Spring in January

Ahhhh. It’s a LOVELY 70* here today. I don’t even care if I’m rubbing it in to all you folks in Illinois… if we have to live in the desert against our will, we need to get something in return! 😉 Jess and I went on a walk around the neighborhood today and I might go for a run before I pick up Aaron from work. It’s my day off, too, so I’m in a super-good mood today.

This week has been pretty good. My work schedule will be changing a little from week to week to accommodate my boss’s strange schedule with conferences at different places. I got to leave work before 5 on Wednesday, and it was nice to actually be home and make dinner and have time to relax before Google+ Hangout-ing with family. Here we are…

My father-in-law (second from right), my mother-in-law (second from left) and my brother-in-law (on the far right) were all in the same house. Hilarious. Later in the conversation our cousin Anita (well, Aaron’s cousin) joined us from Ohio. So we had three time zones represented: Mountain, Central and Eastern. In the famous words of Kip, I love technology.

So, we hung out. And then it was Friday. Already! We fly back to Illinois THREE WEEKS from tomorrow! Woohoo! We could have chosen a better time of year to go, but it’ll be good. Maybe we’ll take some warmish weather back with us. Illinois kind of boycotts these temps so early in the year.

But seriously. I opened up the window in the kitchen and I have the front door propped open. The air smells fresh and warm and…. just awesome. It really really makes me want to go on a roadtrip…

Over my birthday weekend (April 22) we’re talking about taking a long weekend and going camping in Silver City, New Mexico. It’s on my list because it’s a new place to visit, it has some cool art and history, and they’re close to the Gila National Forest. Temps will be nice with highs in the 70’s and lows in the 40’s. Even if there’s nothing really going on in town, a relaxing weekend of camping and hiking in the fresh mountain air will be a perfect way to celebrate my 26th birthday. (This will be the first one in four years Aaron’s been present for.) We’d like to stay at the KOA Kampground… I’m quite partial to them. And at ~$30 per night for a site, how can you beat that?? Here’s a pic I found on their Facebook page:

One word: Yes. So, if you remember, I had a race tentatively scheduled for this same weekend, across the state from Silver City in Hobbs. Welllllll, Aaron might get to join his company’s team for Bataan AND they’re trying to get it paid for by the company. In that case, I’d then be able to pay for myself for Bataan. After my recent success in the half marathon, I realize I could train to run 26.2 just two months from now. That is definitely heartening!

The next few months will be good! January is almost over, which is good because I HATE January. February we’ll be back in Illinois for half of it. In March I have my spring break from work and we have Bataan, then in April is my birthday!

Now, excuse me while I sit outside and enjoy the sun and blue skies. 😉