Why I run

Yesterday on my run Soren asked me: "Mama, why you running?" And I gave him the short answer: "Because it's good for my body. It makes me healthy and strong." But someday I'm going to give him the long answer:

Source: peace-love-run.tumblr.com via Monique on Pinterest

San Diego

Jumping on the trampoline...a sweet new friendship between Soren and Quinn...creative beer at Alpine Brewing Company...a luxurious (and free!) date night downtown...a small-town parade on a beautiful fall day...
Just another wonderful weekend in San Diego.

However, there was a tinge of great sadness in the air that weekend. Our sister-in-law's father was suddenly critically ill and in the hospital. He is now making a miraculous recovery, and if you'd like to know more of his story you can visit his Caring Bridge page. Please pray.

My top 10 of Arizona list

It's been a year. A year since we moved to the Phoenix area to start over, chase our career dreams, and make a new life for ourselves. That hot, dark night in August...where we stood on our new doorstep at 1am frantically trying to turn the electricity on, where we fell into our sleeping bags upstairs, trying to let sleep take us when the inside temperature was a sweltering 95 degrees... It seems like yesterday, but then it seems like so far away when I think of all that has gone on in our lives since then. Classes done, friends made, mountains hiked, cities explored, things learned. We have learned a lot this past year, about ourselves, each other, and the journey of life...but what I wanted to tell today is what we have learned about Arizona. So here is my top 10 list of things I've learned about AZ!

10. Everyone knows Arizona is hot. But nothing could have prepared me for the oppression that summer brings. It starts in late May and goes through October. That's right--last year Halloween weekend was the first time it dropped below triple digits. The heat never ends. Even in the wee hours of the morning it's still pushing 90. That means there is never a good time to exercise outside. So we hibernate. For 6 months.
9. It actually gets cold. It's already hard for me to imagine, but I have these vague memories of wearing wool sweaters during the day, and bundling up in all of my fleece (including a fleece ear warmer!) to run in the mornings. But I will never complain about our cold. We welcome winter with open, desperate arms.
8. Phoenix is enormous. Brandon kept telling me that Phoenix was going to be much bigger than San Diego, but I just didn't believe him. I kept denying that fact until I experienced Phoenix traffic. It's quite simply horrendous. And besides that, the Phoenix metropolitan area, with over 4 million people, spans across 9,000 square miles. Which means that it can take up to 2 hours to go from the Southeast corner of the valley to the Northwest corner.
7. Religion is big out here. There are churches on every corner (in the suburbs this is not an exaggeration). And a big trend is advertising your chosen church on your car. Of course your sticker must have a cool mega-church name like "Rock Point" or "Real Life".
6. This is Mormon central. I was shocked to find out that the communities of Gilbert/Mesa are home to the 2nd largest Mormon population outside of Utah. This means LDS churches on every corner, lots and lots of kids in the neighborhoods, and up until recently not being able to order alcohol at restaurants on Sundays (so I've been told). What we have learned from being in this heavy religious culture is to visit our favorite restaurants and play places on Sunday morning--when everyone is in church!
5. And here's another very real implication of a religious culture: extremely conservative politics. I'm gonna try to keep my emotions out of it while I simply state what Arizona politicians have been up to lately: cutting our state Medicaid for all single persons, cutting mental health services (after Jared Laughner shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords), naming a state gun, ruling that guns be allowed in bars, and you are all familiar with SB1070--the law allowing cops to question a person's citizenship, especially if they look like they don't belong.
4. Arizona Mexican food is entirely different than California Mexican food. It's referred to as the Sonoran style, as opposed to the Baja style I'm used to in San Diego. But I'm still not sure exactly what the difference is yet because I'm having a really hard time just trying to find good, authentic Mexican food at all here.
3. The desert is beautiful. It took me years of visiting my in-laws in Arizona to begin to grasp the mysterious, enchanting beauty of the desert. The vibrant orange-purple-pink sunsets here far surpass any sunset on Sunset Cliffs in SD. And the purple mountains standing so majestic in the distance take my breath away almost every time I glance to the East.
2. Sedona is our state gem. It's a tourist haven, but for very good reason. The magnificent red rock structures that surround the little town of Sedona are of another world. Divine. I say the scenery is just as good as anything Utah's got.
1. Haboobs. Just say it with me:-) Borrowed from the Arabs, this term describes the crazy/nasty/massive dust storms that devour our valley regularly each summer. Last month a gnarly haboob came through--basically a wall of dust 2 miles high that brought visibility to 0, turned the sky dark brown, and put sand in our teeth. They even shut the airport down! Just google it...

Fresh start

A new semester begins. Starting the school year, getting into a new routine never ceases to capture my excitement. I get pleasant butterflies reminiscing about colorful falling leaves, dry land swim practices on the football field, and new notebooks and pens. Even now, in grad school, in the desert, I love the feel of a fresh start. I love knowing I'll be settling into a cozy routine that I can depend on. It's a constant rhythm between school work, play with Soren, errands, workouts, study dates with Karen, family dinners, evening walks or swims, Dexter nights with Bran, and Sunday morning breakfasts. It's contained chaos...and I love it. The seasons of nature (albeit very subtle in Arizona) and the seasons of the school year give me a steady peace in the continuity of life. I feel sustained in the familiar routines and hopeful for what may come with this fresh start.

Guest blogger!

I am so happy to introduce my thoughtful, poetic husband Brandon today. I have told him since the beginning that he could write on here, and he has finally decided to take me up on it. Most people probably don't know that he is a lover of poetry and has written quite a few poems to date. Here is his very latest that he wrote during a crazy thunderstorm on our last camping trip:

True Connection

Where is our love in the midst of this concrete and landscaped complex?
Where are our hearts when protected by the walls and gates of our development?
Where is our connection when focused on the manicuring of our own landscapes?
Where is our refreshment when surrounded by the pounding heat and pressures of our lives?

Our hearts yearn for this love, this connection, this refreshment.
We steal away out of these confining walls, these perfectly manicured landscapes, the artificial solidness of the concrete, and the deadening heat of the valley sun.
We come to a place of true solidness
A land of rocks and giant pines that have a way of piercing and jolting our eyes, that have grown accustomed to man-made perfection.
We rise up out of the valley where the heat and pressure of our lives have no jurisdiction.
The peace and beauty of the mountain top forest gives our eyes the chance to see each other again.

But along with the peace and beauty of this natural place comes the power and clash of the storm.
As our walls begin to fall and our connection begins to seem possible the inevitability of the storm is upon us.
The wind picks up, the clouds start to build, and the thunder begins to crash!
The lightning strikes and seems to literally rip through the atmosphere that envelopes us and the walls that protected our hearts.
As the two distinct weather systems collide the rain starts to pour, the hail pounds, and the thunder rattles us to the bone.

At first we fear that we may not be able to withstand this intense collision,
but as we sit under the canopy of our love we know this storm is beautiful and wonderful.
The intensity and the power of this collision is simply a sign of the deep connection and inter-mingling of these two complex weather systems.

Before we know it the wind begins to calm and the sun starts to pierce the clouds.
The two distinct weather systems have seemed to merge.
This merge yields a beautiful warmth that glows deeply into the soul of a marriage.
A piercing sunlight that shines brightly through the clouds of a family and thaws the hearts of all those within.

Thank you Lord for connection.

Camping adventure #2

We had to go back for more. It was just too refreshing enjoying all the simple pleasures of being in the woods with my boys. So here's a little photo recap of our camping adventure last weekend. Same campground, same great weather (not too warm with daily thundershowers), with a few lessons learned from our first time around: a bike seat for Soren (because the bike trails are the best part), tarps for rain protection (and hail!), and a pack & play so Soren would actually nap and not play in the tent....Of course, Soren had to rock climb......And throw rocks off the cliff with Dada......He learned to say "what's up dude?" every time he put his hood on......Just too cool......The bike seat was a huge hit!......And here's 2 little videos to showcase our awesome views along the rim and Soren singing the entire ride!

Our simple getaway

We have to get away, we have to get away. This has been my summer mantra, for the obvious reason that Phoenix's average summer temp hovers around 110 degrees. And then when the monsoons come to town it gets crazy humid with that same heat. It's nasty. Brandon and I also realized that this is the first summer of our marriage where we both are working/doing school full-time. Can you believe that? We really should be so grateful that Brandon has always been on a 9-month school schedule and I have always held super flexible jobs that gave me time off in the summer. Summer is when we whisk ourselves away...to Europe, to Hawaii, on road trips...

Enough complaining. Our busy summer schedule and very limited funds have forced us to get back to our roots (roots of our marriage, that is) and enjoy one of life's simpler pleasures--camping!

It was Soren's first camping experience (we hadn't been for 3 years!) and he had an absolute blast. Setting up the tent, roasting marshmallows, sleeping in his own little sleeping bag, doing roadwork with Dad, hiking, and "mountain biking"...he's a natural camper, as we had hoped:-) We also finally learned why Soren was never that interested in his bike--he needed some obstacles like rocks and trails!
Our little mountain biker in the making...Brandon's heart couldn't be prouder. And I couldn't have been happier to escape the heat, the drudgery of school, and just be our simple family of 3.