new experiences

Kenyon and my life is full of new experiences since moving. Tonight we had one that made me laugh out loud. I watched my husband eat his first pomegranate. He had juice everywhere! He's not quite sure he liked it, but he did try it. I had a great time watching the mess he made.

ASU football

The past two weekends Kenyon and I have attended the local college football games. This is a city with a population of about 30,000. The stadium holds 36,000 and it is often sold out. They are big college football fans here! One of the team members has a husband who is on the coaching staff. You've probably heard that we have a good team this year - we made college football history when we beat Michigan State. Well, the team won both games we attended. The fun part is that we get VIP treatment hanging with a coaches wife. We get to enter in the back door of the field house and bypass the crowds at the gates. We get to walk out on the field to our seats. It is exciting to actually be on the field with the players as they are warming up. We sit with the other coaches wives and their guests. They know all the players stats and they cheer loudly. It may be cold, but it has been fun.

Staff Retreat

This week my team took a couple of days away from the office to plan for the future. I've been a part of events like this before, I find them useful and stimulating. This was the first time I had to lead the entire event myself.

At the end of the two days, I think we all agreed it was worth the effort. We created a five year strategic plan to guide our activities, we got to know each other a little better, we left feeling hopeful and believing that we could make a difference in the world. Though the email piled up and the other work stacked on my desk didn't get any smaller - it was still time well spent.

snow?

This week it snowed here. Snow! Honest to goodness real snow. It was too warm for the snow to stick, so it melted as soon as it hit the ground - but real snow fell out of the sky. Really. I can't believe it. I am so not ready for winter. I predict this will be a long winter. I am a child of the desert, I need the sun to keep me warm. We now live in the mountains. I hear the wind blows, cold winds blow, and it snows enough for there to be three ski resorts right near our home town. Maybe next winter I will just schedule my trips overseas for this time and escape to someplace warm for a few months.

Christmas Tree harvesting

This area is covered with Christmas Tree farms. In fact, we can see one from our living room window. Last week they started harvesting the trees to send around the country. There were trailers and trailers of Christmas Trees just from the little farm by our house. It was an interesting process to watch. Who knows - maybe the tree you buy this season in your local parking lot could have come from here. It could happen. I bet you never wondered where that tree came from before...