Philly

I can't believe that I haven't posted since almost Thanksgiving!  Don't give up on me.  This past weekend Justin and I got to go to Philadelphia (I had to attend a conference for work and I asked him to tag along).  While we were there, we decided to stay an extra day and play around in the city.  I've been up the east coast into New York and the surrounding area and Justin has never been anywhere northeast.  I was worried that we wouldn't really like it b/c I hated New York when I visited.  We really had a great time though... Philly is less hustle and bustle than NY and there were so many historic sights- the Liberty Bell, the original Bill of Rights, the building where they held the first Continental Congress.  It left us a little awestruck to know that we were standing in the room the Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, etc. stood when pour nation was first beginning.  The architecture was beautiful as well!  We also had to go to South Philly and have a cheesesteak... actually we had 3 while we were there.  If you ever go to Philly- go to Jim's- it was definitely our favorite!  I'll add pictures later...

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Dogs, dogs, and more dogs...

This is Minnie (the black one) and Freddie (the tan below) 

These are of the Maltese mix- Justin was calling her Fluffy, but the name doesn't really fit her- she's pretty fiesty!


So I guess I've kinda fallen off of the blogger scene for a little while, but like my title suggests, our life has been consumed by dogs, dogs, and more dogs lately.  A few weeks ago we took in a momma lab with 8 puppies as well as 4 additional dogs (not including Rita ad Tigo).  Two (Freddie and Minnie) we got adopted to 2 families in Wisconson and we took them to Dallas over Thanksgiving to start their travel.  They are now with their new families and doing great.  Another was a little maltese mix- we think someone tried to kill her by spilling some type of chemical on her.  As you can see, she's making it ok and hopefully she'll be adopted soon.  We also have a new pit bull named Olivia.  She had an eye removed today because she was either attacked or it rotted out.  She is very scared, but has such a sweet temperment.   We are so missing our acre of land in Monticello as 14 dogs are a little much in a duplex (good thing my dad is an animal lover!)    

1/2 Marathon

So this happened a few weeks ago, but I just never got around to posting it.  I convinced my mom that she should walk a 1/2 marathon with me (I thought about asking her to run... but there was no chance of that).  We trained by walking 6 miles at first and adding a mile a week until we were up to 13.  I was so proud of her especially b/c we finished in 3 hrs 20 minutes, a whole hour faster than she thought she would be able to do!  I really think it was good for her b/c she has somewhat low self-esteem and it was nice for her to do something she never thought she would do.

Funny stuff

This is Tiger, one of our fosters- I was trying to photograph some of our new dogs for our website, but he was quite curious about what I was doing.
This is my baby- Tigo, trying to fit in the little dog's dog bed.  
In case anyone was curious- here's a picture of our prize winning pumpkin.  We called it the Nerd O' Lantern and we won the prize for funniest pumpkin.

2 years and counting!

So yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. I know some of you have been married probably as long as I've been alive, but anyways... I don't know about anyone else, but the 2nd year was way better than the first.  I think you finally start to get used to each other's quirks and start to laugh at yourself and each other.  So for our anniversary we carved a pumpkin (for my work Halloween contest... and it won 1st prize!), cooked dinner together, and read about 50 of the emails we sent before we even met.  In case anyone doesn't know- Justin and I "met" through a social networking site.  We started emailing each other while he was deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2005.  I think we emailed almost every day until he came home in December of 2005.  Kinda odd since I am terrible at emailing and he really is too.  It was fun looking back and seeing what we were thinking before we even met.  Anyone else have fun or funny anniversary traditions?

  

Recipe of the week- stuffed poblano peppers

Ingredients:

4 whole poblano peppers

1 lb ground turkey meat

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can pinto or kidney beans

1 cup monterey jack cheese

Optional: salsa

Directions:

1. Wash peppers, split lengthwise (but make sure they stay together at the stem) and remove seeds

2. Put split peppers under broiler on high until they begin to blister and slightly blacken (about 5 minutes depending on your broiler and how large the peppers are)

3. Brown ground turkey (or beef if you must) and drain fat from pan.  Drain cans of corn and beans and add to meat.

4.  Fill peppers with filling mixture and top with 1/4 cup cheese each.

5. Return to broiler until cheese is melted and bubbly.

6. Serve with salsa 

A great family friendly dinner that has lots of nutrients too!

Recipe of the week- green chile breakfast casserole

So since I love to cook- I've decided to add a recipe of the week day to my blog.  Feel free to copy any of these recipes and let me know how you liked em.  Happy Cooking!

This is one of my husband's favorite breakfast recipes and it's got lots of options depending on what your family likes.

Green Chile breakfast casserole

Ingredients:

12 eggs

6 fresh roasted green chiles or if you don't have these where you live you can use canned green chile- 1 large cans or 3 small cans + 2 finely chopped jalapenos  

1 block Neufantel cheese (or 1/3 less fat cream cheese) softened

1lb turkey sausage (or if you must, pork sausage)

3/4 cup colby jack shredded cheese 

salt and pepper to season

*options... meat can be left out as well as the jalapenos (but if you're using canned green chile you'll really need something to give it a little spice)

Preheat oven to 350  and spray a large casserole dish with Pam

1. Brown sausage on stovetop and drain off fat.

2. Blend 12 eggs with cream cheese,  shredded cheese, a dash of salt and pepper, and chiles on medium low with hand mixer or stand mixer

3.  Add in sausage and pour into casserole

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes... until eggs are firm and casserole starts to brown 

5.  Allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes and serve plain or with salsa.

Calling all chihuahua lovers!!!

We need you help! Our local humane society is shutting down a dog hoarder living in a town 20 minutes from us and soon there will be almost 100 chihuahuas that will need foster or forever homes. These dogs can be transported to anywhere in the US. Please contact me dreyeramanda@yahoo.com or my husband justindreyer@yahoo.com if there is any way you could help with this rescue effort.

*** Also- I would really appreciate anyone reposting this on your blog! 

Kinda new rescues

So I was thinking about this today and I realized that I hadn't posted about our newest rescue (Tiger), but I also never posted about our rescues from Monticello(Sally and Sammie).  We picked up two dogs from the Monticello dump the day before we left to move to Hobbs.  I won't put up the before pictures of those two because it would gross you out... no hair... bleeding from the lack of skin, skin and bones, but they are finally healthy and doing well now.  Sammie is playful and will sit at your feet and just look at you as if to say "please pet me".  Sally is more reserved and likes to cuddle up to Tigo or snuggle into your lap.  Tiger is a dog we found on the side of the road here... we think he is a boston terrier and pug mix.  He totally cracks us up!  He is a ball of energy, but loves to be held like a baby and get a belly rub.  So now in the 2 years that Justin and I have been married, we have had 16 dogs!  We are definately missing our big yard! If anyone is interested in adopting one of these sweethearts, please let me know!

Fasting...

Inspired by Mandy's recent posts I thought I'd post a discussion question of my own.

How do you feel about Biblical fasting in today's context?  Have you ever done it? What was your experience? I'll share my views etc. later in the week.

New Mexico... more than just a desert

So things have been completely crazy at work this past week- so no time for posting.  I've gone to bed before 8:00 2 nights this week!  Last weekend I took Justin to visit my Granny in Las Cruces... let's just say that he was shocked that within 2 hours from our house there are real mountains... with elk and antelope and ski runs, and trees and everything!  Haha... we had a great time going to the farmer's market and bought some wonderful organic preserves, honey, and local produce.  Here are a couple pictures from the trip.  Those are the Organ mountains in the background and Chope's bar and mexican restaurant is our favorite place to go.  My grandparents used to eat there when they lived at Stalmann farms pecan orchard (in the 1950s) and the restaurant was one room out of their house (even when I was little you had to walk through the kids rooms to go to the bathroom) but they have one of the best Mexican restaurants anywhere!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The move

I know it's been a couple months since we moved to New Mexico, but I forgot about these pictures.  I thought they might give everyone a good laugh.  Justin was bound and determined to bring that HUGE doghouse (it's bigger than the truck).  I can't believe Suzi made it, although I think we burned out the clutch on the 13 hour drive (with no A/C in the middle of August).  I'm glad we can look back at this and laugh now...

Where does your coffee come from?

As Dean mentioned in his comment on my last post, people who work as coffee growers/laborers and diamond miners are two of the most oppressed trade groups in the modern world. Instead of complaining about what our government can do about fair trade, I thought I'd give a few tips and insight on the little things we can do.

# 1 Many coffee brands are starting to use fair trade coffee beans (if you're not sure what that means- see notes on fair trade at the bottom). Look for this seal at the right.

#2 For all you starbucks drinkers, they do sell fair trade coffee, BUT you have to ask for it up front. Presently, fair trade coffee only makes up 10% of the coffee they sell.

#3 Clothing made overseas. Many (actually most)clothing companies have their clothes made overseas in garment factories. Make sure the company you buy from inspects and reports data on their factories. Gap brands (Old Navy, Gap, and Banana Republic) were once in the news for child labor in some of the Asian Indian factories. They now inspect and report on all garment factories. Here is their social responsibility statement A little research is all it takes to make sure you are buying responsibly.

#4 Buy clothing from fair trade companies. Fair trade clothing has much higher restrictions- see article here Fair Indigo is one such company. Check out this site for other great fair trade companies

#5 Don't be afraid to ask! Ask the companies you buy from if they sell fair trade, if they pay fair wages to their workers, and if they have a social responsibility statement.

Fair trade=Fair Trade pretty much means exactly what it says. It is all about making sure that products exported internationally from “developing” countries to “developed” countries are produced under fair conditions. That means promoting the payment of fair prices, safe and healthy working conditions and responsible environmental practices.

Why this is important. For example, in the coffee industry, farmers who do not sell their crops to fair trade buyers often are forced to sell their coffee for less than $0.01 a lb and can have an annual wage of less than $300 for their entire family. Often times, this amount of money is less than the cost of operating their farm and their are plunged into a spiral of debt.

Are you really pro-life?

The Shane Claibourne book I was reading has a lot of info about his perspective (backed up by scripture) about social issues.  Since we're being bombarded with politics lately, I thought I'd touch on this hot topic. I really liked his discussion on pro-life issues.  When we really get down to it... life doesn't just begin at conception and end at birth.  How can "passionate pro-lifers" be for wars that kill innocent children, or buy products that are mass produced overseas in sweatshops where children may be working night and day in unsafe conditions and be paid next to nothing?  This seems like a contradiction to me... so many times we stand for something when it's convenient for us, but fail to see the bigger issue.  I especially liked his comment that "if we are going to discourage abortion, we had better be ready to adopt some babies and care for some mothers".  What are your thoughts on these issues?   

Community

Lately, I have been reading  The Irrestible Revolution by Shane Claiborne.  If you've never heard of him, among other things, he is one of the founding members of the simple way, a group of believers that have converted abandoned and unused spaces in inner city Philadelphia into a community.  The community functions as "real community", sharing resources, living together, buying only what is necessary, following the principle of "live simply so others may simply live" and enjoying doing life together.  He encourages others to live as Jesus commanded- to take care of widows and orphans, to love the sick and the hurting.  I love the fact that his ideals aren't just ideals to him.  He spent time in Calcutta with Mother Theresa loving orphans, he went to Iraq and preached love in a place of hate and fear.  This book (which really has a lot of scriptural basis) made me question much of the way I and most Americans live.  Not so much in a guilty kind of way, but in a "were are totally missing out on the kind of life that God wants us to have".  I'll probably be blogging some more about many of the issues that were brought to my attention through reading, but I'll leave with one of my favorite quotes from the book about unity of believers "We've got to unite ourselves as one body.  Because Jesus is coming back, and he's coming back for a bride, not a harem."    

We finally have internet! Just a quick update... we made it to NM and our house is supposed to close on Tuesday (thanks to Clayton, Jeremy, and David!) We miss all our Journey friends... better update soon!

Set Apart

"Instead of being special, they wanted to be similar."

1 Samuel 8

I read this from a commentary on 1 Samuel the other day. It was referring to the Israelites wanting a king after God had delivered them from the Philistines. All the other nations had a king. They wanted to be similar, to be like them, to "fit in". How many times do we as Christians forget that God has called us to be set apart, to be special, to be different from the ways of this world. We fight it... from the moment we are born we want to be liked, to fit in, to have what others have. I wonder if it's because we don't trust Him. His plans for us may be scary, may not be exactly what we had planned or envisioned... so we settle for what we think looks good. We try to convince God that our ideas are best... "everyone else is married with 2.5 kids, a good job, and a white picket fence" None of these things are bad or unGodly, but when we lose perspective on what our goal (God's plan for us) is , we stop looking like children of the king, and start becoming like anyone else.

New Mexico with only 4 dogs?

We had a few hits on Bella this week and a family from Little Rock wants to meet her and try her out this weekend!  Hopefully she'll get adopted so we won't have to take 5 dogs to our tiny backyard in New Mexico!

Work Day

We just wanted to say THANK YOU so much for everyone's help yesterday with the work day.  We have such a wonderful church family at Journey and we appreciate you all so much!  

Marlins win Big!

Monticello Marlins Swim Team competed in Magnolia today against 6 teams from around SE Arkansas.  Despite many of our swimmers being out due to softball and other "stuff" and some of our kids not swimming our best times, we pulled out a win over second place Crosset by over 100 points!  Congrats kids and thanks for letting me be your coach!

The Decision is...

Wow... I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've posted. I guess we've just been so busy. We finally made the choice- we're headed back to New Mexico- the last place I ever expected to go back to. I really think that God has called us there for my parents... why is it so much harder to share Christ in a meaningful way with people whom you already have relationships? I know this part of our journey is going to take lots of prayer and patience.

Toxic People

So I've been meaning to post about this for a week or so, but better late than never...

While Justin was at drill a couple weeks ago, I got to go back and visit some old friends at Rock Creek and hear a great sermon by Greg Kirksey

The first thing that got me was a surveillance video from a local restaurant... basically, this family is in a rush and throughout the meal, the wife is complaining about the service, pestering the waitress about how long things are taking, etc. The family then bows their heads to pray after receiving their food and continue to be incredibly rude to this poor waitress. By the end of the meal, she is almost in tears due to their rude comments and pushy attitudes.

Greg preached on the toxic church...

He talked about staying away from extreme legalism (Pharisees). So many churches seem to make people feel like dirt because of their sin... I've even heard of churches making unwed pregnant teenagers stand in front of the church body and confess their sin. Not that we shouldn't hate the sin, but there are so many better ways to go about things than developing a critical spirit toward others.
Matthew 23:4, 6-7, 13-15

He talked about staying away from extreme liberalism (not political liberalism), but the whole believe whatever you want, cafeteria plan Christianity. Liberal teaching provides no roots! As in the days of Moses, "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" seems to be the common theme among our lives today. We often are enamoured by good communicators and forget to investigate the whole truth.
2 Timothy 2:15-18

My favorite thing he said that was so simple was "The greater the relationship- the fewer rules you need." For example, someone who loves their spouse and has a great relationship doesn't need a rule that tells them not to commit adultery. So it should be with us, the closer we get to God, and the more like Jesus we become, the less rules we should need to live.

Job Search Update

So... life in the Dreyer world has become a little crazy as we search for jobs, houses, schools.... I don't really like the idea of not knowing where we will be living 3 months from now. Amanda didn't get her #1 choice job at Denver Children's Hospital... we're still looking in Denver, but it's not looking too promising as they don't pay their school SLP's very well. We are still looking in NM, but the housing prices are still exorbitant so we would have to find a great deal. We have now added options 3 and 4. Option 3 is in Orlando... Amanda was offered a part time position with a great Auditory verbal therapy company that would pretty much be an incredible opportunity except that I would need to find additional part time work so that we could afford to live... the good thing is Florida pays their school and preschool SLPs very well... so after sending out 10 resumes and applications last night, hopefully I can find something. Option 4 is a Children's Hospital in Tulsa Oklahoma... random... this position was passed onto me from a geriatric hospital that wanted to recruit me in OK City so I applied just to see what happens. Jeff joked Sunday night that maybe we need to move to Alaska.... I know God has a sense of humor, but OH MY... I was kinda freaking out about Colorado... I wear sweats and have to have a blanket in our house when the air is below 70! Justin is pretty much content to go where I can get the best job and he can finish his degree although he's really pulling for Colorado Anyways... all this to say we need some prayer (that we sell our house, that we end up where God wants us, and that we "aka me" will be patient and learn to trust God through this)

Book Review: Redeeming Love

I don't usually read Christian fiction, but a friend recommended Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and I thought I'd give it a try. Wow! It was incredible... I couldn't put it down. The book is loosely based on the Biblical story of Hosea, but is set in the gold mining times of the American West. Although there aren't many scriptural references, it is an amazing reminder of God's love and forgiveness. If anyone wants to borrow it, let me know!

The Search

So we went to NM this weekend in search of the perfect job and the perfect house... well maybe not perfect, but better. Justin already has a list of jobs (demo, tiling, door installation, etc.) from 10 of my parent's friends and Amanda has 2 pretty good job offers as well. On to the house.... WOW... the housing market in SE NM is insane! I think it may be the only place in the world that has increased home sales. I don't know if we can get enough financing to buy a house in a remotely safe neighborhood.
So now we're considering Colorado again.
The pros... Amanda could potentially get her dream job (being an Auditory Verbal therapist- it's a special kind of speech therapy with hearing impaired kids that teaches their brain how to hear again without sign language or cued speech). Justin could definitely finish school there. There are tons of foreclosures in the Denver area so it's a great time to buy there. This is where we want to be forever (at least we think so).
The cons... We don't have all the great construction connections for Justin. We'll be kind of waiting until the last minute to find a place to live since we have no time until school's out in May.

TV

So Justin and I were talking today... actually mostly me talking and he listening. We have kind of become addicted to TV. We still do lots of running and dog walking and working in the yard and house and it's not that we sit mindlessly watching hours upon hours, but we always have the TV on when we're doing stuff (folding clothes, cooking dinner, cleaning, etc.). It feels like my brain is rotting as we speak! We do watch a lot of learning type stuff (cooking shows, home improvement shows), but it's like I can't totally relax with the TV turned on- to anything. (Anyone else feel like this?) Anyways we are planning to try being totally TV free one day a week- I think I would like more, but I'm not sure he would go for it!

Also- National TV turn off week is coming up... maybe I can work Justin up to it!

The Grace and Truth Paradox

I just finished this book... on loan from Jeff Noble. Here are some of my favorite parts and my thoughts.

The book is basically about having truth and grace in the Christian life... God never meant them to be opposites but compliments.
This is something I really struggle with... I tend to lean more to the side of grace (partly b/c of my Methodist influence and partly b/c I'm a people pleaser)

One of the things Randy points out is that non- believers LOVED to be around Jesus... they were friggin rippin off the roof to get to him! Why don't non-christians love to be around Christians? Jesus had this amazing way of showing grace and truth at the same time (think the woman at the well)

"our culture is riddled with the poisonous spirit of entitlement"
As Americans today we are so greedy and never stop to realize what we really deserve in life. We complain when things are not fair... when we don't get our way... when you really stop and think about what we DO deserve... it kind of floors you!

" John Newton "I remember 2 things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great savior"

"Grace never lowers the standard of holiness"
I think sometimes (at least for me) I want to almost water down God's truth to make it more "friendly" to non-christians... telling people that it will be ok if they sin... this is something Jesus never did... he always presented the truth in black and white with no sugar coating. Sometimes the truth is harsh and is hard to tell, but it shows true love and doesn't cheapen God's grace.

This story comes from a British comparative religions conference... scholars were trying to decide what made the Christian faith different from others... they couldn't think of anything until C.S. Lewis walks into the room and is asked his opinion... He simply replies "Grace" Only the Christian faith presents God's grace as unconditional. This so goes against human pride, that man never would have made it up. (and that's a major reason Lewis believed it)
Wow... that is something I never really thought about... but it is so true... and what a testimony to share with lost people

Last one... I liked this one b/c it relates this principle to politics
Liberals' commitment to fighting racism in the 60's was commendable. But sometimes liberals fight against true standards, like the beliefs that abortion, fornication, adultery, and homosexual behavior are wrong. They often embrace tolerance as a grace substitute. Liberal Christians often end up being liberals first, Christians second. Conservatives want to restore lost values. They want to go back to the days when prayer was allowed in schools. But they forget that the same schools that allowed prayer didn't allow black children! By trying to conserve so many things-even things that were clearly wrong- conservative Christians have sometimes been conservatives first, Christians second.

Ammendum to Arkansas

Wendy pointed out the hiking/camping/watersports stuff in Arkansas. I do love all those things. My picture of the bridge on my site is actually from a camping trip to Petit Jean. We just haven't found any good places to camp, hike, or waterski/wakeboard in SE Arkansas... but I love Petit Jean!

Political Research and comments

I've been doing a little political research and here is a beginning list of what I've found with a few comments... more to come

Abortion

Clinton favors abortion rights, but supports family planning.
Obama- favors abortion rights "it's an individual choice"

McCain- thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned (pro-life)
Huckabee- thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned (pro-life)

Energy
Clinton- reduce dependence on foreign oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Sen. Clinton opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and voted for a bill to expand offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (this seems like a contradiction to me).

Obama- reduce dependence on foreign oil, cap and trade on emissions
Again- I'm not too keen on the whole cap and trade on emissions
"We can set up a system for capping greenhouse gases. We can turn this crisis of global warming into a moment of opportunity for innovation and job creation and an incentive for businesses that will serve as the model for the world."

McCain- cap and trade on emissions
His plan would allow companies to trade excess carbon emission capacity and require emissions to return to 2004 levels by 2012 and to 1990 levels by 2020. (Seems like it allows some companies to be irresponsible for the right price)

Huckabee- wants to gain energy independence by his second term
"I ultimately see this as a combination of solar, wind, hydrogen cells, especially biofuels and ethanol, because we can grow it through our agricultural economy, which would be great to a state like ours. But it would also include nuclear and clean coal and any other form that we can find that we can produce that makes us where we no longer are going to be dependent upon foreign oil sources." (This is a big deal to me growing up in an oilfield town)

I mmigration

Clinton- favors immigration reform and says we should track people in the country
She has attracted criticism for giving different positions on a now-failed New York proposal to give illegal immigrants driver's licenses. Her campaign at first indicated support for the program, but Clinton later said she would not back such a plan. (FLIP-FLOP)

Obama- wants path to citizenship and immigration reform
Sen. Obama says that he would not grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. He supports a system through which illegal immigrants could earn citizenship by paying a fine, obeying the law, learning English, and going to the back of the line behind legal immigrants. (Sounds Pretty Fair)

McCain- Sen. McCain wants a comprehensive immigration reform bill that would improve border surveillance and enforcement, strengthen penalties against those who hire illegal immigrants and stop document fraud. He wants to develop a sensible guest worker program that allows illegal immigrants to earn legitimate status.
(He's more lenient than some, but it seems as if he goes back and forth on how to handle this issue)

Huckabee-Gov. Huckabee favors allowing illegal aliens in the country to apply for legal status by registering with authorities, paying a fine, getting guest worker permits, learning to speak English and paying taxes. Such applicants for legal status must not be allowed to jump ahead of legal applicants. He says earned legalization is not an amnesty.
(Also lenient, but his voting is consistent- I do think that programs that seems attainable to illegals will be more likely to "work" and)

Amanda

Arkansas

Since I listed all those things I love in NM, I thought I'd give some love to Arkansas.

Things I love/will miss:
* The people from Journey: I wish we could just take all of you with us... we hope to have some visitors out west
* trees- it's pretty much yucca plants and a few mesquite bushes
* water- except for the prior mentioned yucky rain mess
* our wonderful neighbors- where else in the world do your neighbors bake you cakes and feed your husband when you're out of town?

New Mexico

So it's been an incredibly long time since I've posted... life has been very crazy with work and getting the house ready to put on the market and looking for/starting a second job. Honestly I haven't had much to say and most of you have heard my ranting and raving about how angry I am with the racist people in my life. It's also amazing how God has totally changed our plans for the next stage in our life. At the end of my school contract Justin and I will be moving back to Hobbs, NM, the town where I grew up and my parents still live. I never thought in a million years that I would go back (one reason I attended college 12 hours away from home). I think God definitely has a sense of humor.

A few things I AM looking forward to:
* having people to speak Spanish with (Justin says he wants to learn, but it's hard to have a conversation with someone who can only say "hola!" and "como te lammo?")
* REAL MEXICAN FOOD- my mouth waters just thinking about it
* the realness of people- of course this doesn't apply to everyone, but it is frustrating to live with all the gossip (disguised as prayer requests), people who are deeply religious, but not relational
* desert rain- it smells incredible and is nothing like the yucky, sticky stuff we get here
* sunsets- without trees you can see parts of the sky you never knew existed
* being 3 hours away from the real mountains and 4 from the Rockies

I know God has a plan for us there and the more I pray about it, the more I believe it may be for my own parents. I suppose we will see...