Our big Christmas news

James and I are very excited to have been able to share the news with our family and friends this Christmas - that we're expecting a little one in early July!

We can't wait to meet our little firecracker!

Our favorite ornament on the tree this year

Autumn 2010

As I write this post, I laugh looking through the unposted drafts James has started about his first year of veterinary school and our trip to the Smokies.  I wish he would finish these posts, as they are quite entertaining...

James is nearing the half-way point of his 2nd to last strenuous academic quarter of vet school.  I am looking forward (although not as much as him) to the end of March, when he can start focusing more on practicing medicine and use all of this information crammed into his head.  I'm also looking forward to a little more free time together.  Although we've definitely taken advantage of the free time we've had with some fun trips.  Our honeymoon destination has been recently tempting me with some Christmas trip deals... but I will behave.

I am in my second to last quarter of classes before completing my massage therapist certification, although the boards are not offered until June.  I have been getting a lot of experience in the clinic setting on campus.  We've started learning pregnancy massage, which I have found to be an area I am very intrigued by.  Once I complete my program I will most likely take a weekend seminar to get certified in prenatal/perinatal massage.  Who knows, maybe I'll find a way to work infant massage in there, and work with new moms on using techniques to bond with their babies.  Can you tell what I have on my mind?  :)  Our wedding photographer is 7 months pregnant and is volunteering for me to practice.  I've worked on several friends on multiple occasions, but hoping to work on more.  I wouldn't mind having some word of mouth ready for when I'm licensed.  In the meantime, James is probably the luckiest guy on the planet... even though he has to pretend he's pregnant for me.

We're pretty much settled into our house, although I sense we'll always find more ways to 'feather' our nest.  We just got an amazing deal on an antique buffet and china cabinet that pretty much complete our furniture purchases.  We tore up the end of the driveway for James' garden, and it still looks like a war zone.  I still have a little painting to do and a bit of decorating, but that can wait.  I need to take it easy for a bit.  This non stop business is starting to tire me out.  I feel like it's necessary to keep up with James, but the schedule he keeps makes me wonder if he's human.  [He's actually out playing intramural football at this moment.  Bless his heart.]

Well, that sums up the current news.  We're hoping for something more exciting to post sometime in the next few months, but in the meantime, maybe James will let everyone know what he really thought of his first year in vet school...

Buckeyes we collected on our hike in the Smokies

How to change your brakes.

How to change your brakes in 27 easy steps
1. Go to the store and buy brake pads and rotors
2. Get home
3. Type “how to change brakes” into Google
4. Take off Tire
5. take off brake caliper with socket wrench
6 take out brake pads.
7. realize that the douche bag at Auto Zone gave you the wrong brake pads
8. Go back to Auto Zone
9. Get the correct brake pads from douche bag
10. Go back home.
11. Take off brake pad Holder.
12. Try to remove screws holding on rotor.
13. Strip screws
14. Go to Lowe’s to buy extractor for stripped screws
15. Go back home, use extractor
16. Break extractor
17. Use vise grips to remove screw
18. Get rotor off.
19. Put new rotor on.
20. put brake pad holder back on.
21. insert brake pads
22. Read that you need to use brake pad grease
23. Say out loud with no one around “what the fuck is brake pad grease?”
24. Go back to Auto Zone and buy brake pad grease
25. Go Home and use it.
26. Put everything back together and put tire back on.
27. Repeat on other tire in 1/5th the amount of time. (leaving out unneeded steps)

How quickly time passes!

Just a quick "Happy Anniversary" to my loving, wonderful husband!

The Melting Pot Anniversary Dinner

Fresh from Ohio

Our dinner this evening was so amazing that I must comment so as not to forget...

Almost everything was purchased from the farmers' markets supplied by Ohio farms.

Grilled sweet corn
Grilled mixed veggies: zucchini, summer squash, sweet pepper, carrots, onion, potatoes
Grilled fennel seasoned with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Salad: fresh lettuce with pears, heirloom tomatoes, green pepper, and cucumber

Topped off with a chilled glass of Bota's Pinot Grigio and served on the deck on a summer evening... bon appetite!

A busy summer deserves a vacay

Since moving into our house on June 17th, we've done little other than clean, unpack, clean, unpack, paint, and clean.  We recently hosted a family housewarming party which felt like a deadline to get our house ready.  Now that it has passed (and it was a blast, no rhyming pun there), it feels like we can finally breathe a little and enjoy the rest of the summer.  I (Tiffany) still have a full class schedule to go along with work, but there is a nice break of 2 weeks in September available for a trip before the chaos of another quarter starts for us both.

Last winter we started saving towards taking a 'baby bucket' list trip to France.  This whole house business came out of the blue, and we put most of our saved money towards its purchase.  Now that the summer is passing by, I slightly regret the fact that we won't have our last big hurrah before the baby talk is more serious.  That and doesn't everyone just need to get away once in a while?  So here's the next challenge: we're now planning a trip backpacking in Smoky Mountain National Park.  I have been tent camping many times, but never 'primitive' camping.  We wanted an adventure, and well, this sounds like an interesting one.  Plenty of open space, fresh air, bears; and a huge lack of people, internet, and toilets.  Sounds like a trip equivalent to Paris!  Seriously though, I am excited to do something very different, and the two of us need some time away from everything.  This is also the kind of trip you can't really do post-baby.

I hope we do not get eaten by bears.

Update on massage therapy program: so far, so good.  I'm taking this very seriously in hopes that I might have a successful career during motherhood.  I also thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere that surrounds massage.  It is very tranquil even though it requires a decent amount of physical effort on my part.  I'm continuing to go with the flow and see what path opens up for me in this field.  For now, my test subjects (mainly James) can enjoy the benefits of my need to study/practice regularly.  In one week I'll have an entire full body swedish massage down and ready to perfect.

Tis all for now.

First Time Homebuyers now Homeowners!

We finally closed on our first house in wonderful Clintonville.  The process was extremely trying and complex, but we made it.  We feel this was a huge step towards building equity for our future, and now we have a little nest for some non-furry babies (for a change!).  Here she is in all her glory:

Needless to say, our furry babies are also excited.  (Too many boxes have blocked Zeke's view of the neighbor squirrels, so now he camps out on Eve's house.)

In addition to the excitement of closing, James got the call he had been waiting for, a job offer from the Clintonville Animal Hospital.  The clinic is only about 1/2 mile from our house, which makes for a lovely commute through town.  Oh yes, James is also excited about our awesome new garage with workshop, where he can put his new toys he finally got for his birthday:

There has been a huge gap since our last update!  We have both been very busy with school and buying our house.  Tiffany successfully completed her first quarter towards becoming a massage therapist.  James received quite a few massages while finishing the last quarter of his first year of vet school.  He is now 25% a veterinarian.  Way to go!

Hope everyone else is doing well and enjoying the hot, steamy summer that has yet to actually begin! :)

Follow Up

On January 12th of this year, I posted the following blog: http://garcia-jt.blogspot.com/2010/01/declaration.html

This past Monday, I started my first quarter of four on my path to becoming a licensed massage therapist.  The State of Ohio Medical Board has the toughest requirements of all the states, which means I can go anywhere and be proud of my education.  Even when I haven't always believed it myself, I tell people things always work out in the end.  Well, again, they worked out for me.  My last degree did not get me where I thought I wanted to go, but it lead me here.  And right here is where I am supposed to be, and very happy to be so!  In April of 2011 I will be either doing an internship at Nationwide Children's Hospital or getting ready for my boards.  One short year from doing something I always thought would be amazing, but not practical.  It turns out that timing really is everything!

I'm now in the process of ordering a good massage table that is portable for all my little guinea pigs out there!  I can't wait to learn more, James has received a few of the benefits already.  I thought he might be too busy for me to practice on him, but I think he is realizing that he needs it as much as I need to practice!

Disney World Trip

Day 1
We left for sunny Florida on Monday the 22nd of March from a cold Ohio. This was a long needed break from School. The flight down was relatively uneventful with exception of a couple of hiccups with Delta. First they moved our seats back about 7 rows, which upset Tiffany and I since we tried to get as close to the front of the plane when we chose our seats a few months ago. The plane itself was pretty new. Each seat had its own TV that you could watch live TV, prerecorded shows, play games, or watch a movie. The movie and most of the games cost money, but it was still cool. Our landing in Orlando was a bit crazy. We were about 500 feet from the ground when the plane all of a sudden pulled back up again. Tiffany, being a nervous flyer, did not like this one bit. The pilot came on and told us that a plane taxied across the wrong way, and the runway was no longer clear. So we circled around Orlando and came back around to land 30 minutes late.
After we landed we gathered our things and headed out to get our rental car. We chose the new Ford Focus SES to see how it compares to Tiffany’s car. Overall I have to say it was pretty nice. Lots of buttons, sunroof, and very smooth ride.
Using Rick’s GPS (kind of) we found our way to the resort (Holiday Inn Express for us) that we were going to stay at. We checked in and asked the woman at the counter for a good place to get some good pizza. She recommended a place called Giordano’s Pizza. What we didn’t know at the time was this place was rated the number one pizza place in America by The Today Show. I have to admit that it was the best deep dish pizza I have ever had.

Day 2
We woke up a bit early and had breakfast in our hotel. Which was not the best, but it was free (amazing cinnamon rolls though). We had to go to our timeshare presentation at 11:30. It was only supposed to last 90 minutes, but I think it lasted closer to two and a half hours. This was one of the ways that we were able to afford this trip, and while it seemed to last forever, it was worth it. During the presentation Tiffany and I discovered that we do want a time share when I graduate, but we want one that uses the point system (so we can go other places) and we want one in a high traffic area (such as Orlando). While Jared was very convincing, and the price was affordable, we knew that we couldn’t do it since we needed to save for a baby.
After our 2 bazillion hour presentation and staving off not only nice Jared, but also A-hole Irish guy, we headed to Cocoa Beach. Tiffany was bird watching during the car trip and spotted a bald eagle(!), which she was obviously ecstatic about. We made a stop at a restaurant called The Shark Pit Bar and Grill for a quick bite to eat. We shared a Fish Taco and some fries. This was our first of two great meals this day, and we got to eat it in front of a big aquarium. We walked around a bit and looked through the big Ron Jon Surf Shop next door, then made our way to the beach. We walked around and looked at birds, crabs, and people. We found a few good shells to add to the collection we started in Mexico. We got to see someone reel in a pretty big fish.
On our way back we asked someone where would be a good place to get some good seafood in town. Luckily for us we found a guy who had lived there for over 50 years, and knew the perfect place called The Grills. I ordered the Mahi Mahi, Tiffany got the snow crab, plus we had some rock shrimp for an appetizer. This was one of the first times I have been to a nice restaurant since I added seafood back into my diet, and is by far the best one. Our entrées were accompanied by garlic cream potatoes, steamed veggies, and cheese bread. We were lucky to get seated at a table looking out over the bay and a bunch of hungry pelicans swarming some fishermen cleaning their catch. After our meal we made our way back to the hotel then called it a night so we could get up early and head off to the have “The time of our Lives” (say that to the tune of their song) at Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Day 3

We had the ambition to get to the park early (around 8:00) and to then shut it down. We got there at 9:00, which worked our since they don’t open until then, and quickly went in and tried to get all of the rides we could before the crowds got too big. Luckily for us they never really did. We made our way through all of the big rides including, but not limited to, Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, Space Mountain, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, and many more. We were able to catch a show in the middle of the day. The most entertaining part was the end when they lit off some fireworks and a hawk was dodging the blasts like he was in a dog fight. We stopped for lunch and had some veggie burgers, and fries… then went on more rides. We had front row seats for the parade and got some great pictures of all the Disney characters. For dinner I was not smart enough to make reservations for the nicer places, and we had decided to head back early (so much for closing down the park… we are getting old) so we had noodles and tofu then headed back to catch the monorail to our bus.
When we got back to the hotel we decided that we need to head down to the pool at least for a little bit, so we got into our suits and went down there. We got in the hot tub, drank some very expensive Long Island ice teas and ate an even more expensive pizza. We then went back to the hotel and began to pack for our trip home. Not planning ahead enough we were unable to get a ride back home from the airport and would eventually have to pay for a taxi ride back ($30!!!). The plane back to Ohio was not nearly as nice as the plane out, and we had some guy chewing him gum very loudly behind us… but in the end it did not matter too much since we were going to be in our own bed (apparently the only bed my beautiful bride and I can stand. Maybe we shouldn’t have bought the best bed in the world!) The Bad part... we are back in cold Ohio (This was the night we got back!!)

Disney World here we come!

We finally leave for Disney and the beach tomorrow-- we seriously have been counting down this trip since November.  And when I say countdown, I mean praying to make it to this point.  This is one of a short list of things we are so lovingly now calling our 'baby-bucket list'.  We don't want to regret not traveling more or just having silly fun together before our family is three [or six I should say!].

Two quarters down, three more butt-kicking ones left!  Then things calm down and we get a little of our life together back, and just in time...

Crocuses in back yard

James planted flowers in our kitchen window flower boxes

Uncle Mark and James at the NE Ohio Decoy show.  Mark earned 2nd place on 3 of his 4 entered ducks at his first judging!

Zeke and Jesus cuddling as they do every morning.

Yes, I know I like to change the layout quite often...

...but for now I really like this one.  I also added a couple countdowns: a very important one at the top, the countdown to James' graduation.  He's been pretty stressed over the past week or so.  Just trying to get through another quarter and finals.  He is definitely a champ and probably the hardest working person I know.  I'm sure if his work ethic now is any indication of the veterinarian he is going to become, that it's safe to bet he's going to have the opportunity to work wherever he wants.  (Crossing fingers for somewhere cool!  Maybe Asheville, NC?)

I am almost finished with my antique window mirror project, but it hasn't turned out nearly as well as I had hoped.  I suppose what I imagined was perfection, and this is my first attempt at anything of this nature... so maybe it's not too bad.  I will post pictures in my next posting.  I also have pictures of our lovely surprise crocuses in our back yard that have bloomed.  It's our first spring at this house and what a nice treat to have a nice bed of flowers blooming on our side of the backyard.

We leave for Florida/beach/Disney World next Monday.  We are really in need of a getaway, even just for the few days.  James needs to give his brain a little rest.  We are now a little under 6 months until our trip to France.  I actually signed up for an introductory French course next quarter.  I'm glad we have some time to plan that trip and where we want to go.  We're hoping to fly into Paris for a few days, then rent a car and travel the countryside for the rest of the week.  Looking forward to some amazing wine, cheese, and French pastries!

Let's see... only other thing new is that little Eve was spayed and declawed last week.  I was really against declawing her, and although I'm still sad it was done, she has recovered very well.  She's been very affectionate and actually quite entertaining.  Rolling around and jumping like a goofy cat again.  Just the other evening she jumped up where Zeke was sleeping in the rocking chair and started hitting him in the face with her (soft) paws.  He got irritated and jumped down.  Eve immediately laid down and started grooming herself.  She is queen here!  I really love having her around.  I'm glad we got through our rough patch when she was quite the beeatch...

Stayed tuned for some pictures later!

-T

The Olympic Podium

Eve takes the gold!

Detox Weekend

My good friend Jaime and I decided to finally undergo a formal detox this weekend. This is the detox we chose.

Friday we were instructed to eliminate caffeine (no morning coffee) and to eat light meals with little protein or fat in them, plus 2L water. Dinner was to be a salad with a very light homemade dressing. My lack of caffeine gave me a pounding headache throughout the day. I drank some herbal tea and took some ibuprofen. I only worked until 2:30, and came home to sleep. I had my salad and my instructed bath; went to bed early and was glad day 1 was over.

Saturday was really difficult. We were to eat a 'mono-diet' consisting of either grapes, apples, or carrots and their respective juices; I chose grapes. We could drink herbal tea (nada caffeine) and needed to consume another 2L of water. All of this was fine and dandy until about 4:00pm. My head was pounding so badly that I started feeling nauseated. I took more ibuprofen, but I was starting to feel light-headed and like I was going to be sick. I caved in and made a salad with carrots and the homemade dressing. I figured at least I was eating all-natural, non-processed foods. My headache immediately went away. I took an epsom salt bath and went to bed around 9:00pm. The side effects were to be 'strange' feelings (along with obvious headache and hunger), and for the most part I was just cranky and hungry (ask James). During my nice bath (complete with my favorite radio station and candles) I started to feel at peace with everything in my life. It was very blissful, but I wouldn't call it 'strange'. :)

Now I'm on the last day... started with a cup of hot water and fresh lemon juice (I forgot I had that Saturday as well) along with stewed fruits (apples, two kinds of pears, and cranberries). I was also able to eat yogurt to which I added blueberries. Side note: plain yogurt is gross, I had to blend it together with a little grape juice. I can eat another bit of fruit for lunch later, and dinner is what we are most excited about. Steamed vegetables and a BAKED POTATO! Jaime is coming over to watch the Super Bowl since it would be painful to watch others eat at parties. We are toasting with our sparkling water and fruit and tasty dinner. I'll update this tomorrow on how I feel after such a *fun* weekend.

A Change of Mindset

Zen Habits is one of my favorite blogs I follow. Below is an excerpt from today's posting. Very insightful!


A Change of Mindset
The most important step is a realization that life is better when you move at a slower, more relaxed pace, instead of hurrying and rushing and trying to cram too much into every day. Instead, get the most out of every moment.

Is a book better if you speed read it, or if you take your time and get lost in it?

Is a song better if you skim through it, or if you take the time to really listen?

Is food better if you cram it down your throat, or if you savor every bite and really appreciate the flavor?

Is your work better if you’re trying to do 10 things at once, or if you really pour yourself into one important task?

Is your time spent with a friend or loved one better if you have a rushed meeting interrupted by your emails and text messages, or if you can relax and really focus on the person?

Life as a whole is better if you go slowly, and take the time to savor it, appreciate every moment. That’s the simplest reason to slow down.

Zen Habits

P.S. We made a decision yesterday that we are going to travel to Europe in September this year. Saving our nice-sized first joint tax return for the trip of a lifetime. Germany and France or bust!

Declaration

Okay, I've decided if I don't get one of the 2 or 3 therapy jobs that are open that I'm officially pursuing my next dream profession of massage therapy (for women).

I'm declaring it on here so that I can be held accountable!

T.

New Kitty House and Scratching Post

While on break in December, James had the urge to build something.  Our kitty has been without a proper scratching post because of me not wanting to spend the money on a nice, tall one.  This led James to draw out some plans for a cat house and post.  Using a remnant piece of carpeting, a few pieces of wood and other supplies from Lowe's, plus our neighbor's saw, you can see the masterpiece he built in only a few short hours:

The neighbor got into the project and had some leftover trim.  He thought it should be stained but I wanted a bright house.

I did the painting.  The yellow is the color I just painted our guest room.

Front of the house (that is a birdhouse to the left and bird on her name plate)

Finished project.  There is a toy on a string hanging under the post.  It's her favorite springy toy.

Eve loves her new house that she's the queen of.  James did a wonderful job.