A day in Santa Fe

Tonight my parents watched Penny while Kevin and I went to Santa Fe for the evening. Of course we spent much of our time talking about her, but it was really nice to have a few hours to ourselves. Penny wouldn't have been patient enough to enjoy it.

We walked around the Plaza, which is the touristy, artsy center of old Santa Fe. I love the old buildings, tiny streets, fancy shops, and of course, the people watching: women in flowy skirts and sun hats, one guy with long hair and carrying a parrot (?), a French woman in a red-and-white horizontal striped shirt carrying a cigarette vertically in her knuckles and emphatically agreeing with her friend: "Oui, oui, oui!" Is there any wonder why we stereotype the French?

We were aimlessly window shopping, which is a great way to enjoy a city like Santa Fe. We tootled into a Persian rug shop, where we got talking to the proprietor. We talked to him about the history of the Turkish people, who span from Turkey through Central Asia all the way into China. He told us about the history of the great Islamic empires through the ages, about the Mongols and their 4 empires, about the Persians and Turks, and of course, about his rugs. Did you know that Istanbul really means Islam-pul. They changed the name after taking it over from Constantine's Christians?

Even though we're not in the market for Persian rugs (heck, we're not even in the market for Ikea rugs!), we had fun asking him questions and hearing his stories about the antique rugs from various parts of the world, their different knotting techniques, and enjoying the quiet atmosphere of Mohammed's rug shop.

Next door, there was the Nambe shop, which is really expensive, artistic, and beautiful bowls, vases, and tableware. It's made here in Northern New Mexico, and it made me happy to see people leaving the store with big shopping bags full of Nambe ware. We got one piece for our wedding (it was a combined gift from a few families in our ward), and my dad got a tiny piece from the Lab after working there for 20 years. I may or may not have used it at Thanksgiving that year to serve pickles with a metal fork. It may or may not be a little bit ruined from it. Sorry again.

Across the street was an art fair, and we wandered in there to admire some photographs in the first booth. Man, they were gorgeous! They were pictures of New Mexico in all its colorful, textured, rich beauty. The artist's name was Amadeus Leitner, and when he came over to chat with us, I asked him if he knew a Franz Leitner.

"I might," he said. Then he said nothing else but kind of smirked.

"Are you related to him or something?" I asked. I know Franz had a pretty big family.

The smirk broke into a smile. "That's me!"

Huh? I just stared, and I know I was squinting and trying to place his face. I know what he looked like 10 years ago, and it made me feel kind of old to meet a classmate and not even recognize him.

"I've kind of grown into myself," he said.

Ahhh, haven't we all.

We got his card and website, and honestly, we're thinking of buying one before we leave for overseas-- a little bit of New Mexico to bring with us. They're beautiful! Check out his website.

The only thing that could top of an already great evening out would be a great meal, so we headed to Tomasita's for chile rellenos and sopapillas.

Full and happy, we drove back home, where Penny burst into tears at the sight of us.

The latest ad on craigslist and freecycle

Unfortunately, we've come to a point-- again-- where we have to find a new home for our cats. Permanently this time. This is the ad Kevin wrote for craigslist and freecycle. I know most of you don't live anywhere near, but if you could talk it up, we need all the help we can get finding a new home for these little guys.

We have two beloved, healthy cats who need a new home, Toby and Howie. We would do almost anything for these cats. But we just can't force our baby daughter, who turns out to be allergic to cats, to suffer itchy eyes and skin. Free, with equipment, to a loving home.

October "Toby": The "smart" one
Black cat with smooth, shiny fur and a very social personality. He'll follow you from room to room and talk with you. He's very smart and we've taught him to come on command. He's does best with those who respect his space. If you respect him, you'll find that whenever you sit down to read a book, or lay down to relax, you'll have a purring black cat snuggled next to you--or on top of you. He hides from two-year-olds--we can show you pictures explaining why if you want. He's almost four years old. He's a proven mouser.

Howie: the "cute" one
White, black, and brown cat. He's very furry and very soft. He's a relaxed and pleasant cat which means he's great with kids and will take almost any kind of childish enthusiasm (read: abuse) without batting an eye. He'll even let you shave him with a minimum of fuss! He will often walk up to you and flop onto his back, begging to be loved. He's three years old. He's proven to steal mice from Toby.


Moving and New People:
These cats have recently gone through three moves and were watched for four months by family while my wife and I traveled. When they were watched by family, they hid under the bed for the first two weeks. Here's how to avoid that: lock them in the bathroom until its obvious they want to come out. We've done this twice and it helped them adjust in just a few days. Oh, and keep overexcited boys at bay.

Outdoors, indoors, and other animals:
These cats have been both indoor and outdoor cats. They've lived with strange cats and a strange dog. Though Toby wasn't particularly fond of new animals, they've done fine in all these situations (no fights, just some hissing). Howie's only problem is a fondness of chewing on fish hooks.

Please feel free to contact us. Thank you!

Immaculate Spelling Skillz

Many people ask me what I'm doing now that I'm in New Mexico. I tell them I'm working at a summer camp for the summer and then I'll be student teaching in the fall. Both of these are technically false, since my camp job hasn't started yet, and I haven't yet applied or been accepted to student teach.

I started my application process a long time ago with my school, the University of Phoenix. I filled out their paperwork and got all sorts of addresses, contacts, phone numbers, and fax numbers for nearby school districts. Then I submitted them and waited.

I just heard back that they did contact the Los Alamos school district, but being Los Alamos, they have their own form. This means I get to find professor recommendations, send official transcripts, and wait for the chance to go get fingerprinted and have a background check. Whoopee!

I'm almost finished with all that (sort of), and today's big step was emailing a few of my BYU professors to ask if they'd recommend me. The letter went something like this (and unless copy and paste have somehow mysteriously mutated, this is word-for-word):

Dear ________ (professor's name),

It's me, Chelsea Fisher-aka-Christensen. Remember me from back in the day?

Well, these days I'm trying to finish my Masters in Secondary Ed, which I'm doing through University of Phoenix. I'm applying for student teaching, and they want some professor recommendations. The fun part is that since I've been taking classes online, I don't exactly know any of my professors, and they don't really know me-- beyond my immaculate spelling skills.

....

Thanks!

Chelsea

I sent it to 3 different professors, and then as I lay in bed trying to take a nap, I suddenly realized I didn't think I'd changed the name on my last letter I sent out. I ran down to check the letter, which was sent to my English professor whom I later found out was my dad's first cousin.

Turns out I should have proofread. The letter to Professor Paul Thomas began thusly:

Dear Cousin Pall,

At least my BYU professors won't have to brag about my immaculate spelling skills.

Making our mark

I grew up in White Rock, and all during college, I came back home every summer to work. However, that was five years ago, and today I introduced myself as a new person in Relief Society. Yay!

I guess Penny felt bad that she didn't get to say anything, and so she decided to poop on the carpet at the end of the lesson. You're probably imagining she made her little mess under my seat or in the aisle right by me. But she had actually crawled away from me and was sitting underneath another girl.

"Don't step anywhere," I told her as I frantically wet-wiped the whole area.

Thanks, Penny, for a memorable first day back home!

The Western US in a nutshell-- a long nutshell

May is a beautiful time of year. I know this because I saw most of the US this May. After coming home ("home") (what constitutes home anyway?) from Hawaii, we packed up all our stuff in Washington. Most of our books, kitchen stuff, and furniture we packed in a crawl space to store in Washington. Our clothes, baby supplies, and baby we packed into the car and headed across America. First stop: Portland.

Portland, Oregon, is a beautiful little city that I'd only seen before from the interstate. Turns out, that's not the best way to get to know a place. Kevin's cousin and her family live there, and despite our only giving them 3 days' notice, they were gracious to have us stay with them for a couple nights. Jennifer and Don are some of the nicest people ever, meaning that they are happy, positive, friendly, and interesting to talk to. Does it get better than that? They have two little boys and a daughter that's Penny's age. They had fun crawling around on the floor together, smacking each other's faces, sharing toys and slobber, and teaching tricks like pulling up to standing on stuff.

Don took us around the art museum where he works as a curator. Or the curator. Or some other position. Maybe he's the night guard. Who knows. But he does a lot of work obtaining the art both for the museum's permanent collection and for temporary exhibits. He told us how they got some of the works. He says that people call them all the time to sell or donate their private collections to them, and often they say they have a Monet or Picasso or whatever, but then it turns out to be just a print. So he was surprised to go see a painting that this old couple had been hanging on their dining room wall for 15 years, which turned out to be an early Van Gogh. He said it was kind of greenish, but after removing all the lacquer, it's actually a beautiful blue. Apparently when they x-rayed it, they could see where he had changed his mind and painted over something as he painted the piece. Also, there were holes poked in the corners of the canvas, showing that he had been too poor to paint on stretched canvas, and he'd had to just pin his canvas in place. I love art museums. I've gone to several in cities around the world, and I have a healthy appreciation for artwork. But honestly, if I'd been on my own in the museum, I would have probably looked at the painting, glanced at the plaque beside it, and said, "Cool, a cow by Van Gogh." And then moved on. This tour was so much better. I'll have to remember that for future art museum excursions.

We had lunch at the farmer's market behind the museum. While we ate, Don told us about one of the outdoor sculptures, and how buying the darn thing is not the hardest part. Apparently they bought the piece from an artist in New York. Then in order to ship it, it had to be trucked across however-many states, and each state has its own regulations about if it needs a "wide load" sign, an escort car before and/or after the truck, various hours you can or cannot drive it through cities or whatnot. So that's a whole lotta work for him. Then in order to install it, they needed all sorts of permits to have engineers come out and calculate everything to install the cement base and then the actual artwork. And since it is pretty big (but not that big), it legally has to have its own address so it can appear on city maps and stuff. I never knew.

The other awesome part about Portland was visiting my friend Sarah Frantz. Just to clarify, this is the Sarah Frantz who used to be Strickland but then married the brother of the other Sarah Frantz who is now married herself and is no longer Sarah Frantz. They have lived in Portland for a few months and have a couple cute kiddos. Sarah and I met in 2002 teaching English in China, and then I saw her again in 2004 when she was on a mission in Hong Kong. And it's been a while, but I love that it felt like it hadn't been long at all. We had tons to talk about, both with what we had been doing, and what we were currently up to. We had a late lunch, went to the park, and then went to Chinese dim sum for dinner. Dinner was Kevin's idea. See, when we go to visit my old friends, Kevin usually wants to shrivel up and die from boredom, as much as he loves listening to me talk about people, places, and events that he knows nothing about. But we both had a great time getting to know Sarah and Ezra. They've both spent some time in China and Asia, and honestly, we can always find something in common with people like that!

We eventually had to leave Portland, and our next stop was Boise, ID.

We didn't make it a long stay in Boise. We just drove in one day and left in the morning. We got a hold of some friends there-- they taught our Sunday School class, actually-- and we stayed with them. We were blessed with gracious hosts in each of our stops, but the Snyders were especially accommodating. Carolyn was actually out of town that night, and Jack had to work late, but they told us how to go in and insisted we just make ourselves at home. They have grandkids, so they had a crib for us to use. I think this allowed us the best night of sleep on our whole road trip.

Kevin needed something for his iPod, so we went to Office Depot where we ran into a friend. We arranged to meet him and his wife for dinner after he got off work, and we asked Jack if we could take him out to dinner as well. We all met up for Chinese food, and while I was under the table picking up rice and Cheerios that Penny had scattered on the floor, Jack sneaked off and payed for dinner for the 5 of us. I knew he'd gotten up, but I was busy underneath the table. We should have been sneakier.

And today's installment goes to Boise.

To be continued...

Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day as a mother. At first, I lied to Kevin and said, "Eh, you don't have to do anything." But later I clarified that. "You need to make a big fuss, but don't spend a lot of money." That's what I had really meant.

Kevin and his dad got Mama and me corsages last night, and then we all went out to eat. Now that Penny is on Hawaii time, her bedtime no longer falls at 6:30 or 7:00. So we had a happy baby during the dinner too. Then we had ice cream at home.

Church this morning was great. Penny didn't go up and sing with the other kids, although I think she may have known the song lyrics just as well as half the kids up there. It's always fun to watch the kids sing, and I was a little bit disappointed that they all used their nice voices. I always get a kick out of the yellers. We had pie for the last 30 minutes of Relief Society. It was great to be able to chat with some of the other ladies from church, especially since we're moving this week and I had the chance to say goodbye.

I realize that Mother's Day is a rough holiday for many people, both for the guilt and the emptiness. RE the first: I think too many women are too hard on themselves, such that when they hear a talk about one woman being a great mother, they instantly feel like they are the worst. Now, I realize that no one is perfect, and we all should be trying to better ourselves. But we also need to recognize our successes and acknowledge them. God asks us to praise Him and love our neighbors. He doesn't then expect us to berate and despise ourselves. We're His children, too!

And Mother's Day can be hard when women don't have children but want them. I don't claim to be an expert in this area, since I know many people who have wanted children for longer than I have, but I did get to experience 2 1/2 years of infertility and 4 miscarriages before Penny came along. And it was so hard! But for whatever reason, Mother's Day wasn't the hard part for me. I didn't resent other people's having children, because that was something I valued and wanted. I tried not to be jealous: I didn't want THEIR kids. I just wanted my own. I appreciate my own mother and what she taught me, and that's what Mother's Day is about-- to me.

But now I guess it's about Kevin taking Penny during Sunday School and Relief Society, too. I can handle that.

What's going on

By some accounts, there's not too much happening in my life.
For example, neither Kevin nor I is working right now, and we just spent 3 weeks in Hawaii. There was not a lot to do after a while, so we had to just go sit on the beach some days. It's all right, you can stop hating me now. Because in some ways, my life is incredibly busy.
Just on Tuesday, we got word that our medical clearances went through. For the Foreign Service, you (and all your dependents) have to have a very thorough medical exam, which is then evaluated in Washington DC. They do this so they can send their employees all over the world where there may or may not be adequate or advanced medical care. I'm not really sure if they'd still hire you if you had a chronic medical condition, or if they'd just send you somewhere non-third-world. At this point, it's not something we need to worry about, as the most serious medical problem in our family is Penny's eczema and food allergies. No biggie. Send us wherever. And on Tuesday, they gave us notice that they are ready to do so.
This morning, Kevin had a 3-hour security clearance interview. I watched Penny for most of it, but from the parts I observed, it was a long, lawyerly interview asking about 10 different ways if he's ever downloaded secure information onto his iPod. Is he sure he's never downloaded it? What about onto a disk? What about sending it as email? Are you sure? It was very thorough. But in Kevin's ever-positive attitude, he commented that it is a good overview of what he should never do as a Foreign Service Officer.
So now that the interview has taken place, we're still waiting on the rest of the clearance. They have to go talk to people everywhere Kevin's lived in the last 10 years, which has been overseas in China and Taiwan a few times. Still, since he's not a shady character, it should go pretty well, and in a few months, they should invite him to come to DC for training for a few months.
Meanwhile, this week we're moving to New Mexico for a while. I got a summer job there at a day camp (woo hoo!), and then in the fall, I'll be doing my student teaching there. So I'll be there through November.
This move to New Mexico makes the 5th state we've lived in this year. We finished in Utah last May, moved to Boise, then Washington in January, Hawaii in April, and now New Mexico. Even if you don't count Hawaii (and I didn't get a library card, so how official can it be?), it's still an impressive 4 states in one year. They say that 3 moves is worth a fire, and at this point, we are moving to NM with only what will fit in our car. It's kind of refreshing to have so little tying us down.
But on the other hand, it will be nice to be able to settle down a little bit once Kevin gets his job. He will do training in DC for a few months, and then we'll have overseas assignments that last from 2-3 years each. I can't imagine there are many people that are looking forward to that as a relief from moving so much. But I am!
We have a busy week ahead of us, and we've been busy packing. And when I say that, it's a lie. I bought Spells (see left sidebar toggle wingbat thingie), and I've been reading that these past few days. Since Penny keeps needing my attention (what? I can't just go read for several hours at a time anymore?), I didn't get a good feel for the book. I was noticing that I felt like it was really choppy and it didn't flow as well as the first one. Then I realized that I read the first one in one fell swoop, and this one I had to read in 2-3 page chunks. I'm going to reread it before giving an actual review. I really liked some parts and thought some were a bit scandalous. It was a fun read. But that's not my review.

Aloha!

And this time, I mean aloha-goodbye!

After a few weeks of doing nothing, Kevin, Penny, and I got our medical clearances from the State Department, saying we were cleared for worldwide travel! Wahoo!!! With these medical clearances, we felt confident to travel anywhere in the world, and we decided to come back to Washington.

Well, that's the story I'm telling. Maybe I'll tell the truth sometime.... but not this post!

This is another picture post, which means it will have no fluidity or coherence, but it will be chronologically accurate.

I'm a little bit embarrassed that this is the first picture, but we were pretty excited. We saw this little car go down the street and were able to get a picture when it came back up. It's the googlemaps car!!! So when that street finally gets onto googlemaps, we will be there in all our glory, waving from the back porch! (It's not up yet. Maybe they have to redo it since we were there waving.)

Penny started to crawl. She's been inching, scooting, and plowing for a while now, but in Hawaii, she really started to do it for real, leaving a path of destruction in her wake. In this picture, she had just broken up a loose floorboard, and she feels really bad. (Isn't she lucky to have a mom to interpret her facial expressions?)
On one of our last days there, we walked around the Kaanapali resort area, visiting some of the fancy hotels along the way. This one (the Weston, I think) had this amazing koi pond with the biggest koi I ever remember seeing! Penny and I liked the flamingos. I may or may not have had invisible friends when I was little who were flamingos.
I think this might be our Christmas card photo:
And we went to a time-share open house for this lovely flat at the Marriot. You can sort of see from the window that it's a beach-front condo, with a palm tree waving in the breeze and nothing else but ocean and beach. For just $77,000 and a yearly maintenance fee, this place can be yours (for a week). I can't say I'm in the market, but it was beautiful. I love the green color scheme. And Penny liked the breakfast on the bed. (We had to let her down slowly when we told her it was fake.)
By the end of our trip, this is what Penny's arms look like. I think they'd go well with chocolate and graham crackers, personally.And this final picture is the most photographed jacaranda tree on the island. Every time we passed it, someone had pulled over to photograph it, so on our final drive past, on the way to the airport, we pulled over and got a photo of our own.
And that, my friends, was our trip to Hawaii. It was a lot of fun, and it's nice to be tan (in spots), but it's also nice to be back home... for now.

Aloha!

Snorkeling

Verdict: Snorkeling is actually pretty cool.

We went to Hawaii a few years ago, and the snorkeling pretty much scared me to death. We were swimming above a reef that was like 4 feet underwater. When I stopped to breathe and dump water out of my mask, Kevin got after me for standing on the coral. But hello, it was impossible to NOT stand on it!

It was completely dark underneath the stupid coral, except that every once in a while, something would dart in or out of the holes. Well, I'm no dummy; I've seen those nature shows. That's where sharks, killer eels, and all sorts of stinging, poky, horrible fish live-- you know, the kind that looks like just a couple of bumps on the sand but turns out to be this huge thing lurking there under the sea floor.

After hyperventilating through that tiny tube for several minutes, I booked it back to shore, swimming as fast as I could. I stopped to look up, only to realize I'd been swimming along the shoreline instead of towards it.

And after that, I decided snorkeling was not really my thing.

But it turns out that snorkeling is Kevin's favorite thing to do in Hawaii. In fact, it's the only thing he really cares to do. And it's no fun going alone.

I'm such a good wife.

I psyched myself up this time. Fish aren't scary! The ocean is full of unknowns, but most of them are further out to sea. And I would probably see a shark in time to swim away. Hey, they're lies, but they made me feel better.

We did go snorkeling. The first time, I sat on the beach with Penny while Kevin went by himself.

But the next time, I actually did go. A-Ma stayed with the baby, and Kevin and his dad and I went out snorkeling. This time, instead of being over a reef, we snorkeled beside a big rocky outcropping. I made sure there was always someone (or several someones) between myself and the sharks, and I pretended not to hyperventilate. After these precautions, it was actually pretty fun! The sunlight was really beautiful on the yellow corals, and when they were not right in my face, the fish were pretty fun to watch! Some just lay on the ground, and some yellow stripy ones would swim up pretty close to me. I saw a couple large blowfish-- or I saw one large blowfish a couple times. We saw a shiny silvery eel. And there were a bunch of humuhumunukunukuapua'as . I'm glad I went.