HighHeeled Hiking

I haven't forgotten the Ruidoso stories I promised I'd tell you!

The whole time we were there, James kept talking about an old fire watch station on a mountain that you could drive to. One evening, we were out driving around, and wound up there. We got out of the car, and I thought, "hmm... you can't do much looking out surrounded by trees..." This was when James informed me it was "just a short walk down a path" to the point. I happened to be wearing brand new heels, but he assured me it wasn't far. He lied. It ended up being about a half mile hike over rocky terrain, which I know isn't far, but it is when you're wearing heels. THEN, we had to climb 3 flights of stairs to get to the fire watchtower. By the time we got to the top, I was huffing & puffing, and had multiple blisters on my sore feet. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. James sweetly offered me his shoes, and said he'd walk down barefooted. Then he said, "Oh, come on... they can't be THAT bad," and put on my shoes. He took one step, fell off, and broke the strap. That brightened my mood considerably- it's hard to be grumpy when you're laughing your head off. :)

In all this, I learned a tip- If you have a pair of crocs, & the buckle thingie breaks, you can order replacement rivets from their website FOR FREE.

Name Decisions and the Renovations Begin Again!

Not only was the name "Caroline" the overwhelming favorite at the polls, but we could never remember any other name we tried calling her. Caroline it is. Here is our baby with her Aunt Jenny (Mom & Dad's dog). They are BFFs now, and Jenny even shared her bed with Caroline. She's wearing a sweater (sock with the foot & armholes cut out) because she got wet when she went outside, and she was shivering cold.

In other news, the remodeling has begun again! For some reason, we seem to wait until it is 8,000 degrees outside to do anything to the house... This time, we're doing our bedroom & bathroom. The first completed project, however, is in the kitchen.

See our old ugly acrylic sink, broken on the left corner (so that it snagged your shirt every time you got too close), and stained & cracked in both basins.



BEHOLD! our lovely shiny new stainless sink, complete with extra tall faucet with the pull out spray & built in soap dispenser. You may commence oohing & ahhing.

***and PS: James installed the new sink & faucet himself!