Summer So Far...Part 2 of 2

Here's the second batch:

July - 4th of July parade in Show Low, Jordan & Logan carried the sign for the AZ Rangers and Tim's dad was on the horse on the left, fireworks are set off on Cinder Mtn. right out the front door, we went to Club 61, a local eatery, to help celebrate a friend of the family's bday. About 7 people showed up w/guitars and played old cowboy songs together (very old west), Tim & Logan played with them. Then we have our friends' wedding, Gabe & Steph. The shots of us, Tim's parents & Logan are from the wedding, then there's an amazing sunset, a hummingbird (they live in the bushes behind the house), a rainbow that we could see end to end, our cat, wildlife on the side of the road in Springerville, and a closeup shot of a dragonfly I took - looks like a science book photo.

Photos of my summer so far...Part 1 of 2

I never know what order the pictures will load to my blog but here a rundown of what I posted:

New House - my industrial stove, my private living room & kitchen (there's a family room w/a fireplace in a common area), the hall w/5 bedrooms off it where the kids are, Tim & I are in the in-law apt., just the 2 of us, it's great!, and the "atrium", it's a room with 3 glass walls and it's our classroom, scrapbooking room and dining room.

June - Jordan at Lyman lake, my friends Moni & Gloria when they came up to visit, Tim & me on Cinder Mtn. on his bday, the lavender farm, and Mom's Red Hats float in the Concho parade

May - me & Tim the night before moving, my bible study friends when we had tea together one last time, my cousin Melody had a baby girl named Lexi, my family (at work), and Logan's baptism that he had both our pastor and Tim officiate.

Concho's 5 Senses - Part 1: Smells

This is part 1 of 5 in a series. I want to remember what it was like when moving to Concho was new. The first of the 5 senses I'll blog about is the sense of smell here:

The new smells here I enjoy:

1. The smell of rain coming, it's not a wet cement or metallic smell like in Phoenix, it smells like water on fresh dirt, a real earthy, natural smell.

2. The smell of plants here, from wildflowers, the garden, and juniper bushes. They have a unique smell when carried on the cool breezes up here.

3. The smell of fresh-cut grass when they're maintaining the golf course here. I haven't smelled the same smell since we lived in NH. In the valley, fresh cut grass was hot and dry and didn't bring back memories of being brought up in the country at my grandmother's house on weekends and during the summer, but in Concho, it does.

4. The smell of wood. We live in a big house with wood shingles, and since part of it used to be outside before it was enclosed (by the previous owner), there's a casual faint wood smell in the house.

5. The smell of fires. Don't get me wrong, this isn't an alarming smell of an apartment building on fire. There's control burns around the woods up here in the mountains and when the wind shifts our way, it's like a campfire smell. Again, it stirs lots of happy memories.

6. The smell of fresh produce. At the local farmer's market, at the health-food store, and even in the Safeway grocery store, the produce smells amazingly good. It's not a dull, waxy, unripened smell like other grocery stores (even back east). The melons, peaches, fresh peas, they all smell like they were just picked. Having grown up with a garden both at home and at my grandparents, there's a certain standard produce should uphold. Today's foods are sadly lacking from what they were 2 generations ago.

7. The smell of the gas/oil when Tim & I ride the quad. Okay, so this isn't a real "girlie" smell, but I love it anyway. It reminds me of good times with my Honey.

8. The smell of the wind. It's clean, unpolluted and natural. There's nothing like it in the Phoenix area.

9. The smells from my my kitchen. I didn't have time to cook every day like I do here. I love my new stainless steel, industrial kitchen stove. I waited for 18 years to have a gas stove again (hate cooking on electric). I love to cook, and I may even learn to enjoy baking while I'm here. In the winter, we get to try out the huge griddle that makes up half my stovetop. It's just too hot and stays hot too long to use in the summer. I'll be able to make 20 french toast at a time!

10. The smells I'm introducing to the house. I've got room and proper ventilation to finally light scented candles, try making homemade potpourri's, warm herbs and spices on the stove, etc. I couldn't do that in the downstairs of a 1000sf condo. 500 feet is just not enough space, anything I tried was overwhelming, but here, it works.

Stay tuned for part 2: sense of sight

Summer in Concho

I'm so glad we were able to move during the summer. I'll have plenty of time to adjust before we have to be in the thick of the school year. This year, I've got 2 in high school and one in Jr. High...my journey will be over soon. Then what will I do?

Local color here? We went to a friend of the family's bday party recently where we sat in a fairly small room and about 7 or 8 people brought guitars and a fiddle to play OLD country songs...like Roger Whittaker, folk songs, and something that ended with a cowboy yodeling. Very different from my normal city life, but I can appreciate the flavor of the old west that still runs strong around here. It's like being on vacation and seeing new sights, taking in the local atmosphere. It was more fun than I expected.

Then we went to a friend's wedding. He and his fiancee lived in the valley when we met them, now we both live up here about 40 minutes apart. It was at a cute church where the preacher has a strong Texas accent. Then the reception was back at the house among pine and oak trees - haven't seen those in a while! It was outdoors and it'd rained pretty hard while we were all at the church, but everyone pitched in and wiped tables, wiped chairs, put out tablecloths, lit the candles and cooked the food.
It turned out chilly but very pretty in the end. The food was all stuff everyone brought and there was more than enough. The bride was beautiful, the groom looked so happy and wide-eyed the whole night, and they have a little girl who was absolutely adorable and very well behaved.

This morning we tried a new church. It reminds me of our old church in Rochester, NH. It's small, and there's a mix of jeans and dresses (along with suits from 1972), and even cowboy getup. We'll try it again.

Up here, there's old people and very young families with kids under 7, so the gap in between happens to be our age group. Hopefully, we'll make some friends closer to our age. The 2 younger kids have found a few friends, but not our 16 year old hermit. Maybe when he gets a job in a few weeks he'll make a few.

Anyway, Aug. 16th we start our normal routine back up WITHOUT JOBS so it should be a smooth, wonderful year. I'm so excited that Tim will be around every day and he'll have weekends and holidays to improve the closeness of our family relationships.

I love being Self-Employed!!!