under the laser

yesterday was my very first laser treatment.

the dr.'s office that i work at is very small.

matter of fact, it is just the dr., ma, and me.

because of this, we have an outside billing company

that sends out all our medical bills to our patients.

the company we use also owns a medspa

and they offer us a huge discount that i never 

took advantage of, until recently.

they have many services with one being laser hair removal. 

during a recent meeting, the owners convinced me to try it :)

i have to admit, i was a little nervous at first,

but their office was beautiful and 

the girls there were extremely nice.

the whole thing took about 5-10 minutes

and was only slightly uncomfortable, 

but nothing compared to waxing.

i have 5 more sessions to go.

the whole process is so bizarre, 

but also completely amazing.

ff football

in many ways i am your typical "girly" girl.

i love everything about fashion, home decor, pinterest

and in the past few years i have even learned to enjoy cooking.

but...

i'm different than most because i love football.

i actually enjoy watching the games.

i look forward to supporting my favorite teams and players!

this year our church formed a fantasy football league

encouraging husbands and wives to sign up and play for fun.

this has been a fun experiment, to say the least, because

two completely different worlds have collided and

it has been wonderful for me :)

i think our highest ranked team right now is owned by the pastor's wife!

i was undefeated and ranked first until the dreaded

terrible call heard 'round the world by the replacement refs!

i have green bay's defense, which meant the last call of the game

determined whether or not i won or lost based

on the number of points i already had for the week.

i ended up losing by one measly point...to a boy!

i know i should let it go and move on,

but this loss has troubled me ever since.

i am losing my confidence and i'm starting to second 

guess every move i make. i don't know which

players to put out on the field and which ones to bench.

i'm starting to stress out about it, as stupid as that sounds.

i'll never know every player's name, position,

and rule like my husband somehow does 

(though i will never forget that last play for as long as i live),

but i can understand how addicting and consuming

fantasy football can be.

it's wonderful!

around the house

 i ordered this sign from my sweet friend's on-line store, vinyl elegance.

chad applied it while the door was closed and then had us come see 

the big reveal once he was finished.

cari was so amazed and told him, "oh, man. you painted this so good."

chad had to explain that he didn't paint the sign, he merely put a sticker on :)

i love how it personalized my front door just in time for fall.

if i can't have a red door, this is the next best thing.

now i just need to update my handle/lock :)

the girls are revving up for volleyball. 

they have been practicing outside after school.

this will be cari's first year to play. 

she will share the court with her older sister,

who continues to give her pointers on serving.

i keep looking for an excuse to hang out in the backyard 

so i can enjoy this amazing weather.

people matter

 

sunday was our annual church picnic.

we had a lot of fun.

i helped judge the dessert contest for the 2nd year in a row.

it's hard work, but someone has to do it! :)

we went canoeing, the kids swam and

participated in their favorite event - the zip line!

my personal favorite was relaxing and visiting with great friends.

i tell my kids all the time... people are what matter.

circumstances change, material things never last, but people are eternal. 

we need each other and god wants us to be there for one another.
otherwise, how could you ever get down from a zip line?

a church is not a building, it's a group of people united together with

like-minded hearts looking to accomplish great things for the kingdom of god.

 i'm so proud to be a part of the greatest church here on earth.

 

just keep swimming

 

cami and i have made it "our thing" to see re-released disney movies in 3d.

we watched beauty and the beast together last year and on friday we saw finding nemo.

this was her first movie to see in the theater many years ago.

it ended up being her favorite movie growing up.

she would squeal, "memo!" anytime she saw him.

she literally watched the dvd every single day. 

this was one of the only disney movies that we owned back then.

it is a very special movie to us and it brings back many special memories.

i have seen this movie, as i mentioned above, probably close to a 1,000 times

but it felt different seeing it together now after almost 10 years.

as many of you already know...

in the movie, nemo survives a pretty traumatic event while he was still in his egg.

because of that, he was born with one very small fin that they call his "lucky fin."

the little fish doesn't let that stop him, but the father, marlin, is reminded of the accident

and is fearful that something terrible might happen to him again.

in his fear, he does everything he can to protect nemo. 

of course, he quickly finds out that many things are out of his control 

and he needs to let his son experience life despite his handicap.

when cami was born, she went through a traumatic event as well. 

i know i have mentioned this in the past, but she was deprived of oxygen

from the umbilical cord that strangled tight around her neck.

after being on medicine over a year, several tests and visits to doctors, 

she was finally cleared from seizures and our worries were over.

until...

we started noticing her struggling with facial ticks. 

when our pediatrician first mentioned tourette's syndrome we thought she 

was way off and i became angry, scared, and in complete denial.

now, after a year later, we have a better understanding on the condition

and have learned it can be caused by a lack of oxygen at birth.

hanging out with her during the movie helped me realize

that this condition is no worse than a small fin.

some precious people deal with a lot worse and 

we are grateful that it is not affecting her quality of life.

her symptoms will eventually become controlled after her teen years and

we are working with signals and other methods to help her for the time being.

both cami and nemo escaped death during their births.

they both deal with worried parents from time to time.

they both have accomplished great things despite their unique handicaps.

they both are an inspiration to others.

 

i love you cami! 

just keep swimming :)