Blew out a flip flop, fixed it with a pop top...

Last weekend we packed food, firewood, and a dirty dog into my old beat up camry and headed over the mountain for a weekend of camping and fun. The rain started pouring 5miles down the road and my windshield wipers refused to work again (I'm thinking this might be carma), so while muttering my apologizes for all the wrecks and scrapes I had gotten her into and patting the dashboard lovingly, we sucessfully climbed the winding mountian roads going 10mph with my nose stuck inches away from the windshield peering through the drops. But a little bad weather wasn't going to stop us! The next day we hiked a few miles into the Gila Wilderness to a natural hotspring where fables had been told of water hot enough to boil eggs! In the process we crossed the gila river a million and one times and both Jeremy and I blew out our flip flops. Thank heavens we had our MacGyver father with us who fixed the boogers with a lighter and a pop top. Aside from family gang fueds at the campground and sunburned shoulders, we had a wonderful time!

The Spinner

Family

Over the past few weeks I have been spending time with the family in New Mexico and eating delicious homemade food! It's been wonderful to have some down time with the family as I prepare to head to South Korea in August.

Thunder grumbles off in the distance and answers itself from the opposite direction. I hear the wind rushing down the valley towards me from miles away, echoing off the rocky walls, flattening the willow saplings, and sending the pink flamingo in our yard into a neurotic frenzy. With the wind comes a stray bird searching for cover and our fat yellow cat from under his favorite bush makes a run for safety, his furry belly swinging from side to side.
And rain.
The cold drops impale me. They tap from leaf to leaf outside my window making the flower heads bob in time. Rivulets stream off the tin roof like a watery cloack and the smell of moist pine needles greets my nose. The black dog huddles fearfully in the corner atop our row of work shoes and the cat stares out the window, his tail twitching in annoyance.
The rainy season has finally come.

New Mexico

After a 1,535 mile all night drive to New Mexico with my pal Brenda, during which my windshield wipers died in the middle of a rain storm and my sun roof got stuck open, we finally made it to this beautiful state. During our short time here we have been out riding 4 wheelers in the Gila forest, helping my dad gather wood, exploring ghost towns, and singing with frogs while laying on a dried up lake bed. I could get used to this!