Ready for Home Again...

I have to apologize because recently I have been a plain awful blog updater. Since Nicaragua things have been crazy (in the good way) and haven't stopped. Well, now they are calming down, and I have quite a few updates to make.

We were home from Nicaragua barely a week doing laundry, organizing, and going to Dr. appointments when I left for San Diego and Adam left for Colorado. Adam plays on a club ultimate Frisbee team here in the ABQ. They are a really good team and very serious about their tournaments. We have already driven to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a tournament where we had a wonderful visit with my cousins Vanessa and DJ Clay and their fam!

Adam was gone for the weekend then had to put in a few days of work (being that we just took vacation in Nicaragua, his days of days were low) and then we met mid week in CA. We had a semi-family reunion. All my immediate family except poor Sarah (Sarah had to take nursing school finals) were there, including Stacy and Jose who rented a house right by the beach. All my immediate family stayed in the beach house! It is amazing my whole family can fit anywhere! We would spend our days at the pool or the beach and then at night a different person would cook. Different family members from San Diego (where we have a plethora) would come each afternoon/evening.

It was such a great time to see everyone and relax except I think we need another week to hang out individually with everybody! I hate cold water, but I loved the beach. My nephew Mathew and cousin Noah would say "Come, get crashed by the waves dude". I laughed at them until I joined them and surely did get crashed by the waves. I would get drug on the bottom of the ocean with my head in the sand. But it was absolutely a blast!

A huge highlight was just seeing all the "babies" as I call them. Some of them are babies, some of them haven't been babies for many years now, but they are all the "babies" to me. In the house we had my nephews Mathew and Jacob who are my brother's sons, Francesca T. my brother's little girl, and Olivia and Francesca who are my sister Stacy's kids. They were always together having a ball and usually quite a few CA cousins were with them. It reminded me of when I was a kid and all the Thanksgivings at our house. There was a whole big group of us cousins that just ran around and played all day everyday at the barn or in the pool...it is fun to see a younger group doing the same thing! Why can't we do that anymore? Why don't we wake up and jump in the pool and play games all day? Kids really are better at having fun!

After CA, Adam and I came home for about another week. It was catch up week for me. Again...I did a lot more laundry. I also had a few job interviews and spent a lot of time filing out applications. I also shopped at Trader Joes for the first time! I hear about it constantly and about how cheap and healthy it is so I went ahead and tried it! Well, my results found it to be a much better shopping experience. The only problem was even though it is much cheaper then a Whole Foods, I still spent much MORE than I do at Walmart. They had most everything I needed but not all, so then after shopping there I still had to go to Walmart and Smith's to get all the groceries. I have to say the food was good but it can't beat Walmart prices. We have decided to keep shopping at Walmart for our basics and then go to Trader Joes or Whole Foods for meat, bagels, and bread. Meat in general can gross me out. I think it is worth paying more for. Bagels....well, I just really love some good fresh bagels, and Adam was a huge fan of the fresh bread. Well, at least until I get my wheat cracker and can start making it from scratch...mmmm, that gets me hungry just thinking about it! More on that later!

Then this last Friday we got up to leave by car at 6 AM to drive to Dallas. Adam had another ultimate tournament. It was also a special trip because my best friend/cousin Danica Brown is back from India and is in Dallas! We stayed with my Aunt Elaine and Dani and I would hang out in the morning while Adam played and then go see him in the afternoon. His team did really well! They were undefeated the first day but lost their first game the second day. The team only had seven players, which is how many one needs to play, so they didn't have people trading in and out to put in fresh legs. I was quite amazed they did as well as they did. It was HOTT! I was sitting under the tent, drinking water, and thought I was going to faint. I hope this is just because I am pregnant. I have NEVER been that sensitive to heat my whole life and grew up in Houston....does it get hotter?

We all had a great time! Aunt Elaine was a champ and put up with all the stinky Frisbee boys coming back over to her house where they watched the Olympics and then went swimming. My time with Dani was so precious! I missed that girl more than words can describe and seeing her was just surreal. I also got to see two other very special people! My old roomy Ms. Sarah Leininger lives in Dallas so we met for some Chipotle. I love Chipotle. I had it twice while in Dallas because they don't have it here in ABQ, and I think it is some of my favorite food in the world! Sarah and I talked and talked and it felt so good to see her beautiful face! I also go to see Ms. Tiffany, a very close wrangler friend of mine. Our time was short as she had to get to the airport, but so special! I am so thankful for this weekend and this time I got to see such precious faces! It makes my heart happy and fills me with joy!

Yesterday Adam and I got back in the car and made the ten hour drive back home. I don't mind long car rides with Adam. We are able to talk and talk and play the question game until neither of us can think of any more questions. When we got home we just crashed. Both of us were exhausted! We are ready for some time at home with no travels for a bit. I am ready to start having people over for dinner again, really CLEAN this house, and catch up with sweet friends here. God is so good and we are making relationships. As much as I have loved our travels, I have missed people HERE in ABQ. That is such an answer to prayer that we have people to miss!

More on the job situation later....hugs and kisses!

I'm Going to Like New Mexico

I’m going to like New Mexico.
Once I set my mind to something, it usually happens.
I have been that way my whole life.

When I was seven I would have dreams about my room. I have always loved furniture and decorating. I would have dreams for months and months about the cute ways to decorate my room. Well, I was only 7….or maybe 8. The point is I was young. So I began using my job as “horse girl” to save my money to decorate my room. I would “pick” which means remove all the poop of about 5 stalls a day. But that isn’t it.

I was a perfectionist “picker”. After I picked a stall, a human being could sleep in it. I charged a dollar per stall. I would spend sometimes an hour per stall (on the bad ones) for a dollar. It didn’t matter how much I got payed. I think I did it for my sheer love of taking something completely poop ridden and making it beautiful. But then I got paid fifty cents for feeding and fifty cents for taking the horses out to the pen and fifty cents for bring the horse in from the pen. I rarely spent money unless I could convince someone to take me to sonic which I also dreamed about and I would splurge in a cherry limeade and maybe even some mozzarella sticks.

Well, before I knew it I was a wealthy poop picking horse girl, and I had my mom take me to target where I picked out my new bedding. That bedding has stayed on my bed until I just moved my bed here to ABQ. I think it is a little bit tacky now, but when I was 8 I thought it was just gorgeous. I then convinced my dad to paint my room pink…a lovely ballerina pink. I felt so girly in my pink room even though after all, I was a poop picking horse girl.

My point is, when my mind is set I usually do whatever it takes to make what needs to happen happen…even when poop is involved.
I am going to like New Mexico. It is going to happen. Some of you may be in shock.

Wait, you don’t already like New Mexico?

Well…I did….sorda
You see New Mexico isn’t a bad place to visit. There is no humidity. There is a breeze. If you stand in the shade it is at least 10 degrees cooler. We have an adorable apartment that looks out to the mountains and my guapo husband is here. Really, it is fantastic!

But we have lived here four months. It is feeling a lot more like we live here than we are visiting. I don’t know if I fully knew I disliked New Mexico until I found out I was pregnant. Living your life with your husband can really happen anywhere but when raising a family comes into the picture, I got a lot pickier.

Okay….let's just be honest.

I got a lot naggier. I became a nag. It’s true…how gross is that?

The thought of raising my kids in New Mexico just made me want to puke….or wait, maybe the puke thing is just from the smell of last night’s left overs? Goodness, the puke thing could be from any smell. Let’s be honest.

The truth is I just couldn’t imagine having babies in New Mexico. I had always imagined being pregnant and being close to all my friends and family. They would all be around me and grab my stomach all the time. My friends and I would take funny prego photos and my family would be close to help me practice breathing. When I would have cravings I would call a sweet girlfriend, and we would go to Square One and get French onion soup or Free Birds or I would just meet my sister at Chuy’s in Houston, and we would have fajitas and that amazing green dip.

The baby would be born and everyone around it would love it and tell it that it was beautiful (because after all, mom would be close by ready to punch if anything else was said). But if we are honest, how many new borns are beautiful? I’m sure I’ll think mine will be but usually they look like aliens, at least the first month.

I would have a plethora of wise women to call when I don’t know how to nurse or know how to do anything. My mom would be close, Jenn would be close, Sonja would be close, and Heather could be my nursing helper in the middle of the night. Doesn’t she do that? Plus there would be at least a few Aggie Wranglers close by to help me teach the baby dance moves from an early age. If the baby sees other people doing funny dance moves, it will think they are cool and want to do them.

But New Mexico?

The people don’t smile in the grocery store.

No one says Ya’ll.

The food…aye I want to puke again.

I know one really cool mom that is wise.

That is not even close to a plethora.

It is so dry that the boogers in your nose always dry and hurt.

The baby is always going to have dry boogers poor thing.


We are making friends and learning to love people but ya know…it takes time. If people don’t love us, how are they going to love the baby?

My family and friends have to love me and have to love the baby. I’m going to have to have some stranger nurse lady come over in the night when I cry and can’t feed my baby instead of a familiar face…booo.

I could go on. But didn’t I say I was going to love New Mexico?

I am.

I am going to stop thinking about the food or the fact that people don’t smile at me and just start putting more Vaseline in my nose for the dryness.

I have always liked Texas. But what I miss are the people. The community…the comfort I had in the amazingly, precious people around me. When you have that, it doesn’t matter if it is 100 with 99% humidly or if there is crazy traffic.

God called Adam here.

Called me to marry Adam.

Thus, God called me here.

He knew I would fit in better with people who smiled all the time and enjoyed country dancing. But he called me to New Mexico. I have to be happy. I have to support my husband.

I have to apologize to Adam. I apologize for being a complaining nagger. I apologize for not being a help mate. I was like a Nag Mate.

Right now it is uncomfortable. We are still making friends and just picked a church and are those awkward new people that smile a lot and hug people way too fast. But maybe God doesn’t want us comfortable. Maybe he wants us to rely on him and cling together. I’m so social, I think it is very possible for me to cling to my precious girls. But he took me away from all my comfortable, precious friends. I’m here now to cling to my husband and be a light here in New Mexico where it uncomfortable.

I know in time, I’ll love New Mexico. I’m going to start loving it a little more today.