First Year

Unbelievably we are one week away from our one year anniversary of moving to ABQ.  I believe every first year of something new is the most difficult.  The first year of elementary school, the first year of middle school (awkward!), the first year of high school, the first year of college, the first year of marriage and the first year of a new job.  It just takes time to adjust to change and to figure out how things work and where you fit in.  Although this year has definitely had its rough patches, when I compare our first year in ABQ to other first years overall it has gone pretty well.

Our biggest regret when we moved from Colorado was that we were too busy (and broke) and we didn't get to enjoy the mountains as much as we had thought we would.  Now that Micah has more free time since he isn't bogged down by his PhD work (and we have dual incomes), almost every weekend for the past 50 weeks we have been doing something fun.  We were actually doing activities so often that I have had to tell Micah to go without me because I can't keep up!  For the most part climbing has taken up most of our time and many weekends we traveled to places in New Mexico and Colorado to get to great climbing.  Initially I thought our gas budget could be less than it was in Colorado since we aren't commuting as far to our jobs, but when you go on a road trip almost every weekend you spend A LOT on gas.  But it's totally worth it to enjoy the great outdoors.

We have had a surprising number of friends and family visit us over the past year.  We didn't think many people would want to visit ABQ since it isn't up to par with Colorado, but we were wrong.  Jasmine was the first person to visit on her way from CA to CO in October, Micah's parents came for Thanksgiving, my brother Kent came in January, Katie and Ryan came in February, Amy, Travis and Wyatt came in February, Micah's parents came in April, my parents came in April, Micah's dad came in June, Megan and Ben came in July, Micah's mom came in August, Kent is on a plane right now for his second trip to ABQ and Katie is coming again in a couple of weeks for her second trip here.  There are still a few people who should make a trip down here soon (Micah's sister Becca and her family, my older brother Kyle and his family, Paige and Andy, Melissa, Landan, Alex and Janelle, Rachel, Lyndsey, Joy)  :).  But we understand and luckily we have been able to see almost all of you in the last year :).

One of our biggest fears when we moved here was how difficult it would be to make new friends.  Friendships take time to develop and it's hard to find people who have similar interests.  But we were fortunate to have met the Turner family: Dan and Val and their two kids Auggie and Eland.  Micah works with Dan and last December he and his wife Val invited us over for the evening. We quickly found that we all enjoyed climbing, and the friendship developed from there.  Although Micah and I took our time finding a church, we are now going to the same church as the Turner's as well (we wanted to be sure we weren't going there just because we knew the Turner's already).  We have spent many weekends climbing with the Turner family (and many hours talking on the car rides to and from the climbing areas), which has helped our friendship develop quickly.  We live about a mile apart which is very convenient as we are able to help each other out with random things since none of us have family close by (Val has watched our cat for us many times when we have gone on trips, we have watered their plants, we have brought each other to the airport, etc).  Micah and Dan have gone climbing and mountain biking together and Val and I have spent many hours just talking.  And their kids are great!  Knowing the Turner's has made our move to ABQ so much better!

The church we have found has also helped our adjustment.  We have been going to a Community Group  where we have met some great people and we look forward to what God has in store there. We are so much more involved with this church than we ever were with our church in Boulder, which is exciting.  It helps that it is so much smaller which forces involvement, and since the pastors know us by name they realize if we don't show up on Sunday :).

Some days we really miss Colorado (I especially miss my job at CCH!), but we have learned that ABQ has great things to offer as well.  And, although this has nothing to do with ABQ, last weekend we bought a new car which is possible due to dual incomes during the last year.

It seems we are here for the long haul, and we are excited to see what our second year will bring.  Hopefully things will get easier as friendships grow and we become more established in our jobs, but every year does bring change no matter where you are.

Memories

This past weekend I went to Michigan.  It was my grandma's 90th birthday and I wanted to be there to help her celebrate this milestone.  In addition to two birthday parties for my grandma, I was also able to spend a day with my parents enjoying Holland, meet up with the girl relatives on my mom's side for lunch, hang out with my niece and nephew, spend time with my brothers and my sister-in-law, see a couple of close friends from high school and also spend a little time with my in-laws.  It was a very packed trip to Holland, as usual, but totally worth it.

My trips home are always filled with memories since there are numerous places I like to visit every time I am there such as downtown, the Peanut Store, Crane's, the beach and Donutville.  These are places I frequented during my childhood and I haven't found anything to replace them yet!  Every run I go on in Holland brings back memories of running in high school.  Just being at my parent's house (now my brother and sister-in-law's house) and Micah's parent's house brings back a ton of memories of my high school days as well.

This trip home, though, brought back even more memories since my parent's are in the process of moving out of their house, thus I had to go through my stuff that is stored there to figure out what I really wanted to keep (read: have them bring out to NM in the near future).  Also, Micah's parents are starting the process of packing as they will soon be moving to southern CO and of course my grandma's birthday got us all thinking about our memories with her.

Even though I really like to get rid of things that I don't think are necessary, I do get sentimental about all of my high school cross country awards, articles, plaques and t-shirts so that stuff is definitely being kept.  But the elementary school projects are a little more grey.  For example, in first grade Megan Vandermeer and I decided to create a book about two ducks...on HUGE paper.  I clearly remember laying on the floor of her basement when she lived on Joyce St in Holland and working for days on this book.  We were so proud.  My parents recognized all of the work that went into this book and 22 years later they still have it!  In my last blog post I posted pictures of the book, with translation as we quite obviously could not spell yet.  The paper we used was probably about 2'x3' and it is now deteriorating.  So for treasures such as this book, that I want to remember but don't want to put in storage, pictures are going to suffice.  Here is another elementary school gem: a newspaper with articles of about ME :).

Some homemade cross country t-shirts...

The t-shirt from my best race ever...

And the "controversial" team shirt...

Seriously, the girls tennis team took offense to this.  I guess they can't handle the truth :).

During my grandma's birthday party my dad suggested we all share memories of grandma.  I think we all needed a little more time to think because it wasn't until after the party that I started thinking of things I could have shared.

• My grandparents used to pick me up from pre-school sometimes because they lived really close.  I remember walking back to their house from the school.
• Grandma used to serve sandwiches on napkins, which I always thought was really strange
• Grandma always had Windmill cookies in the house for grandpa
• One year for Christmas my grandparents bought me a HUGE teddy bear.  It was too big to wrap so they hid it in the shower in the basement.  I'll never forget finding that bear there!
• Sometimes we'd play games at my grandparent's house, and they kept the games in the bottom drawer of the dresser in the sewing room.
• One time my brothers and I spent the night at my grandparents house.  Even though they had a few spare bedrooms upstairs, no one really went up there so they had us sleep in our sleeping bags on the floor in the living room.  My brothers and I were goofing off and not falling asleep, and my grandma came in and said "If you kids aren't quiet you will have to go upstairs and sleep in separate rooms!"  That is one of the only times I ever remember my grandma getting mad.  And the threat worked - there was no way we were going to sleep in such a "scary" place!
• We all remember how fast of a walker grandma has always been.  I bet she would have been a great runner!

I am truly amazed at how great Grandma is doing at 90.  She volunteers almost every day at church, at a soup kitchen or just bringing the "old" ladies to the grocery store.   She spent a little time telling us stories from her childhood and it is hard to believe how well she remembers things that happened over 70 years ago!

Here I am with Grandma and my brother Kent at her birthday party

I am so glad I had the opportunity to go back to Holland, even if it was only for a few days.  It is always a great time, and I enjoy making new memories with family and friends every time I am there as well.

The Two Ducks

Once upon a time there were to ducks named Huey an Dewey and they liked to play together and they liked to play ball together.

The two ducks liked to swim together and they liked to splash together.

The two ducks liked to eat together and it was Huey's birthday and Dewey gave a bike to Dewey.  And he gave him a horn to put on his bike.

Huey and Dewey like to ride bikes together.  And Huey set his horn because because Huey and Dewey like to play parade together.

Huey and Dewey are going to the mall with their moms in the car to shop for clothes for all of them.  Huey and Dewey want to buy a toy for them.

The four kids like to go horse back riding together.  Really, really like to go horse back riding together.

All of the ducks like to roast marshmallows together.  Their names are Huey and Duey, and their sisters names are Sara and Webe, and their moms and dads names are Mark, Jon, and Mary and Jody.

Huey and Dewey and Sara and Webe and their dads and their moms all like to watch fireworks together.

All of the ducks went to their houses to go in the bathtub.  Then they got ready for bed.  Then they went to bed.

Huey and Sara like to eat breakfast together.  They went to Dewey and Webe's house to play.

Sara and Dewey and Webe and Huey all like to go rollerskating together.  They can roller skate very, very good.

Huey and Dewy and Sara and Webe like to splash in the puddles together.

Sara and Dewey like to make a snowman together.  It took lots of work.

Now it is night time again now.  The ducks are going to sleep again so they can get some rest.  But they get to look at books for a couple minutes.  They couldn't get to sleep because they were too tired.  The End.

Marriage and Climbing

Micah and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary last Saturday.  It really is crazy how time flies.  A lot has changed in the last six year years: we both completed multiple degrees, we bought and sold a house in Colorado, we made many new friends, we have had different jobs, we moved to New Mexico, etc.  But today when I was putting things away around the house I was thinking about the things that have not changed.  We still have a lot of the same stuff we got as wedding gifts.  Our towels are starting to look more like rags, our throw pillows are getting worn, our dishes are all getting chipped and we have broken a few glasses, but for the most part we still have it all (thanks again for everyone's generosity when we got married!).  We also, embarrassingly, have the furniture we inherited from our parents after we got married: the 25 year old kitchen table from my parents, the living room tables from my parents, and the couches from Micah's parents.  It all still works and is comfortable so we still have it!

The couches and living room tables in our first apartment

My parents' old kitchen table in our first apartment

But besides the physical items we have had since the day we got married, we also still have our love for each other.  In fact, as I have heard my parents say so many times about their relationship, I believe we love each other more today than we did on August 13, 2005.  We have had our rough patches like everyone else, but everything we have gone through has drawn us closer to each other in the end.  We seem to understand each other even more than we did six years ago.  In fact, when we were climbing the other night I realized that I am starting to read Micah's mind.  No joke.  When you are lead belaying someone you need to anticipate when they are going to pull up a lot of rope to make the next clip.  Some people shout "clipping" every time they go for a clip, but Micah and I don't shout very loudly so that doesn't work for us.  Now I know just from watching Micah's body language when he is going to pull up the rope even if I can't actually see the next draw on the wall.

Micah pulling the rope to clip the next draw

We went climbing in the Sandias on Saturday to celebrate our anniversary.  As we were hiking out after our climb I realized how much climbing resembles a marriage.  When you are climbing you really have to trust your partner.  The lead climber must trust his belayer to catch him if he falls, and the person following must trust the lead climber to set up a solid anchor at the top of the pitch.  Trust is also key in a good marriage.  For both climbing and marriage, you have to be prepared for the worst, which could be bad weather or injuries in climbing and pretty much anything in marriage.  You will get bumps and bruises along the way with both, but each of those minor setbacks teaches you something for the future.  Climbing and marriage our both an adventure :).

At the top of the first trip on our anniversary climb

I trust that over the next sixty plus years of marriage our love for each other will continue to grow, we will become even better "mind readers" and we will continue to enjoy the sport of climbing.

Changing My Life Perspective

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about the quote, "Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read."  I first heard this when listening to Dave Ramsey, but I'm not exactly sure who was the first to say it (maybe John Wooden, an American basketball player and coach, according to a quick Google search).  I believe this quote is spot-on.


Although there are definite advantages to living in one place during one's lifetime, moving to another state has pushed Micah and I to branch out and make new friends.  Often we are drawn to people who had a similar upbringing to us, but sometimes we befriend those who came from a completely different background.  We are both introverts so I'm pretty confident we would not be meeting many new people if we had stayed in Holland, MI our whole lives, and I am loving the fact we have met many new people over the years who have taught us different things about life.


One of my newest friendships is with a co-worker named Araceli.  She lived in Mexico for ten years as a child and she still speaks Spanish with her husband and family.  Although she is practically fluent in English, per her request I correct her when I hear her use the wrong tense or gender (he for she and vice versa).  Araceli started running in high school and became pretty fast in college.  Since college she has not been as consistent with her running but right before we met each other she had decided she wanted to start running regularly again.  We have been training together for the La Luz Trail Run (after much persuasion she convinced me to train with her), and I have really enjoyed getting to know her and learning more about her past.  She definitely has put my life into perspective.  As I learn more about her childhood I am astounded that even though she did not have the same opportunities I did growing up, she does not let that get in the way of her success.  She is almost done with her MBA and has high aspirations for her future.  I have a lot of respect for Araceli and I am so happy that she convinced me to train with her.

At the tram on top of Sandia Peak during a run

I have also been reading a lot of great books lately.  I highly recommend them all!  And if you have any to recommend please let me know :).

• Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor
• Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
• Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
• Love Wins by Rob Bell
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• Untouchables by Narendra Jadhav

It isn't easy changing who we are as we all get stuck in a rut at times, but right now I am enjoying this process.

  

Speedsters & Whippers & Weavers. Oh My!

I truly cannot believe how many bad drivers reside in ABQ.  Daily, I fear for my life and the lives of those around me.  Not even kidding.  It is so bad that I am actually contemplating buying a SUV for safety reasons.  Well, more than contemplating as we already test drove some vehicles and we have been doing plenty of research on the best one to buy.

There are all types of ABQ drivers:

1. Sneaksters.  Some ABQ drivers must think the rest of us are psychic as they never use their blinkers, whether turning corners or changing lanes.  This drives me bananas.
2. Speedsters.  They must not teach ABQ drivers that the speed LIMIT is actually the maximum speed you are allowed to travel on the road.  Of course we all go slightly over this at times, but the general rule is about 5 over, not 15.
3. Creepers.  Contrary to what some ABQ drivers may think, driving extremely slow, such as 55 MPH on the highway where the speed limit is 70 MPH, is actually quite dangerous.  It is just as scary to quickly approach a creeper as it is to be passed by a speedster.
4. Drifters.  There are two types of "lane changers" in ABQ: drifters and whippers.  There are those that believe they should be very cautious when changing lanes and they slowly inch over from one lane to the next - drifters.  
5. Whippers. On the other hand, there are those that must jerk their steering wheel as they practically flip their car when changing lanes - whippers.  Doesn't matter if you are a drifter or a whipper, you are both dangerous.  Even more scary - a drifter and whipper changing into the same lane.
6. S.P.I.L.L.s.  This is actually an acronym Micah and I came up with in Colorado as we were very annoyed with this type of driver: Slow Poke In Left Lane, or SPILL for short.  This is the person poking along in the left lane of they highway while they're on their cell phone, talking to someone else in the car, or just not paying attention for whatever reason (believe it or not, Colorado actually has a law against being in the left lane unless passing now).  Surprisingly, SPILLs are even more abundant in ABQ.  This is awful on a four lane highway since ABQ drivers obviously don't understand that the right lane is the slowest and the left lane is the fastest.  Which leads to the next problem.
7. Weavers.  I swear some people think morning rush hour is a great time to practice their Nascar skills.  I am often yelling at people for this very reason on my way to work.  Not a great way to start the day.
8. Red Light Racers.  When we first moved to CO Micah and I were shocked by how many people sped up when they saw yellow lights.  We soon caught on that this was necessary to avoid being rear-ended since this was the common driving style in CO.  However, we will not follow suit with the Red Light Racers in ABQ.  It is scary how many people see a light turn red and step on the gas.  It is so bad that when you are the first person stopped at a red light that turns green you actually must pause and look both ways to make sure everyone has stopped before proceeding.  Just awful.
9. Emergency Vehicle Ignorers.  I thought it was common knowledge that you should pull over to the right and stop when an emergency vehicle is behind you.  This simply does not happen in ABQ.  Still not really sure why.
10. Chicken Players.  This is a daily occurrence.  Tramway is a road by our house that I drive on with many short merge lanes.  For some reason ABQ drivers think we should be playing chicken so they just move into my lane, instead of yielding, when in the merge lane.  Since I drive such a small vehicle I am generally the chicken.  Yes, I do have to hold my fingers down as I speed ahead of the Chicken Player and get ahead of them again (the Subaru may not be big but at least it's quick).    
11. Last Second Stoppers. These are the people who wait until the last second to stop at a stop sign.  I try to be a defensive driver so they usually cause me to slam on the brakes and or swerve as I am anticipating an accident.  These guys really fool me.
12. Nose Pokers.  I do acknowledge the fact that ABQ has an abundance of blind corners, but seriously, can't you stop behind the stop sign first and then move forward slowly to see if it is safe to turn?  Quite often I have to swerve around ABQ drivers who have their nose poked out into the crossroad.
13. Crunchers.  A dented or crunched up car is not a sign of honor like a battle wound.  When I see a crunched up car I get away as quickly as possible to avoid being the car's next victim.
14. Drunk Drivers.  Unfortunately, drunk drivers are quite a problem here.  I know this is a problem everywhere but I hear about them a lot more often in ABQ than I did living in CO.

I could probably go on forever describing the variety of ABQ drivers that I battle each day.  It's ridiculous.  Thanks for letting me vent :).

Lately

I just read my friend Joy's post about how time flies and I couldn't agree more.  I can hardly believe it is already late May!  We have been having a lot of fun this year, but sometimes I wonder if we are staying TOO busy.  Lately we have been:

Climbing:  We have gotten back into rock climbing since we moved to ABQ and we have been happy to discover numerous outdoor climbing spots within a 2 hour radius of ABQ.  As an added bonus, my upper body is the strongest it's ever been :).

Running: Micah and I both entered a lottery to run in the La Luz Trail Run (9 miles up a trail to the Sandia Crest in ABQ).  We were both selected to run the race so we have been spending time running on the trails, which are actually only about a mile from our new house!  I have never been much of a trail runner since I easily turn my ankles and going up is just hard, but I am actually having a lot of fun with it.  The race is August 7 so we need to get in a lot of good training between now and then!

Settling In: We are 99% moved into our new place.  We really love the location and the house suits us much better than the house we were in for our first six months in ABQ.

WFR Course: Micah and I both signed up for a Wilderness First Responder course.  I am still a bit apprehensive as we have to go to class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00-9:00 p.m. for the next six weeks, plus attend three day long Saturday sessions, but so far I have been learning a lot.  Yesterday we learned how to take each other's blood pressure, this weekend we will be learning splinting, and eventually we will even learn how to deliver a baby in case of emergency!  The course is intense, but I think we will both feel safer in the wilderness after we have proper training.

Celebrating Micah's Birthday:  Okay, this hasn't actually taken as much time as the other things we have been doing, but Micah's 29th birthday was this past Monday.  He doesn't really like to celebrate his birthday, but I decided it would be a great excuse to have new friends over to the house.  On Sunday evening we grilled and enjoyed great company!  Crazy that I have been around for 13 of Micah's birthdays!  That makes us feel like we are getting old...

We are really enjoying life in ABQ.  We have been blessed with jobs, great friends, a good church, and mountains in close proximity so that we can get out and enjoy the activities that we love. 

Driving Us Crazy

The song "This is the Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli has been our theme song for the last week.  If you aren't familiar with the song, here are the first few lines:

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately


Micah and I had a week of mishaps after moving into a new rental house last Saturday.  We knew it was going to be stressful and exhausting as moving always is, but we didn't count on having so many problems.

On Sunday night I decided to cook again since we had been spending a lot of money on take-out with the move.  We decided to make quesadillas, which fortunately can also be made in a microwave, because we quickly found out that the stove didn't work.  The landlord came over the next day and determined that they had plugged the stove into the wrong outlet so it wasn't getting enough voltage, so it now works.

On Monday evening Micah decided to try to raise the shower rod while taking a shower.  Usually shower rods are easy to move, but this one snapped in half!  Since I take a shower in the morning and the other shower did not yet have a rod, this mishap resulted in a late night trip to Target for a replacement rod.

On Tuesday we went back to the old house to load up a trailer with more of our stuff and to start cleaning the house.  We left the old house around 9:00 pm and Micah drove his motorcycle to the new house and I drove the car pulling the trailer.  I do not know how to back up a trailer, so when I got to the new house Micah ran out and hopped in the driver's seat.  I brought my purse into the house and came back out to direct Micah.  When we tried to bring a load of stuff into the house, though, we realized the house was locked and we didn't have the house keys or our phones!  The front door has two doors and one is a self-locking security door.  You can flip a switch so it doesn't automatically lock, which I thought Micah had done when he ran out to back up the trailer, but he actually just propped the door open which I didn't realize in the dark.  Fortunately, I have been to our landlord's house so we decided our best option was to knock on their door and ask to borrow a key.  By the time we got to their house it was 9:45 pm, and all of their lights were out.  I felt horrible waking them up, but we didn't have any other option!  We finally got home a little after 10 pm to unload the trailer.

On Wednesday morning one of the toilets clogged.  When this happened in our old house, we let the toilet sit for several hours and then we could usually flush it without a problem.  When Micah came home from work he flushed the toilet, and the water rose higher and higher until it started pouring out all over the floor!  I ran around getting towels and buckets, and we finally propped up the bar in the back of the toilet with a ruler to make the running water stop.  Our plunger was still at the old house so we went back to finish cleaning and get our last trailer full of items.  Micah tried to plunge the toilet when we got home without success.  This resulted in an embarrassing phone call to the landlord Thursday morning explaining what happened.  They were able to fix the clog but we are a little weary of using the toilet.

Thursday and Friday were without mishap, mostly because we were off having fun running and climbing instead of doing stuff around the house.  We thought this meant that our mishaps were behind us...

On Saturday we decided to go to Lowe's to get items we need for the house and make copies of our keys to hide outside so we don't get locked out again.  After we went out to the car we remembered we wanted to bring the old bread maker along to donate if we saw a drop-off place.  Micah went back in the house and grabbed the bread maker and tried to lock the inside front door but realized he needed both hands to lock the bolt.  He set the bread maker down and by the time he turned around the self-locking door had slammed shut with the house key and car key inside!  This time we at least had my cell phone, so we were able to call our landlord and ask them to bring over the key.  We are lucky they are really understanding and gracious people!  The irony of it was that we were really on our way to make copies of the keys!

All week I have had Francesca Battistelli's song in my head since our mishaps would be nice additions to her lyrics.  But I have to pause and remember the rest of the chorus:


In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use


She is right.  Although we had a very frustrating week, we are VERY blessed as these mishaps are minor in the grand scheme of life.

Moving AGAIN!

Yes, that's right, for the THIRD time since we moved to ABQ less than six months ago we are moving.  Our current lease is up at the end of April and we had the option to continue month to month, but we were motivated to find a less expensive house closer to the mountains and we succeeded!  Originally we thought we would want to live in Nob Hill in ABQ, which is an older neighborhood with a newly revitalized shopping and restaurant area, but we quickly discovered it is not really our style.  We like to get outside and go for runs and hikes or go climbing, not stroll down a street poking in random stores.  Luckily, we did not have the funds to buy right away so we've been renting, otherwise we would be stuck in Nob Hill!

My commute will go from 7 minutes to 25 minutes, but I do believe it will be worth it.  The new rental has the same number of rooms as this house (3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms), although the rooms are slightly smaller, but well worth the location and savings.  We are mostly excited for the background as it has a great patio for grilling, right off of the kitchen, and beautiful views of the city below.

At first I was dreading the thought of moving again, and then I remembered how much I LOVE to get rid of things and get organized.  Yesterday we received our copy of the fully executed lease and today I began going through our closets to prepare for the move!  We will have a two week overlap between houses, so I probably don't need to prepare this much, but I just love to fill up bags for Goodwill.  Even though we went through this routine last summer when we moved from Colorado, we have already managed to fill up 6 bags with stuff we don't really need!  Understandably, Micah gets a bit nervous when I start looking through his things....

It's funny that we were so ready to get into a routine when we moved to ABQ, but now I feel exhilarated by this upcoming change.

Lizard

I am not a fan of reptiles, but as long as they are small they usually don't bother me much....until today. This morning Micah and I went climbing outside. At the start of my second climb I noticed two lizards on the wall right in my path. I flicked the rope at them to try to get them to move and I accidentally hit one of the lizards with the rope. I was SHOCKED that the lizard's tail came off and jumped around on the ground for awhile! Meanwhile, the lizards, one of them with only a tail stump left, did not move out of the way and I was too freaked out to climb (do lizards bite!?)! It turns out that lizards actually release their tails as a defense mechanism, but I felt so bad that I had knocked his tail off. Guess I have a lot to learn about desert creatures!

Here is a video I found on You Tube - pretty creapy...

It's beginning to feel a lot like....SUMMER!

Technically it is not even spring until Sunday, but it feels like summer in ABQ!  The ABQ forecast shows mid to high 70's for the rest of the week and I am thinking I will need to invest in many more short sleeve shirts for work as I will definitely be tired of the ones I have by next October.  At work women have been wearing skirts, dresses and sandals and I am about ready to join in.  After all, my office gets quite hot in the afternoon with the sun beating in through my window.  I honestly have to keep reminding myself that it is only March as it feels like May!

Beautiful! 

Wed
Mar 16

Sunny

78°
45°

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Windy Driving Tips

Thu
Mar 17

Mostly Sunny

78°
48°

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Fri
Mar 18

Mostly Sunny

75°
45°

10%

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Sat
Mar 19

Mostly Sunny

75°
46°

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I know I shouldn't brag as I realize my Michigan friends and relatives are very tired of winter, but I guess I couldn't help myself ;).

February

February has been an extremely fun and busy month for us.  This morning was the first time in at least a month that I have been able to really take advantage of sleeping in (granted I only slept until 8:30 but it felt awesome!).  I am not complaining, though, as we have been having a lot of fun with new activities and hanging out with friends - both new and old.

The first weekend of February we went ice climbing in Ouray, CO.  Micah has every other Friday off which is great, but it also means he wants to do fun things on those Fridays so I have been taking days off of work as well (I'm hoping to get on the same schedule in April but we'll see).  We left Thursday evening after work and drove 3 hours to Durango, CO to spend the night.  On Friday morning we drove about 1.5 hours into the mountains to Ouray for our first day of ice climbing.  Although Micah ice climbed years ago, he had never been to Ouray.  We spent Friday and Saturday in the ice park (in the area called the School Room which is great for beginners).  I'm not sure I was completely sold on the sport, but we had a fun weekend nevertheless.

Here I am on the ice

The next Saturday we went to a rock climbing area called the Enchanted Tower, which is about 2.5 hours southwest of ABQ, with our friends Dan and Val and their two young sons.  We had a great day of climbing on the Mother Goose wall as there were at least 15 "easier" climbs close together and between the four of us we did every climb.  I have been leading in the gym since December, but this was the first time I actually led outside!

Getting ready to climb.  Auggie, Val, me and Micah with Eland.

On Sunday of that same weekend our friends Katie and Ryan came for a short visit.  They arrived Sunday evening, I took Monday off to hang out with them and show them ABQ, and they left early Tuesday morning.  Although I had seen them during my visit to MI in January, Micah had not seen them since we were in Calcutta, India in October!  It was so great to see Katie and Ryan again.  I really miss living close to them in CO!

We didn't take any pictures during the weekend, but this is the four of us at our favorite restaurant in Varanasi, India.

The following weekend we decided to head back to the Enchanted Tower climbing area as there are many more walls to explore in that area.  Micah and I drove down by ourselves Saturday morning and met up with Dan and Val and their boys.  Although the weather was not as great as the weekend before since it was colder and much windier, we still managed to get in some great climbs.

Dan took some great photos of us climbing! Here is an action shot of Micah going for his next clip.

Saturday evening our friends Travis and Amy and their 7 week old son Wyatt arrived for a short visit.  Travis competed in a race on Mt. Taylor Saturday morning, which is about 1.5 hours west of ABQ.  We were thrilled to see them and meet their new baby - so small and precious!  On Sunday we went out to breakfast at the Flying Star in Nob Hill and then went for a two hour hike in the Sandias.  Amazingly, Wyatt slept the whole hike!  After grabbing a late lunch, Travis, Amy and Wyatt left for Taos so they did not have to do the whole drive in one day.  It was so great to see them again!

Amy, Travis and Wyatt during the hike.

And now it is the last weekend of February and I have decided to take it easy.  Although the month has been full of fun, the laundry needs to be done, the house needs to be cleaned, the taxes need to be completed and I should really get a haircut as it has been six months since my last cut!  Micah is climbing with a new climbing partner today (they met through a mutual friend) and I am enjoying a quiet house to myself.  I think Sienna, our cat, is enjoying my being home today too as she has not seen us much this month!

The Church Search

For the last four months Micah and I have been on a wild church search in ABQ.  Admittedly, we have not  gone to church every week since it has proved to be a daunting and exhausting task, but regardless we have been to many, many churches in ABQ.  I hesitated about writing this post as I did not want to offend anyone and I fully understand that different denominations and worship styles exist to fit a variety of people.  I will not go into detail of every church we went to, but here are some highlights:

• Micah and I are accustomed to large churches since the church our parents attend is quite big, but we tried out one church that actually had a campus!  There were different buildings and a stretch golf cart to pick you up from your car and bring you to the building.  That was just too big... 

• We decided to try a mid-sized, more established church.  At one time this church was probably thriving but we quickly realized that the church had not had any new members in years!  We were the youngest people at the service by at least 20 years, the sanctuary was mostly empty and we stuck out like a sore thumb.  On top of that, there was a male soloist that had a very different singing style than we are used to.  Luckily, Micah and I did not realize during the song that we were both trying to hold back the giggles because otherwise I'm sure we would have both lost it right then and there...

• I am a Starbucks addict, so one week we stopped for a grande chai on our way to church as it was on the other side of town.  On our way into the sanctuary I noticed the church had its own coffee shop so I was completely caught off guard when an usher stopped me on the way in and told me I could not take my chai into the sanctuary.  She said security might "tackle me" if I brought it in there.  What?!?  I was so taken aback, and pretty upset that I would have to toss my drink, that I tried to convince Micah that we should just leave.  He wanted to stay since we drove all the way there so we chugged the chai and went inside.  Needless to say, we did not feel very welcome at that church....

• We did a lot of online research before going to any of these churches so when we went to a church where people were literally dancing down the aisles and twirling flags during the worship I was pretty surprised.  About 5 minutes into the worship I turned to Micah and said, "I don't feel very comfortable here" and he responded with, "Really, why?"  I thought I must be going crazy!  I guess he appreciated the open worship style, but really, we would NEVER fit in!  That is just not us...

• We heard that Fernando Ortega was the worship leader at a local Anglican church so we decided to give that a try.  I guess we didn't realize how different Anglican is from Reformed or Presbyterian (the denominations we are accustomed to) as we were surprised to see white robes and the lengthy bulletin with directions of what to say when, and when to sit and stand.  We stayed through the sermon but we definitely snuck out early as this was not the church for us...

Luckily, we have not had bad experiences at all of the churches and we have now narrowed our search down to our top two choices.   Surprisingly, these two churches are very different from each other as one has about 80 people attending each week and the other has thousands, but we will attend both over the next few months to decide which one is better for us right now.  We are both glad that this church search is coming to an end, although we will miss getting free coffee mugs, bread and other random gifts every week :).

Renting is Amazing

Exactly four years ago Micah and I were putting an offer on our first house.  Since I had been working a whole six months I thought we were in a great position to buy a house, so I convinced Micah that life would be so much better once we were homeowners.  I will never forget Valentine's Day in 2007 as that is the day we had our home inspection.  There was virtually nothing wrong with the house since it had been built in 2005, which was a relief to us as buyers.  And best of all, the home inspector had a gift card to Pappadeaux's restaurant that he planned to give to one of his client's that day since it was Valentine's, and he chose us!  We did not have Valentine's Day plans since we felt broke as we were buying a house, plus I was in the midst of my first busy season as an auditor and wouldn't be home until at least 10:00 pm, so we were excited for the gift!  Although we mostly feel that buying the house was the right decision as we enjoyed being homeowners and we felt really comfortable in our house, we also think back to what we should have done differently as we bought right before the housing market tanked and we did 100% financing (probably not the best decision!).  We were VERY fortunate to sell our house this summer right before we moved to ABQ, and thankfully we didn't lose too much money.

Ironically, four years later we are glad to be renters again.  It is nice to not feel tied down to one spot with a house.  We are really taking our time figuring out where we want to live, how much we want to put down and how much we want to borrow. Recently we have been listening to the Dave Ramsey series and he is changing our perspective on our financial priorities.  It is crazy how most of us fall into the trap in our early 20's, when we have our first full-time jobs, that we have to buy a house.  We feel like everyone else is taking out a huge mortgage and not worrying about the payments they will be making for the next 30 years so why should we give it a second thought?  With selling our house and being renters again, we feel we have been given a second chance and we are really enjoying it.

Not only is it liberating to not have a mortgage, but this house we are currently renting is quite old (built in the 40's I think), and there have been quite a few problems.  For example, I cannot have the hairdryer on if the kitchen and hallway lights are on or the fuse will blow.  Micah cannot print from his computer while I am vacuuming or the fuse will blow.  While we were gone last weekend the water meter froze so none of the faucets worked.  Most recently, the heater in the back of the house went out and it is currently pretty cold in the house.

Here is a pic of our heater.  Most of you have probably never seen anything like this as I know I didn't until we moved here!  There is one in the hallway and one in the living room.  Not the best for heating the bedrooms!

These are all pretty major problems, but let me tell you, we are not one bit stressed over them as they are not our problem!  We can deal with the inconveniences just fine, we just don't want to pay for them and we don't have to :).  Luckily, our landlord is very responsive and he is currently working on the electrical and heat.  He lives across the street so he checked on the house this weekend and determined the water meter was frozen, and he took care of it.  Lovely - no worries for us!

Of course, we will buy again someday as it is a great investment if one is smart about it.  But in the meantime, renting is amazing!