The Beginning of a Grand Adventure

It’s sort of ironic that the day after I get internet connection, it goes out and I’m unable to do the one thing I’ve been waiting to do, write. As it turns out, I can type on a computer even when it doesn’t have internet connection. This way when my brief window comes, I can just post it. I’m ever so glad that I’m living in these sketchy connective circumstances right now though. It helps me truly feel like I’m living in the present. I don’t have a device with me all the time. Any television I watch is consciously chosen from our stash of shows. Cooking, cleaning, organizing, gazing out my window, playing with my kids, talking with Neal, and singing fill my days much more than before. I find that for the first time in almost a year, I truly want to bake bread and read my cookbooks. If you had told me where I’d be a year ago, I probably would have argued that we were staying where we were, thank you very much, for at least three more years. Adventures like this seemed to be far off and along the same lines as the fiction I read.

I’m not claiming to be doing anything truly different than what so many do, but for me it’s a dream come true. I have always wanted to have the gumption to step away from modern city living for a bit. Thanks to Neal, I have that chance.

The big move was humbling to me. We had so much help in packing up our basement apartment and putting in the trailer. Then the next morning, we realized the trailer was packed with too much weight so we got a moving truck and repacked everything. During this second packing both Neal and I felt emotional. So many good friends came to help us with almost no notice. It ended up being an inspired decision, because we really did have a lot of stuff and a long drive with some bumpy roads! As we drove down, we somehow lost track of my dad (driving the moving van). My mom and I were leading the caravan and Neal and his dad were a bit behind because they had errands to run. So we knew he was somewhere between us, but not where. After four times calling my dad’s cell we realized it wasn’t in the truck with him. Thank heavens for the random person at the rest stop who let my dad borrow a phone so we could track him down! And I congratulate everyone who ever drove long distances without cellphones: it was a stressful couple of hours while we didn’t know where my dad was.

When we arrived in Monument Valley it was later than we’d anticipated, but we still had so much help! About a dozen neighbors came and unloaded the truck. I ended up with some delicious stuffed French toast dinner and two different loaves of zucchini bread, plus some phone numbers for in case we needed more help. After such a long and exhausting drive (courtesy of kids screaming for the last hour), we just collapsed. But as we’ve begun settling in, I am more and more grateful for those who have helped us get here, even if they wish we hadn’t decided to move.

To be honest, the longer I’m here, the more I realize I could still run out and get just about anything I needed quickly. The tiny grocery store actually has decent produce and apparently makes excellent cakes. Based on the way the doughnut counter looks, I believe it. There’s a restaurant at the local hotel, one by the Monument Valley tours, a tiny food court by the gas station, and a Subway just twenty minutes south. I’d spend twenty minutes getting to and from the Subway when I lived in Roy just based on traffic. I don’t want to use all those things though (well, I may want fresh produce). The goal of living away from the city was to really live…away from it. So Neal and I will take a big shopping trip once a month. We tried Cortez, Colorado first. It’s just over two hours away. For some reason, I was expecting a mini metropolis. It does have a Walmart and a Thai and Indian restaurant (yay!), but it’s not nearly as big as Logan is. I had to laugh as we drove in and realized it was still a much smaller city than most I’ve lived in.

They did have what we needed, most of it anyways. They were all out of bottled pesto and I couldn’t find Israeli couscous, but those are luxury items anyways. The thing I was most excited for was just about four miles out of town, a huge nursery. It felt so good to get out of the van and see the greenhouses filled with perennials, herbs, and regional plants. I had carefully planned what we wanted so I didn’t spend all day wandering. We did have a two hour drive home with cranky kids and groceries in coolers after all. They had almost everything I wanted: basil, chives, rosemary, oregano, and sage. We planned to buy some Russian sage too, which grows really well out here. I grabbed some Red Hyssop because it’s supposed to grow well. I didn’t realize until much later why hyssop sounded so familiar. It’s both an herb and a biblical one at that! I was sad there wasn’t any dill and my scattered brain forgot to grab some lavender. Oh well, we’ll make the trip again. I would hate to buy everything I wanted at once just to have it die because I wasn’t used to gardening in red sandy soil.

Speaking of our soil, it’s a whole new adventure. I have always lived somewhere with grass. I also always said that I didn’t need much of it because I wanted a sort of wandering yard with lots of herbs and trees. I don’t think I imagined the first time I’d get to try life without grass would be when I replaced it with prickly bushes. I can’t properly call them weeds since I’m the one encroaching on their territory. But they are everywhere and can be difficult to get out when the ground is rocky. To be fair, it’s not nearly as much trouble to get rid of as morning glory or dandelions. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of either of those pests! It took me a couple of days to realize that the bushes which grow wild everywhere, when dead, are the stereotypical tumbleweed plant. The wind just picks them up and throws them everywhere. It makes me feel bad when I pull weeds and don’t get them in the trash right away because then my neighbors have to deal with them too!

I have planted all my herbs now, and we have cleared about half of our yard of the prickly bushes. I am praying for the little herbs. They like dry soil, but I am not sure the fertilizer I bought will be good enough for here. I didn’t have time to do a soil analysis and add compost and the likes. I’ll be sure to do those things for my vegetable garden, but I wanted to give the herbs time to establish before any frost hits, not that frost is coming anytime soon. The temperatures soar during the day. What’s so nice about living in the desert is that the temperature also drops every night. It’s so lovely to sit outside and see the stars come out and the bats swoop up and down in the backyard. In other words, life is good, beautiful, and trying at times. I am incredibly grateful for this new place and all the friendly faces I’ve met so far. As always, here are some pictures to go along with my ramblings!

Before we moved, our goal was to (finally) get a cement path down in the backyard of my brother's house. Peter helped us get prepared...

But somehow he found something he is allergic to, and boy howdy did he have terrible hives! Poor kid!

Unfortunately, we usually spend part of each church meeting in the foyer...but we still enjoy it!

We tried to go to Thanksgiving Point with Neal's mom several times before we moved. The last time, we got ice cream! Notice Mary's jealous face...this little girl just wants to be big like her brother. 

We also made a goal to go enjoy dinosaurs with my brother and his family. This is our attempt at a funny photo. It's mostly funny because Peter is so not into it. 

We really took almost everything with us when we moved. But here are the twenty-nine-ish boxes of books we put into storage instead...we have a bit of a problem with that. Someday we'll open our own library though!

This is the view our first week there. It was so beautiful to have storms when we were expecting scorching heat!

More storms! And also, this is what the houses look like!

The view from my desk is spectacular. It looks like a page from a magazine. It makes me feel like I should write about epic things instead of everyday adventures.

Mary likes to give kisses, or eat your face, whatever you prefer.

Grand scenery!

Fantastic sunrises!

Peter and Mary actually interacting like siblings!

These are the most beautiful shelves that Neal, his dad, and my dad built. There's nothing on them at this point because the stain is still drying. But I love them and I love that they are off the ground (so there aren't any...bugs.

The previous tenant must also have liked herbs, but they were all dead when we moved in (except that hearty oregano!)

Peter can finally look out a window and see what's happening. Too bad there is almost no traffic on our dead end, teachers only street.

Peter is pointing out how much her colored on the wall. He is also holding a rag because I made him try to clean it up...he enjoyed that part just as much. 

More storms! The neighbor's house is in the way, but the lightening was incredible.

This is what our backyard looks like...the prickly plants abound.

But somehow there's a volunteer cucumber plant! Who'd a thunk?

I could take a photo of my backyard view every day and it would look different. I just might do that. You can pick your favorite.

I wish you could see how pretty the moon was a bit better. My camera isn't exactly state of the art...

Today Peter helped me make bread! He really like the part where we punched it down!

And in case you thought the storms were a fluke, it's storming now! There's rumbling thunder that shakes the house and the power went out for a moment. My wind chimes are going crazy and I'm contemplating whether I can keep Peter from running for the hills if we all go outside to enjoy it for a bit!