Sedona
Jarid and I spent a much needed night (sans kiddos) in Sedona last weekend. It was amazing. I hesitate to say that it was beautiful, because when you grew up in Montana, nothing compares. However, the place we stayed was so reminicent of Montana. Let me tell you, friends, that it could have been nestled right on the Gallatin River in the canyon. We fell asleep to the sound of Oak Creek babbling it’s way down the canyon. Truly heavenly. The only thing better would have been actually being on the Gallatin River.
I ate my first trout, caught fresh from the creek. I think I’m hooked. (Sad that I grew up in Montana and never ate trout, eh?) Fishing and eating fish may be added to the growing list of my obsessions. 
We also went hiking in Red Rock State Park. As you can see in the pictures below, parts of it were very Montana-esque.
A one-night stay was not nearly long enough. Rest assured, we will be going back soon. An open invitation stands for anyone who would like to join us…the condo-on-the-river could certainly accommodate a few more people.
Thank you, baby, for orchestrating such a wonderful weekend. I’ll take a weekend in Sedona any day over a stay at the Marriott.
*I apologize for the picture quality. Some were taken on my cell phone, the rest on our video camera…the good camera is in the shop, STILL.*
Confirmation
It’s nice to have tangible evidence that moving to the hottest place on earth was worth it. We just got confirmation. This fall, the junior colleges around here will be blessed with Jarid’s presence for some games!!! This is pretty big…a major stepping stone.
Woo hoo!
Progress, Basketball, and Sweat
So, we’ve been doing the gluten/casein free thing for about 5-6 weeks now. I think? I really don’t think I can put into words how much of a difference it has made for all of us. Though Jarid, Kaiya, and myself aren’t strictly gfcf, I cook all of our meals that way because it’s too exhausting to even think about cooking two separate dishes for each meal. Anyway, for Benjamin, he has so much more clarity of mind, he’s much more confident, he is able to make fewer rash decisions, his behavior has improved immensely, and his comprehension level has shot through the roof. Suddenly, I have a child who can write his name with almost no help. He even tried to write the word tornado the other day. I have a child who went from not wanting to jump into the pool when daddy is right there, to a child who will run and do a cannon ball without his ”floatie”!?!?! Without having seen the “before”, you can’t even begin to understand what a huge success this is! Remember, when someone has a gluten/casein intolerance, ingesting those foods is like being on drugs. There are days where it’s almost like you can literally see the fog clear. It brings tears to my eyes.
Not only has Benjamin improved, but I can tell you with certainty, that Kaiya’s behavior has improved as a result. Not because of the gluten/casein, but because of Benjamin’s improvement. All of that leads to a less stressed mommy.
And, I continue to feel better as I make this change in my life. (I’m still waiting for the clarity of mind, though!) If I cheat and have some cheese or a piece of bread, etc…, I will pay for it the next day. My stomach turns very sour and I get really bad heartburn. REALLY bad. I won’t push the topic, but if you have some sort of ailment that has hounded you for a while, you might try going gluten free. Just try it. It won’t hurt.
So, we are almost half way through the summer basketball season. What that really means is we are half way through the tryouts. Aka: job interviews. Right now, Jarid is attending a camp where he is vying for a job opening in the JUCO (junior college) league. This is a really important stepping stone. All of the camps are important, because this is where he’ll get exposure. NCAA and NBA officials will be watching. Assignors for Division I conferences will be watching.
I was able to go watch one of his games yesterday and it was so much fun to see how he has improved just since the season ended in March. His physical stature has changed since the beginning of the season (he’s put on almost 30 pounds of muscle!!!!), but the biggest change is his confidence. I have no doubt that he will do extremely well this year….there shouldn’t be any problem getting a few JUCO games. And who knows what else may come his way.
And finally, it’s hot. I went running this morning at 5:50 and it was already hot enough that I was sweating just from the heat, not the exercise! It is actually kind of annoying that I couldn’t gauge the intensity of my workout from how hard I was sweating. I would guess that it was already 75-80 degrees out. I think I heard that it is supposed to reach 110 today.
Blech.
But praise the Lord for progress and basketball, yeah?
Homesick
As I’m writing this, my better half is enjoying the beauty and cooler weather of Colorado Springs. I am so unbelievably jealous, I can hardly stand it. As we’re approaching another summer here (it’s supposed to be 100 degrees on Sunday!), I get more and more homesick for Colorado. Well, really for Montana, but Colorado is waaayy more feasible. I wish I could say I was literally counting the days, but for now, we’ll just wait and see where the Lord leads us.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not miserable here. We’ve made friends, found a church, have good jobs, are in good health, have learned SOO much, been so humbled, been so blessed. But it’s not home. (Can you really call a place home that reaches 100 degrees in the middle of May???) I prefer to think of it as a lay-over. An extended lay-over. Hopefully. Lord willing.
I’d like to introduce you to…
the love of my life, who will be contributing here occasionally.
By the way, any day that he wants to start writing is just fine. *hint*
Just to get you all primed for his appearance here, and to show off OLD pictures…..
Enjoy.
First Camping Trip of ‘08
Jarid and I actually had a day and a half off together, so we decided to take the kiddos camping. We went last year, in July, and had a pretty good time. This trip is our second time with the kids. Last time, there were fire restrictions. This time, we made it before the restrictions kicked in (today!).
We left Sunday morning, with the intent of finding a church in Payson. As you can imagine, nothing went according to plan and we ended up starting the trip with breakfast at IHOP (yeesh). The kids LOVED the boysenberry syrup…go figure…if you can actually call it syrup! My deepest apologies to those who love IHOP. Nonetheless, it was fun. Especially with “Big John” as our server. Ben and Kaiya loved calling him Big John. Yikes.
Off to Payson, where the next stop was Wal*Mart. Probably not the best idea on a Sunday, in a little mountain community….I think the entire town was there. Plus tourists. I think that, what should have been a 20 minute trip, took 90 minutes. I’m sure 80 of those minutes were spent in the checkout line. You know how Wal*Mart has 20 lanes, but only 2 open? Yeah. Like that.
Poorer and more frazzled, we crammed our stuff into the Honda and headed for Tonto Creek. Found the campground, then drove to the fish hatchery a few miles up the road. The kids loved seeing the big fish. So did Ben and Kaiya!
After feeding the fish, we headed back to set up our tents. Yep, plural. Tents. This is a big step for a girl who was terrified of camping growing up. Click here to find out why. (It starts in the second paragraph, and should be noted that this happened about 30 miles from where I grew up. It should also be noted that, if I am correct, my dad dated Sandra way back in the day….sorry, dad, if I’m not right.)
Anyway, the tents.
The kiddos got pretty dirty while we set up the tents, so we walked down to Tonto Creek to play around a bit. Ben had a blast throwing rocks in and Kaiya, well, she went for a swim! Nothing too crazy, but she and Daddy had LOTS of fun!
After that, it was dinner time. We roasted hot dogs and chicken/apple brat thingies. And marshmallows. I’ve been informed that you CANNOT go camping without marshmallows. Kiddos got dirty again.
Then it was time for bed. Cute, cute
Once they were asleep, it was finally time for dad and mom to relax. It was so nice for Jarid and I to just sit and talk. And look up at the stars. And miss Colorado. And miss Montana.
Once we climbed into our tent, we realized that we had failed to properly prepare for this trip. It was cold during the night. Being the momma that I am, I got a little nervous in the middle of the night and decided to climb in with the kiddos to make sure they were warm enough. Apparently, Jarid got a little colder after I moved.
Needless to say, he was the first one up in the morning and got a nice roaring fire going for us. We had fruit and cereal for breakfast before packing up and heading home.
All in all, it was fun. We made a list of the things we’ll need to get for next time…and we’ll probably make a master list so we don’t forget anything.
I don’t think I ever would have imagined myself doing this. Guess I was wrong!
My New Toy
Last night, Jarid came home and handed me a package. This is what was in it.
A Nike ipod armband. Without the ipod. Apparently, a customer came into the store and had this armband, but had bought another one and wasn’t going to use it. So he gave it to Jarid. Sweet.
Now we need the ipod. Which is awesome because I’ve started running in the mornings and it would be so much more enjoyable with music.
Oh, but wait. While I’m fixing dinner, Jarid walked around the corner and handed me another package. That’s right.
Of course, my immediate response is, “What did you do????”
Well, let me tell you what my wonderful husband has done. In typical Jarid-fashion, he has worked his tale off, shown his work ethic, and helped get a business off the ground and on it’s way to being very successful. For that, his boss is greatly appreciative. Thus the ipod.
And thus, I am very appreciative. Thanks, Kyle!
Being new to the ipod world, it took a little bit of doing, but I was able to run this morning with music in my ears! Yay.
Now I just have to burn all of my Napster tracks to cd, rip them back onto cd in mp3 format, find them again, and import them to my iTunes library.
(insert sarcasm here) Brilliantly orchestrated. Well done, Apple.
Either way, I am super pleased.
