Poco Mountain Girl

Last week David went to New Mexico to build a rail for his parents’ very scary haunted porch. That’s his cute mom peeking out the door.  We all would have liked to go, but, you know–we have goats.  And, oh yeah–kids who go to school, too.

Here’s David’s dad, working on the rail.  (We know you’re posing, PomPom.)

Such a poser. (Like I’m not in that top picture with the truck, haha. I took that of myself.)  Actually, he’s probably really working hard.  Of course he is.

Here’s the finished rail.  I think it looks awesome, and it will be nice for winter. (Do steps get icy in New Mexico?)

David rented a pickup truck to drive to NM, and he really liked it.  He’s been wanting to trade in our 4Runner for something with a warranty, and we decided a truck would be nice for hauling hay, pulling fallen trees, etc.  We went looking at trucks Friday, and on Saturday night we made a trade. It’s a Ford F-150 with off-road capabilities, in Guard Metallic (which is a gray-green).  Just FYI: we saved about $6500 just by using our Costco member discount. Woo-hoo!

This is our lovely and not-very-dirty 4Runner at the Ford dealership when we traded it in.

Here’s me–sprinting, for some reason.  I’m probably just happy.  And scared–this truck is huge.  When we got our 4Runner, I thought it was a monster, and it took me a while to get used to it. This truck dwarfs the 4Runner, and won’t even fit in the garage, LOL.  But it is so much fun to drive, even though I make David crazy because I want to check behind me when I back up, instead of trusting the backup camera screen on the dash, haha.

When we test drove the truck, Cash sat in front with us and moped. We asked him what was wrong, and he blurted out, “I just want to drive but you won’t let me!” He is still kind of bugged about that, hah.  He looks tiny sitting up there, so it’s hilarious to think of him driving.

The truck is super cozy with all of us inside and has plenty of leg room for the kids in back.  It’s nice to have the truck bed separate for groceries, hay, goats, etc., instead of putting everything inside.  And it’s actually pretty easy to drive–it turns on a dime, and it has a ton of power.  I no longer have to floor it to try to climb a hill–it takes our steep driveway like nothing, and I think it’ll be great in slush and snow.  I’m really glad to be heading into our next Colorado winter with it.

Happy trails, y’all.

We woke up to a white wonderland this morning, after a tiny first-of-the-season snow yesterday.  David, Cash, and I had to go to town today via the hair-raising turns of Golden Gate Canyon, un-plowed.  Soon after, we found out the roads to home closed behind us due to accidents, and the power had gone out at the school so it was under lockdown.  It always makes you feel great to know your kids are stuck freezing and starving in the dark, haha.  We hung out at the bookstore, which was actually pretty fun and relaxing, then headed home.  The school power came back after only a couple of hours, and we all made it safely home without much freezing or starvation.  Best of all, the locals got their beloved “moisture”–including David, haha–I never thought that sun-lover would be crying for snow.  He’s officially a local. 🙂

Zia had her friend Lola over for a sleepover, followed by a visit to Cottonwood Farms in Boulder for a hayride, mazes, and a petting zoo.  A funny story: I was driving them home when we first picked up Lola, and yippee! there in the middle of the road was a big metal clamp, perfect for woodworking.  I parked just down the road and jumped out to get it. When I came back, Zia was looking at the house we had parked in front of. “Lola!” she gasped. “That’s Miss H. and Miss J.J.’s house!” (Two gay ladies who both work at the school.) Lola gasped back, “Oh my God! You mean Miss H. and Miss J.J. are married?” “No!” Zia yelped. “They’re sisters!” “WHAT!” Lola shrieked. “You mean Miss J.J. is a GIRL?????”

Here is our first wood stove fire (last week), and David built another last night. Still no snow, but we’re feeling the nip. I baked enchiladas, banana bread, and three pies between the weekend and this morning, mostly because it warms up the house, haha.

This is an oil painting on beetle kill pine (I hinted at it the other day). It’s almost finished, and is the first in a series I’m working on.

I’m experimenting with background tints, and so far, so good–it’s fun working translucently to showcase that beautiful beetle “art”.  I’m soaking the bark edging in tung oil to preserve it.  It’s much more rough and textural than my tiny detailed animals on aspen wood, but I think it will make a sweet living space display. Or a cutting board. Just kidding–don’t you dare.

David’s friend Dennis came to visit during his ministry sabbatical in the U.S. from Germany. Cash called him “the dentist” for the duration of the visit, and even asked him to brush his teeth (which he did). Dennis helped David through a hard time just before David and I met, and I was really looking forward to meeting him. He is very kind and so, so funny.  We laughed so hard that my whole face hurt by the time he left.

The kids are in school, David is gone for a little while, and Cash and I are going to par-tay. Not really, but we’ll probably tackle this house and get it sparkling. Either that or forget all about it and go for a hike in these crisp, cool mountains. 🙂

My morning workout. It only takes a few minutes (maybe five?) but consistently done, the results are evident. I’m starting on my third round of the 30-day arm challenge, staying with 10 lb. weights and this time doubling the number of sets. I love the results, and it’s so easy to fit into each day.  I’ve also started a core challenge, which is just as quick and does not include sit-ups or crunches (yay!) The philosophy is that to actually strengthen your abs deeply–and not just the surface muscles–you should keep your abs firm and move your limbs around them, just like real life requires. Crunches do the opposite: you are curling your abs up, and giving in to movement rather than resisting.  I really love feeling my body grow strong, especially after a year of strained muscles in my back, neck, and shoulders due to not strengthening them enough.  I see a butt challenge in my future. 😉

This almond-flour pie crust. David is partial to my pie crusts, and for him to give the thumbs up to a new (flourless) one is a big deal. It is an easy and healthy switch, and it graced our first pumpkin pie of the season. Caleb has gone GF, which gives me a great excuse to gently wean wheat out of our household.  Also loving: these a-ma-zing salt and pepper crackers. They just came out of the oven and I’m trying to make them last till Zia’s soup-making event at school tonight.

The art I’m making on beetle kill pine lately. I’ve begun a series of paintings I will show you soon–promise.

This pair of Minnetonka moccasin boots which I’ve finally broken in, with the help of about ten Band-Aids on the inside seams and a pair of foam heel snugs I randomly came across at T.J. Maxx.  Or maybe not so randomly, since I had just prayed that morning about how to make the boots work out for me.  I know that seems like a trite request–but obviously He cares about the tiniest details of life.  Once I had heel snugs, I no longer felt like I was walking on the back of the boot. They are quite comfy and minimalist-feeling and I hear they can last for decades.  Mostly I really love it that the fringe flaps around when I walk.

Maskcara’s makeup tutorials, especially this quickie and also this one (nose sculpting!) Here’s me with a sculpted nose, LOL. This is what I do in my free time–forget the housework.

Our amazing fall weather, though it’s worrying some of us. We’re having beautiful, balmy days, no snow, and (yikes) no rain. There are still some gold-cloaked aspens on our land–which I am sure must be breaking some kind of record.

The Bible study method I’ve been doing this year (found on the right sidebar of this site), which uses different colors to highlight different subjects. I don’t care so much about having a color-coded Bible as I do about the fact that it keeps me mindful of what I am reading, and constantly making decisions about what is being said.  I am using the S.O.A.K. method of reading through each book.  You read a chapter a day, write down one verse (S for Scripture) that stands out to you, write down an observation about it (O), write down how you might apply it to your life (A, Application), and then pray over it (K for Kneeling in prayer). It is a simple, practical way to make God’s word a living part of your life, and it gets to the heart of the matter very quickly.

My kids, of course. Caleb is doing great at his job, and he seems to like it (money in the hand helps). 😉 He has made enough for a season ski pass and has bought himself a used guitar amp–you go, boy. His employers just told him they like him so much they want him to be one of their very few slow-season employees. Woo-hoo!

My little Zia went on a field trip yesterday to pick veggies on a farm, and dropped a heavy trailer handle on her big toe. Ouchie-wawa. There was blood, lots of it, and the toenail is quite colorful, but we are all thankful it wasn’t worse.  She has some very devoted and helpful friends and she came hopping home with four bags of vegetables.

Cash is taking on a very lion-like personality these days and roars at unsuspecting passersby. If anyone bothers Zia (or even if they don’t) he growls, “Don’t you touch my girl,” and often prefaces a sentence about her with “My best friend, Zia….” We dropped her off at school this morning and he ran around telling complete strangers the story of the trailer handle that dropped on her toe, with lots of full-arm motions and expressive facial contortions. They were all in awe, and probably didn’t understand a word.

Deer meat. I’m not sure if I’m loving it, but this would be a good time to start. On the road this morning, the car right in front of us smacked a doe head-on. The poor dear died almost instantly, and the shaken person drove off. David called the sheriff for a carcass permit and is currently skinning and de-boning the doe.  We’ll have a freezer full of grass-fed meat and a deerskin to make something cool from.

Hi there! We finally did our kitchen remodel, and–ta-da–here are the pics.

Here is our Before kitchen. It was great, except for the laminate blue-gray counter tops and scummy chrome sink. David pulled out the dishwasher and set a new cabinet in (you can see it didn’t quite fit before removing the old counter top).

The glorious sink. To be honest, I cleaned up this photo in Photoshop quite a bit before uploading. It was just too gross.

Here is the small counter top/cupboard.

And here is the stove island/bar, which David pulled out ten inches to add some counter space.

The demolisher guy came Friday morning and ripped out the counters. We bid our old sink a happy farewell. Even ripped up, the kitchen actually looked better than it had with the old counters, haha.

The installers came around 2:45 and worked till 8:00 pm. We ran into a few glitches (a missing piece of backsplash, a 2″ piece of granite that chipped off, a faucet hole drilled too far back to fit, etc.) but in the end it all turned out fine. The installers were pretty young and by the end they just wanted to leave (to go gamble at the casinos, LOL). We had to kind of push for things to be done right and bribe them with hamburgers, and they stayed to see the job through.

David and I stayed up for quite a while after they left, just looking at our kitchen together. It is so much more beautiful than we ever imagined, and we can hardly believe this is our kitchen. It was really hard to choose the counter tops based on a tiny sample square, but we actually love what we chose.

For the sink area counter we picked out a black quartz. It makes the whole counter recede beautifully into the background and adds a sharp, clean look–and it really pops the natural cabinets.  We chose a large undermount hammered copper sink (since we couldn’t find a smooth one) which came with an oiled bronze faucet and soap dispenser. We are still waiting on a strainer basket–we have a chrome one for now, since the matching oiled bronze strainer is $85, LOL.  Hopefully the manufacturer will graciously send us one to take the place of the garbage disposal that came with the sink, which we won’t use.

The small counter and stove island are an off-white granite with warm tones, grays, and bits of deep garnet running through it. It opens up the whole kitchen and contrasts beautifully with the rustic wood and stonework in the rest of the house. It still amazes me that they sliced that piece of granite right out of the earth–one wild little slab of God’s handiwork.

Our plumber came yesterday morning and hooked up the pipes, and (except for minor details like a toe kick) our kitchen is finished.  Here are the pics–hope you enjoy them!

It’s already turning into a nice, homey, lived-in kitchen–complete with a few dirty dishes in the sink. 🙂