All the Way to Reno

Moving in 7 weeks from the time it was a thought to having it be a reality is a bit of a shock for the system. We did it though and are now trying to find our footing in a new job, a new city, a new place we are calling home.

Terran found out about a job here in Reno NV at the end of January, applied by the first weekend of February and he took the job a few days after the interviewing the next week. We found ourselves packing, selling our house, quitting our jobs, me withdrawing from classes, saying good bye to dear friends and family and on the road to Reno by the end of March. It sounds like a decision made quickly and without thought, but we spent a lot of time in prayer and had so many things confirm to us that this was the move we were suppose to make.

Our house sold after three days on the market. We felt that was such a gift from the Lord and confirmation that our move was the right thing.

Packing the house. The poor dogs didn't know what to think of everything being dismantled and packed away.

Black Rock Desert on our way to Reno. A very boring part of the drive, especially after almost 10 hours on the road that day.

Unpacking the boxes that had only been packed the week before. We have a little 770 sq ft apartment to call home right now. Hopefully we will be buying in the next few months, but right now are quite cozy in our little space.

The view from our apartment kitchen window. The weather hasn't been the best to make it up to the mountains yet and we've been busy, but one day soon we'll go exploring, because we can hear them calling our names.

On the next great adventure,

Naomi

2011 Pictures

This weekend is turning out to be one of those unique weekends for me, because I don’t have an over whelming amount of homework there feels to be an abundance of time. In that abundance of time I am accomplishing bunches of things that have been waiting for me, while not feeling rushed or stressed. This post is one of them. I have, since the beginning of the year, wanted to post a picture for each month, but between holiday travel, school starting early and weekend plans plus homework each week there haven't been many spare minutes. The spare minutes I have had I decided to devote to sleep in hopes to beat the first cold I have had in over a year. I did not feel getting sick during the first weeks of this year was an auspicious start, but now that I can breathe again life is looking up.

Now with great pleasure I present for those still checking this abandoned blog a peek into our life in 2011.


Like many people we started 2011 by stuffing ourselves with goodies.

We flew to San Diego in February to pick up a car Terran bought and enjoyed our day in the sun.

Lunch on the pier in the sun.

In March we got to show our property to some very special people. Our nephew Kaiser liked the dogs and water best.

We took a weekend in April to go to Santa Fe, NM to celebrate our up coming 10 year anniversary on May 12. (Tried bird watching for the first time and loved it.)

We also visited the folk art museum while there and saw some beautiful toys.

In May we cheered for our niece Aleah at her gymnastics competition.

I got a new toy in June.

Terran was baptised by our niece Lily when my family visited in August.

September rains doused us at a favorite event the Meeker Sheepdog Trails.

I got to run with our nephew Keagan, when he competed in a triathlon with his brother Kaden and cousin in October.

Terran built a long awaited shed in November (it is already packed with stuff).

Of course we couldn't spend all our time at home working.

In December we spent Christmas with my family and a couple days on the Oregon coast.

Babies can fly!

Oregon was stormy and beautiful.

Catching Up,

Naomi

Garden Harvest

Our garden in exploding with color right now. This is what we picked this weekend and I think we will be picking more in a day or two. So much yummy, goodness right at our finger tips.

I can't wait to start eating on it all. Tonight we are going to crack open the melon and have some of the tomatoes on our elk burgers. The cherry tomatoes are going into a salad tomorrow for a BBQ at Terran's parents and Monday we will stuff the peppers with cheese and grill them. As for the rest of the fresh goodness I think some canning may be in my future. I love this time of year when all the work pays off from the planting, weeding, and watering.

Enjoying the bounty,

Naomi

Photo Shoot

My parents, sister and her two girls just left this morning after a spending some time visiting us. We had such a nice time together hiking, swimming, and meeting Lily for the first time. While here my sister, Salome asked if we would take a few photos of her, Kaitlyn, and Lily. So, one afternoon I got to play photographer and take a few pictures of some very lovely ladies. We were all pretty excited about how they turned out. The lighting was perfect and the girls were pretty smiley for the most part. I simply had to share a few of my favorites.


This is the only one I took of all three of them together and it's a keeper.

Salome asked for this pose, it came out so nice and clear. Now I wish we would have done one with their hands in the grass too.

Lily's smile is precious. She loves her Mama!

This is my favorite of the bunch. I love how natural both Salome's and Kaitlyn's smile is. This isn't the pose that we were going for, but worked well.

At this point Lily was tired of having a big grey thing in her face, even so she is pretty cute with her "leave me be frown".

Naomi

Little Friends

It is the last day of July and I am finally getting to my July post. Yes, this is how far I have fallen in the blogging world; a single post each month is my goal. Now I would love to exceed that goal, but I make no promises to myself or anyone else.

This last Spring for one of my classes I had to give an informative speech on a subject that I researched. My choice was hummingbirds and I am so glad that I chose to study and learn about that little bird, because they have added to our summer.

After researching them I decided to put out a couple feeders and to see what happened. We now have a male and female that fight on a regular basis for the sugar water that hangs outside our doors.

Black-Chinned Hummingbird male enjoying a little sweet drink. He is so shy that I haven't been able to get any other close pictures of him.

The little female deciding whether this is good food or not. Hummers are always on the look out for food, because they burn an average of 10,000 calories a day. Some burn more and some less depending on their size and weight. Because they are always on the look out for food, it makes them quite curious and fun to watch zipping around.

Enjoying God's Creation,

Naomi

Mountain Flowers

Over Memorial Day weekend Terran partially tore his MCL, a ligament in his knee. We were so bummed over this injury; because we had a weekend full of outside hiking and biking that he no longer could do (he won’t be able to do anything intense for about 6 weeks). The dr. told him to stay off it a week and he could then go back to work, after a couple of weeks he should start walking on it more. We took advantage of that piece of advice and went to the mountains yesterday to look at the wild Iris. There weren’t any blooming yet, but we found other lovely wild flowers, some fun for the dogs, and escaped the garden that needed a little more weeding.

Enjoying the day,

Naomi

Happy 10 Years

It is amazing to me that we have been married 10 years today. Man and wife, partners, lovers, best friends, and each other’s support for a 10 full years. I keep saying it to myself, because I find it hard to believe. It seems like ages and ages ago that Terran and I were married before our family and friends, another lifetime ago. At the same time I feel like we are just getting started that our life together is brimming with potential and the future. That somehow even with all we have discovered and built together, we have just touched the surface of each other and what our life holds.

Then...



Today...



It is wonderful, one of the greatest joys to look back over the last decade and know that I wouldn’t change a thing. Life has been so rich and so full; I would live every moment again with Terran by his side as his wife.

To the next ten years,

Naomi

NOTE: For whatever reason this post was removed when blogger was doing maintenance. We celebrated 10 years on May 12th and this was originally posted that morning ... just so you don't get confused about dates.