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One Year Later - 8/27/2011

What a difference a year can make!!!

WoW!!! i just accidentally found my way back to this blog on THIS particular Saturday morning!
the last time that i posted on this blog was . . . EXACTLY one year ago!!!

so i got to take the time to document what all has happened since last year. Cool!!

ya know - i was just surfing around on the web this morning - watching funny youtubes - it's been a nice relaxing beautiful morning with fresh cool temperatures . . . windows open, breeze softly blowing . . . in LATE AUGUST!!!! Sorry folks back home in the South - but it's true - when yall moving out here?

Sooo . . .

Besides being the Year of Mom Independence!!! it has also been one WHACK wEaTHeR year - 2011.

There is so much information & disinformation about the big picture meaning of this year 2011 - that i don't know yet how to assimilate it all so i will refrain from making any more comments about it except to document what all has happened since this time last year.

Last year - at about this time, "they" finally plugged the ocean floor, stopping the BP Gulf oil spill in the Gulf Coast - 200 millions gallons of oil spewed from April 19, 2010 to August, 2010. David profited greatly from this awful man-made natural disaster by cleaning oil off of thousands of sea & shore birds, working at the southern most tip of Louisiana. And amazingly, I got to actually watch him working through a webcam!! That was sooo cool!!


In December, i become aware of the possibility of the New Madrid fault zone being triggered and the effect it would have on the nation.

Then on New Year's Day, 2011 - hundreds of thousands of birds die off in Arkansas & Louisiana (New Madrid fault zone) and then in the coming days more reports of massive bird & fish die-offs - all over the world. Weird.

By February - major snowstorms & arctic temperatures throughout the nation. Unusual sub-zero temps experienced here in Northern New Mexico and the whole eastern part of the state!! lost access to natural gas, shutting off the heat to whole towns, thousands of people - in extreme cold weather conditions . . . and yet - this event barely reported to the rest of the nation - totally ignored! Weird.

March 3, 2011 - 9.0 Earthquake in Japan followed by a tsunami of historical proportions - documented in real time by the citizens of Japan with their hi-tech video possibilities .- for all the world to watch and see. This was the 2nd massive earthquake in the past year that has knocked the earth off it's axis a few degrees. The first was in Chili in April 2010.

April 2011 - two massive F5 tornadoes wipe off whole towns from the map - Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Joplin, Missouri - about 2 weeks apart- in the New Madrid fault zone.

May 2011 - the Mississippi River floods to such a degree that levees are dynamited to control the flow (in yet again - the New Madrid fault zone) and eventually the Morganza Spillway in South Louisiana is opened to keep Baton Rouge & New Orleans from being catastrophically flooded.

June 2011 - Unprecedented snow melt off in the Northwestern states causes the Missouri River to completely flood Minot, North Dakota - which is flooding in an unheard of area of the nation.

July 2011 - From Oklahoma & Texas across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi & Tennessee, a high ridge pressure systems settles causing unprecedented triple-digit heat for the next 60 some days. (in New Madrid fault zone)

August 2011 - a 5.5 earthquake in southeastern Colorado and the very next day, a 6.0 in Virginia - rocking New York & Washington D.C. - guess what's in the middle of these 2 two areas - the New Madrid fault zone.

And now - Hurricane Irene is shredding north, up the whole East Coast - from North Carolina through New England . . .Wall Street in New York is supposed to be flooded.

which brings me to this moment - i got the Weather Channel running in the background - watching how this hurricane actually turns out . . .

Like i said - some really weird weather this year and i'm sure more to come.

But in and amongst all these crazy happenings, I have experienced a very happy and satisfying year.

David graduated from college as a 2nd Lt. and nurse for the Air Force - his goals since he was in 9th grade!


and Evan married her beloved Matt - who proposed to her last August - the minute she got back from that trip she & David took last year to visit me out here in New Mexico.
Their wedding was just a month ago and it was wonderful, elegant and lots of fun for the whole Jennings clan. So yes it's been a good year for me, ol' Momcat.


Some other highlights:

i got my braces off
and love my fabulous new smile!


my flower garden in the back yard is spectacular.



i still love my job and the beginning of Fall semester this past week went so smoothly - i think i actually know what i'm doing now!

i've gone on lots of exploring trips throughout central northern New Mexico - Jemez Mts, Abiquiu, Los Alamos, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos - always Taos.

Flown - not drove - 2 times back to Louisiana with another flight coming up in December
Here's what the Rio Grande Gorge looks like from overhead

Drove to my niece's wedding in Estes Park, Colorado in the northern Rockies.

and drove thru extreme weather snow conditions when David helped me haul back the stuff i still had stored back in Tennessee (what relief to close that chapter of my life finally).
Snow!!! stayed on the ground from the end of December to the first of February!!

But in the early spring, I was really bummed when the electric company came out and cut the 2 trees down in my back yard . . . . but now i have tons of free firewood!!

Danny came down and visited me and split it just right for burning in my fire ring.
and i had plenty of wood to make new walkways - which gives me new ideas for my garden next year!
so all in all - been having a good time, loving my life in northwestern New Mexico.

Now i'll just keep on keeping on . . . watch summer turn to Fall and the cold weather setting in. Then ill fly back to Louisiana one more time this year to see Evan graduate from college in December and then hope & wait for her & Matt to move out to Colorado next summer after he graduates pharmacy school!!!! What fun!!

and in the meantime, i'll be watching how the rest of 2011 turns out weather-wise and if any of the stuff that is supposed to come to pass - comes to past - hopefully not - cuz i'm already looking forward to 2016 when i can visit David in Tokoyo!!
Oh yeah! I turned 50 this year!
me & my little kittens from back in the day

(almost) Labor Day 2010. 8/27/10

I have really enjoyed my summer time in the Four Corners!

However, I spent most of my adventures in beautiful COLORADO!!!!
i LOVE love LOVE this place!!

I took a quick history class through the college and we explored the late 1890's mining camps of the southwestern Colorado mountains. This is Silverton.
This is the group that I went with on the day-long field trip. Awesome time!
I also had the opportunity to go with some gardening friends into the La Plata Mountains looking for wildflowers.

Columbine
Spent the 4th of july . . .


River rafting down the Animas River out of Durango, CO


Took a few days off work and went to Pagosa Springs to soak in the natural hot springs.

Oh! Did i say how much i LoVe LOve loVE Colorado!?!?!?

One of the biggest developments to happen to me is that i started volunteering a couple of times a week at a local equine rescue facility!!! and through being a volunteer at the Four Corners Equine Rescue, I have been able to attend several training clinics at the Parelli Ranch outside of Pagosa Springs. This training is being given to the volunteers of FCER so that we can use our skills to bring trust and confidence back into the minds and spirits of the horses we receive at the rescue. Pat Parelli's techniques allows you to communicate with the horse thorough hand signals, almost like MAGIC!!! I have taken this really to heart and think it would be great if I could one day foster some of the horses from FCER with some one-on-one care and time. Only time will tell . . .
Parelli me

Scenes from the Four Corners Equine Rescue



Then the best thing in the world happened!!!
The kids came out to see me and explore the Four Corners!!!

We went to ShipRock and over into Arizona, then to the 4 Corners Monument and then to several interesting things in Utah. Valley of the Gods, Gooseneck State Park and the Moki Dugway . . .

and to the look out point of Muley Point.
Now summer is winding down. The weather is nippy in the evenings and early mornings. Fall is definitely in the air . . .

Monsoon rainstorms in the afternoons . . .
makes it the ideal time to start doing a little yardwork. Planted some beautiful irises by the back patio!
who said i live in the desert?
School has started at the college and my job has gotten real busy again. But it's fun and lively with all kinds of great personalities to interact with - plus i am taking a beginner Math class. If i just take a few classes, i can wrap up the college hours that i already have into a Bachelor's degree. Who would have thought it at 50 years old? Speaking of which . . .

LOL - since i have orthodontic insurance as a job benefit - well? WHY NOT!?!

Memorial Day 2010

Last Memorial Day I sat on my porch and pondered "Should I do it?" After many hours of mental debate, pros and cons, I looked up and saw this - the Burning Bush and knew i should go.
It's been a whirlwind year with many changes as this blog will attest.

This post is to memorialize the process that took this Southern Lady circa December 2008, who could only sit in her cubicle and day dream out the internet window about other places and adventurous living . . . .
to this Western Raft-Riding Mountain-Hiking Adventure Woman that a year and a half later I've become!!!! Yeeee-Haw!!!!
i'm sorry i have not continued posting blogs here but with all the outdoor things to do around this place, i have very little time to blog . . . which was the whole purpose of those daydreams i dreamed way back at the beginning of this blog, trapped in a windowless cubicle . . . visionary thoughts do become real. Be careful. Dream Big. Dream Pure.