I struggled to find something enjoyable and manageable to celebrate my birthday. As much as I didn’t want to ask my friends to drive the distance to Battle Ground, it was a combination of reasons that led me there. First, we would have Jenni’s family to help with the kids so that Jenni could join in the festivities. Secondly, Jenni’s grandma in Longview wanted to see Bruce, so meeting her in Battle Ground would save her a long drive. Third, I wanted to shoot the new airsoft assault rifles Jenni’s dad got for Christmas.

As part of the celebration, I sous-vide steaks for the dinner as a treat for everyone. It also fulfilled a wish to have my friend Clark try the sous-vide method. The steaks came out tender and everyone seemed to enjoy them.

A long-time promise fulfilled as well was playing bridge with my brother, Clark, and Jenni’s grandma. We had joked it about it for years after we found out that we both liked bridge. We had a great game, Jack and I versus Clark and Gran. Jack and I almost won the rubber, but I misplayed and they took the next bid. Great games.

Clark brought Rock Band Wii, Beatles Edition, so that we could play that with Jenni’s dad’s projection wall. It was pretty fun, though I was disappointed that despite my music background, I couldn’t keep the beat on the drum or hit the notes on the guitar very well. Don’t get me started on the vocals. It was still a fun experience and I’ll have to try it again sometime.

The airsoft assault rifles were too much fun. I enjoyed aiming and firing in semiautomatic mode. Then it was such a rush to go full auto. I didn’t do that too often as I didn’t want to use up all the ammo. We shot at soda cans and enjoyed a soft “tink” sound for a good hit.

Best of all, I finally got an Autobot chrome emblem, thanks to Jack. Now our minivan is a Man-Van ;)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We really appreciated receiving Christmas cards and letters from friends close and far. We will need to send out Christmas cards of our own next year to stay in touch with friends.

Our Christmas was mostly low-key since we’re caring for a newborn. Christmas Eve was busy with Jennilyn’s family coming over for a smoked prime rib dinner. It was fun sharing a meal with everyone and the time-lapse highlighted some great moments. The kids got an overdose of Christmas presents that spanned days.

Christmas day, my dad had a cold so we did not go to my parents house for dinner, but I did make a trip out to drop off their presents. We used Google+ Hangouts to show Bruce off to my grandma and extended family. Tracy and her dad came over for dinner, which was unique that we continued the Google+ hangout video conference to bridge our dinner time with my parents.

Tracy spent the night with us and we enjoyed Batman Begins since we had joked about my nickname for Bruce. Still a great movie. I’ll have to see The Dark Knight before The Dark Knight Rises next summer.

Here are some other Christmas highlights, in no particular order:

• Having Christmas shopping mostly done before December was awesome. So much less stress.
• Being home for Christmas for three weeks on paternity leave was almost like reliving my college years when I had three weeks off—except for the whole newborn thing.
• Time-lapse videos bring out the funny and clever side of Jenni’s family.
• Artificial trees are a great investment for people with allergies to pollen.
• It’s way too much fun buying presents for your kids.
• We smiled seeing our photography used in friends’ Christmas cards.
• Thankful to attend Beaverton Foursquare’s Christmas Eve candlelight service. It is always magical.
• My parents and I buying the same rice cooker for each other

Welcome Bruce Lim, God’s third addition to our family!

I experimented with a time-lapse app on my iPod after being inspired by the stop-motion video “Address is Approximate.”
[See post to watch Flash video] ]]> http://davidandjennilyn.com/2011/11/27/happy-thanksgiving-2/feed/ 0 http://davidandjennilyn.com/2011/10/30/how-are-you-feeling/ http://davidandjennilyn.com/2011/10/30/how-are-you-feeling/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:21:14 +0000 Jenni http://davidandjennilyn.com/?p=2404 When people ask me how the pregnancy is going, my short answer is usually A) “Great! Thanks to my chiropractor!” Or, I think I’ll add a B) “Great! I’ve got an amazing husband who massages my feet all the time!”

The long answer goes something like this:

I was more nauseated and pukier in the first trimester but the second and third have been much better than my first two pregnancies for sure! Part of it is because I’ve not been able to cheat on my diet without serious consequences. So for the most part, I’ve been eating a lot healthier. I’m tempted to feel bummed out, but really, it’s better for me and baby in the long run. So, while I miss Tillamook cheeseburgers and other junk food, I’m not missing the bellyaches, insomnia, and pain.

Another positive contributor to this pregnancy has been the fitness challenge that some friends and I restarted back in January of last year. Jack and I were the last survivors till June, and he has kindly continued working out with me once a week all this time! Love you, bro!

I also had a shift in my approach to wellness back in the spring. This pregnancy accidentally started during my treatment to kill off parasites and candida. I had been scared by the possibility of needing prolo therapy for my neck if I didn’t strengthen it enough with physical therapy. And my therapy wouldn’t do much good if I were still fighting chronic inflammation from critters in my guts. I was very motivated to get well, but was derailed a bit when I found out about this new baby on the way.

But God is good, and gave me hope that I could still improve my health throughout the pregnancy. I quit the drugs and started to focus on putting good foods (organic & antibiotic free) in my diet to detoxify slowly and naturally, thus begin the healing of my guts. Watching the documentary “Food Matters” gave me the perspective shift I needed. I don’t want to agonize and spend a ton of money on tests that don’t seem to catch or identify what kind of parasite has been plaguing me for the past 11 years any more. I don’t really care what kind it is now because my new goal is to just heal my immune system, and let it take care of what ever worms and flora imbalance I have.

When the body truly heals, it heals completely, and the more I read and learn, and with what my experience has taught me, the more I believe that healing the guts is the key to healing most everything else that’s wrong with the body.

I also began reading “Patient Heal Thyself” by Jordan Rueben. I like his holistic healing approach as well, being that he almost died of Chrones Disease at age 19 but was healed through diet and soil based organisms. He has created a company to make all kinds of gut healing supplements. What makes his stuff stand out above other products is the use of a special fermenting process. This enables people with poor nutrient absorption to have a better chance of actually getting something out of the supplements and foods rather than it just passing on through. Out of all the supplements I’ve taken over the past decade, his seems to be the best so far! No more feeling like a hot fist punching me in the stomach every time I eat, thanks to Omega-zyme. And the soil organisms, Primal Defense, or what I call “super probiotic,” has made my intestines feel more harmonized. Way less “bad days” of fatigue and pain are occurring.

Back to my short answer A), my chiropractor has helped me tremendously; not only with adjustments, but also with Frequency Specific Microcurrent. FSM treatments are not recommended for pregnant women because we can’t be sure what it does to the baby. My decision to continue using it is because it is a non-drug pain management tool, which I believe to be safer and less toxic to me and the baby than if I were using medicine. I feel that if my body is so stressed out from pain and insomnia, the baby would be getting 9 months of stress hormones and deficient immune support, and maybe even less nutrition absorption as my absorption suffers from all the inflammation. It is better for my baby to have me healthier and harmonized. I’ll be curious to see if this baby thrives better than my girls, who have many food allergies/sensitivities as a result of a weak immune system (leaky gut).

And concerning my short answer B), my husband has been so amazing in his support of all of these changes in our lives, as well as continuing to be a very healing person in my life. Just who he is as a calm personality, as a servant-hearted dishwasher, vacuumer, growing cook, and wonderful father… all of this and his tender care for me have done far more than any doctor or supplement could ever do for my well being!

Lest my long answer become way too long, I won’t go into detail of all that my parents and David’s parents do for us too, but I can’t begin to think how this pregnancy or my other pregnancies and child rearing would suffer without their loving care in our lives!

I’m so thankful to the Lord for leading me in this journey of healthy lifestyle changes. It sure took me long enough to get to this space of actually wanting these changes rather than feeling sorry for myself, and living in painful denial year after year. I once heard it said that you will change when staying the same hurts too much. I wish it could be of some noble strength I possess that has brought about these changes in my life, but really, I’m just sick and tired of being sick and tired for most of my adult life. And now that I’ve caught glimpses of hope of getting completely well, I can’t shake this vision away.

I have made up my mind to become young by the time I reach 40 years old. Not just for my sake, but for my husband’s and kids’ sake, and for all the dear friends in my life that the Lord wants me to be serving.

Whatever Happens – Michael Jackson

Jennilyn and I look back to Portland Dance Festival 2003 fondly because it was the first time we had amazing dances together. This was the last song for the night, and we had magical dip at the end.

Give Me the Night (Chill Night Remix) – Randy Crawford

I had one of the best dances I had ever had with Jennilyn to this song. Even Mike McClure commented afterwards, “Looks like the beginning of a routine.”

Beautiful – Faith Hill

Although this song is technically a night club two step, we danced a slow west coast swing to it at BridgeTown Swing 2003. I led Jenni into an awesome split and our dance attracted an audience. Jenni felt truly beautiful in my arms (her words).

Lost In You – Chris Gaines (Garth Brooks)

We played around with choreography to this song. At a local strictly swing competition, East vs. West, we took second place and this was the second song in our final round.

I Like The Way You Move – OutKast

Once we were dancing, I said out loud the title of the song “I like the way you move.” Jenni took it as a compliment and replied “Thank you!”

Wish I Didn’t Miss You – Angie Stone

I was extremely jealous when an advanced lead hogged Jennilyn during Monster Mash 2003. I finally got her for a dance to this song and we had an amazing dance. At the end, Jenni said, “Awesome.” And I was like, “Oh yeah.”

She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5

This song is special to us because when Jenni was sick and bed-ridden, I surprised her one night with a visit with this song playing in my pocket (from my old PocketPC).

He Heals Me – India Arie

I was browsing for dance music from India and came across this one. After the song played, I looked over to Jenni and she was crying.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

Whenever I have a passenger in my car, I always try to open the car door for them as an act of kindness. While I was single and I opened the door for a girl, the gesture was also a test of what the gal did after sitting in my car.

I remembered opening my car door for Jennilyn the first time and she thanked me as she entered. As I approached my door, she reached over and reciprocated by opening my door for me.

Though it is a very simple act, it is that type of kindness I hope to never take for granted.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” Mark Twain

Features and Specs Are For Geeks. Benefits Are For Everybody.

Nerds, geeks, and specialists sometimes fixate too much on the specifications that they forget what they represent. I think we’ve approached a point in computing technology that the processing power is more than we need for everyday tasks. Watching how Steve sells a benefit of a feature in his keynotes has helped me tremendously in reaching non-technical people with technical products or services. What does a four-gigahertz processor mean to someone who does not distinguish hard disk space and memory? It means they can get things done faster. What does eight gigabytes of flash storage mean? Two thousand of someone’s favorite songs or digital pictures.

Most people don’t know the specifics of the tools or services they use, but they do know the benefits. Steve was a master at selling the benefit. He saw the bigger picture than the multiple-core-million-gigahertz-super-something—he sold it to you and I in how much time we’ll save (better yet, what else we could be doing instead).

Making Something Easy to Use Doesn’t Mean It’s Dumb Down

Empowering people is an amazing feeling. I’ve had the privilege of building web tools for my work that speed up people’s tasks or allow them to do things they couldn’t do before. It’s exhilarating and addictive. I think there is a misconception, usually from those who pride themselves as elite, that when a tool simplifies a difficult skill so that it is accessible to more people, the tool is “dumb-down” for the masses. Perhaps the elite are fearing the status they hold, but whenever something difficult is more accessible, it allows for growth and innovation. And no tool can ever replace true talent and artistry.

My Corollary

There are few things about Steve that I would not to influence my life. While his company produced great products, I’ve read that they have come at the expense of terrorizing his employees with fear. Of the two levers that move men (love and fear), I would choose love. I would rather have those who follow me be motivated to do their utmost best because of their respect and love, not because I would destroy them otherwise.

His dedication to his work is also too costly to me. While I have to fight to not finish a code project at work when I need to go home for dinner, I want to always to skip building the next best thing so that I be with the best thing in my life—my family.

Thanks for the Kool-Aid Steve

One of the popular sayings surrounding Apple’s product marketing is “drinking Apple’s Kool-Aid,” meaning that the press and consumers get blinded by Steve Jobs’ showmanship and not being able to see realistically. It’s an incredible high (spiked Kool-Aid perhaps?) to see Steve just tell us how we need something we never knew. Though I’m not a fan of consumerism, his keynotes are great lessons on believing in your products, selling them as magical devices, extreme focus on simplicity, and a masterpiece in design and user experience. He always saw the bigger picture, which is something we all need when we’re deep in the forests of everyday life.

• Anna Lim (pronounced On a Lim)
• Harry Lim
• Tim, Jim, or Kim Lim
• Llewellyn Lim
• Luke Lim
• Darth Lim
• Chewbacca Lim (Chewie Lim sounds great!)
• Yoda Lim
• Wyatt Lim (sounds to close to how the girls say Violet’s name)
• Ace Lim
• Forest Lim (Lim means forest)
• Nimrod
• Ichabod
• Butch