What kind of food do nuclear engineers like?

Fission chips...HA! [get it?]

I felt like I had to start this post off with a good joke told by our dear friend Rachel [aka the Brill Brit].

Earlier in June, Jack and I had the pleasure of hosting our dear friends Jeremy and Kimi on their quick trip to Los Alamos. What a great time of catching up with them and chatting about life and encouraging one another. No doubt friends like them are one in a million.

While they were here we were treated graciously by the Christensens [also, one of the great families we have connected with here in Los Alamos] to an Isotopes game! The Isotopes are the minor league team in Albuquerque which is a farm league for the LA Dodgers. It was fun enjoying the game and sitting in great seats [albeit, dangerous seats as well!]. We participated in the wave, jumped and screamed for free t-shirts, sang our hearts out to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and cheered on the home team to a victory. All in all it was fun and relaxing!!

best buddies :)

awesome seats...watch out for foul balls though!

love this girl! both looking a little silly but that's ok, that's what you do when you're with a friend you haven't seen in ages.

Captain Kirk! YUM funnel cake. we all enjoyed a bit of that cake.

sweet mckay-kay...fun to hang out with her. sadly didn't get a pic of Greta her mom!

Half Marathon #9

So waaaay back in 2005, the year Jack and I got married, I decided I was going to train for a half marathon. I trained as well as I knew how (having never run before) and competed with my good friend Kate. It was a bit anti-climatic really because we ran in an inaugural race where it was actually a marathon relay. I started the race, running by myself, and then met Kate half way through the race to swap out our time chip and off she ran on her own. Unfortunately, it wasn't well organized for those of us just finishing the first leg and they had little water and no food for those running just finishing 13.1 miles. I was left cold (did I mention this was in December?), sore, tired, hungry and thirsty. Then I had to hop in the car and drive to the finish line to meet up with Kate when she finished. As she crossed the finish line they cheered on...Becky Brewer! Huh? I guess they missed the part where I ran the first leg and she ran the second. Oh well. It was a start. I remember thinking part way through the race, WHY did I sign up to do this?! What was I thinking? I'm never going to put my body through something like this again.

Welp...7 years later I can joyfully say that first experience did not deter me from trying again and realizing how much I actually enjoy training for and running half marathons. I have been able to run at least one half marathon every year since then and starting in 2007 I had the joy of running my first 1/2 marathon with my twin sister. We have excitedly found, planned, trained for and raced together every year since then. While we rarely actually cross the finish line together there is a delight in gearing up for and racing across the start line together.

 This past May I was able to run my 9th half marathon. I decided to change it up a bit by running a trail race. WOW. What a difference that makes. I never realized how much harder it was to trail run, and at high elevation to boot, but I definitely loved it. A nice perk was that the race was right in my home town of Los Alamos! It was a 13.5 mile rigorous and grueling course but it packed a bunch of beauty and fun along with it. We started at an elevation of 7200 feet, dropping to just below 7000' and then climbed to almost 9000'!! The up was tough but the down was a blast! Looking forward to doing this race again, possibly even next year, and seeing who else I can recruit to run with me in it! 


I'm also looking forward to running my 10th 1/2 (6th half marathon with my twin) later this year. I'm thinking we might just have to try a trail race together!

a group of us from church who ran the race!

Laura, Nate and me around mile 3!

still in really good spirits and with a lot of energy!

We finished!!

Narrator: Ruby!

Ruby decided to tell us a story of Cinderella using her "Bible" that was really "What To Expect When You're Expecting", hence some of the jokes made by the adults in the video :) She also talked about Rubella..her invisible friend. Enjoy!

May

Back in May Jack and I enjoyed an extended trip back home to North Carolina. It was a great time to hang out with family and friends, and it was nice to catch up since it had been almost a year and a half since we had stepped foot on our beloved home land :) We started off the trip with a little disc golf with Debbie and Brian at our old stomping grounds near NC State. It was fun but man my arm was sore after 18 holes (sad, I know). Then the four of us headed over to an NC State paraphernalia store to check out some new shirts so Jack and I could represent back in New Mexico. We made our purchases and it was off to find some dinner.

On Saturday morning Debbie, Brian and I headed to Umstead State Park for a little run. It was fun and yet I was surprised at how much the humidity and heat affected me! I guess living in this dry climate for over a year now has really made me a sissy when it comes to humidity! I couldn't believe how sweaty we got and how our clothes felt soaking wet. But it was fun and beautiful. It was nice to hang out with them in the morning. We ran home after that and got ready for the day. Hung out in Raleigh and then they hosted a fun dinner get together with friends and family. It was so nice to get to see my parents, sisters, Jack's parents and some great friends. We had these awesome things called Spiedies (or something like that, I don't know how it's spelled) that Brian grilled and it was delicious! Then there was some fun cornhole gaming and walks around the lake. It was relaxing, encouraging and fun!

Sunday we enjoyed fellowshiping with the body at Harvest Bible Chapel North Raleigh (now that's a mouthful) and then met up with my family again for one last lunch before my parents had to head back to Atlanta. It was sweet time together. Then Jack and I packed up and headed to Winston Salem to see J,J&K. While in W-S we had really great food cooked by Julie, got to spend time with our niece Kylee (who is a year and half) and good talks with Jon. They are gracious hosts and it was chill to hang out on their back porch watching Kylee play in her water feature and catching up. We also got in a good run together through the neighborhood and played some Dr. Mario tetris on the Wii. Good times! Unfortunately Jack was fighting off what we later found out was mold poisoning so he ended up sleeping for 13 of the 26 hrs we were there to visit in W-S but it was still a fun time all around.

Monday night Jack and I hopped back in the car to head down to Wilmington to hang out with his parents. It was beautiful there! We didn't make it in until after midnight but Jennie was still awake to welcome us in. We got up Tuesday and headed out to meet Gary for lunch. After that Jack, Jennie and I headed to the beach. I LOVE the Atlantic ocean and we had a great time hanging out. Jack and I ran out almost immediately and hopped right in, catching waves and body surfing. It was warm and we had a blast. Then we got out and the 3 of us went for a nice walk down the beach. After coming back Jack and I threw the frisbee around while Jennie soaked up the rays. Then we headed back to the house for showers and dinner and some Pinochle playing.

Wednesday the 4 of us got up and went jogging which was really fun. It was nice to be out exercising with everyone. Then we hung out and relaxed on the back porch for a while, reading books and talking then got ready later that day for a beautiful dinner at the Oceanic. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Wilmington because you get to sit right on the water, enjoy the view and eat seafood!! It was nice and we had a great time talking and catching up.

Thursday we woke up and played some cornhole then Jack and I packed up to head back to Raleigh. We spent the last 2 days in Raleigh with Debbie and Brian, played some disc golf, hung out with friends and just relaxed. It was nice. When we were flying back home on Saturday Jack and I kept reflecting on what an encouraging, relaxing and edifying trip it had been. There's always the old adage that says, "I need a vacation from my vacation" but thankfully after this vacation we both remarked that this vacation was everything we were hoping it would be and we felt refreshed and ready to be home, not tired out and needing a new vacation.

One word summary of our feelings from the trip to NC: thankful.

Update soon

Life has been whirl-wind-esque lately but have no fear...an update is coming soon! Between working 4-5 days per week and spending lots of time with the youth there is little time to put things on the blog but we've been up to some really neat things lately...blog worthy for sure :) Until then...please enjoy episode one of one our favorite youtube videos here lately.... ha!

it's Christmas time...there's no need to be afraid

that I will never get around to posting about Christmas, that is. Slowly but surely I'll catch this here blog up to the present! But until then...enjoy the reminiscing :) This is part 1. Part 2 to come soon about the Galloways visiting :)

In early December I had the opportunity to join some friends to find our perfect, NM Christmas tree. Unfortunately, Jack wasn't feeling great so he opted out in exchange for a nice long nap (much needed) so he was stuck with the Charlie Brown tree I found out in the woods. It was so much fun. We got a permit, drove to a remote(ish) part of the Jemez mountains (4-wheel drive only...there were 2 cars from another group that got stuck in all the snow so thankfully our friends were able to pull them out) and off we tromped, over hill and dale, through deep snow to find our tree. Then we had a fun little picnic just to enjoy the day and it started snowing on us! Fun times with fun friends! Then in late December, Jack and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary!! It was such a fun time to go on a date night, enjoy a nice dinner at Outback and do quite a bit of talking. Thankful for our 6 years together and looking forward to many more years to come!!

Daniela, Nate and Ethan, friends from church who took me out to find our Christmas tree!!

There it is, good ol' Charlie Brown!

Don't know these people but they sure got a big tree. No idea where that thing is going!

The Galloway and Moody trees. All cut down and ready to be taken home and dressed :)

The whole gang having a picnic. What a fun day. The trees way back in the background is where we hiked to find our trees.

Fun family pic :) Thanks to the Rover for getting us in and out of there.

Here it is...good ol' Charlie Brown tree :) 

one of our favorite ornaments :) Love the Balloon Fiesta in NM.

No chimney to hang out stockings so we went with a more intellectual feel :) 

the inspiration for the colors on our tree and a good reminder during the Christmas season.

This start cracked us up, it would lean all sorts of directions. We'd straighten it out and then wake up the next morning to see where it ended up.

Who doesn't love a kayaking Santa? :)

One of our favorite places to visit.

an awesome national park...see a trend here with our ornaments? 

Jack and me at our anniversary dinner :) What a fun time.

Stay tuned for part 2 of our Christmas time adventures!! Coming soon....

Gulp...we turned 30!

So back in February, Debbie and I hit the big 3-0! We decided that we wanted to do something big, fun and active for our birthday. None of this we're getting old, ho-hum, so sad, cry me a river mumbo-jumbo...no way, man. Go big or go home! So big we went....on a snowboarding extravaganza to Colorado. Debbie, Brian, Dave and Mike flew out from North Carolina and Jack and I picked them up and it was off to the Lazy Bear Cabin in Pagosa Springs, CO.

The plan: 3-4 days of snowboarding, one day to hang out in town and maybe go sledding, laugh a lot, have some fun and look thirty in the face and say, "you ain't got nothin' on me!"

I think we accomplished all of that...and more! Unfortunately Jack accomplished crushing his tailbone on our sledding day but he handled it well and we all still had a great time.

30? You don't seem so bad...I think this decade has a lot in store and the fun is only just beginning!

The birthday girls! :) Not too shabby for 30, eh?

makes me think of a band cover shot or something..except for the cheesy grins. we needed emo solemn faces to fully pull it off.

bros for life...for real!

nothing makes a trip to CO right unless you stop at Bode's for a breakfast burrito!!

alberta lift and black diamonds...pshhh, we got you.

March 12, 2012

three-twelve-twelve...3.12.12.

to jack:

it's time to celebrate!

happy birthday my dear mate,

what a wonderful husband you sure do make.

today's your birthday and that sure is great!

i hope you enjoyed your chocolate bundt cake.

God brought you to earth some thirty-one years ago

and when he did, he put on a show.

see you came to this earth to bring him more glory

and each and every day he is making you more holy.

you walk with him closely and with much fervor and grace,

i know without a doubt with faith you will finish this race.

what an example you are to me of humility and love

the way you serve diligently and focus on the One above.

how i look forward to many more years together

growing strong in the Lord no matter what storms we must weather.

he gave me a wonderful leader in you

i love you so much, of this it is true!

Happy birthday, Jack!!! 31 years and pressing on! Looking forward to many more years of walking life with you, serving the Lord and growing in love. You.are.loved.

we sure do have fun together :)

:)

you are so much fun! you make me smile and laugh so much :) thanks!!

It's march!

And you know what that means...new desktop calendar from Geninne!!

http://blogdelanine.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-desktop-calendar.html

Also with March brings Jack's birthday month, March madness, spring (windy season here), and an exciting conference with D.A. Carson!! It's going to be a good month. 2012...you've been pretty cool so far. Keep it up.

Thankful...to finally be posting about Thanksgiving!

Way back in 2011...back in November, Jack and I were visited by my parents! It was their first time out to see where we were living in NM and we sure had a great time. It was fun picking them up from the airport, driving the scenic way back to Los Alamos (we had only been living up here about 2 weeks before they came...still a bit in transition but they were gracious with our ramshackled, unorganized place), stopping to see the Soda Dams along the way and spending time sight seeing around our new town. We enjoyed visiting Bandelier National Monument and touring the Bradbury Science Museum watching movies and reading all about the history of our fascinating home. Mom loved it, of course, and even snagged a few pictures for her students back home who thought it was amazing that she was getting to visit the place where the atomic bomb was created! We also took them to check out the views at Overlook Park in White Rock and one day drove up to the Santa Fe Ski hill to check things out. We were snowed on there and had a fun little trek in the snow and threw some snow balls. It was great!

While they were in town we also got to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and some friends from church. It was a fun time of cooking, talking, laughing and game playing and also remembering things for which we were thankful. It was relaxing and enjoyable and we were so thankful they took the time to come out visit us. We were sad they had to leave so soon but we sure were happy to have the time we had with them.

Checking out the Soda Dams

Mom and Dad

Bandelier

Dad headed up to check things out.

Dad enjoyed reading all the historical stuff.

aww aren't they cute?

The fam having fun at the national monument :)

Watch out DAD! At the ski hill :)

Enjoying the snow.

Raspberry pie I made

Ready to eat!

Buddy and Amelia helped with clean up. That was great!

Mike and Jacqueline. What a fun thanksgiving together!

Who's up for coming out to visit us next?! :)