No, the Molina's are not missing in action...we have just been crazy busy for the past month or so...but truthfully that is our reality. Therefore we will try to give everyone the major highlights of our last few weeks. In September we decided to sign-up for the Venice marathon, which is October 26th. This meant we changed our training routine and began a condensed marathon training plan. Mel is loving the training aspect because that is what she does as a personal trainer. Anyways, the last seven weeks have been full of long runs through the beautiful Italian countryside which have been accompanied by many aches, pains and one inury. Ulitimately training has been a great bonding experience for us as we are running partners for life. As well as spiritually strengthening becuase we rely on the Lord as our source of strength.
During our training time we have been busy at work. Charokee played an intrigal role in the redeployment of his forward battalion. It is great to have those Soldiers home safe and out of harms way! Meanwhile, Mel was establishing the new Wellness Center in Vicenza and finishing up her graduate courses. She is still working on her thesis but the plan is for review and completion in November...YEAH!
Of course we can not go this long and not have traveled anywhere. At the beginning of October we went to Budapest for four days. It was an incredible city! We had the most amazing time sightseeing, shopping and relazing. Budapest is similiar to Paris and Prague in the fact that all are organized around the river. We found Budapest to be a friendly and laid back city that was extremely accomodating. The pictures will tell a more detailed story of our adventures but we must share about one specific experience. Budapest is known for their natural thermal spas. They have a ton of European style Bath House. We were totally interested in adding this experience to our repetoir and relishing in the treatments as we had just finished a 22 mile run that weekend. So, we went to the famous Gillert Spa. We felt as if we had stepped onto the set of a freaky horror flick. The facilities were beautiful but the atmosphere was a bit on the creepy side. The employees were all dressed in white, often with gloves and mask, the majority of the patrons were naked, the lighting was dim these are just a few of our observances. Once we got over the initial shock of our new environment we had an amazing time. We definitely would recommend that if anyone is ever in Budapest, you must go to a Spa. It would not be a complete Hungarian experience without the visit.
Our travels did not end there as the next week we traveled to Pisa and Florence. The initial reason for the Pisa trip was to participate in the 26th Annual Run to the Tower. Mel hurt her knee a few days before the run but thankfully we were able to run together. It was awesome to run through the coutryside and then into Pisa to finish at the Leaning Tower. The rest of the weekend we relaxed and soaked up the cultural scene of each city. Florence was perfectly romantic for us as we had been several times but never alone. This time we were able to stroll about the streets and river together without a care of achieving any touristic mandates. While we were in Florence we ate at this amazing Osteria that is famous for their Florentinian steaks. Being from Texas we know what a good steak is and well we indulged in the best steak of our lives. Now Florence will always bring us thoughts of love, leather, art and beef!
Macy has been a great little trooper through all of our craziness. She is the sweetest little thing for our family. We love playing with her and taking her for walks each night. As the seasons have been changed there are leaves on the ground under every tree. Macy thinks these are play areas created specifically for her to romp around in...how cute is a little snout and ears peaking through leavers. She is our sweet little bella.
So, presently we are ready to run the marathon on Sunday and praying Mel's knee holds out to the finish! We are also preparing to move as Charokee received orders last week that we will be heading to Virginia in December. Before we leave Europe there will be a lot of things transpiring. One extremely important event is Charokee's PRK eye surgery. This surgery will allow Charokee to pursue his personal and military goals so we are extremely excited about this opportunity.
We know that this was a big nutshell of random components but thanks for staying up to date on our adventures in life. God is so good and we give Him all the praise and glory...and we know that He is in control of our future. We will keep you posted as we step by faith.
