Anyway, Kris and I are excited to be heading to Albuquerque and Santa Fe for tomorrow Christmas. It has to be one of the most wonderful places to be during the holidays. The adobe houses are lit up with lines faralitos (luminarios) along the roofs, walls and driveways, and on Christmas Eve, everyone crowds together for a cozy walk down Canyon road to look at all the art in shop windows, drink hot cider, and maybe squeeze into a restaurant for a bite to eat. The smell of piñon and fires will be in the air, and we'll get to eat at one of my most favorite (and colorful) restaurants, the Shed (I order the #10 with garlic bread and a sangria!)
To catch up on the past month or so ... We went down early to San Antonio for Kris' half marathon to stay with our friends, Lindsay and Paul. We were so excited to find out that Linz is expecting twins! Yeah! Kris did a great job in the race, averaging a 7:40 per mile, even though the day turned out to be much hotter and more humid than expected. In fact, many people who intended to do the full marathon dropped down to the half. Here's a video of him finishing (his bib number was 10707): http://san-antonio.competitor.com/features/finishreplay/. Please note the sweet beard. I was so glad to have this video, because despite my efforts to see him go by at the beginning of the race, then at the 8 mile marker, then around 11.6 miles, I NEVER succeeded in seeing him! We both were totally bummed, but had a happy reunion under the "K" sign after the race. Now Kris is re-addicted to running (he ran track in high school) and looking forward to a real marathon. Then I can buy him the 26.2 sticker.
We are both ready to go to Kenya. The support we have received from friends and family in raising money for the kids' scholarships and the orphanage has been incredible. We have almost reached the goal! Kris has planned the kids' running program, and I've got some fun art projects planned. We've been speaking with one of the girls who started Hope Runs, and she's been relating stories about the people who run the orphanage and how life runs on a daily basis there. She said that the kids are going to be SO excited to have real art classes and new people to meet. I can't wait myself! We will be putting pictures up and hopefully adding to the blog ever few days. I'm sure we'll have stories of our own soon enough, and once we get a quality camera, some photos that capture the kids personalities and surroundings.
Besides all the prep for Kenya, we've been helping to remodel some of the house we're living in, dancing at the Cotton Club, and visiting with friends. Oh, and a fantastic trip to Chicago for our one-year anniversary. What a great city! We had so much fun. We saw several friends who happened to be there, ate at some GREAT restaurants, went to a Browns vs. Bears game at Soldier Field, and spent about two days in the Field Natural History Museum. Love that place.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
This is our gooey deep dish pizza from Giordano's. MMMM ... but we're still thin crust people.
Kris, me, Michael and his grrrlfriend.
Introspective silver bean picture. Big Kris, little me!
We loved the colors in Chicago!
Yeah, friend!
Kris' friend from the Field Museum, our second home in Chicago. Nerds.
