it's good to be back

hello readers. hope you are all having the most splendid of evenings. this year is flying by so fast. i cannot believe it's almost july already. brendan and i have been married for almost 6 months already. feels like just yesterday when we were at the courthouse. regardless of time flying, everything is going perfect. i got to spend a wonderful long weekend last week up in the gila wilderness with an excellent group of friends and family(3.3 million acres of national forest). must i say now, that it was the most beautiful and the most exciting camping trip i have ever been on. i'm not much of a camper. i more of a cottager. but gila changed my mind about camping. actually, it changed my mind on living in a world consumed with products and money. we are such a selfish society. it's unbelievable. i would love to learn to live simply. driving away from gila pulled at my emotions so much. (even made me cry a little) 99% of my being wanted to just stay and learn to live a simple, close life with my husband. we as a society of people are such consumers and it disgusts me. someday, i will live off a few necessities and learn to appreciate life without a consumer society. it was a beautiful trip. i want to go back now. but patience will just have to do. here are some photos of proof how beautiful it really is.

1) the cliffs that surrounded our campsite

2) overall beauty of gila national forest

3) the incredible sky on our first rainy day there

4) our humble abode for 5 days

5) we had to cross a river to get to our campsite

6) you can "bearly" see him, but he's was there, 20 yards from our campsite

7) the absolutely beautiful hike to the indian cliff dwellings

8) our family for the long weekend

i have a ton of pictures from the trip, but these are the most memorable and the best of the best. well that's really all i have to update on. life is just cruising on now. miss everyone terribly (as always). i have to hit the sheets. love you all mucho.

an anticipated update?

hey everyone. i have been slacking terribly on the blog. i apologize. life is just moving right along. i cannot believe how fast this year has gone already. it's already june? where did march, april and may go? other than the year moving far too quickly, brendan and i have been looking into school. there is this little technical school called western tech. we're very interested. classes start in july or september if we could attend. brendan is looking at HVAC and i'm definitely interesting in health information technology. (billing and coding). we are anticipating that. brendan is in the middle of working on getting his GED so he can get a great job someday. he found a work program that is able to give him his GED testing for free. so that's a blessing.

a few days ago we went to the only lake within the area for a little fishing. the lake is actually right across the highway from the border. it's still quite the culture shock, but pretty cool. unfortunately we didn't catch any fish. (not even any bites!) but, we did catch these big guys on the poles...























































yes yes yes, a total of 3 gargantuan frogs. i have never seen frogs this big. in fact, they're still in our bathtub to this day. they've even laid eggs in the bathtub. it makes showering a bit complicated but we make it work. poor guys are probably hungry. i think they're kinda gross because sometimes they get out of the bathtub and wander around the house. ew.

other than the froggy adventures, we're also going camping in the wilderness for 4 days/3 nights. we're leaving on saturday to go on a mountain adventure with friends and family to gila national forest. gila is approximately 4 hours away and there is no water or bathrooms or anything. it should be thrilling. this week is taking so long because i'm looking forward to camping. here's an image of what it will probably be like there...

























i think it will be a beautiful adventure and i'm greatly looking forward to it. well everyone, that's about it today, i don't have much else to write. keep me updated on your lives better than i do with mine. love you and miss you all.

i have a new doggy friend

introducing to you.
CHANCE.
he's a 6.5 month old boxer/german shepherd mix.
we got him for free because his previous family was moving.
he's a big boy already.
a big baby.
he's great with the kids and is learning to get along with the other dogs.
the cat...not at all.
he's taken a great liking to brendan. (as you can see by this video - brendan had just left)



but that's okay, then i won't forget about tuna.
here's a few pictures.

"let's jog! this only happens once a year!"

yesterday is a day worth writing about. since brendan and i moved to texas, we haven't seen an ounce of water. we were blessed with the most beautiful thunderstorm on 5-22-09. i have never been more thrilled to see sheets of rain coming from the sky. talk about something that makes your day. literally, it happens just a few times during the year. to observe all of the kids in the neighborhood coming out of their houses and playing in the rain is truly a sight. i think i saw some neighbors i have never seen before. of course, i had to go have some fun in the rain as well. the city of el paso has an interesting drainage system. i would hate to see what the city looked like after 3 days of heavy rain. it would be the next atlantis! i can say at this point in my post that i was driving through deep curb puddles in my car pretending i was in a boat. yes, i miss water tremendously. i had an absolute blast playing in puddles too. the smell of rain is something that can't be replaced with anything else. it brings such joy to the soul. the pounding of thunder and the zap of lighting are the most excellent. i overheard a neighbor kid say as he was jumping in puddles "let's jog! this only happens once a year!" i love rain and i wish it would show its face more often. such beauty in weather form. my favorite. but alas, we're back to average el paso weather today. sunny and hot. can't wait for winter here, it's going to be amazing. i am not going to miss the snow. (ok, maybe a little bit...especially around christmas when it's sunny and warm.) that's all folks. just thought i'd share my blessing in disguise.

it's possible

that i just forgot to blog for a long time. sorry readers. i've been really bad at this technology thing. that and i've been addicted to the facebook application "farm town". pathetic? yes.





















the weather has been wonderful here in el paso, tx. the past 2 days it has been cloudy and it's a nice change. we successfully have a pool in the backyard and a wonderful patio set. the pool is great because it's so hot here. i miss lake michigan and mclaren lake tremendously. i'm really excited to spend winter here though. no snow! that makes my heart happy.

this has been a week of homesickness. i really miss having a lot of close friends in close proximity. you are all missed terribly. if you know my brother, tell him congrats on graduating and getting into the merchant marine academy. i'm a very proud big sister. he's no longer my little brother, he is my younger brother. i wish him the best of luck.

brendan is doing well, just keeping busy with mechanics stuff. he has been doing a little research on a school down here. it's call western tech. he learned about it through a friend of ours. apparently they provide a GED test at the school while you're attending. he is looking into auto mechanics. which is sweet. i hope he goes for it.

anyway, i'm going to go. the playstation 3 just got fixed and i want to watch some good old videojuegos. love you all very very much.

sorry for the lost blog time. i promise to keep it up.

wow wow wow

coming from michigan to texas was a huge change. a spectacular change. except my michigan body isn't used to it being 100 degrees in may. the temperatures here are exceeding my expectations. i knew it would be hot, but i didn't know it would be scorching. it's quite funny because my arm that is out my driver's side window is much tanner than the other. and i have a farmers tan too, which is awkward. i can't wait to get a pool to dip into in the summer here. it'll be a refreshing relief. (and a semi-even tan.) every time i step outside in the morning and afternoon i feel as though my skin is instantly burning. that can't be healthy. on a good note though, the sunsets here are the most spectacular that i have ever seen. i mean come on, you can't get much better than this.






















absolutely breathtaking if you ask me. with the mountains as a backdrop to most sunsets, makes el paso one of the most beautifully photographed landscapes.

i had a lot of fun this week. brendan and i sought out an adventure last week wednesday. we started exploring the mountains in the area. came across a really cool state park, but we didn't have any cash to get in. so we decided to look elsewhere for a free hiking adventure. if you know me by any means, i'm not a hiker. i'm a hiking whiner. but it really tickled my fancy and i decided to get over myself and take a hike. we went on the lookout for a crashed B36 fighter jet which was supposedly where we were hiking. after some research online, we found that we were in the right area but just didn't find it. lame. we will go back and find it. here are some photos from our hike up the mountain. it was beautiful.







































































it was fabulous. beside the giant open sore that i have on my ankle from crappy hiking shoes, it couldn't have been more fun. more adventures to come in the hiking department.

on the last note, there are creepy spiders in the desert. if you run a RV generator, it really disturbs their peace. check these nasty things out. they're called camel spiders. disgusting. here's the wiki link if you want to read about them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_Spiders

gross. really gross.


















they're very fast and very gross.

that's all for this wonderful evening. take care ladies and gents.

becoming domestic

being domestic is fun. i'm going to randomly post some recipes that i have tried and have worked on my blog. they're fun and tasty. i mean really, you're talking to someone that really loves food.

tonight i went out on a baking adventure and tracked down my FAVORITE peanut butter bar recipe. [thank you mother for the recipe book full of wondeful food!] for anyone with a sweet tooth, i recommend these. they are phenomenal. they make a person's life a bit better.













dig your sweet tooth into these. delicious!

here's the recipe if you would like to indulge.

Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 . butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. flour
1/2 c. quick cooking oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Icing
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp. milk

INSTRUCTIONS

Cream butter, sugars, and peanut butter in a bowl. Add egg and vanilla. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Spread into a greased 9X13 inch pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minute or until lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes. Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over bars.

Note: Add the milk to the icing a little at a time and make sure to stir all ingredients well.


ENJOY, I know I do.