November 2012

With fall quickly coming to an end, we experienced our first snowfall in over two years this November. It was beautiful and we only wish that the fluffy white stuff would have stayed around a little longer. Chris took advantage of the empty streets and went for a long run, I stayed home and baked. It was wonderful. That night Gallup hosted its monthly Arts Crawl and so we braved the cold to check out the work of some local artists. There weren't many people out, which was a shame, because as always there were some incredible pieces out on display.

The rest of the month progressed quickly, as all of them seem to do these days. The only difference was that with the celebration of Thanksgiving, we had a week off from school (both as teachers and as students). It was a chance to get caught up on a lot of work and we were able to squeeze in a little relaxing as well!

The Friday evening before Thanksgiving we treated ourselves to a weekend (overnight) away. About an hour southeast of us lays the town of Ramah, home to El Morro National Monument and more importantly, El Morro Cafe and Cabins. We took advantage of their $100 dinner and cabin special and enjoyed an incredible meal of sesame seed encrusted tuna, mango chutney, stuffed winter squash, and homemade rice pilaf as well as a night in one of the cozy cabins. It was some of the most delicious food that we have eaten in a while. The owner is a wonderful man that shared with us the private trails that climb the mesa behind the cabins and so we got up early the next morning and enjoyed a nice hike before breakfast. 

The trail was still snowy in places and we passed by a 1500 year old Alligator Juniper tree. The trail ended at an old fire tower that was once run by the National Forest Service. We climbed to the top and enjoyed a mountain view in the distance. On our way back for breakfast we explored rocky outcroppings that gave an unobstructed view of New Mexico's natural beauty. With cold feet and rumbling stomachs we returned to the cafe for more wonderful food before heading to El Malpais National Monument, about 15 miles further east.

1500 year old Alligator Juniper

A close up of the Alligator Juniper's bark

"Visitors are requested not to climb" - Oops!

The rock outcropping that we explored the top of

The monument is a vast spread of land that protects the natural beauty that was left after several volcanic explosions thousands of years ago. There are different types of lava flow and numerous caves. While the caves are currently closed due to White Nose Syndrome, we were able to enjoy the trails and check out one of the volcanic cinder cones. Our hike took us to El Calderon, which is believed to have formed 115,000 years ago. Today the cone contains a small forest, but you can imagine what it may have looked like in its active days. We left the cone, sliding down red cinders until we returned to our trail back to the car. It was a wonderful experience and we cannot wait until we have time to go back and explore the area further.

Our red cinder path

The rest of our break, as I mentioned, was mostly filled with work. We took a break on Thanksgiving and ran a turkey trot to help raise funds for the local shelter, Care 66. The race followed a short loop through downtown (three times) and returned to the shelter where we were served fruit and hot chocolate. We waited for our limbs to thaw and then Chris received his first place ribbon. We came home and spent the day relaxing and eating, not turkey but stuffed portabello sandwiches. They were pretty amazing - who says you need to eat turkey on Thanksgiving?

And now we find ourselves in the month of December and only three weeks remaining until Christmas. 2012 is winding down quickly and we are still unsure as to where the year has gone. Just over six months ago we were sweating away in Costa Rica and now we are preparing for the winter chill that will engulf Gallup through March or April.

Hello Fall! Nice to see you again! (October)

Life hasn't slowed down since the last time I sat down to write, in fact it may have gotten busier. The first quarter of the year was wrapped up, we held our first parent teacher conferences, have been out observing other teachers, have been busily reading for grad school, and perhaps squeezing a little bit of fun in here and there.

October flew by, and for me was marked with a much needed trip back to North Carolina to see my best friend Megan get married. Sadly, it didn't seem financially responsible for us both to make the trip, so while I was busy being pampered at the Grove Park Inn Spa, eating chocolaty treats, and playing with some of our adorable nieces, Chris was hard at work here in New Mexico.

My trip was quick and nowhere near restful, yet it was rejuvenating at the same time. OK, you got me, spending a day at the spa was certainly restful, but I was on the go, go, go, trying to get as much as possible crammed into the three days that I was back east.

Thursday: Spa Day, Rehearsal Dinner, and a Chocolaty Bachelorette Bash

Pedicured toes, Ready for walking down the aisle

Enjoying as much chocolate as is humanly possible (in some cases, too much)

Friday: Wedding Day!

Sarah, Melissa and Susie helping Megan get ready

Beautiful fall bouquets

The First Dance

Saturday: A run at DuPont State Park and an afternoon with the girls

Hula Hoop Fun

Goofy Gabby

Mischievous Maddie

September!

Yes, I know, it's the middle of October. But that doesn't mean that nothing happened during the month of September! Life is crazy here between teaching, being grad students, and trying to have lives. Sure, you may think that that is no excuse (and generally, I agree), but sometimes I just want to go to bed at 8:00 and the blog gets put off for another day.

Some exciting things that happened in September:

* I (Tarah) finished reading a book for pleasure, if you know me then this should not be exciting, but considering that I started the book in June it was a very big deal.

* We went running and hiking two weekends in a row! Again, this should not be a big deal if you know us, but this new lifestyle keeps us pretty busy.

* We had a day off of school! Thank you holidays (this also contributed to us being able to go hiking two weekends in a row)!

* Chris ran a half marathon and got first in his age group (though was awarded third since they did not separate out the overall winners in their awards ceremonies)!

Yes, you may consider our lives lame now. 

Here are a couple of photos from those hikes and Chris' race:

Church Rock

The trail leading to Pyramid Rock

Horny Toad

Chris running on Pyramid Rock Trail

Some hoodoos on the way up to Pyramid Rock

The view from Pyramid Rock

Beautiful sunset

Desert flora and Church Rock

Chris running to the finish line of the Squash Blossom Half Marathon

Change of Pace [August]

Our new life in New Mexico has certainly presented us with a change of pace. After two years and some months of working hard to find work, we now have an abundance of it. 

At the beginning of August we squeezed an afternoon of climbing in with friends and then the school year began. Since that time we have been going non-stop - between teaching, planning, attending grad school and studying it is sometimes difficult to find time to breathe (and write blogs). However, we want to ensure you that we are alive and well (in the grand scheme of things)!

Chris, King of the Mountain

We began our teaching careers with a two-day orientation. The first day was a field trip to nearby Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, and then down to Zuni, New Mexico, a local pueblo of (you guessed it) the Zuni people. It was wonderful to explore the museums of these towns and to learn a little more about the people that we now live amongst. We learned about the history of the people (very briefly), saw some beautiful and interesting artifacts, and met some amazing people. The second day of our orientation wasn't nearly as exciting - we sat in informational sessions, had our school email set up, got fingerprinted, and had pictures taken for our ID cards. (But hey, as a result we now get paychecks and have health insurance!)

Window Rock, AZ (Can you guess how it got its name?)

The two-day district orientation was followed by two days at our schools. It was a rush to try and get our classrooms in order during breaks from training sessions at the school. I had the additional benefit of having a meet and greet with some of my students in the midst of trying to get myself organized. We both ended up back at school over the weekend and did the best we could to be ready for our students first thing Monday morning.

For those that do not know, Chris is teaching 5th grade in a community just outside of Gallup and I am teaching kindergarten in town. It's amazing how similar students from these different age groups can be, but how different our expectations are as a result of their ages. As a result, life is challenging at times, as was expected, but we keep pushing through.

We are taking two graduate classes this semester and so when we aren't busy trying to figure out how to teach, we are busy remembering how to be students. Thankfully our classes are there to help us become better teachers and our classmates and professor are pretty awesome. It is great to have our thinking challenged and to be made to evaluate the decisions that we have made to become teachers.

Don't worry though, it's not all work. We try to carve out a little bit of time to play as well. We attempt to get together with friends on Friday evenings to decompress at the end of the week. Most of our friends here are also teachers, so we are able to support and problem solve with one another - and eat good food, play games, and spend time outdoors.

So long for now, there's more work to do. Don't worry though, we'll be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

July [a whirlwind of travel, fun and adventure]

August is already here. It's hard to believe that school will be starting soon and that our summer adventures will be coming to a close very, very soon (read two days ago). We took full advantage of July, visiting three National Park sites and six different states. We visited with friends in Nebraska and Wyoming. Went to a rodeo (thanks again Julie and Rob!). Did a little shopping and enjoyed some cool (very cold at times) mountain air.

Here's a peek into our July:

El Morro National Monument, 

Ramah, NM

El Morro is located about an hour south of our new home. We had talked about making a trip out there and then it spontaneously happened one morning after a run. We had almost a full tank of gas, no other plans for the day and a dirt road that seamed to be heading in the right direction ahead of us. We drove past the "WARNING: PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. ROAD NOT MAINTAINED BEYOND THIS POINT" sign and made it to Ramah without incident. Granted, we'll take the paved road in the future, but sometimes the best adventures are unplanned.

This historic landmark was a place of relief for travelers making their way west. From the early Americans to Spanish conquistadors El Morro was the place to stop for a break from the desert sun and a drink of cool water. Passersby marked their presence by carving their names and stories into the smooth stone walls. We happened to talk to a park ranger who actually had ancestors who had carved their names into the rock. We crossed paths on the trail and he happily pointed the names out to us! Just another reason to love our National Park Rangers!

Petrified Forest National Park, 

Apache, AZ

Petrified Forest is another pretty awesome location located an hour away from our lovely new home in Gallup. This time we had to travel west into our lovely neighboring state of Arizona. This adventure was planned with an annual National Parks pass in hand and a longing to be reunited with our tent after too many years without it.

The petrified forest is not a forest (just wanted to point that out - a ranger told us of a disappointed visitor that demanded his money back after a drive through the park because he did not see a forest anywhere nearby). In some ways it is much cooler than a forest. Billions of years ago the earth looked much different. What is now desert in the southwest was once a tropical forest. Then things changed. The earth's plates shifted, mountains formed, and those tropical forests were quickly covered up. After an unknown period of time in the right conditions (pressure, minerals... think about the formation of diamonds) the lovely trees of said forests became stone (or petrified). The National Park protects the remaining bits of petrified wood to the best of its ability. Unfortunately visitors still carry about one ton of this precious material out of the park each year. Instead of leaving it behind for future generations to enjoy they want free souvenirs or to make a profit by tumbling the stone and selling the beautiful end product. 

One of added benefits to visiting Petrified Forest (aside from seeing science at work, taking in the painted desert, and listening to fun ranger talks) was that we were able to camp for free in the back country! The requirements are simple - register and then hike at least a mile away from your designated parking location to a place where you cannot be viewed from the road. No problem! We had a lovely afternoon exploring the parts of the park that most visitors do not see and had a peaceful sunset tucked in a little canyon.

Rocky Mountain National Park, 

Estes Park, CO

Rocky Mountain National Park is a national treasure indeed. It is a place that we have visited twice, yet have not yet had ample time to explore. There are an abundance of hiking trails that are calling our names, yet we have hiked few. In a lot of places that would drive us crazy. However, even from a car this National Park can steal your heart. The landscape is incredible. The animals are amazing. And, while we didn't talk to any of them this time around the park rangers are full of interesting information that makes you excited about learning new things.

This trip we were able to drive along Old Fall River Road with Chris' parents. Along the way we spotted several marmots out sunning themselves (and seemingly posing for photos), some young fawns, gorgeous wild flowers, and determined bicyclists. Once at the top we checked out the views and then headed back into Estes Park for the most important event of the day...

Sarah and James Get Married, 

Estes Park, CO

After our lovely drive through Rocky Mountain National Park we spent the afternoon and evening welcoming James into the Hall family. Sarah and James chose an amazing location on the outskirts of the park and had one of the most beautiful backgrounds that you could imagine. The event was made complete with the mooing of cows in the pasture between the ceremony and the mountains and a coyote catching rabbits (which Sarah saw at the beginning of the ceremony). 

We were so glad to be able to join in the celebration of their marriage and to continue celebrating with them the following Saturday in Ogallala.

The Reception, 

Haythorn Ranch, Arthur, NE

The reception was beautiful and was held at the Haythorn Ranch (which was established in 1884!) in the sand hills of Nebraska. It was an opportunity for friends and family alike to eat delicious home cooked food, dance as much as they wanted, and to enjoy wonderful cake (of course!). 

Henry Doorly Zoo,

Omaha, NE

For us the party continued at Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. We are agreed that it is one of the most amazing zoos on earth. With the aquarium, desert dome, rainforest, butterfly garden, swamp, gorilla house, Madagascar center, and sky tram it is more than anyone could ask for. Notice how I didn't mention the big cats, lemurs, and other amazing displays that they also have? That's because everything is so intriguing that you lose track of time and before you know it the day is done and the zoo is closing. (We also didn't get there until lunchtime, but we still wouldn't have had enough time to do it all. Our advice, plan two days!)

We decided to hop on the sky tram on this trip because it would provide a little bit of shade, be a new adventure, and give us a different perspective of the zoo. We were able to spot leopards that were hiding in the shade and out of other visitor's line of vision, flew over the heads of giraffes and ostriches, and had a bird's eye view of the rhinos. It was a real treat! (You should go, really!)

After the zoo we were able to spend the evening with our friends Jeremy and Kim who have just relocated to Omaha. We went out for delicious food and then made some delightful chocolate cherry almond chocolate chunk ice cream. You can have fun ice cream flavors like that with a little elbow grease. It's worth it, I promise!

The next day we continued our journey in eastern Nebraska to meet...

Baby Alice Hall, July 24, 2012

Blair, NE

Our newest niece (and the first Hall niece) was born in the wee hours of July 24. We received a call on our drive to the zoo that Heather was in labor and we awaited news all the day long to see if Alice had joined us in this world. We went to bed that night without a new family member, but had texts awaiting us in the morning when we woke up. 

We were excited to be in the area to meet this precious one since we have missed the births of our last three nieces and weren't sure when we would be able to make it to eastern Nebraska again. We spent a couple of hours cuddling this little beauty before we had to head back west for the next adventure.

Speedgoat 50k,

Snowbird, UT

Our final adventure for the month had us in Utah where Chris ran his first stateside ultra marathon. He chose a doozy of a race, one that the race director himself calls a nightmare. It is also called "a real mountain race" and that it is. I joyfully enjoyed this race from the top of Hidden Peak, watching runners as they pushed off of their knees for added momentum during climbs. 

Chris completed the 50k in about eight and a half hours, but I'll let him tell you more about that when he has time. It was an adventure that is not to be forgotten any time i the near future.

*****

It makes me tired just thinking about our last two weeks in July. That's right. All of the above adventures took place in just two weeks. Talk about getting the biggest bang for your buck!

School starts Monday, so stay tuned for A WHOLE NEW ADVENTURE. This time in teaching!

reading list

One of the few constants during our Peace Corps service was reading. We were both voracious readers before landing in Costa Rica and that didn't change once we set foot in Ticolandia. We both read a wide variety of books both in English and in Spanish.

During the past twenty-seven months we discovered new authors (Vonnegut & Toole) and reread favorites (The Last Season, anything by Kingsolver). We took advantage of the Peace Corps Volunteer library in San Jose while we were in service and upon our departure asked for suggestions from our friends and left with a suitcase full of Costa Rican literature. 

Here's a summary of what we read while living in the world of pura vida:

Tarah's Numbers:
Total Books: 88 Fiction: 72 Non-Fiction: 16 Spanish: 19

Chris's Numbers:
Total Books: 63 Fiction: 16 Non-Fiction: 47 Spanish: 21

• Desert Solitaire** - Abbey (C&T)
• Reservation Blues - Alexie (T)
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Alexie (C&T)
• The Toughest Indian in the World - Alexie (C&T)
• In the Time of the Butterflies - Alvarez (T&C)
• The Last Season** - Blehm (C&T)
• Don't Sweat the Small Stuff** - Carlson (T)
• Through the Looking Glass - Carroll (T)
• Don Quijote de la Mancha, I* - Cervantes (C)
• Don Quijote de la Mancha, II* - Cervantes (C)
• La Casa en Mango Street* - Cisneros (T)
• El Perseguidor* - Cortázar (T&C)
• Maggie, Una Chica de la Calle* - Crane (T&C)
• Lakota Woman** - Crow Dog (T&C)
• El Dia de la Venganza* - Daniels (T)
• Diario del año de la peste* - Defoe (C)
• Robinson Crusoe - Defoe (C&T)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Díaz (C&T)
• The Sign of the Four - Doyle (T)
• A Study in Scarlet - Doyle (T)
• La Bahía de las Corrientes Irisadas* - Efremov (C)
• Mamita Yunai* - Fallas (C&T)
• Marcos Ramírez* - Fallas (C&T)
• El Gran Gatsby* - Fitzgerald (C&T)
• Everything is Illuminated - Foer (T)
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Foer (T&C)
• The Pillars of the Earth - Follett (T)
• World Without End - Follett (T)
• Cold Mountain - Frazier (T)
• La caída del águila* - Gagini (C&T)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude - Garcia Marquez (T)
• Eat, Pray, Love** - Gilbert (T)
• The Tipping Point - Gladwell (T&C)
• Un Amante Italiano* - Gordon (C&T)
• The Other Boleyn Girl - Gregory (T)
• Wideacre - Gregory (T)
• La Hoja de Aire - Gutiérrez (C)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Haddon (T&C)
• Stranger in the Forest** - Hansen (C&T)
• Luna de Miel con el Jefe* - Hart (T)
• A Farewell to Arms - Hemingway (C)
• A Widow for One Year - Irving (T)
• The Murder Room - James (T)
• The Dharma Bums - Kerouac (C&T)
• Fear and Trembling - Kierkegaard (C)
• Animal Dreams - Kinsolver (T)
• The Bean Trees - Kingsolver (T)
• Homeland and Other Stories - Kingsolver (T)
• The Lacuna- Kingsolver (T)
• Pigs in Heaven - Kingsolver (T)
• The Poisonwood Bible - Kingsolver (T&C)
• Prodigal Summer - Kingsolver (T)
• Where Men Win Glory **- Krakauer (C&T)
• The Hour I First Believed - Lamb (T)
• A Sand County Almanac** - Leopold (C&T)
• Mere Christianity - Lewis (T&C)
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Lewycka (C&T)
• Call of the Wild - London (T&C)
• El Silencio Blanco* - London (C)
• Cuentos de mi tía Panchita* - Lyra (T&C)
• Young Men and Fire** - Maclean (C)
• Son of a Witch - Maguire (T)
• La Muerte en Venecia* - Mann (C&T)
• Siempre dama de honor* - Marsh (T)
• Angela's Ashes** - McCourt (T)
• Atrapados en el Ayer* - McCusker (T)
• The Expected One - McGowan (T)
• Misión en Venus y otros cuentos* - McIntosh (C)
• Un Magnate Aventurero* - McMahon (T)
• Moby Dick - Melville (C)
• Breaking Dawn - Meyer (T 2x)
• Crepúsculo* - Meyer (T)
• Blue Like Jazz** - Miller (T&C)
• Never Cry Wolf** - Mowat (C&T)
• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running** - Murakami (C&T)
• Worldwalk** - Newman (C&T)
• The Time Traveler's Wife - Niffenegger (T)
• Cuentos de amor, de locura y de muerte* - Quiroga (C)
• Atlas Shrugged - Rand (T)
• Biografía de Costa Rica* ** - Rodríguez Vega (C)
• The Catcher in the Rye - Salinger (C&T)
• Franny and Zooey - Salinger (T)
• Push - Sapphire (C&T)
• Naked** - Sedaris (T&C)
• When You are Engulfed in Flames** - Sedaris (C&T)
• The Bookseller of Kabul** - Seierstad (T&C)
• Donde Viven Los Monstruos* - Sendak (C&T)
• Juevos Verdes con Jamon* - Seuss (C&T)
• Vox - Silva (T)
• The Confusion - Stephenson (T)
• Quicksilver - Stephenson (T)
• Tormenta Silenciosa* - Stevens (T)
• Ana Karenina - Tolstoy (T)
• A Confederacy of Dunces - Toole (C&T)
• The Neon Bible - Toole (C&T)
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Twain (C&T)
• The Indian Frontier of the American West 1846-1890** - Utley (C)
• Around the World in 80 Days - Verne (C&T)
• Su Unico Amor* - Way (T)
• El Bacilo Robado y otros cuentos* - Wells (C)
• Slaughterhouse-Five - Vonnegut Jr. (C&T)
• Breakfast of Champions - Vonnegut Jr. (C&T)
• Aesop's Fables (C&T)
• Costa Rica A Traveler's Literary Companion (T&C)
• The Gospel of Matthew (C)
• Simbad el Marino* (C)
• * Spanish
• ** Nonfiction

If you want to know what we enjoyed the most, let us know! We'd be more than happy to suggest a title.

June [moving, travelling, settling]

The weeks since we have returned from Costa Rica have kind of flown by. We've rushed around to find a place to live, to visit family and friends, and to explore New Mexico. June was a month that kept us on our toes, had us in seven or eight different states, and saw us starting to get settled into life in the US of A once more.

The month started with us hanging out at a new friend, Emily's, until our apartment complex finished some last minute repairs on the unit that we had rented. We moved in on the fifth and shortly thereafter flew to North Carolina so that we could start the process of moving our belongings across the country to make our new house a home.

Our time in North Carolina was a whirlwind. We were fortunate to see my family, including grandparents and some aunts and uncles. It was wonderful to see all of our nieces and finally meet Madelyn and Gabriella, who were both born while we were in Costa Rica. They were more than happy to tire us out with dance performances, music lessons, and games of chase. In the midst of family time we managed to squeeze in some time with friends from both our AmeriCorps days and Peace Corps days. 

While trying to get people time in, we also had to squeeze in some packing time. We sorted through endless tubs in my parents' basement, took trips to Goodwill, threw stuff out that managed to sneak onto the moving truck from Maine once upon a time, and eventually loaded up our truck that was New Mexico bound.

When we arrived in New Mexico we found that the tubs really were endless as a couple had stayed in North Carolina. Most notably, the tub with almost all of our kitchen supplies - pots, pans, lids, corkscrews. Thankfully we have understanding parents. My mom and dad sorted through stuff and pulled out the brand new set of pots and pans that we had purchased shortly before leaving Maine and shipped them to us. 

We have managed to mostly settle in now and are enjoying Gallup. The town is pretty happening in the summer. There are Indian Dances every evening from Memorial Day to Labor Day. There are free movies at the city library every Wednesday evening. The second Saturday of every month there is an arts crawl in downtown. Most nights of the week there are softball games in the park behind out apartment complex (we've even managed to be roped into playing with some of our friends on occasion when subs are needed). There are great trail systems nearby.

It's been crazy. We're already quickly approaching the end of July and still have a lot left on our summer to do list. School (grad school and teaching) starts in August, so we'd better get a move on it!

*Note: in the process of moving from Costa Rica to New Mexico our computer got stressed out and decided to quit working. Therefore posts will be infrequent until we get new computers ordered (hopefully in a couple of weeks). They will also lack photos. Sorry about that; just wanted to let everyone know we are alive and well and still taking the world by storm!