"I Love My Life!"

The title of this blog post is a direct from Leni this past weekend.  I can't say I blame him.


It started out with a 4 day visit during the week before from Janelle, my best friend.  

Maggie and Janelle on Sandia Peak outside Albuquerque

Janelle is from Virginia and the year 2010 has brought her to Los Alamos twice, a fact for which I am very grateful!  The first time was in the winter when she got to see northern New Mexico under a beautiful blanket of snow.  This time, she got to see what was hidden under the snow back in February.  We definitely took advantage of the nice weather and went for several hikes and enjoyed the scenery that Los Alamos has to offer:

Janelle in Walnut Canyon with the dogs

We capped off Janelle's visit with an evening in Albuquerque with Nick and Claire which was very nice.  The next morning, Janelle and I hopped onto the Sandia Tramway to head up to the peak for a couple hours.  This tramway, by the way, is the longest in the world at over 2 miles long!

After dropping Janelle off at the airport (boo!), I high-tailed it back to Los Alamos.  The church needed some final sprucing in preparation for an ordination that was to be held there that evening.  Our wonderful deacon, Diane, was to be ordained to the priesthood!  

The service was beautiful and special for me since I hadn't been to an ordination before.  If you've never been to one, I highly recommend snagging a seat at one.  Even if it is for someone you don't know, it's still phenomenal.  Leni and I were both asked to take part in the service and it was a tremendous honor....not to mention a fabulous front row seat!


Saturday found me relaxing around the house for the most part and Leni got into some work on his truck down in the garage.  In the late afternoon, we made the 15 minute drive up to the ski hill the looks over the city, Pajarito Mountain.  It was hosting Ullr Fest, their version of Oktoberfest.  The weather was gorgeous, the beer was cold, and the music was hoppin'.  Later that evening, we headed over to some friends' house for some dinner followed by an episode of Connections.  Nerdy friends of mine might consider checking this old BBC show out.  Skip the first episode, but I think you'll enjoy the others.


Sunday was spent at church....almost all day!  There was the regular 10:30 AM service followed by a church-wide baby shower for one of our wonderful priests who is expecting a son in November.  We got home in time to rest for just a bit before having to head back for a contemporary worship service for which Leni runs the projection for lyrics. 


The one downer of the weekend (that term, in this case, is used the the broadest of senses) was the big Packers vs Bears game.  For the second year in a row, friend Tonia and I had a bet going.  If the Packers won, she would have to put their logo up as her profile picture on facebook.  The reverse would be true for me if the Bears won.  It was a very close score for the entire game but unfortunately, the only score that counts is the one at the end of the 4th quarter.  The Bears won by the skin of their teeth in the last moments of the game.  As promised, their logo is on my facebook profile.  I'm not going to lie...it hurts.  Perhaps the opportunity to post some Packer love here may help:

It was on this day before this unfortunate loss that Leni proclaimed his love of life.  The Packer win on Monday would have been really nice but in the end, it doesn't matter.  I can't help but be thankful, especially remembering times in the past (and sometimes recent past!) when I couldn't have uttered those words with even a shred of honesty.  I pray that you too may look on your life with the same excitement and thankfulness.


Keep It Real!