Okay, so it's been a while...

It's been a while since you've last heard from me, so here's a pretty quick overview of what's been going on with TwoMaloufs...

1. We went through Financial Peace University and can now say, "WE'RE DEBT FREE!"
2. We recently went to Denver on a mini-vacation. It was fun.
3. Monica started working at the Gap, in addition to cutting hair, playing music and making jewelry. Check out her latest creations by visiting her joint-venture etsy store.
4. I bought Monica a 1980 Vespa moped that she wanted. It's pretty rad.
5. I was recently promoted at work. I'm excited about the changes that are taking place.
6. We've added Lenny to our family. He's a cream labradoodle and should be about the same size as Karley.
7. Oh yeah, since we don't have cable anymore we've become addicted to the TV series "24." We've just finished seasons 1 & 2 and we're currently on season 3.

Here are a few pictures of the pups and the hot rod.

Thankful

So I've been acting like somewhat of a baby the past few weeks. I get a tad overwhelmed when things go wrong in my life and get well..sad. Last night I had a proverbial smack in the face. A good friend invited me to her friend's 41st surprise birthday party last night to play one of my songs for her. This lady, named Leah, has been battling cancer for the past few years. She has been given a very short time left by her doctors. Her body is completely ravaged by the disease but her spirit hasn't been touched. This woman has a wonderful husband and two small children that she will leave behind if God doesn't do a total miracle in her body. She is unable to do the things she loves and was really good at like playing short stop in softball, running trails with her husband, playing with her children, and caring for her incredible garden. She still smiles despite her situation. She even told me how blessed she is! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be that thankful if my doctor told my husband to put me in hospice care. She has impacted my life in such a huge way. Who am I to complain? I can run around, sing, play the guitar, hike, dance, jump on our trampoline, swim with my dogs, so many things that she can't do. Yet I am the one with the bad attitude. God please change my way of thinking. Make me more like Leah.

Mini Bucket List

So the other day I started a list of things I want to do in this life. This is just the first draft and will surely be revised but here it is in no specific order.

-Skydive
-Visit every continent (sans antarctica)
-Drive a motorcycle
-Stay with an Amish family
-Watch a surgery
-Write a book
-Learn to surf
-Eat vegetables that I've grown
-Record an album

So there you go, folks. Just a few random things that my little heart longs to experience.

-Monica

Cha-Cha-Cha Changes!

So the Malouf household is changing things up. We've added a new member to our family. A 55lb. little girl named Karley. We adopted our black labradoodle Monday of this past week. She and Wrigley are BFFs. Will post more about her soon.
We have also decided to drop Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. Oh yeah and our cable!!!! This is our year to simplify our lives and focus on each other. There are so many things in our daily lives that distract us from God and each other that are just meaningless. Why keep them around? Just because everyone else has that stuff? Well, I think that's dumb. We want to have substantial and deep marriage so these are the steps we are taking to get there.
Well, we're off to our first dog training class. Should be quite interesting.
-Monica

I'm in the NY Times

So, a while back I did a photo shoot for Wal-Mart. I was stocking Tide laundry detergent for an internal marketing project. Today, a friend called to tell us that they saw my picture in the NY Times. Check this out: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/business/25walmart.html?_r=1&8dpc. Too funny.

All Hallows Eve

My first pumpkin to carve!

So Halloween was pretty fun last night. We partied it up at Matt and Jill's house. Unfortunately my camera batteries were dead so I have no pictures. Lots of other cameras were flashing so hopefully I can get some funny pictures up here soon. I was a mummy and Ray was the archaeologist who unearthed me. Then I killed him. I tied for best costume with James who was Dwight and a dude who was a creepy Fayetteville hippie janitor. Good times at the Schilb's house.

Ray's pumpkin, he's kind of a pro.

My running saga continues...

In preparation for a gruelling half-marathon, I've been running at least a few days a week with my longer runs taking place on Saturday mornings. Not that I'm a fan of giving up my Saturday mornings or anything, but it does feel good knowing that I've exercised and still have the rest of the day to just chill. Well, today was my longest run so far - 7 miles in 69 minutes. The worst part - I had to get up at 5:30 a.m. and run on a treadmill. Why 5:30 a.m. and why on a treadmill? I'm in a project management class today at NWACC from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., and it was raining and cold outside this morning.

As hard as this training is and as much as I don't like it...I will run a half-marathon.

I'm glad that Monica's foot is getting better; I'm looking forward to jogging with her again.