We're Back

After a fun long weekend at my twin sister and her husband's home, Ryan and I drove back into O-town yesterday afternoon. It was a great weekend in which we got to spend a lot of quality time with J&J (our nickname for my twin sis and her husband) plus with my mom (though she unfortunately got sick with a cold and was MIA on Sunday) and good friend Kim (she kept grad school fun). I took a few fun pictures which I will make sure to share later, though not nearly as many as I would have liked (I always tend to forget that I have my camera with me).

Probably some of the key highlights included playing favorite old atari games together on their playstation (Megamania, Ms. Pac Man, etc.), watching movies, playing Killer Bunnies (Jen has almost all the decks so this was quite crazy & fun), eating some great Thai food at an old Taco Bell restaurant, playing glow in the dark miniature golf, and Ryan & Justin also got to go to a Blues Hockey game together on Saturday night. Oh, and can't forget to mention Ryan's first White Castle experience (Justin took him after the hockey game)...let's just say it lived up to his expectations and rumors.

Now I am trying to get back into my normal life routine, particularly heading back to work will be a little more difficult. But I worked on a couple of projects yesterday afternoon to help me get back into that groove...mostly because I have a lot of work to get done before we head off to Afgh. in less than 2 weeks.

We also had a Relay for Life committee meeting last night as well, which as most of you know, I always enjoy so very much. I know that I have said this before, but I just love the people on our committee and being around them is always such a blessing. Quite a few of them are actually cancer survivors (whom I have a huge heart and a ton of respect for), and others have lost loved ones to cancer and/or seem them fight an often horrific battle against it (a few of them also work in the medical field w/cancer treatment). But instead of letting sorrow take over their life or giving into what can sometimes seem like hopelessness, it is so cool to see that they are taking action instead and living in many respects, a life filled with purpose. I just simply love seeing their heart and passion (particularly for survivors and those who have lost loved ones) which just radiates from many of them in all that they do and say...and I get to be a part of it!