Eye of the Tiger...

Benjamin Franklin said: 

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage and half-shut afterwards"

Jay's perfected.that one 

While on a cruise 1 month after getting married.  (July 2012)

On a camping trip 6 weeks after we got married down to Zion.  (July 2012)
We tried taking this photo 3 times before we gave up (laughing of course).  

A pre-marriage photo.  I guess he dated with his eyes half shut then too.  Oops. (Novemeber 2011)

Our Chinese new year celebration (February of 2012)

Eating at Zin Burger.  The egg on the burger = big deal, but not enough to open his eyes (Feb 2013)

It must run in the family.  Wesley has a hard time keeping his eyes open in photos too.  As long as he can keep his eyes open during surgery and examinations, he can close them for the camera. 

The two most important events in a Marathon

Crossing the finish line

And changing out one sweaty bandana for a fresh one.

This photo was taken at mile 10.  He still had 16 more miles to run and it only got hotter from this point on.  

Jay ran his second Marathon in 6 months yesterday.  We ran the St George Utah Marathon together in October.  He ran the Phoenix marathon with 4 siblings and his dad ran the 1/2 marathon yesterday morning. Jay finished 3 our of his 5 siblings with a finish time of 3:48.  

The First Haircut

Jay's hair grows.  Fast.  One day it looks normal and the next day it is far too long.

He says the difference between a good hair cut and a bad hair cut is 2 weeks and told me to go for it.

My hair cutting experience consists of:

• 2000: Shaving John's head during chemo treatments.  (Well to be more exact, I actually taped his head as it it were a basketball and then pulled out his hair because I wanted to test and see that it really wouldn't hurt.  I bic'd the rest of his head.  That was a disaster, actually.)
• 2008: I attempted to cut another boy's hair, but his mom was standing right there and fixed it.  
• 2012: I've watched Chantelle cut Jay's hair twice this summer.  She made it look pretty like a piece of cake.  

I'm not sure where his confidence in me came from, but he needed a cut.  

Q-tip top

And after my cutting job, he probably still needs a cut--from someone who actually knows what they're doing.  

I don't really know how to blend the mop on top with the sides. I took a little too much out of the front middle.  You can't really tell in this photo.  And there is a chunk on the side that got a little too short.  It still is far too long on top, but I was too afraid to cut any more off the top.  The longer it is, the more someone else has to work with when they try to fix it.  

After he put some hair product in it this morning he said it didn't look too bad.  

At least he is still smiling....

Stethoscopes and Binoculars

Several months ago Jay said to me--Bird watching is a lot like being a doctor.

NEWS FLASH: My husband likes bird watching.

We may be driving in the car, out on a run, or even in a boat on the beautiful ocean in the Dominican Republic and Jay will point to a bird.  Once we were camping and he said he was just laying in the tent listening to the birds.

I'm oblivious.  I hadn't heard the birds that morning.  I didn't notice the hawk perched high on a telephone pole as we drove by.  And on my runs, my head is usually down to the ground, focused on each step I'm taking.

So, how is bird watching like the medical profession?

While bird watching, you usually only have a split second to identify a particular bird.  This is usually done by identifying key parts of the bird-the wingspan, the curve of the neck, the color of the feathers, how it flies, or the shape of the tail to name a few.  Medicine is the same.  In order to identify a disease, you also have to identify a few key symptoms.

Jay suggested once that, in time, I might really enjoy bird watching with him.  "You know, like when a girl starts watching Monday night football with her husband just to spend time and support him and then ends up becoming a big sports fan."

Maybe.

For now, if I can take out my bike and hold the camera, I am happy to come along and enjoy the adventures of birding.

We have been bird watching twice.  Once in Utah before moving to AZ and once in AZ on a trail just off the back of our apartment complex.  We've seen hawks, golden finches, coots, black neck stilts, avocets, woodpeckers, magpies, pelicans and, one of Jay's favorites, a Vermilion flycatcher.