SniperBear – Don’t Get Sniped
Oh where to begin?
It all started like, back in November 2012 or something. Jess and I both decided that we wanted to take our family on a Disney Cruise! Yes, you read that right… a Disney Cruise! Well, to some it might not seem that extravagant, but to us it was an astronimical adventure. We did our research (minimaly) and within no time, the thing was booked. The actual cruise wouldn’t happen until the first of June 2013, but with this sort of thing, you gotta plan in advance.
We had such a fun time! It was great to see these kids dance and sing and enjoy one of their last nights together. I can’t believe in a few short weeks I’ll have a middle school child. How handsome is my boy?!
We are tough mudders!!
Around Christmas time I was in need of some serious exercise motivation. Baby weight plus holiday eating was a bad combination. Ben mentioned “tough mudder” and while I never really thought I’d survive it, I said “Sure, why not”. If this doesn’t motivate me to do something then I don’t know what will. We were pumped about it. I watched YouTube videos, winced at some of the obstacles, and printed out the training suggestions to start right after the new year.
….I think you can probably guess where I’m going next. Not to the basement to train. We ran a few 5K’s, did a few small things on the equipment we have at home, and even did an “obstacle course” style 5K (which ended up being the PreK version of Tough Mudder). The event that was once 12 weeks away was suddenly around the corner. Um. What? No way I can do that. But we signed up, and were going to make the best of it. I preface our TM experience with this story to help you understand that training and preparation were NOT what got me through the 11 mile/21 obstacle course. Not by a long shot. What got me through was my husband, the other mudders I was running with, my fierce stubbornness, and the sheer will to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Next year, the training (I’ve already started) will pay off and I will shave hours off of my 6 hour total from this year.
Other than the intensely sore muscles, the cuts and bruises, the ruined clothes/shoes, and the sunburn, the event itself was one of the most painfully rewarding experiences of my life. Despite the debilitating difficult physical challenges, this was equally a test of mental strength. I am my worst critic. I approached every single obstacle and the voice in my head repeated “There is no way I can do that. Are you kidding me with that? I can’t do THAT. These people are crazy. There is no way”. This voice continued for eleven straight miles. After every obstacle (and Yes, we attempted every.single.obstacle; only failing to complete three), I was in a state of disbelief. I looked behind me to the pool of ice water, or the dark underground tunnel, to the barbed wire, or fire, to the 10-12 foot walls or the cords of electric current I’d crawled through, and my voice always said “I can NOT believe I just did that!”. I shocked myself (ha) through the entire 11 miles. Every marker that showed another mile down was a glance between Ben and I that said “I’m not sure how, but we are doing this!”. There are few better accomplishments I’ve had in this life than the one I felt crossing the finish line with my husband. Limping and bleeding and running on fumes, we did it together. It wasn’t always pretty, but we DID IT!
Despite going into TM intimidated, I have never been a part of something so physical with people who were SO awesome. You cannot do this challenge alone. Even with my partner, we took on every obstacle with the help of another mudder (or several mudders). Every fall in the mud was followed by three hands to help me up, pat me on the back, and encourage me to keep going. I was pushed over walls, pulled over ledges, and cheered on by strangers around me the whole time. I “Hoorah’d” that day more than I ever have in my life, and was filled with such gratitude and appreciation for the communities of mudders that I am now so thankful to be a part of with my husband. This event changed how I think. I have an untapped strength that has been discovered and for that alone I am so thankful that Ben signed us up. Not only did my husband keep me motivated and push me to my potential for 11 miles, I failed to mention he held a GoPro mounted to a piece of PVC pipe the whole time. He got some great footage that he’s ‘doing his thing’ with and will post the footage we have soon. Some more permanent memorabilia is in the works as well. 😉
We will certainly do this again next year, and I want to put together a huge team for it. It’s an experience everyone should have once in their lives…if not once a year. We are Tough Mudders!
UPDATE:
Here’s our video! Well, this is the short one. For the longer version, see the link at the end. Enjoy!
Jess and I finally got around to re-doing the laundry room. I say that like we’ve been in this house for ages and the room has been the bane of our existence. Well, the truth is, we’ve only been there for a few months and though the wallpaper was hideous, it really wasn’t like walking into Disaster DIY with Bryan Baeumler.
The project took us a week or so longer than it probably should have, but we eventually got it done. I mean, it’s not like you can just start something like this and finish in a single day, or even a weekend when you have a 1yr old. The end result was a much more inviting space that was bright and cheerful! I love the way the colors turned out. We painted all the walls, Jess made a new curtain, we painted the counter top, and even put a stencil on the wall.
Here’s the progress pics:
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And if the pics weren’t enough…. I decided to time lapse the whole thing.
I’d say this project was a total success. Can’t wait to start in on another project. Oh wait, we already have. Pics and a post coming soon!
We celebrating surviving one year with our adorable BLT by having a small party here at the new house. It was simple, everyone had a great time, and our big boy was happy. It was a perfect day. Ben will add video to this post soon, but here’s a pic of the birthday boy eating yummy cake!
2012 was one for the record books. So. Much. Happened. Last year. It’s been one hell of a week getting back into the swing of work, new arrangements and diets for Lane, and new journeys being started for me, but I’ve been saying I’m going to write this blog so dammit…here it is. I’ll be glad down the road that I did.
So 2012 brought us so many things that should be documented….and so many things that changed the direction of our lives…..in no particular order…..
1. I had a BABY! 8 days early and in a crazy, emergency fashion I had little Benjamin Lane on January 3rd. That’s a pretty BIG way to start off the year I’d say.
2. We took our kids to the beach. Twice. Ok…not as big as bringing life into the world. But we went once with the Meechams and once with Ben’s sister and her family. There’s a part of me that feels so home at the beach. Maybe it’s the escape from reality….maybe it’s all the fresh air and sea salt. Either way…we learned that little BLT has a mini set of gills growing and loves the pool. Ocean? He’s like his dad and is just as content to skip that part altogether. Chase falls in line with his mom and could play in the sand/waves all day. Either way, we got the traditional “first beach” videos and pictures and I am hoping we can make this a yearly tradition.
3. I turned 30. In style. With some of my absolutely favorite people on a perfectly gorgeous day on the lake. We rented a boat, acted like we were way more fabulous than we really are, and partied our asses off. My husband made the best of the day despite the time spent in the ER the night before (totaling his car TOTALly could have made this list….but let’s not think about that too much eh?). Bandaged, medicated, and liquid couraged up he went down the slide, rode the jet ski, and helped make my 30th the BEST birthday I’ve had in my life. So many people I know dread being in their 30’s….but today, 30 feels good.
4. My brother got married. (“Wait…you have a brother??”). I know. I feel that way sometimes too. But I do, and when we both finally slow down enough to spend time together I remember just how awesome he is. His new wife compliments him beautifully. His wedding also meant getting to see Philly family (which is ALWAYS a lovely time), and the inevitable family drama that comes with too much time spent together. The wedding was gorgeous, the food was delicious, my boys were handsome as ever and the wine flowed. Looking back…it stands out as a great event in the past year.
5. My oldest turned 10. TEN. Double digits. Sometimes I think to myself “in one year he’ll be in middle school…..in six years he’ll be driving….”. But then I stop. And cherish what little bit of “my baby” I have left. I can honestly say I try my hardest every single day to be the best I can for him and most days I fall short. Not because I fail. But because despite my best efforts he always deserves more than I can ever offer him. He’s a beautifully amazing, funny, smart, LOVING child.
6. We bought a house. As I type this I’m thinking maybe this should be up there with having a baby? At times it FELT like we were having a baby. When people say buying a house is stressful they aren’t lying. We didn’t stop for 6 weeks straight. I still feel like I am adjusting to my new surroundings, my new community, my new…..everything. But I also feel so blessed to be able to call this gorgeous house “home”, and I know it’ll only get better with time.
Thanks 2012! You were amazing. After the ball drops, let’s keep it rolling in the right direction for 2013….
So a few weeks ago, or what seems like a week ago I posted about a shittaculer week that we had. I mean literally it was an assplosion of epic proportions. Since then we’ve rebounded quite nicely and have managed to get everyone else around us sick! Well, maybe they got themselves sick, but either way it seems that everyone is now falling victim to the dreaded mud butt.
Enough about that… This December has FLOWN by. But I reckon that’s the way time usually goes. When your in the weeds things may seem to drag on and weeks never end and you have “the longest day ever” syndrome, but when you look back there’s always the sense of “where has this month gone?!” That’s the case with the past few weeks around here. And now, its two days before Christmas and it seems like just yesterday was Thanksgiving. That doesn’t mean we’ve not enjoyed ourselves this holiday season. It really has been a great month and we’ve adjusted well to living in the new house. It just seems like things are more accessible. For example, I’ve had two work holiday parties in the past few weeks and had we still lived in Hampton I would have most likely bailed on both of those. Now it seems like work or downtown is a short drive from here and hanging with co-workers for the holiday parties is doable.
And its not just getting to/from downtown, its everything else as well. I mean if we need to go to the grocery store, Starbucks, Target or to do some shopping out and about, its accessible. Its just very easy living where we do now. We even managed to host a Christmas/holiday party and have people show up! City folk that would have otherwise never ventured to our home had we not lived within close proximity to civilization.
So thats that. Its been a swift month and looking back, a crazy year. 2012 is coming to a close and we’re already planning far into 2013.
Whether it was the fact that we hadn’t done shit all week or it was some sort of voodoo magic in the air, but man we knocked it out today! This morning BLT was all trying to kick things off as if it were any other day by waking up at 5am. No one wants to be up at that hour on a Saturday. We quickly squashed that by taking him over to my mom’s house. She agreed to watch him for the morning so we could get some stuff done around the house for a change. The goal was lofty, but we were up for a challenge.
Ever since moving in we haven’t had the time or energy or care level to move the rest of the stuff from the basement/garage to the attic. After all, we now live in the equivalent of a three story house. Factor in the trip up the ladder in to the attic and that was not something we wanted to get all up on. Today, however was different and we got everything that was to be stored moved up and that was that. Granted it took a trip to Home Depot for some boards to put down for flooring, but that was a minor setback.
After all that was done, we proceeded to do some more organizing the basement in preparation for the gym equipment that was going in down there. Have I mentioned that we’re doing Tough Mudder in like 4 months?! Eek! We were all getting pretty hungry so we decided to go grab some food and pick up the youngin’ from Grammy’s.
Back at the house and Lane went to bed so we could start in on decorating the rest of the outside of the house. Nothing quite like having the family outside decorating and just having a grand time. Most of it we were able to get knocked out before BLT woke up, but the last piece was a huge ass wreath for the upper middle window on the house. Luckily it was a simple hang out the window two stories in the air and put a nail in the window frame kinda procedure.
The day got a little crazy after that and JT kinda went rogue, but we found her.
The rest of the day was spent finishing up some other chores like installing the second IP Camera, a trip to Hobby Lobby for some supplies to make Chase’s school play outfit, dishes, etc. Basically, we got shit done.
Oh, and two other things. First off our gas oven can die for all I care at this point. I mean, I love cooking with a gas top range and all but that oven is bajank. Its too small and always burns shit. We’ve tried adjusting the temp and time and all manner of things but no matter what everything we cook is always either burned or not done at all. I miss my electric oven. Secondly, a carpenter I am not, and I am also not the handiest of mans on the planet. But despite that fact, I’ll give it my all. Those boards in the attic are most likely not up to any sort of code or whatnot, but hey, they’ll hold our stuff. And the ice maker line that I installed tonight, despite me doing it exactly correct the damn thing still leaks. Not from anywhere that I connected, but from the actual shut off valve bit. So I’m now going to have to call a plumber and get them to tell me its going to cost a bajillion dollars or tell me that I f’d up and did it wrong… which I’m fairly confident that I didn’t.
Ok, that’s all I had. I’ll most likely post something again tomorrow or at the very least in the next few days. For now I’m gonna go get in the bed with my beautiful and amazing wife. Bam!
Well, I mean eventually it ended, but damn this week was a pain in the ass.
When I say “pain in the ass” I literally mean it when it comes to what we’ve had to deal with this past week. Lane, Chase, Jess, and I all have had the doom stomach sickness. It started with BLT puking in his bed last Thursday night and rolling around in it all night. He proceeded to throw up again all over himself and highchair Friday morning. Then Saturday, it hit me like a ton of bricks, or a ton of feathers, either way, I was down for the count. JT was a trooper and took care of Lane and I… that is until she got smacked with the black death around 3am on Sunday. Now we had a baby that was recovering from being sick, Jess feeling the effects, and me doing my best to hold it together. We thought our lil’ guy was on the mend, that was until he lost the contents of his stomach all over again.
We went into the weekend with such high hopes, even visited the local farmers market in search of fresh produce and such. But it quickly turned into a festering pool of dispair and unmentionables. Surely come Monday we could kick it into over drive and plow through the week.
Oh, my bad… I must have been thinking of some other week. Jess was still writing on Monday and had to stay out of work. Since she was mobile for the most part she stayed with BLT and Chase and trucked on through the day. Got the sheets clean and windows open. Things were looking up and by Tuesday we were all back to work/school!
BAM! In your face good mood! Tuesday afternoon turned out to be probably the worst, or at least second worst day of the week. For starters Lane is getting to the point where he just LOVES to hear him self babble and yell and blow raspberries and spit out his food and… well, here lemme show you.
Lane in the car:
Lane “eating” dinner:
This is what Jess has to put up with for upwards of 3 hours a day JUST in the car. She gets home before me and has to try and get him fed too. That’s just insane. Anyone else’s kid and they would be out back with the coyote. Yeah, we have those now apparently too. I mean bajeeze this kid is loud. Any way, she puts up with this and has a splitting headache on Tuesday only to find out that she does not have a key to get in the house. So now she’s suck outside of her safe haven with a fussy baby, a hungry 10 year old, and a migrane. Damn you Tuesday, you suck worse than the whole weekend combined.
So Wednesday rolls around and its rainy and we’re running late in the morning and this weeks in the shitter, but we’re gonna push on, right? Well Wednesday is my usual work from home day and I am usually able to get work done because the fam is off at school/work. Well Jess has asked me to keep Lane home with me. Admittedly I was somewhat of a turd and didn’t want to keep him. I wanted my peace. ME ME ME!! That’s totally not fair to her at all, do you remember the videos? So stomped my feet, pouted like a little girl, but kept BLT home with me. We made the best of it, I put on my big boy pants and I got the majority of the work I needed to do done. By the time Jess got home I was needing a break just as bad as she did on Monday.
Whew, time for a breather. We had dinner, watched Survivor, and did our best to just be calm for the remainder of the night Chase had to go to the bathroom a few times, but honestly that was nothing new since he really chew his food as much as he inhales it. What we didn’t realize was that it was the precursor to the mudbutt.
Thursday morning and we’re getting ready to head in as if it were any other day and SLAP! Reality hits us in the face. JT calls me to come to Chases room where we are greeted with a delightful crime scene art project. This kid has some how rolled over in the middle of the night, and blew chunks from the top bunk down to the white carpet below and went back to sleep. I mean, hot dog bits mixed with ketchup and vegetable soup. It was literally a 4 foot splatter radius. I don’t think he ever even knew he did it. Earlier when I said that Tuesday was the second worst day, it was second to this. There was simply no way that JT or I would be able to handle this day alone so we both elected to stay home. She watched BLT while I went to the store to rent a RugDoctor.
The rest of the day was spent tending to a sick Chase and a fussy Lane. Oh and working and cleaning the house and doing other chores and you know… living. The afternoon wasn’t that bad and we even managed to squeeze in a family walk, which is good considering we’re doing Tough Mudder in like 4 months.
So we made it to Friday and just as we’re on our way out the door Lane’s baby sitter texts and says that her grandson has the stomach bug. WTF?! Can we not escape this damn thing?! Now we have OTHER people’s kids preventing us from simply having a normal day. Well, we decided to take Lane to the sitter and she would just quarantine the sick child in another room. Whether or not that work remains to be seen and I’m sure if anything comes of it we’ll be cleaning it up in the morning.
At this point the house is pretty much sterile, the carpet is pearly white, the family is happy and resting and we have a game plan of attack on the leaves and duties of the house tomorrow. Grammy is gonna watch Lane while we move stuff to the attic and deal with the leaves outside and then its shopping and decorate-fest 2k12 all over again!
This week has been a bitch, but we pulled through so far. There’s still two days to go, but I feel like we can make it. It’s not the worst this family has ever been through and I’m sure we’ll deal with this sort of thing again. We’re better than little things like puke and yelling babies. We can pull through the strife. We’re the Snipers! Its what we do.
Oh, and in case you were curious how our Friday night went, this should give you a good indication.
Eleven moths ago Jess was 20 months pregnant and most likely nauseous and miserable. Today, and this past weekend we were nearly in the same… except for the being pregnant part. Instead we were doing all we could to take care of our 11 month old. How in the world did we end up with baby nearly ONE YEAR OLD?! Didn’t Jess just have him like 2 weeks ago?
Nope, she had him WAY back in January. So much has happened since then. Trips to the beach, new cars due to car wrecks, Josh’s Speed Boats, new house, and on and on. We may not have done a great job of keeping up with all things going on but we have pics and we have the memories. And speaking of pics, here’s one of our little guy… and his little guy.
One more month and we’ll be celebrating his one year birthday! Hard to believe, but such a wonderful year its been. Can’t wait for the years to come.
