our marathon

a friend giggled today over my zebra image, sitting behind the corporate rose garden quote. she found it ironic. a symbol of materialism behind an alternative-lifestyle (not the kind you're thinking of...) mantra. i concur. but i do love a good zebra. taken together, i find the combination a suitable picture of "the Dana". there i am. a funny trend-centric, anti-trend melange.

life is happening. i think. putting in 14 hour work days... working through weekends... surely something is happening and I guess you could call it life. and... i love it! there is something about working hard toward life-giving goals that is immensely satisfying. if i did not carry the weight of humanitarian responsibility, my glass would surely stand half empty.

we are emerging from an intense week. last monday we spent the evening munching on CSA veggies (how will i be vegetarian once CSA is over??) while revisiting the paths we had set out for achieving our goals. although the conversation ended with tears, they were healthily shed: our path is not easy, but worth every effort. friends, we appreciate your encouragement!

thursday marked our 4-year anniversary!!! the day began with a beautiful gift (thank you Drew! the perfect dress that i will debut at the Crecelius wedding in Seattle...), included some serious beach time & ended with more intense conversations & and unbelievable French food. ooh lala. Drew, je t'aime! we carefully discussed our relationship: from problem areas to successes, revamped some of our goals & looked forward to things to come. the only thing that would have made the dinner better would have had fluffy fur & sweet little eyes... oh, little Mollie.

onward & upward.

Meet Marquis (& our sled dog)

So we have the cutest little neighbors. Across the street from us is a low income apartment complex, & all day every day kids who are out of school for the summer dawdle out front with little to do while their parents are at work. Last week Drew hung out with one of our buddies, who is 8 years old, while she babysat her twin 6-month old brother & sister. An 8 year old babysitting 6 month olds?? Wow.

Whenever we walk either in or out of our building we hear a chorus of little voices calling, "Can Mollie come out???" They like to take turns holding her leash & always have news ideas for how they're going to play. Most recently, one of our favorite little buddies, Marquis, waited all day with his fisher price roller skates & had planned for Mollie to pull him like a sled dog! Here's a shot of them just after Mollie had pulled him down the sidewalk:


It's through relationships with those around us that we fulfill our most profound goals. These kids are examples of such relationships.

all in a day at wrigley

tornados. thunder & lightening. fans slip & sliding on the field, chased by cops. this is what we all expect from an evening at gool ol' Wrigley field, right?
well, being our first Cubs game & all (thanks, Maram, for the invite!), we never would have known better. not only did we get caught in a mob instigated by the strong tornado winds, but we were also sprayed with hordes of rain & witnessed lightening from one of the best spots in the city. boom!



I was just glad to get my a) hot dog & beer , and b) cotton candy

We got tired of the madness after a few hours (although the game resumed at 10:30pm) & rode the moped home in the storm, going through the McDonald's drive-through just to be silly. Nothing better than a soggy chocolate sunday... with nuts.

I'm pretty sure they thought we were the true nuts...

Viva la Quebec

Oooh lala we were loving Quebec City, Canada Day & all. This goat must have been ooh lala-ing throughout Canada Day as well. Cool headband. But not nearly as cool as this dude's hat.


As it turned out, we were in the capital of Quebec on Canada Day (wikipedia it if you're unfamiliar), which we didn't deduce until evening. Canadian flags, parades nor fireworks clued us in. It took a chatty Canadian couple at Dairy Queen to reveal to us the patriotic motivation displayed by Canadians flying flags out their car windows all day! The couple gave us a flag of our own, which we immediately mounted on the car. Viva la Canada, et Viva la Quebec! Here, Drew salutes our flag. He is a Canadian mutt, after all (i know, bravo for the dorky shirt--we had to resort to conference freebies after stinking up all our clothes camping...).



We adored Quebec City. If we could live one place, anywhere in the world (possibly even universe), it just may be there. Snow and all. If you know me well, you'll be surprised to hear I loved it more than Paris. Or Bruges. Or Paris + Bruges, whatever that amounts to. Paruge. Here are a few of our housing choices, nestled within the winding cobblestone streets of the romantic city:


Mollie was quite the Quebec City hit--we counted well over 70 people who snuggled her that morning alone. We were stopped again & again by people of all ages for a Mollie belly rub. I learned a new French word that morning: teddy bear, thanks to our own little teddy bear. Here she is getting a belly rub from a stranger (a woman who speaks no English... belly rubs know no language boundaries).


Thank you, Quebec City, for incredible memories.