New Mexico Life - Part 1

(My camera is not uploading pictures for some reason right now, but as soon as we get that figured out I will have lots of pictures to share.)

Life in New Mexico has been one big adventure after another. The kids first flight down here was pretty uneventful. Our plane from Dallas to El Paso was delayed for a while, but I get the impression that this will be pretty normal as Bob has traveled to and from New Mexico and Ohio 3 times and each time his flights have either been delayed or canceled entirely. My favorite part of the flight was the plane's ascension from the dreary Ohio fall clouds that blanket the sky for so much of the fall and winter seasons to the clear sunlight sky above those clouds. The kids were amazed that the sun exists above the clouds. We were not able to all sit in the same row for either of our plane rides, but the people that my children sat with were amazingly kind and helpful. I was very appreciative of their support as I made this emotional journey alone with all four of them.

Once we landed, and got hugs from daddy, we picked up our rental and made our way from El Paso to Las Cruces. The normally 40 minute journey took a bit over an hour due to traffic, but that was okay because it allowed us to take in the completely different scenery. I am grateful that we are not living in El Paso as everything seems so brown and rugged. It would really take a lot of effort for me to find that type of landscape beautiful and I am not sure I could ever really convince myself that it was so. It was neat to see the U.S. / Mexico border - we rode along it for a few miles on the highway we were on. It was crazy to see the tallest fence I have ever seen and to know that the disparity between opportunity and success on one side of the fence is drastically different than on the other side. It made all of the border dispute / immigration issues seem a little bit closer to home than it felt way up North some 1700 miles away.

As we drove along the highway - even in El Paso - the mountains were the first thing that caught my eyes. Just mountains everywhere and as far as the eye can see. As we got closer to Las Cruces the landscape on the mountains changed a bit (as did the landscape in general). Things became more green than I envisioned. (Now, I am not talking Northern U.S. green - we do live in the desert after all.) I am quite surprised by how green it is here. I was envisioning no trees and very little green vegetation. We do have trees and vegetation - it is just different than I am used to. The green is comforting to me, and I wonder what it will look like in the spring.

We got to our hotel that first night, unpacked our things, and took the kids to the Olive Garden. We wanted to take them somewhere familiar and Ohioish to help them see that although some things are very different about living in New Mexico some things are still very much the same no matter where you go. We had a great time. Again, the mountains outside the hotel and in the city took my breath away. The Organ Mountains in particular are tremendously huge. They seem to reach up into the heavens. Even today, every time I see them they take my breath away. They are one of the most beautiful things about the area.

When we woke the next morning Bob went to work which left the kids and I the opportunity to cruise around the city for a while. One of the first things that we noticed was the weather. The sun is so intense. Much more so than I have ever experienced it (except maybe for the Caribbean). The sky is an endless blue here and seems to go on forever. The temperature that first day was in the 80's. The weather immediately put us all in good moods. To this day -continuously waking up in sunshine and warmth  - is a gift I will not ever take for granted. I am programmed to Ohio falls and winters and keep waiting for the gloom to follow me here. I have to remind myself almost daily that I no longer live in that weather - sun is my new daily forecast. I appreciate that so much.

While cruising around that first day we ended up signing up for library cards (not so impressed with the library here), got our utilities set up, and did a bit of shopping for some of the items we would need while waiting for the van that housed all of our personal belongings from Ohio.

After Bob got off of work we were able to pick up the keys to our new house. We followed Bob in his rental car and made our way here I was amazed by what lay before my eyes when I pulled into our driveway...(to be continued)...