March 2020

March is my favorite month of the year and most of that has to do with the first day of the month, which is my birthday! Closely followed by my birthday begins the best sporting event of the year, March Madness! Well, this year I got to add something else pretty awesome to the month and that was a huge celebration that I got to be a part of, the DanceBlue Marathon!

My birthday started off with a early morning trip to Frank's Donuts to pick up some breakfast. Next we went to church at Southland before heading to lunch at Malone's. I opened some gifts and had a lemon Nothing Bundt Cake. Most of the day was spent hanging out at the DanceBlue Marathon and then we ended the night at Waffle House. My 35th birthday proved to be quite spectacular and I was glad to be surrounded by those that I love the most. Not only did I spend the whole day with my wife, kids, parents, siblings, and niece, but I also got to see lots of my co-workers and a lot of the kids I take care of and their families! 

They even asked me to hold one of the signs for the big countdown for the reveal of how much money they raised for the year. Clearly you can see that I was number 8.

I was very happy to finally attend my first ever DanceBlue Marathon, but I was sad that I hadn't been a part of the previous ones. It is an awesome atmosphere and the students are dancing their hearts out there on the floor. Landon told me that he wanted to go up on stage to dance, but when I took him down to the floor he got scared and instead decided to get on my shoulders. The top right picture is of all the nurses that I work with in the clinic. The both right picture is the big reveal of money raised and it was 2,000,190.20! How awesome is that! A bunch of college students came together and raised money for kids that most of them had never met before so that they could help them during their battle with cancer. I am completely blown away by their love and compassion. It is truly amazing to see the ones that come into the clinic to play with the kids. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to be even more involved with next year's marathon.

The kids had a good time playing with their cousin Olivia. Olivia really loves Brinley and Landon.

When I finally went back to work the Tuesday after my birthday they had decorated my computer space with notes and balloons. The also have a special basket of goodies that you can pick from. It has a variety of things, mostly king sized candy bars. Well, since I gave up sweets I decided to pick something besides candy and then it was perfect that it contained 35 pieces, my exact age. It was just meant to be.

UK Men's Basketball had their final home game, but it was a late one. It started at 9pm against the Tennessee Volunteers. We came out and played awesome for about the first 30 minutes of the game. We were actually ahead by seventeen points, but then the last 10 minutes of the game we fell apart. I couldn't believe it. What a sad way to end our home season. In fact, the only two games that we lost at home were the first and last ones. I was mad that we lost, but even more upset for another one of my patients that was able to go to the game. Coach Cal didn't come out to do his post game press conference so he wasn't able to get his basketball signed. That really made me sad.

Against the kids will I made them get ready on a Saturday and head out to watch some Kentucky athletics. We started off by watching the women's tennis team compete against Aurburn. Then we headed over to Kentucky Proud Park to watch the men's baseball team in action against Oakland University. We were watching the game when Kentucky's player hit a grand slam and then followed that up with another Big Blue Bomb! Then the kids and I spent about an hour playing pitch and catch out on the grassy area behind 3rd base.

For those of you that don't know, I love puzzles. They are so much fun for me. A nice challenge that makes you use your brain and then so satisfying when you finally get it put together. Well, for my birthday I got a couple of 2,000 piece puzzles. I decided to start this one because I thought that it would be easy to find most of the pieces because there was so many distinct pieces in this puzzle, appropriately named yard sale. Jennifer usually doesn't help with any of my puzzles anymore, but helped out quite a bit with this one.

The kids even got in on the yard sale puzzle. Then said it was too hard and got out one of their 100 piece puzzles to work on it. When every thing was said and done I calculated up the time it took to put together this 2,000 piece and it was right around 11 hours. I was really impressed with that time, but of course I always wonder what if we had just been a little bit faster. Maybe I will put it back in the box to try for another day.

Landon has recently been interested in going for runs. I have been happy to go with him whenever he asks even when it is getting dark and even getting a little chilly outside. On this night we even stopped and walked quite a bit of the time. When we made it home we had gone 2.43 miles in 28 minutes. Our family goal was to run a 5k this spring but our girls haven't been as interested in running.

I take a picture of the kids every morning that I drop them off for school. Then I turn it into a little video collage at the end of the year. Well, this was the picture that was taken on Friday, March 13th. This was the last day that the kids went to school because they closed in response to the COVID-19. I just hope this isn't there last day for this school year. Brinley was really bummed that school got called off because she wouldn't get to see her friends any more. Not quite sure that Landon even cared one way or the other.

If you are a big math person like myself then you have probably heard of PI day. 𝛑 is used in many mathematical equations and is usually rounded to 3.14, even though it goes on to infinity. Since 3.14 is the number most people know then it related to March 14th on the calendar, so therefore we have pi day. How else to celebrate than with actual pie! This year the kids helped by measuring all the ingredients for an apple pie. I also made what our family refers to as Tricia pies because Landon says that he doesn't like apple pie. A Tricia pie got its name from my cousin who introduced us to this delectable, yet simple to make pie. It is just cream cheese beaten with 1/3 cup sugar, then you fold in cool whip and put it in a graham cracker crust.

We signed up and participated for the 3rd year in a row as our church packed a million meals for children in Haiti. It is quite an impressive undertaking and they have definitely worked out all the kinks because it runs so smoothly and effectively. Since both kids had been last year I asked them before heading back to the working area what jobs they wanted to do this year. Brinley said that she wanted to weigh the bags. Landon said that he wanted to use the scoop that you have to level off with a knife (vitamins). We rushed back and secured the spots the kids wanted and then picked a job right next to them. Jennifer scooped vegetables and I heat sealed all the packages. The kids actually did really well. I made them switch at one point so that they could have a little variety. They worked really hard for the full hour. I am so thankful that we were able to do this again. It is such a blessing to show these kids that not everyone has it as good as they do. These kids are excited to get this rice, protein, and veggie mixture to eat because otherwise they wouldn't get anything. Truly eye opening.

This situation with the COVID-19 got crazy real fast. People absolutely started losing their mind and buying up all the toliet paper they could find. I just went to Meijer and the isle was almost bare and I refused to snatch up some to just hoard it away. Well, after going home Jennifer informed me that we are actually almost out of this now hot commodity. So, I headed over to our Costco and they had stacks of the stuff. One package should last us for the next six months. The biggest heartbreak for me was that instead of running around buying up toliet paper with the rest of the world I was supposed to be in Nashville at the SEC tournament watching my CATS play. Unfortunately, the tournament and all sports were cancelled. I understand the reasoning especially because I am in the healthcare field myself, but it still hurt to see seasons end so abruptly!

March 15th is a pretty big day in our house. That's because on this date in the year 2005 I asked Jennifer to marry me. We were in New Orleans for spring break and I popped the question after eating beignets at Cafe du Monde. Every year that I can remember since then I have gotten up early and made beignets for her. The kids are excited about them too. I can't believe that it has been 15 years!

Most of you don't know because we didn't publicly say anything about it, but my little brother was possibly exposed to a COVID-19 patient at the hospital. The hospital at the time thought it was best for him to self-isolate for 14 days. This meant that he couldn't leave his house. Mostly his girlfriend or other friends would drop food off at his door. I decided to drop him off some of our pi day desserts. I also had the kids write him some notes. I dropped off the container, knocked and then got six feet away so that I could talk to my little brother face to face for the first time in a while. He completed his 14 days of isolation and has now gone back to fighting on the front lines.

I can't begin to describe how saddened I am with the cancelling of the SEC and NCAA tournament. As I mentioned earlier, March Madness is my absolute favorite time of the year. Opening weekend with all 64 teams playing their hearts out in a win or go home situation is what makes it the best sporting event. Filling out a bracket and then cheering for some random team that you know nothing about only to then realize that you didn't even pick them to win is what makes it so much fun. This March will go down in infamy as March Sadness. I am just sad because we never get to know what might have been. There was no clear cut runaway in college basketball this year so I feel that there would have been so many upsets all throughout the tournament. I am also sad as a Kentucky fan because we were just starting to find our groove here as the season was winding down. I fill that we had as good a shot as anyone in the tournament. We will never get to know and we will never get to see the guys play together again. I hope some of them come back, but I know that so many of them will head off to the NBA. At least we won the regular season SEC Championship. We also had an epic comeback in our final regular season game against Florida. 

One of my patients recommended this book to me, someone who actually has lived this nightmare. I mentioned it to my family and my sister got me it. This is the story of a young man who was diagnosed with cancer and the trials and difficulty that ensued. Most of you probably know about him when ESPN ran a story about him because he predicted that Purdue would defeat Ohio State. Spoiler Purdue destroyed an undefeated Ohio State. It was a magical moment. It was really eye opening for me because a lot of times my patients at work have no desire to talk about the pain and suffering that goes on behind the scenes, that most of us would never know unless you took care of someone going through this. The book is written from different viewpoints along the way. Tyler and both of his parents are the main story tellers. Through the entire book it talks so much about God and how much God has been with him through it all. Tyler kept asking God for just one more opportunity in this world to share the good news of Jesus. I came away truly inspired. Through battling his cancer he was still able to give all glory to God. I can't wait to finally get to meet him in Heaven someday. We would have lots to talk about. I would highly recommend this book. 

With COVID-19 risk they decided to cancel all schools for the foreseeable future. That meant that everyone became a home schooled child. Since our school district had never instituted NTI, or snow day work from home instructions, we were left with little ideas for the kids. Their teachers sent home ideas of reading for 30 minutes and then working on the computer programs they have access to from school. Well, that didn't take enough time so Jennifer came up with additional school work that we will be completing at the Heflin School. We have art, a daily journal entry, worksheets from a book that Jennifer got, and my favorite part of the the day, PE! I clearly am in charge of PE, even if it happens after I get home from work. Here are the kids hard at work. They even produced these pictures in art. Landon with the baby Yoda and Brinley with a unicorn.

We have only had a couple of mishaps so far in homeschooling. Well, Jennifer has continued to work nights during this time and that has meant that the kids have been spending some time on their computers while Jennifer naps. Once during a nap Brinley decided that she was going to cook some Easy Mac. Not too big of an issue except Brinley forgot to put water in the container before she put it in the microwave. Jennifer woke up to the fire alarm going off, which I am sure was terrifying. Another time during Jennifer's nap time Brinley came and woke her up to ask what our zip code was. After further questioning Jennifer discovered that Brinley had got her credit card out and was going to try and purchase something on a game that she had been playing. Thankfully she didn't know that zip code. I had to have a big talk with her when I got home.

One of Brinley's worksheets had some basic addition problems in it. Jennifer and I do not understand common core principles and I actually think it is complete garbage. Brinley tried explaining it to me, but I insisted that I knew a way that was much faster and more time efficient. So one night I sat down with the kids and taught them old school mathematics. Landon loved it, but Brinley swore that her way was easier. I even started making problems up where the kids could add numbers in the millions. I would love to see how this is done with common core if anybody is willing to waste that much time and paper. 

Physical education for the night consisted of a long 2.4 mile walk. The kids usually hate taking walks with me so on this night I tried to make it into a game. On a previous walk I had asked Landon if he could navigate the back roads to his school. He missed one turn. So, I asked Brinley if she could get us to school. She did so awesome and got us there without any mistakes. She was so proud leading us and was confident the entire time. On the way back we decided to make up a story. We were all creators of the story and took turns adding parts. We were all on a journey when we came upon a cave filled with unicorns and sea turtles (which lead to a discussion on where sea turtles live and what makes the ocean salty) and then we came upon a milk waterfall where we stopped and had a drink. Next we fell down a mudslide and had to climb back up a ladder. When we got back to the top a unicorn granted us 3 magical wishes. Brinley wished for a real live bunny, Landon asked for food because he thought we were out in the wilderness with no food other than the milk waterfall, and I asked for a slide that went from my bedroom right into a pool. Landon then decided to change his to a bedroom slide into a pool too! After we got home we played some basketball and then called it a night. What a great day of PE! I even added in geography, science, and imaginative thinking.

Another day at the house means more PE. We took a family bike ride and then came home and played more basketball. Landon did some pull ups on the goal and Brinley tried to do trick shots out of her window. She still hasn't hit one, yet!

The last Home Depot kid's workshop was cancelled, but they allowed parents to come pick up the kits that had already been ordered. I stopped in and grabbed these binocular kits. I set up a little workshop in the basement and the kids got to work. They did a great job and now we just need to take them out to try and spot some birds in the neighborhood.

With all the media talking about a shortage of mask and protective equipment Jennifer decided to try and make some masks for me. Just an FYI these mask will not protect from virus like COVID-19. They will however provide a safe barrier when trying to do a small procedure that needs to be sterile. Which just means that it keeps you from breathing onto the area being worked on. Many of my patients actually have masks similar to these that they wear when getting their ports accessed. 

Monday morning I got up early and headed to the grocery store. Not to gobble up toilet paper, but instead to get food so that we can keep our social distancing up. I thought it was awesome that Meijer thought about all those essential employees who have trouble getting to the stores now with restricted hours. They have opened up an hour early for service workers every Monday and Wednesday while this pandemic is still in effect. 

Another day, another physical education class. Today the kids taught me everything I wanted to know about 4 square and then a ton more. They taught me about little mini games that they also play. A lot of them made no sense to me, but I went along with it anyway. Not sure if these are rules they made up or if these are standard playground rules, but they had fun playing which is all that matters. 

We had a family game night per Landon's request and they chose the game of Life. We went through all of life together. Both kids went to college, but neither of them wanted to go the route to have children. It broke my heart that I wasn't going to have any fictional grandchildren! I guess it made up for it that I ended up blessed with twins, triplets, and then an additional fictional baby in the game. Also I was kind of concerned with my children's financial future because both of them picked the risky road right before retirement.

Our outdoor activities today consisted of sidewalk chalk and swinging in the back yard. The kids also jumped on the trampoline for a while but I was too busy working in my garden. The weeds had overtaken the garden so I was just getting it prepared for the upcoming weeks when I will start to plant everything. This will be the first year that we still have canned goods from last seasons garden this late into the year. My father's day gifts sure took a beating out in the elements over the winter. Here was my UK one and it reminded me of this years season, only half finished!

Jennifer got me probably the hardest puzzle that I have ever owned for my birthday. It was the picture that we used for last year's Christmas card. Great picture, but a field full of pine needles and lots of the same type of trees makes for a very difficult puzzle. I conned the kids into helping me. For every piece of the border that they found then they could cash that in for time on their computer.You can see in the bottom left picture that Landon got upset. It was because his sister found more border pieces than him. 

In order to keep my sanity I have made a point to get out of the house everyday and go for a run. I even got caught in a rainstorm and kept going because I promised myself 3 miles when I left the house. The times have been a little sporadic, but I am just glad to be outside. Being cooped up in the house all day with the kids can be quite the challenge. 

One of the surrounding counties started this thing called going on a bear hunt for all the kids who are trapped inside all day long with the quarantine. It caught on in our neighborhood and the kids think it is awesome. We have now gone on 2 different hunts. One night we just walked around the block and we saw 26 bears/stuffed animals in people's windows.

Being home and not having to get up and rush to school has allowed us time in the morning to fix breakfast. Landon was the first one up this morning and decided that he wanted to make muffins. He read the instructions, turned on the oven to the correct temperature (I told him he is only allowed to do this with a parent),  found the correct measuring cup, mixed and even put them into the tin. After he poured a couple into the tin then he said that it was too hard and he wanted me to finish them up.

The kids have been obsessed with four square and we had been playing with a basketball. When I was out buying groceries I spotted this ball that was perfect for four square. I got them this little prize because playing four square has been one of their favorite things to do during the quarantine. 

Well, Brinley struck again. She tried to make some Easy Mac but again forgot to put the water in it. I would never recommend having Brinley make you a bowl. 

We were out playing basketball the other night and I jokingly put Landon up in the goal. I had done this once to my little cousin Morgan and she was terrified of me for a while because she thought I would do it again. I had no idea that Landon would react the way that he did. He completely lost it. So, I have now learned my lesson and I will never put another child into a basketball goal.

Since this whole quarantine started I have made a point to get in some form of physical activity which also helps my mental health as well. We don't have any races planned for this year as of now, but so many have been cancelled or rescheduled due to everything going on. When things have straightened out I want to be prepared for a race.

In order to get the kids out of the house Jennifer created a Bingo Scavenger Hunt. There was all kinds of objects and things that the kids had to find. We played a cover all so the kids had to find all 25 things. At first we thought that we made it too easy, but there was a couple things that gave us a hard time. We had trouble finding a cat and a turtle. Luckily the kids found a cat statue and then the kids both knew that around the corner from our house there is a concrete turtle in someone's garden. I was really surprised with the kid's ingenuity. One of the objects they had to find was a star. We have a couple houses in the subdivision with those metal star decorations. We didn't see any of them on the path we took, but both kids spotted a star on the American flag. I thought that was pretty smart on their part.

We also took a family bike ride to get in our family activity of the day. I am super proud of these two kids. They went on a 2.4 mile bike ride and didn't even complain at all. I only had to give them a couple pushes to help boost them up the hills. I can't wait for the day that the kids are out pedaling faster than me and I have to keep up with them.

Landon has become obsessed with this little stuffed panda, which he calls Pan Pan. The little panda sits with him while he is doing his school work on the chromebook. Also he was caught reading with Landon and Brinley. Pan Pan even had a front row seat to see Landon eat his cereal. The panda even joined us for Sunday church on the TV while we watched from our bed. Landon can't get enough of his new best buddy Pan Pan.

With us practicing social distancing and not getting out like our normal I decided that we should take some time to work on some much needed home improvements. For 10 years now we have had this vibrant red color in our kitchen. I felt that it was time for a change because I couldn't look at that red for another day. Red is my least favorite color because it makes me think of Louisville. Jennifer picked out this light bluish teal color.  

We liked the color in the kitchen so much and even had half a gallon left over so we decided to paint Jennifer and mine's bathroom. The kids said they wanted to help paint so I gave them a couple of lessons in how to use a paint roller. The bathroom turned out amazing. 

While I was at work one day Jennifer and the kids painted the front door. They had a lot of fun and I think it turned out pretty awesome. It looks like our front door is a stained glassed window.

The kids have been pretty obsessed with the lite brite. Brinley was so excited to make this rainbow.  I am just happy to see that smile! Sometimes she doesn't like to smile and her fake smile is awful. This is the look of pure joy in my little girl.

On the last day of the month I needed to get one last run in. Well, it was rainy and cold outside so I decided to get on the treadmill. I pushed myself and ran my fastest 3 miles in forever. It felt so good to get one final run in this month. 

Well, March 2020 didn't go as planned for most everyone in the world. Our lives have been changed dramatically and most of us feel like we have no control over anything. Well, one thing that you do have control over is your attitude and your outlook. Maybe it is because of my relationship with my personal Lord and Savior, my God. With all the crazy going on in the world today I have peace that no matter what the outcome here on Earth I will spend eternity with God. I pray that all of you find a relationship with God. May all of your family and friends stay safe during these uncertain times. I hope you continue to smile, laugh and remember to love one another, even though it has not been the March we all expected with last second shots in the NCAA tournament or enjoying all the other things that spring brings. Although most people have been terrified or hating having the kids at home 24/7 and even homeschooling them. I am thankful for this added time around my family. A time to stop rushing from event to event that I normally keep us on. Sometimes I just need to slow down and enjoy the beautiful things that God has blessed me with right here in my home, Jennifer, Brinley, and Landon. I just hope that when the social distancing ends that I continue to remember that just spending time with my wife and kids is what makes me the happiest in the world. I hope you remember that which makes you happy and you continue even when the stress of work, school, and everyday life gets back to somewhat normal. Thanks for reading and God bless you all!

February 2020

February proved to be a lot of fun for us at the Heflin house. It was also a special year because we got to take advantage of that nice extra 24 hours to get some stuff done with it being leap year. Most people think of Valentine's Day when they think about February, but I better be on my game a week earlier than that because Jennifer's birthday is exactly a week before it!

We once again started our month off with a trip to the Home Depot kid's workshop. The kids built this picture framed yarn heart. They did everything with just minimal assistance. I am very proud of the little builders that they are turning into.

Just another great day to be a member of the big blue nation! 

We had a gift card eating a hole in our pocket, so we headed over to Malibu Jacks to play some laser tag and miniature golf. Golf was not going as planned because the kids were losing interest on about hole 5. We promised to stop and pick up a sweet treat if both kids finished the round without any more fighting or craziness. It actually turned out to be the best round of mini golf that I can remember the 4 of us playing.

For those of you who don't already know, Jennifer is exactly 21 days older than me. For those three weeks I usually joke with her a little more often about being an old lady. Well, she started a new hobby of knitting a scarf and I couldn't help but snap a picture of it. Now I have clear proof that she is an old lady!

Well, for Jennifer's birthday I had taken the day off from work. The Fayette County School System didn't get the memo that I wanted to take my girl out for a day date because they cancelled school for sicknesses and they closed to deep clean the schools. So, the kids got to tag along on the date with their mommy and I. Jennifer had been asking to go make some specialized dinner plates at the Mad Potter. I asked the kids what they wanted to paint on their plates. Landon wanted to do Pokemon and Brinley said she wanted to do a bunny unicorn or a bunnicorn as she called it. Instead of trying to paint one myself I spent time helping both kids with their plates. I think they all turned out great!

We then headed right down the shopping center to eat lunch at Malone's. Later that night we had double doosies from Great American Cookie Company just like Jennifer had requested. We also surprised mommy by taking her to the store and helping her pick out a new iPhone. She was very happy to upgrade from the 7 to the new 11!

On mommy's birthday we also made a quick pit stop by Jacobson Park to get in a few trips down the hill on our sleds. Jennifer was happy to sit in the warm car and snap a few pictures of me and the kids.

Of course after seeing everyone online acting a fool about their broom I had to give it a try. The kids thought it was awesome!

I bought tickets for the Her Knight Dance and I had no idea what we were getting our selves into since we had never been before. Well, it was an awesome experience. I think that Brinley enjoyed all the special attention that she got. It all started with her and Jennifer going out and picking her dress out together. Then Brinley getting her hair done by mommy. 

After eating Chick-fil-A and getting our pictures made we made our way out to the dance floor. Brinley really wasn't interested in dancing because they were playing a lot of older wedding dance type of songs, so I had to make it fun to keep her interested. It was songs like Twist and Shout, YMCA, and the Chicken Dance. Brinley even thought it was fun to dance on top of my shoes. The dance part was actually a huge struggle for me, but I couldn't let her know that. Two days before the Her Knight Dance I went to my first small group men's Bible study group that starts with a crossfit workout. I had appartently worked muscles that hadn't been used in years. I could barely move from sitting to standing which really made dancing with Brinley painful at times. Brinley however found her rhythm when they started playing music she knew like Old Town Road, Get Up, and I Got a Feeling - from the Trolls movie.

We even spotted a couple of the Chick-fil-A cows with some unique outfits on and had to get a picture with them. They gave Brinley a little tiara that she wasn't too excited about wearing but did for a couple of pictures. Every father and daughter got a gift bag for coming to the dance. The little girls got a little heart necklace and all the dads got a pair of socks with the Her Knight logo on them. It was a really special day with my little princess.

I had a patient at the clinic tell me about this little hole in the wall restaurant called Dad's Favorite. They talked so highly of it that I decided that I had to try it out. Jennifer and I were both off one day and we went while the kids were in school. They make their own cheeses and have created a sandwich for every single one of the different cheese options. Jennifer and I both got a sandwich and then shared so that we could both try a couple of them. The "Dad" was actually in the store that day and insisted that we try all of the different cheeses that he makes. He told us the whole back story of how he created each and every one of them. It is a really cool spot and would maybe go more often if it wasn't all the way on the other side of town. 

Happy Valentine's Day to the kids. They told me that they wanted donuts for breakfast so I got up early and went to pick up these conversation hearts from Krispy Kreme. The majority of the candy was sent to them by their grandparents and each kid even got a plaster mold and paint kit too. Landon got a dinosaur one and Brinley got a unicorn theme kit. This is my least favorite holiday for them all because I try to show these kids and their mother that I love them every day. If I have to be super extravagant just one day a year then what does that actually prove?

Jennifer and I on our Valentine's night dinner at Qdoba! Man I am so lucky that she doesn't need all the crazy of this world. The kids were with us and I couldn't have been happier. I sent Jennifer this little meme card, but she wasn't all that impressed.

The day after Valentine's it was back to work at Rupp for the UK game against Ole Miss. They interviewed Nick from Survivor on the big screen so I made a point to get down and try to meet him. Nick recently won the season that he was on and now he is starting in the winners at war season. He was very nice and I wished him the best of luck and told him I was proud that he represented Kentucky well.

The kids had been obsessed with their electronic devices so much recently that for one whole weekend I took them all away and we had to find ways to keep us entertained without electricity. I had this adult coloring book with Christmas pictures that seemed like a good idea. Brinley quit and didn't finish her picture. I did the reindeer, Landon did the Christmas tree, and Jennifer did the fireplace. Even though Brinley didn't finish her picture she really enjoyed everyone else's so much that she hung them up in her room.

I drug Jennifer and the kids out to watch the women's basketball team play against Mississippi State who at the time was ranked 6th in the country. It was an awesome game. The kids enjoyed their snacks, met the wildcat, and I even caught two shirts when the cheerleaders were throwing them out to the crowd. Kentucky won the game and it wasn't even close!

For Christmas I received a bow tie from my father. After some you tube videos I finally got it down pat. I had to test it out in the real world so I wore it to a work dinner at Jeff Ruby's. Not sure that I will be wearing it all the time, but if people know me (usually wear shorts and t-shirt) then it really throws them off.

We had a person that contacted our clinic and asked if they could donate tickets to some of our children. Well, of course they could! One of the little patients came to an earlier game in the season and I had asked the head of the Committee of 101 if there was anything that we could do for them. He said that we could take them out to center court and get a picture on the court. I even had showed them where the players exited the building so that they could get a picture with them. Well, then we had another patient show up for a game. After the game I securde him a spot right up on the court where he listened to Coach Calipari's post game radio show. He got his ball signed by coach and everything was good. Then everything in the universe started falling into place for an amazing epic adventure. John Wall who had been at the game as a fan came back out and snapped a few pictures with his family. We screamed for him to come meet my friend. We then ran around the basement of Rupp Arena to meet John Wall and we caught him right before he got on the elevator. Then like clock work the players started filing right out. We met Tyrese Maxey, Ashton Hagans and then headed back out to the floor where we met Nick Richards and Immanuel Quickly. It truly was an awesome experience and when I got home Jennifer asked me why I didn't get a picture with John Wall and I told her because at the moment it wasn't about me, it was just about making my patient's day just a little bit better. I had never met John Wall before this interaction. This was actually my favorite day ever of being a blue coat because of the smile that I got to see on this young man's face that day. 

The football team contacted me and told me that they had something for me over at the practice facility. I had no idea what it could possibly be but I was completely shocked when I got there and they had a framed picture of some of the team with Belk Bowl Champs. They also had a full size personalized football with the Belk Bowl info from the game on it. I couldn't have lucked into a better little gig with the football team. They also told me that my bowl ring would be in around May. They also asked if I would be interested in coming back to drive recruits again next year and of course I said yes!  

I had never been to a Men's Conference before but our church was having one. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it was an amazing two days spent in worship and fellowship with other men in the community. The four guest speakers they had did an amazing job. The first that spoke was my favorite because he spoke with so much passion during his message. They had live wrestling in the lobby, an impossible basketball shot, 3 pound turkey legs, Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches, crowd games and so much more in addition to the 4 different messages that we heard. I was even able to meet Shannon the Dude, who is the producer of KSR. I hope that Southland does it again next year and I am for sure going again and have a lot of friends that I think would have enjoyed it as well! 

One Saturday afternoon the kids and I decided to build Legos. We have been obsessed with the new show Lego Masters so we were trying to see what we could create. Landon and I both built cars. Mine was the big one with all the lego heads attached to it because my little characters were headhunters. We even raced them down the ramp that you can see behind them in the picture. I also helped Brinley build a rainbow colored house. Brinley and Landon also played a game of basketball where Landon was the basketball!

I was honored at the hospital for hitting a milestone. As of February 15th, I had been with UK Healthcare for 10 years. I have worked in 4 different areas over that time period, but I currently reside in the DanceBlue Clinic. They had a little reception and gave me a book with nice comments all my co-workers had left for me. 

The kids had another breakfast with dad at the school. They had donuts and Courtney Love from the UK Football team came to talk to us. They had the raffle and I asked Brinley before hand if she would let Landon have both tickets since he has never won before and Brinley has won almost every time we have gone. I told her that if her ticket won then I would get her something at the store. Well, of course her ticket won but she let Landon go up and pick out the prize. Apparently it was this pen or a little frisbee. I thought he might give it to me and then I would get him a prize at the store that he actually would like, but the little guy never even mentioned giving it to his old man. That is until he came home from school with it a few days later saying it was broken and that he wanted a new prize! Not today buddy! You missed your opportunity. Jennifer's recommendation is that we just tell them we don't want raffle tickets the next time that we go to one of these dad's breakfast.

An older gentleman that volunteers in our clinic told me recently about a tradition that he does every year on his birthday. He runs half his age in miles to celebrate his birthday. I of course am always up for a new challenge so I told Jennifer my plans to run 17 and a half miles on my birthday. She told me that it was a bad idea and that she didn't think I should do it. Well, the moment that man told me about it I knew that it was going to happen. After thinking through the logistics of it all I knew that my birthday was going to be jam packed with activities so I chose to use my extra day for the year, leap day, to accomplish this feat. Do to it being cold outside and I hadn't trained at all for this I decided that running on the treadmill was going to be the best option. I would have plenty of snacks, water, and a place for bathroom breaks too. I woke up at 5:30 and got on to try and crank out these miles. It started off really good for the first nine miles, but then I started taking quite a few walk breaks. I made it through the second half of the run, but I was struggling. I finished in three hours and nine minutes for an average mile time of 10:48. It is something that I might add to my birthday tradition every year as well! The picture of my watch was taken at the end of the day and it showed all the activity that I had done. I burned 3,249 calories, exercised for 218 minutes, and was standing at least 16 hours of the day.

February was a great month. It was extremely busy for us, but isn't every month busy for us! We celebrated Jennifer, Valentine's, watched UK sports, went dancing, and even celebrated a milestone at UK healthcare. As much fun as the month of February is I am always more excited to begin March! March is my absolute favorite month of the year for many different reasons. Thanks for reading and God bless!

40 by 40

The year before I turned 30 I created a list of 30 things that I wanted to do before my milestone birthday. I was rather successful and was able to have lots of amazing experiences. Jennifer however said that I was driving her crazy because I was always trying to get something done on the list. I think that I was able to accomplish 27 of the 30 goals that I had set out for myself. So, in planning ahead I have come up with 40 things I want to do before I turn 40. This time I am giving myself a little over 5 years to get everything done. I just need something to work towards to keep myself motivated. Thinking of 40 things was actually quite a task in itself, but I think I finally got it all narrowed down. Some are silly things that I have never been able to do in my life and some are a little more ambitious.

• Help both kids get saved and become Christians - nothing is more important to me than leading my children to a relationship with God and helping them grow in their faith. 

• Weigh below 200 pounds - lowest adult weight was 222, but currently sitting at 245.

• Go on a mission trip - doesn't matter if it is foreign or abroad. Just want to help people less fortunate than me. It can be a medical mission or christian based.

• No sweets except on special occasions (birthdays and holidays) for a full year. At the beginning of the year I picked about 20 days in which I can eat sugary filled treats. Dates like birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, and lastly vacation.

• Pay off all debt except house - We finally finished paying off all our student loans, but then we had to buy a new car and our air conditioner when out. Oh the joys of adult hood.

• Read bible for 365 consecutive days and complete the Bible again

• Triathlon - I have wanted to do this for some time. More than likely going to start with a local little one that they have in Lexington every year.

• Give up pizza for a year - yes you heard correctly. A full year without my favorite food.

• Complete 25 half marathons - have currently done 10.

• Run a full marathon again - completed one during the Dopey Challenge, but would like to do one again.

• Visit a new continent - have already been to North America, Europe, and Australia. Jennifer and I have said that we wanted to possibly visit Asia, specifically China, but with all the stuff going on there we might have to wait a while.

• Get the kids up to 30 states - they have both currently visited 20 states and Brinley has been to 21 because we took her to Missouri before Landon was born and haven't been back since.

• See a moon bow - I really want to see this phenomenon that can only be seen a few places in the world. The closest one can be seen down at Cumberland Falls in Kentucky.

• Complete NPA ladder - this is an extra set of paperwork that you can complete at work that gives you credit for all the things that you are currently already involved with at the hospital. It comes with a pay increase so I can't believe that I haven't done it before now.

• Make a will - we have been putting this off ever since we had children. We need to make sure and get it made and validated just in case something happens to Jennifer and myself.

• Join a small group at church, meet Jon Weece, and start volunteering - we attend Southland Christian Church here in Lexington. It is a really large church and they suggest getting involved with smaller groups that they help set you up with by finding people with common interests. I recently joined a men's group who meets every Thursday night to do a crossfit workout and then have devotion about the book of Acts. Although we have been going to one of the Southland locations for 10 years we have still never personally met Jon Weece the head pastor. I used to work in the children's ministry, but it was hard to do while I was still working every weekend. Now that I am off on weekends I need to get back into helping.

• Learn to braid hair - I take the kids to school most mornings and I struggle something awful with her hair. Jennifer does such a great job braiding it. Maybe it is about time for me to learn and make it look nice for school.

• Retire from the blue coats - this takes up quite a bit of my time when I would rather spend it with my family. Between the 7-8 home football games and the 20 basketball games it sure does take up a lot of time. The kids get sad when I head out to the games. I would rather make memories with them. So the blue coats will come to an end.

• Attend a UK football and basketball away game - I have never been to an away UK basketball game but it always looks like a wild environment, because as Coach Cal says, "We are every one's super bowl."

• Go to a bowl game - When I made this list I had not yet been able to go to the Belk Bowl. It was an awesome experience and we had a lot of fun at the quick little trip down to Charlotte to cheer on the CATS to victory.

• Become a KY colonel - a unique title that is given to citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. My parents have both been given this honor. It is not something that you can get on your own. You must be recommend by someone to receive this great honor.

• Buy dinner for someone at a restaurant - When I tried to do my 30 by 30 this was one of the actual goals and I had the hardest time with it and was never able to actually go through with it. Well, this time I am going to complete the task.

• Participate in the Dance Blue Marathon - this will by my first year ever being able to attend the event that raises money to make the lives of the patients that I take care of better. I was informed that there is a possibility that I could actually be a member of the dance crew. 

• Hike angels landing or into the Grand Canyon - we have been to both recently, but weather and having the kids with us at the Grand Canyon kept us from hiking in.

• Kill a deer - have been deer hunting once, but was unable to kill one. 

• Go zip lining - I have always been too heavy for the zip line weight limit. It is something that I think looks fun and exciting and now that I am smaller I would love to do it.

• Have some type of physical activity everyday for a year - my goal is to complete my activity ring on my apple watch everyday. That requires I get at least 30 minutes of activity in everyday.

• Attend SEC tournament - would love to head down to Nashville and watch the CATS bring home a SEC championship.

• Read 20 new books - Jennifer is always telling me about a good book that she is currently reading. I need to broaden myself and learn about something new in a book.

• Learn to tie a Windsor knot and a bow tie - I only knew the most basic way to fix a neck tie. So I would like to learn how to tie a windsor knot without having to use a youtube video. My dad got me my first bow tie for Christmas I have been working with how to properly tie it. I think that I finally figured it out and even wore it out in public for the first time.

• Apply for the show Survivor - my family loves this show and we are all huge fans. I have watched every single of the 40 seasons. No idea if I would be picked but I know for sure that I won't if I don't try.

• Run a 5K as a family - last year Landon and I participated in a 5K. Neither of the girls have ever completed one. It is surprising that Jennifer has done a full marathon, 10 half marathons, a few 10k, but never a 5k.

• Buy a new house - Jennifer and I have been living in our current house for right around 10 years. It is the house that both kids came home from the hospital to and the only place that they know as home. However, Jennifer and I believe that this may not be our forever home. 

• Skiing - I have never attempted this on either snow or water. I would like to try at some point. 

• Call into KSR - long time listener, but never called in to talk with the guys. I usually listen later in the day because I am a podcast listener. I recently met Shannon the Dude at an event and told him that it was on my goal list. He told me to call in and he would get me on the air. 

• Cut down a Christmas tree - I have always thought this would be a fun experience but we have never done it. Maybe because Jennifer has visions of Christmas vacation in her head. 

• Do a puzzle greater than 1,000 pieces - I have done hundreds of puzzles, but never one larger than a thousand pieces. Well, earlier this year I did two of them. I first finished a 2,000 piece puzzle and then quickly followed that with a 1,500 piece puzzle.

• Do the monkey bars - as a child I can never recall being able to complete a trip across the bars. As I got older I only got heavier and was never able to hold myself up. Just a couple of years ago I was able to successfully do a pull up.

• Learn to spin a ball on finger for at least 15 seconds - I have always thought this was such a cool thing. I have practiced many times, but can only keep it for about three to five seconds. Maybe after trying for five years I can spin it like the Harlem Globetrotters. 

• Learn the 3x3 Rubix cube - Again something else that I thought was so neat as a child. I have solved it a couple of times with lots of online help. However, I want to learn how to do it with no aids and to complete it under 10 minutes.

This is a lot of stuff to try and accomplish, but what are goals if you make them too easy. It will take a lot of effort and hard work, but I am ready to get to work. If there is anything or any way that you can help me finish any of these goals it would be greatly appreciated. If nothing else, I plan to enjoy the journey to 40. I have truly been blessed the first 35 years of my life. Thanks for reading and God bless!

January 2020

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope that 2020 is a wonderful year for everyone. The kids had a wonderful winter break, but were ready to return to school to see all of their friends.

The kids went and made a little wooden air hockey table game at the Home Depot. They have really gotten good at doing all the building by themselves. Landon just struggles with getting the paint job exactly like the picture on the project worksheet.

While everyone was visiting over the holidays we noticed a weird noise from our outdoor heating unit. After calling to have some people come out to look at it we found out that it needed to be replaced. Not exactly the way we wanted to start off the new year, but Jennifer and the kids didn't think living without a heater was an option.

I had a friend from work that asked if we wanted to attend UK gymnastics Excite Night. This is the opening night of the gymnastics season and this year they competed against Missouri. It was supposed to be a really fun night, but a couple of things happened that caused a few people to be in a bad mood. It all started off bad while we were walking into the stadium. We were running a little late because I got off work late, but we all met up and were walking in together in a line. When all of a sudden I stepped on a man hole cover and it slid open and I fell part of the way into it. I cut my toes and ended up hitting both my shins. So instead of going right to our seats I sent Jennifer and the kids to go find our seats and I went to the first aid station. After getting bandaged up I went to find Jennifer and the kids. The lower level row where are seats were located were not labeled so we just sat in some seats. Turns out that they belonged to UK women's basketball coach Matthew Mitchell. Our seats were supposed to be the ones in front of him. Both kids ended up getting hangry and tired so we all left a little upset. At least UK ended up winning the event. We had awesome front row seats to the beam routines.

On the way back to the car we stopped back by the man hole that I fell into. I made sure that it was put back into place. I also looked down into it to see how far I would have fallen if I hadn't caught myself. Turns out that it wasn't all that deep and it was full of all kinds of leaves and other debris. The picture on the right is my bandage job that the first aid station in Rupp gave me. I have since seen some of the people that helped me while I am working the basketball games and every time they have asked me if my foot was still ok. I am sure they got a pretty good laugh out of the man who fell into the man hole.

First blue coat event of the year was the men's basketball game against Missouri. The Cats came out victorious. Hopefully this is the year that they bring home championship number 9. 

Every year around the holidays and into January is some of my best puzzle making time. I think it is because there isn't much to do and its too cold to just go play outside. Well, I have always wanted to do a puzzle larger than 1,000 pieces. I had this 2,000 piece one that I had tried to do once before but gave up and put it back into the box. Well, this year I was determined to complete it. For about a 2 week period after I put the kids to bed I would sit and listen to music and try to put in a few pieces. I recruited Jennifer to help me with the sky. All the blue looked exactly the same. Jennifer ended up trying pieces in each spot until she found the one that fit. Not exactly time efficient, but it was effective.

The kids had been seeing previews for Spies in Disguise so we all went to see it. It was a cute little movie about a spy who gets turned into a pigeon. 

We also had ourselves a little day date. Mimi and Pap watched the kids while Jennifer and I went to see the movie 1917. I thought it was ok. I kind of expected more from all the hype that I had heard about it. On the way to pick up the kids we stopped by Battle Axes and spent about 30 minutes tossing some axes. Jennifer was actually really good at it. She got quite a few bulleye. In fact they had a little mini competition with the other people there and Jennifer won a beer of her choice. We then informed them that we don't drink and that someone else could have it. 

It was time again to save a life by going and donating blood. This was part of a competition between the University of Kentucky and the Florida Gators. Which ever school could get the most donations during the week would win bragging rights and I think they even have a traveling trophy. Jennifer also donated during this week too, which is named Big Blue Slam.

Brinley had been begging to go ice skating ever since she saw the pop up ice rink downtown. I had told her that we could go to the indoor one sometime. Well, we all finally had a day off and decided to try it out. After we got our skates on I think Brinley realized just how difficult this was actually going to be. She couldn't even walk on the regular floor so I knew that it was going to be a struggle out on the ice. We got a couple of the training walkers to let the kids try those out. Well, Landon quickly became brave enough to ditch the walker and went out on his own. We couldn't even get Brinley to try and move herself. She was just holding onto the walker and having Jennifer or myself push her around. She was becoming upset and said that she never wanted to ice skate in the first place. Well, after many talks I decided that our goal was to get her around the rink at least once without the walker. By this time Landon already had a blister and didn't want to skate anymore so Jennifer and I grabbed an arm and went out to try and teach Brinley how to skate. She never figured it out on her own, but when leaving she said she had fun and would like to do it again sometime.

I asked both kids if they wanted to go to UK baseball and softball fan day. This is a fun filled day where they have kids do drills and run around and interact with the college athletes. Well, only Landon said that he wanted to go. He had a blast! Afterwards we stuck around and met the entire baseball team. The guy with the face paint on is TJ Collett, he comes to visit the children in the hospital. He partnered with a group called NEGU, which stands for Never Ever Give Up, and they hand out joy jars to all the kids in the hospital whenever they come. We also got to meed head coach Nick Mingione too.

The kids also had a family fitness night at school. They played four square in the cafeteria, obstacle course in the gym and they even painted a couple of partially eaten apples. They mostly enjoyed running around with all of their friends.

One Sunday afternoon I decided that we would take the kids to have some fun at Malibu Jack's. We stated off on the go-karts where the boys ended up beating the girls. Then we tried our hand at bowling. It had been a couple of years since the kids had done it. Well, Brinley got extremely lucky early on and took the early lead. Well, that sent Landon into a tailspin emotionally because he hates losing. As the game went on Brinley lost interest even though she was winning for most of the game. So, by the end of bowling I was forcing both kids to go roll their balls. Lastly we tried our hand at laser tag. Both kids were extremely excited about playing. We played boys verses girls again. Everyone was having a great time until we came out and saw the scores. Landon and Brinley had both scored exactly the same number of points, but Landon came in last place on our team and Brinley was middle of the pack on her team. Then Landon started saying he didn't know how to make his gun shoot. We left with a couple of ungrateful kids. The whole way home we had a discussion about how grateful they should be that we get to do fun stuff.

This year I had the privilege of working with the football team on game days. It also allowed me the opportunity to see the wildcats up close and personal on game days. I was so excited to see this team be successful after all the injuries that they had to start the season. A couple of the guys did autograph tours so of course I had to take the kids to meet them. We met Lynn Bowden Jr. and Kentucky born and raised Kash Daniel. Both of them were really nice young men. I hope they both have a lot of success if what ever comes next for them.

Another home basketball game means that I dressed up in my blue coat to help people to their seats in Rupp. It is a nice little perk that I also get to watch the Wildcats do work against their opponents. 

After work one night Jennifer and the kids met me at the aquatic center to watch the swim and dive team compete against Cincinnati. They crushed it on senior night to win their final home meet. We were all a little disappointed that they didn't compete in a high platform dive. That is what all of us really wanted to see.

The kids and I were out running some errands one day on the other side of town. We stopped by Shillito Park to see the new playground equipment. The kids loved it. I took a couple of pictures of the kids. I really loved the top left picture because it showed her true beautiful smile. 

The kids love a good swing. I love the double swings and this was the first one that I had seen with two normal seats. I had only ever seen one of them with a little baby swing attached to it. I swung with both the kids and they said it was terrifying. 

What did we ever do before Youtube? I watched a video about how to cut a fade haircut and then tried it out on Landon. Jennifer said it looked just as good when we take him to get it cut by a professional. I have been cutting my own hair for about 10 years, but nobody seems to want  my haircut. 

The month ended up being a huge puzzle month. The top right picture was a gift I got for Christmas and it was a 1500 piece puzzle of some US National Parks. It was neat because I had been to quite a few of the parks that were pictured. The picture on the left was a 1,000 piece puzzle that I put together while also watching the AFC and NFC championship games. Yes, I did the entire puzzle while watching the games. It took me just under 6 and a half hours from start to finish. This is one that I actually boxed back up because I want to do it again sometime to see if I can do it faster if I am not watching football games too! The bottom right picture was another gift that I received and it was actually one of the hardest puzzles that I have ever done. It doesn't look from this picture that it would be that bad, but if you were able to zoom in then you could see that it is a mosaic made up of thousands of small little tiny pictures. It gave me a good challenge, but I got it done.

Landon finally lost his second tooth. It had been loose for about a month but he wouldn't let anyone touch it. Slow and steady was his motto. The tooth was literally hanging on by a thread. I was playing around with him and I jokingly patted on his mouth and it popped the tooth out. He reached in and grabbed it so I told him I was so proud of him for pulling his tooth! I couldn't believe that small little tap knocked it out.

I have volunteered countless hours over the past 3 years at the kid's school, but I have never participated in the Real Men Read program until this year. I read the book "A Chair for My Mother". The best part of  going and reading to the class is that everyone in the class got a copy of the book to take home with them. Apparently I got a shirt too, but the teacher forgot to give it to me so Brinley brought it home in her backpack. All the kids were very polite and thankful for me coming in to read to them. It was all my pleasure.

January was a lot of fun, but we spent quite a bit of time at the house. I enjoyed quite a bit of quiet time while putting together some puzzles. Jennifer and I also kick started our health this year by doing a 2 week sugar detox. It helped us get on the right track to making better eating decisions this year. I hope that this is the year that I finally get my health on track. I still have a long way to go, but I am really determined and motivated to make it happen. Thanks for reading and God bless!