Last cup of coffee

This would be one of Rob's last cups of coffee...for a really long time. I wish I could say the same but I haven't taken the plunge yet...I still am enjoyin my daily red bull in the morning and coffee in the afternoon...

New York- New Times

While working in NY with the YMCA I decided to venture out to explore the local community as it related to issues of health. For two reasons, one is personal and the other is that my work with Y to improve the health and well being of minority communities. It also happens to be what I am writing my thesis on! The second picture is a local market in the upper east side. The first is in queens. Both were taken at the same time in the evening. What a dichotomy!

The unspoken truth is that your neighborhood is the number one indicator of health. Without local grocery stores with fresh fruit and veggies you can't make healthy eating choices. Unsafe streets keep children and adults trapped inside their homes. Pollutants are concentrated in low socio-economic areas.

What does this have to do with our work with LAM? Well, I guess it has more to do with our personal lives. Rob has had to make some drastic changes in his diet per doctor's orders. It is harder than it seems- you try eating salad every night! No caffine, limit the sugar intake....

So here we are, blessed with a local trader joe's and in walking distance to anything and everything we could ever need or want. I say this because we are taking a more contrated look at how we eat, exercise, sleep...etc. I realize how much we take for granted. How the little things that seem like a nuscence to us...like our partner drinking the last cup of milk and having to run to the store late at night...is really a problem of comfort. See, we have a grocery store with fresh milk and money in our account to by it. A car to drive or even walking shoes to make the quick hike. All of it seems to trivial but to others it is not.

Robby and I are challanged to recognize the blessings we have been given and to recognize our challanges are those of comfort not need.

New York and Back

I was really hoping to post pictures of NY today but alas technical meltdown with the camera and computer...

New York was a wonderful trip. Rob flew from Miami to NY the same day I did. It turned out that his flight was delayed so we arrived at the same exact time. It was a work trip for me. This meant I started at 7:30 am every morning and wrapped up at about 6:30-7:00 pm. Rob spent his days in the city and walking the streets of NY. In the evenings we managed to spend time with my co-workers from the Y and do a little sightseeing. The fact that we were in queens about an hour out of the city did make it a little challaning. However, we did manage to get one evening to just the two of us in the city. We had a very romantic dinner and visited all the usual NY spots (time square, madison avenue, central park, Bryant Park and more).

It was a wonderful time together and we cherished every moment of it. Thank you to our family for making this brief break possible.

Rob heads back to Miami this next week. He has accomplished one of two major task in regards to the tecnical systems. As of this past week LAM upgraded to a new accounting software and went live. Next steps for Rob include being part of the LAM transition team. More detaisl to come on this.

I head back out to San Diego this next week as I wrap up my first semester of graduate courses. This past 4-5 months has been one big whirwind in many ways. Our hope is that along the way we have stopped to love one another and every person we have been blessed to be in contact with.

We also have much to be grateful for. My dear friend and sister adopted a beautiful baby girl named Layla. I have been blessed to be part of this journey for the past several years. It is such a joy to welcome her home. Our beautiful baby niece (not so much a baby anymore) had her 6th birthday. You should have seen her on her new roller skates! We are also excited for our dear friends who found out that they are expecting their first child!

So we ask for prayers of gratitude for the many great things that have happened. We also ask that you keep Rob's health in your prayers. His heart issues have been a challange lately. We have wonderful doctors and they have assured us not to worry but his symptoms have been a dailly challange.

Thank you once again for your support and prayer! Pictures will come soon!

Cara