October

First of all, we did not do this:

We decided Marathon Training was not for us when we decided to take a "lovely run" on a 95 degree day, and Steph started crying on Register Avenue.
But we did....

See the Legwarmers for our friend Kim's birthday.
And, then did the Race for the Cure with Ben's mom the next day....feeling a little "under the weather."  Steph thankfully did not throw up.

Our friend, Leigh, came to visit for a couple hours and we took her to the wonderful Samo's. Although she did not wear Ben's favorite "I love Cats" sweatshirt, she did wear a lovely tribute to the Nation's Eagles.

The Post's came to Baltimore!  And we went to Gettysburg...I'll have to upload a picture later (like when I'm not at work...) 

We also joined a "Haiti Learning Group" learning about the history and culture of Haiti, and hopefully participating in a trip to Haiti in the next year.  This is really exciting because Steph has been to Haiti a couple of times, and we had wanted to visit Haiti together while Ben was living in the Dominican Republic, but it was never possible.  It's been a great thing for us to explore our love for the international community, and do something together again we really care about.  Currently, we're on a $2 a day eating challenge for the class...it's been a great experience.
This is a picture from when Steph visited Haiti to see the Citadel a couple years ago:

Steph went to Michigan as well, very very last minute, to see all her old friends and roommates from Hope College.  5 year reunion, we're officially older.  She also got to see her dear friends Biz and Julie.

Annnnd....Steph loves Halloween.  So we carved a legit pumpkin this year (although last year's was amazing too).  And we checked out the Great Lantern Parade in Patterson Park.  It was well worth it, and we're already planning on joining in next year...let us know if you want to be a part of our lantern team! 

I think we're semi-caught up now. 

September

We are horrible at actually updating our blog, although we love having it.  I'm sure it will get a little more interesting come winter time when we're treking through Costa Rica with the Post family...

Here's what we did in September:

We killed some mice, Boblooch style.

We went to Michigan and stayed at the Post's Cottage on Burt Lake.  Grandpa Post came and played a couple rounds of Salad Bowl.

We visited the Fort, we hadn't been there since we were kids.....We played with guns and Ben drew a mustahce on my face with a piece of charcoal.

It was great to see Justine before she left for Nicaragua.

Ok....we'll talk about October next.

constantly improving...

Last year:

This year:

the long haul is over...

I have officially finished my last assignment, ever, for grad school.  Tomorrow I will get the sweet satisfaction of going to my last class ever and handing it in.
Last night as we were running we congratulated ourselves, as couple, for getting through this crazy year of grad school.  It took both of us, and we're so proud and relieved that it's OVER!

Weird and Recommended

Our friends Nikki and Jason introduced us to an excellent cookbook, Great Good Fast, by Martha Stewart. Ours is currently on loan from the library, but I might have to make the purchase....
After a trip to the Sunday Farmers' Market, I made this.  And I think you should too:

Training

I will be the first to admit that Ben is right, A LOT.  I used to say "always" instead of "a lot" but then I started being right more after we got married (kidding).  No, but really, those who know both of us well, know that we are two totally different people, exact opposites.  So, it's true that opposites attract!  When Ben and I were in the Dominican in March with a group of college students, several times we would hear "you and Ben are verrry different--it's so cool to see how you work together!"  We took a lot of pride in that.
I am very emotional, and Ben is very even keel.  That sums it up.  And Ben calms me down, brings me back to reality, while I encourage him to share his feelings ("feelings...talking about feelings...") more.  It's a great combo.  We're quite proud of our differences.
And here is an excellent example of why we need to do this half marathon together.  Last night we went for a run, only 2 miles, but at this point if I can run that without stopping, it's a great accomplishment!  Ben is obviously in better shape than I am, and faster, but has been mostly sticking with me when we run.  He took off ahead of me last night and I was immediately discouraged and outraged.  Instead of it making me want to work harder, I had to fight with myself to even keep running.  Of course, the rest of the run I was thinking about what I would say to him when we got home, along the lines of "YOU LEFT ME!"  And of course, when we arrived home, Ben said "great job!" and a conversation ensued.  Basically, within one nanosecond of me starting to whine, I realized that Ben knew exactly what he was doing to push me along in our training.  Our goal is to run this "race" together in life and sometimes we're in different places.  The job of the person ahead is to reach back and encourage the person behind, and the person behind's job is to keep the other in focus and work hard to catch up to be with the other.

Love all this sappy running metaphors..

Oh, and I love my husband who just surprised me at work for lunch.

July

Although July is not yet over--I'm sure that the most important thing we'll do all this month is this:

June

We went to Michigan and stayed on the Lake as a family. Got to see the Post's and some really great friends.

May

We headed out to Colorado for the Donohue nuptials. It was gorgeous and we had a sweet condo with a sweet view.

And Steph got over her fear of horses, and Ben made friends with a cowboy named Jason.

April

This is what we did in April. Just in general.

March

We went back to the Dominican Republic (Pico Escondido) with these cool kiddos on a work team and sucked at taking pictures.

It's not like we met and got engaged there or anything...

February

Ben wore his best as we settled into our new place and we got snowed in.

Justine came to visit and we toured in the Shaggin' Waggin'.

January

We got hitched.

Por fin!

Then we hit up St. John, which we highly recommend for the best snorkeling we've ever seen.

Corre Corre!

Team Looch has decided to run the Baltimore Half Marathon in October!

Not only have we been feeling like we could get in better shape...but also we talk so frequently about wanting to accomplish things together more often. We we lived in the Dominican we felt like we were working towards the same purpose and working towards the same goals together. Since Steph's been in school the past year, in many ways we've felt like we've had different goals and directions professionally. And as cheesy as it is...running the race together is a great start to accomplishing a shared vision and goal again!

Annnd...training started last night. 2 miles. DONE!

And since we suck at updating our blog...this new pretty set up has gotten Steph motivated and we'll sum up the past 6 months in pictures.

Pedrito turned 3 last week! This was one of the first families I met when I moved to Baltimore and began neighborhood work in the SE.

Pedrito's parents have become very dear to me, as well as his older sister.

Ben and I were invited to the big birthday party which included Salvadorian food, bachata, and of course...the oversized over sugared cake!

Let's get this thing going...

Ben and I have been really sruggling with this whole blog thing going and actually keeping it updated, active, and interesting.
I was inspired today to get working on our blog again after seeing our friends, The Rhodes' new blog. (Posted under "likes")

We hope to actually keep this updated from now on with pictures, happenings, and all that jazz.

Quite honestly, for me, this is the first time my life has slowed down and settled in for many years. And maybe it's time to share our enjoyment of the simple things with our community.

On another note...we're buying a dog.




Fooled you.

Oh Yeah, we got married too!

Going Back

Steph and I are so excited to be going back to the DR for a week! We are taking a work team with 13 students from College Life here at Towson. Steph and I are excited to be going back and seeing friends as well as being able to share some of our story with other people.
Thank you to everyone who has supported the trip! It's been a great experience to be planning this trip and trying to raise funds.