2013 in Review

by Clint

We started 2013 with the moto "A Year That's Fair and Bright." The year exceeded our hopes with the birth of Paul, settling into Stillwater, great opportunities, and in general good times. We chose that moto probably because 2012 was anything but fair and bright. We both agree that 2013 was the fastest and most fulfilling year that either of us has lived.

Paul's birth kicked our year into overdrive right out of the chute. He was a perfect new born and exceptionally healthy. He smiled and made eye contact early, and little did we know, he was starting his training process of us. One thing is for sure, Paul is a bright guy. We love him and we are so thankful for him. If only he liked to take naps...

My proposals consumed most of the spring. During that time, I taught a class that had never been taught before at OSU, submitted over $5 MM in proposals (that didn't get funded), and tried to keep up with my family. The boys had fun with mom, and they really enjoyed Paul. I started coming home at lunch more, so we got more time together as a family. Time really flew by until the end of the spring semester.

Summer brought needed "normal" working hours and more time together. Our Colorado trip was the best to date complete with all of the necessary road trip occurrences like vomit and flying luggage. Colorado 2013 brought us all really close together, and we really needed it at that point in the year.

Before we know it, Colorado was over, and we were getting ready to take Sawyer to school. This year was a big deal because he would be going to "real" school at Westwood. We decided that I would take him on MWF, Melanie on TR. Sawyer loved school, and he is an exceptional student. He has a lot of great friends, and he is a great learner. We love watching his curious mind grow. He continues to ask us questions all the time, most of which address fundamental issues to man like "what did the first humans look like?"

Football season was soon upon us, and we went to several games, thanks primarily to our very generous friends. 2013 OSU football was impressive, but we came up short in a couple key games. I will never forget "Ice Bowl 2013" with Jason Walker.

The fall semester was the most stressful I have been through. Our department head left early in the semester, so I was asked to teach senior design with Josh Ramsey in addition to the process simulation class. I also submitted several proposals, wrote papers, and mentored graduate students. It took me a solid week to de-compress and return to something that resembled normal. Through it all, Melanie had the harder job. Melanie was with our three boys non-stop the entire year. Teaching, changing diapers, cleaning up vomit, and entertaining 3 minions 24/7. Melanie is the best mom that boys could ever dream of having. She lets them roll around in the dirt, climb trees, craft, play outside, and be boys. She keeps us all alive, literally. The fall semester was made more bearable by a September trip to New Orleans.

The best news of 2013 came at the end of 2013. Melanie does not have the BRCA 1 mutation that her mom has. This great news means that we won't have to aggressively pursue preventative surgeries and procedures to protect her from breast and ovarian cancer. Thank God!

We face 2014 with "Carpe Diem" as our moto. 

Clint and Melanie's Health

This year was pretty life changing for our health.  I knew I would have to address whether or not I carried the BRCA mutation that would make my lifetime chance of breast cancer 90%.  Both Julie and Dana tested positive and it has been very challenging to process.  I had the baby blues after Paul's birth.  This was something I had not had to deal with before.  I knew I wasn't mentally prepared to deal with devastating news and put off the BRCA testing. 

At Clint's annual exam in August it was decided by he and his doctor that it was time to address his cholesterol.  His LDL (bad cholesterol) was 204!  We were referred to a cardiologist in Tulsa.  Clint has always been fairly healthy, but he clearly has a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol.  Clint went ahead and had a CT exam of his heart and it showed a 25-50% blockage of his widow maker (left descending artery).  We were strongly encouraged to start taking a statin.  Clint and I wanted to tackle his cholesterol by diet and exercise with the goal of getting his LDL below 100.

We pretty much removed all saturated fat except lean meats (no cheese), egg yolks, white flours, and refined sugars from our diets.  Clint immediately lost 35 lbs.  Me, not so much.  This baby weight is extremely attached to me. We started eating mostly organic which has been an adventure.  We are now part of several co-op type food services.  We have not had a pizza or burger since last August!  Clint cut out all beer consumption (but increased his red wine intake significantly. You got to have some treat).  I started cooking pretty much 3 meals a day, 7 days a week mostly everything from scratch.  Clint comes home for lunch almost every day now.  We've always had pretty much a whole foods diet with a weekly splurge.  Now there just is no splurge (and no bacon.)

Clint started running or lifting weights daily again.  I didn't really work out since I was always in the kitchen.

Thanksgiving week I had my BRCA test done.  I gained 14 lbs in December waiting on results!  I was sooooo stressed.  In December Clint had his cholesterol re-tested.  Clint's LDL cholesterol was down to 104!!!!  Our hard work paid off!  I got my results back and I tested negative for the mutation!!!

I think this picture is an accurate depiction of how skinny Clint is now and how much gut and according to Sawyer, "big, I mean really really big booty" I still have!  Since we'll be eating this way for the.rest.of.our.life I'm sure it will come off someday.  .  .

New Years Eve 2013

New Years Eve was a fun, busy, beautiful day.  We had a picnic lunch at the farm with Dr. Drew, Cassie, Sophie and Jax Johannes as well as Myshka, Carson, and Kaitlyn Johannes.  Grammy and Grandpa also stopped by for our picnic.  We decided to have our New Years Eve sandwich at lunch at the farm.  It had to be heart healthy so it was homemade bread, olive tapenade, tomatoes, turkey and Canadian bacon.  It was delicious even without cheese.

 

After our picnic and naps we headed to Jason and Stacy Walker's for a New Years Eve party.  It was a kids friendly party so we couldn't stay too late (but surprisingly Paul fell asleep), but we had a blast.  We ate chipotle, one of our favorites, met new people, and played a hilarious game.  Our abs were sore the next day from laughing so hard.  It was a great way to finally end 2013.

December 2013

We got pretty regular snow storms this winter starting in November.  The boys had a blast sledding down our hill in the back and playing with the neighbors in the snow.

Clint started the tree house.  He got all kinds of help.

I love how happy Paul is in the picture and how annoyed Beau is that he is sharing his four wheeler.

When Ellie was here the kids had races and then had awards at the end.  I guess Ellie won first on this particular race.

Christmas 2013

by Clint

Christmas 2013 lived up to our 2013 moto of "fair and bright." We officially started festivities on Friday, December 20 at 5:00pm. After a long semester leading up to a very long week, I picked up Vietnamese and headed home. Ice was moving in, and we were debating our trip to Siloam on Saturday. Uncle A was on his way and battling the ice. Everyone was exhausted, so we ate, watched cartoons, and went to bed.

Saturday brought more ice, but we decided to go to Siloam to join the Wright family celebration. Melanie put together a scavenger hunt for the kids, and they loved it. The hunt ended with all of the kids getting $100 from their Mimi and Kimbo, and then we all headed to Toys R Us. One of the big highlights of the Toys R Us trip was the fact that we did not have any major melt downs. The kids picked out their toys and we all headed to Golden Corral for a wholesome meal of assorted fried food fragments with the rest of Arkansas. Golden Corral is apparently a pre-Christmas favorite for a lot of people, especially in Arkansas.

Sunday was a relaxed day around Arkansas. Mimi put together an excellent meal of steak, potatoes, and vegetables. We had a great day, and we all remembered what a great blessing it is to have Mimi with us healthy and happy!!

Uncle A visited us on Monday morning for coffee and to play with the boys. I had a haircut in the morning, and then I took the boys with me on last minute Christmas errands. One of our new favorite Christmas traditions is lochs and bagels for breakfast on Christmas Eve, so I took the boys to the Old School Bagel cafe to get a dozen bagels. We ran into Uncle A at the bagel shop. We really enjoyed the bagels, and we plan to keep up the bagel tradition. We had our second annual game night on December 23 with Uncle A, Grammy, and Grandpa. The boys had a great time playing operation and eating treats.

Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. We started this year with Lochs and Bagels and egg whites. Excellent breakfast. We relaxed, colored, played, drank coffee, and had a great time. Sawyer and I spent a lot of time together during nap time. We read the Christmas Carol, wrapped Paul's gift, and colored. I really love spending one-on-one time with my boys. Sawyer and I love to color, draw, read, play outside, and build legos together. One of my favorite things about Christmas is having dedicated time to spend with my boys. We went to Grammy and Grandpa's house for Christmas Eve festivities. Grammy worked hard to make a really nice meal, and we had a great time. GG drove up for the night and enjoyed seeing the boys. We had Kennys, listened to "Kentucky Homemade Christmas" and had a great time.

Christmas morning started as I expected. The first thing I saw on Christmas morning was Sawyer's face, and then I heard him tell me that it was time to wake up. I told him to go look to see if Santa came. He came back with a big smile and said that he saw a lot of presents, including a Nutcracker. He was so excited. He ran back in to see what else he could find. Melanie and I heard one of the happiest noises that we had ever heard from him. He ran back and said that Santa had brought him a stuffed lego man. He was so happy. Melanie and I slowly got up, and soon Beau and Paul joined us. We opened up stockings for a long time and then ate breakfast casserole. I made the casserole this year, and it was good. Breakfast casserole is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. We played with toys and had fun. We didn't open the tree presents until Grammy, Grandpa, and Uncle A came over. They brought everyone a lot of really nice presents. Melanie cooked an amazing meal of cornish hens, chestnut stuffing, bread, vegetables, and pear pie (made from pears from the farm). We ate, opened presents, and had a great time together. Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Season 2013

Christmas season was a blast.  Clint loves Christmas and insists we go all out.  Of course I don't mind.  We started early this year.  In the beginning of November I borrowed a KitchenAide mixer from a friend and made all my cookie dough and icing for all of Christmas.  We put up the tree the weekend before Thanksgiving and just had both fall and Christmas stuff up together for a week.  We looked at lights, went to see Santa, read Christmas stories, of course watched Christmas movies. We also brought food and clothes to the homeless shelter and delivered bread to an assortment of acquaintances and friends this year.

Clint and the boys built a Lego nativity.  They were pretty proud.

Beau loved the Santa ornament that "tooted" Deck the Halls.  He laughed soooo much all month long over this.  It eventually broke (thank goodness).

Sawyer had his class party and I was the reader.

We went the the Atherton to see Santa and have cookies and milk.  It was perfect.  It wasn't crowded and everything was beautiful and the staff was so friendly.  We then walked around OSU and looked at the lights.  We finished the night with hot cocoa from Starbucks. 

We had our annual Christmas in Arkansas.  I had the treasure hunt for the kids but we got delayed by ice.  We arrived just in time to have a quick hunt then head to Toys R Us for Christmas shopping from Meme and Kimbo.  We then headed to Golden Coral.  Paul was getting sick so we just got a hotel room for the night.  It was an interesting day to say the least.  Sunday was a lot better.  We just visited with family all day.

We had our annual game night a few days before Christmas.

Meme and Kimbo came on the 26th for a visit.  They brought Ellie along!