Photo-A-Day: Sunday, January 9th

This picture wasn't taken on Sunday, January 9th. First, I hadn't decided to do this and secondly, I claim recuperating from my surgery.  These are my two excuses. :)

Photo-A-Day: Wednesday, January 5th

My good friend S came to visit and brought her precious baby.

Photo-A-Day: Monday, January 10th

Beautiful flowers my husband gave me after my hospital stay.

A new adventure

So, now that I am licensed, I think it is time to open a little private practice. The goal being to have a full private practice in a few years. Gotta start sometime and somewhere. My goal is to be in business by March 2011 giving me just under two months to find office space and figure out how to actually get clients. Hmm. Easier said than done. Gotta put my networking mumbo jumbo on and work the private practice world. It's a good thing that I've found in the process of assisting the husband with revamping his biz, that I love the start up of a business. Love it.  Like love it so much that I wonder about incorporating that aspect more into my professional life.  Hmm.  And there she goes again with more ideas of things she wants to be when she grows up.  Wish me luck.

Adventures in Juicing: Spicy Tomato

In the fall, I began the South Beach Diet which lead me to drinking alot of vegetable juices. I bought them from Trader Joe's and it became rather expensive. That's when I thought that taking up juicing might be a fun and economical adventure. I placed a juicer and juicing recipe books on my Christmas list this year and lo and behold, I got one from Santa! It's nice to know that Santa is also interested in my health and my economic situation.

Anyway, both the magic man and myself have enjoyed juicing over the past several days. The magic man has even taken up cleaning it after every use which is impressive since he has childhood trauma from doing dishes and now avoids them at all cost. Um, I digress. My favorite kind of vegetable juice for a long time now has been tomato. Yum-o! I still not have perfected such a drink in the short amount of juicing time.

The tomato type juice I get at Trader Joe's is called a vegetable juice and it does have a little kick to it. So, when I was skimming my new book, The Everything Juicing Book, I came upon a recipe for Spicy Tomato.

In one word: YUCK!

The recipe was as follows:

6 Roma tomatoes
1/4 red onion
1/2 jalapeno pepper
1 clove garlic
1 celery stalk

Juice ingredients in order listed. Stir.

All I can say is that it is a miracle of miracles that I didn't just lose it aftewards. Ugh. Too much red onion and too much jalapeno pepper. I'd put 1/8 of red onion and 1/4 jalapeno pepper next time if I wasn't so traumatized by it this time.

Anyway, let's hope that adventures in juicing doesn't become adventures in being traumatized by bad juicing recipes and then never want to have veggie juices again.

Our Christmas Letter

Here is our Christmas letter for this year. Thought I'd share it here as well. Enjoy!

Christmas 2010

Dear Family & Friends,

It’s been a very long time since we’ve sent out a Christmas card let alone a Christmas letter. We figure it’s about time to get back into contact with those we love and cherish. It’s been a full and eventful year so let’s get started.

As many of you already know, we made a very difficult decision in the fall of 2009 to have James’ mom, Jane move into a local nursing home. It made the first several months of 2010 one of the most trying times of our life and marriage. It had already been such a crazy time anyway taking care of Jane who is in a total care situation after her catastrophic stroke in March of 2008. You can imagine the range of emotions James went through as he made this decision and then the even harder process of preparing Jane for the move. Yet as soon she moved her into the home, it has been largely smooth sailing. They take really great care of her at the home, she loves the attention and we truly enjoy the time we spend with her when we visit. It has been nice to be her kids again as opposed to her caregivers and we are all much happier. We’d love for you to come and visit her so give us a call for the address. She loves visitors and even though she can’t communicate clearly, she’ll chat your ear off in her cute mumbled chatter. She still has her amazing smile which lights up the room and that’ll bring comfort to anyone.
Since then, James and I are enjoying each other more and spending time having that honeymoon year that we never really got. We are now truly thankful for all the hardships we have been through in our three years of marriage and we both agree that we are better individuals and a better couple as a result. It took us a long while to feel that way but we are thankful and grateful we do!

James has been pursuing his career as a professional, full-time magician. We’ve put some time, resources and energy into his business this past fall and have seen great results. He’s been doing shows of all different types, audiences and sizes and we aren’t even scratching the surface. We have big plans for The Magic of Jimmy H and Jimmy H Productions in 2011. Check out our website, www.magicjimmyh.com and let us know what you think. James also got to realize a life long dream of becoming a street monster for a local haunt. His journey landed him at the Queen Mary and he worked every weekend for the entire month of October scaring patrons of the Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor Halloween Haunt. He had a blast and the time of his life and looks forward to participating in many more years of “professional monstering”. ☺

Zoey has been studying the large part of the fall for her licensing tests to become a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. She is happy to report she passed both exams and you can now refer to her as Zoey Holguin, LMFT! This was a huge, huge accomplishment for her career as a psychotherapist. Blood, sweat and tears but it is done! She looks forward to opening a private practice in 2011 focusing on various issues and specialties but really passionate about assisting those in the “sandwich generation” navigate the stresses and complexities of caring for their families as they assist their aging parents with long-term care issues. Zoey is still working for Pacific Clinics in community mental health and working with high-risk adolescents. Her future goal is to move up into a supervisory position working with clinicians in helping them conceptualize cases and become even better clinicians.

My family is doing great. We have been lucky enough to travel three times to Ohio to visit them just this year. They always have a fun time with their crazy and off-the-wall nieces, E. & L. E will be 5 in March and L just turned 3 in September. Crazy! Of all the people who bug ask us about having kids, E is the worst! It goes something like, “Aunt Zo-Zo, don’t you think it’s time for you to have a baby. I would really like a little cousin.” Funny girl. We enjoy very splashy baths, dance parties and lots of Uncle Jimmy playtime with them. Yes, there is no vacation for Uncle Jimmy on trips to Ohio. The girls love their Uncle Jimmy and he plays endlessly with them. It’s a perfect combo. My mom, sister and bro-in-law are doing great too.

Lastly, we do have a new baby! On December 16th, 2009, we welcomed Chiquita Bean Mona into our family. She was a stray that ended up at the school that Zoey works at and to make a long story short, we officially adopted her several days later. We love our little Chihuahua and she loves us. Jane’s dogs still give her the evil eye at times but have adapted well to the little princess. “Three dogs too many” is a common saying from Zoey’s mouth but truth be told that little Chihuahua has brought a lot of love and happiness into our lives this past year.

As you can see, we are living our dreams and we are looking forward to 2011. We are hopeful for more good things and the grace to learn from the not so great things. We are hopeful too that you and the ones you love experience all good things this holiday season and in the year to come!

Much love,

Us

Halloween Observations

Some Halloween observations.

1. I had more tweens at my door than the little ones. Crafty.

2. Tweens boys are annoying.

3. I haven't figure out the person to candy to total trick or treaters ratio...yet.

4. The number of little kids who tried to open my (locked) door was staggering. Um, hello parents!

5. It was fun to have many, many trick or treaters. I loved trick or treating when I was a kid and I'm glad to see the tradition still alive in my neck of the (concrete) woods.

6. My favorite trick or treating memory was when it was raining like crazy and my mom with her Volkswagen van drove us around so we could jump out and cover a few houses and then jump in. That was awesome. I love that memory.

7. There was one slightly drunk man that did some trick or treating. Ok, maybe he did it for his kid. Still he smelled like booze.

Happy Halloween. Next in the fall fun. Thanksgiving!

No coffee... what?!

So, I have some big news to share! No we are not pregnant. We haven't won the lottery. I haven't passed the MFT licensing exams...yet.

I'm officially a non-coffee drinker! To some this probably doesn't come as such shocking news and you honestly just don't care. To others you are shaking your head in confusion and wondering if I'm okay. I identify with the later.

It's been a gradual process. It wasn't an intentional process either. It just happened. This is probably why I am still trying to wrap my head around it. For the past 3 weeks or so, I've been on the South Beach diet. I've keep it to lean protein, low GI veggies and fruits and some whole wheat type deals. Most just lean protein and low GI veggies. The rationale is that you need to kick the sugar addiction. Also, I was recently diagnosed with PCOS and part of that is that my body is insulin-resistant so carbs and me just don't get along. I'm also on some medication that helps to control my insulin levels. I'm not diabetic. I plan to stay that way. Anyway, needing to take control of my health, I've been pretty good on this new venture. That is when it happened.

I've drastically reduced my caffeine intake over the past few years. I can do about one cup of coffee a day and occasionally one diet coke before I start jumping off the walls. That was far better than what I used to be which was caffeine was like water. Drink a cup and go to sleep the next minute. Anyway, I'd say about a week and a half ago, I started to just not like the coffee I was making at home. I'd get myself a cup out of my favorite Keurig and then only have about a half of it before I just didn't want it or it got cold. Then there were about 2 days that I'd get some myself a cup and it just made me want to gag at the thought of drinking it. I'd pour it out. So, finally I just decided not to make it one day. Then the next I'd make it only to again pour it out. Gag me. I bought it at a restaurant because I always have coffee in the morning for years. Only a few sips because I had just paid money for it. My body obviously doesn't crave it anymore. My psychological addiction has been the part I've had to wrestle with. Today I made it again. One sip then I just didn't care for it. So, I think I'm officially off of coffee and I'm hear to declare it. There I said it. Now maybe it'll seem real.

a common ache

All around the world tonight there is a common ache. Tens upon hundreds of people have a hole, an ache and a deep sadness for a couple who so desperately want to express their union in that of a child. They've been on a long journey to become parents and that journey has been filled with much pain and sadness. They only recently let their hearts give way to hope and that is why tonight the ache becomes ever more profound, deep and beyond description. They again lost another child. They had him for a short 10 days and tonight they held him as he took his last breaths. They have hoped and lost too many times. We have hoped and lost too many times.

It has been 5 years since I've been apart of this church community of which they are long standing members. This was my community, ministry and vocation. I've moved on but it will have a profound place in my heart. I've known this couple for quite some time. I did flowers for their wedding. They attended mine. In the wonders of modern technology, I've stayed abreast of their journey to become parents. It would be amazingly painful enough to lose a child in the circumstances in which they did and yet that is only a part of a larger story of which I know few of the details except this was to be it. THE opportunity to realize their dreams after many setbacks. This wasn't only their child, it was also to be a child of the community. All were pulling in real and tangible ways for this couple to fulfill their dream, their prayer and their journey to become biological parents.

I remember reading the first status update that he was having problems in utero in his surrogate and reading it and reading it. I was in disbelief. I slept little that night attempting to yell, scream and have it out with God in regards to why this had to happen after all they had already been through. I was usually addicted to checking facebook and yet over the last 10 days I've been completely obsessed with only that which told me of updates of Noah. My heart sank and then it lightened. I prayed. I prayed some more. I pleaded, bargained and rationed with God much as I have these past several years as my journey in life has been met with its own difficulty. Yet I wanted more for them than I wanted for myself and these past two years didn't seem too difficult in light of what I imagine to be indescribable pain and suffering they were and will experience.

It is amazing to see the sense of loss everyone is experiencing at the news of the loss of his life. Every two or three updates on my facebook page is in regards to the loss of Noah. He had a fan page of nearly 1,000 members. People he never knew and who would never know him but people who wanted him to be present, living and growing among us. Those same people cry out in sadness, pain, disbelief, anger and a loss of words. The best response possible. Nothing else can be said or done. Moment by moment. That's all that can be handled and that might be much.

Yet these messages of sadness, disbelief and anger are not trite sayings. They will have hands and feet. They will deliver meals, give hugs, be shoulders to cry on and will carry this couple through. This I know even though it has been 5 years since their church community has been my own. It's not buildings, programs, sermons or bulletins that touch the very acute pain they feel. It's people that have been there before this journey and at every sharp turn it has taken them on thus far. This I am confident of and this I am most proud.

Noah would've not only had the unconditional, rich and unbelievable love of his two very amazing parents but would've had that of a large community of people...a church...a real living breathing church. Yet even that is incomparable to what he is experiencing now in Heaven with His God and his siblings who have gone before him. We just wanted him to experience a little Heaven on Earth and we want his parents to be parents because we know he would've loved it and they would've loved it too. This is why we are so sad. We all miss you, Noah. Many of us never knew you yet we feel acutely the hole you've left in this world...in our hearts. We ache for you, Brian & Andrea. We have no words but we are angry and we are sad and that can't even describe it. God, we don't understand and we may never will. We know you can take the tough questions and our difficult days. For that, we are thankful.