"Mary" Christmas

Tristin and I had a blast being Mary and Joseph for our Church's nativity play last weekend. It was rather fun actually. I learned a few things while practicing for this thing:

1) that I couldn't keep a straight face when rehearsing with Tristin. While he was pretending to console and warm his pregnant wife (me) he'd whisper things like "I hope you don't get hypothermia and die". (He's so romantic sometimes) Try keeping a straight face with that being whispered while you're trying to look uncomfortable and pregnant.

2) Trying to look uncomfortable and pregnant is really hard. Props to you moms out there.

3) Basketballs don't make for good pregnant bellies. They look more like over-sized tumors! And they are really hard to push out from under you're clothes once you've "had your baby".

On Saturday, before doing the nativity for everyone there, we decided at the last minute to toss the fake baby Jesus for a much cuter baby named Adalade! When we brought her on stage there was a very satifing "Awwww" from the audience. Adalade just looked around and then fell asleep, bright lights on her and everything. she was the best baby Jesus any one could have asked for (except for the real deal, of course).



I held her for at least 30 minutes after that.... She was too cute for words!

I'm really glad they asked us to help out with this nativity show. It was really a lot of fun and Tristin enjoyed preparing himself for the role.

....he was sad to shave his beard off afterward, though...

and I'm happy (But very sad babe) to mention that the mustache is now gone

Wait til you see my smile!

Who said angels aren't in the form of blogs?

Thank you to my oldest and Best Friend for being such a shining star in my life and for posting the most simple thing that can turn someones day right-side-up! Dudette, I LOVE you.

http://justthobeka.blogspot.com/2009/12/wait-till-you-see-my-smile.html

Wait til you see my smile....

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley


(and yes, I did love the movie Invictus)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Look at what one of Santa's Helpers (named Rebecca McDonald) gave to us! Our very first CHRISTMAS TREE!

Initially we weren't going to get a tree for two reasons:
1) Money
2) We would spend Christmas in Utah and our parents have trees so we'd just take lots of pictures with theirs.

One day on facebook Rebecca asked me if I had put up my decorations yet, to which I replied no because of the reasons listed above. Sunday night I go over to their house for dinner and she pulls out this decorated tree for me from the back of her car! I was so elated! It was the sweetest thing anyone could have done for us! So now we officially have a tree with decorations!

So I would like to present to you our first and very own Christmas tree in our home!!

Thank you Rebecca! We love you!

Now I realize that I haven't blogged about Thanksgiving and I'm unfashionable late with it too but I'll just give a brief overview of our trip to Utah for Thanksgiving....

It was SO MUCH FUN. You truly don't know what you have til it's gone, or in another state. It was so wonderful seeing out beautiful families again and spending time with them. (we miss you all so much!).

We spent Thanksgiving with both families and good friends and I got to catch up with everyone and hold babies all day long. I felt so motherly! Babies are so fun, especially when they aren't yours because you can always give them back when they start crying....or pooping.

After Thanksgiving lunch at Rick and Kim's house. I wish I took more pictures. Why wasn't I thinking?



Christmas Light!

That Thanksgiving Saturday we went to the BYU/UofU football game and it was AMAZING! I'm so proud to say that I WAS THERE and I saw everything with my own eyes! We had such a blast. Thanks for taking us Rick and Kim. Just like old times....

(Thank you Brenton for coming with us! You're always SO FUN to hang out with!)

GO COUGARS!

We can't wait to see everyone again in a few weeks time.

Dear Sun....

How I LOVE you!

The end!
*Isn't it' the small things in life that make life worth living?*

The Numbers are In....

.... and Tristin wins! It's official, his body is a lot healthier than mine.

On Wednesday we did a Bio impedance Analysis (BIA) follow up to see how our bodies were doing and coping with our detox. A BIA is a test that measures about 15 different cellular comparments and metabolic functions within your body all in under 5 second (it sends an electrical impulse through your body and cells to measure these things-it doesn't hurt, I promise). To explain all the nitty gritty stuff about it would take an entire essay and then some so I'll break it down to what was important.

Here were our results as best as I can remember them:

Tristin:
1) Lost about 5lbs of fat and gaint 3 lbs of muscle. (Lucky!!)
2) His cells throw off toxins really easily and more efficiently now that he's gone through the detox. His cells are also retaining a healthy amount of intracellular fluid to maintain optimal function (He's so lucky!!)
3) his EMC/BCM ration (this ratio shows if the body is tearing down muscle for energy AKA sarcopenia,) or fat for energy went WAY down!

Overall, Tristin is doing WONDERFULLY! His body has balanced out really well and he is now back on all fruits and veggies without any problems what so ever! All he needed was a good "bodily spring cleaning" to function at its best!

Juanique:
1) Lost 3lbs of fat and 1.5 lbs of muscle (sarcopenia)
2) My cells are throwing off toxins but at a price! My intracellular fluid has gone way down (you need fluidity in the cells to maintain a healthy living cell.) The process of eliminating toxins is hydration. My cells are eliminating these toxins but are dehydrating themselves to do so. So, that is kinda bad. I need a lot more water.
3) My EMC/BCM ratio went up. I'm tearing down muscle a little quicker than I normally was. This is bad!

My end results, eat chicken breasts 2x a day to put more protein in my body and be extremely cautions with what I eat as I ween myself back on foods from the detox. Friday was the first day we could eat fruit again. I ate strawberries and they gave me a massive headache. Strawberries are out of the picture for now. So far this is what I've learned: the only things that don't put my body into shock are: cucumbers, chicken, white rice, lettuce, apples and green beans. So that's all I'm eating right now as I SLOWLY reintroduce one food back into my diet at a time.

So that's the detox update. for those of you still awake to read this, I hope it was somewhat interesting. As a few of you know, I LOVE to learn about health and nutrition so if I get a little carried away with my health blogs, you'll have to forgive me.

Death by Detox...

We aren't dead yet but detoxes are seriously hard! I think I say that because today is Saturday and I didn't have my job to distract me from the constant gnawing of my stomach against my skin.

"but Juanique, why on earth are you guys crazy enough to detoxing?"- This is why....

My doctor (who also happens to be my boss and who also happens to be EXTREMELY intelligent in the health department) told me the other day that I have serious health issues going on. That's a no brainer seeing as I've seen over 100 doctors in the past 10 years, none of whom could tell me what my problems were (so much for extra schooling!!). As far as my health issues go...that probably can be saved for another post. But it just so happens that I work for the one guy who could find the answers to what was causing my health problems AND TREAT THEM AS WELL! Coincidence? Heck NO!!! Heavenly Father was hearing my prayers when I was younger, and 10 years later He answered them.

Anyway, I've had A LOT of health issues ever since I was a child and no one knew why. But life went on and you eventually get used to them all.

Well since I started working where I work, I've had a lot of questions answered and a LONG road of treatment ahead of me....step one of the treatment being a 20 day detox (my body tends to tear down muscle a lot and store fat, I don't absorb nutrients like I should and I'm allergic to a lot of foods I've been eating that have been causing severe inflammatory responses throughout my body....just to name a few of my issues).

So....now we are detoxing... and I say "we" because Tristin is doing it for moral support. Isn't he the best?? Oh, and I haven't had a meal since Monday. but the good news is that we are halfway through the hardest part. Only 5 more days to go of food-lessness. But don't get me wrong, we are eating a few things that are medical-meal-prescribed, but they are in liquid form and we only have 3 flavors of the stuff so far. ugh.

So no, we aren't dying but a little bit of me inside is. It's that part that is calling out for a Cafe Rio salad and wants it SO BAD. Hopefully that part of me will completely die altogether and stop teasing me with the memories of how delicious Cafe Rio is!!! (I hope it dies SOON).

But in all honesty, I'm excited about this cleanse because once it is over I will be able to start my testing again to see how my body has balanced itself out and then we can start my other treatment. Yay for progress and health. I can also say that I haven't had a headache in almost a week now! To me, that is a BIG DEAL!!! I'm very hopeful about all this treatment. I having a feeling it will make it all worth it in the end :)