Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Thankful...to finally be posting about Thanksgiving!

Way back in 2011...back in November, Jack and I were visited by my parents! It was their first time out to see where we were living in NM and we sure had a great time. It was fun picking them up from the airport, driving the scenic way back to Los Alamos (we had only been living up here about 2 weeks before they came...still a bit in transition but they were gracious with our ramshackled, unorganized place), stopping to see the Soda Dams along the way and spending time sight seeing around our new town. We enjoyed visiting Bandelier National Monument and touring the Bradbury Science Museum watching movies and reading all about the history of our fascinating home. Mom loved it, of course, and even snagged a few pictures for her students back home who thought it was amazing that she was getting to visit the place where the atomic bomb was created! We also took them to check out the views at Overlook Park in White Rock and one day drove up to the Santa Fe Ski hill to check things out. We were snowed on there and had a fun little trek in the snow and threw some snow balls. It was great!

While they were in town we also got to celebrate Thanksgiving with them and some friends from church. It was a fun time of cooking, talking, laughing and game playing and also remembering things for which we were thankful. It was relaxing and enjoyable and we were so thankful they took the time to come out visit us. We were sad they had to leave so soon but we sure were happy to have the time we had with them.

Checking out the Soda Dams

Mom and Dad

Bandelier

Dad headed up to check things out.
Dad enjoyed reading all the historical stuff.
aww aren't they cute?
The fam having fun at the national monument :)

Watch out DAD! At the ski hill :)

Enjoying the snow.








Raspberry pie I made

Ready to eat!

Buddy and Amelia helped with clean up. That was great!

Mike and Jacqueline. What a fun thanksgiving together!


Who's up for coming out to visit us next?! :)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

With age brings...

more blog post updating! There will be a few posts coming soon. They are in the works. Things dating back to Thanksgiving, Christmas and even my birthday! 30 now! That's exciting. A whole new decade in which to do exciting things!

30 things that struck me as I turned 30 (in no particular order and with no particular cohesiveness/theme):

1. I'm thankful I've taken up a new sport (snowboarding) in my "older" age. What an exhilarating new thing to enjoy!
2. I always thought 30 year olds were so grown-up and mature and had their life all planned out and figured out...and had like 2.5 kids already or something. :)
3. I'm thankful for my 20s and the things I walked through and learned from and I'm also thankful to look forward to what the 30s have in store and to move forward.
4. I'm happy that at 30 I can still work out extremely with Insanity and that I've been relatively health issue/injury free throughout my life (poor Jack, can't say the same for him...)
5. I'm looking forward to growing even more in my faith as I mature and gleaning more and more truth from God's word.
6. I still haven't mastered the art of controlling my tongue...gosh darn it...but I'm working on memorizing scripture in order to bridle the angry words that like to spew forth at times.
7. I'm so, so very thankful for the loving husband I have and for the 6 years of marriage we've celebrated together. Striving to be an even more godly wife throughout my thirties.
8. I love that we are living in Los Alamos, NM...what a cool place to visit! We've had more visitors here (it seems) in the year and a half we've been here than in all the years we were living in Cincinnati and Knoxville combined!
9. It's fun being a nurse...working in the ICU. But at times, I truly do long to be a mom!
10. No grey hair yet!!
11. Starting to get some wrinkles but thankfully I notice they are from where I smile so much...not too shabby I think. But I have started using "age-defying" cream at night...for kicks and giggles.
12. In my thirty years on earth God has allowed me to visit some really cool places...looking forward to seeing more new and neat places in this next decade!
13. Friends! SO thankful for the friends the Lord has brought into my life over these 30 years, some have come and gone but the ones that He has kept in my life so truly are amazing and I'm thankful to have them!
14. It's fun to have a twin sister to age with :) and to spend time with and to grow with as we age. Say, when's our next 1/2 marathon?!
15. I remember being younger and thinking tapes and cds were the coolest things ever...now I'm amazed as where technology has brought us and it's been kind of cool to get to grow up with that. It's interesting working with youth who have never known the world without the internet or smartphones or Wikipedia...
16. As I age I look forward to aging...is that weird? To growing a family, to being wiser, to being a role model.
17. I enjoy yoga...and I'm pretty good at it. Goal: to keep doing yoga as I get older to maintain shape and balance.
18. Jack does way more of the cooking in our household..maybe that will change in my 30s...as life changes. We shall see!
19. I love with getting older the self-confidence increases. Remember how you'd get so embarrassed by what your parents would do/wear/say and you thought how could they ever do that? Yeah...I do, too. Haha...and now...that's where I'm heading. You just don't care as much!
20. I WILL figure out a way to get rid of fruit flies...grr
21. I like a good cold coke. Yes, I know it's not good for me, but everything in moderation, right?
22. Thankful that I've learned Spanish, thankful that I still get to use it and practice it because we live in New Mexico.
23. Thankful for all the wise women who have poured into my life over these years and thankful for the girls in my life that the Lord has allowed me to pour into as well! Praying for wisdom with that!
24. I really need to go see an eye doctor...with age comes tired eyes that don't see so far away anymore! :)
25. Proud to say I can still hold a handstand with the best of them, throw a back hand spring and even do flips off a cliff into a lake below :)
26. Wonder where the Lord is going to lead Jack and me in this next decade.
27. I struggle with pride...but hopefully this next decade will be a step in conquering that sin :)
28. I wonder if/hope I will continue my trend of running a 1/2 marathon every year...and maybe, just maybe doing that full marathon one day!
29. Being 29 one day and 30 the next really didn't faze me that much. Shew!
30. Jesus started his ministry when he was 30...Lord use me in a grand way in my 30's!! Desiring the be a blessing to those around me!!


Monday, January 9, 2012

Every Day I'm Shufflin'

Just want to give a shout out to some fun friends, Meryl and Collin Delano, who really know how to shuffle...good work you two! C'mon...who ever said Los Alamos was a sleepy little town?



See, people really are awake at midnight up here! Cause e'rydayimshufflin'

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Ha'11oween

This past Halloween I was able to celebrate with some of the girls from the youth at our church. We had a blast eating a delicious dinner hosted by our dear friends, the Delanos, and then we played a rousing game of telephone charades. It.was.hilarious. Not to mention watching middle and high school girls acting out hilarious things while in costume. Thankful to be serving with these fun girls and for building deeper relationships with them!

Beautiful Princess Rebekah

Micaela and Lee (our host) the nerds of the group :)

G-pa Rachel...aka old man Rachel

Ahhh, Alissa cracks me up.

bahaha

Thug Kristen acting out Elvis I believe.


The whole gang, minus a few who left earlier.

Rachel (far right) has the best face ever! :) Caught Ruth (far left bottom) unprepared! :)
Thankful for the youth group that Jack and I get to help serve. They are a blessing and blast and a half.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Tent Rocks, Cochiti Lake, Old Route 66 all in 2 days work...

Back in October Jack and I decided we needed a weekend of adventure so we invited some friends of ours [the Moodys] to help come up with a plan of something local yet fun to do. We've been enjoying getting to know our friends better and this was a good way to spend more time and enjoy some outdoor activities together. We decided to check out Cochiti Lake which is only about 20 minutes south of Santa Fe and do some camping and then hike in Tent Rocks National Monument the next day. Jack and I arrived a few hours early and picked out a campsite then we hung out until our friends arrived. The campsite was beautiful, new and right on Cochiti Lake. We had fun that night hanging out, playing with their son, Ethan (2 yrs old), and grilling steaks for dinner. Jack did a great job with them and everything tasted great! The next morning we woke up and packed up after some delicious breakfast burritos thanks to Nate. We headed out to Tent Rocks NM and enjoyed the slot canyons, the hoodoos and beautiful vistas. After hiking for a few hours it was off for some off-roading adventure!! Nate and Daniela have a Toyota Land Rover that was made for off roading and boy did we have fun! We decided to try the Old Route 66 (used in the 1930s) that traveled up La Bajada Hill. It was fun and we were thankful for the Moodys' vehicle! Some parts of it Daniela, Ethan and I walked and others we decided to ride but all in all it was a fantastic trip and we are thankful for our fun friends! Looking forward to the next adventure with the Moodys!!

view from our campsite

we took a little hike before the Moodys arrived

sitting by the lake's edge...like glass

view across the lake

it's a no wake lake so a small little boat caused all those ripples!

Ethan!! He loved playing with his little trucks...Alinna, I think this will be Ruby's husband one day ;)

sunset from the campsite


breakfast burritos thanks to nate [and ethan]

Jack the worm...it was a chilly morning

we had fun testing out sleeping in the Flex...worked grrrreat!

Thought of Brian with this picture

gotta love this adventure seeking fun kid :)

determined.

on our hike at Tent Rocks

this is called a hoodoo...the ball forms because different layers of the rock decay at different times

slot canyon!

gee, I wonder how the park got it's name...

loved how Ethan was collecting rocks

gotta love that New Mexico sky!

the whole gang at the top of the mesa :)

posing with our Chicken in a Biskit!

it was the rage of the hike...not just from us but from other hikers as well :)

headed back down

on our way to Old Route 66!!!

Daniela and I decided to hop out and walk...until we saw....

This guy...then we decided to ride a little longer

we came across 2 fences but they were easily moved out of the way :)


not sure what these guys found but they were having fun

view from the top of La Bajada Hill...what a fun weekend!