Chasing Tall

You know, when Bob and I were dating we spent many hours hiking, climbing, and winter camping.  I can't tell you how many times we would drive up to Saint Mary's Glacier, hike up to the ice and then camp.  We did it often, and always after we did we would find ourselves at IHOP....or Beau Jo's.  Gosh those were fun days.

Bob was always the leader on the trek up the mountain, and I can remember countless times of just putting one foot in front of the other under a 40 pound pack and keeping my eyes on his boots.  He's got legs.....for days and I......well, I don't, so I can remember times of breathing so heavy just to hold him.  I chased him everywhere and while we are pretty good at sharing the lead these days, I still find myself most content behind, chasing tall.

Our girls are amazing and we have reached the "Mom and dad can run together status and still find our house in tact" phase of parenting.  Its amazing and he and I both are no longer worried about leaving them at home for 2 or more hours.  Point in fact, they do much better together when we are not in the house #WINNING!

I am a distance runner again and I have found this unbelievable peace and purpose out on the trails.  Honestly guys, during the week I only ever run once on the pavement.  The desert calls to me too much.  Frankly it calls to my dog too, and Ellie just comes alive when we make that left onto the trail system.  

Bob and I headed out last weekend for a nice long run.  We ended up doing just shy of 10 miles. I won't lie coming back from my foot injury has been fun and exhausting.  It takes a long time to get your body comfortable with doing distance on regular basis.  I have been doing north of 8 to 10 miles every weekend and swimming, biking, yoga-ing, and weightlifting throughout the week.  I'm tired.....

BUT I am so happy.  I love endurance and, call me crazy, I love feeling that successful body fatigue of a trail well run.  Even if my legs are blood shot.  

I am so glad that through all of our marriage we have continued to find a lot of joy together chasing each other around mountains.  This season has been full of moments like these and I look forward to many more.

Happy Trails

Happy Trails to you....until we meet again!

Happy Trails to you.....keep smilin' on till then!

Keep smiling, keep moving forward, just keep looking forward.  Its the motto we live by currently.  In the midst of all this Covid-19 stuff we are finding the joy out on our many happy trails.

Little did we know when we bought our house how incredibly amazing this location was.  Just a short walk from our hose is the entrance to miles, and miles, and miles of trails.  Its as if the door has been opened to us during this quarantine time and we have discovered our gift.  TRAILS!  

Learning all of the trails around our house is daunting and it has taken 5 years and a Pandemic for Bob and I to get over our laziness and go out and figure them out.  Why did we wait so long?  

In our defense, having kids that are old enough and brave enough to go for 4 or 5 miles with only a minimal amount of complaining has helped the situation.   We Longmires are a hiking family now and are learning all of the trails that run through our mountains.  It has been such a fun time for us.

We are ever so thankful for friends that know the system and have taken us on several hikes.  In this time of social distancing we are so grateful that we have quarantined with a handful of people.  

The girls are such troopers and we tell them to get their camelbaks and hats ready at least once or twice a week.  

Even Bob and his running buddies have charted out new pathways and vistas.  

We have done a tone of hiking with this family and I love that my girls have been building their relationship with Lena and Kyla.  Look at those smiles.  Joy abounds.

This is a hard time for our world, but our desert reminds us that God is good.  He is life, and hope, and beauty.  Looking forward to finding many more happy trails in 2020.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Everything is closed.  Well, everything that we have always done is closed.  All the parks are closed, the pools, the play places, the malls, everything.  Its super annoying.  We all understand why and are protecting the most vulnerable, but I just won't lie.  This season is hard.

Fortunately we have found new places, that still remain open and are giving us new ways to see our beautiful state that we call home.

Our dear friends encouraged us to go and check out the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It is AMAZING and so hard to believe that it is in our desert!

We met them out just shy of Superior last week for our Field Trip and the experience did not disappoint.  Not only did our kids get to spend some quality un-quarantined time together, but the weather was beautiful for a literal walk in the park.

There is something so special about watching the budding friendships with your kids.  These three girls love to play together and their sweet friendship is really special.  Nathan is such a good kid and does alright being the only boy amongst giants.

The Arboretum is a huge area of land tucked into the rocks that houses foliage, plant life, and various species of flowers from all over the world.  It somehow feels like you leave the desert for a strange mix of woods, wilderness, and garden.  The property is still privately owned and there are 2 large estates on the property.  Man would I love to see inside this cool property.

This has been owned for over 100 years and there is still the 2 roomed original house on the property.  So much fun history and beautiful walking trails and bridges.  All 6 of us had a great time and the kids pretty much entertained themselves all afternoon while Melissa  and I chatted and poured personal life into each other.  We need people now more than ever. (Even if we work to stay 6 feet away).

The Boyce Thompson Arboretum was amazing and such a fun experience for us.  We cannot wait to go back for another field trip!

Project Central

Well, I won't lie, the forced-to-stay-at-home status does have its perks!  It honestly gives you the luxury of time.  Its been a wild realization.  When the kids ask if we have time to do something and my response is unequivocally, "Yep, we have all the time in the world."  Its equal parts wonderful and hard, but I am determined to make this time of stillness productive.  

And our house has become project central!  I have been wanting to make another medal board for all of our racing for a while.  I have put it off because of my injury and feeling like I may never again put a medal up on it.  We all know now terrible that attitude is and since getting back on my feet I decided it was time to add more space to the wall.  I have races to do!  This year I have been taking part in virtual runs and am honestly working towards compiling some great bling during this time of social distancing.  So grateful that I CAN RUN!

These boards truly make me happy.  So much life and history is written in between these medals.  

The other thing I have been hankering to do but just can't justify the time and energy until now is puzzling.  I bought Bob 2 more Star Wars puzzles for Christmas this year, and decided it was time to put them together.   I was the main labor for both of these which was really fun and challenging.  Bob and the girls helped when I was frustrated or just needed help over a hump.

I was worried that the puzzle above was going to be super challenging with the massive amount of white, but it was a BLAST.  I finished this puzzle in a quick 2 days and loved every second of it.

This one below......wow.

Took me a full week and a half with several moments of, "This puzzle is so hard!"  Thankfully Bob was able to step in and put some pieces in when I was about ready to throw in the towel.  I didn't think it would be that hard, but man!  It was a doozy!

But so incredible and satisfying to finish!!!  Now I have to convince myself to take it apart.

The kids have had their fair share of projects too, the most recent of which is the Hogwarts Castle Lego Set.  SO MUCH FUN!

I stepped completely out of this one and Lily put it together all by her little self with her sister the official piece finder.  It was so much fun to watch her commit to putting this 1000 piece castle together and it was such a great learning and engineering project (homeschooling 101 right here guys).

Lily only needed help once or twice in the entire project and the girls were so happy when they finished!  They keep telling me that they want more and more Legos now that they have boosted their confidence in building solo.  Lots of playtime on this thing! Mischief Managed!

Bob, of course, has not been short in house projects.  At the start of this quarantine thing a micro burst storm blew one of our trees on our house breaking several tiles and leaving some of our roof exposed.  Bob the Builder to the rescue.  I seriously cannot believe the man I married.  He can literally do anything.  Its amazing, and after one long Saturday our roof was repaired.  WOW.  Plus, lets face it, how good looking is he in that tool belt?????

The girl's bookshelf project took some build up and Elsa channeling to do.  I have been wanting to do something crazy and wild with the girls, but until recently just haven't had the balls to do it.  In case you don't know, I don't love messes, and this project was gonna be a mess.  New respect for Jackson Pollock and the insane amount of paint that must have been on every surface of his studio!

I decided to incorporate an Art class into our schooling last week and we learned about Jackson Pollock.  We watched a couple of videos about his life and work and then we just decided to throw caution to the wind and Pollock the bookshelf.  We started with a white chalk paint canvas and then went from there.

I steered hard into the bold paint category and got bright pink, purple, aqua, and yellow paint samples.  I loosely gave the girls some guidance, but gave them paint brushes and let them throw paint.  ALL......OVER.......

Learning to let go and remember that messes clean and memories last forever is harder than I would like to admit guys.  This one took it to the next level, and the girls had so much fun!

We threw paint everywhere including on each other.  It was inevitable and we still find paint flecks in our hair.

We even put our handprints on the back because......why ever not?

The result is PERFECT and I could not have expected better.  It looks absolutely adorable in their room and they feel so accomplished.  Ask them, they will always remember when they Jackson Pollock-ed their bookshelf.

We have recovered from that mess and I am honestly looking forward to the next project I come up with.  Its a special time to just do all the things that going places doesn't afford you.  Its beautiful and purposeful and memorable.  All the things that are gonna give 2020 something else to remember it by.