Our Episode Airs Tonight!

I'm Married To A...

I told you guys last week about how Michael and I are going to be featured in a reality show called "I'm Married to a..."

Well... tonight is the big night!

I had to Google what the other couple was. I'd never heard of the word "dominatrix." Oh my.

The thought of all of the little church ladies all over the country watching this for our story makes me feel kind of weird, but obviously we have no control over who they paired us with. Plus - they may have had to Google "quadriplegic," anyway!

I hope you'll watch tonight at 10pm ET on VH1.

The episode will be online in a few days, along with extra clips.  

I'll admit, I'm pretty nervous about it, but thankful for the opportunity, and I know that our story will be out there for many more people to read. 

I just hope it encourages someone. We're thankful for the chance to have this experience!

I Wish I Had More Time

It’s 8:55 a.m. I wish I had more time.

Story of my life, right?

I want to write so much.

I want to write about how I finished Joni & Ken’s book at 5:00 a.m., with the moonlight streaming in through the big window over our living room, and all I could hear was Brokaw snoring, and the air purifier in the bedroom as Michael slept.

I want to write about how after I finished it, I snuggled up on my favorite shoulder in the world, shed a few tears, then fell back asleep.

I want to write about the nightmares I had. One was about giving a pair of cute mint Chuck Taylors found on sale, up to someone else, and having immense regret about it. Another was about how I was spending weekend time at home, until my boss called me to YELL at me about how the news was a mess and I needed to come to work immediately. And for some reason, I kept not going in, and yet at the same time, not getting anything done at home.

I have very real dreams.

I want to write about how I’m surprised by how much I miss being at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this weekend, but share about how the pain of not being there but having been there before is not quite as bad as the pain of wanting to go and wondering if I will ever get there was.

I want to write about TV news, and Boston, and Marvell Edmonson and how now that I’m a little older, I think it all affects me a little differently. And about that guy who cursed on the air and ended up on the Today Show.

I want to write about seeing our friends Steve and Christy and how special they are and how life and God are crazy good sometimes, if you just pay attention. 

I want to put together the Origami Owl giveaway for a blog reader.

But, alas.

Life goes on.

I’m out of time.

Maybe, maybe at some point, I will re-open this computer, expand my thoughts, and experience that deep exhale I feel when I write. I miss that feeling so much.

For now, another inhale.

Another day.

Yes, it’s a gift.

But this party is going by too fast.

See y’all later. It’s 9:04 a.m., and I've got to go.

The Day We Shopped Until He Dropped

This Spring was a long time coming.

A few weeks ago, in an attempt to fake ourselves out that Spring would, in fact, one day come, we went on a shopping trip to get some new, colorful Spring clothes for Michael.

We parked outside of what we thought was an Old Navy, but is actually an Old Navy under construction. We decided we were up for the exercise, so we walked through the mall to Target, and a few other stores.

By the end of the shopping trip, Michael was loaded down as pictured above, full pack-mule style.

He offers to do this, by the way. This is not quad husband abuse.

It's important to note that those Target bags hanging on the back of his chair were LOADED down with heavy things like laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent, trail mix, orange juice...

Okay.
So, we stroll through the mall like this, totally parade style with people parting ways to stare at us like we're the Disney light parade or something. I was just waiting for small children to expect us to throw candy.

I was carrying stuff, too, just so you know. But not this much. :)

We get to the van.
I open it up.
The ramp deploys.

As I'm opening up the passenger door, Michael is wheeling himself up the ramp.

Then... ever so not-panicky... he says, "Um...."
And I look over.
And I see him, FALLING BACKWARDS but really, really slowly.

So, I walk behind him, and very slowly, his head plops down in my chest, and like the Sumo wrestler that I currently am, I muscled Michael, the wheelchair, and all of that heavy stuff that caused him to fall backwards so easily, upright.

I'm thinking it was about 240 lbs. I'm no math whiz, but it was a lot. I'm also clearly no physics whiz either!

There was a couple driving by in a mini-van, just looking.
Like, "something's not right here..."

I was so proud of myself that I didn't have to ask for help! I get a rush out of that. It's not healthy.

I got Michael tied down, started to drive away, and then I started shaking, a little.

Glad he didn't hit his head.

I have no idea how he fell so slowly and not-dramatically. Full Michael style.

I'm Married To A... Quadriplegic

Michael and I haven't been able to talk about it, but we are very excited to share with all of you that we are going to be featured in an episode of VH1's "I'm Married To A..."

The season premieres tonight at 10pm ET.
We don't know yet the specific date of our episode, but when I get that information, you can be sure I will pass it along to you!

This opportunity kind of came out of nowhere. They found us through our blog, and all of a sudden, we were doing a casting video.

I was just sure that we were going to be too old, I was going to be too fat, and Brokaw was going to be too crazy for us to get picked.

But we were picked!

So - remember when we moved, and you all thought I was so awesome for getting our place put together in like a week? Yeah. Nothing like having a reality TV crew arriving to make you get your act together!

I'm a TV producer for a living. Y'all know this, right?
Well.
Let me tell you.
Being on the other side of the camera, being produced myself, was such an interesting experience.
I can't say enough nice things about the crew.
They were so great.
Brokaw was seriously sad when the one crew member who constantly took him on walks was gone.

Y'all know we are pretty conservative people. I know a lot of y'all are too.
So, I want to be real with you about this show. There are some couples and story lines in the show that are out there.

I told the producers that we are going to be so boring!! Haha.

But - know this.
We decided it was something we wanted to be a part of, to share with the world that yes, while our circumstances may be different than the norm - we are so much like everyone else, and we face challenges like everyone else, and at the root of it all, we're just a couple in love.

I hope you will check the show out!
We totally upgraded our cable package so we don't miss it.

Here are a couple of trailers for the show.
This one is an extended set of clips from the season. We are at about 1:25 on this one.

I'm Married To A...

This one is a "First Look." We are at about : 20 in on this one.

I'm Married To A...

Color Vibe 5K, Who's In?

I'm so happy to be working out again, and getting back in shape.

I've been wanting to do one of these Color Vibe 5K's, because it looks like a ton of fun to be sprayed with a bunch of paint, run as part of a team, plus a 5K isn't crazy hard, and I should realistically be able to be ready by July 20th.

If you're in the Hampton Roads area and would like to join us on our team, you can sign up and register here. Our team name is "No Luck, Only Sacrifice," in honor of our friend Sgt. Derek McConnell.

I'd love to get back in shape, in Derek's name. I think he would have liked that.
So - if you're local - and would like to sign up, you can click on that link up there, and if you need the password for the team, just email me: danabrownritter@gmail.com, and I'll get it to you!

On Taking Out The Trash

You see this picture, here?
It looks like a trash can, right?

Well, it's not just that.
It's so much more.

Because my husband put it there.
My husband, who is paralyzed from the chest down, thank you very much.

This is how this went down.

I got a text message with the above picture and the caption, "Your hubby took out the trash."
To which, I replied, of course, "Whoa. How did u do that?"
Michael's answer: "Awesomeness."

I LOVE HIM!

I immediately started imagining how in the world he did this, without landing on the ground, covered in trash, Brokaw rolling around in it and eating coffee grounds.

Then, I stopped myself.
And I just enjoyed the simple beauty that is the fact that my husband took the trash can to the curb.

This is one of those little things that I don't think about a lot, but I just do over and over, and I assumed I would do it over and over for years and years until we had a kid, and that kid was old enough/strong enough/probably paid in some way to take the trash out to the curb.

But just like this, on a random Thursday morning, my world changed.

I'm not saying he will always take the trash out, or that I expect him to. That's totally not the point.

The point is that I am so blessed to be married to a guy who never gives up, never stops getting better, getting stronger, and finding ways to take care of me.

I love the trash guy.

And for the record, I still can't figure out how he did it.

Seven Years of Turkey Legs

Today is Brokaw's 7th birthday!

I can't believe this little guy has been in my life for 7 years. He still acts like a puppy.
And that's totally my fault.
I love him too much.

Giveaway: Thirty One Large Utility Tote

Hello, friends! Remember when I wrote my eBook, launched it, then completely fell off the earth?

Yeah.
About that.

I'm sorry.
You know that phrase, "you bit off more than you could chew?"
Welcome to my life.

Anyway.
I'm back!
And I have a really fun giveaway to share with you today!

It's a Large Utility Tote from Thirty One.

I actually have one of these bags, and it is great! I've used it for trips, moving, groceries, you name it.

It's big enough to hold lots of stuff, but it also collapses for easy storage!

I have to thank my friend Heather for sponsoring this giveaway. Heather is a caregiver to her boyfriend, Colin, who is a paraplegic.  We had the honor of meeting them last year and they are a great couple.

You can check out Heather and Colin's blog here.

And Heather's Thirty One shop here.

Now, here's the deal with this Giveaway.

All you have to do is buy the eBook (it's totally fine if you've already bought it) and send me a receipt to my email: danabrownritter@gmail.com.

You can buy the book here.

I'll keep this giveaway open until 12:00pm on Thursday, April 18th, and I'll announce the winner on Friday, April 19th. 

I will just choose the winner randomly.

If you've participated in other eBook related giveaways, that's totally fine! Feel free to enter this one, too!

I want to thank y'all so much for all of your support with the eBook project, and these giveaways are just a fun way to do that.

Cherry Blossoms in our own Neighborhood

This morning I took Brokaw for a walk in our neighborhood. It was beautiful. I wanted to share a few pictures of the cherry blossom trees with you. I hope you enjoy.

Happy Spring!

Good morning from my spot on the couch!
It's been a while.

I really miss blogging. I wish I had more time to do it, but unfortunately there are lots of super fun adult things I need to do like vacuum out my SUV, taxes, and chop vegetables.

I should go to the gym today, but I don't know if I will. Someone, please - make me! Recently, my sister and I bought Cross Fit Groupons, but I feel like I need to go to the gym a few times before going there to try it. You know, kind of like how you have to clean your house before the cleaning lady comes?

There is a little brown dog beside me who won't get more than 6 inches away from me. I think he seriously thought we were never coming home.

The washer and dryer are humming, catching up on all that vacation laundry.

I hope to finish Joni & Ken's book today. It was released the other day. It hits home so hard, I've had to put it down a couple of times and walk away.

Oh, and remember my eBook? Yeah... well, I still have some giveaways to do to promote it. Kind of dropped the ball on those. Hopefully you'll see them on here soon - or maybe I'll just keep teasing it and never actually doing anything.

Eeek.
Cheers.
Happy Saturday!

Goodbye, Vacation

Good morning from the green chair/ottoman near the window of the Hilton Garden Inn in Charleston, SC.

I have a hot cup of Maxwell (oy) beside me, the Today Show on TV (double oy) and a sleeping husband under a pile of blankets on the king sized bed in the middle of this accessible room.

I love him.

I love that he wanted me to wake up early, get some coffee, and have some time to myself, before starting the day.

Before taking care of him.

Before dealing with things like bed bags, and gait belts, and lantiseptic.  
Bless his heart.

This is our last full day of vacation, and I’m exhausted.
Overwhelmed with joy.
Reminded of what it’s like to fall in love with Michael.

We fell in love and became an us during a series of vacations.
Texas.
Arkansas.
North Carolina.
Virginia Beach.
DC.

All adventures that weren’t crowded with work and demands of every day life.
Apparently, that’s the environment where we do best.

Great. Because that’s sustainable, right?

We’re going home this afternoon.
I miss Brokaw.
He is my best good buddy, and I just know that he’s shed two thirds of his fur on top of the arm chair in the living room.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be on a manager-on-call conference call, performing my husband’s bathroom routine, dealing with a barking dog, and washing that puggle hair covered chair cover.

Bliss.

I want to find more balance in my life.
I know, doesn’t everyone?

But - seriously.
Since we’ve moved, I have become SO focused on my job. Which is great. I love my job.

But, recently, I've learned that it’s not the JOB that makes me obsessed with work, even while I’m not there. It’s ME. 
That kind of sucks, because I don’t like to be the root of any problem.
But, it’s also kind of great, because I can do something about it.

Now, I just need to figure out what to do.