Earlyish 2013 Pictorial Roundup

Much more than 2011 or 2012, this year has been full of fairly 'normal' happenings. I've been enjoying the nice change of pace and focus.

Physically, I'm still noticing that my energy level is not up to 100% (from where I was before the BC journey began), but I can tell an increase in my overall stamina as each month passes. It's a privilege to "just keep livin' " and I'm doing my best to take it all in!

Here are some highlights of this year so far:

*click images to enlarge pics*

January: 

Snowshoeing at Mueller State Park.
That's right - we stayed out past dark. Risky business.
Returned to the car at nearly 6:30, temp: 17F!

I enrolled in a beginner's stained glass class.
Only two students: me and Seth. Our instructor, Jennifer, was GREAT!
Hope to do some experimenting with stained glass in the garage this spring/summer.

February:

Joshua suffered SEVERE back pain most of Jan/Feb/March.
Official diagnosis: "cervical radiculopathy" at the C6-7 area.
He promises to write a blog post about his pain experience.
He felt like a zombie.
A lot was gleaned from this medical journey.

We visited Taos and stayed in an earthship.

March:

Raised a lot of greenbacks for the TNBC Foundation.
The Ta-Ta Times raised over $3.000 in donations and
 was in the top 10 fundraisers for this event - WOW!

*March simply doesn't exist in photo documentation, apparently. 

April:

Went to 9News with gal pal Stephanie for her interview taping session.
She is a BC warrior.
Click here to hear her interview and see more visuals of her journey.
She's got sparkle through and through!

Six weeks after Gramma Birch's total knee replacement surgery,
I flew to OK, rented a car, and knocked her socks off.
Don't worry - mom stood behind her 'just in case.'
It was SO fun to see the look on her eyes when she realized who was at the door!

Also got to see other family while in Oklahoma - and meet Emery...
the newest addition to the plentiful Bull family.
Brian must really love her...a pacifier in his mouth?!!
And homemade (by Nolton!) sweet biscuits for strawberry "shortcake." Mmmm...

Celebrated my 1 year surviversary!
(One year from the last chemo infusion I received.)
A big milestone that we nodded to on the day of. That's another blog post to come...

May:

We made it to Ithaca!
Had lots of fun adventures with Adam and Jeney -
including a naughty ice cream licking session. :)
A separate blog post with more pics from this trip to come.

We visited an earthship while in New York!
So nice of the owners to meet with us and let us tour their home.

Gerda came back from Cali to empty her storage unit.
A great excuse to have people over! We all used to work together in a past life.
Joshua made green juice - we played with the fiber ball!
And mandatory beers after everything in the storage unit was 'all gone.' Yay!
Loved having girlfriends over - lots of laughs, great discussions, and moments made.

These pics were discovered when emptying Gerda's storage unit.
Left: Gerda in all her glory.
Right: Gerda's mother, Rosemarie, hauling plants at their German nursery.
I love these photos.

Stephanie took a long-awaited dream vacation to Scotland with her older brother.
While she was gone, Jo and I had fun with her kiddos.
We went to soccer practice, played games, shot hoops, cooked, played "Jell-O" in the car,
made sure homework was done, and occasionally mitigated sibling spats.
Heidi and Liam have seemingly boundless energy and are delightful people to get to know.  

Yours truly is upping the ante on her exercise regimen!
Maintaining a healthy weight is important for many reasons -
including my overall prognosis.
Encouraged by a long-time friend, Rach, I'm using the Couch to 5K in 9 weeks jogging program.
Curious? Click here - and yes, there's an app for that!