2010 in NUT SHELL

Okay, okay...honestly I worked on this blog post before the new year...but I never posted it. So long story short, I can't believe how much has changed in just one year!

We lived in New York last year at this time and now we live in New Mexico. East Coast to West Coast.

We went from a place that was rainy and cold to a place that has cactus and is 70 degrees everyday. We got some snow at the beginning of February which is a HUGE shock for this end of the world. People didn't know what to do with all the cold and snow. I-25 that connects Albuquerque to Las Cruces was shut down for two days. That is so HUGE!!!! There were semi-trucks just parked on the roads that couldn't move for two days. For the first time since moving, we were both glad to have hauled our winter coats down here.

We have been happy with our move, and the decision we made to come here! We attend a little branch that everyone swears is on the verge of becoming a ward. I just got called to be in the relief society (1st counselor) presidency. I think it is so ironic that I got called to that position because I had the same calling for about a month and a half in NY. I was so mad that I was called in NY because I knew I wouldn't be able to do a good job in such a short amount of time. I guess I get an opportunity to redeem myself because I got called to the same calling in this ward and now get an opportunity to do a "good job" that I can feel good about. Scott has still dodged the "calling" bullet and is trying to figure out how to not get a calling at all.

Over the last year we had three siblings get married. Scott's brothers, Jason and Mark to Leslee and Heidi and my brother JJ to Lauren. We had one nephew and one niece join the Pugh side (Jeter and Annalyn) and I had two nephews join my family through marriage (Torin and Gavin).

We went on some fun trips with our families including the Pugh cabin and Bear Lake. And while it was fun to live on the east coast and see Boston, NYC, Salem and Niagra Falls we are excited to plan trips to white sands, Carlsbad Caverns and Mesa Verde. We have also enjoyed getting to know new people and recognize that the church is true wherever you go!

We are so grateful for such wonderful families and for all that they mean to us! We are excited for this new year and new experiences that we will have in New Mexico.

What we now call home!

I know its been a while...but really I have a good excuse! We moved at the beginning of December and prior to that, I just didn't have much to report. Thank you to Scott's dad (Chuck) for helping us drive down and get settled in!

Welcome to our home! I know it doesn't look like much on the outside...but it's pretty roomy for us and two dogs! We have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. When you first walk into our home, you walk into the living room...

You will see that the house has red Mexican tile all through it. We have a fireplace in the corner of the room that is fun to light up. When we first moved here we didn't have natural gas for several days (although Scott kept our home pretty warm with his natural gas! :). We were so grateful that we had the fireplace to keep our home above freezing.

Here's our kitchen. I love our pan racks...probably one of our favorite purchases!

One of our bedrooms we made into a workout room. I love the elipsar (Thank you Ryan and Kari for letting us have it! :)

We have two bathrooms...

This is known as the "frog bathroom." I've always had a thing for frogs...so we decorated mostly with frogs in this bathroom. LOVE it!

This is the "bamboo" bathroom. It reminds me of Hawaii...which always makes me smile.

This is our bedroom/office. Again, I love our decorations. We have tried to add different things to our decorations based on where we have lived. The stars came from Ohio where a lot of people decorated with them. We have an extra bedroom that is completely empty. I think we will use it eventually for visitors or any other projects I think up!

All in all, I like where we live. Our backyard is dirt...but if you look real close far in the background you can see the lake.

I promise the lake is in the background! I am sure that we will have more to report as we live here! We love visitors, and would love to have people visit anytime!

Truth or Consequences

Scott was offered positions in NM and in ND. After a lot of prayer and soul searching Scott and I will be moving to New Mexico to a little town called Truth or Consequences (T or C for short). It sounds like something out of a Clint Eastwood movie! I haven't been able to find a job in the area, but hopefully something will open up! We are excited for the new change in our lives!

The area is ugly with lots of sagebrush and cacti. Most homes have no grass and have a lot of dirt. We will be on the Rio Grande near a reservoir called Elephant Butte. Which we are both excited about because hopefully in the near future we will be able to afford jet skiis!!!

Wish us LUCK!!! We will be moving at the beginning of December (if all goes well...which means IF Scott is able to get licensed!)

Road Trippin'

Scott and I took a major road trip last week. We drove to NM for Scott to interview with the Ben Archer Health Clinics and we also drove to ND for Scott to interview with Indian Health Services. Both places are within LOOOONG driving distance of Salt Lake. I guess we are making progress because we will at least be within driving distance from our families...that hasn't happened since we got married!!! To drive to NM is about 13 hours and to drive to ND was about 15 hours.

We drove MOST of the time, but we did stop at Mount Rushmore...

And Devils Tower also known as Bears Tower....Devils tower is a sacred area for many of the plains indians. I loved the Indian prayer offerings that were hanging in many of the trees. The offerings were all so beautiful! Devils tower was made the first national monument by President Roosevelt in 1906.

Indian Prayer Offering

Indian Prayer Offering:

The Indians often put incense in the wraps as an offering to the sacred area

A tree full of prayer offerings, it was so colorful and beautiful!

The beautiful country side around devils tower! LOVE it!!!

We also saw Independence Rock. This was important as the Pioneers moved West because they needed to reach it by the 4th of July in order to make sure they could get over the mountains before the weather turned bad. Again, I have loved learning history...and it always means more to me when I see the site. It has been fun to be able to see a bunch of new places!

I just thought this picture was cool!

Oktoberfest

One thing I love about Utah is all the festivals. It has been fun to be at home and attend Swiss Fest and now, OKTOBERFEST. Oktoberfest is ONE of my favorite festivals!!! This year we took one of my new friends, Jamie. She didn't like the Brats, but I think she enjoyed the festival ALMOST as much as I did.

Oktoberfest is all about drinking and having a good time. Oktoberfest began with a royal Bavarian wedding in 1810. To celebrate his marriage king Ludwig the first called for a state fair in Munich. The festival was dedicated to the fall harvest, and of course beer-the region's most famous product. People came from all around to join in the merrymaking. They examined the crops, sang, danced and sampled the first beer of the season.

I'm pretty sure the festival would be more fun if we were drinkers...but it is worth going to see all the other people that are drinking and having a good time.

I thought this was funny...BEER check. People actually dropped their beers off, and picked them up later so that they could go into the lodge!

Scott enjoying a Bratwurst! This is about the only time we love Bratwurst!

Girls Trip

The Pugh sisters (P.S) have decided to do an annual girls trip. This was the first year that I have ever been. We drove down to Mesquite, NV to stay in a condo. What is in Mesquite you might ask...nothing!!! So, we drove to St. George (OFTEN) and went to the pizza factory, and wendy's for dinner. We did find a decent Mexican restaurant in Mesquite. We saw Tarzan at the Tuachan Theater and spent the rest of our time boating! Thank you to Leslee and her family for letting us use their boat. Chelsey wakeboarded for the first time and was pretty much like a pro by the time she was done. We had some fun adventures tubing (as you can see in the picture above) and even ended up making t-shirts that we decorated with puffy paint!
The trip was soooo much fun! Seriously we had so many inside jokes and late nights. We missed our sister Heidi, but hope that she can come next year!

Pugh Family Trip-Bear Lake

The Pugh family has an annual trip to Bear Lake. The above picture is the moon reflecting on the lake. Bear lake is often referred to as the "Carribean of the Rockies" for its intense turquoise blue water. It is also a really cold lake...brrrr.

I have known the Pugh family for a long time, but this was my first Bear Lake Trip, so I was SUPER Excited to go! We crammed 18 people (which I think was everyone...excluding David and Jared who are both away from home) into a 12 person condo. It was busy the whole time! Our trip was full of water skiing/wakeboarding and tubing along with fun card games. I am so grateful for the PUGH's. Scott and I love them so much! This is a shout out to Steve, who arranged for the boat and let us ride with him and his cute family, thank you for arranging a large portion of the trip. Also, to Chuck and Jewel, thanks for this fun family tradition!

All the nephews taking a bath (Boston, Logan and Jeter)

Not the most glamorous picture...Scott on the water weenie

Jason and Scott trying to heave themselves onto the water weenie

(It really was a lot harder than it looked...I know...I tried!)

Darren

Jeter and Kevin

Meili the Photographer, and the whole FamDamily!

I asked my friend Meili (who I have known since Jr. High) to take our family pictures. This was a HUGE feat (at least I think it was) for Meili as I think she likes to photograph food and still objects more than people...but I knew she would do an amazing job (as usual).

Meili has always been so talented, but unfortunately I don't think she ever gives herself much credit. I am so glad to have known Meili for such a long time and appreciate her friendship, because as we have grown older and moved away from home, we have still found time to keep in touch and learn and grow from one another! So here's to Meili and her great pictures of my crazy family!

JJ, Lauren, Torin and Gavin

My mom and dad

Scott and I

Gavin

Torin

The girls (Lauren, Mom and Me)

The Boys (JJ, Gavin, Dad, Torin and Scott)

The Whole FamDamily!

TinFoil Dinners

My dear mother celebrated her 64th Birthday on August 14th. We decided to head to the mountains for a night of games and tinfoil dinners. My mom had never made tinfoil dinners, so this was her first time. She was really excited. For those that don't know what tinfoil dinners are, they are comprised of laying out sizable sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. You then wash, chop, trim and slice all of the meat and vegetables and lay them out in buffet fashion. We like onions, carrots, squash, ground beef and potatoes in our dinners. You place portions of the vegetables and ground beef on the foil and fold it up. You cook the meal over hot coals in a fire pit. Tinfoil dinners are a classic favorite, and so simple!

My mom, dad and I after eating our tinfoil dinners. Yup...that is a snickers cake in front of us...we had dessert first because our dinners took so long!

My nephew, Torin exploring in the bushes!

My nephew, Gavin (he always seemed to smile after I took the photo.)