The thing is

It's Dan's turn to blog. He really wants a new post on here, but he won't do it. We had a great time last weekend at the arena, took pictures and everything. He writes such funny stuff and everyone loves to read it. It is his turn to blog and he is refusing. I know this is a shock, but he can be a little stubborn sometimes.

The thing is, he needs a little encouragement. We all do sometimes. I was thinking, each of you should leave a comment, send a text or email, call him and let him know how much you would like to read about the monster trucks on our blog. That would help him realize just how many people miss reading his hilarious posts. So, go ahead and let him know. I'm sure he will greatly appreciate it!

A little secret

I have something to confess, so brace yourselves . . . I am a closet christian rock fan.

Yes, its true. And my all-time favorite is My Savior My God. I first heard it when I was in Illinois for a month studying. I guess that's when I was really introduced to christian rock. There were about 30 of those channels on the radio and nothing else, well, some bad rap, but that's not music. So, that's what I listened to while driving around the little town of Champaign, Illinois. It was Christian Rock the whole way. On the trip back, when Dan flew out to visit me, we downloaded the song, so we could rock out all the way home. I thought it was fantastic, and Dan didn't seem to mind terribly. Then just the other day, I found out that the guy singing could give the Jonas brothers a run for their money in the heartthrob category.

But, lets be honest--that's not why I like the song. I like it because it is upbeat, fun to listen to and has a pretty great message.


It helps me understand why some christian groups incorporate these kind of tunes in their worship service. I can relate with those "holy rollers."




As it turns out, there are a few good stations here in New Mexico as well. Sometimes it is just what I need to hear. And it is always better than mexican circus music.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

That's what we've been up to the past few weeks, lots of changes.

• We found a house to move to for the next five months. A ridiculously tiny house. We went from having plenty of extra room for our belongings, to having way too much stuff. Tons of things, not tons of room. We lost more than 50% of our square footage. It has--out of necessity--helped us purge our junk, or at least be much more selective about what is worth weaving between as we go about our daily lives.

Here it is, the grand palace. This is the view of the north wing. Ok, that's actually the house in its entirety. All 1100 square feet.

• We also switched congregations. We are in a brand new ward with lots of old folks. We went from working in the nursery, to not even having a nursery. Seriously, lots of octogenarians. I believe we are one of four couples under 40. Everyone has been very welcoming and friendly. And the building is only 100 yards away.
  

• Relationship changes too. We are figuring out how to like each other despite being in each other's personal space 24 hours a day. Ok, except when I'm at work. I just keep thinking of that old song, "love grows best in little houses." Its probably a good thing there's not a Jack or Jill yet.

We have had some fun figuring out how to deal with these changes. We spent all day Saturday building a shelf for our kitchen. It is the largest room in the house, but only has 5 cupboards, not nearly enough room for all our appliances, dishes and food. The shelf turned out pretty well. It is perfect as far as utility goes. It could use some help in the decorative department, but by the time we finished building it, I wanted to put it to use. I didn't have time for the bright red paint we purchased to color it.


Not so shabby huh? It suits the intended purpose very well. We needed to get the million dollar microwave off the coveted counter space. And it holds all those appliances and big dishes quite nicely.

I'm a little worried that by showing a picture of it we will get tons of requests for shelves. We aren't ready to jump into that business yet. Sorry folks.


Dan went ahead and made this handy little space saver. We don't have a pan cupboard or any sort of pantry. We don't even have a hall closet in this house. He did such a great job, angled it and everything for easier access. He's a dandy.

Probably the best part of this new living arrangement is the back yard. In addition to its vastness, it has a little treasure. We found this little nook that was built in to the fence by the patio, complete with a latching door and shingled roof. It looks like an outside cupboard (Thanks, but we would have preferred another one in the kitchen instead). We haven't been able to determine what it was designed for, but we have come up with our own uses for it.


We are glad we found a place to live for our last 5 months as New Mexicans, even if we don't really fit.

Christmas in the Kirk

No snow down here in New Mex for a white Christmas. We had some the other day and it lasted about 2 hours. Pretty boring. We were able to find a little holiday cheer . . . at the River of Lights!





Bats and Jack in the box, definitely the first things that come to mind when I think of Christmas.



Santa is writing on his list what Dan wants for Christmas this year. Its the same as last year's Christmas wish and the jolly old man is still too poor to get him a metal lathe. Plus, it wouldn't really fit in the sleigh.

My favorite was the T-rex with moving parts.

It's no Temple Square, but it'll do for these New Messicans.

Practicing with acrylics

This is the first of many inspirational paintings I'm working on.



jealous?

Well, we don't have our own to elf

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

How is it . . .

How is it that there are so many wonderful, caring people who yearn to have children and never get that opportunity when I see children every day with parents who are unable to care for them or just don't want to? For instance, there is a little four week old girl I have been taking care of since she was a few days old whose mother was in jail for most of the pregnancy, did not get adequate prenatal care, was taking four different types of narcotics including heroine and came to visit her daughter zero times during her hospital stay. The baby stayed in the hospital for over three weeks because she was withdrawing from narcotics.

And then there is the 15 year old girl who was pregnant and kept it a secret until her water broke and she was in labor. And she has no idea who the father is because she had three partners at the time.

Then there is the 20 year old who has toddler twins and a six year old at home, all of whom should probably be in foster care because she is unable to care for them. She told me they weren't brushing the twins teeth everyday because "they can't really hold the toothbrush." Right. I let her know that as the mommy, she was supposed to be brushing them! Sometimes it is really hard to hide my feelings of amazement at peoples' low levels of functioning. People should have to take drug tests and parenting classes before they can get pregnant.

How is it that parents are allowed to name their children ridiculous things like Meconium, La-a (ladasha), Genocide, Unique, King, Nevaeh, (heaven spelled backwards) and Desire? I am not kidding around, I have met children who have been unfortunately labeled with each of these names. Seriously, meconium? You know what that means right? Baby poop. Wow, right? What were these people thinking? Maybe choosing the name of future children could be some sort of screening test to weed out those people who shouldn't be allowed to have children.

How is it that one psycho lady has so much control over my life and happiness? I am speaking of, you guessed it, our landlady. Super crazy. Completely irrational. And she continues to cause all sorts of emotional distress in our lives. This is one very big reason I will be excited to leave this place soon.

Ok, I guess that's all I have for now. Sorry for the rant. Sometimes it is the only thing I can do to help myself cope.