Tent Rocks

We had a really nice long weekend.  We decided to take a little trip to Santa Fe, which is the capitol of New Mexico.  It's less than an hour away from us.  It is a beautiful city with charm, culture, and a rich history.  I'll go into more detail about Santa Fe in my next post.

Chris had an excellent idea to stop at the Tent Rocks National Park on our way to Santa Fe, it was only 20 miles out of the way. We arrived early on a Saturday morning so it wasn't crowded.  The park is very popular and gets really busy in the warmer months - as I am told.  It felt like we had to drive forever after entering the park to the parking lot.

Once we parked we learned that we had the option of two different hikes.  One was a loop that went through the tent rock formations.  The second was a out and back that had a steep incline.  The cool thing about this hike was you would get a bird's eye view of the tent rocks.  We opted for the first hike because we didn't bring our hiking shoes and there was snow/ice on parts of the path.  I'm talented at falling and/or spraining my ankle so we thought it would be best to avoid injury so early into our little trip.

We were very pleased with our visit and our hike!  We can't wait to go back again and try the other hike when it is warmer. I pointed out the Chris that it reminded me of that sandy/dusty planet in Star Wars. Chris agreed and then felt the need to take a photo with his cell phone to send to his brothers. I also learned that this planet is called Tattooine not Tattooing. This resulted in a facebook post error on my part, which I didn't realize.  Chris and his brothers had a good laugh about it. (rolling my eyes at them) I think Chris should be happy because I made a Star Wars connection.  This is pretty impressive seeing as I watched the movies for the first time a couple years ago.

This is a man made cave that we past. We wanted to peek our heads in.  Neither of us made it any further - we got a little nervous.

Keep in mind that I'm not a geologist, but I do find rocks to be nifty. From my understanding, these Tent Rock formations were made as a result of a volcanic eruption millions of years ago.  The ash traveled from the Jemez Volcanic Field.  Then over the millions of years weathering and erosion made the formations and canyons. 

They look like little hunts.

 Check out the snow!

One of the things we greatly enjoy about New Mexico is its nature.  We have developed a new hobby, hiking.  It is always exciting and fun to explore this desert land. 

Happy to finish a great hike and head off to Santa Fe

SNOW - It's snowing!

Contrary to what you may think, Albuquerque does get cold in the winter.  It's not as cold as Minnesota, but cold enough to wear a winter jacket. We don't get much precipitation - rain or snow. So when it snows (or even rains) it's exciting and a big deal.

Yesterday 10 minutes before our last recess during Math class, it started to snow. I have experienced the excitement of the first snowfall many times while teaching in Minnesota.  None of those experiences prepared me for those 10 minutes. My students were beyond elated and overjoyed. It was adorable to watch and listen to them.  They said it was a blizzard.  Another student hoped there was enough snow to build a snowman at recess. I sadly crushed that child's dream and explained that the snow wouldn't fall that fast in the next 10 minutes.  There were talks of a snow day or a delay.  I just had to laugh a little and help them regroup. Luckily we did finish the lesson just as the bell rang for recess - learning to multiply with the number 7 is very important.

As they hustled out the door for recess, I could hear shrieks of OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD ... It's SNOW!

Can you see the flakes?

So exciting!

I have to admit that it was beautiful to see the huge cotton like snowflakes fall.  It made me think of home. I was so happy for my students and decided I wanted to teach them a little about snow and a heartier winter after recess. (If you can't beat them, join them?)So I ran off to the library to check out A Snowy Day by Jack Ezra Keats in English.  I have it in Spanish and would always read it to my class on snowy days in MN. They were pleased with the lesson plan punt making it more focused on snow.  I told them about the time we cross country skied to the grocery store. They were shocked by this and unfamiliar with cross country skiing.  I found some images online to share with them, and then I pretended to cross country ski.  They thought that was hilarious.  We measured the accumulation in inches and centimeters.  We looked at the radar to see if it was going to keep snowing. I figured that I need to embrace the moment and make it somewhat educational.  Snow is a very special thing here.  (p.s. I love teaching - Can you tell?)

I was a little scared to drive in the snow because of the other drivers, but the roads were just wet. Unfortunately it didn't get above freezing and the wet roads changed to icy ones.  ABQ does not have the same plowing and salting infrastructural like MN and WI. This is why we had 2 hour delay! (I think we had about .5 inches of snow.)  Everything was fine driving to work this morning.  They put a salt/red clay mixture down on the main roads.  All the cars have a little red trim now because of the clay. 24 hours later, almost all the snow has melted.  I will miss it and eagerly await its next arrival.  I hope it happens when I'm at school.  It was priceless to see the kids' reactions.

Proof of the snow on my car.  

I promise I won't blog too frequently about school/work, but this just made my day.  My students have taught me so much about their culture, I wanted to teach them about mine. 

How do you spell ABQ?

We had an idea back in March 2012 that we were going to move to Albuquerque. We weren't 100% sure, but we were excited to visit the city during Chris' interview.  The weekend before we went to ABQ was St. Patrick's Day. We celebrated with our good friends in St. Paul and had a blast!  (I'm laughing and smiling right now remembering that day and our adventure to find a cheeseburger.)

While we were enjoy the festivities, I lamented to my awesome friend that I had no clue how to spell Albuquerque. I was concerned about moving to a city where I would struggle with spelling its name.  She just laughed at me and has remembered this conversation.  She even requested this blog post, which I clearly thought was an amazing idea.

A meeting of the minds - thinking about how to spell ABQ

I have to admit that I was feeling like I was pretty good at spelling Al- bu- que - r- que (That's how I think of it when I write it.) Just as I was growing confidence, I spelled it wrong twice in one day. :( This actually made me laugh pretty hard and reminded me of my friend and our conversation on St. Patrick's Day.

Other enjoyable ABQ spelling moments have happened while on the phone with a representative of a company giving them my information. If the company isn't based here, all the representatives have started to type ABQ on their own and then realized they needed help.  I happily help and reassure them that it is challenging to spell.

Lastly, one of my college friends sent us a Holiday Card this year that me me smile and laugh! LJ, I think you can find the answer to your question in this post. :)

My goal is to be able to spell ALBUQUERQUE with fluency and without errors soon. In the meantime I will still embrace ABQ because it is way easier! Hopefully a few of you improved your spelling of Albuquerque from reading this post.

Christmas in Connecticut

We had a fabulous Christmas in Connecticut with my sister, BIL, their kiddos, and my parents. The most challenging part about the trip was the travel to and from. We decided to drive to CT straight through with 3 other adults (and a dog)  in a 15 passenger van. The way out there wasn't as bad - 30 hours. The roads and weather were good.  We actually arrived 4 hours early.  Luckily, my dad was willing to drive 2 hours round-trip to pick us up in NY at 2 am.  It was an experience for us, I think next time we will fly. :)

Effingham, IL - who knew that was a town? I didn't.

One of the highlights was taking our oldest nephew and niece to see the waterfall in Kent, CT with my parents.   It was a fun short hike uphill. (Get ready for a ton of cute photos of the most adorable kids ever!)

Too cute!

O was pleased that he pushed me over.

Climbing up

Someone got tired and planked in protest

As a result of planking, Uncle Chris carried princess A downhill. 

Celebrating Christmas with the kids was so much fun and exciting. We always have a great time with Claire's family.  We are so thankful for the time-off we had to spend with our family. I don't think I will ever forget the Christmas Eve Mass we went to with my parents with its karaoke music and chimes. Here are some of our favorite photos from our week stay.

The newest nephew on the block.  He is an amazing baby!

Make-up Time!

We picked out each other's outfits for Christmas Eve.

Can you tell we both like PINK?

Photo BOMB!

Snuggle time

girly girls

All a Board!! Next stop CT!

Princess A in her castle

Uncle Chris teaching O the skills of the Rubik cube

I have New Mexican skin compared to the Norwegian kids.

Hey baby G!

 A trip to Build-a-Bear was the best way to end our time with A & O.  Hopefully they are still enjoying their bears, Ninja and Princess.

The Little Things

I like to try and focus on the sunny side of life.  One way I do this is by finding happiness in the little things. When we came back from CT, where we spent the holidays with my family, I loved getting our mail that was on hold.

I have always enjoyed mail, but since we have moved I like it even more.  I find myself sending a lot more mail too.  If a letter or card can bring a smile to my face, I am sure it does the same to others. (And someone has to keep the USPS in business.)  I have a greater understanding of why Grandma C. and my Mom get pleasure out of sending snail mail.

The holiday season is the best time for happy mail.  We have been sending photo cards for the past 3 years, and we love the feeling of being connected/in touch when we receive them too.  Thanks to pinterest, I found a cute way to display them all!!. What do you think?

I taped ribbon to the back of the door and attached the cards with paperclips.

Here is our Holiday Card from 2013

We hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season and that you too find the little things that make you happy. I will have to write a Holiday post soon.

- Jane

Let me see your body move!

As I shared a little yesterday, it has been a period of transition and adjustment for me. The first few months were so busy, overwhelming, and stressful with setting up our condo, starting a classroom, switching schools, starting another classroom, and learning the interesting ways of the Land of Enchantment. I would come home from work and basically zone out. I had little energy or motivation to get off the couch.

This is out of my character.  For the past few years, I was excellent at going to the gym 3-5 times a week and/or running. My good friend and college roommate, Jessi, was the kind voice of reason that encouraged me to move aka get my butt off the couch.  (Thank you!) She told me I would feel better once I started a workout routine and she was right.

Halfway through October, I got out of my lazy funk.  With the weather being so nice here, I decided to start the "couch 2 5k" program over from the beginning.  I started over because of the elevation of ABQ.  We are high up, 5,300 ft!  The first time I went for a run, I sounded like an asthmatic child. I completed the program and was in a regular running routine. It made me feel more at home and calm.  I was running in shorts through the first week in December - our neighbors thought I was crazy.

Now it is a bit cooler and I am growing a little bored with running, so we are joining a gym.  I'm very excited because it reminds me of my routine in MPLS.  There has to be a connection between my physical activity and my happiness. Luckily there is a YMCA close to our house and right on my way home from work. The cost of membership is such a deal ~ $58 a month for a family!  I love the cost of living here. They also have one of my favorite classes...

source

Zumba is one of the few times you will see me dance without the aid of adult beverages. It's hilarious!  I look like a fool, but I have a blast/don't care.  It's a great workout!

Another positive is that they have TVs with cable on many of their cardio machines!  I can watch Bravo as I run. Can it get any better?  The best thing the YMCA has to offer is the view from the cardio machines.

SANDIAS! I promise the view is more impressive in person.

- Jane

                                           

How are you? How's NM?

I have grown sick of these questions.  I know how I am suppose to respond.  "I'm good.  NM is so pretty.  How are you?" Putting on a happy face is something I'm good at, but at times it is more challenging to do.  I am pretty sure many of you have felt the same way or gone through a similar situation at one point in your life.

How are you?

Well today I am fine. Yesterday was pretty good too.  I felt happy connecting with friends from all over via email, facebook, texts, and my blog too! The first few months here were pretty rough for me. Overall, I would say each day is getting a little better. Moving away from so many wonderful friends, a job I truly enjoyed, and family close by has been trying. I miss Minnesota - everything about it.  When I moved there 5 years ago, I never thought I would consider it my home one day. Maybe in a few years I will feel the same about New Mexico (trying to stay positive.)  Good things to focus on: I have some great coworkers at school who are becoming my friends too.  My students are very sweet. 

How is Chris?

I'm really happy for him, he is doing really well.  Moving here is probably the best step for his career, which makes it totally worth it for both of us.  His new lab and coworkers are awesome. He will have many professional opportunities here. I think at times he worries about me - it's he a sweetheart (most of the time.) I reassure him that it is getting better and I'll be just fine (maybe a little more moody at times, but I'm working on it.)

How's NM?

There are many things we love about this place and other things that shock us or drive us crazy. :) I'm excited to share these details about NM in individual posts.  They deserve their own shining moment. It really is beautiful here in brownish/blue way.

Overall I think this move will be good for us. We are closer than ever and doing a great job of supporting each other. NM will make us grow and expose us to new experiences we wouldn't have had in MN, but I still miss Minnesota. :)

Proof that NM is pretty...

Northern NM (Ratón Pass) - I took this from the car as we drove down here.

The blue of the sky here is incredible and there are mountains in almost every direction! Something you can't find in MN or WI.

Sandías Mountians - These are our mountains that I love for so many reasons. This photo is from our hike to the crest, due to poor planning (what time we got started - we were running late. shocking  i know.) we didn't make it all the way to the crest.:( Oh well...next time.

Here we go...

Starting a blog has been on mind since I knew we were going to leave Minneapolis. I didn't start it right away because it seemed overwhelming and scary. Over the holidays my sister gave me the encouragement to actually follow through on this idea. Next step was the mind-boggling task of naming the blog. Luckily, friends via facebook helped conquer that task. Then came the laboring over the layout and design.  I'm still not completely pleased, but it will do for now. Soon after, I realized I actually have to write a post - fudge knuckles!

For those of you that know me well, you can predict what happened next...a typically moment of  Jane panic:

What should I write about?  Will it be as lame as some of my facebook statuses, but longer? Will people read it?  Will they like it? Should I put a comma before that and? Where do I start - now or back when we first moved? Why am I doing this? What privacy setting should I have? Is there a word count requirement? I have to think of title? Did I use I too much? Don't curse! 

I think you get the picture. Worrying is a talent of mine. I'm having a few doubts right now seeing as it feels a little like torture to write. Hopefully it will get easier each time. The goal of this blog is to stay in touch with our friends and family, share our experiences, and keep me busy so I don't miss home.  Ok...deep breath...here we go! I started a blog.

- Jane