Disclaimer: This post will be a little vague, but someday, I will fill in all the blanks. The ambiguous version is that these past few months, J has had a pretty serious medical issue related to his lifelong Crohn’s disease (yes, even when he was climbing mountains). Part of resolving the issue happened recently. Together…
Last Saturday was my 20th high school reunion. 20 years! I graduated high school 20 years ago. Inconceivable. But I digress. I didn’t love high school. Our nephew just started high school and I worry for him. If I had to repeat high school–especially in this day and age–I would have pigeon-sized butterflies swimming in…
Once upon a time, I told Justin that my 20-year high school reunion (more on that in another post) was taking place in New Jersey the week of his birthday and I really wanted to go. Not only did I want him to accompany me to the reunion, I didn’t want to leave him for…
Today, Justin turns 40. My first impression of J was that he was “so cool.” His smile won me over almost immediately … and it still does. Even though we are going on 10 years married (Oct. 28), I am not surprised I fall deeper and deeper in love with Justin as every year passes.…
If there is one thing we’ve learned about living in New Mexico, it is that there is no shortage of outdoor opportunities. However, our fall teaching schedule has been a little busier than our springtime teaching schedule was–especially with some weekend work–so escaping has been more difficult. The good news is, Santa Fe National Forest…
Currently living/working in: Teaching kids environmental education at Fenton Ranch in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. We’ve finished up the fifth and fourth graders and have moved onto our last unit with second graders! This season goes lightening-fast! I’ve taken the kids wading in our backyard creek about 15 times this season! This is a…
Sorry for the radio silence around here! Turns out this working thing is really, really time-consuming. I know you just cursed my name since we typically only work 6 months out of the year, but my defense is that our environmental educator role at Fenton Ranch has us going pretty much nonstop from Monday at…
We bagged our 40th state high point this past weekend: New Mexico’s Wheeler Peak at 13,161 feet. We had planned to do this one last spring when we were living and working here, but the trail was snow-covered through May. With that in mind, we didn’t want to wait too long this fall, as winter…
Currently living/working in: We roadtripped most of August, and are now settled back at Fenton Ranch in New Mexico, where we will again teach kids environmental education through October! Current mood: Content to be back to work at Fenton. We both really love our roles at Fenton, working with our boss, Jamie, and living in the Jemez…
This week on August 25, 2016, the National Parks Service turned 100!! Visiting National Parks is something J and I have done … a lot. We’ve been to 37 of the 59 parks (yes, we are keeping track) and dozens of the monuments. And as America celebrates this centennial anniversary of the day President Woodrow…
I celebrated my 38th birthday this weekend. Typically I am not a “birthday” celebration kind of gal. To me, it’s just another day. But J and his sisters love celebrating birthdays and making a big deal, so since we have so much family in Denver, it was par for the course. J asked me what…
We hit another high point, this one 10,000 feet lower than our last on King’s Peak: White Butte, North Dakota at 3,506 feet. North Dakota marks our 38th high point. We’ve been pretty impressed with ourselves for having such a “high” number. However, this past weekend, we attended the annual “Highpointer Convention” (yes, it is…
J & I hit our 37th high point, King’s Peak in Utah, at 13,528 feet!! I’m ecstatic for 2 reasons. Number one, this is the highest I’ve been since my pulmonary embolism in 2013. I have always struggled at altitude, but ever since my PE, my lungs struggle just a little bit more, sadly. We…
J & I spent Wednesday through Saturday in Salt Lake City at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Show. I mentioned this already, but this is the largest trade show for outdoor brands to showcase their newest products, geared toward every outdoor enthusiast, from backpackers to rock climbers to paddlers to much more, of the spring/summer 2017.…
Guys, you came up with some incredible names for our 1995 Chevy G30 Roadtrek Popular 210. We are incredibly indecisive people, so you actually made it even harder for us to choose “the one,” especially with 34 suggestions! But, after many sleepless nights (kidding), we finally picked a name. In no particular order, here are…
Currently living/working in: We roadtripped most of July, with a few days on either end in Denver. Somehow, I squeezed in a bunch of writing projects and J found some gems in our storage units to sell off. But in August, we will be returning to our contract job at Fenton Ranch in New Mexico, where…
We took our new-to-us Roadtrek on its first 4,000-mile test trip from Colorado to the East Coast (specifically Virginia and New Jersey) and back to Colorado. You know, just a little spin around America. We had a few purposes, mainly to visit our family, friends and Virginia storage unit. But we also wanted to see…
Exciting news folks!!!!!! We said goodbye to Big Bird (our beloved yellow Subaru Baja) last week and welcomed a 1995 Chevy G30 Roadtrek Popular 210 into our family! Ever since we have been spoiled by a decked out Sprinter van thanks to our Backpacker job in 2013, we have been sold on the idea of living…
This past weekend, we explored the highly acclaimed Wind River Range in Bridger National Forest in Wyoming. We hijacked a pre-planned trip with J’s sis, Jamie, and her wifey, Rachel. The short story is that we backpacked 40 miles in 3 days and every mile and every minute lived up to its reputation. But I…
My month-long writer residency at Elsewhere Studios wrapped up what seems to be ages ago (May 30) and once again I thought I’d give you a long overdue post with some quick and dirty stats. While my book is currently collecting dust, I made major progress during my “artist in residence” program at at Elsewhere…