weekend notes: post thanksgiving

I know this is late for a weekend summary as it’s already Tuesday afternoon - or evening if you're in EST time. But we don’t have the internet right now so I’m having to steal wi-fi wherever I can get it. Has the anticipation been killing you?

I’ll start with a picture of a rainbow God gave us on Thanksgiving. The weather geek in me loves rainbows. It was beautifully unexpected.

Moving on...

Friday night I cooked dinner. That may seem like an insignificant thing, but it was the first time I’ve had a kitchen to call my own (sort of) since we left Fort Campbell in May. We had terriyaki-marinated chicken, almond rice pilaf with veggies on the side. It was soooo yummy. We’ve settled into our temporarily borrowed home and even though it’s not ours, we are grateful to be out of a hotel and into a real house. Keep praying we get our on-post home, and soon. I'm happy to report we've dropped down on the housing list and are now a respectable 33.

Saturday Jim and I decided to go for a short run. Sounds simple enough, right? Nope. I almost died as my lungs felt like they were going to explode. Needless to say, it was a slow run. I was a little embarrassed but Jim reminded me that I was running 3000+ feet above sea level. El Paso is high, apparently, and it never dawned on me that it might be hard to breath. After two miles I was done. This, from the girl who ran a half-marathon 3 short months ago. Kinda pathetic.

That evening our new friends, Brandon and Liz, invited us over for homemade pizza and game night. Our other new friends, Jesse and Holly, also joined us. We taught them... wait for it... Settlers. (Bet you didn’t see that coming.) They loved it! Jim stole a win at the last minute (I was so close!) so with emotions high we switched to Pictionary. Jim and I clobbered them. Not very nice of us, I suppose, but I had to win something.

Sunday was another full day. Church in the morning and then the six of us (same group as the night before) piled into a truck and drove to Las Cruces, NM. We enjoyed Old Mesilla, a well preserved little tourist town rich in ol’ west history. We chowed on brunch at the Double Eagle which used to be the tavern/saloon Billy the Kid frequented. I’m still dreaming about those killer Belgium waffles. And mimosas.

Outside was a collection of vendors selling their wares, an old church and a really cool book shop. We perused for an hour maybe, then piled back in the car to head home.

I had time for a delightful nap (2 hours!) before we met up with Josh, the son of a family friend, who introduced us to the local microbrewery BJs. A salad for me and beer for Jim. We had a great time catching up, sharing about our holidays and watching the Bears get painfully crushed.

But soon I was ready to get home. I was still tired and we’d had a busy weekend. Besides, Monday starts Jim’s first week signed in to post.

Our month-long vacation is officially over.