Thursday, September 23, 2010

health insurance

by no means is this any sort of political post, but i would like to praise my company for a minute for providing excellent health insurance.  it seems like all we hear are people complaining about how terribly expensive healthcare is and no one is grateful.  even the millions of people in our country who get free health insurance are not grateful (okay i really promise this is not going to be a political post, but james' experiences as an emt and at the hospital are sometimes frustrating to hear).  anyway, today i salute you, hr of our company, for doing a fine job helping our employees have affordable insurance. 

even though our deductible is fairly high, our work sets aside a geneourous HRA fund every year.  this money rolls over if not used in its entirety and is funded solely by our employer.  james and i used this money to pay for most of  parker's birth expenses and it was a huge blessing.

also, our work rewards people for making healthy lifestyle choices.  this is something i am very adamant about and am thankful for as well.  in two weeks, our office will undergo a voluntary "screening" that tests cholesterol, blood sugar, bmi/waistline, blood pressure and asks if we are tobacco-users.  depending on the scores, we receive a monthly discount for living a healthly lifestyle.  it does not hurt the people who are unhealthy, but rewards those who are not as likely to be a big financial health expense to the company.  granted there are factors and situations that make it more difficult than others to achieve certain bmi levels or whatnot, but overall, i think there is such a lack of personal responsibility for being healthy and it is encouraging to see rewards for valuing health.

i weigh more than i want to right now.  my bmi is probably higher than i want it to be (i haven't had it tested for a while).  yet there is no one but myself to blame for my current situation.  sometimes i tell myself that if i didn't have a kid i would still be in the same shape i was 3 years ago (and i more than likely would as i love to workout), but at the same time, several of my neighbors go running every morning at 6am and if i was really motivated to lose the 13 pounds i've added since we got married, i would get up early to run.  here's to hoping the screening still goes well... :).  love yall.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

weddings can be fun

i still have a few denver posts in the queue that are a little outdated now (zoo, estes park, firefighters museum, etc.), but tonight i'll share a couple pictures from my friend jinger's wedding.  james and i truly had a great time at this event.  we didn't know a ton of people, but the wedding had 3 key elements that always make a wedding more enjoyable for guests:

1. kid friendly...or kids were invited.  (for the first time at a wedding, parker made friends and danced on the dance floor for a good 2 hours!!  it was such a blessing.  he also kept going around stealing steak knives off the table before dinner and running around with them but that is a whole 'nother story [no one was hurt]). 
2. dancing
3. alcohol/dinner

we've been to so many weddings lately that have not had any of these luxuries and we just did not enjoy ourselves.  i know weddings are all about the bride and groom, but i really appreciate the weddings where people put the guests' enjoyment in the priority list as well.  besides the fact that we have to entertain parker in the hallway during all wedding ceremonies, receptions without food or dance floors are not really kid friendly either and p is at the age where he does not want to sit still. 

anyway, the next two upcoming weddings should be fun...heather's wedding will be a fun lawrence/high school reunion, and courtney's wedding will have all of the above mentioned amenities.

below are two of my best friends from my internship who were so kind to come to james' and my wedding in kansas two years ago:
happy lil' family.  love that james and parker match!
yay for a renewed faith in the happiness of weddings and a positive attitude going forward...love yall!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

monkeys

we went to a first birthday party for one of parker's best buds the other weekend and the theme was monkeys!  love themes and wrapping presents (we got him two monkey outfits :))
i tried to get parker to pose with me and the present in his monkey shirt.  you can tell how exicited he was for the photo.  fail.
i loved the birthday cake brittney ordered that perfectly matched the invitations.  they had a monkey pinata as well as other cute monkey decor!
birthday boy in action.  isn't he the sweetest thing you have ever seen?
until next time, love you all!  happy friday!!

Monday, September 6, 2010

colorado

home from colorado.  great trip (surprisingly smooth), great to be home.  happy labor day!!