Patricia and Ryan

Love that thumb!

2012-02-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Cobalt

2012-02-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2012-02-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

The day is winding down already, but Ryan took the day off from work to enjoy his birthday! We just finished up a delicious steak dinner, and creme brulee for dessert!

Marlin's more interested in Dad's beard than the story he's reading to him

Marlin was pretty fussy all day yesterday, and today there was a little chink of the spoon when I was feeding him some solids! It's still hard to see, but I can sure feel a tiny tooth poking through!

Last night while I was cooking dinner, Marlin was playing on the floor with some of his toys. He was "talking" a lot trying to get at the toys, trying to figure out how to scoot and reach for stuff that's just out of reach. All of a sudden I realized that I didn't hear him fussing anymore. I peeked around the kitchen counter, and this is what I saw:

Can you tell what it is?

....

Oops! I try to keep Jack's toys and bones picked up and separate from Marlin's but apparently Jack had left his bone laying within reach of Marlin, who seemed to be quite satisfied once he got ahold of it!

4th Annual Soup Swap

2012-01-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Last night we hosted our fourth annual Soup Swap! You can read about our past events here, here and here (apparently I didn't blog about our November 2009 event)!

We had record numbers this year:

22 adults
15 kids (including:
5 infants - 6 months old or younger!)
76 quarts of soup
14 different types of soup
2 versions of a classic - Chicken Noodle
1 "Mystery Soup" - so mysterious!

The only problem with so many soups to choose from is that it meant we couldn't try them all!

We made Mulligatawny Soup, which prior to making last week, I had never even heard of - but it ended up being quite popular with our crowd - who knew?! One of the Chicken Noodle soups was called "Grandma's Chicken Noodle" soup, and the Grandma herself was there to tell us about it! We also had a soup that included some wild rice that was hand picked out of a lake in Minnesota.

Can't wait for a day when I don't feel like cooking, and can just pull out a quart of soup from the freezer for dinner!

(oh wait, today was already that day - we had some hearty Potato Bacon soup-mmmm)

Half a year old?!?!

2012-01-25T09:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Marlin hit the six month mark, which is hard to believe!

He's doing great and keeping me busier and busier. The speed of skill development at this stage is so fast, it seems as though he will be, well...off to college in no time! Haha!

Saturday night in t-town

2012-01-21T22:11:00.001-07:00

Double duty

2012-01-20T21:30:00.001-07:00

Today Marlin had a friend over!

Savannah is just six days older than Marlin, so for me it was a new thing to watch two six-month-olds at once! I know that twins are a blessing in their own way, but today I was thankful that I did not have twins! These are two easy babies, yet it was still a challenge to try juggling both of them at once.

It was pretty entertaining watching them play together...they are both very curious right now so they watched and grabbed at each other very intently.

Curious Savannah and a not-so-happy Marlin:

"make friends":

A few recent pics

2012-01-12T13:53:00.002-07:00

Here's a few recent pictures of Marlin.

He's really growing fast, learning lots of new skills. He can sit up by himself for quite a long time now, and he's readily rolling over both directions. There's been a few times I had him on the floor and was busy doing something, and when I turned back, he had rolled himself over a couple times and ended up a few feet from where he started. He is much more attentive to a wider range of things, and has really been noticing our dog Jack, who doesn't seem entirely crazy about the little guy yet...but that probably has to do with the fact that, when given the opportunity, Marlin "pets" Jack, which really means grabbing and tugging at any fur or ear he can get in an attempt to get it to his mouth! And as you saw in the last post, Marlin is eating some solids these days. So far it's just rice cereal and sweet potatoes, but he seems to love eating, and is quite good at it already. He even gets impatient if we take too long getting the next bite to his mouth. Hard to believe he's nearly six months old already.

Nana B. with Marlin:

Ho!ho!ho! Here he is in his Santa suit that Nana bought for him:

Fun with tissue paper:

Banging the high chair (an oldie but goody that started its life as Ryan's cousins in the fifties), ready for food, and sporting a bib all the way from China (!). Not that something made in China is uncommon around here...but this was specially sent from Aunt Maureen, who lives there! And it's a special Chinese style bib that even has leg stirrups to keep it down. Thanks Maureen!

Mama and Marlin reading a bedtime story - anyone remember the book Noisy Nora?! Thanks to Tia Liz for finding some classics at an antique market, that we read when growing up.

And looking adorable in a cute outfit from Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Chuck:

First food from a spoon!

2012-01-06T13:36:00.001-07:00

I have all sorts of things to update everyone on, but for now it will just have to be the latest... Today we just fed Marlin his first solid meal! We had let him drink water from a cup and suck on a raw carrot, but this was the first time he has actually eaten anything new, and from a spoon - rice cereal mixed with mama's milk...yum!

I must admit that I was hesitant to start with solids already... Although he's nearly there, I always figured I would wait until at LEAST six months old, despite the recommendations to start anywhere between 4 and 6 months. He will be eating solids and feeding himself for the rest of his life. I was in no hurry to believe that he would need anything yet, besides what my body could provide for him. And lately, now that breastfeeding has regulated and is no longer painful the way it was those first couple months, it has become quite enjoyable. I was - and still am - in no hurry to give that up. But there have been recent changes in Marlin's eating and sleeping habits, and I am suddenly very hungry these days from all the milk-making. So we decided it was time. And he did very well. I would say that he was ready! As soon as I gave him a spoon, he was quite adept at getting it straight to and into his mouth. And when I fed him the cereal, I was pleasantly surprised at how much he was actually swallowing.

[I find this last picture funny because it looks like I have a giant fang!]

It is so cliché for a mama to say it, but it is so True - they Grow So Fast. He's changing by the hour and we're loving every minute of it.

Bell's Xmas Visit

2011-12-24T12:00:00.004-07:00

merry xmas from liz, patricia's sister, guest blogger today. rick & carol bell got here tuesday from cleveland. i arrived thursday night from chicago (dad picked me up in abq). i was excited to meet marlin for the first time & i guess he was excited to meet me too!

the house was decorated with a beautiful tree thanks to marlin's good eye.

after a lazy day, we decided to take a little walk around black pinnacle before the sun set.

ryan threatened to sled down the side on his bum (and i think he actually did when patricia wasn't looking).

we even did a little gymnastics before heading home for fiesta friday.

fiesta friday was great with an appetizer of margaritas and chips & salsa, then steak & chicken fajitas and rice & beans for dinner. marce, victor & ashleigh stopped over so we had tea & dessert with them while playing a game of imaginiff. after the game, victor explained to us the navajo story behind the ceremony for the baby's first laugh. marce made a beautiful quilt for marlin - que linda! so stay tuned for details on marlin's first laugh ceremony. as victor said once you say you're going to do something you shouldn't go back on your word. i'm going to keep that in mind as its time to reflect on the year and maybe make a few new year's resolutions! :P

stay tuned for more updates on our xmas visit...
<3, tia liz

Old school

2011-12-02T11:14:00.001-07:00

Marlin was kickin' it old school yesterday with a very 70's outfit that was Ryan's when he was little.
(When Ryan got home and saw the outfit, he said "Either that's a girl's outfit or that's from the 1970's.")

And here he is hanging out on a mat that was Liz's and mine. I've always loved the simple weather graphics.
It's fun to have a kid that we can pass on these things to!

Four Months!

2011-11-24T16:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marlin is four months old today - so hard to believe how time flies. He got to meet most of the extended family here in South Dakota...which is an accomplishment. The Thanksgiving dinner today was at Ryan's step-brother's and there were 68 there to eat. That was all family....and didn't even include some that were at in-laws for the holiday. And Marlin isn't even the youngest. He's already got two cousins younger than him! But he got lots of auntie love and gave lots of smiles.

We have lots to be thankful for this year, especially this little guy who, we learned one year ago today, was just a bean growing in my belly.

First flight...and First Laugh!

2011-11-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

[Wrote this on Friday, but due to technical difficulties, I am finally getting it posted...]

I finally caught up on pictures from the last few months which you can peruse here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/prscarb

If you know us well, you are probably not surprised that Marlin has already traveled quite a bit. We took a couple short outings close to home within his first month. Then we ventured a little farther, taking a couple day trips just a few hours drive away.

During October was our first long trip, when we drove to Denver, and then on to Rapid City and back a week later. Now we are on our way to Pierre, South Dakota for an extended Thanksgiving trip, so this is Marlin's first time flying!

The first leg of the flight from Albuquerque to Denver went fine - he slept the whole way. And now we're on a 19 seater from Denver to Pierre. He's doing great and we are approaching descent.

[Later on when we landed, my 6 year old nephew asked me about Marlin's bib. He informed me after discussing how we got here, that there should be one car and two planes on the bib, instead of 3 cars. Right he is.]

......

I wrote the above, put the iPad away, then nursed Marlin as we landed. We were sitting on the tarmac in Pierre, South Dakota, waiting for them to open the plane door, and he was laying on Ryan's lap. He was smiling with his head turned towards the window, and all of a sudden he just let out a big ol' giggle. We both looked down at him and he laughed again, proving what we weren't sure we had just heard!

In Navajo tradition, the First Laugh is widely celebrated. It is believed that when a baby first laughs is when he has "found his voice" and is ready to be celebrated and join the world. The tradition says that whoever makes the baby laugh first is supposed to buy the baby a sheep to be slaughtered, and host a dinner for family and friends. There is often a ceremony where the baby gives all guests a pinch of salt to represent his generosity. This also often doubles as a baby shower, contrary to the biligaana tradition of showering the family before Baby has entered the world. Apparently, some also believe that whoever makes Baby laugh is who the baby will most grow up to be like.

Ryan was definitely holding Marlin, and when Ryan looked down at him, he looked back and laughed again. My theory is that his namesake, his nali (grandfather on the father's side), may have also been playing a part. The late Marlin lived in Pierre, of course, and he also was a pilot. He had his own plane that he kept there and he flew in and out of that airport.

I will be quite happy if the little guy grows up to be like his father and grandfather.

When we get home we may just have to honor the Navajo tradition and host a dinner! I'm sure it will involve mutton, but still trying to figure out if I'm up for starting out with a live sheep...

Dia de Los Muertos

2011-11-02T22:27:00.002-06:00

Just cleaning up from our Dia de los Muertos fiesta!

We had been wanting to celebrate the holiday for awhile, so when All Saints Day and All Souls Day was approaching we decided to go for it. We accumulated various decorations, including a few papel picado banners, a mold for chocolate skulls, and our friends even had some sugar skulls for us to borrow. We set up an altar with pictures of our deceased loved ones, candles, paper marigolds, soap, and various other "ofrendas". We had a soup with a hint of Mexican flavor, chips and salsa, of course, and we played mariachi music. This holiday is about partying after all and celebrating the dead!

Several friends joined us, and our friend, Victor, helped us close the evening with a song in Navajo to remember those that have gone before us.

Here are two of my favorite people enjoying a moment after everything quieted down:

update: I took a video of part of Victor's song. It was so dark, I had to lighten it up, so apologies for the poor quality of the video.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:12:00.000-06:00

Three months!

2011-10-24T21:46:00.001-06:00

Marlin is three months old today! And it's hard to believe how big he is!

A week ago we got back from his first big trip. He was a trooper in the car, thankfully sleeping most of the way.

And he still slept great once we got there, here is happily napping with Dad:

We drove to Denver for him to meet his great grandma, and some of my aunts and uncles.

Then we went on to South Dakota and spent time with some of Ryan's family. Here he's hanging out on the couch, meeting Grandpa Don for the first time.

We had a great week, visiting with family, and doing some planning for the house we hope to build someday on our land near Rapid City. It was a busy week but a nice trip.
Then on the way home, we picked up my mom and drove through some amazing fall scenery throughout Colorado. Marlin has been quite content to have his Nana here:

We've had a nice week, and thanks to her, a few things around the house have finally been done that I hadn't gotten to. Unfortunately she's headed home tomorrow, but we're glad she was able to see Marlin again, since he's changing so fast!

He's become quite the chubby baby but I'm loving this stage and (as every parent is sure of) he is the CUTEST, I must admit!
He's "talking" a lot more these days. He is a very proficient thumb sucker. He manages to hold his head up for longer periods; he bats at things and shows some attempts to reach deliberately for them. He grins and grins, and is coming close to laughing, but hasn't yet.

[I hadn't gotten to posting this yet, because I was hoping to get caught up on pictures from our travels. But these will have to do for now.]

First snow. For real.

2011-10-06T09:45:00.001-06:00

Not sure what happened to fall, but apparently winter is here. I was hoping to get a little more out of my garden, but I guess not:

This is what happens when you live at 7000 feet. And this is also why we have a hoophouse. Hopefully some of the tomatoes in there will hang on for a little bit longer.

I guess Marlin's happy about it though:

Two months. Back in the Saddle

2011-09-25T15:20:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Marlin hit the two month mark!

Last week, we had his eight week checkup. Although he seems so big to me (he's already starting to fit in some six month clothes), he's right at average for all of his height and weight measurements. He's over 12 pounds, and about 23 1/2" long, with a head circumference of 15 3/4"! He was also a champ after getting his shots, just the initial cry, but no fussing afterwards.

Marlin's smiling more, though still no laughs, as well as more "talking." And he is opening his hands more, grabbing at my shirt when I'm nursing him, etc. He still hasn't quite coordinated the intentional reach for things but his arms movements are getting less and less jerky.

I also got back in the saddle, literally. Well, the bike saddle, that is.

I have been doing a few easy rides, both on the road and mountain bike, since about five weeks postpartum, with a few walk/runs throw in. So when the opportunity arose to ride in Gallup's Squash Blossom Classic mountain bike race, I decided to take advantage of it. Aaron and Paige, friends from Chinle, were also headed to the race, and while Aaron was racing the 19 mile course with Ryan, Paige offered to watch Marlin while I raced the shorter 7 mile course.

It was a distance I knew I could manage without hurting myself, considering how out of shape I am. It was a fun ride, but left me exhausted, and certainly gave me a goal for next year considering I knew that I could ride it much better and faster if I had been in better shape. However, like Paige said, I should've worn a shirt that said "I just had a baby!". It wasn't the best finish in my mind, but it was a finish. I'll take it.

Firsts

2011-09-18T11:28:00.001-06:00

First pair of jeans!

And sort of caught one of the elusive smiles that are coming more frequently:

We also had another first yesterday with Aunt Julie and Uncle Dave babysitting Marlin while mama went for a bike ride! Ryan is out of town for the weekend on a guy's backpacking trip to Paria Canyon...so it was just me and the little guy for the weekend. We've been doing great, thanks to the help and company of Dave and Julie, but we're also excited to have Ryan come home today!

On the line

2011-09-08T16:10:00.001-06:00

Is there anything sweeter than baby clothes and diapers hanging on the line in the sun?

Okay, okay...maybe the baby himself!

Mushrooming and Canning!

2011-09-07T10:17:00.002-06:00

We had a great long weekend that was action packed and included some of Marlin's first big outings. But for now, just highlights from Labor Day:

Ryan, Marlin, Julie, Dave, Seth and I headed up into the Chuskas for some mushroom hunting! Seth, a friend that works in Chinle, is a long time mushroom hunter and was our trusted guide. (No "suicide pasta" for us!) The pictures below are from the first time Ryan went hunting a few weeks ago for some of the bounty that the rain brings; we didn't quite have as much success this time,but enough to fry up and enjoy plus some extra to dry for winter. I was thankful that Marlin was very cooperative. Ryan and I took turns hanging out in the shade with him so the other could hunt, and I only had to feed him once which was quite enjoyable under the quaking aspens and with a nice fall breeze.

We all came back here for some mushroom enjoyment. Ryan put a brisket on the green egg and made salsa and hot sauce - completely from garden ingredients! And Julie and I got busy canning some of our garden harvest! We canned tomatoes, some of the salsa, and Julie pickled some beets. Look at that color!:

After all that hard work we sat down to a brisket feast, which even included some of my first ever garden potatoes!

Update: I was having trouble with adding these pics from the ipad when i first posted. Here's some from Monday's hunt, that includes Marlin since most of you probably came here looking for pictures of him! :)

check out my fun rooster onesie from Jillian & Evan!

6 weeks, 7 years

2011-09-04T23:15:00.001-06:00

Today Marlin is six weeks old and it's hard to believe how fast he is growing and changing. He is starting to get chubbier and getting more strength in his arms and legs. I can also see the difference in his eyesight. He can follow objects and seems to fix on things better. He is also smiling more and more. I still doesn't quite seem deliberate...like he'll smile because he's pooping. (well maybe that's deliberate!)
Here he is just hangin' out on the couch the other day:

And this one was from today:

Today also marks our seventh anniversary. Hard to believe that it's already been seven years, but I am thankful every day for my wonderful husband...especially now as we begin this journey of parenthood together.
From our Alaska trip in 2007 when Ryan's beard was in full effect:

What a difference a day makes...

2011-08-26T15:12:00.001-06:00

Okay, maybe three weeks in these photos. But I feel like I can see changes in Marlin every day.

This is him on August 3rd, when he was just a week and a half old:

And here he is at four and a half weeks old:
(Check out his cool kicks and the cute red onesie I found at the Chinle flea market for a quarter!)

P.S. Thanks to my mom for the changing pad cover that she custom made from that fun fabric she found!

4 weeks old?!

2011-08-21T21:55:00.000-06:00

Four weeks ago today, Marlin joined the world and it's hard to believe how much he has changed already! Parents always talk about how fast their children grow, but really at this age, it is truly amazing how exponential the growth is. His face and hands have really filled out and he's already fitting in some of the clothes that a couple weeks ago looked as though they'd be huge on him for months. And I can already tell the differences in his strength - he really holds his head up for much longer and has some real strength when he pushes his legs.

Other than his four week birthday, today marked his last day of family visitors for awhile. My parents left this morning, after a week long visit from my dad and nearly five weeks of my mom being here, who was a huge help as we navigated this first month of parenting, which has been tougher than I could have imagined...and blessed in ways I could only imagine. Last week, we also had Ryan's mom, his sister and her family visiting for Marlin's baptism, which was last Sunday. Rosemary had dug out some of Ryan's newborn clothes that Marlin donned for his special day.

All dressed up for the occasion!

Getting some love from two of his cousins!

I was hoping to get more pictures and updates included here, but my blog posts these days will have to be shorter than usual, otherwise they probably won't happen. And since Marlin's sleeping soundly right now, I should really be doing the same.

(P.S. No, I haven't forgotten about the little contest...Most of you have probably read through the guesses and figured out the winner, but I promise I'll post on that soon!)

What's in a name?

2011-08-09T22:45:00.001-06:00

Perhaps many new parents have known since they were little what they were going to name their future children. Others, like us, scour through zillions of name ideas, trying to find the perfect one. After all, it feels like you are determining a large part of their destiny for them, just by what you name them. (Anyone read Freakonomics?)

Marlin James Scarborough

Still feels new on my lips even though we've been calling him by name since he was born 16 days ago.

When it came down to it, we decided that family names were more meaningful than something random (...and we were having a hard time coming up with anything we liked better anyway).

Ryan's late father was Marlin Russell (August 9, 1939 - June 22, 1987) and though I never met him, he was a pretty amazing man. I could try to summarize what made him such a great dad, husband, community member, but I probably wouldn't do him justice.

And the James. Both of my grandfathers were named James, and both of them were pretty neat grandpas to have.

If our little Marlin James becomes half the man that his late grandpa and his late great grandfathers were, then I'll be pretty proud of him.

Speaking of becoming a man, our little guy is already growing quickly. Had a checkup today and he's up to 7 lbs, 8 oz, and he's already grown 1 1/4 inches!

Tough love

2011-08-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

A huge thanks goes to Ryan for posting the announcement and some pictures the first two days... (Yes, those were his words about tearing up. But you knew that - most of you probably know it doesn't take much to make me tear up, especially this week!)

I must admit it has been a tough week! We are all well and hanging in there, but figuring out breastfeeding, adjusting to the lack of sleep, Ryan heading back to work, and mainly just dealing with various complications of being new to breastfeeding (both me and baby) have made for an emotionally and physically challenging week for me!

BUT...we're in love and it's all worth it for this precious little guy who seems to have appeared out of thin air! (He didn't, of course. Somehow he came out of my belly, but the birth story is one for another day...)

And, as suspected, Ryan makes a great dad. He loves doing bath time and has been a huge help with middle of the night diapering and putting Marlin back to sleep, so that I can get some zzz's between feedings. And he's doing his best to turn Marlin into a baseball fan, as they've been listening to every Cleveland Indians game together.

We also owe a huge thanks to my mom, who has been a wonderful Nana to Marlin, a great help around the house, a wonderful postpartum doula, supportive breastfeeding problem solver, etc, etc, etc.

And we are so so so thankful for a wonderful Tsaile/Chinle community of friends who have been making delicious gluten-free dinners for us for the last week with another week of dinners to come. A special mention to Dave for being our meal courier from Chinle.

Now some pics since that's all you came for anyway, right?!

I sure think he looks like a picture of me from when I was little in the one above, but I think he looks more like a Scarborough other times, like in the one below. What do you think?

Self portrait at bath time with dad.

My sweet monster onesie from Aunt Julie and Uncle Dave.

I am a monster!

Day 2

2011-07-25T17:51:00.001-06:00

Lots of resting.

As long as mama and baby are fine we'll go home in the morning.

Thanks to our friends Dave and Julie for the wonderfully decorated home.

Location:Indn Route 64,Tsaile,United States

Introducing Marlin James

2011-07-24T20:39:00.001-06:00

Very few moments in life make tears run from my eyes. Here's a few pics from one of them..

First check, 30-45 minutes old

Blue corn mush, yum, must be good for recovery.

Representing Chinle IHS

And the stats.......

Winner in the contest to be announced shortly or mediumly

To say the least Patricia is very strong, all done completely natural.

The Final Countdown

2011-07-20T23:49:00.002-06:00

I have really been loving reading everyone's guesses on the when and what of this baby in my belly! And I didn't realize that putting on this silly little betting game would have the great secondary benefit of preventing too much focus on one specific "due date."

Today I am 39 weeks into this pregnancy and therefore 7 days from the estimated due date. But as much as 'they' can predict when baby will come, and can add up weeks of gestation, no one really knows what brings on labor. Only this Little Fig growing inside me can really know when she/he is ready to come out. Perhaps there were growth delays for whatever reason throughout this pregnancy, and that will mean the Niblet needs a little more than average. Or maybe Baby has gotten such excellent nourishment from my stellar eating habits (...I've been trying anyway!) that (s)he'll be ready any minute, days before (s)he's "due."

Either way, all of your guesses are a good reminder that I could be pushing this baby out (wow, is a small person really going to come out of me?!) as soon as tomorrow or perhaps not for three more weeks. So thank you for that! And believe me, we will do our best to keep everyone posted. So while I am not yet to the point of impatience, I will appreciate everyone avoiding the temptation to ask "No baby yet?!" or "Isn't it time?!"

Not that I don't absolutely appreciate your thoughts, encouragement, and inquiries as to how I am doing. Really I love that, and it's fun to have all the extra thoughts and prayers, etc. so keep those coming.

Well, my mom has made it safely here and as suspected, has already, in just one day, been an amazing help around the house. She's been hard at work helping clean this or do that. Literally within moments of setting foot in my house, she was giving my refrigerator a thorough cleaning. Certainly not necessary, but I'm not complaining. But I did have to remind her that she will be here for a few weeks and if we get everything on the to-do list done in the first day, then what is she going to do? This is not exactly a thriving metropolis with activities galore.

In other news, there is a gang of ~~sparrows~~ swallows (much cooler than my original miss-type) that have been hanging around. A few weeks ago they started building a nest right near our front door, but then seemed to have stopped and departed. Then the other day they commenced again with the building, and the last two nights, there has been a mama sparrow perched there in wait to lay her own babies.

I will take that as a good omen. You and me, Mama Swallow.

38 weeks...Place Your Bets

2011-07-13T08:19:00.001-06:00

Some say full term is considered 37 weeks, some say it's 38 weeks, but either way, I'm definitely full term as of today. Due date in two weeks (7/27/11), though I'm trying hard not to put too much stock in any specific date lest it become a waiting game and not happen for two weeks after that!

And...if you're the bettin' kind, nows the time to place your bets! (So if you're a silent follower, thanks for reading, but now's the time to speak up and enter the pool!)

Guess the Gender, Weight, Birthday and Time in a comment on this post and once baby arrives, closest answer wins a prize! (Pride guaranteed, prize to be determined.)

Update: I guess I forgot to include length of baby, but since I didn't include that from the beginning, we'll still leave it out. However, a couple of you forgot to guess a time - be sure to add that in (if you don't, I'll use 12:00 noon as the default time)! Also, I found a website that coordinates baby pools - I am not planning to use it, but it gave me the method for calculating the winner. Points will be totalled as follows, winner has the fewest points:

incorrect gender: 400 points
birth date & time: 5 points/hour
weight: 5 points/ounce

And...in case you need motivation to guess, the prize will be a framed CARcass print from my photography collection (photo of my choice).

Picture Updates

2011-07-01T17:55:00.000-06:00

Well, I jumped the gun a little with my last post. It rained for about 15 minutes and then quit and is back to hot and dry. More rain, please...

Also, I finally caught up on some more pictures from recent fun times. Our Durango/Silverton trip over Memorial Day weekend made it in a post, but only the one moustache photo made it. Here's a few more highlights from that fun weekend:

pregnant hiking at >10,000'!

The penny-farthing (who knew that's what it was called?) that Ryan got severely scolded for climbing aboard. (At least we got some sweet pictures first!)

From Silverton May 2011

and perhaps the best picture of the weekend!

I had mentioned our camping trip to Muley Point with Julie a couple weekends ago, but never put up photos.

From Muley Point Camping

And last weekend, we had a wonderful day in the mountains hanging out.

some great Chinle folks with Victor and Marce's cool shade house in the background

From Summer Day in the Chuskas

and some of my favorite kiddos exploring the creek!

We'll shortly be starting off my birthday celebrations with fajitas and margaritas for Fiesta Friday night! And tomorrow we're headed back up to the mountains for a day much like the one pictured above, and a night of camping (Don't worry, I'm taking LOTS of pillows!...and since we're friends with him, my doctor will actually be there in case I go into early labor! Though I'm really hoping to at least reach full term, which is just days away (WHAT?!?!).)

Rain!

2011-06-29T16:34:00.000-06:00

While much of the country has been waiting and waiting for the rain to quit, we are finally getting some much needed moisture! Hopefully the other parts of the state that also badly need it are getting some of it too.

35 1/2 week belly

2011-06-26T12:55:00.000-06:00

one month to go...

Happy Wedding Day, Nora! ...And other highlights

2011-06-25T13:30:00.000-06:00

I'm currently sitting out on the porch enjoying a beautiful but breezy morning, happy to have my feet up and a hot cup of tea to enjoy. However I must admit that I really wish I was in Honduras right now with some of my best friends and my parents to celebrate Nora and Fernando's wedding today! And we would be there right now if it weren't for some bad timing on our part! :) oh well, I guess that's me learning the reality of life with children...some things you just have to let go.

So I must admit that the little timeline above frightens me a bit! The other day I went in for a follow up appointment to have an ultrasound to make sure Little Fig is growing well enough despite my small belly size. Sure enough, everything looked good thankfully. Though now my blood pressure is reading a bit high, so I'll have to keep a close eye on that. Although the high reading could have been due to the fact that my doctor regretfully informed me that he will be out of town the exact week straddling my due date...alas, one more thing to remind me to let go and just go with the flow. Things will work out as they should.

Other recent highlights of the last few weeks:
-an overnight camping trip with Julie to our favorite spot near Muley Point. Despite a very hot day, Ryan and Julie both biked and ran (respectively) up the Moki Dugway, while my pregnant, lazy self enjoyed a nice long nap in the hammock! I also took some extra pillows and despite the big belly, had a great nights sleep and was glad to get a camping trip in before we're doing it with a kid.
-a little more progress on our garden. Have finally gotten pretty much everything planted and are now watching as weeds threaten to take over. Been meaning to get out there and not let that happen, but they're sure hard to keep up with.
-just back from a quick trip to Flagstaff. We had to go down for Ryan to receive a work award. We were excited to learn that the timing was perfect for us to catch the Toots & the Maytals performing live at the Orpheum theater!! Niblet's first reggae concert! It was a great show though I was really feeling 35 weeks pregnant by midnight...
-back from flagstaff just in time to be in Chinle for a shower/fiesta for Brian and Jen, who is due about a week before me with a baby. It's always fun to hang out with this great community of people, and apparently there is something in the water, as they say, because including myself there are currently about 10 women pregnant in the Chinle service unit.

Now we're headed up to the Chuska mountains to hang out with some great Chinle people, throw some frisbees and bocce balls, dip our feet in the creek, grill some grub and enjoy this SUMMER day in the mountains! I guess if I can't be in Honduras celebrating with friends, this is about second best...

Fundal heights and Fingers

2011-06-16T22:13:00.000-06:00

I'm 34 weeks along. I still feel pretty good, although I am still not feeling or looking very big. And according to an appointment I had today, I am in fact measuring small.

Makes me feel like maybe I haven't been feeding my baby enough - even though it feels like I'm eating a lot and trying to eat well. But it could also just mean that fundal height measurements don't mean too much, and the baby might be right on track. I'll find out next week when we do another ultrasound, but I'm hoping it's the latter.

Other than that I am well. Unfortunately Ryan's busy recovering from a little accident. His left pointer finger is a bit shorter than it should be thanks to getting it caught in the disc break of his bike while trying to repair it. Just sliced the end right off...came in the house and asked me to find the end of his finger on the garage floor. yikes. It wasn't enough to reattach, and he's on antibiotics since it sliced part of the bone, but otherwise he's healing fine. There's nothing else they can do and it should heal up, though he'll probably always have a funny looking finger!

Mother Nature has her own plans

2011-06-04T10:39:00.000-06:00

Floods, Fires, Tornadoes. What a spring this has been for Mother Nature.

We woke up to hazy skies and a smell of burning in the air. Apparently the fourth largest forest fire in the history of Arizona is burning south of us in the White Mountains, forcing many to evacuate. The smoke is just now extending up this way as I type, but apparently those in Albuquerque woke up to a layer of ash on things and thick haze. As usual, spring has been windy and this week was no exception, apparently making it harder to control the blaze.

And perhaps you've heard on the news, but family members in Pierre, SD have been busy all week sandbagging and praying for water to stop rising. They've had to release huge amounts of water from dams along the Missouri, and there's already extensive flooding throughout areas of Pierre and Fort Pierre, with the water still rising. Here's some aerial shots:

If you're not familiar with the Oahe Dam in Pierre, this may not look like much, but Ryan couldn't stop saying "Wow" when he saw how high the water is.


Ryan's step-brother's new house in the upper left corner here. They've done extensive sandbagging and berm-building, but it's yet to be seen how high the water will continue to get.

pictures courtesy of PMC Moving Photography

In other news, a mouse ran across our living room floor last night.

Fun with a 'stache

2011-05-31T20:50:00.000-06:00

We got back last night from a great weekend in Durango and Silverton, Colorado. We headed up there to cheer on Julie and friends, who rode for a third year in a row in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Ryan and I did it the last two years, but I wasn't much in the mood for carrying an extra person up and over the mountain ;) and Ryan also opted for ringing of the cowbell instead of riding. It was a really fun and relaxing weekend with lots of friends from around the country, beautiful weather, an awesome rental house in Silverton, a high mountain hike, a visit to a great local rum distillery where amazingly delicious beverages were had by all (I promise, mine was virgin and still scrumptious!), and fun with stick-on moustaches...

This may have been one of our last vacation trips sans kiddos for awhile, so we were happy to take advantage of it. I'm luckily still feeling great, despite the occasional kicks to my ribs and bladder as the fig is running shorter and shorter on space. Latest appointment went well and everything seems to be on track. Baby S has also had a few cases of the hiccups, including one the other night while were hanging out a bar in Silverton...Ryan proudly declared "Baby's first hiccups in a bar!" I'm 32 weeks along, which means just 8 weeks left (or really anywhere from 6-10 if all goes well!) and that is an exciting but also slightly frightening prospect!

Spring in Tsaile

2011-05-23T14:25:00.000-06:00

Well, I don't know what happened to the last couple of months.

Actually, here's what happened to it:
At the end of March, beginning of April, we had a great week-long visit from my parents and their current exchange student, Fatma (aka Fabby) from Kenya. We did some fun hiking around here, and took a trip to Monument Valley. (I can't believe I'm nearly 23 weeks pregnant in this photo!)

From Rick, Carol & Fabby visit

Thanks to my mom's help and excellent sewing/re-upholstery know-how, we finally took on and finished a dumpster diving chair redo while I had her here. Then we all headed to Albuquerque, where I did some much needed shopping. Found some great second-hand maternity clothes, and we scoured some antique and thrift stores for a new dresser. While we intended to find something for the baby's room to use as a changing table, we ended up finding an awesome dresser set for ourselves instead! You could call it mid-century Danish modern and it was a really amazing price! I love fun used finds!!!

And it meant we could use my old dresser in the kiddo's room. Speaking of which, there is currently still a pile of furniture, junk, boxes, and an un-assembled crib cluttering the room where we will bringing home fig in a matter of weeks (what?!). I guess I should get on that...

We also had a fun weekend in Durango, CO, where Ryan had a conference. I did some shopping, and went to a Green living expo where I got some great info and ideas for our future dream home. April also meant more progress on our greenhouse garden. We had grown a bit of lettuce through the winter but it was time to plant more. We put in a couple varieties of lettuce/spinach, some beets, broccoli, onions, scallions, and we dared a couple tomato plants that we have had to coddle from some cold nights, but they're hanging in there. We also planted some onions and garlic outside a month or so ago, and followed that up yesterday with carrots, broccoli and beet seeds! We did have snow last week, though (yes, snow!), so we still have to be cautious about freezing temperatures.

Alas, it's already nearing the end of May. This month started out with a birthing class in Albuquerque. It was a good experience and we both learned some things that will definitely be helpful when the time comes to use it in a mere two months or so (eek!). Then on to Ohio! We spent a wonderful week in Cleveland, visiting with friends, hanging out at home, actually enjoying the humidity!

From Cleveland - May 2011

Ryan was also pumped to be able to see the currently stellar Cleveland Indians play at home, not once, but twice. And then we headed south to Cincinnati for a wedding. Here's the optometry crew at the fun photo booth:

From Subler's wedding

Many thanks to my wonderful aunts and mother for hosting a lovely brunch the next day, where I was showered with lots of love from friends and family!

From Cinci Baby Shower

Julie and Dave were also wonderful hosts last Saturday for a backyard BBQ in our honor. It was a wonderful day of good weather, great food, fun yard games, and lots more love from our local family! More on that when I get some pictures.

This post is already getting long, but to catch everyone up with a more specifics on the pregnancy, here's the latest:
A glimpse of the belly which was taken about a week ago:

From Cinci Baby Shower

-I'm nearly 31 weeks along and it's suddenly hitting me how close to the end we're getting!
-I am certainly feeling bigger and bigger by the day, but everyone tells me how small I am for how far along. ...I'm fine with that!
-Still miraculously wearing two normal (but low-rise) pairs of jeans, with a little help from the Belly Band. But otherwise definitely in maternity clothes (most of which are second hand, thanks to friends, some key thrift store finds, and my mom's help!).
-Despite a small belly, Baby S seems to be growing well and is healthy and active. I'll find out more later this week when I go for my next appointment.
-Thankfully I feel great and the normal pregnancy symptoms I've been having are relatively minor. Let's hope it stays that way for the duration...
-The very nice Hispanic lady that checked me out at Home Depot last weekend informed me that I'm having a boy. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. (Although I'm still counting on finding out FOR SURE the old fashioned way.)

It's growing...

2011-04-24T17:54:00.000-06:00

Pics from today. Happy Easter everyone!
26 weeks+:


i don't know what's with my face in this one. ryan probably said something smart. but you get the side view.

I'm not pushing it out, i promise. My favorite is when i'm doing yoga and the lady on my dvd says, "now pull your belly in..." Right.

Powwow and Popping

2011-04-20T15:37:00.000-06:00

Well, despite my last post, there were no Apache crown dancers nor Navajo Yei bi Chei's at the powwow. Neither of these tribes or dances are traditionally for powwows, if I understand correctly. But we did go to the powwow, hosted by Diné College, and enjoyed watching all the different styles of dancers that were there. As far as I know, they were mostly plains tribes (or in the style and dress of northern plains tribes), like Blackfeet, Sioux, Cheyenne, etc. Although it would have been fine, I did not take my camera - I guess I just didn't want to be that bilagaana! But the clothing included all sorts of neon colors, elaborate beading, fanciful feather-filled headdresses, jingle bells.
They started with the tiny tots, including a few babies whose parents just held them and walked them around the dance floor. Surprisingly, a few of them didn't even have any sort of special costume on, just a contestant number. I guess at that age, it's more like a cutest baby contest. Then they proceeded with older kids, and up from there, in each different category of dance/dress. We left before the main event, the adult men's fancy dancers (i promise, that's what they're called), but saw several of them dancing during the beginning singing/drumming contest. Check out this youtube video of some men fancy dancing. The clothing and dress were a lot like this, although the singing and drumming seemed to be a different style than what you hear there.

Also, I'm now 26 weeks along in this pregnancy. What?! Time flies. And that means it's been a whole month since the belly pics I last posted. And two weeks since I last TOOK pics specifically of the belly. And I'm really starting to pop now. In fact, the pics below were after coming home from church, where a lady specifically asked if I was expecting, congratulating and telling me she had not noticed before. Now it's two weeks later and the belly's even bigger. Over the past weekend I had a few strangers acknowledge it too. I'll have Ryan take a few updated pictures when he gets home.

So here I am at 24 weeks:

ryan was not cooperating (ok, maybe I was the one not cooperating...) but this gives you the full effect.

Overheard

2011-04-08T16:49:00.000-06:00

Just got back from going to the post office. I was walking there from the car, past where people are setting up for the Diné College pow wow, and I passed a family that must have been talking about it.

There was a little boy, couldn't have been more than 7 or 8, who stopped and turned up to his mom in seriousness, "Mom, I like the Apache Crown dancers more than the Yei Bi Chei's."

From what I've seen, the Apache Crown dancers can put on quite a show. But I must admit that they actually kind of freak me out a little bit - only because some of them wear pointy white masks over their heads, with tiny little holes just for their eyes. It's a tradition far older, I'm sure, than other imagery of evil men from the South that come to mind when I see them. Nonetheless, Julie and I are planning to go to the powwow, so I'll get back to you on my final ruling on Apache Crown dancers vs. the Navajo Yei Bi Chei dancers.

Here's some pics I got of Apache dancers a while back at the Gallup Balloon Festival.

Progress

2011-03-30T19:18:00.000-06:00

Well, I must admit that I've been hesitant to put too much on here about my pregnancy. Why? Well, I didn't want to be one of those pregnant women that presumes everyone wants to know every little thing about my pregnancy and upcoming motherhood. [I know my mom wants to know EVERY. LITTLE. THING. and I love her for it, but the whole world doesn't need to know everything.]

But I also know that the few of you that actually read this probably ARE interested in some updates now and then, because you're excited for me and perhaps DO want to know ALL about it.

I finally got Ryan to take some pictures of my belly since it does in fact seem to be growing...imagine that! Here I am at 22 weeks:

And we had a 20-week ultrasound a couple weeks ago. It was pretty amazing. I could see the little fig moving around at the same time I felt it and we could see him/her sucking her/his thumb. I couldn't believe how much it really looks like a person. A tiny tiny person. 374 grams of a person. It's kind of a miracle. And we live in the future since we could see it on a computer screen.

profile - head on the left

sasquatch foot!

mouth open!

profile, head on left, sucking thumb. dark spots in middle are the heart

And, we made our first big purchase. We took an extended weekend trip to Phoenix to visit with Ryan's parent's who flew down. We went to a couple spring training baseball games - in nearly 90 degree temperatures! - and we did some shopping. Scoped out some baby stuff to see what we might want, and actually purchased a crib. It sure felt like a big step. In the Navajo tradition, some would say that you shouldn't buy anything for an unborn baby until it arrives...But when you live where we do, it just felt like we needed to at least cross that off the list.

Now we have more visitors. My parents and Fatma, their exchange student from Kenya, are here in Tsaile visiting for a week. My mom and I have been working on a project (future blog post - I PROMISE), and we've been exploring and hiking in between.

I'm currently 23 weeks along. Little Fig is super active, I feel kicks and punches a lot. Otherwise I feel great with minimal side effects so far. I'm down to 2 pairs of jeans that still fit, and otherwise still wearing normal clothes - just having to be selective with longer shirts. And now growing quickly! Belly's really starting to pop...

So now you know. I will NOT be one of those moms that posts every time my baby has a blowout. But be sure to let me know what you DO want to hear about and if you DO want updates that I'm not providing!

more on Soup Swap 2011

2011-03-21T09:23:00.002-06:00

It's now been a couple weeks since it happened, but it wasn't really fair that I didn't post some key imagery, photos and explanation to go with the Soup Swap story.

Ryan really takes his job as our designated Soup Story Teller pretty seriously and this year he commissioned me to some artwork as props for his story about our "Na'a'hohai Epazote" Soup (sounds like "Na-ho-hay Ep-a-so-tay"). He began by explaining the main ingredients via photos:

I say, Chicken (Navajo word for Chicken is Na'a'hohai - spelling debatable)

and

Epazote - a Mexican herb (often cooked with beans to dissipate, well, their...effects)

For your reference, there's also chicken broth, green chiles, and mexican cream (for which I used creme fraiche - half of which was homemade!), among other ingredients. [Side note: I've been dabbling in some dairy making and am loving it so far. Have tried yogurt, although without much success in getting it to firm up like regular yogurt. Now creme fraiche, which was very easy and much cheaper and easier to find ingredients than the store bought variety. And I helped Julie make some mozzarella with a kit she bought. And it worked - what a fun thing to have the curds turn into stretchy shiny lovely little balls of yummy cheese!]

Then Ryan went on to explain how we accquired the two key ingredients. There is an old Navajo rodeo tradition, that we learned about from Julie, called the Chicken Pull, wherein they used to bury a live rooster with the head sticking out, and would attempt to pull it from the ground while riding horseback. I believe it became a pretty bloody affair; you can read more about it here. Needless to say, we had to get the chicken for our soup somehow, so I did the honors:

original image from here

Then on to the epazote. Ryan and the guys went out in search of the herb and pulled it in a similar manner:

Thanks (and apologies!) to the artist of the original watercolor, Martin Gambee.

So the story goes anyway...

More photos from the event here.

More iMovie fun

2011-03-15T15:10:00.000-06:00

Today it sure feels like spring is finally here. Though I'm sure winter's not completely done with her snow flurries and cold temperatures, it's currently 65 and sunny with (here's the miracle...) little wind!
I finally got around to piecing together some video from a couple weeks ago when we took a snowshoe towards the base of Tsaile Butte with Dave, Julie and the pups.

Soup Swap 2011!!!

2011-03-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

The past two years, we've hosted a Tsaile/Chinle soup swap and it was a blast every time. So we finally got our act together for this year, and hosted our 3rd annual Soup Swap last Saturday!

Since January and February came and went without soup swapping, this March day afforded us unseasonably warm temperatures that were great for hanging out outside. And it allowed the kids (8 of em' ages 1-9 yrs) to terrorize the chickens a little and play in the greenhouse and yard.

Per the tradition and recommendations of the folks who popularized the event, we started with telling of the soups. Ryan got creative and commissioned me to some artwork as props for his story about our "Naa'hohai Epazote" Soup. And we had an excellent guitar solo with original lyrics by Aaron about his and Page's Taco Soup ("Taco Soooooooup, Taco Soooooooup...").

Then we commenced with the swapping and soon all the soup was scooped up. We awarded some fun prizes that went as follows:
First Picked: Julie & Dave's Chinese Chicken Noodle with Bok Choy, prize: bamboo stir fry spatula
Best Soup Story: Aaron's Taco Soup, prize: Food Face plate (really thinking i should have bought one of those for ourselves...)
Best Comfort Food: Maurie's Zuppa Toscana (with homemade italian bread to go with it...), prize: Ramen Bowl Set with chopsticks and spoon
Best Package: Amber's Green Chile Tortellini Soup (I think the chocolate chip cookies locked in this prize for her!), prize: Campbell's Soup Thermos
Last Picked, But Not Least (despite the excellent "story"): Aaron & Page's Taco Soup, prize: GIANT soup ladle from none other than our local Basha's.

Then we partook in some delicious chilis, one red and one (very spicy!) green, both thanks to Ryan's excellent cooking skills. What's a soup swap if you can't EAT soup?!

[sorry, pictures next post]

Well, we're off to Phoenix for a weekend with Ryan's parents, some spring training baseball and some (hopefully not-to-overwhelming) baby shopping...! Wish us luck.

Measuring a life in weeks

2011-02-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been four weeks already since I last posted and my last several posts haven't really let on to a whole lot of what's been going on in our lives for the past few months.

February has been a short yet relaxing month.
-Started with Ryan's birthday and a great weekend at home relaxing.
-Headed to Kayenta to see Melanie and Sam and meet their new beautiful baby girl, Abigail! We had a fun adventure hiking in Mystery Valley (lesser known off-the-beaten-path area near Monument Valley).

From Kayenta & Abigail Masayo

-Then we had a visit by two of Ryan's aunts for a nice weekend in Tsaile, exploring Canyon De Chelly and hearing their wealth of family history - stories galore!

From Joyce & Iva May visit

-On Feb 19th (Happy Belated Birthday Liz!!!), Ryan, Julie and some friends from Chinle participated as a relay team in the Mount Taylor Quadrathlon! It is a 42 mile event, consisting of biking, running, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing to the top of Mt. Taylor (near Grants, NM; one of the Navajo's four sacred mountains) and back down again. Dave and I provided support (more cowbell!) and snacks, and it was a fun day despite the windstorm that rolled in as Ryan biked back down to the finish line. AND, they (team name "Contingent C" -chinle/chuska...) placed 2nd in their age group for co-ed relays, awarding them each a sweet Nambe-made medal, and they got 8th overall relay!!!
-This past weekend was another relaxing weekend at home, with a snowshoe adventure close to home with Dave and Julie. The quantity of snow was less than ideal, but it was a beautiful day and a fun hike.

From Tsaile Butte Snowshoe

-We've also been starting to plan for our spring garden! We do have a small amount of lettuce that we've been growing through the winter in our greenhouse, but due to some extremely cold temperatures, we've had minimal success despite our electric supplementation. The lettuce we do have growing is going to be one expensive salad! But we're excited for spring and hope to have as much or more success than last year!

And other than the usual day to day, lately my days have been filled with reading about and talking about and thinking about this life growing in my belly! Hard to believe but I'm nearly 19 weeks along...next week, I'll be halfway through this pregnancy. And so far so good! I really haven't even felt pregnant until the last couple of weeks when I first started feeling this little fig inside of me moving around and kicking me! And I'm just starting to grow a bit of a belly, but feeling as though it will grow exponentially starting now.

This blog is filled with lots of our weekend adventures near and far, but really our adventure is just beginning...!

Ni'dizchíiji' anááhóólzhiizh

2011-01-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

"Happy Birthday" (or literally: "Your birthday came around again")

This month includes lots of our friends' birthdays including Christina, Jen, Missy, Julie's yesterday, Brian, Jeff, Mark, Ben, at least four of Ryan's extended family...and Ryan's on February 1st (am I missing anyone else's January birthdays?!). Now we also have a new birthday to add to the list! Friends Melanie and Sam from Kayenta, had their first child, daughter Abigail Masayo, who was born on January 5th. Happy Birthday to you all and a special Happy Birthday to Abigail and congratulations to Melanie and Sam!

Julie's co-worker Terry has a video posted on YouTube in which he sings the Happy Birthday song in Navajo. She's got the video posted on her blog - check it out! I expect you to learn the Navajo version and sing it at the next birthday party you go to...

Five Egg Day

2011-01-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was an eggciting day! (Sorry, I just couldn't help using the bad pun...)

We have precisely five chickens and we got eggsactly (i know. i'm sorry.) five eggs yesterday for the first time ever!

Five chickens, you ask? You may have thought we had six, and if you did, you're not wrong. We started with three full grown chickens last May thanks to some friends in Chinle, and then we got three more young ones last July.

Yes, 3 + 3 = 6.

Alas. Jack got a taste of chicken back in early December. Somehow one of the pullets (we had dubbed her Little Jive because she was a young replica of our other Australorp), had gotten on the wrong side of the fence within our yard. That is, she must have flown to Jack's side of the fence. We had not clipped our pullets' wings because it had not yet been an issue, but those little ladies are definitely more adventurous than our older (perhaps wiser) hens. Jack sure made some feathers fly. Miraculously she was not fully down and out, with seemingly minor surface wounds, so amazingly Ryan and Julie tried to nurse her back to health. (I was in Germany throughout the ordeal.) The first couple of days it seemed to be working, but alas, we should have had her for dinner from the start. By the end of the week, Ryan did what had to be done and by then it was too late to eat her in her unhealthy presumably infected state. RIP, LJ.

But on a happier note, right before Christmas our two young, now fully grown, Wyandottes laid their first eggs. They're smaller than the others but beautiful and just as tasty.

Yesterday morning, we were just debating whether or not Big Jive was still laying, as we hadn't seen the evidence lately. And given the short days, Dolores and Mulva aren't laying every single day. And all the eggs are variations on light brown, so we can't always tell exactly who's laying which ones.

But at the end of the day when Ryan went out to close the chickens in for the night, he found not 1, not 2, but 5 eggs all in one day! Two small pullet eggs, and one from each of the other three. Yay!

this is our very first egg after we got the chickens last may.

friday foto

2011-01-14T15:30:00.001-07:00

Haven't done one of these in awhile, but it's time. Just hard to follow up a post like the previous one. (In case you haven't heard, and came here looking for news, give it a read...)

I took this at the Scarborough ranch when we were there for Christmas. The wind was really blowing and it was COLD. But with the sun shining and everything perfectly frosted, it was a beautiful time to be outside. I like the evidence of the wind blowing those weeds year after year along the back of the Chevy Custom Deluxe. And I love the bright white against the crisp blue with a smattering of rust.

A look back at 2010 & a hint of things to come in 2011...

2011-01-01T15:43:00.002-07:00

JANUARY

lots of snow!

We took several snowshoe trips to explore the winter wonderland close to home, including some with our great friends, and new neighbors Dave & Julie!

FEBRUARY

More snow! We took ski trips near and far, and took advantage of the abundant snow right here in our Chuska Mountains.

MARCH

We started the month with yet another snow adventure, but March also brought a "spring break" trip to Mexico. What a great way to spend a week with lots of great friends, catching some sun, even getting a little biking in, too.

APRIL

April meant time for our new greenhouse! With lots of great help, we built it in a day and spent the rest of the month planning and planting for what would hopefully be a bountiful garden! We were also lucky to have our friend Victor and his family come to perform a ceremony to bless the greenhouse. My Navajo silversmith class also continued, as we made bracelets and belt buckles.

MAY

Chickens! May brought our first 3 chickens home (3 more would come later) and with them, lots of fresh eggs, entertainment and garden fertilizer! We also took a fun trip to LA for Ryan's IHS optometry conference, and again rode in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, conquering 50 miles by bicycle over the mountains between Durango and Silverton, Colorado!

JUNE

We had a great trip to Cleveland in June, catching some baseball, and visiting some of our favorite spots. I was also busy this month with swim lessons, which continue to be a fulfilling part of my very sporadic lifeguarding job at the Chinle Aquatic Center. Ryan and I also participated in the Gallup Triathlon along with several other Chinle/Tsaile friends. And by this time we were already harvesting lots of salad greens from our growing greenhouse plantings.

JULY

This was a month of spectacular rainbows. We had another great 4th of July camping trip to SW Colorado. We did some mountain biking, and lots of weeding! Our garden was really starting to take off at this point, and that meant so were the weeds! We were happy to have lots to harvest already and were looking forward to even more.

AUGUST

August meant harvest! We enjoyed a camping/mountain biking trip to our favorite camp spot. We also took a trip to Denver to see Ryan's sister & family, as well as my Grandma and aunts & uncles. Rosemary came for a great visit, and helped me with my first ever canning project: pickled beets! And I tried my hand at a few other canned goods, realizing happily that this will now forever be a part of my fall routine! We also added 3 more chickens to our flock for more eggs. August also meant the start of a new stay-in-school academic/mentoring program in Chinle, that I had spent the summer helping my friend organize. Let me not forget, Ryan also became the new proud owner of a Big Green Egg. We have already cooked many delicious feasts in it, and baked the best peach pie I've EVER eaten!

SEPTEMBER

More harvest, and great fun! We started the month with a celebration of our 6th Anniversary (hard to believe)! Then we had a wonderful visit from my parents, and my Aunt Terry and her family, all the way from Scarborough, England! ("It's not 'Scar-bore-oh', it's 'Scah-bruh'!") We had a great week of exploring close to home, as well as seeing Monument Valley and some off-the-beaten path ruins. Then I was off again to Hopi for my fifth Red Feather building project. As usual, it was a wonderful and fulfilling week.

OCTOBER

Per our recently adopted fall tradition, we had a fun weekend peeling chiles that our friends brought from New Mexico. We also took some great hikes to explore this beautiful area. And we took a trip to South Dakota for Ryan's favorite time of year to be home. We explored the land in the Hills, dreaming of a future home there. And though we drove our Buick (RIP) there, we drove a new car home in its place. We harvested some of our last fall crops, canning & freezing for the winter. And as if I had not already been busy enough, I had been helping to plan Chinle's first ever Triathlon! The event was a success thanks to so many great volunteers and participants from the Chinle/Tsaile/Pinon community.

NOVEMBER

We started the month by racing in our first ever cyclocross bike race - what an experience! Then we were off to Yosemite, San Francisco, and Sonoma! We had a super trip to California, where we got to spend a great weekend in Yosemite hiking with Megan, a fun week exploring the city, and a conference for Ryan, and a fabulous day of wine-tasting and food in rainy Sonoma. Unfortunately we forgot our camera, but thanks to Megan for the Yosemite pics, and the week was so fun that I won't soon forget it. We also celebrated Thanksgiving down in Chinle with a great group of friends and a big potluck feast.

DECEMBER

Although I wish Ryan could have joined me, I was off to Germany for one of my best friends' wedding and had a great visit. As if I had not done enough traveling the past few months, we had a miserable 5 days of travel trying to get to and from SD for Christmas. Although we missed two of the big family celebrations, including Christmas Eve with the entire Rounds clan, we had a great Christmas and a nice relaxing week with Ryan's family.

Here's Ryan holding the Christmas gift that we gave to his mom.

Can you read what it says?

"7/27/11"

Germany Trip-unabridged

2010-12-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Well, the unabridged version of my trip goes like this:

It started in Zurich, Switzerland, where I met Nora and her fiance, Fernando and we left for a trip to the Italy of Switzerland in the southern part of the country where the weather was a little nicer. We took a train to Locarno and explored around the Locarno/Ascona area.

Then we went back to Zurich for an afternoon of self-guided walking tour through the city. It was cold cold cold, and expensive. $8 CHF (~8USD) for a hot chocolate?! no thanks. But was worth seeing, at least for the short amount of time we had.

Then we headed to Stuttgart, where I got to spend some time with my parents, shopping with mom, hanging out with Soren, Nora, Maureen and their guys! Saturday was Maureen's wedding and it was beautiful! Maureen looked gorgeous:

And it was a beautiful ceremony at a gorgeous location - despite the snowy treacherous conditions required to get to it!

Then the party commenced. There was lots of fun, lots of dancing, lots of beer drinking (when in Germany...). The party was definitely a European style celebration and went on until all hours of the morning!

One of Markus's tech savvy friends even had the party live streaming so Ryan and other people from afar could watch the party!

Also, Nora, Soren and I performed our choreographed dance for Maureen during the party! ...In case you haven't heard it, the story goes like this. When I first got engaged, I called Maureen to tell her and the first thing she asked me was, "Can we do a choreographed dance at your wedding?!" I said, "Sure" and then promptly forgot all about it. A year later, when my wedding day arrived, right in the middle of the reception, all of my bridesmaids sat me down in a chair in front of the stage and performed a dance that they had choreographed to Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny From the Block." They were wearing giant bling and had even changed the lyrics to fit my wedding day. ("Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got, I'm still, I'm still Patty from the block...") So when Maureen and Markus got engaged, we decided we need to do a dance for her in return. We decided on Beyonce's Single Ladies, and modified the lyrics to be more appropriate: "Markus liked it so he went a put a ring on it..." We used a few of Beyonce's moves and choreographed the rest ourselves. Maureen said it was so awesome and we got some great cheers and crowd participation at the end. I'll have to track down the video of it and if you're lucky, I'll put it up on the blog eventually!

Sunday after the wedding was a great brunch, where Maureen performed the passing of the sash to Nora, among other things! There was also much beer drinking and eating of food (when in Germany...).

The rest of the week, I got to relax and catch up on some sleep as well as hang out with Maureen and Markus, and help them get ready for their trip to China, where they're currently on their 4-week honeymoon! We went to the Christmas market and ate bratwurst!

And a huge thanks to their friends, Armando and Birgit who were excellent hosts and whose cool top floor apartment was a great place to call home during my stay in Stuttgart!

Maureen & Markus, I can't wait to see you again and hang out more next time!

Check out the whole album here.

Behind the times

2010-12-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't done very well these last few months with the blog.

Believe me, it has been a great fall filled with wonderful visits from family, lots of harvesting and canning, lots of travel and trips near and far, and the usual here at home in between all that.

I'm just back from a great trip to Stuttgart, Germany for Maureen and Markus's wedding!!!

friends!

The abridged version goes like this:
I started out in Zurich, Switzerland for a two day jaunt to the southern Italian part of Switzerland with Nora and Fernando. I swear, it was like we were in Italy. Then I had a great week in Stuttgart, spending time with my parents, Nora & Fernando, Soren & Justin, and Maureen and Markus. I also got to see Maureen's family including Anne, Tom and Mary, and some old friends I haven't seen in years! And I got to meet a lot of Maureen & Markus's great friends, including Armando and Birgit, who were excellent hosts! Now I'm back, and somehow still recovering from jetlag four days later, but glad to be home...at least for another week or so until we leave for South Dakota for Christmas!

Catching Up

2010-11-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

The longer I go without posting, the more I have to catch up on, thereby delaying the task further and so on...

So, rather than waiting until I finally sit down to type up and add photos of ALL the highlights of the last months, I'll just fill you in on the latest.

Last weekend, Ryan and I decided to see what this whole cyclocross bike racing thing is really all about. We have both bought cyclocross style bikes in the last year or two, rather than standard road bikes, because the riding around here often involves dirt roads, grass, and other non-paved biking opportunities. The fatter, knobby tires, stiff frames and other features allow riding off-road without the need for the heavy frames and suspension of a mountain bike.

But the bikes are also designed for racing on a special cyclocross course, which involves all of the following at the very least: riding on grass, dirt, sand, mud; weaving around tight corners; up and down short steep hills; and over barriers, steps or other elements that require a speedy dismount, carrying the bike, and then re-mounting all without losing any momentum (...ideally).

So you see, it requires lots of specific technical skills - and lots of endurance and strength for all the varying speeds and accelerations.

None of which I have at the moment.

And you go around and around the course, getting in as many laps as you can for, say, an hour.

Yet somehow, we thought it would be a good idea to finally give it a try. We do have the bikes for it afterall. There's a local series close to home, so we drove up to Dolores, CO for our first ever cyclocross race, convincing ourselves the whole way that we'll just have fun and who cares if we come in last place.

Good thing.

I had not quite yet realized just how niche of a sport this is, and had also somehow forgotten just how serious the cycling community is in SW Colorado. Between the Fort Lewis College Cycling Team, the Durango Wheel Club, and various other sponsored pros that were at the event, like local biking legend Ned Overend, we were novices to the race by a large margin!

[Side note: Just to give you an idea of what cyclocross really is all about...
During our one practice loop of the course, I struggled up a short steep loose dirt section, where a girl (clearly a cyclist) was standing with her dog, watching the riders come through.

I asked her, pleadingly, "Any last minute tips for a novice?"

She replied, "Just go all out. You should feel like you're going to puke the whole time."

Well, I definitely felt like I was going to puke the first lap or two (and admit it was probably the gel shot I ate too close to the start of the race rather than an all-out effort), but after that I was definitely not riding hard enough to be pukey... I had easily succumbed to my last place (by a large margin) finish, I had clearly not trained for it, and I had a hard time pushing myself as hard as a true cyclocrosser would have...]

But, we both had fun and though Ryan didn't quite get last, despite his run-in with a low-lying tree branch on a tight corner[ouch], I definitely did come in last, only beating a couple DNF'ers. BUT AT LEAST WE DID IT!!!

For some reason, they don't have the results or any video up yet of the race we did, but to get a taste of what the course is like, check out this video someone took at the Cortez race that was the day after ours:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9aQCBSZJKM&feature=youtu.be

{Though we didn't get any pictures of each other racing since we were at the same time, we did get some shots and video of the pros racing after us. Unfortunately, if I wait until I get those uploaded, this will never get posted. Hopefully those will follow soon.}

Well, we're off again, this time to San Francisco, where Ryan has an optometry conference. We've never been, and I'm VERY excited about the trip, especially since I will get to hang out with Megan for a good portion of the trip!!! We're headed to Yosemite tomorrow, then we'll have a fun week of exploring downtown San Fran, and one day of cycling around wine country before heading home.   Tough life this is...

Tseyi Tri

2010-10-24T22:09:00.000-06:00

THIS is what I've been busy with. I helped organize and run Chinle's Inaugural Triathlon event. It happened yesterday and was a success!!!

A huge THANKS to everyone involved - fellow organizers Kelli and Pete, as well as all the participants and volunteers and spectators that came to cheer everyone on!

Maybe now I'll get back to posting more frequently. But you know by now what I'm very good at doing...put it off until tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Maureen

2010-09-19T15:57:00.000-06:00

Patricia is away for her annual week with Red Feather Development group in Hotelvilla, AZ (Hopi Indian Reservation). I'm left at home to hold down the fort. Because Patricia is gone I'm filling in for birthday blog greetings. So Happy Birthday Maureen!!! Maureen is one of the first bloggers I personally knew of, so in some ways that's an influence for our blog(however scarce our posts are). So sorry I can't make it to Germany this december for your wedding Maureen but definitely look forward to the day when I can come and I hope you have a great birthday!!

Ryan

Update for the week:
We've had visitors!! Patricia's mom and dad were in Tsaile for a week as well as her aunt, uncle, and cousins from England. They all left on Friday, great to have you all!!! More pictures to come, sorry they're mostly stuck on Patricia's camera which she has with her.

Ryan Stats for the day:
Cleveland Indians record: 62-87 (ugh)
Cleveland Browns record: 0-2 (ugh)
Number of bears spotted in the last 2 weeks: 2
-didn't believe we had bears here until I saw it with my own eyes
Number of pictures in the blog: 0
-shamefully its been so long since I blogged I'm not exactly sure the best way to
download them from Iphoto and not patient enough to take the time to relearn
today. Mas pictures next time!

New additions to the flock!

2010-08-13T08:33:00.002-06:00

Dave and Julie brought home three more chickens a couple weeks ago - 2 Wyandottes, and 1 Black Astralorp (like Jive, purportedly good layers), all three of them now about 2 1/2 months old. Since they've been here, all six of the chickens have shown us where phrases like "pecking order" and "rule the roost" come from. By now the pecking order has been established and the little ones stick together and steer clear of the other three. It's quite entertaining to watch, if they want to get past the big ones to food or something, they all start out hesitant and then one by one make a run for it!

and I caught two of our original three in the nesting boxes preparing to lay their eggs:

and more garden goodness:

From camping and more garden - early august

Garden Bounty!

2010-07-31T21:12:00.007-06:00

If you had asked me a few years ago if I ever thought Ryan would chow down on a plate full of freshly steamed broccoli and cauliflower with no more than a dash of s & p and butter, and a huge bowl of salad greens covered in various fresh veggies including steamed beets as his dinner no less, I'd have said NO.

Fresh garden vegetables proved me wrong today! We just drooled and mmmhhh'd and ahhh'd over that very dinner - all from our very own efforts with the exception of a few things that supplemented the salad.

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

This time of year when we can really start to see the efforts of the garden paying off, with lots more to come, is so satisfying!

No velveeta cheese sauce needed for that broccoli!

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

And look at THAT head of cauliflower!!

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

"Hands down, THE BEST cauliflower and broccoli I've ever eaten"
- Ryan

And it's so hard to believe how fast things grow! I finally uploaded some pictures from the last couple of weeks and couldn't get over the difference between a picture of our garden I took a mere two weeks ago:

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

and one I took yesterday:

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

Last night we also enjoyed a delicious feast, supplemented with a few things that were just barely or not even quite ready for picking, but sometimes it's just hard to resist.

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

It was Friday afterall and that meant time for a Fiesta and we needed stuff to make salsa! We had an impromptu gathering of new friends and old for some delicious fajitas. (Lately we've even been getting the tortilla press out for fresh tortillas - store bought masa, but maybe someday I'll even try for local corn to grind? ...one step at a time!)

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

Not to mention, I started the day with breakfast from the backyard too. The chickens are doing great and we may, just may be adding some new hens to the flock soon...!

From Garden bounty- mid to end July

Slickrock Sunday

2010-07-14T22:01:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday, Ryan and I drove down to Chinle to bike the slickrock playground west of town with some of the guys. I was the token girl (mainly due to no kids), but I'd say I was holding my own. And though it was hot hot hot, we did get some cloudy respite here and there, with one bit of super high winds and some rain to cool us off.

From Slickrock Sunday

friday foto

2010-07-09T18:25:00.002-06:00

name that plant.

Greenhouse Before & After

2010-07-02T10:19:00.002-06:00

Before:

From Hoophouse

Now:

From Greenhouse July 2

And, somewhere along the way, Maureen started (i think, we're still nailing down the history of it) the International Balancing Club. I decided it was time for some balancing in the greenhouse with all of our green bounty. This self portrait resulted. I quite like it:

clevelandtown

2010-07-01T10:25:00.004-06:00

We had a great week in Cleveland in early June (is it really already July today?!). We all went to one of the Indians/Red Sox series games: me, my parents Ryan, Dave, and John. A bunch of John's nephews were there too. (Do the little ones look like the Mad Magazine face or what?!)

I was much happier about the gray skies, and humidity in the air than I ever thought I'd be. And the green. Oh the GREEN everywhere. The longer I'm away from home, the more I appreciate all of those things.
Other than baseball, I had some good times with ma and pa. We all had a great dinner together at the Flying Fig, a great restaurant featuring local and seasonal foods. I ended up having halibut (luckily not local - I'm not sure I want halibut out of Lake Erie). Mom and I had a good shopping day, and we of course got in the requisite West Side Market trip. There were multiple happy hours at Great Lakes Brewery. And Ryan and I dusted off the parents' bikes for a tour of various Cleveland highlights that we frequent when in town: Big Fun and Coventry, Little Italy, University Circle, Hessler Street, CWRU campus and the Cleveland Museum of Art, to see the new improvements and especially to see our favorite, the Armor Room.
Here's Ryan near the Art Museum and you can see the Frank Gehry building in the background that he watched being built from the rooftop of his Hessler St. apartment the year he lived in CLE. How do you like Ryan's relic of a helmet we found in my parents' basement? It was the only we found that fit him, but I'd say it's nearly a collectors item!

P.S. Here's a couple more pics post-triathlon in Gallup. We had some fun posed pictures on top of the podium. Aren't Brian & Keri's little Adie, and Melissa's boys The Cutest?! I was lucky enough to have little Lucas and Will in my swim classes the last few weeks - boy were they fun, but a handful!

friday foto

2010-06-25T09:17:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, Ryan rode in the 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest endurance mountain bike race near Gallup, NM as part of a 4 man team. One of the guys he camped with had brought a couch, a battery powered chandelier, and a motion-activated talking Dr. Evil cutout for quite the camp setup right on the race course.

(thanks to Brian Culligan for the above photo)

An article about the race and some great photos by photographer Brian Leddy, including one of their notable campsite (last picture), made it into Mountain Flyer magazine. The guys did great, and although Ryan was worn out by the long effort, they all had pretty respectable times!

Second Tri

2010-06-20T19:20:00.000-06:00

After a great week in Cleveland, we headed straight to Gallup after landing in Phoenix for the 2010 Gallup Triathlon. Julie and I did this one last year and it was a such a fun relaxed event close to home - and a short manageable sprint-length distance, so Ryan as well as several other Chinle people participated too!
It started with a 375 yard swim in a swimming pool, with staggered start times based on personal estimates. Mine put me 5th in the water, and I was pretty excited to finish with the fastest female swim time for the day! Ryan also impressed in the water, his most dreaded leg of the event with a time nearly a whole minute faster than he'd estimated. The 20k (12.6 mi) hilly bike course was Ryan's strong suit, where he made up and surpassed my time. Lastly, we ran a 5k run course that included a big hill where I suffered a bit!

Thanks to CJ & Maurie for the group picture of the Tsaile/Chinle contigent

We were all pretty happy with the overall results - Julie and I both took off several minutes each from last year's times, and Ryan was especially happy with his top 10 bike time. Below you can see a snippet of the category results: Julie got 1st in her age group again, I got 2nd in my age group, Ryan was just shy of placing with 4th place!

The travel, long plane ride, long drive and short night followed by hard effort for the event was tough on the body - I came home and went straight to bed with a bad head cold that's had me in a haze all week. Finally getting back to normal and ready to get back out in the garden and looking forward to the rest of swim lessons which keep me busy this time of year.

This weekend, Ryan headed off to race in the 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest, an endurance mountain bike ride where he joined 3 teammates to see how many laps they could get in.
I got to check out a big event for the Tsaile community - it's Annual Sheep is Life Celebration at Diné College just a jaunt from our back yard, and spent quite a bit of time in the yard. I finally got some more stuff planted, and had some fun watching the chickens on a Sunday outing - i let them out of their fenced area for some supervised time in the garden. I was impressed with the ladies' bug hunting skills and their restraint from eating the established vegetables.

More on Cleveland when I get the camera back from Ryan to download the pictures.

WE DID IT AGAIN!!!

2010-06-02T15:10:00.003-06:00

It's already been over a week, but we finished the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Tour from Durango to Silverton for the second time! Although we got lucky with weather last year, this year it was pretty much perfect! Nice temperatures, sunshine, clear blue skies, and there was some wind but it was often a tail wind to help us up the hills.

Aaron and Amanda came out from Ohio so Aaron could ride with us and as expected, he did great. It was great to see them both and we even enjoyed a Friday night bike stroll around Durango, on the cruiser bikes that Amanda & Aaron's bed and breakfast loan out! We all made it to Silverton without a hitch and then proceeded up the road to Ouray to enjoy the hotsprings, treats from Mouse's Chocolates and a nights stay before heading back to Durango to watch the pro criterium bike races on Sunday.

Now we're in Cleveland for the week and (believe it or not) enjoying the humidity!

C is for.....

2010-05-28T07:00:00.002-06:00

(last one i promise)
CYCLING

Well, we're off to Durango for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, where for some crazy reason we'll be riding our bikes over a few long steep mountain passes to get to Silverton, Colorado, just like we did last year. I don't know why I let Ryan and Julie talk me into this stuff, but we've got extra motivation to ride it this year. Aaron and Amanda are coming out from Ohio for the weekend, so Aaron can ride with us, as well as some of Dave and Julie's friends from Massachusetts! I'm not feeling as well prepared as last year, but at least I know that I am capable of finishing.

Send some wishes our way for good weather, extra strength to enjoy and not just suffer through, and no injuries on Saturday morning!

C is for....

2010-05-27T17:49:00.003-06:00

CHICKENS!!!!!!!!!!
We got them, we finally got them!
We got three different varieties from our friends in Chinle that had 3 too many, and they've already provided lots of eggs, about 2 per day between the three of them, lots of entertainment, and lots of chicken poop!

The Australorp (i think that's what she is) is named Jive Chicken, and the brown one [I know crass, but there's a reason] is Mulva. We actually haven't come up with a name for the Barred Rock one.

From Chickens!

C is for...

2010-05-27T12:11:00.004-06:00

CALIFORNIA

Among lots of fence building and yard prep for garden and chickens, Ryan and I went to Los Angeles for a week, for the IHS optometry conference in Fullerton. So, like last time, I had several days to explore the vast concrete jungle of LA, and had a lot of fun! Perhaps the best, most indulgent highlight of the trip was my field trip downtown to BabycakesNYC, a gluten-free bakery. I went to a different one last year, which was good, but somehow this was more fun. It was right downtown, more hip, people going in and out - and it was all sweets! Cupcakes, donuts, sweet breads, muffins, etc., so it smelled divine! I ate a cupcake. Then a donut with coffee. Then I bought more to go. See? Indulgent. (But how often do I get to walk into a bakery where I can eat [almost] everything inside?!)
I also drove all the way across town to the Getty Center, which is a pretty neat complex full of art, architecture, gardens and views.

Another day, I biked around Fullerton, getting my hair cut, going to a farmer's market. I found a table selling lemongrass, some divine looking ginger root, okra leaves, various other odd bits of produce. Simultaneously, an organizer of the farmers market came by to discipline the [Asian] stand-owner for not giving the same prices to Asian women and white women, while at the same time two small Asian (Thai?) women almost got in a cat-fight with each other when they were trying to give me directions to a little Asian supermarket where I could find lime leaves.
We also had an adventure across town nearly all the way to Pasadena for an optometry friend to buy a race car he found on craigslist (yes, a race car)- and found a delightful little Thai restaurant in the meantime. We made it to an Angel's game, and I fit in a drive around Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and up to Mulholland Drive just to see the extravagance and views.
Another highlight of the week was when Ryan and I headed down one afternoon to Laguna Beach and Crystal Cove State Park for a 3+ hour mountain bike ride over the rolling hillsides above the coast,

then enjoyed a brief sit on the beach watching the sunset,

before catching dinner at a small Mexican joint that Jim, former Laguna Beach resident of 30 yrs recommended.

Lastly, we made a stop for a hike, one night of camping, and a quick road bike ride in Joshua Tree National Park with Melanie and Ronda.

From California Trip- May 2010

C is for

2010-05-26T13:37:00.000-06:00

CEREMONY
A lot has happened in the last month since we built the greenhouse. We planted tomatoes and peppers (hot and sweet bells) right away, confident that the new greenhouse would do it's job to keep everything nice and warm and growing well. The weekend after building it, we had Victor, Marce and family over for a delicious breakfast followed by a Navajo blessing of the greenhouse. Victor performed the ceremony, using our own wedding/ceremonial basket which had been a gift from Melanie and staff when we left Kayenta, as well as several of his own ceremonial items. You can see the whole album here, which somewhat describes the ceremony in the captions (apologies to Victor if I got any of it wrong and/or likely left out some important parts).

Since then, we learned the hard way that a cold frame greenhouse such as ours, does not really keep the plants THAT much warmer than outside on cold nights. So when we had several nights in the low 20's, without covering the plants within, we lost several tomatoes, and stressed a lot of the peppers. BUT now, several weeks later of night-time row covers, and warmer overall temps, we've got several tomatoes coming back that we thought were done.
And, we've planted some other crops in there including beets, carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and lettuce mix. We've already harvested our first batch of spinach and greens for salad! I also started planting our outdoor garden with many of the same crops, and will follow with more summer and fall crops, like beans, squash, melons in the coming weeks.

[It's been so long since i posted, so I want to just get this up, but I will follow this up with another "C is for" post shortly - and if you need a hint about what other topic C might stand for, let's just say it clucks and lays eggs - and lives in our yard!!!]

Building the Hoophouse

2010-04-22T16:26:00.004-06:00

We had a great day last Friday building the hoophouse, with lots of help from the Land Grant Office and their staff and interns, as well as many enthusiastic community members!

The weekend was spent getting additional supplies, and planting tomatoes and peppers, and starting to put up some new fencing. We won't go into details but the latter project ended up leaving us without phone and internet until last night, so it's taken me longer to get this up than intended.

More pictures to come, but here's the process from Friday:

Hoophouse time!

2010-04-15T21:59:00.002-06:00

It's almost here!

Tomorrow, we're going to be building a greenhouse in our backyard! We had a somewhat successful garden last year, but since it freezes until nearly mid-June, we didn't get things planted until pretty late. And then we lost a good portion of the tomatoes and peppers that were finally taking off when a few early September hard frosts hit them. So after attending a hoophouse workshop put on by the Land Grant Office of Diné College, I decided that it was do-able and it made a lot of sense for extending our growing season.

Once Julie and Dave moved up here, they were extra motivation to actually build the thing, because they'll be sharing in the ownership and use of it. So it will be a joint effort to grow a bounty of crops that will hopefully grace our shelves throughout the year! [Next up: learn how to can food!]

When I contacted the LGO, they were happy to get involved in helping us build our hoophouse as long as we put up the money and provide some lunch! And we're happy to have the help of their staff and interns!

Check out Julie's post about the workshop, and check back for pictures after tomorrow!

An Agent such as Zam

2010-04-13T10:58:00.005-06:00

There are all sorts of things that I have been meaning to blog about, and even though it sounds contradictory, the task gets delayed even as I accumulate more topics to blog about. So although there's lots to cover from the last months, I'll start with the most recent.

After 2 classes missed from being out of town (Mexico and Pierre, SD for Easter) and one class canceled ("due to body pain"), I was glad to be back at my Navajo Silversmithing class last night.

(no, that's not me at class...)

Things I've learned about Navajo Silversmithing so far this semester:
1. Don't go to class with a headache.

The video is intentionally blank, I really just wanted to give you a sound bite from class. Also, turn your volume all the way up and then multiply by 10 and it might be close to what it's like in the classroom.

2. How to make brass bracelets with a not-so-great selection of stamping tools.
I know, it's called silversmithing, but brass is much cheaper for them to provide. I'm going to see about buying some of my own silver for the next bracelet we're working on: an overlay bracelet! And we can buy our own stamps but the closest place is 80 miles away in Gallup, so we're making do with the ones our teacher provides that haven't walked off over the course of years he's been teaching.

3. How to hold your piece when buffing and polishing.These hand-drawn gems were on our teacher's desk. I'm not sure the illustrations really illustrate much difference, but the bottom line is: Hold on tight! And watch your fingers! You have to load the wheels with compound, apparently called Zam, that helps to buff/polish your piece.

You can see the actual equipment we use below.Note that only one buffing wheel has a guard on it, and it's pretty much impossible to see through it to your piece. So I use the other ones, which means I end up with bits of buffing/polishing agent in my eyes, all over my front, coating my hands, etc. But the piece is nice and shiny afterwards!

4. Basic soldering techniques for adding brass balls and making a belt buckle.
Normally one might mount a piece of turquoise in the middle, but for the sake of cost, we torched scraps of our metal until it got so hot that it melted and formed balls, which we then soldered, along with the buckle pieces to make a belt buckle!

5. You can put your hand down into an acid bath (used to clean our belt buckles) without hurting your skin, as long as you let go of your greedy, jealous attitude. This one I learned not by trial, but by watching the teacher explain and then do it!

Our teacher is practically the grandfather of Dine College, as he has been teaching Navajo culture classes since the college was founded in the sixties. So he has lots of other words of wisdom and culture that I've learned during class as well. But it's hard to paraphrase his unique style of delivery in a combination of English (clearly his second language) and Navajo.

friday foto

2010-03-26T13:13:00.002-06:00

I have a lot of catching up to do. Since I last posted, we had one final weekend of local backcountry snow adventures when Melanie and Sam came down from Kayenta to join us on another snowshoe/ski outing in the Chuskas. Then last week, we were off to warmer climes.

We had a really great and relaxing week in Mexico with lots of great friends at some lovely bungalows in a small little quiet town towards the end of Baja! And it seems this whole week has been a bit blurry due to vacation recovery/withdrawal. We were glad to fly back into sunny Phoenix where the temperatures were about equal to what we had in Mexico, thereby avoiding the shock of a return to winter. And even up on returning to home, it was clear that the tides had turned in favor of Spring while we were gone (I'm trying to ignore the snow that is falling as I type).

While I plan to share more details and photos, for now I'm going to leave you with just one highlight:

We resurrected some cobwebby and rusty bikes with flat tires from behind the garage and took a fun cruise down the beach.

lazy post

2010-03-02T21:36:00.003-07:00

[I'm getting Julie back for her recent piggy-back post. ;) which is perfectly acceptable in my book.]

Last night we had our Navajo Silversmithing class but I keep forgetting to take my camera to class and have yet to take pictures of my recent projects. (We're already on our third bracelet and it looks like we'll be doing a belt buckle next!)

Check out her current post about our Silversmith class and to see her awesome first bracelet!

Another perfect wonder where it's so white as snow

2010-02-22T14:05:00.003-07:00

One of my first experiments with iMovie...fun times.

friday foto + birthday greetings

2010-02-19T13:12:00.003-07:00

Hi Liz, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Hope you're having a great day. We need to hang out again soon!

In honor of Liz's birthday, my friday foto is from a trip to Chicago that I took last fall to visit my favorite sister. I admit the photo quality is poor, but it's hard not to like simple graphics and messages like this to the general public. Note the highlighting of the abstracted circle hands grasping. And although it is clearly a literal message to parents to heed during the chaos that the traffic of people getting on and off the El can create, there's a deeper meaning there too, no?

Chuska backcountry adventure

2010-02-07T13:34:00.005-07:00

My prior post leads me nicely into some exploring that we did yesterday afternoon around Buffalo Pass.

After quite a bit of lazing around, we decided to finally get our act together, strap some skis on our backpacks, throw the snowshoes and the tire chains in the car and head towards the snow-covered "closed in winter" pass. Though paved, the road that provides quite a shortcut across the Chuska mountains to Shiprock, Farmington and places north into Colorado, is quite windy and steep - 14% grade, no exaggeration, in sections. We've driven it plenty in summer, we've even biked over it during training for last year's Iron Horse. But they don't plow it in winter, and apparently even close a gate on the New Mexico side near Red Valley.
Sure enough, as soon as we got to the lower reaches of the road where it begins to climb and wind through the lower canyons, the evidence of recent record snowfalls remained on the road, with a few brave tracks continuing on. We put the chains on the Jeep, and with Dave and Julie leading the way, slugged through the snow up and up until we decided it was time to just park and attempt a few ski runs.We found a forest road that seemed sufficient, so we put on our skis, strapped on the snowshoes and took our first backcountry runs down some shallow slopes until we couldn't go down safely anymore. There was a bit of climbing, another quick downhill, then back up to the cars.

After climbing thus high in the car, we couldn't let the opportunity pass to ski back down the road. The boys got to have their fix of driving and succeeding (just once) in getting the cars stuck in the snow, while Julie and I boarded/skied down to road. For some reason, the combination of sticky snow, the unknown on each side of the road, the fairly narrow sections of ski-able snow to each side of the crunchy tracks, and a few steep windy sections all conspired to reducing me to a beginning level skier who pretty much forgot all knowledge of how to turn on skis. It meant that I pretty much pizza wedged the whole way down the mountain, but still had a blast! Got to the bottom and piled back in the cars just as it was getting too dark to see anymore.

Please forgive the poor quality dark pictures, taken with our old, cheap, smallish camera. And though it adds to the allure, it wasn't nearly that dark while we were skiing.

friday photo

2010-02-05T09:22:00.001-07:00

It's back. It's Friday and time for a photo.
(Yes, it is an alliteration but that does not mean that I need to misspell one of the words for it to be such. That's right - it always bothered me when 'they' would change the first letters of words to match it's partner, or even the double whammies where they change BOTH letters for no reason as in: Klean Kanteen, or Krispy Kreme. Or there might be no alliteration whatsoever, they just choose to change a C to a K or a PH to an F just to be, I guess, kitschy: Kampgrounds of America.
Now, despite my prior brief rant, I am deciding on the spot that Friday Foto would not, in fact, bother me the way the other examples do, primarily because foto is in fact spelled as such in the Spanish language, and mainly because now I'm realizing that it is just the unabashed use of k's that bother me apparently!)

This sign is about 8 miles north of here at the turn towards Lukachukai (navajo: Lók'aach'égai), which apparently means "Many White Reeds" and refers to both the town and the mountain range between the Chuskas and the Carrizos. These stunning red layers beneath the higher pine covered mountain tops is like the Rez's version of Sedona, minus the movie stars and the psychics and the money. The sign also mentions the Catholic Church, which is a pretty impressive and dated stone building, with beautifully painted interiors (sorry no pictures). It was apparently built there because it was the sacred place that buffalo would rest on their journey over the mountains (hence Buffalo Pass) on their way to the sacred mountains in the East during the creation. [This was a version of the story that I heard, and may be slightly misinterpreted on my part. And it's still not clear to me why a sacred place according to the Navajo creation story would warrant placement of a Catholic church.] Interesting nevertheless.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2010-02-01T14:34:00.002-07:00

Today, instead of his usual request for carrot cake, I'm making Creme Brulee for Ryan's birthday. It is, in fact, not that hard to make, and I'm borrowing the torch from Julie to brown the sugar on top. Mmmm.

[Speaking of torches, I will be lighting up my acetylene torch this evening for the second time at my Silversmith class! Last year, Julie and I took Navajo Moccasin Making at Dine College, and this year we're taking silversmithing! We've already started our first bracelet and I think I'm really going to enjoy it. I'll try to get some pictures this semester, since I did not do that during the moccasin class.]

Wish Ryan a happy birthday!!!

Winter Fun

2010-01-31T14:15:00.003-07:00

We've had a lot of snow recently. In fact, the doggies (Jack and visiting doggie friends) are loving it, because the snow mounds are allowing them easy access out of the fenced yard.

We went up to Colorado last weekend to partake in some powder skiing in Telluride, and trips to Telluride usually mean a great stay and meals at the Rico Hotel. Once the snow quit falling, and the sun came out, it made for a beautiful drive home through the snow covered San Juan mountains.

Then yesterday, Melanie drove here from Kayenta to do some winter exploring in the Chuska mountains with us. We decided to park and snowshoe cross country and up to the top of Black Pinnacle. It was quite a workout but worth it for the views we got at the top.

We got back to the car just in time to catch the sun setting on Tsaile Butte to the sound of coyotes howling. We didn't spot any, but their screams weren't very far away, and Jack was definitely on alert. We piled back in the car and headed home to a roast in the crockpot. Mmm, winter goodness.

From Winter Pics Jan '10

Happy Birthday Julie!

2010-01-26T08:44:00.001-07:00

I had fun celebrating with you over the weekend! Hope you have a great day, neighbor!

Happy Birthday Missy!

2010-01-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hope you have a great day! Are you making a birthday casserole? When are you going to come visit?! Hey wanna meet in Cleveland in June?

Not Monument Valley

2010-01-17T17:57:00.002-07:00

We just got back from a couple hours of exploring near Round Rock, a tiny community a little ways north of here. From the highway we drive frequently, you can see several large buttes and we decided to take the dirt road that heads back towards them and beyond to explore.

There were quite a few cattle out and about basking in the sun.

It's been a few weeks since the snow fell, and the freeze thaw cycle has formed a layer of Frosted Flakes on top:

The doggies were loving it once we found an area near Gigante Butte that was free of cattle and we could just let them run:

And so were we:

Check out the whole album here.

New Neighbors!

2010-01-16T15:18:00.002-07:00

We're very excited to announce that Julie and Dave have moved to Tsaile! YAY!!!

Ever since we've moved up here, we've still gone down to Chinle to hang out with friends quite a bit, and people seem willing to make the 30 minute drive up here when we host something. Lucky for us, we also got to hang out with Jason and Abby, other young like-minded friends, before they moved up north to Montana :( But besides them, it's been hard to find young people in this little hamlet with quite as much interest and drive to explore and bike and run and hang out with us. So we are pretty excited that things worked out for Julie to transfer into the open pharmacy position here at the Tsaile Health Center and for her and Dave to move into the duplex next door.

It also helps the case for investing in a shared greenhouse to extend our short vegetable gardening season. And we seem to have convinced each other that come spring, it will also be a good idea to build a coop and get some chickens!!! You can't get eggs any fresher (more fresh?)! (I'll keep you posted when/if this materializes!)

Julie is also my main running motivator. I'm not really much of a runner, and getting myself out there to do it alone is quite a task, especially in cold weather with snow on the ground. But we've already gotten out there for a jog.

In other news, I got back on a road bike today for the first time in months. I felt pretty good...well, until I bonked. Ryan and Julie have both signed up for the Iron Horse bike ride again this year, but I'm still holding out like I did last year. There's a lot of arm twisting going on. We're excited that Aaron is also going to come out from Ohio to tell Colorado's mountains who's boss!

Yay for friends.

2009: A Year in Pictures

2010-01-01T21:52:00.008-07:00

I'm borrowing this idea from a blog we read called Up In Alaska, whose writer did a similar post that I really enjoyed.

It was very difficult for me to pick just one photo from each month, because I feel very thankful to say that every single month provided at least several different occasions filled with great experiences and memories. The photos here are not necessarily the BEST photos from each month, but they strike me as favorites or representative of great memories from throughout the year. If you asked me tomorrow, I might pick completely different ones; and if you asked Ryan, I'm sure he'd have his own set of favorite photos and memories. But here's my finalists of the moment.

Enjoy.

January

Winter in Chinle meant we would get some snow and then the sun would come out, turning the roads into a muddy mess, but also creating other stunning [perhaps deadly] beauty. January also included a couple great weekends of skiing, our first ever Soup Swap, a super fun weekend in Telluride celebrating Julie's 30th, and lots of packing up and preparing to move to Tsaile.

February

Days after moving here, we got dumped on. It snowed for two days straight, and then one afternoon the sun came out, I donned my snowshoes and went to play in it. I knew I liked the environment up here and that it would be quieter with more green and views of the mountains than Chinle. But I was also nervous about it being so small and remote. I think I fell in love that day and now really appreciate the quiet and solitude.

March

One of the highlights of March was our first ever extended canoe trip. We had several days of lazy floating down the Green River with great weather and great friends. What a blast. But this sunset was captured on our way to a relaxing weekend of camping near one of our favorite areas of the southwest. Monument Valley represents for me our gateway to this life in the Southwest that we've been living for the past 3 1/2 years. Those images are so widely reproduced, but they never get old to me. And here we were, taking the back roads to our favorite camping spot in the world with great friends, and this setting sun highlighted why I love it down here.

April

We love it here, but there is never enough time with family. This was a blessed, family-filled month. April brought my parents back out to visit us. We had a busy but fun week, seeing all sorts of highlights of the Southwest. Then I was off to spend a fabulous week in Costa Rica with my favorite sister in the world. Shortly after that, we also got to see Ryan's sister and her family in Phoenix. It was tough not picking a photo from the Costa Rica trip for this month, but none of my scenery-focused photos really captured the best part of the trip, which was catching up with my sister. So Dad and I reaching the top of Angel's Landing Trail together in Zion won out.

May

Ryan and I participated in our first bike race ever, the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde mountain bike race. We also had a really nice visit by Ryan's mom, including a stay at the new hotel in Monument Valley where we got to see the sunrise over the Mittens. But the defining moment of May was when Ryan and I pedaled across the finish line of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Silverton, Colorado, after riding 50 miles together over the mountains from Durango. The photo above is from the pros racing in the criterium in Durango, but represents the momentous accomplishment that I spent months training for and even fearing! I must mention though, that the last days of the month were pretty significant for me as well. I was invited by Ryan's co-worker to attend her daughter's Kinaalda ceremony. The invitation itself was significant, as we have found it hard since we've lived here on the reservation to make connections outside of the IHS fences, literally and figuratively. But the ceremony itself was also a great experience, both for the specific traditions that I witnessed, and the lessons I learned about this culture we live in.

June

Riding the high of finishing the Iron Horse, I completed my first triathlon in June. We enjoyed several days of great bluegrass music in the beautiful mountains of Telluride. And I was lucky to have a wonderful week-long visit from one of my best friends. We had lazy days exploring close to home and a few adventures to the beautiful surroundings. After turning our mouths colors with snow cones, we sat through one of the most stunning thunderstorms I've ever witnessed right outside of Monument Valley. We just stopped.

July

We enjoyed the Second Annual Crawfish Boil here in Tsaile in July. I also had my first ever "coffee house" showing of some of my photography at a friends house in Chinle, where I sold some prints and tried my hand out at turning this hobby into a business. But July for me now means a Fourth of July/Birthday weekend in Silverton, Colorado. Camping in a beautiful mountain valley. Running in the 5k Blue Ribbon race. Hiking up up and up to the crystal blue Ice Lakes. Sitting around a campfire with good friends. Gluten-free birthday carrot cake. Let the tradition carry on.

August

Started with a fun and sunny weekend cruising Lake Powell with lots of great friends. Then a trip to Denver to see family and some baseball. Finally, an overdue trip to Cleveland to spend time with family and a best friend home from overseas. We revisited some of our favorite Cleveland spots as well as some new ones. And we attended my 10 year high school reunion. It was nice to reconnect with people from the past, but it was also a reason to reflect on where our lives have taken us in the past ten. Lots of trips in August, but a photo from home. This high desert home has a short growing season, but while it's here we have a bounty of flowers and a prolific garden (hopefully even more so next year)!

September

It's hard to believe how fast five years of marriage has gone. I guess time flies when you're having fun! September for me also means a week or weeks spent at Hopiland with Red Feather. Four years I've gone, and each time there are great new people to meet, new cultural experiences to be had, new building skills learned, and a new perspective on life.

October

Fall is one of our favorite times of year here. The sun isn't quite as harsh as summer, the wind not as fierce as in spring, the temperatures not as drastic as winter. It's a great time to get outside and ride bikes, so we braved our second Chuska Challenge, and had the great weather we were hoping for, albeit one of the most challenging days on a bike I've ever had! In neighboring New Mexico, fall also means Chile harvest! We had a fun weekend in Albuquerque picking chiles and pumpkins, roasting them and peeling them for a year's supply of locally grown spicy goodness.

November

We had a fun weekend enjoying one of our favorite places to stay and eat at in Rico, Colorado. We also hosted our second Soup Swap [which I have yet to post about]. And we spent half the month in South Dakota catching up with Ryan's family. Every time we go back to South Dakota, I learn something new about Ryan at each place we visit, whether it's on the land in the Hills, or at the ranch, or right at home in his mom's house. And it's always great to get to know his family, our neices and nephews, a little more. There were lots of great pictures from the trip, but this is one of my favorites of our niece and nephew by the "dump" at the ranch where lots of old carcasses sit to rest and rust.

December

Winter always means several weekend trips to Colorado. And this year it meant a Christmas holiday with my parents, sister, aunts, uncles and Grandma in Denver. This was my Grandma's first Christmas as a Denver resident after 82 years in Dayton, Ohio. December also brought snow and some more snow to the Tsaile area. Once the sun comes out, this place turns into a quiet sparkling winter wonderland. I never enjoyed winter as much as I do here.

I always say I'll post more than I end up doing. Sometimes I miss posting things that were significant in our lives, other times I post stuff that I've already forgotten about. But it's fun to share snippets of what goes on from day to day. And in looking back over this year, I'm so thankful for the adventures we get to take and the people we get to see in our travels. Thanks for reading and being a part of our lives via this blog. We wish you all the best, but especially fun and adventure for this new year and this new decade!

Happy Birthday Dave!

2009-12-16T16:23:00.003-07:00

It's Dave's Birthday today! Yay! Wish him a happy birthday!

here he is, looking pretty burly on our canoe trip last spring

We got to celebrate last weekend on a great trip to Pagosa Springs and Wolf Creek for some powder! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't partake in skiing in the fluffy stuff given the low temps and high winds, but did get some good snowshoeing in with the doggies. We all enjoyed a great rental cabin, with fireplace, and delicious hot tub time!

2009-12-10T21:44:00.002-07:00

Trot Hop

2009-11-30T22:17:00.002-07:00

Sorry, I missed the Friday photo, but it was a busy day with family. Now we're back home in Tsaile and catching up on things.

Thanksgiving morning in Pierre was cold and crisp, but the sun was shining on us for the Turkey Trot, which was the second annual Scarborough/Julian Turkey Day fun run. It was much better conditions than last year's Chinle Turkey Trot that Rob, Luke and Abby boldly endured with Ryan, Jack and me. This year, we also had Michelle and Marli join us for the 5k and it was a really great way to spend Thanksgiving morning! Thanks to Rob for encouraging the jump picture - what a great memory!

Working cattle

2009-11-20T20:34:00.004-07:00

We've been in South Dakota for nearly a week. We got to the ranch today, just in time for me to learn what it means to "work cattle." We helped round up several herds of cows, seperate the calves from the cows, and send them all through the chutes for shots. We worked a couple hundred head of cattle, and it was a tiring day! I wasn't even doing much work, mostly just trying to stay out of the way.

I would say that it was an exciting day for Jack too. We were pretty confident that he would be much more of a problem than a help at herding the cattle, but at one point he jumped off the 4-wheeler to go at a calf. He had the right instinct, but as Pam said, so did the cow. He shrunk away shortly after getting a good kick in the head.

On our way

2009-11-13T16:36:00.003-07:00

We're headed to South Dakota for a couple weeks of vacation and Thanksgiving, driving via Denver. The picture above is from the last time we went to Denver.

Birthday Wishes!!

2009-11-12T23:52:00.002-07:00

I'm a couple days late and a couple days early for some Birthday Wishes!

Happy belated to NORA!!!! Hope you had a blast and are having fun back in the states! I can't wait until it finally works out for me to come visit you in Honduras...!

and Happy Birthday Megan!!! Have a super great day - can't wait to see you next fall if not sooner!

friday photo

2009-11-06T14:40:00.002-07:00

At the beginning of September, Julie had a day off, and we took the pups to do a little exploring near here. We hiked up to the tippy top of Black Pinnacle, a small peak near here that has a lookout station at the top, much like the one at Roof Butte. There was a guy on duty, who was friendly, and seemed to enjoy the company during an otherwise - um - quiet job. He showed us the monitoring equipment and map he uses to determine coordinates of fire or smoke or other noteworthy sightings. It was pretty neat, and it was a neat view of things from up there.

On our way back down, I was noticing various piles of garbage, not uncommon around here. Then I spotted the TV. I could imagine a couch sitting out there in the forest with it.

a different kind of tree house

2009-11-05T16:37:00.004-07:00

We have dreams of someday designing and building our house on a little piece of land in the Black Hills that Ryan's dad always fondly called "Poverty Ridge."

Although it seems like a dream that's far off and not quite within reach yet, it also seems like it's never too soon to start thinking about some of the details that will inevitably turn into a huge pile of decisions if it does become a reality.

Despite a bit of design background, I'm no architect, so I haven't really gotten anywhere on a specific design. But I have been brainstorming a basic layout, materials to build the house, ways to make it work in the space that's available, features that will be sustainable, details to allow the house to be as self-sufficient as possible, all while using materials as local as possible.

We've talked about straw bale, timber frame, or a combination of the two, among other possibilities.

But, timber framing generally = $$$ (for all the labor involved, but also because it requires large diameter trees to supply sufficient material for milling into posts and beams)

The 'pad' where the house would be built is surrounded by a densely packed pine forest that hasn't really been cleared or properly maintained over the years = fire hazard. To improve the health of the surrounding forest, it really needs to be cleared of lots of the small trees for big ones to be healthy and to have a chance for survival if there were to be a fire.

I have just never quite been convinced that, when we do get to clearing out those trees, they couldn't somehow be usable material for a house, other than firewood for a lovely wood burning stove.

That's because they could be. Read this. And make sure to check out the photos accompanying the article.

There's also an old scrub oak right in the middle of the pad that was left when the rest of the trees were cleared from that area. That oak has a special place in the history of that humble piece of land, and we hate the idea of having to take it out to accommodate a house without somehow incorporating it. Now we have visions of the possibilities for that tree.

{Oh, it's fun to dream.}

saturday photo

2009-10-31T10:10:00.004-06:00

[I thought I'd start a new thing by posting a photo every friday to maintain some more consistent posting. I'm already a slacker just a week in!]


	From Chuska exploring

Yesterday, we saw off Jason and Abby as they departed Tsaile after 4 years here, for new adventures north. They've been such a big part of this small community since we moved up here to Tsaile. We're really sad to see them go. :[

Last weekend we got to explore the Chuskas a little bit more with them before they departed, and before the snow came! We checked out a cool little waterfall that made these arid high desert mountains {almost} seem like we could have been in the damp northwest. Then we drove on, rocking and rolling over rough roads to a neat spot that might become a future favorite summer camping spot, overlooking the Red Valley area and Shiprock in NW New Mexico, and even distant mountains in Colorado. From there Ryan and I biked and Jason and Abby hiked the last mile or so to the top of Roof Butte, highest point in the Chuska mountains. And what a difference that last climb up makes. When you get up to 9800 ft., you can see a long direction into New Mexico towards the SE, you get a good sense of the width and breadth of the Chuska range, and it's pretty much an altogether cool spot. Among lots of radio and phone towers, there's also a neat lookout station.

It was boarded up for the winter, but a pencil drawn ranger still kept an eye out. The jury's still out on what RBLO stands for. any guesses?

yes, that's snow.

2009-10-27T22:20:00.007-06:00

10:23 pm

October 27th, 2009

Tsaile, Arizona

This was last year in Chinle. In December. A reasonable month for snow.

friday photo

2009-10-23T11:51:00.004-06:00

This Chevy sits prominently on one of the two main streets through Chinle and always catches my eye when I pass it. Last winter when I set up a table of my photography at the Christmas Bazaar, I had an older Navajo gentleman ask me if I had any pictures of "that old truck across from Speedy's"?

Ever since then, I'd hesitate as I drove past, nearly pulling over to snap some pictures. But decided it would be better when the towering cottonwoods had turned in fall. And besides it was easy to procrastinate a stop during which I would have to knock on the door of the nearby trailer, asking them permission. I finally stopped. During "rush hour" even, because the lighting was right. The girl that answered acted as though I was crazy for asking. "People always take pictures of it."

I'd love to see their pictures.

Pili Chillin'!

2009-10-19T14:34:00.005-06:00

We spent a great weekend in Albuquerque, peelin' chilis, pickin' pumpkins and acquiring apples.

Allison, Sarah, Dave, Julie, Ryan and I piled into the ol' Buick Park Ave (aka Sunday Driver), turned up some tunes, rolled down the windows, and cruised up to Corrales, New Mexico, a neat little farming community north of Abq. to go to Wagner Farms.

We picked out three whole sacks (that's six bushels) of chilis, delivered them to the roasters and ate caramel apples while we watched as the peppers sparked and tumbled around until perfectly roasted. Mmmm, what a smell, too!

Then the peelin' (and maybe a little drinkin') commenced!

We may or may not have invented a drink that involves eating one of the fresh chilis (in Ryan and Dave's case that meant a whole Hot one), followed by a shot of tequila, then lime wedge. Yum.

From Pilli Cheelin Weekend!

Now we have twenty four baggies of chilis in our freezer. That's about twelve quarts of peeled, seeded peppers ready and waiting to marry pork for some yummy stew, cuddle up to some chicken for chili, spice up our fajitas, and blend with some 'maters for salsa too spicy for me.

I love fall!

Fall Color...in the desert?!

2009-10-14T08:40:00.005-06:00

I could tell you about my great weekend hanging out with my favorite sister in Chicago: a fun weekend living the city life, reconnecting with an old friend, seeing relatives, and having those moments that only sisters know.

I may not be the city girl that Liz is, but I'll always love Chicago.

Riding the El, watching the tall slender, suit-and-tie-clad business man with a briefcase sit down next to the elderly hispanic abuela rambling in her native tongue to her daughter with a boisterous toddler who's not afraid to talk to the young guy with dreads and the latest high-top nikes, standing next to two women speaking Russian; climbing those steps at the Art Institute, with its imposing columns and ominous lions; navigating all the traffic, city buses, taxis and bike commuters who seem to be increasing in numbers; checking out my sister's new favorite place to eat, like the Senegalese place on the south side where we ate (ironically) lamb and fried plantains, and drank Baobab.

But I also love riding my bike. Outside in nature.

If I did live in the city, I'd probably dare to navigate the city streets on a bike too, but I'll take dirt and quiet trails beneath the twinkling golden aspens most days.

Last Saturday we rode in the annual Chuska Challenge, a fundraiser for Navajo Y.E.S. Last year, we had cold cold rain, and more rain, that made the muckiest gumbo mud ever which is impossible to bike in and even more miserable to push a bike that's coated in the stuff and consequently weighs 100 pounds, especially when you're near hypothermic.

So we were a little reluctant to give it a try this year.

But the weather forecast called for perfect biking temps and sunny skies, not to mention the quiet Chuska mountains are just stunning this time of year. So we set out to the new base location at Red Valley/Cove High School, arriving just in time to start riding with the crowd. Little did I realize that the ride itself would entail such an uphill grind! It was a beautiful day filled with lots and lots climbing, and then just when you thought you must be at the top of the mountain, it took us up more and steeper hills. We did about 35 miles in total, on a completely new route that is begging to be explored further. We saw some of the prettiest quiet mountain meadows, and some stunning views. What a gem these Chuska mountains are, this unknown mountain range in the middle of Navajo Nation. There's also a reason they call it a "Challenge"! (If I had not been trying so hard to keep my pedals turning, I probably would have gotten more photos throughout the route. I'll just have to settle on the ones I did snap at one overlook.)

Come explore with us!

From Chuska Challenge 09

Red Feather - Hopi 2009

2009-09-29T17:50:00.002-06:00

I'm back home from Red Feather, back after two great weeks in Bacavi helping to build a house for Beverly, Elizabeth and Tawwesa.

The end of my time at the build and the return home always brings a flood of emotions, a deep appreciation for the people and the world around me. It can be a pretty intense experience, and takes a bit of adjustment to drive away from the people and experiences that have filled the prior two weeks.

I noticed that this past week, as well as at the end of other Red Feather builds, the same thing tends to happen. I find myself thinking of particular friends and family that I think would really enjoy this kind of experience. I think to myself "oh wouldn't it be great if so and so could come with me next year?" It always seems to happen as the time approaches an end, and as I am really filled up with the love from all these previous strangers who have come together in this experience to help another family. I want to share this feeling and this experience and these new friends with people that are important in my everyday life. I want them to see what this part of my life is. To get to know me better.

On the same note, it was great to help on a house that was for Beverly, who has become a friend over the last few years on the builds together and especially this past year as her work brought her to Chinle. I look forward to future visits with her in Chinle, and to heading back her way to see her place once she's moved in. The house turned out beautifully, and there are some really neat details like the niches that Tawwesa designed,

the "truth window" that Mark built,

and the gorgeous pergola that put Ben's woodworking skills to use.

The people of Hotevilla and Bacavi have been welcoming every year. But this year, I especially noticed the involvement of the community and the family connections amongst all those helping or coming by to sell crafts or share pieces of culture and bounties of Hopi food with us (corn, blue corn, and more blue corn!). It really feels as though there is one big family in Bacavi, waiting to welcome us whenever any of us may return, be it throughout the year, or at next year's build. I'm hoping that this year I might make it back to Hotevilla for the Basket Dances, that apparently include knock-down, drag-out competition for the goods and crafts that are tossed out to the crowds!

Check out all the pictures here.

family, friends, fun; and fourth time off to red feather

2009-09-12T08:24:00.006-06:00

Feels like I just got back from Cleveland, and i'm off again, this time to Third Mesa in Hopi land for some straw bale building!

We had a great trip to Ohio that started out in Columbus with work and OSU friends, included a Clippers Game (where they even sold gluten-free beer!), a new baby, a visit to the old (new) office, and some stuffing of the belly at Thurman's! Then up to Cleveland. I had a great week, hanging out with Maureen, home all the way from Germany! Spent some quality time with my parents, and my sister who came to town from Chicago to hang out. There were trips exploring new and cool parts of Cleveland, such as Tremont, and the hip happening East 4th Street, where John joined us for some bowling and beverages at the Corner Alley. We also visited the West Siiiide Market, "Transportation" bridge for a photo session, Garfield Memorial, Nate's Deli, Family Sportswear, the Wade Oval Wednesdays for live music and food. Maureen and I also partook in our 10 year high school reunion. What a blast from the past! Despite the high price tag, it was a fun time, and pretty amusing to see faces that you haven't seen in ten years. It may have convinced me to finally get on facebook. maybe.

Alrighty here's some pics.


From Cleveland Trip

Now i'm off to Hopiland to help build a house for Beverly! It's my fourth year volunteering with Red Feather, and I'm really looking forward to it. It will also be exciting to stay the last two weeks, so I can help see the finished product to it's end.
Unfortunately, I recently received the news that Donnie Robledo, last year's home recipient, passed away from a very sudden and fast onset of cancer. Donnie is a great loss to the community, but he will live on in everyone's memory. I know that everyone's thoughts at this year's build will be with Leslie, his wife, and hopefully she'll find some renewal in the community coming together again to build.

1.75 + 1 + .25 + 1.5 + .5 = 5

2009-09-04T14:37:00.008-06:00

five years married to the one i love.

almost two years filled with studying and working, finding the balance of chores in between. living and loving the "city" life, with bike commutes to work and nights out with friends enjoying restaurants or bars. life a mere couple hours drive from my family, but thousands of miles from his, always seeking a balance to see both enough. then adventure called and off we went, piling as much as we could into and on top of our newly beloved Jeep. headed west, together, into the unknown.

one year in a tiny little half-trailer, on what seemed like a moonscape, exploring, and mountain biking, endless weekend trips, new friends and an introduction to this new culture that has become home. too fast it ended, not ready for "real life" to begin again. this new world we were living in, a different one, seemingly not the same reality we had ever known before.

three incredible months on the road. us and that jeep and a tent. to alaska, lots of places in between, and back.

back to Arizona, back to the Rez, back home to our new home where work and life and volunteering, bike rides and hikes, weekend road trips, and new friends, potlucks and evenings around a fire pit in someone's back yard quickly turned into a year and half.

now here we are, half a year and five years of marriage later in this tiny community, feeling happy together, wishing as always that our families were closer, but really starting to feel much more connected to the bigger small community of people and culture around us.

so, to celebrate this palindromic benchmark of our marriage, we're not doing much of anything! ryan has the day off, which leaves us with a glorious FOUR day weekend to relax AT HOME! we'll be taking some bike rides with friends, new and old, might even check out the rodeo in Chinle (it's about time...!); having a barBQ here in Tsaile on monday, and besides, we've got this too: