Much Needed Update

So. It's been a while.  In mid-October the whole community attended the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Fall Retreat in Hazlehurst, Mississippi.  It was a much needed break to focus in building community for all of us.  One of the main things we got to do was to have one-on-one conversations with each member of our community, which resulted in clarifying misunderstanding, expressing feelings, and forgiving each other.  I can say that things since then have been better, but is still a challenge (a good one!).  

Chris and I are more seriously training for the Michelob Ultra El Paso Marathon in March 7, 2010.  This time our friends Jackie and Matt shared with us another good tool for training: www.runnersworld.com.  We each got a personalized training schedule to prepare for this marathon and it was free!  We are running once during the week and doing a long run on Saturdays.  Yesterday Chris ran 8 miles and I ran 6.  This is the most both of us have run ever.  Our legs are feeling it, so are our knees, so let's see how in the world we are going to do 26.2 miles!

We have also been challenging different aspects of our daily lives, especially our eating habits.  Chris gave up caffeine and know is a decaf coffee drinker.  It has helped him lower his anxiety.  As for me, I stopped drinking coffee everyday since August and have been drinking it on Saturdays.  That's a huge deal for both of us I think.  Also, in our efforts to be more aware of what we eat, we have exposed ourselves to different documentaries (Food, Inc.) and books (In Defense of Food) that have turned me into a vegetarian (as of a month ago).  And, as Chris predicted in his last blog, we are eating lettuce from our garden already!  We also planted onion seeds about two weeks ago.  Let's wait to see how those turn out.

Chris has been very busy at work these days, especially because of Thanksgiving Day.  Sacred Heart Church (his worksite) is giving away 150 turkeys to 150 families!  They will also host a free Thanksgiving meal on Thursday for which they are expecting around 1,500 people from the neighborhood.  

I attended this Immigration Law Conference that taught me a lot about the different processes that my clients go through when applying for residence or petitioning for somebody.  This conference is quite popular in the U.S. because it includes a visit to the U.S. Consulate in Cd. Juarez, Mexico.  Did you know that the U.S. Consulate in Juarez is the consulate the processes the biggest amount of applications in the whole world?... Now you know!

I am quite excited about everything coming up.  Chris' birthday is tomorrow (he is turning the old age of 26).  We are going to Albuquerque, NM from the 27th to the 29th of this month.  It should be beautiful and leaves should be changing by then.  AND, there's only 30 days left to fly to Minneapolis for the holidays!  We are looking forward to do that.

Well, that is that.  We'll keep you posted as much as we can.  Hugs and thanks for the support!

Leti

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