Work is on the way

Shelly was supposed to hear from Wells Fargo today about the teller job opportunity. Unfortunately, they didn't call yet. We should find out the status on the job tomorrow, given that they have made a decision one way or another. As for me, I have spent so much time trying to work out all of the necessary details in starting a business and applying for an independent contractor's license that very little time has been left for finding work. Fortunately, Adam made a call to a friend today, who offered us some work to do tomorrow...very similar to Summit-type work, actually! Instead of crawling under a little cabin, I'll be in a crawl space digging a hole for a pump and a french drain. It's a good thing I'm used to tight spaces now, I guess. Any kind of work is a blessing from the Lord!
Friday will be reserved for coyote hunting and searching for shed deer antlers. We have seen a few bucks in the area with only one antler, so we are confident they have started dropping their antlers. It will be fun to begin building up another pile of sheds so I can try my hand at making some functional items out of them! We'll give word when we find out about Shelly's potential job.

big houses and waterfalls

What better thing to do on a snowy Sunday afternoon than blog?

...I couldn't think of anything either...

(Right) This is a picture of the front of our new home! (It's a little different than our 380 sqaure-foot cabin, I assure you!)

(Below) This is the back of the house. Mine and Nathan's bedroom window is the top left one. We have a beautiful view of the wooded back yard.

It's been snowing pretty consistently now for the past couple days, and everything is so...well, white. When we got here things were pretty, but it hadn't snowed for a while, so things were just kind of dirty looking, but now it's all clean, pure white again. We are so blessed to be living here.

Nathan and I went for a hike the other day (and Saul got to try out his mountain legs.) We saw a frozen waterfall off the main road and decided to hike to it to take pictures. There had been a fire in this area this summer, so we were walking over tons of fallen logs, but it was worth every bit of it, and Saul was such a trooper!

This was the view from the hike. If you follow that pass there, it will lead you straight to Yellowstone National Park! (The road, Beartooth Highway, is closed this time of year, though.)

This was the frozen waterfall! It was amazing! There was water flowing inside that we could see and hear.

My buddy and me!

Short update:

I have an interview at Wells Fargo tomorrow (Monday, January 26) at 11:30!

Nathan is applying for his Independent Contractor's License, and the guys are hoping to have work here sometime in the next couple weeks.

counting blessings

How often do we use the ever-so-cliche "Count your blessings"? How often do we really follow that advice? Well, today we had a very literal reminder. Here are our counted blessings for the day:

11 wild turkeys (as we drove through a neighborhood in town)
250 dollars from our credit card company (just for being us...and using their credit card a lot)
17 whitetail deer (a treat for those of us who are used to only mule deer)
200 square feet of ice chipped away from the driveway (thanks to Adam and Nathan)
7 days of living in a wonderful, beautiful place (and being able to enjoy it job-free)
2 fantastic people to live with
1 job application filled out! (I applied at Wells Fargo as a teller today...)

So, if my math is correct, that's 488 blessings today! I would highly encourage this literal method of counting blessings sometime.

Saul also lost at least 3 teeth. Another countable blessing? Debatable.

Humphrey Bogart on life

I guess we all know that we have to grow up someday, sometime...maybe... However, no one warns you that growing up is hard to do! Grown-ups are always held in such high esteem. They're the epitome of "cool" becuase they can do what they want when they want, stay up late, eat out and pay with cash (my dad always did that so naturally it's a cool thing to do). What us unsuspecting on-the-verge-of-grown-upness youngsters don't realize is what it takes to get to this seemingly unattainable level of "cool".

Moving 600 miles away from our families was one of those hard steps toward adulthood that is two-fold. On one hand it has made me wonder what we were thinking leaving the comforts of our familiar stomping grounds, and the ever oh-so-good meals provided by the culinary wizzes we call our mothers - and Grandma! There were so many reasons to stay in Colorado...family, friends, our cute little cabin, familiarity...we were comfortable. But, after thinking more about moving away, some dreams started to surface, and we started to realize that at this point in life, our dreams were too big for Manitou Springs. Our comfort was hindering us from stepping out and taking a chance. Today as Nathan and I sat in Bogarts Restaurant (if you are a Humphrey Bogart fan I highly recommend checking this place out!) we started talking about the things we were truly excited about in life, and just being here has inspired us to start pursuing what we are passionate about. I have loved photography for so long now, but my insecurities have held me back from really getting good, or from believing that some of my current pictures are good enough to sell. So, I hope to share some of those pictures with you along the way...feel free to comment on them (I only want your honest opinions, though, as this is the only way I'm going to get better!)

The most challenging yet exciting part of our talk today was discussing our desire to really live in a way that reflects the church of Acts. Living with another couple gives us the opportunity to share all things in common. I know this is going to be the most difficult thing about living here. Naturally, we are going to want our own way, but we hope to learn how to choose our battles, but most importantly, really learn what it means to love our neighbors as ourselves. It seems easier when we're talking about the people next door or down the street, but what about those that live right down the hall? As I'm writing this, I realize that this is like a second chance because I know we didn't do it right the first time when it was with our families (sorry mom, dad, and Sam...) We want to know how to live selflessly, and I think that is one of the reasons we are here.

Just another step in this journey. Well, we need to go unpack and organize our books (and I think Nathan thinks I've been blogging a little too much) so goodnight loved ones!

ups and downs

Well, moving is fun, but it definitely has its ups and downs. Last night I had my first reality check. Diana and I were unpacking dishes, and it hit me that this is all real. I guess once the dishes are unpacked, that means you really live somewhere. I really missed good ol' Colorado (and everything/everyONE that goes with it) and I was unsure that I really wanted to be here. We don't have jobs, we're living in a house that isn't ours and still has a lot of things belonging to the homeowners, we're living with another couple, etc. It all kind of hit me as the dishes were being unwrapped and placed neatly in the cupboards. Not to mention, Saul started limping on his left front leg again.

This morning brought happier times, though. I started this blog, which made me feel a little more connected to those I love the most, and we went for a hike! Here are some pictures from the afternoon's adventure!



I went snowshoeing for the first time!

(Above) I thought it looked like a couple of mice were trying to make snowmen! :)

(Right) This is a picture of Nathan and Adam (Adam is hiding in Nathan's sunglasses, though...

This is Adam and Zuke (Zuke is the furry one) Saul couldn't come because of his leg, but hopefully there will be many hikes like this to come!

Here's to a good day in Montana...

Just For You, Jess!

Since Jess was so convincing in persuading us to start a blog, we have done just that! We hope you all enjoy reading about and seeing pictures from our new home. :)

Sunday, January 11, 2009

We ran a few errands and then picked up our 14-foot U-Haul truck. We finished packing up the last odds and ends before family and friends came to help us load up all our earthly belongings. The truck was loaded in just a few hours and we were ready to go. After some hard goodbyes (not as many tears as I expected, but hard nonetheless) we said one last goodbye to our trusty 380 square-foot cabin and loaded up for the journey. We arrived in Fort Collins at the Days Inn around 8:30. We watched the weather and felt good about the driving conditions for the next day's drive. Little did we know...

Monday, January 12, 2009

We woke up to a little bit of snow! We looked at the weather channel again, and we are fortunate that we went as far as Fort Collins the night before because Denver got hit really hard with the storm. So, we enjoyed our continental breakfast of cereal and bagels (and coffee for Nathan) and we hit the road. The roads were pretty sketchy (to say the least) from Fort Collins for about the next 80 miles or so, but we took our time and made it just fine.

(By the way, our dog is a contortionist...I guess he had to find exciting ways to sleep since that's all he had to do!)

Throughout the rest of Wyoming the roads were dry, and I even took a turn driving the moving truck (I much prefer the jeep, though.) After driving it I appreciated Nathan even more for having driven it on the icy interstate. I just had to drive it in the wind. After getting to I-90 in Buffalo, WY the roads started to get a little snowy again, so we decided to stop in Sheridan for the night since it was close to dark and the temperatures were dropping fast. We stayed at the Mill Inn, an old flour mill, and now a historic hotel (only 3 diamonds though, not 4 like the Cliff House!) :)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Once again, the LORD was looking out for us. Had we decided to continue driving last night we probably would have been risking our lives. The roads this morning were still a little icy, but they were melting, so the going wasn't too rough.

WE MADE IT!!!! I would have gotten a picture of all three of us (Nathan, myself, and Saul) in front of the sign, but it was so windy I was afraid the camera would blow off of the Jeep! The rest of the drive was uneventful...but oh, so beautiful. I knew they called it Big Sky country, but I had no idea that the sky actually looks bigger here! The drive from the border all the way to Billings, I was constantly looking at the sky because I couldn't believe that it looked so BIG!!! (You may not believe me that the same sky can look so much bigger, so I guess you'll just have to come and see it for yourself!)