My brother Jacob just ran the Chicago Marathon. 26.2 grueling miles pounding the pavement through the high rises of the windy city; through the den of the bears, the pen of the bulls, the ivy walls of the cubs. Not only was this his first marathon ever, but it was the first marathon completed by anyone in our immediate family. I do not consider jake a runner (no offense jake, its not meant to be an insult but a testament to your fortitude, perseverance, heart, focus, and all around intense nature. tus huevos grandes.) Yet he did it; he was the first to complete a marathon! I mean if i had to choose from the rest of the gensic litter who would be the first to run a marathon, Jake would probably be my last choice (OK, you’re right…sam would). Jake trained for about a year, enduring injuries, boring healthy diets, and lots of running- sounds unbearable i know!

Jake’s Marathon was a great feat of strength from a Man with great strength of feet. Stacie and I are very proud of him. Plans are in the works for a Marine Corp Marathon in D.C. in a couple of years when I get back stateside. The Marine Corp Marathon will be the first marathon I run, Jake will be there too.

Which brings me to my next topic; mohawks and half marathons. I ran the Guam Gatorade Ko’Ko’ Half Marathon Road Race this morning. Before todays race, the farthest i have ever ran was the Huntington Huff Trail Run (about 11.8 miles), so 13 miles was a new milestone for my running career. I also shaved my head into a mohawk for today’s race, which is a normal occurrence for almost any event in my life that requires me to “bring it”. Unlike other times in my life where the mohawk has surfaced, today’s did not involve alcohol, so thats good i ’spose. Giving myself a mohawk awakens a monster inside of me, like a Frankenstein, but nimble and jolly like Santa. Much like the Matrix, in which Neo’s residual self image is that of a trench-coat wearing, gun slinging, bullet dodging hero but in reality he is a pathetic looking bloke wearing potato bags for clothes; in real life I’m a geek with a comb-over, but when i close my eyes- its all mohawk sweetheart! I could go on forever about mohawks. Yes, stegosaurus is my favorite dinosaur. Yes, I think that the San Rafael Reef rock formations are God’s finest creation. I ran the half in 1 hour 45 minutes and 20 seconds, about 8 minute pace.

Stacie and I have made 4 pies recently as we  gear up for Thanksgiving. Perhaps it was a mistake at the time, but we stumbled upon a new concoction; Peach Raspberry Pie. It might be in my top ten (Ben, I have written in black marker on the underside of the kitchen table at home my top ten pies, in order. Can you please look them up for me?) It was amazing, almost tasted as good as Cherry. Oh how we miss fruit season in the Midwest… 

Alas, I must finish this post, and go buzz the rest of my mohawk before i go sit behind my desk at work tomorrow. Stink

Welcome to our blog.  The idea to start our own was actually prompted by Paul and Mel announcing theirs.  Hi Paul and Mel!  Thanks for the idea!  Although we don’t have a miraculous baby in our bellies to blog about…we just have Guam.  We figure blogging will be a nice way for all our loved ones to know what we are up to over here in the middle of this HUMUNGOUS blue ocean…that is if they want to know.  We’ve been here 2 months now, and so far, so good.  We’re enjoying getting used to the fact we’re going to be roommates for life.  We’ve had a couple typhoon scares, one tsunami fake out, and many gecko intruders.  They laugh at us when we cook dinner.  One of them fell off the storm shutters when I was opening the doors at work-right on my arm!  I was a little freaked out, until my boss lady told me they are good luck.  We’ll see about that… (Turns out it did happen on 09/09/09 though, so that was a cool happenstance.)  Anyway back to geckos, Matt, being the manly man he is, attempts to pick them up, but they outsmart him by breaking loose from their tails.  It’s wild!  The tail just wiggles helplessly by itself until the life dies out of it, kind of like that disembodied hand- “Thing”- on the Addams Family.  (What the heck was it doing just tip-fingering around that mansion on its own?  I wonder if it knew sign language or how to write?)  Ahhhh Halloween is right around the corner.  Matt’s fave.  I always liked it too, but not for zombie movies, graveyards, and scaring people like he goes nuts for.  I love it because it means Autumn and Autumn means leaves changing to beautiful colors, turning everything to gold.  And the weather in Indiana in the fall is IDEAL.  Who doesn’t love that hooded sweatshirt, tailgating football game weather?  Does anyone know of a place where the weather is autumn-like year-round?  If so, put us down for 2.  Halloween is also the beginning of a great series of holidays that unfortunately we aren’t able to be home for this year.  Big time bummer, but hopefully we can be live-chatted in for the get-togethers and family meeting.  It’d be an even sweeter set-up if some Betty Lou Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies could be shoved through the webcam straight into my mouth.  Mmmm MMM!