports begin. We have been enjoying the fall. Last night we went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol in 3D, which was awesome and had our own little Thanksgiving meal with my mom. Here are some pictures from our fun evening.

It must have been the mohawk...

Well, the Browns won 27-0 in a muddy battle against the Jefferson County Hurricanes last Sunday. They are headed to the second round of playoffs this weekend against the Jefferson County Spartans. We beat this team in the pouring down rain and spotted them two points. Let me just say I am getting all the loud obnoxious cheering materials I can because their fans are out there. The game is Sunday at 3:30 PM. So, anyway back to the title. Jeff gave AJ a mohawk Sunday before the game and we are pretty sure that had something to do with the win. A bunch of the players were getting them, so Jeff offered AJ and he went for it. I think it is awesome, and so does he! Here we go Browns, here we go! Wish us luck this Sunday. Here are some pictures and the celebration video.

Birthday Bash

Well, the cake turned out quite well I have to say. We had a family get together last night for Halloween and AJ's birthday. Everything went quite well and we had a blast. Here are some pictures of the cake, the bikes, and the bash. Stay tuned for posts after our first football playoff game kicking off in one hour!