Cruise Life

I could really get used to the cruise life. We had an awesome time floating in the Caribbean. We met some wonderful people, saw some beautiful places and ate some wonderful food. I could go on and on about everything we did, but I won't bore you. A cruise vacation allows us to literally forget about all of our responsibilites and enjoy the moment. That's what vacation is all about. I love being on deck to see the sun rise. Seeing other parts of the world makes you realize just what a big God we serve. He created all of this and yet He still cares about even the smallest detail in my life? Simply amazing. We are once again refreshed and ready for the real world. Time to start planning the next one!

Sunrise Over St. Thomas



Janay Pondering Life



Our Ship - MS Eurodam

Vacation Time

Once again the blog has been ignored. The photography business has kept me very busy and now it's time for a little break. Janay and I will be cruising the beautiful waters of the Eastern Caribbean next week. Some think we've become cruise junkies; maybe so. It has more to do with the fact that cruises just "work" for us. Vacations in a wheelchair can be difficult. Wheelchairs and sand don't mix. Wheelchairs and mountains don't work. Cruises allow us to escape the real world and forget about our responsibilties. Janay knows that anywhere I go on the ship there will be someone to help me if I need it. I feel completely independent again, even if I'm really not. I don't really care where the ship goes. Just put me on it and raise the anchor!

My Crazy Wife

Janay went skydiving on October 4th. I think she's crazier than I am! Just one more thing she can check off her "Things To Do" list.

July

Looks like I completely missed blogging in the month of July. I'm happy to report that everyone in the crash in my last entry is healing well. Kyle got his jaw unwired a couple weeks ago. He lost around 30lbs from his liquid diet. Mom's arm and head have healed well. She's still having some short-term memory issues, but I believe she will continue to improve with time. The accident was only two months ago and it's amazing to see how well she's doing. I thank God she is still with us and know He will continue to see her through. She returns to work part-time next week. Kayla is doing well too. She just recently got behind the wheel for the first time since the accident and did a great job. I'm proud of the way she has rebounded.

Janay got a new car on July 11th. I traded my Vette in on a Kia Soul. It's a cool little car that Janay picked out all by herself. I never thought I would own a Kia and I tried to find every reason not to buy it, but it met every requirement I threw at it, so we bought it. I enjoyed the Vette for the short time I had it, but in the end it just wasn't me. Seeing Janay so happy with her new car brought me more joy than the Vette ever did.

Accident

As most of you know, my mom, my niece Kayla and my nephew Kyle were in a terrible car accident on June 6th. My niece was driving my mom's car with my mom in the passnger seat and my nephew in the back seat behind the passenger. According to the police report, my niece got onto the shoulder of the road and overcorrected three times before hitting a telephone pole on the passenger side.

I'm not going to go into long details, but it is only by the grace of God no one was hurt any worse than they were. The thought of losing any or all of them turns my stomach. Accidents can happen so fast to anyone. You hear daily reports on the news about serious accidents and I have to admit that many times I don't give it a second thought. Everything changes when you get a phone call that your family is in the accident.

The short ending to this is, everyone is going to heal. I appreciate all of my family a little more now than before the accident. That might be hard to understand unless you've been through something like this. Please continue to pray for total healing for everyone.

The link below is to some photos of the car, Kyle's injuries and mom's injuries. I will warn you that some of the photos are graphic.

Crash Photos

The Joys of a Long-Haired Cat

Sprockett hates getting brushed. I swear he has a split personality that kicks in when the brush comes out. As you can see, he needed it. Blood was shed during this session too....my blood, not his.



Sara Lee watching the madness. I think she's laughing inside.

Rainy Day Post

The rainy weather has forced us to postpone our trip to King's Island, so I thought I would post a few photos from a couple of late season senior photography sessions. The photography business has been very slow so far this year. The first quarter is always a slow time, but this has been even more so. Is it a result of a slow economy? I don't know. Business will pick up before long and I will be wishing my weekends weren't so hectic, so I'll enjoy the quiet while it lasts.

Steven

Kyle

They Made It!

On Saturday, May 2nd, Janay and her sister Stacey completed the 33rd running of the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. They walked and ran the 13.1 mile course that starts in downtown Indy, winds through the west side of town, makes a lap around the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and finally ends back in downtown. I'm proud of them both for doing so well. Great job and I love you both!!

Thanks Don for taking photos while I was still sleeping!

Stimulating the Economy

Janay and I are doing our part to pull this country out of the recession. October can't get here soon enough! Anyone else want to join us? After all, it is for the good of our country.

March Results

The weight didn't come off as fast this month as it did last month, but I expected that. The important thing is that it did continue to come off. The proof is in the numbers. The purpose of these posts are to keep myself encouraged and stay focused. My trainer hasn't pushed me hard enough to stick with the workout routine. I think I can count the number of workout sessions for the month on one hand. Maybe this month my trainer will push me more :)

Monday of Week 5


Thursday of Week 5


Monday of Week 6 (Ouch....eating Mexican twice showed!!)


Thursday of Week 6


Monday of Week 7


Thursday of Week 7


Monday of Week 8


Thursday of Week 8

March Plan

So the plan for March is to incorporate some excercise into my routine. I've got the diet working, down 16lbs for February, so let's see what kind of results I can get adding excercise in. I've fired up the treadmill and cranked it to a blazing 0.5 mph to get the heart pumping. I wore the wrong shoes the first time on it and only lasted 5 minutes. The comfy shoes were slipped on the next time and the 10 minute mark was reached. Baby steps, people.....baby steps.

Janay pulled the weight bench into my "studio" along with various weights for my lifting pleasure. My arms are aching as I type this. My trainer pushed me to limits I never thought was possible. With his help, the transformation has begun. The best part is.....he only accepts treats as payment. The photo below was taken during our initial consultation.

Proud and Inspired

Watching Janay and her dad compete in a fitness competition recently left me with a sense of pride and inspiration that I haven't felt in quite a while. I'm always proud to tell others that Janay is my wife, but this was different. This was the first time Janay had ever competed in any sporting event. I knew she was well prepared, but I was still nervous for her. Regardless of how she finished I would have been proud of her, but she kicked the competition to the curb and finished second.....second in her first competition. Rock on!



Her dad, Jerry, was competing against guys 35 years younger than him. Watching what he can do at 58 inspired me to make myself better at 37. It was neat to watch others watch him compete because you could see the same feelings of inspiration come over them. No one will ever know how many people he has inspired, either by watching him at the competition or seeing the hours he puts in at the gym, but I would be willing to bet you would need to do a whole lot more than take off your shoes to count them all. One thing I do know is that he can add me to the list of those he has inspired. Thank you Jerry!

I'm Fat

Sound harsh? Well, maybe it is, but maybe that's what I need. I've gained about 20lbs. since I was burned in April of '06. I spent much of 2006 and 2007 sitting or laying with my foot elevated dealing with the injury.....waiting for the healing. The doctors told me to keep eating because my body needed the vitamins and nutrients to heal itself. I forget a lot of stuff, but I clearly remembered those words from the doctor and reminded Janay often. The healing finally arrived in December of '07.....the weight arrived before that. 2008 was a year of celebration....celebrating the healing of my leg and having those days behind us. 2008 brought us two cruises......with them came lots of great memories and.....some more pounds. 2009 is here and it's time to get serious. I passed on the typical January 1st resolution. I've never been a believer in them. I had my eye on February.

Last fall before our cruise my mom told me about a diet a coworker told her about, the 3 Day Cardiac Diet. I tried the diet, and it worked as promised, but I didn't stick with it. I decided to stick with it through all of February and see what kind of results I could get. I thought photos of the scale showing my weight on weigh-in day would be a good way to track my weight. Then I thought about blogging about it telling my friends and family to hold me accountable, but I chickened out, most likely from fear of failure. The photos below tell the story. I suppose you've figured out by now the diet was successful for me or you wouldn't be reading this. I'm down sixteen pounds through diet only. My original plan was to get some weight off first, then incorporate some exercise in. I'm anxious to see what the scales say at the end of March.

Monday of Week 1


Thursday of Week 1


Monday of Week 2


Thursday of Week 2


Monday of Week 3


Thursday of Week 3


Monday of Week 4


Thursday of Week 4

Correction......

......someone very dear to me is not happy about my previous post, so please disregard the previous post consider it to be false rumors. Do not, I repeat, do not harass to postee about all of the goofy stuff she said/did on vacation :)

Love you Mom!!

Return from Vacation

I wish I just returned from vacation, but the truth is the blog has been ignored lately. I had someone tell me yesterday to put something....ANYTHING....new on my blog, so here I am. I guess a little vacation recap is in order.


We had a wonderful time on the cruise. There are so many funny stories that I don't know where to start. Maybe I'll start with when we got off the plane in Tampa and mom's pants are covered with coffee. Mom pointed at Aunt Cindy as the spiller. Aunt Cindy pointed at mom. Whoever spilled it, there was no doubt where it landed. Or maybe the true story of mom collecting aluminum cans to bring home while walking at the hotel in Tampa. Seriously....no lie! How about mom telling the waiter on the cruise ship she would like her check separate from ours. I'm starting to see a pattern here in my stories.


There are many, many more, but most of them are those "you had to be there" type of laughs. I am truly blesses to be able to go on vacation with family and enjoy every moment together.

Almost Time

I had a friend tell me he noticed my Corvette had taken over my blog. I couldn't argue too much since the last two entries were about Janay's new car, but my blog hasn't been getting much attention period. Life has been keeping me busy, but that will change in thre weeks. Oh yeah!! It's almost time for the cruise. Buffet time, baby!

Some New Photos

The blog has been on the backburner lately. The busy season for my photography business is in full swing. I did manage to take some good photos of the new toy. A week ago I spent about 12 hours polishing and sealing the paint. It sounds like a lot of work, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

I'll Be In The Garage

I finally bought something to play with. When I had motorcycles, I spent hours in the garage tinkering on them. Whether it was actually something that needed to be repaired or just a little cleaning, I enjoyed being out there. Now I have something that's once again pulling me out there. I have delayed blogging about this until I had time to take some good photos of it, but I haven't had time to take the type of photos I want so these will have to do for now.

Two Wheels Broke Me, Three Wheels Burned Me......

......four wheels is the perfect fit! Janay and I traveled with her parents to her brother Bryan's house in Haubstadt over the Labor Day weekend. Bryan pulled out his four-wheeler for me to take a spin on. Trust me, I learned from my mistakes and made sure the quad wouldn't burn my legs. Sure, it could have spit me off and cracked my head, but I took it easy.....and it was fun. Janay had fun on it too. Turns out she was the crazy one on it, speeding down the county roads at almost 60 mph. We had a great visit and wish they lived closer so we could visit more often. The Tucker's are wonderful hosts at the Haubstadt Hacienda.

I Am Thankful For.......

.....this family. There are people in all of our lives that we are thankful for. The problem is we often don't tell them. I am so thankful for the Williams family. I know that if I/we need something, they will be there to extend a helping hand. Each one of them offers their own unique talents at just the right time. James is quick to step in with his construction skills and strength, filling in where I'm physically unable. Heck, even if I was able, I have no idea how to do most of the stuff he does. Stacey helps with work as well, but her strength is her tender heart. Compassion and love flow from her like a mighty river. Corbin is the athlete who pulls the entire family together through his sports. He is a naturally gifted athlete, but when you really get to know him, he has his mom's tender heart. Corbin's quick to give you a hug and flash his toothy smile your way. Finally there's Carly....the family Princess. In public, she'll hide behind her dad or mom. Get her alone and look out.....she'll talk your ear off and keep you entertained for hours. She sings, she dances.....and she'll often say what she's thinking, whether you like it or not. Janay and I often repeat things she said years ago and still laugh about them. I doubt anyone is repeating anything I said years ago. I see Carly as a natural leader....fearless and willing to go against the grain.

I am thankful God put these individuals in my life. I love you all!

Senior Photography

I recently had the opportunity to do a senior photo session with Ben. Ben's a handsome, athletic young man who was a pleasure to work with. He was quiet, but personable. He answered intellegently when spoken to. He followed directions perfectly. I tried some new lighting techniques with him and he was patient while I adjusted equipment. Ben has a bright future ahead of him. It was a pleasure meeting and working with him.

My Beautiful Assistant

I am so blessed to be married to this woman. She impresses me each and every day with the way she lives her life. As cliche as it may sound, she is more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside. I love you, Janay!

Fair Photography Success

With the exception of last year, I always enter the photography contest at the Morgan County Fair. It's fun to see how others view your work. Some years I have had success and others I have not. This year I entered four photos in the photography contest at the Morgan County Fair and each one earned a ribbon in it's respective category. The photos got a third, two seconds and a first. The first place photo also received a special merit award, which means it was in the top three of all of the photos entered. Cool!



The above photo shows me with my prize-winning photos and my awards, including my $3 prize money crumpled in my crotch area. I must have subconciously stuffed it there knowing that if Janay tried to take it, it would be $3 dollars well spent! :)

Massive Dead Snake

I have never seen a snake this long before.

Chicago.......in 6 1/2 Hours

Janay has always wanted to take a day trip to Chicago on the Amtrak train. Me......not so much. But being the wonderful husband I am, I agreed to go. Janay made the arrangements and even got our friends from Cincinnati, Greg and Susan, to go with us. Janay and Susan went to college together and the four of us have become great friends. Greg and Susan are world travelers and have been to Chicago several times, so going with them was a great idea. This entry started out with me typing everything that took place on the trip, but I soon realized it was going to take FOREVER if I continued on. You are now reading the condensed version.

The decision was made to stay in a hotel the night before. Greg offered to use some of his six gadzillion travel miles (I told you they were world travelers) to pay for our room. Thanks, Greg!! We ended up staying at the Hilton Garden Inn on the circle in Indy. The hotel was wonderful....we only wish we could have spent more time there since we had to get up at 4 am the next morning. We were trying to decide where to eat at, but Janay and Susan were too busy chatting so Greg and I made a decision to go to the Weber Grill. It was just a few blocks away and the short walk (roll) was enjoyable because it was such a nice evening. One thing we forgot when we planned our downtown stay was that it was Black Expo weekend. I'll just say it made for some interesting people watching.

4 am came very quickly. We had to be at the train station around 5:45. The train ride was fun because you get to see the landscape from a different perspective. Our conductor, Roby, was very helpful. He made people move to other seats so the boarding VIP's....I mean, the disabled guy....could have the seats at the back of the car. This allowed me to keep my wheelchair close and also put us close to the bathrooms. The train is a non-smoking train, but a couple of people must have been sleeping during the announcement. We could smell the nasty smoke as could other passengers around us. Everyone was commenting on how rude it was. When one guy finally emerged, Greg shouted out "we worried you might have caught on fire!" The man answered "oh no, no" and looked rather shocked someone called him out. He knew what Greg meant. Everyone around us erupted in laughter......I guess you had to be there.

I watched the weather forecast for Chicago the entire week prior to our trip. On Thursday the forecast was 2 to 3 inches of rain for Chicago on Saturday. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to believe it and prayed against it. I guess should have told more people to join me in prayer because the rain started while still on the train around Lafayette. When the train pulled into the station in Chicago it was pouring. Joy....

We all bought 24 hour bus passes and planned to use the city buses to navigate the city. We got a map that showed bus routes on one side and the free trolley routes on the other. Apparently you need to be a genius to understand the bus route map. The free trolley route map was color coded showing where each colored trolley went. Let's take the trolley!

We ventured outside and were greeted by masses of people under the awning at Union Station seeking shelter from the rain. We said the heck with it.....let's go! Armed with one umbrella for four people we were off. The trolley stop was easy to find.....just look for the larger mass of people who also had the bright idea to take the free trolley. Greg somehow managed to work his way to the front of the line and let the bus driver know there was someone in a wheelchair wanting to board. The three of them get on while I was told to head towards the rear of the bus while they lower the wheelchair lift. I must have looked extra pitiful at this point because a kind woman came over and shared her umbrella with me. So here I am, enjoying my Chicago trip, sitting in the rain watching the driver try to work the lift. He finally gets the door opened and everything in place and hits the button to lower it....but nothing moves. He says to hang on (like I'm going to go anywhere) while he flips the power switch in an effort to get the electrical system to respond.....nothing. The driver throws his hands in the air and says were just going to have to try to catch the next trolley. So my three friends, who all the while have been sitting high and dry, have to exit the bus (which Janay said was extra stinky and sour smelling) and join me in the rain amongst the crowd of people growing ever impatient with this minor hurdle. Maybe we need to fall back on Greg's engineering degree and figure out that bus map.

At this point we just wanted to go anywhere that was dry. Greg figured out the map and found the bus we needed to head to the shopping district, also known as the Magnificent Mile. I give two thumbs up for the accessibility of the bus system in Chicago. When the driver realizes he has a passenger in a wheelchair wanting to board, he stops everyone else from boarding, hits a switch that lowers the bus and flips out a ramp that allows me to roll right on. It couldn't be any smoother! I slide my bus pass through the system and I'm on. Where the driver failed was in showing me where to go once on the bus. There is an open area in the front of the bus for wheelchairs, so I take a spot. The problem was as soon as the driver hit the gas, I went rolling through the bus! I tried sitting facing sideways and the driver turned a corner and I once again went bouncing around the inside like a human pinball. The driver noticed me flailing around at some point and stopped the bus in the middle of the street. He then showed me how to properly us the equipment on the bus to secure myself. Now we are set! The photo below is when I was rolling around inside the bus and my three travel compadres were laughing. The driver didn't think it was too funny.

By the time the we get off the bus in the shopping district the rain has let up. It's more of a mist now which doesn't soak us like the steady rain did. Now we are all hungry and we have a wonderful lunch at the Grand Lux Cafe. With our bellies full, we head out for shopping. I couldn't begin to tell you which stores we hit except for the Nike store. One place had a pair of dress shoes for a couple grand. The hand bags didn't even show the price, so I assumed if you have to ask, you can't afford it. At one point I noticed an old building that said Chicago Waterworks. We didn't go in and find out more info, but it looked like and old water tower. The picture below shows it in the foreground, dwarfed by the surrounding skyscrapers.

Our final tourist stop was the Navy Pier. The are all kinds of rides, shops and restaurants. Our stop was brief.....hop off the bus, take a quick look, snap a couple of photos and head back to the bus to get to the train station. The below photo is probably a familiar scene from our trip....Greg scouring the bus route map looking for our next destination while Matt silently sits thinking about how much Janay is going to owe him for agreeing to go on the trip. Actually, I think Janay caught me keeping a close eye out for terrorist suspects. My wheelchair is the perfect cover for my secret undercover agent job. Good thing no one reads this blog or my cover would be blown.


So we catch the bus to Union Station to wait for our train. On the way back, Susan spots a Garrett's Popcorn, which was one of our planned stops, but the one we found in the shopping district was closed. The bus arrived at Union Station and we depart. The original plan was to order a couple of pizzas from Giordano's for the train ride back to Indy. I poo-pooed the idea because the train says you can't carry food on, but I'm thankful everyone else ignored me because the pizzas were awesome! Greg the Navigator did all of the final leg work while we waited at the train station. While picking up the pizzas, he also made a stop at Garrett's Popcorn. The cashew caramel corn is to die for. I think it was gone before the train reached the Indiana border. Thanks for the extra effort Greg!

The train ride home took longer than expected. The conductor informed us that the signal lights along the tracks were all red due to a storm passing through. The train engineer relies on the signals to determine the speed at which the train can safely travel. Since the signals were red, our speed topped out at a whopping 15 mph. The delay put our arrival into Indianapolis at about 12:30 am. Black Expo was in full swing at this hour so the downtown area was once again full.

My condensed version of our trip turned out to not be so condensed after all. Overall, we had a fun trip. We always have fun with Greg and Susan no matter what we do. Chicago can not be seen in the short amount of time we were there. It appears to be a wonderful city with endless things to do. Maybe some time we will go back when we can spend a few days there. I wonder if we could do a day trip to New York City.......

Mother Nature

Monday night after work I checked on the duck's nest and found the majority of the eggs broken and empty. I hoped they ducklings hatched and they were swimming on the lake, but I had a bad feeling. Not enough time had passed for them eggs to hatch. I found two eggs still intact and put them back in the nest. I checked Tuesday morning before work and Tuesday night after work and mama wasn't on the nest.

To our human eyes, nature can sometimes seem like a cruel world, but if every duck egg hatched we would be inundated with ducks.....sort of like we are with Canadian Geese. Don't even get me started on those annoying creatures!

Matt.....MATT.....

......this is how I was awakened today. The voice was Janay calling me from her bathroom and I could hear the distress in her voice. "There's a Brown Recluse spider in my bathroom.....come help me please!" Long story short, I am Janay's hero and it was a Wolf spider. It was much larger than my photo shows and saving my damsel in distress made me a little nervous. This is how he looked once I smashed him. I took two photos because I was in a hurry to flush him before he came back to life and jumped on my face. Once the toilet bowl refilled....I flushed again to make sure!

Almost Famous

After our cruise, I found a website dedicated to cruising. I uploaded a few of our cruise photos to their gallery to show others that were on the same cruise as us. When I went to the website this morning I noticed they had posted one of my photos on their front page. How cool!! Then I realized.....Janay took that photo, not me. Way to go Janay! You must have a wonderful photography teacher :)

Janay's photo is the small one of the ship in the middle of the page.