Well, I have returned from yet another crazy Nickson holiday weekend. It was a good one. Hectic as always, but good. Brought some cooler temperatures back to Dallas with me, but hopefully left the snow behind, at least for a few more weeks. Have now unpacked and am trying to regroup before jumping into another busy week here. Christmas is right around the corner and the Houston Marathon following closely at Santa's heels. Time to kick it in gear! Good thing I'm so well-rested...! Here's how I left the Nickson casa this morning...

So, it's that time of year we like to call Thanksgiving. I was working on an events calendar at work this week that had to be translated into Spanish. Now I'm no linguist, but apparently the translation for "Thanksgiving" in Spanish is "Acción de Gracias", or "actions of thanks". I like that. I like the thought of portraying our thankfulness through action. I don't know what that looks like for you, but I know it's worth some thought on my part. How can I actively show my thanks to friends, family, and my God this week?

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And pardon the watermarked image, but I ran across this yesterday in an image search (apparently if you search "holiday spa" this little guy comes up!) and can't help but share. Happy Turkey Day!

Yesterday, I was Superwoman. And then Monday happened. And reality set in. And I went back to work for "Meryl". But back to yesterday... It was productive. It was successful. It was full of good fellowship and food. Hard to beat.

Started out with a solid worship time at Heritage. We had a really good group and enjoyed sharing a special communion time in small groups gathered around tables, discussing thoughts of thanksgiving, the life of Jesus, and how we can take our communion time into our dining rooms this week.

The afternoon was pure madness. I dashed around the apartment heating up a turkey, painting furiously to finish Baby Field's giraffe, making a run to Michael's for varnish at the last minute, and getting everything ready to go for the evening. Rachel helped me out by making my fruit salad and helping load the car. Superwoman certainly needs a sidekick.

We were so blessed last night to have 30ish guests at our Thanksgiving Banquet at Heritage. We had invited our friends at the apartment complex we've been involved with down the street, and were so excited to have such a great turnout. Full turkey feast, good conversation, and new friends.

Finished out the evening with a quick trip to the Fieldhouse, where the giraffe is now awaiting the arrival of a sweet little one!

Today's the big day! Wyatt Cody is 3 years old, so hard to believe! We celebrated last weekend with a Camping/John Deere-themed birthday party in DM & Em's backyard. Campfire, tent, chili, stories, songs, and tractor cake! Here are some shots:

the amazing tractor cake, made by GT...


traditional story time with Katy...

manning the grill... er, campfire...

cake-cutting...

presents in the tent...




and my personal favorite... Hungry, Hungry, Hippo!


Love you Wyatt!

Here's how it all went down, to the best of my recollection...



Leg #1: I suit up in reflective gear and set out from Lake Ray Hubbard.


Leg #2: Russell "picks up the torch" and runs across a dark scary bridge.

Allison & Nathan complete their first legs after being chased by stray canines. We discover that no one knows how to properly use the pepper spray!

Amber runs over a huge piece of wire in Jeremy's car...

Leg #7: We arrive at 45 after the initial trek through town and Chris takes off on his first leg. The van goes on ahead while the car starts tailing. Along comes a policeman wondering if everything is alright...

Leg #8: Jared heads out to wrap up round 1... and gets re-routed due to road closures from high water. He ends up on the opposite side of the highway and has to jump the median to get to the next exchange point. In the dark. Trooper.

Enjoying our mini-feasts of PBJ's, crackers, granola bars, fruit, and cookies...


Leg #9: Second leg for me and really digging the night-time scene. Very peaceful. Perfect temperature.

Leg #10: Russell and I exchange at the Galaxy Drive-In Theater outside Ennis. As he heads out, a few dogs decide to join him. Good thing he's quick... But not quick enough to escape the law. 3 police cars surround us, while another pulls Russell over. Apparently someone placed a 911 call: "Someone is being chased down the highway by a car!" Right... Upon explanation, one of the officers tells his partner: "They're doing some kind of marathon or something." Um, actually, more like 9 of them. Care to donate to the cause? Undeterred, we press on.

Van and car crews switch out and Amber, Chris, Jared, Russell, and I drive ahead in an attempt to sleep for a few hours. Not happening.

Leg#16: Upon looking for the next exchange point at a Rest Stop, we realize that the Rest Stop has been bull-dozed!

Leg #17: Daylight has dawned! I tackle my longest leg of 5.9 miles on the highway. Apparently I'm good at getting truckers to stop and make sure I'm ok. 3, to be exact.


Both van and car are traveling together now. Arrival time slated to be way earlier than expected. By about 6 hours. Stacey and Wrigley stop by to say hello and cheer us on.


Leg 21: Allison is the toughest person I know. She is rocking along on a hurt knee with blinding speed.

Leg 22: Pope completes yet another leg with his hands in the air.


We hit the hills. And they are monsters. First Chris, followed by Jared, myself, and Russell, who rounds out the battle with a solid 6.7 miles... Pace slows down a bit, but we push through to complete round 4. Jared starts craving hot dogs.




A random guy pulls over to talk to us. Turns out he graduated from ACU and "couldn't not stop at the sight of a CofC van"!

Leg 33: Night is upon us. Once again, I have the first leg in the dark. Headlamp, check. Rachel, Jeremy, Russell, and Will trail behind me while the van drives on ahead.


Leg 36: Will stops traffic in his blinding Brook's jacket. As he takes off from a Rest Stop (that does actually exist), Jeremy, Amber, and I stop to go down the slide at a nearby playground. Russell snaps a picture while thinking we've all lost our minds. No doubt we have at this point!



We catch up to the van, kick our compadres out and try to sleep. Again, not much to be had. Meanwhile, Allison blazes by the Huntsville Prison in the orange vest.


Leg 41: It is time to finish this relay out! Fatigued but determined, we begin our final legs. A few more slopes to tackle, and it's pretty chilly out. Will yells "You're almost there!" out the window to me. He is later thankful that I didn't hear him.


Leg 43: Jeremy's final leg takes him on a (planned) wild goose chase through the little town of Willis to visit O'Reilly's Auto Parts. Retracing his steps, he completes his journey, and Will takes off in his arm warmers. We encounter a crazy driver who stops to shake his fist at us as he swerves down the road.

One more van swap, and we drive ahead to an empty parking lot to wait for our compadres to finish up. After a text from Amber of impending arrival, I try to wake my sleeping teammates. Will and Jeremy throw fits like small children at being awoken. I am beyond delirious and determined and make them get up anyway.


Leg 49: All 8 of us shuffle through the final mile together. Amber and Rachel drive ahead to open the gate for us but cannot find the right street. Groans ensue, but we are not deterred. Finally through the gate, we round the corner and arrive at our destination on Lake Conroe. It is 5 AM. Exhausted, smelly, and hungry, we take a moment to rejoice in the finish.

We take a moment to pray and remember the children on Lake Volta who are the reason we just ran 240 miles.


More pictures here.

We ran to Houston. Still trying to wrap my head around it! These last few days I've found myself wondering, "Did that really happen?!", "Is it already over with?!", and "When can we do that again?". Whew!

I had every good intention of documenting the journey as we went, but it just didn't seem like a top priority at the time. So, first, here are a few things you may be curious about. If this bores you, fast-forward to the next post to see some pictures and highlights of our 240 miles. Enjoy... we sure did!

TEAM.
To begin with, meet our team. These guys were absolutely stellar. Our 5 hour early arrival time certainly proved that, but aside from quick feet, this crew was incredibly adaptable and enjoyable to be around. It's pretty incredible what can be accomplished when people combine passion and talent for a worthy cause, and I was certainly honored to be invited along. We met up at 6 PM on Thursday night (several of us meeting for the first time!), went over final details, loaded up, and headed to a site on Lake Ray Hubbard to kick things off.

Jeremy, Will, Jared, Nathan, Gretchen, Allison, Chris, & Russell

LOGISTICS.
While we planned as much as possible beforehand, a lot of the relay was simply "see how it goes". Our friend Roy drove the church van, decked out with tarps and blankets, while my roomies Rachel and Amber drove a second vehicle. During the daytime, the current runner was dropped off at their start point, and then we all drove ahead to the next exchange to have the next runner ready to go. At night time, the car and "runners on deck" tailed the entire way (for safety). The van with the other half of the team drove ahead a few hours in an attempt to get some sleep. Once half the night legs were completed, we swapped places and continued on til daylight.

ROUTE.
Most of the route ran along the feeder road of 45, although there were several points in which we had to jump onto 45 itself. The 4th round of legs proved the most difficult. Hills, hills, and more hills. And I'm not talking about gradual inclines. I'm talking up-and-down, never-ending, steep climbs. Pope claimed these hills would rival ski slopes! Everyone ran 6 legs, ranging from 3-6.5 miles (30 miles total), and then we all shuffled through the final mile together.

GOALS.
Our planned arrival time was 10 AM Saturday morning. However, 5 of our guys consistently ran 7:15-7:45 minute miles and ate up the pavement much quicker than expected. While the hills slowed us a bit, we ended up averaging around 8:40 mile pace as a team. This allowed us to finish the 240 miles in just under 34 hours! We arrived at Lake Conroe around 5 AM Saturday morning. Aside from completion, our main purpose was to raise awareness and financial support for The Mercy Project. And that we did! Totaling around $5,000, we were overwhelmed with the support of friends, family, and complete strangers. It was awesome to know that every step of the journey meant one step closer to rescue for our friends in Ghana.

You can still help! Go to www.mercyproject.net for more information!

So as of last night, I had this week free to catch up on life, get relay pictures and recap posted on here, start the next painting project, get a few items ready for leaving town again this weekend, kick off the next design projects, etc, etc. But, after an early morning phone call and as much of a dash to get ready as my body would allow, I headed out to a new job site for the day/week/who knows how long. Though the week just turned into crazy business, I'm certainly glad for the hours. Taking it all in stride...

Anyway, I wanted to go ahead and post a quick bit about the next Mercy Project... project. Several of the kids from Ghana who have been rescued from slavery colored pictures for us and they have been made into Christmas cards with their pictures, names, ages, and rescue dates on the back. We are expecting to get the cards this week from a printer in Missouri, and I'm quite anxious to see how they turn out. If you'd like to purchase some of these cards to share with family and friends, you can visit this link or feel free to contact me. The cards are available for $12 per box, which includes 2 each of 5 different designs (10 total cards). This is a great way to support these kiddoes and spread the word about Mercy Project for those of you who plan to send out Holiday cards... or would like to start that tradition. Images of the 5 cards are below. Click to enlarge.



Relay documentation to come!