Beer for Us, Water for People

Apart from our running, engineering societies, rock climbing, hiking, etc, Ed and I enjoy supporting our "charity of choice" Water for People. Water for People is an organization that assists people in developing countries improve quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs.

Around the world, 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion are without adequate sanitation facilities. Every day, nearly 6,000 people who share our planet die from water-related illnesses, and the vast majority are children.

Their vision is a world where all people have access to safe drinking water and sanitation; a world where no one suffers or dies from a water- or sanitation-related disease.

In order to support this great cause, we hold various fundraisers around the Houston area. The funds collected go toward the materials needed to build these much needed facilities, which are built by the community (supervised by Water For People volunteers).

One of our most successful events is our "Beer for Us, Water for People" event at Saint Arnold's Brewery! This is our 4th year having the event and it's been a great time and a great success every year! We are really thankful for everyone who came out - especially our great friends who seem to support us no matter what!!! Thank you so much!!!! Below are some pics of the event.

Ed and I happy that everyone is having a great time!

Our awesome NASA friends!

Great sponsors!!! Look at how many awesome companies want to support us!!! Amazing!

Erin and Archana working the check-in table while someone signs in - great job!

Erin with the raffle winner, Christi, who won the FREE TANDEM SKYDIVE raffle prize!!!!

Anniversary Weekend

Ed and I got to celebrate our 1-year anniversary a week early with great friends at our wedding site! We went camping with Christina, Paul, Brett and Lisa at North Park t Canyon Lake. We had cake and bratwurst (including veggie bratwurst) and lots of wine! It was a little cool, so we made a fire and really had a blast! On our actual anniversary, November 15, we had our 1-year old cake, which was delicious, and enjoyed an easy 8 mile run (to run OFF the cake!).

Happy to be back here!

Me and the Matron of Honor!

1-year and still in love!

Cactus Rose - Ultramarathon!

While everyone else was dressing up and putting out candy for Halloween, Ed and I were accompanying Kira Matukaitis to the Cactus Rose 100 mile Ultramarathon! We crewed and paced her and had a ton of fun! Ed and I realized that we have a lot to learn about crewing ultras, but we really did have a blast and met a ton of cool people!

Me and Kira before the race - it was FREEZING!

Look at all these crazy people!!! :)

Kira coming up on mile 20 - almost a quarter of the way through!

Lots of fun!

Sorry it's been a while since our last post, but we have still been busy! My (Kristin) cousin, Shannon, and family moved to Houston this past summer and we planned a fun filled day at the park a few weeks ago. We headed to Bear Creek Park and had a picnic and got to see the "wild life" which was not very wild.

Ethan took a picture of all the girls! Great photographer!

Ethan's photography skills

After that fun on Saturday, Ed took me golfing on Sunday. We used his Redstone gift card that I got him for his birthday LAST year! I didn't actually "golf" per say, but had a ton of fun!

Nice shot!!

Ed in the golf cart...really, the golf cart is half the fun of golfing!

Posing after the 18th hole...

Hood and Kadlec Wedding in St. Louis!

Ed and I went to Debbie and Terence's wedding this past weekend in St. Louis and had a blast! The actual location was St. Charles and it was such a cute town. There are a lot of very cool things about this area that we never knew about! First, for those of you that run or bike, there are TONS of trails all over the place. The longest one is the Katy Trail which is an old railroad that turned into a trail - is 183 miles long from St. Charles to Kansas City! Ed and I ran 6 miles of it and it was really beautiful. Most of it runs along the Missouri River, so there are some great views! Ed and I have been brainstorming on making an April vacation here - maybe a running/wine trip? Here's the trail's link: http://www.mostateparks.com/katytrail/index.html

After our 6 mile run we got ready for the big event! It was absolutely gorgeous! The wedding was great - not a traditional catholic wedding - so we stayed entertained! The Priest was pretty funny and added a personality to the ceremony. Debbie was absolutely gorgeous and Terence couldn't stop smiling. Below are some of our favorite pics from the event.

Getting ready!

Here comes the bride!

During the ceremony

Mr. and Mrs. Kadlec!

Cheryl happy that all the stress is gone!

The reception was so much fun and really showed how much effort the couple put into making sure the guest had a great time. There was dancing, a great dinner, ice cream from a local ice cream shop and of course a wonderful cake. Being there with so many of my sisters made it even better. We had such a good time and really exhausted ourselves on the dance floor!

On Sunday, we kidnapped Laura and drove out to the wine country and then the Arch before heading to the airport. The wine country was a well-kept secret! We knew there was a winery or two in the area, but then we got to Defiance (the entrance to the MO wine country) and saw winery after winery - ALL ALONG THE KATY TRAIL!!! This really sets up well for a biking/winery or running/winery trip!! The wineries were beautiful with rolling hills and orange and red leaves. The temps were perfect too at highs in the upper 50s. It was a wonderful break from our 90 deg Houston temps! Oh - and the wine was awesome! Our favorite was the Norton - which we had at 2 different wineries. All and all, a GREAT trip!

Ed and I enjoying the cool temps at the Balducci Winery

Laura at the Balducci Winery

This is my favorite pic that Ed took of the Arch

Laura's amazing photography skills - awesome pic!

Christy's Baby!

This past month, friends Christy and Rohit welcomed their new baby boy to the world! His name is Eshaan (pronounced ee-Shawn) and he is adorable! The delivery was a little scary, but everyone is doing well now and mom and dad are adjusting to their new family addition!

Rohit After Delivery

Eshaan!

Christy and I after the delivery - she looks great!

Mom and Baby!

Weekend with Nikki!

This last weekend, the 22nd, we visited Nikki in Austin! She was there for work for 2 weeks - so we went to say hello on Sat/Sun. Nikki's co-workers told her to check out Hamilton Pool (a sunken grotto), so we headed out there, then Reimers Ranch (a park right next door) and then dinner at the Tree House Grill with Kira - what a perfect night!! Kira was ironically in town for a conference that was at Nikki's hotel! And of course, we had to show Nikki Magnolia Cafe for breakfast before we left!