Ohio fun

Today, we leave Ohio to go back home.  I have experienced the joys of having cousins for the first time in my life.  I have no first cousins in my family!  Michelle has 6 on her dad's side.  I got to meet all of them and I think I have them matched with the appropriate aunt.  Actually, I probably don't.  I got to see the cousins kids as well.  They are all 3 under 2.  The best part is, there are three more on the way.  Michelle and I are not expecting at this time.

While we were here, we got to see snow!  It was the first snow in Ohio this year.  Here is a picture for all to see.  The snow didn't stick for long, but for somebody from Florida, it is snow none the less.  It'll make for great stories when we get back to Florida.



 - Ben

Off to Ohio

From what I understand, both from hearing about and now experiencing it, holidays are tricky for newlyweds. There is always an issue of which parents to go and visit. Michelle and I are being rebellious this Thanksgiving and flying to Ohio! We are missing both sets of parents. :( Actually, there's more to it than that, and we aren't truly being rebellious. There is a whole load of Michelle's family that I have yet to meet and they all live in Ohio. Michelle's dad is out of the country and we are going to spend Sunday with my parents, so it all works out.

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

- Ben

Sick of Sick

Being sick is never fun.  Being sick is even less fun when you live with someone else.  It's even worse when you and the person you are married to are both sick.  This is the story of our marriage.  In two weeks, we'll be celebrating three months of marriage.  In three months, there has probably only been one week where neither one of us have been sick.  Michelle says maybe two weeks.  Either way, it's pretty sad.  We all know that married couples pass germs back and forth, but this is ridiculous.  It's usually me that catches the bug, and Michelle that gets it later, but I think it's safe to say it has gone the other way as well.

Currently Michelle has a strange form of pneumonia that takes over a month to cure.  Hopefully she'll be in the clear by the end of next week.  She's been on antibiotics for over a month.  Antibiotics are nice until they start to mess with your system.  Spicy foods are not Michelle's friend right now.

All in all, I'm glad Michelle is a nurse when I'm sick.  You can tell that it's her profession.  On the other hand, I can only dream of having a comparable bedside manner.  I can't even compare.  I like to think I try, but there is no way my bedside manner comes even close to Michelle's.  The sad thing is that Michelle will even take care of me when she is sick.  I have a tough time doing anything when I'm sick.

 - Ben

Building on Trust

My wife and I started a good habit of doing a devotion together every night before bed. The devotions we are doing this week center around the idea of trust in the marriage. It makes for an interesting bit of discussion especially since we are still newlyweds. It's been awkward with several of the topics geared more toward couple that have been married for longer periods of time. For us, I think this is the most awkward. On one hand, it feels to us like trust is not a big issue in our marriage. On the other hand, we haven't been married long enough to test our trust in each other.

It's interesting reading the illustrations about other couple that have been tested over and over. We read their stories, and then talk about situations our own parents went through while we were growing up. At this point it is easy to say it will never happen to us, but then again, we have never truly been tested in this area. I can honestly say I love my wife and completely trust her. I can also say that I trust in God to guide my wife and keep her safe. I know that my wife feels the same way about me.

I pray that we never experience a situation where we lose trust in each other. I also pray that if it ever happens, God will help our marriage to overcome the trials.

- Ben

Shots in the Back

So Thursday at work I got an H1N1 shot. I chatted with my doctor a bit before actually getting it, and he highly recommended it as I'm constantly in contact with children. One of the perks of being an elementary school teacher. My doctor said that it is made basically the same way as the regular seasonal flu vaccine. My school was also giving the vaccine to about 200 students.

So during my last class they made an announcement that all the students were finished with their vaccines. I was in the middle of my class. I had about 22 second graders and 8 ESE students with an Instructional Assistant. She told me to go ahead and get my shot and should would monitor the kids. This was about 10 minutes into my 40 minute class. When I got my shot, the 10 minute post observation period ended up lasting about 45 minutes. I totally got queasy from the shot. They told me I looked a little pale. My response was, "So what's new?". Fortunately I am just fine.

So then comes Friday....

During my first class of the day, I was standing and teaching a class of fifth graders. My back decided to spasm or something to the point where it was extremely painful. I couldn't sit or stand without pain. It just plain hurt. It was a long day, but I eventually got through it.

Friday night, I went with my wife to here parents house for the evening. The offered me a muscle relaxer. After taking it, I have learned that muscle relaxers are very effective on me. The feeling was similar to being buzzed from alcohol, but slightly different. If they had a video camera, they could have made a great YouTube video. Oh wait, they did get about 30 seconds on a flip video camera.

Needless to say, it was an interesting weekend.

- Ben

New title

So I decided to change the title of my blog. It's been quite a while since I actually posted anything. I am hoping this will give me incentive to blog more. I'll start with a little background. I am recently married to a beautiful woman named Michelle. Our wedding was on September 5, 2009. She is a nurse by trade. The idea to change the title comes from this. I figured there would be many many stories that would come just from being married to Michelle. The new title is a bit of an experiment by me to see if I will actually blog more. As of now, my goal is to blog at least twice a week for now. We'll see where that goes, but for now, I'll chat later.

- Ben