Raise Your Hand

Raise your hand if your EXHAUSTED...do you see me waving frantically ? I have gone non-stop since Saturday & it has caught up with me this evening. I haven't even been able to work out since Friday  :0(  That really stinks because I love to exercise & relieve my stress. But there are only so many hours in this tired mom's day. I did do some more leg work on getting the paper work Faxed off to the Chelsea Hutchison Foundation who may be able to help us off set the cost of Banyan. Please keep prayers going that all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place in order for us to get the financial aspects taken care of for Jeremy's Service Dog Banyan. We have been blessed with the wonderful friendship of another Warrior mom who has been there & done that with all the process . She has been a wonderful guide along this crazy map. Making things so much easier when I don't understand or start feeling overwhelmed. God has truly blessed us with a great support system.

We had one wonderful family who are friends donate the wire kennel we where told Banyan would need for at least 6 or more months. Just until he learns his place is with Jeremy & Jeremy alone. That was a great relief as the purchase of new kennel is quite expensive. We've had another family who has a huge heart for animals & is an old colleague of my husband's make a personal donation as well to go towards Banyan. We are truly feeling loved & encouraged that we can do all things through Christ. He is providing after we prayed to open the doors that needed to open if this was suppose to happen. Well they are flying open almost faster then I can keep up! 

We will work on getting Jeremy a medical trust bank account opened ASAP for all the other wonderful people who have been inquiring since visiting Jeremy & Banyan's  page on facebook.  Every time I log in there are new LIKES- Thank you all so much!! I promise it will get more exciting after we pick up our new family member on Saturday. He will have a handsome fire engine red leash that was donated by another sweetheart who has his own Service Dog James. He knew we had no idea of the right type of leash to purchase. There where hundreds & I was confused!  His mom & him stepped up & handed one over for us to have- Thank You! Jeremy went & bought a red collar to match for the big day!

For the rest of the day I am laying around & letting my oldest make the mashed potatoes for dinner. I am laying low & trying to go to bed early. Hopefully to get a good night's sleep. I hope you all have a great evening as well & thank you for stopping by today.

 For our non-facebook friends- this is Jeremy yesterday shopping at Petsmart. He picked out a new bowl and other items for Banyan.

We Got HIM!!!

I could not sleep in today even though we had the extra hour. It was nice to get up make my coffee & enjoy the silence. I decided to check my email first & I am so glad I did. I received an email around 11PM on Saturday night saying that  Heather & Paul the two trainers we are working with to get a Service Dog where giving Banyan to Jeremy. Not only where we getting him we would get him next Saturday if I wanted to have him neutered by Monday. Of course we said yes please go ahead & get him ready to come to his new home ASAP. I could hardly wait to tell Jeremy, but no way was I waking him or the other boys up at 6:30AM on a Sunday morning. I of course posted it on Facebook & waited patiently for Paul to get on-line & the boys to wake up.

Finally about an hour later both happened at the same time! I wish I had the camera for when I told Jeremy the  news- he was so excited! He really hasn't stopped bouncing all day! Now the task of Fundraising begins because of the enormous financial costs of Banyan's training we will need to ask for help. We have several friends who are helping us turn in grants in hopes some of the cost is covered. We will be doing good old fashioned fundraising on Veterans day we hope. We will see if Starbuck's in Dupont will let us set up a both to collect donations for baked goods. There was also talk of Smooches for Pooches-LOL We have set up a facebook page so anyone can follow along the journey of Banyan & Jeremy even you just go here : Our Journey. 
You can follow along as we pick Banyan up,go to trainings,introduce him to our other two fur babies,& raise funds for one boy to have a life long companion who could one day save his life.

I am sure there will be hiccups along the way as well as tears mixed with laughter. But we are so excited for Jeremy & our family to start this new journey while sharing it with the world.

Enjoy seeing Jeremy play with Banyan after waiting 3 hours in class very patiently.

A New Journey Begins

This is Banyan a 6 month old Golden Retriever who Jeremy, Sam my friend, & I traveled three hours to Oregon to meet. We went to start the process of finding Jeremy a Service Dog that would give him the safety my husband  and I wanted while giving him the Independence he deserves as a growing young man.

We where referred by a friend to the Oregon Assistance Dogs  organization & immediately liked the warm friendly responses to my constant emails late one Friday night. Heather one of the trainers didn't have to answer me back as quickly as she did since it was a weekend but she did. She also continued to email me several times after the initial email to answer all my questions. We sat up today as the day to go to Oregon to see if we would all be a good match since a Service Dog commitment is quite extensive for any family let alone a child.

We arrived & where immediately allowed to sit in on two classes. Both where for the younger pups- 1 year or less. I learned a ton of very useful information I wish I had known for my two dogs we already own. Jeremy was allowed to meet Banyan the pup in the picture right away, but not allowed to talk, move, giggle, during class. I really didn't think we had a chance of lasting for three hours with that going on- but Jeremy did great! About two hours in we went for a lunch & bathroom break then he came back to sit for the last hour. Afterwards Jeremy & Banyan where rewarded with lots of love & play time while I did the interview process.

Play time while I sat on the floor talking with Paul & Heather- Jeremy plus banyan where in heaven.

After we all left to drive home I was so glad Sam had come along. We discussed everything we both talked about with the two trainers. We talked about possible scenarios as they had two dogs in mind for Jeremy- Banyan or his Sister Belinda. Not only did we discuss what we thought the best dog would be for Jeremy and our whole family but money is an issue as well. We are not paying as much as we thought we would so that is very generous of the organization who is totally non-profit. All money goes back into training the dogs & their health costs. But a deposit was required tonight which I made- so Christmas shopping is done for the rest of the month-LOL But Paul & I feel strongly that this Service Dog needs to happen for Jeremy so we are willing to make concessions to make it work. Anyway I am super excited to head back to Oregon next Saturday to attend more training , sign final paper work, figure out the final money situation - please pray on that- & get this new chapter in Jeremy's life started.

I promise to check in with more details after our next Puppy Kindergarten class on Saturday- Stay Tuned!


P.S.
 One of the cutest things ever was after school on friday Jacob my nine year old came home very excited! He opens his back pack to pull out two books he checked out from the school library. One on Golden retrievers & one on Service Dogs. I am so happy he is interested in everything in hopes it is a smooth transition for us all.

Fitness Friday is Back

It's been a few weeks since I've had time to write updates on my Fitness. I am still having regular work outs at least three times a week with a group of ladies who live in our neighborhood. It's so nice to have a break here at home once the boys are safely at school. We completed our training for our last 5k Obstacle run & did the race as well last Saturday. It was a super hard obstacle course but easy run. We where definitely in better shape then I have ever been going into one of these events. I do believe it was the mix of cross fit & cardio that got us through the course easy peazy. The new girl who has been training with us for about three weeks did the run & loved it!! I created a new Mud Monster like myself!  Now the only thing is the next event she wants to train for doesn't even happen until Summer 2012 sometime but you must start training now!  CRAZY, INSANE, these are just a couple of the words I used to talk about her & this new goal of hers- not sure about me yet.

It's called Tough Mudder  

If you have heard of it, then you know why it's INSANE!!

I have never claimed to be a runner & to even sign up they say you must run at least 6+ miles with ease- with EASE folks!!  Who runs 6+ miles for fun & with EASE??  Not this Girl!!

Now I talked with my husband who had way to much time on his hands yesterday. He watched hours of the events videos on the Web & now he wants to do the Run!!  He says it'll be fine those people where walking a lot of the course. I asked him if he saw the video I saw of them running a steep zig-zag hill, because they most certainly weren't walking!!  I told my husband & new workout crazed friend I would most definitely work out with her like I was going to run, but the jury was still out on my verdict. I just don't see any part of that run that looks simple. I guess that is why they call it the hardest Mud Run around. It was designed by ex-special forces guys, so insane.

In order to even think about doing the run we have to do mostly Cross Fit type workouts. I am not a huge cross fit girl but promised to do the WODS at least three times a week. Thursday was my first real day back at the work out. I took a few days off to just rest. All the hard training took it's toll & I was exhausted. Yesterday consisted of doing almost everything at least once some twice on the training WOD that Tough Mudder has on their web site for us- we printed it off. It was hard, alot of upper body with every kind of push up you could imagine. I am not a girl with a lot of upper body strength so this will be quite the challenge. My strength lies in my legs, which I hope don't get massive from all the lunges & squats. At least my booty will get to be amazing! All those squats hurt!! 

So if your like me & looking for a HUGE challenge- go watch the Tough Mudder videos to see if the event is coming your way.Get off that couch, put down that junk food & WORK!! Even if your like me & unsure if you will participate in the run you can still do the work outs. It'll get you in super shape all over. Cross fit is all about all over body fitness not just one part of your body. It'll work every muscles you've ever worked & then the one's who have never done any work as well. It will hurt, but if you push through it you will feel amazing after wards.

Here is a quick picture of my motto for while we are doing all this training, because remember I love my cardio & I AM a Gym Rat! I would much rather jump on my elliptical then run outside in the freezing cold air like we did yesterday. When I saw this little picture it summed all this training up perfectly.

I am definitely UNCOMFORTABLE!!

Remember to GET OUT & MOVE today !! Even if it's only for 30 minutes- you'll still be lapping whoever is sitting on the Couch!!

One last fun picture from the Gladiator Run last Saturday.

Yes I am reaching for the mud- I was planning a sneak attack on Bekah who had already pelted me with a hand full of mud earlier. My new work out crazy is the lady in the picture with me- she is the new insane Mud Junkie!


P.S.
 I forgot to mention all the crazy friends of mine who are pushing doing Tough Mudder are being so unfair in their ploys to get me to agree. All the money raised goes to the Wounded Warrior Project- yep they know how to pull at a girls heart strings. When so many of our friends have benefited from the WWP- hard not to help the program out,ugggg

Tune Time Thursdays

This week has been a huge blur. After the run on Saturday & all the Halloween parties I was wiped out! Monday I literally sat in my husband chair almost all day with out doing anything more then laundry.I was so tired I'd be typing on the computer & tears would form for no apparent reason other then I was exhausted. I didn't even feel bad that no work out was taking place. Now I am rested & almost back up to speed. It's amazing what a few days of doing nothing but sticking close to home or enjoying coffee with an old friend will do for a girl.With that being said a song this week never popped into my head until yesterday morning.

I was driving to pick up my friend when our local radio station had a contest going to win Kathy Griffith tickets for her show this weekend. You had to identify who was singing this version of Queen's  "Fat bottom girls". Well I knew who it was instantly but didn't call in because I figure if I got it that fast someone else most likely would .  Nope, the contest went on for twenty minutes, I was shocked & driving down the road screaming at my radio-LOL  But never pulled over to try & call in to the radio station- wish I had now. I love Kathy Griffith- us red heads have to stick together.Anyway that song has been stuck in my head ever since hearing yesterday morning. We love to sing it on Rockband as well when we have a gathering. 
So today's song link up with Amber from  Goodnight Moon
is "Fat Bottom Girls" by The Band Perry & the original by Queen. I like both versions but they actually sound like two different songs. I hope you enjoy!

Now to hear more great song pick from other amazing Bloggers head on over to Goodnight Moon  & link up yourself!
 

Comforters, Boots,Coffee, & More

I loved getting out of the house today with a good friend once the boys where all safely in school. We have a hard time connecting our schedules due to school, life, & medical mumbo-jumbo- so today was GREAT! First on our list was head to Sears to see if they still had the comforter I had seen in a flyer on sale. They DID!! Jeremy got a new comforter that is super soft & thick to help keep him warm. He has no body fat & gets cold very easily. It was a much needed purchase. While heading to the cash register we where glancing at the new winter boots when we both noticed a pair we loved. It has that fleecy fur on the inside & a super soft sole. It was marked one price on the tag but the sign above said $19.99?? I asked the sales clerk & the sign should not have been there. We where bummed UNTIL she said but since it's our fault we will honor the sales price-YIPPIE!!! We both got a pair of new boots in brown & my friend also got black! Then it was off to Costco.

Once at Costco we perused the books & both picked up a couple for gifts-her's for a birthday mine for Christmas. Then we decided it was time to hit up Cutter's Point to warm up with coffee & girl talk. We had a good time talking, discussing issues that only we could relate too. There was much needed laughter, a few moments with teary eyes, but over all a much needed break from our daily reality for over two hours.
 
It was soon time for me to take her home & head to pick up the boys from school. But before I left we took the time to make a tentative date for two weeks from now. We will let the boys all play & maybe we can sneak off for coffee again. I've said it before & I'll say it again, there are just some friends who are more like family then your own family- she is one of them. I am so glad we where able to meet up today & enjoy some down time. Now off to stir the pot of chilli on the stove & relax with the kids for the rest of my day.




P.S.
Tomorrow or Friday I will let you in on the totally INSANE  run my friend has somehow talked me into training for,uggg I have really lost my marbles this time!