Christmas, Snow, & Hiking

I can't believe it's 2011. Seems like yesterday everyone was freaking out about Y2K and I was trying to remember to start the year off with 20-- instead of 199-. Oh, good times, good times.

Anyway, since it's the New Year and every talks about resolutions, resolutions, and more resolutions, I thought instead I'd backtrack a little bit and tell you about our Christmas.

Our awesome neighbors took us hunting for our own tree...not in a store, but in the mountains. It was awesome! And very beautiful! You don't shape them, you just get them how they naturally are. Love it!!Brent helped to put up the star topper.We invited everyone we knew in the state to come over for a Christmas tree decorating dinner. Everyone came but three people.So yes, that means we know 10 people. But on the other hand, that means we have a success rate of having 70% of our friends over. :)

About a week before Christmas it snowed. A lot. But everyone here kept saying it barely "flurried". Uh-huh. But, I have to admit it is beautiful!! (As long as you don't have to go anywhere.)
On Christmas Eve, we drove to Santa Fe for their annual Christmas Eve Canyon Road walk. Brent loves to take pictures of sunsets & sunrises, so here's a picture he took on the way:Canyon Road is a road in downtown Santa Fe that's lined with art galleries, restaurants, stores, and pretty much anything else you could want. On Christmas Eve, they block the street off and businesses put out firolitos, which, literally translated means "little fire". Think luminaries in brown paper bags weighted down with sand with little tea lights in them. The businesses stay open during the walk and invite people in for hot chocolate/tea/cheese & crackers/wine/cupcakes/etc. They also put up massive amounts of lights!They also had large bonfires so you could warm your hands, toes, etc.No marshmellows, though. :)

They also had live music. The musicians would stay in one place or walk around singing, playing an instrument, or a group of people around a bonfire would be singing carols. You're encouraged to join the singing, and people danced, too. Especially the little kids. :)Brent & I were trying to get a picture of how bright the firolitos actually were, but could never show it well. But we did end up with this cute picture!
The day after Christmas we went hiking at Bandelier National Park. We got to see ruins from the Indian settlementas well as where the Indians used to live - in the sides of the cliffs.Isn't this cool?! Can you see the "steps" I'm on in the picture below?
We also made the climb to the Alcove House. It's a 140 foot vertical climb using ladders and stairs to the reconstructed kiva and homes. It was a long trek up (and down),But it was worth it!(I keep telling Brent one of the above picture should be his new Facebook picture! :) )

Our crew at the top, standing on top of the kiva!
After we left Bandelier we weren't finished hiking, so we went to another place to find a hidden cafe that Anne knew about. While we had a little bit of trouble locating the cave, we had a blast exploring the area! After a little while, Brent found his way to the top of a mesa and of course I had to follow - I can't let him climb something without showing that I can do it, too! :)

The views were breathtaking.Our crew, down at the bottom of the mesa.Before we climbed back down, it was the perfect opportunity for another sunset picture taken by Brent!

Horses, fires, and firewood

Our super cool neighbors have a farm. A real farm. Complete with chickens, a pig or two, geese, horses, dogs, cats, and the occasional cow. Not to mention the rows and rows on multiple acres of corn, peas, lettuce, potatoes, beans, and lots of other things. The best part? The whole reason they have a farm and plant, weed, and harvest is to help feed the hungry of Santa Fe and show them the love of Jesus. If that's not missional living, I don't know what is!!

So shortly after we move in I was invited to go on a horseback ride down an arroyo, which is a dried river bed. It was awesome! Our neighbors are also took us to get firewood. Oh no, not buy firewood, but to chop our own up in the mountains. It was quite an adventure and workout! :)While we were there, we were fortunate enough to see some wild horses running in the forest. They were beautiful! They were very curious, too, which made the picture-taking much less stressful. :)Here's our hard work burning in the fireplace!

It's so dry here that...

"It's so dry here that..." has replaced "Your momma's so fat..." Except, all the below are completely true.

-It's so dry here that a glass with ice that's been in the fridge for hours at 40 degrees gets taken out of the fridge into 73 degrees, doesn't sweat. On the bright side, there's never a need for coasters. (See mom, no rings!)

-It's so dry here that even ice cream doesn't sweat when it's been out of the freezer for 30+ minutes (but it does melt).

-It's so dry here that when I find Brent's breakfast cereal bowl two hours later, there's no leftover milk in the bottom of the bowl.

-It's so dry here that I have yet to see a damp (much less watery) stream bed.

-It's so dry here that I walked across a lake bottom without realizing it. (But I did wonder why it was so bumpy.)

-It's so dry here that my fingernail polish dries in a third of the time. (That's 3 coats for the time of 1!)

-It's so dry here that my thick hair dries in less than half the time.

-It's so dry here that the air drinks more water than the Christmas tree.

-It's so dry here that when ice from the ice dispenser misses my cup and lands on the floor, I leave it. By the time I get finished eating dinner, it's melted and gone.

-It's so dry here that my skin and lips are starting to resemble the Grand Canyon.

-It's so dry here that my friend's puppy starting freaking out when it flurried snow since he'd never seen it snow or rain before.

-It's so dry here that there's no sweat puddles on my shirt after running 8 miles.

-It's so dry here that you can leave small pieces of fruit out on the counter and in the morning have dried fruit.

-It's so dry here that I got excited last night to see mist in the air, but it turns out it was dry dust blowing in the wind.

-It's so dry here that the bathroom mirror never fogs up.

-It's so dry here that there's so much static electricity in this room I pick up everything but boys and money. (Name that movie!)

Your Hotel Awaits

If you're reading this blog, then this is your official invitation. Come see NM and stay with us! What's that? You want to know about your accommodations? Well, here you go!

First, you need to get to NM.Then, 35 minutes from Santa Fe and down two dirt roads to our house. But that's all. Not far at all!

The front:The back porch:Welcome to our house! Come on in the front door and I'll show you around.You can bear a little bit to the left and go down the hall (coat closet on the left)to the master bedroomand master bathroom.Turn the corner and you're in the second bathroom:There's also two additional bedrooms down the hall from the second bathroom. But we forgot to get pictures of them, so continue following your tour guide back toward the front door and into the living room (coat closet is now on the right):(Two, yes, two fireplaces!)

But enough about bedrooms and bathrooms. This, of course, is the most important room in the whole house, and the main reason I wanted to live here. The kitchen.(The laundry/utility room & the entrance to the garage is the darkened doorway on the right in the pic above.)

And skylights! There's three of them in the house, but the biggest is in the kitchen:And this is what we get to wake up to every morning by looking out the back.Well, that concludes your tour for today! Come see it in person and stay a while! :) Bye-bye!

Spittin' Image

I have a long list of things that have to get done today. Not need to. Have to. That I'm sitting here blogging instead of getting them done really says something: I have an anecdote I just have to share with you.

See, I'm my mother's daughter. My mom is amazing. She really is. She's beautiful, smart, energetic, and funny. One of her unsung talents is that she's especially awesome when it comes to cleaning. Not a speck of dust anywhere. I know, I know, that's not something you appreciate going up. I remember thinking, "If I have to wash those baseboards one more time I'm gonna rip them out with my bare hands." I'm sure you can relate. But my mom would be in the kitchen on her hands and knees "mopping" the floor with a rag, a bottle of Clorox, and a toothbrush for hours. "It's the only way to really get it clean", she'd say.

My mom is also infamous (as in more than famous...ha ha ha! Name that movie!) for her Eagle Eye. Ask anyone in my family, and they'd agree. I don't know if it came from having three girls, and now four grandsons, but that woman has an uncanny knack for spotting things. Like when I was 6 and my sister was 8 and we accidentally somehow broke a tiny vase on the mantel with a bouncy ball. As soon as my mom walked in from work she zoomed in on it. But this is where it really kicks in: I get into cooking. 15 minutes after I clean up, my mom walks into the kitchen. "Gasp!" she said, "Is that a water droplet on my counter? Don't you know they can cause stains??" Or, while clothes shopping (which is a vice in and of itself, but we'll save that therapy for another post), "Sorry, baby, but we can't buy this. Can't you see that tiny nick of the thread? It'll unravel. Nope, that just won't do. And see how that button's about to come off? Yup, mark my words, in three washes that button will be gone."

So on to today. I'm going about my list, getting things checked off (because the Lord knows how much I love to check things off lists) and while vacuuming the kitchen, lo and behold, I spot a tiny something on the floor of the kitchen. Is that from last night's dinner? Or maybe last week's? Or, gulp, from the lady who lived here before?? (Ewwwwwww.)

Now, that just won't do!! So what's a girl to do? What any other would do - grab a Clorox wipe and wipe that sucker clean. Oh, but there's another little something on the floor right there. And what's that over there?

So after a little while I'm off to check off my list when I realize: I've been cleaning up random spots on the floor for an hour and a half. I basically mopped the kitchen (and hallway and bathroom) on my hands and knees with Clorox wipes. Yup, I'm definitely my mother's daughter.




(Editor's note: Granted, this is the first time this has happened in my life and I purposely rented a house without baseboards, but I'm sure Brent (or my mom) wouldn't mind in the least if I somehow ended up cleaning more. Yeah...good luck with that.)

How the West is Weird

We have internet access at home now! Yay!!

There's a lot that's been going on in the last few weeks. We found a house to rent and moved in (and are still unpacking...it's kinda like Christmas, but at the same time like a chore...). Finally got internet access (again, yay!!!!). Met our neighbors across the way (who are totally awesome, by the way!). Helped said neighbor with two pig slaughterings and the beheading & plucking of nine ducks. (Yes, I took a pale-looking Brent home about an hour later.) Thanksgiving dinner of the freshest and yummiest duck, with a little bit of Lebanese cooking thrown in (complements of yours truly). Made said neighbors drive with us over 60 miles to introduce them to Chick-fil-A. Helped give out food to the hungry for the past two Wednesday nights. Discovered with two novice fire-makers, two fireplaces, and carpet at each, at least two fire extinguishers are a necessity.

But this isn't what this post is about. This post, my friends, is about how the West is weird. Yes, I know I haven't been here that long. Yes, I realize things will be different. No, I didn't know which things. So I'm here to give you a small glimpse into what I've discovered so far.

1. When people out of state talk to you, they somehow don't hear the "New" part of New Mexico. For example, a week ago I was calling around to different internet providers to find out who in the world provides service in the middle of nowhere and how much that extremely slow connection would cost us. Here's how the first part of the conversation went down on one instance:

Me: Hi, I'm calling to see if your company provides internet to the house I'm renting.
Lady: Sure! Where do you live?
Me: I'm in the state of New Mexico.
Lady: I'm sorry, but we're only able to offer that service to people who are residents of the US.
Me: Ummm...I am a residence of the US. I'm in the state of New Mexico.
*Awkward silence*
Lady: Miss, like I said, I'm sorry, but we're only able to provide service to those within the 50 US states.
Me: (Sighs.)

I also had this experience:
Me: Hi, I'm calling to see if your company provides internet to the house I'm renting.
Lady: Sure! Where do you live?
Me: I'm in the state of New Mexico.
Lady: Wow! You sure don't have much of an accent at all! Would you prefer to speak to one of our Spanish-speaking representatives?
Me: Ummm...no thanks. English is fine.
Lady: I bet you're trying to improve your English. But I must say, there really doesn't seem to be a need, you speak English so well!
Me: Ummm...thank you.

I mean, how crazy is that?? I can't make this stuff up, people.

2. The West keeps trying to trick me. I was looking through coupons when I saw one for Hellmann's Mayo. No biggie. But when I get to the grocery store, there was no Hellmann's to be found. Upon further looking at my coupon...It's the same company. Crazy!

And here's another. Brent and I wanted to get some ice cream. While looking in the freezer section, we noticed a tub of ice cream that looked familiar.Then we read the fine print on the back of the container: "Dreyer's is also known as Edy's east of the Rockies". HUH? Why in the world would you have different names for different parts of the US?

3. We're learning two additional languages as a result of living here. Indian and Spani - I mean, Mexican. It's kinda hard not to when your everyday words include "Pojoaque", "Cuyamungue", "Tesuque", "Chupadero", "Nambe", and "The high today is 28 and the low tonight is 12. Don't forget your jacket."

What can I say? Looks like the West is gonna be tricky like that.

Update

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates the past few days. I have a few posts that I'm working on from the trip but aren't finished yet, so hopefully I'll get those up soon. In the meantime, I'll give you a quick breakdown of what we've been up to.

We haven't had internet access since AR, so that's why we haven't posted, but we arrived in Santa Fe, NM around 8:30pm MST on Monday night, November 1. A future co-worker of Brent's is letting us stay in his mother-in-law's house for free while she's out of town for the week, so that was really nice.

We're currently still looking for a place to live, rent, and call our own. We knew it'd be a process, but it's actually turning out to be a bit harder than we thought it'd be. We found out that most people don't post on the web at all, but instead put up a "For Rent" sign outside of the house they're trying to rent. And that's all. So it's a lot of driving and just hoping we come across something we like. So, so glad we bought the GPS before we left NC!!!

The bugs here are ridiculous! I've seen beetles bigger than my thumb (not the top part of my thumb, but my whole thumb) and crickets that must've eaten at least 5 or 6 Southern crickets

Speaking of eating, the nearest Panera Bread is 233 miles away in Colorado, and the nearest Chick-fil-A is only 60 miles in Albuquerque. I'm already going through withdrawals. And I've already recruited my family when they come to visit to buy and bring 5 of everything on both of their menus.

On a separate note, my skin and nose have not yet adjusted to the altitude and the insane dryness here. I'll spare you the details here, but just know that I'm no fortune teller, but I foresee lots and lots of hydrating lotion and a humidifier in our future once we find a house to rent. :) One of the cool things here is that I can run for 5 miles and barely break a sweat.

So begins our life in NM. The mountain views are gorgeous, the sunsets and sunrises are insanely breathtaking, and the sun shining through the skylights is welcoming.