Adventures in the Desert

Little J and I went on our first foray into the desert. It was spectacular. The highs were in the mid-eighties, and there was a nice breeze. Hah! Bet you wish you were here, you Utah folks, eh? The trailhead that we took is only about five minutes from our place. Boo ya!

The desert definitely has its own beauty. It's stark and bare, but still brimming with life. While we were hiking we heard some loud buzzing and I'm pretty sure one of the saguaros we passed was filled with bees. Yeesh. We saw some great wildlife and got some great pictures.

This is the Guadalupe Range. Not quite mountains in my book, but still
pretty to look at.

Sympetrum corruptum. A Variegated Meadowhawk. My question is
who is it corrupting and why?

If the dragonfly knew I posted a picture of his underside on the
internet, he'd probably be pretty embarrassed.

Not even two and already summiting peaks.

Little J loved this little cottontail.

Great Gratefulness

I have been overwhelmed lately at how much we have to be grateful for.

First, let me say that we made it to Phoenix just fine, and we're all settled in. Now, on to the mushy stuff.

When we found out we were moving to AZ, we asked a few friends for suggestions on where to live, and what neighborhoods were safe, and we got a boatload of help. It seemed like everyone had a cousin or old roommate that lived in the area and they were chomping at the bit to get us in touch with them. We were recommended the area in which we now live, and we love it. We feel like we really picked a GREAT location, and we're so grateful for the input of all our friends.

We lived with my parents for two months while Josh was still unemployed, and we feel so grateful that they opened their home to us. Little J loved his time there, crawling around in all the old cars and digging in the dirt with sticks. It was a great experience for him, and I'm glad he got to spend so much time with his grandparents.

Then, when the time came to move, we ended up staying in Utah with our friends the LeSueurs for a few days while we packed everything in the moving truck. We are so grateful that they put up with a mischievous baby (who may or may not have pooped directly on their carpet. Oh my word. That's even more embarrassing now that I type it) who ran all over their house. They were so gracious and kind, and we're so grateful for their friendship and hospitality.

We had help from a member of our new church group help us move in when we got here, and we are so grateful for him helping Big J carry our couches, bed, and other large, extraordinarily heavy furniture up a flight of stairs.

And then there's this whole job thing that we have to be grateful for. Seriously. I feel like we should have Thanksgiving NOW, and not wait until next month. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of our new place.

Gotcha! It's actually a picture of the
always-adorable Little J playing with
a truck.

The view from our stairwell. Better than a poke in the eye
with a burnt stick, eh?

We live on the second floor. Sorry for all the thumps,
downstairs neighbors!

Le living room. 

Moving on from the living room into the dining room.

Kitchen. Dur.

We put the feeder up and no less than two minutes later
a hummer had visited. Yay!

Little J's face when he sees a hummer.

His look after it flies away.

I would post pictures of the other rooms, but they are not quite unpacked, and who really wants to see a bathroom?

Ch-ch-ch-chowder!

Ok guys, here's my first recipe post. My mom suggested we make corn chowder for dinner tonight, and I couldn't find a recipe I really liked, so I made a Franken-recipe. I combined a few, and added some ingredients of my own. Here we go:

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

Serves 4 hungry people

2 medium sized sweet potatoes
1 whole onion
2 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery
4 fresh corn cobs (or 2 1/2 C frozen corn)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 - 3 C milk
Pepper
1/2 C shredded cheddar (optional)

Chop up the onion and garlic cloves and sauté them until softish. About 6 minutes. Peel and dice sweet potatoes into bite-sized cubes. Chop up the celery stalks into bite-sized pieces too. Shuck the corn and make sure all the silk is washed off. Slice all the corn off the cob and put it into the slow cooker.

Add all the rest of the veggies, including the softish onions and garlic. Add seasonings, with enough pepper to taste. Remember, in a slow cooker, flavors get more intense with time, so go easy on the pepper. Add enough water so that it's about an inch below the veggies in the crock pot, about 4 C. Cover and cook on high for about 3 hours, or until all the veggies are nice and soft.

Add the milk (enough to make it nice and creamy - the amount is up to you), bring back up to temperature and serve with some cheese grated on top, if you want. It is SO good. Trust me. To make it totally vegan, you can use unflavored rice or soy milk and omit the cheese. And if you're feeling carnivorous, add some rotisserie chicken or snausages.

It was so good that I didn't get to take a photo of it until it was all gone. See?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

We went up to one of my favorite places and had dinner the other night - Green Ridge. The sunset was gorgeous, and Little J had a TON of fun walking down the switchbacks, watching birds, throwing rocks, etc. My mom, who is a fantastic photographer, took some great shots of him and our family. Man, this kid has one well-documented childhood.

See, he does have hair!

I love how he's always in awe of everything.

You get a preview of our Christmas card! Yay!

MY BIG FAT NEWS!

THIS IS OUR BIG NEWS: IT'S LITTLE J'S 14-MONTH BIRTHDAY TODAY!

Hahah! Just kidding. Our big news is that Big J got a job! A real job! A good job! A J-O-B! No more squeaking by on unemployment! No more living in my brother's old room in my parent's house (although we are eternally grateful for spending time here, and Little J is going to miss his grandparents (and their cars) very very much)! No more wallowing in self-pity while we bemoan the fact that we aren't employed! Ok, maybe not so much the last one, but we are feeling an enormous amount of relief.

Here are the details: it's for a company called Mercer and it's in Phoenix. Big J will be an analyst that helps set Medicaid prices for 26 states. At least I think so. I'm fuzzy on the details, but I do know that it's a JOB! He's starting on the 22nd of next month, which is pretty soon, so we're in moving mode once again!

So, since we're moving to the Phoenix area, I'll take any advice from all you Arizonians (is that the proper term? There's no red squiggly under it, so I think that's right) on where to eat, live, play, camp, etc. Also, tips on dealing with the face-melting heat would be great too.

Ok, enough excitement for now. Here's some cute pictures to calm you down:

Breakfast time in the Anderson home is accented by
the splatty sounds of yogurt hitting the floor.

The aftermath.

Our most recent adventure. We're on a butte close to the Pine Mountain
observatory in the Oregon High Desert. I wish the camera had captured
the sunset better, it was knock-your-eye-out gorgeous.

Mostly Pictures

My favorite picture of James sleeping. He
was out cold.

The cousins reading together. D'awwwww.

Picture of the smoke plume from the nearby
Pole Creek Fire. As beautiful as it is
destructive. 

FACE!

Little J doesn't care that people's homes and livestock are
threatened by a raging fire. He just wants to play with a rock.

What a view!

Also, Big J has a big interview in Phoenix tomorrow, so any thoughts, prayers, cosmic vibrations, etc would be appreciated. Thanks.

Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves

We are everything in that Cher song except tramps and thieves. Well, we're more like bedouins to be honest. We lived with my parents for a while and then we were asked by some friends to house sit while they were on vacation. It's been nice to have our own space for a while, but the animals that we're caring for are just a bit too much to handle, along with a baby.

There's a three year-old black lab, a seven year-old long haired chihuahua, two cats (one of which is completely nocturnal, more about this later), and two fish. Whew! The lab is lovely and we adore each other. The chihuahua has a Napoleon complex and he hates me. Meh. I always get him in trouble for barking at Little J (and chipmunks, and deer, and cars, and moths, etc) so he likes Josh a lot more. He's TERRIFIED of the baby. What a little wuss.

One cat is an attention sponge, and loves being brushed. He loves it so much that he yowls for it at 3 in the morning and Big J has to get up and brush the cat all bleary-eyed. And when we're not up brushing the cat, we're being jumped on in the bed by the other cat. He sleeps all day and then accosts us at night. That's fine if you don't have a baby that occasionally wakes up at night as well. So, long story short, not a lot of sleep is being gotten lately.

Our friends are coming home tomorrow, which is the same day that we're leaving to go visit my brother  in Washington State. So, we pack up everything onto the camel caravan, oops, I mean into the car, and move on to our next temporary home. I kind of like this way-faring style. I think it's hard on Little J sometimes, but it's also teaching him to be flexible. We keep the same routine no matter where we are, and I think that helps.

Here's an adorable clip of Little J and one of his namesakes walking off into the woods together:

Oregon Trail completed

Whew! We made it! We left Monday night and got here Tuesday morning. And, it only took us 10 hours and 18 minutes. Take that, Google maps!

Our car was packed. PACKED! Full to the gills. We could not fit one more iota of stuff in there, or the car would have exploded. I was afraid that taking one thing out of the back would be like playing Jenga and the whole lot would come tumbling out. But, we successfully unpacked everything and our car weighs about 800 lbs less.

We killed about a gazillion bugs. Maybe even two gazillion. Their guts are smeared all over the front end of the car. We also saw lots of animals on the road that luckily we didn't smear all over our car. Here's a list: racoon, skunk, pronghorn, mourning doves, mule deer, owls, and a bat. The deer were just standing in the middle of the road, and we had to honk at them to get them to move. I like to think that they were a group of rebel teenage deer out looking for a thrill at 3:30 in the morning.

Little J did great. He slept like a hibernating bear. We even stopped to get gas a few times and he didn't wake up. He was thrilled to get his grandparents' house too. We went to bed for a bit and then when he woke up in the morning, he crawled and walked around the house like crazy. He especially loves his Nana Sue, but then who wouldn't?

My view from the front seat. Little J was REALLY
crammed in there.

That green ball is holding the entire car together.

Yes of course we brought our maple syrup.
Big J is Canadian, remember?