He who said let it be and this breathtaking canyon came to be... is remembered and celebrated today and we humbly pray, every day.
standing in the stillness and magnificence of miraculous sun-kissed red rock after rock after rock, we exalt our Creator and Saviour. a Mind that could imagine and dream and fashion such marvel was born this day so that we might commune with Him.
Merry Christmas, friends. may His joy be yours.
it'll be some couple of weeks -- from the majestic awe of God-made grand canyon to the gaping man-made glitz of vegas to the snow-peaked mountains of brianhead.
Christmas and a few days in a valley of the seven wonders of the world; a few days and new year's eve in the self-proclaimed eighth wonder; dashing through wintry powder 10,000 feet above the air to launch 2010.
az, nv, ut... and nat'l parks, states, cities and odd-and-end sites in between. more for y who'll start early and end late.
it's been an eventful past week or so...
the dallas mavs sponsored a holiday party for OOIAL + soldiers and their families. it was cool meeting and hanging with the team but even cooler seeing the players committed to such a cause and interacting with the troops, especially their kids. big (seemingly bigger in person!) guys w/ big hearts. :)
this past weekend was packet pick-up for our marathon @ a mandatory health & fitness expo. saw some, um, interesting products going on in several of the booths. saturday was also yogurt day! free red mango @ all dallas locations 11-6 and then bb dallas grand opening in the evening w/ heavenly green tea and blackberry, one of our other faves, kicking off the "official" new store.
and then... 26.2 miles on sunday @ the dallas white rock marathon. pre-race signs weren't great for either of us. y cramped in the middle of the night having played ultimate the day before and g had a blister re-open + an entire toenail fall off. that and for some reason, our alarm didn't go off race day and we were awakened by friends that were carpooling with us. but PTL, we made it in time and ran the course beyond expectations. final times -- y: 4:15:04, g: 4:04:22. he let her win. :) that and he actually didn't train much and was under the army knee (and maybe agedness? haha) handicap. anyway, it was an incredible experience and a day to remember for (a record) 20,000 of us. it was also good running into people we hadn't seen in awhile that were either also running or supporting.
some other notable memories: 1] a wedding couple, donning running shoes under gown & tuxedo, actually exchanged vows right before jumping on the course for the entire marathon. 2] our friend ken, who ran the half marathon, finished in the top 50 all-around out of 10,000 finishers and even got a special elite cap for it. go ken! 3] and kudos to g's bro daniel who finished the race despite 3 med doctors telling him to ride the ambi back. he apparently suffered a sudden all-over body cramp mile 15 and couldn't move. but he persevered and crossed the finish line under 6 hours. hebrews 12:1!
back from a chilly district of columbia to an even chillier (&snowy/icy) texas!
dc highlights: smithsonian (free!) museums; supreme court hearing; monuments by moonlight; tangysweet; jogging the nat'l mall; embassy row; dupont circle/georgetown boutiques&shops; ching ching cha; arlington cemetery; nat geo society; filene's basement; full circle interactive play @ wooly mammoth theatre co.; teaism; spy museum and playing a spy in operation spy; le bon cafe; hope diamond; wright flyer; magna carta & nation's founding docs @ nat'l archives; eastern market; 1600 pennsylvania avenue; old town trolley; hoity toity @ phillips collection mansion; aloto froyo, fun, & trivia @ mr. yogato; y's se asian home food @ malaysia kopitiam; running into david w. @ the metro on the way to reagan airport; five guys burgers
life without limbs. most moved by nick vujicic's visit to wm yesterday... the rain & cold did not deter both seekers and believers from filling the seats.
feeling more and more at home at this place of grace, week in and week out. encouraged by truth messages that pander not; finding authenticity and transparency; seeing a community group take shape by what we trust as divine appointment; serving alongside others w/ similar passions and callings...
