HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY JOSH!!

On June 28, 1983 a cute little boy was the first born to his mom and dad.

He led an interesting childhood including speaking with a British accent (no one knows why), "flying" model airplanes (well that one time - and the pieces are currently in our basement), racing at a velodrome (hello titanium plate in shoulder)... and I could go on.

After high school graduation he went to college. While there he started playing rugby, and working in the IT department. His sophomore year he met a wonderful girl *ahem* and they went on to form a fast friendship, then a relationship, then an engagement and now they are married. Awwww...

So now it's 2009 and our cute British speaking boy is all grown up (sort of) with a mortgage, a road and mountain bike racing career, a great job, and all the other fun grown up stuff.

He's a wonderful husband, a fantastic friend, a great brother (and brother-in-law) and a son that could make any parent proud.

I love you Josh! I hope you and your new bike boxer shorts have a great day. :-P

Pedal fast, take chances (as long as they are safe ones - I am his wife you know) and keep rubber side down.

We'll be at a bike race today!!

(Taken 5.29.09)

*hugs and kisses*

mj

It's Josh's BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!!

Yeah yeah, I know it's only a weekend. He isn't quite as attention whorish as I and doesn't require a week (or two...).

On Sunday he'll be turning a whopping 26. Lol. People think he's at least 30 (or 35...), but it's the bald head. That and he does sometimes have the old man demeanor when it comes to going out and partying. :-P

I was there when he turned 20, 21, 22, 23 (we got married 3 days later that year!), 24, 25 and now 26.

Awwww, I'm getting all sentimental and teary eyed. Josh is such a fantastic guy and I love him oh so much. He's such a great husband and friend and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. *kisses* to my hot hubby.

Just a little picture from the "family" portion of his 21rst birthday.

The other portion of his 21 wasn't even recorded.

Probably for the best.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

A Christmas in (almost) July Bacon Weave Roll

For Christmas this past year Josh got an extra special present... Bacon Weave Roll! He had sent the link about this creation to myself, my mom... Apparently it looked super cool and he does love bacon.

So my mom got the stuff when we were at their house celebrating the holidays.

We changed it up a little, but here is the picture montage of how to achieve bacon weave roll yumminess.

Those are my mom's hands you see rolling. Someone had to document this!!

And this is Josh enjoying his roll.

This post is dedicated to my financial networking group. :-)

*hugs and kisses*

mj

More about boobs.

I've had a few people recently mention to me that they probably would never have a reduction because of the scars. Hmmmm... scars. I have a few of those.

Let's see. There is one on my head from where they removed a lesion that was suspicious.

I have one on my belly from chicken pox. Another belly scar involving a failed belly button piercing.

The one on my knee was from a drunken escapade in college (that was a fun story). Oh, and there is the dark spot on my knee where a piece of pencil was broken off.

Hmmmm... I have some scars on my arms (one from Josh's shoe rack thing in college that totally jumped out and attacked me I swear!) and several on my hands.

My ankles are the worst. I had NO coordination learning to shave and several times sliced my skin off like I was trying to peel a potato.

The husband also has a lot of scars. One on his nose, one on his forehead, one on his inner thigh (from a plastic GI Joe he melted - dumbass). His biggie is when he shattered his collar bone and ended up with a titanium plate in his shoulder. Fun stuff!!

Oh, and most recently I acquired a whopping 5 scars on my stomach from my fundoplication. Here is a picture of these scars.

Lovely huh? They were SO worth it. This post had some post op pictures from 2 weeks after surgery. I was uncomfortable and in pain. Neither things good for my body or self esteem. The scars are nothing compared to how good I feel. But some people say "well you had to do that, reduction scars are not NEEDED."

Reduction scars huh? Guess what? I'm 2.5 months out from surgery. Things are healing. I have full nipple sensation, not too much nerve reconnection tingling anymore and things are looking good. Are there scars? Yep. Big, red, kind of gross if you really look at them.

You know what else was really gross and isn't anymore? The nasty stretch marks, the elongated breasts... ew. Guess what? Those things are gone.

When I look in a mirror now the first thing I see are my super perky breasts, my smaller nipples that have sensation now (they didn't really before), how much more petite I look, my great breast shape... and then, oh yeah, the scars. Honestly. They are the last thing on my mind, and the last thing I see. I am more comfortable in clothes. I can exercise now with no pain (well at least no pain caused by too large of boobs). I look better and I feel fantastic!!

Josh has been nothing but supportive. Scars huh? He doesn't mention them. He just talks about how perky and nice looking they are and he's right.

Most people would take on scars for health reasons. Well, my mental health, as well as my physical health has improved drastically. Aren't those health reasons??

So I plead with ladies that hate their bodies, but are not willing to go under the knife because of some scars. We all have scars. Some are more worth it than others. Reduction scars of one of those really worth it ones.

Want to see my very under boob scar? Click here. Yep, that's it. And I had to move my bra to show this.

Okay, end rant. Thanks for listening.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

They just keep shrinking...

All across america women are getting smaller "real" boobs while others are getting larger "fake" ones. I'm more interested in the smaller "real" boobs.

Today ANOTHER friend is under the knife getting herself all fixed up. I've tried to be helpful in my totally vain and self-centered way. Apparently I did something right since I did get a shout out on her blog. I know she is doing the right thing for her and I'm glad I was able to help out. I can't wait to here ANOTHER person raving about their "new life."

A breast reduction is a very life changing experience. I realize big boobs are cool, and all that. Heck, if I was teeny tiny in the boob region I would probably have been getting an augmentation. BUT, big REAL boobs are totally a burden. Trust me. And the other girl who already had the reduction, the one in the hospital today and then one getting it done soon. AND the millions of other ladies who have done this as well. I can't keep track of ALL reductions! :-P

Get better quickly Angelica so I can keep my record of girls recovering quick and like rockstars!!

*hugs and kisses*

mj

It just goes by too fast.

Let's do a little recap of life recently.

So there was the Race Ave Crit two weeks ago. [June 6]

Then my Internet BFF had a birthday!! Happy WAY belated birthday Rachel!! Although, I DID tell you happy birthday much earlier than this. :-P [June 7]

Then it was a week of busy. [June 8-12]

One night we had friends over and cooking this salmon on the grill YUM. [June 12]

On Saturday we went to get out rings cleaned (ooooohhhh, SO sparkly) and I got a little present.

It's the super pretty orange number. Josh said it can be my early anniversary gift. That will be July 1. It will be three whole years!! Thanks Murphy Jewelers and Pandora. Oh and Josh.

After that little side adventure, we went to see his youngest sister in a gymnastics show. This is her first year and she did fantastic!!

This was her waiting to get on with the show.

We then had dinner with Josh's parents and his littlest sister (pictured above). After some more conversation and fun, we headed home. [June 13]

Meme's birthday was on Sunday. We didn't see her, but I called her. She was born in 1928 and I was born in 1982. If you add my age until you get a single digit (2+7=9) and add her age also to a single digit (8+1=9) they always equal the same single digit. It's always been like that. I can't even tell you when I figured that out, but it's always been our "thing."

Another family "thing..." My grandmother was born on flag day, my mom on columbus day... me? Memorial day. We are patriotic ladies I tell you.

I hate that she is sick and dying. Hate it with every fiber of my being. [June 14]

Another busy in general week. [June 15-19]

Headed to my parents to celebrate Josh's birthday early and Father's Day. I'll post some pictures of that later if I get to it. [June 19-20]

So it's Saturday June 20th. Getting ready for bed as tomorrow is the Cargas crit that Josh is racing in.

If I don't hop on tomorrow... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Just Not Sure

Things have just felt... off lately. I just have nothing I really want to talk about. There is lots to write about though. We've been just as busy and super active, but when the day is over... Instead of typical Melissa energy I just feel drained. Drained isn't the right word though. I can't even think of a good way to express myself. Ugh. Grr.

I go through this every so often. It doesn't get any easier each time it happens. Hopefully within the next week or so I'll bounce back. Send me good vibes or something. I need to shake this!

*hugs and kisses*

mj

Just For Fun

I love my family. I took this picture the other week when I was leaving home.

I really want to try this again with them actually looking like they love each other.

That's all.

*hugs and kisses*
mj

Zumba Countdown!!

So two weeks from today I will be starting a zumba class with a friend. Click the link to learn more.

I am about to get my butt kicked. For serious.

I feel like I need to start working out to prepare just for this class.

This is not a girl that enjoys working out and watching what I eat. Ugh. Wish me luck. I have 14 days to get prepared. And.... GO!

Race Ave Crit Today

The day was fantastic.  The husband and I are worn out.  You get ONE picture from today.

I have NO idea how I took that one and that's the only one like it.  *sigh*  It IS a really good picture though.  Wish I knew.

After we got home, we went to a quick neighborhood picnic.  It was nice meeting more neighbors.  We "quickly" left after only 2 hours and 45 mins.  Lol.  

Showered and bellies full we are heading to bed a little early tonight.  Philly race in the AM just because (Josh isn't racing).

*hugs and kisses*

mj

crumpler 5 million dollar home

*squee* my newest present to Nik arrived. UPS finally made it to my house and I'm so excited!

Right after I found out my birthday present was going to be a camera I looked at Josh and asked "what am I going to put it in?"

My point and shoot Canon goes everywhere with me, so it just gets its own happy little pocket in my purse and I'm off. Nik on the other hand is a little larger and needs a little more room to spread out and a tad more protection.

So I first started looking before the new addition to the picture taking family arrived. I found lots of black. Lots of boring. Lots of price points. Ugh. I asked around and of course everyone had their favorites and none of them were exactly what I was looking for. Initially I wanted a sling type or a backpack, but I just wasn't happy about any of them. I kept coming back to these crazily named bags. 2 million dollar home, 4 million dollar home, 5, 6, 7, brazillion dollar home. Lol. They had bright fun colors and interesting designs.

Price tag though. Um. Ouch. After looking at all the different priced homes I decided that I needed either a 5 or 6 million dollar home to be happy. I did my research, figured that I could always upgrade and bit the bullet ending up with a brown and orange 5 million dollar home.

Now, this is just the initial "I GOT MY NEW TOY AND TOOK PICTURES OF IT" post. I haven't used it yet and will have to do a follow up post with that.

First impression. I thought it must have been super packed with paper since it stands up all by itself.

Maybe seems almost a little bulky with all that "packing" stuff in it.

I like the handle on top to pick it up by.

Hmmm. Okay. No "paper" or other packing material. That is how sturdy and thick the walls of the bag are. Interesting. I am hoping this will just provide excellent protection.

The tag.

Those two big black triangle things are super velcro. No lie. They are strong and LOUD. No opening this in a quiet room. That is one of the complaints about the bag. Since I want it for sporting events I don't think this should be a problem.

Little front pocket to stash extra goodies. This has a velcro closing and inside there is a velcro closing for the mesh. I like the lack of zippers in this small space.

So both of those dividers can be moved/removed/etc. The entired inside of the bag is "loop" so the possibilities are yours to choose.

The top flap also has some extra internal storage.

So crazy me was super curious about these little "loops" on the sides. No where did it mention if they were real loops or just decoration. I am pleased to find they are real loops. I can clip my keys to this OR use a carabiner to clip my water bottle, umbrella, etc. Yes it may look dorky with all that dangling, but it's nice to not have to dig for those items in a tote or have to gather them up to move. We'll see how much I use this feature like this.

I did break out the point and shoot to get a picture of Nik in her new home. Thank goodness it didn't really cost 5 million dollars.

Real test for this bag will be on Saturday and I'll let you all know how it works out.

*hugs and kisses*

mj

27 Pictures from my Birthday Present on my 27th Birthday

Lunch was a buffalo chicken calzone from Central Pizza.  Good buffalo flavor, chicken was excellent, too much mozzarella cheese though, not enough blue cheese, perfectly cooked and yummy crust.

We ate at this pavilion.

I'm ready to go!!

Poison ivy growing up a tree.  I did not know this was poison ivy (oops).  Either I didn't touch it, or I'm still miraculously immune to it.  Poison oak used to mess me up terribly though.  

Mountain Laural.

Here are some pictures of my first fun little friend.

He kept wriggling around and was HARD to get a good picture.

I loved him though.

I just KNOW it was a he.  He wouldn't cooperate.  Duh.

This picture reminds of the quote 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

Actually, the road to the left is the old trail and the one to the right is the new trail YAMBA made.

Some pictures of leaves.

Insect destruction.

A mountain laurel tree trunk.

And now it's time for another little friend.

I love frogs, toads, lizards, etc.

He was such a fantastic subject.

This one is a he cause he's all dirty.

Now for some human element.

  

Josh told me he would jump off a rock so I could try the action setting thing.

He gears up and jumps.

But slips on the rock (it had rained).

Hilarity ensued.

My butt.

The end of our hike.

We hurried home because Josh got reports on his phone that there was a severe storm warning.

Here are some pictures of the clouds before the storm.  So cool.

That's all.

*hugs and kisses*

mj