{Dipping My Toes Back in the Water}

Hello, strangers!

What is it about a major life transition that puts blogging squarely in the back seat? LinkAdventures has been decidedly neglected for months, and people are one person is protesting my moratorium. Truth is, I miss this 'ole blog of mine. :)

What context it will take on remains to be seen, as the population of LinkAdventures has been reduced by just under 50% and what I want to share on the world wide web appears to be evolving. But I've been told more than once not to overthink everything so damn much! Interestingly enough, I heard this from ten different sources in as many weeks. If that many random people in your life come to the same conclusion and feel compelled to share it with you, perhaps it's worth taking note of, right?

With reckless abandon, I'll share and let the wind blow me and my little blog where it may ...

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There's been lots of fun stuff happening. I haven't been very good about getting my camera out to document most of it (bad photographer!). That is, in part, because I'm staying present in the moment and enjoying what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with!

A couple highlights include a fabulous, homemade gourmet vegetarian meal with the Law family; going to see DisneyNature's "Chimpanzee" with Paul for Earth Day; attending a book reading with Jeff to hear seven-time Olympic medalist Amanda Beard talk about her memoir In the Pool, They Can't See You Cry; exploring the Tempe Art Festival with friends; and tea at The Phoenician with my new landlord and friend, Patrice.

I was honored to participate in Pat's Run this year. (I walked it with Lindsay in 2008.) It's a big deal in our community -- a 4.2 mile run for a good cause! My friend, Jeff, rallied and got ready to do it with me even though he hadn't run in six years after having both knees reconstructed. What a trooper, that guy! (If you want to support this cause, you might be able to do a "Shadow Run" in a city near you. Check it out here.) We got to meet up with the Hendricks family before and after. It was a fabulous way to spend a morning!

I've already had a couple sets of company in my new little house in the city. Aaron and Pam (my brother and sister-in-law) absolutely, unequivocally saved me by flying in the weekend after I moved. They were on a very specific mission to turn my box-filled mess of a house into a home in a fast 36 hours. They've both been through similar transitions and they know it can be a scoach overwhelming. We spent the first night reconnecting over wine, food and great conversation at Postino Wine Cafe. But at 5AM the next morning, Aaron was up and making sure us girls were, too! Aaron attacked the living room and Pam was in charge of the kitchen. I bounced back and forth between them. By the time they left on Sunday morning, everything was hung on the walls, my living room and kitchen were completely done, and I had a largely settled place to start my new life. As if that wasn't enough, they bought me all kinds of things to get me started including stuff for my kitchen, tools, plants, coasters, and more. :) I'll be forever thankful to them!! I'm so lucky to have these two (and their four kidlets) to love.

Then, my girl Jen -- who I've been friends with for 22 years now! -- flew in for a fabulous girls weekend. We had so much fun! Wine, a spa day, laughs at The Tempe Improv, good food, an awesome hike on the Cholla side of Camelback Mountain, shopping, and gobs of effortless conversation. A perfect weekend! It was wonderful to be able to focus on each other for four distraction-free days. Moments like that in life make me stop and thank The Universe for the amazing friends (which I count as family) I've been blessed with!

My "LinkAdventures" continue, even though they feel different today. It's all a lifestyle choice. Mine is on a mission to give back, explore, integrate into my community, experience new things, enjoy moments big and small with good people and a smile on my face -- determined to fill the air around me with positivity and sparkle! I think it's going to be a good summer. :)

{Child Photo Session: Gavin Turns Two}

More pictures! Today, I am here to share a few shots of Gavin. Goodness gracious,

I love this kid. He's two years old now and cute as ever. His front yard made for a

great spot to capture a his smile -- grins that his mom was entirely responsible

for creating during our shoot. He was so happy to watch her act silly, and my

camera and I were equally pleased to document him watching her.

My absolute favorite is the fourth one from the end where he's laughing with his

hand in front of his face. Priceless. Barb and Jason just told me they enlarged it

and hung it in the collage that's in their entryway. Made my day to hear.

{On the Corner of Cute and Adorable}

Barb and I work well together.

I say let's do pictures of you and Gavin. She nails down a date.
I suggest we do it in front of a corn field. She finds one on their way to daycare.

I bring an adorable chair. She coordinates their outfits perfectly.

And then it is so.

This mini session was done in record time.

Not bad for a quickie, especially considering

how bright the sun already was at 7:15AM.

It turned out to be a good thing we captured Gavin's sweet smile when we did. The

following weekend he fell and chipped a front tooth when they were at the pool.

Poor kiddo. At least it was a baby tooth and a big boy one. :)

{A Concert in the Park with Patti}

There's something magical about sunset, about music and about time with friends.

I was recently lucky enough to combine all three when Patti and I went to see Steps Junk

Funk perform in the park. The outdoor concert was from the Sonoran Sunset Series at

Veterans Oasis Park in Chandler. You may remember I saw an Irish band there in March.

Admittedly, this was by far my least favorite of the three shows I saw there since

February, but it was still fun. The concept was cool. It combined some modern dance

(I say that loosely) with something like Stomp, street percussion style sound. They

lost two of their four members, apparently. I wanted to believe that was the problem,

but I think they needed, like, 38 more people to make it work really well.

On the other hand, every child there was totally mesmerized. They didn't flock to the

grass and dance with reckless abandon like they did for Irish folk music the month

before. But they were all in a trance, as if they were sitting in the back seat of their

parents' car, watching "The Wiggles" on DVD. The performing couple clearly had a

lot of passion for what they were doing, and it wasn't lost on the kidlets.

It was still really nice to be entertained outside on a beautiful evening in the company

of a good friend. I had a great time. I love that the City of Chandler arranges these

shows for us and encourages families to get outside and enjoy live music together.

While we were there, I took a few photos for Patti. She's always doing things for other

people, and it felt good to do something nice for her.

This was the last concert for their spring round. (That scheduling detail is a reminder

that it's about to get really hot here. Booo!) But they'll be back with more music in

the fall, beginning in September. I plan to go to as many of the shows as possible. It's

just too great too pass up free, live music in the park during the golden hour. Maybe

I'll see you there next time!

{Full Marathon, Phoenix 2011}

People say the way you spend New Year's Day is a precursor to how you'll pass the year.

I don't know if that's true, and I kind of hope it's not since we spent New Year's Day shopping,

eating a less than healthy breakfast and lounging around. That's not exactly the way I want

to spend the year. But I do know that David running his third full marathon in January 2011

made for an awesome way to end one year and step into another.

David, after completing the marathon.

Another medal to add to his growing collection.

It's downright bad ass -- and not a little crazy -- to complete a marathon. David's extra

training paid off during the race. In 2010 he really struggled after mile 16, but this year,

he felt good for the majority of his run. The last two miles were really tough though, he said.

His legs were shot and flirting with spasm in the last mile, so he slowed to a walk at one

point. The guy behind him spoke up and said something like, 'No you don't. We're all

hurting, but we didn't run this far to walk through the finish. Let's go!' It was what he

needed to hear to give him the energy to run those last, painful steps.

His official finishing time -- three hours and 58 minutes -- meant he accomplished the

goal he wanted so badly, which was to complete a full marathon in under four hours.

He's been moving in that direction ever since his first marathon in 2008. He shaved an

impressive 18 minutes off his time in his second marathon, and then another nine minutes

this time around. It just blows my mind. I'm so proud of him.




He didn't do it along though. Jason was his running partner. They ran almost the entire

race together. It was really cool to watch. (David is in green and Jason is in red.)

Mile two

Mile eight

Mile 11

Mile 18

They also had the support of a band every mile, other runners on the course and a

village of volunteers.

The guy pictured here carried the American flag for the whole race in support of

wounded service people. Pretty amazing.

The band each mile is a fun part of the Rock 'n Roll Series.

And they had us ... their official race day groupies. David's parents, Art and Mary, were

here on a visit from Michigan. You may remember that Art was in Phoenix for David's

second full marathon last year, but this was Mary's first time bounding around the city to

support our runners. She was an awesome navigator and a real trooper. Barb, Patti and

Gavin (Jason's family) also came out to cheer J & D on in the final and toughest miles.

Mary and me at mile two.

Left: Me waiting for David. I get giddy like a cheerleader on race day, and was so excited

to score a cow bell at the Expo the day before. I've been wanting one for years.

Right: Jason with Barb (in black), Patti (in white) and Gavin (in the middle of a meal).

Unfortunately, none of us got to the finish line in time to see them end their journey. I

can't describe how upset I was about this. The point is that David finishes, not that I'm

there to see it. But it's such an amazing part of the event, and it was important for me to

be there to cheer him on when his body hurt everywhere and to see his moment of victory.

Plus, I think it's cool to be able to be his support team immediately following. The city was

so clogged and somewhere along the way, we got trapped inside the course. We couldn't

find a through street to save our lives. We did find each other eventually though.

The guys both muttered something like "the tank is empty" upon finishing their 26.2

mile marathon. They were totally spent and earned the right to have their bags

carried and their lunches made for them. So, with that, we headed home and refocused

our energy on big sandwiches and long naps.

Congratulations to all the marathoners but especially to ours -- Jason and David!!