Respite

December was a tough month for me. Now that I've had some time to process it, I realized that I was struggling to find a new way to rest and recuperate in our new home. When we lived in Denver, it was easy. Head west! We would pack up our gear (or maybe just pack a quick bag), load up the wienie dogs, and head into the mountains. Whether it was a day hike or a long weekend backpacking trip, Jody and I found that the surest way to rest was to spend time outdoors. 

So, after experiencing subzero temperatures, a foot of snow before Thanksgiving, and no view of the sun for a month (yes, you read that correctly), Jody and I decided we needed a break. We did what all Wisconsinites do to vacation (or at least it seems that way)... we went "up north" and rented a cabin. 

We did some research online and found a fully furnished cabin near the small town of Glidden, right near the Chequamegon National Forest - about a five hour drive northwest of us. So, the day after Christmas we got up early, packed up all our things and headed north. :)

It wasn't a long trip, but it was just enough to fill my tank. Jody and I had a blast! We hiked in the nearby National Forest, watched Band of Brothers, played board games, got warm next to the wood-burning stoves and ate home-cooked meals that I'd prepared before we left and brought with us. It was heavenly.

Your New Year's card picture. Ha!

Martens? We're not in Colorado anymore...

There were TWO heavenly wood-burning stoves.

Complete with an old school home entertainment system!

It was a fantastic trip, and I loved every moment of it. It truly helped to hit the "reset" button and to prepare for all the challenges that 2015 will bring. We came back home refreshed and grateful for the life God has given us.

More Adventures in Wisconsin

We've been in Wisconsin for six months now. It's hard to believe how the time has flown. In that time, we have done so many fun things. It's fun to look through the pictures and revisit the experience as I blog about each one... Forgive me for the delay, as I know these pictures are from a few months ago. But better late than never, right? And I didn't want to miss out on sharing with you all the grand adventures we've had of a new state to explore and experience!

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary at a Korean restaurant in downtown Milwaukee, followed by a short walk to see Lake Michigan. I still get the hankering for Korean food every now and then, so we hunted online to find out that there were two - yes, two - Korean restaurants in all of Milwaukee. Tragic, I know. But we're grateful nonetheless! It was a fun way to remember our time in Korea. It's crazy to believe that almost eight years ago we met at our dear friends' Stefanie and Brittany's apartment in the "small" suburban town of Suji, South Korea. Going to a Korean restaurant reminds me of our brief dating and courtship. Bam - ten months from meeting to saying, "I do!" 

After lunch we walked from the restaurant down to the yacht club and pier along the lake. In many ways Lake Michigan does seem like the ocean. The broad expanse. The endlessness of it. There are even seagulls! And yet, the waves are absent. And the smell of salt in the air. It was beautiful, and I loved seeing and experiencing a Great Lake for the first time. 

Happy Anniversary, my love! Words cannot express how grateful I am to be married to you! 

We also visited a local dairy farm just north of Oconomowoc!! A family in our church has a dairy farm that has been in their family for many generations. They invited us over for a tour of the farm, as well as a bonfire. It was so much fun! I've never been to a dairy farm, so this was a grand experience to see this family's daily life. All I know about dairy farmers is that my grandfather was the youngest (7th child) of a dairy farmer in Menomenee, right here in Wisconsin, back in the early 1900s. Yup - I have returned to the land of my peoples, coming to Wisconsin!!! :) The military took my grandfather to Virginia before WWII, and he met my grandmother at a military ball before he left to serve in Europe. He never moved back to WI. So that's my connection with dairy farms. :)

Where the cows are milked

I like the cow that's totally just chilling

Where all the milk goes just after the cows are milked 

Jody befriending a calf

I cannot imagine the daily life of a dairy farmer. Milking the cows twice a day. EVERY DAY. But it was so wonderful to get just a small glimpse of their world, and to hear the contentment and love for their farm in their voices. And to see the views from their home. These native Wisconsinites are pretty awesome people. I'm glad I get to know them. 

Hello, Wisconsin!

Two months ago Jody and I moved to the small town of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Since then, we have done our best to dive right in, embracing all that God has for us here. And He has been so good. We have had an incredibly warm welcoming committee of people who have gone out of their way to make us feel loved and to help us settle in. 

I am truly grateful. And I wanted to introduce y'all to this wonderful world that we now call home in all its summertime glory. 

1. Music Nights at the Bandshell

Apparently, every week during the summer a band will play at this bandshell right next to "City Beach" at Lac La Belle. Jody and I went our first week just to see... It was so fun. So small town and unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Apparently, Crosspoint's band will be playing there tomorrow night!

2. Moonlit Movies : moonlitmovies.org

Once a month during the summer there's a town party. Everyone gets together to watch a water show, eat some kettle corn, talk with friends and watch a movie in the park when the sun goes down. This year it was Frozen, The Lego Movie, and finally, the 75th Anniversary of the Premiere of The Wizard of Oz, which was held in the downtown main street.

3. Strawberry Picking

Within a few weeks of having arrived, Jody and I went strawberry picking at Jelli's Market (farm). It was so much fun. There is a good deal of farmland right outside of town both north and south.. and even west towards Madison. So, so beautiful!

4. Summerfest

I had never heard of Summerfest before I moved here to Wisconsin. It is reported to be one of the largest summer music festivals in the world, and bands from all over come to this venue for 10-12 days. This summer we've seen both Ray LaMontagne and Crowder. So much fun!

5. The Kettle Morraine

While there are no mountains here in Wisconsin, there are beautiful forests with so much greenery, flowers and wildlife. It's absolutely beautiful. Jody and I have gone hiking and hammocking in this beautiful forest. 

6. Kayaking Adventures!

This was my first time kayaking. A new friend, Trish lent us her kayaks, so we had a blast taking them out and exploring the area in a whole new way! After living in a desert, being surrounded by so much water was anathema. 

7. The Kiltie

Apparently The Kiltie is one of the places to go in town for burgers, fries and custard. While Culver's is a chain, The Kiltie is a local spot. Jody and I had a date night treat and thoroughly enjoyed our time there!

8. The Milwaukee Brewers

Twice now Jody and I have had the incredible opportunity to see the Major League Baseball team the Milwaukee Brewers play. It is my first time seeing a MLB team, and we were in second row seats close to home base. It was incredible! I can totally get into baseball with this kind of a view!

9. Working Remotely

While Jody settles in to his job at Crosspoint, I am working from home. This is the view I have all the time. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get work done? But this too is part of the new world of Oconomowoc that is now our home. 

10. Sunsets

It is truly a beautiful place that Jody and I have moved to. I am thoroughly enjoying not driving 35+ miles every day. I love the small town feel. And I'm really excited for the grand adventure that the Lord has for us here.

Come visit!

Final Mountain Trip

Before Jody and I left Denver, we wanted to make sure that we got in one more backpacking adventure. So, we decided that we would finish our jobs two weeks before Departure Day. However, we were faced with an issue. This past winter had brought epic snowfall in the Rockies, so there were limited places that we could reach in the higher elevations without hitting snowdrifts. And honestly, we aren't really prepared for 4 season camping. 

We decided to check out the French Pass Trail, which we had been to before two years ago and had really enjoyed. So, we finished our jobs, said goodbye to everyone whom we love so much... and before we hard-core started packing everything up, we packed for the mountains first. :) 

Much to our chagrin, we had to stop two miles ahead of the trailhead due to snow drifts 3-4 feet high in some areas on the road. After debating going to another trailhead, we decided to stick with our original plan and to hike in as far as we could and set up camp wherever we found a good spot. I'm thinking the pictures just don't do it justice, though. Off the beaten path, the ground was either snow, ice or ridiculous mud pits.

I confess I was quite shocked to find this much snow towards the end of May. While the elevation is fairly high (10,500 ft at the trailhead), it still seemed like a lot of hard packed snow for so late in the year and definitely confirmed in my mind that our favorite spot at the base of Mt. Massive near Leadville was definitely out of the question. We probably couldn't have made it out of Leadville into the National Forest. I'm guessing the road was probably closed until July....

In any case, the views were beautiful as we hiked along the road and we loved the quiet along the way. There was nothing. Just beautiful, precious silence. 

We knew that we were probably the first people to try and make it to the trailhead that year, because we were shocked to find an abundance of droppings right on the road, as well as this delightful skull above. While we didn't see any wildlife (the animals always hide from us, praise God), we saw plenty of evidence of their existence.

When we reached the trailhead, we were overwhelmed by the snowfall levels and the snow drifts. It was probably 6-10 feet in some places. And especially right at the trailhead. And while we had debated bringing our snowshoes with us, in the end we decided against it. So by the time we got to the trailhead, we realized we would have to camp right there. 

And... there are worse places to camp than in the middle of the beautiful, delightful silence near Jefferson, Colorado at 10,500 feet. My mountains = my happy place!

We were thrilled to be able to find a place where we could set up our hammocks. It was quite cool in the morning and evening, but during the middle of the day under the intense heat of the sun it was quite warm and perfect for an afternoon of reading/sleeping/drooling. We do so love our ENO hammocks and the "portable Sabbath" that they are for us.

As usual, the pups came with us, though the snow proved much more difficult for their little legs. When we were trying to make our way over/through the snow drifts, we had to carry the dogs. Poor things. In hindsight, I think we really put them through the ringer. They were quite pooped at the end of the day, and cold, as well. 

At the end of their hikes, they were ready to curl up in the warm wool blanket we got from the Army/Navy Surplus store right down the street and sleep. :)

But certainly not before they ate their "nummies." The dogs' one love. Food. Ahh, blessed sustenance. 

I am not usually one for "selfies" (a picture you take of yourself), but since I'm usually the one taking the pictures I often end up with no proof that I was actually present at the event. And so I decided that I would document the fact that I was actually there in those beautiful mountains of mine... 

And so was my handsome husband. Here he is with the mountains and that beautiful Colorado sky in the background. Is it just me or does he look incredibly tall in this picture? 

I think the dogs had a good time overall, though here Eu-mi doesn't look very excited. Usually the hot part of the day is Eu-mi's favorite time. She loves to sunbathe (i.e. bake) almost as much as she loves to eat!

We had to purchase some form of water filtration for this last trip, since all of our previous water filters had gone kaputt. We decided that long-term we would consider the Katadyn super-expensive filter (that runs ~$300), but for now, we'd go for the super light-weight MSR filter. It pumped water quite quickly and proved to be pretty decent on the trail. (When we got back home there was some trouble trying to clean it out, though. I'm not sure if we'd recommend it long-term. Will need to try it out again.)

We decided to go exploring a bit but discovered that the road was pretty much the only "trail" that we or the dogs could manage, and the dogs got pretty tuckered out. So we decided to make it a short walk... :) It was fine with me. After the craziness of saying goodbye and wrapping up our jobs, I didn't mind making the focus of this backpacking trip to be one of rest before the big move.

I love this picture of Jody. :)

And these pictures of the pups, as well. :)

And these pictures of us. So happy in our mountains.

We (or rather, I) decided that the best way to celebrate our final backpacking adventure was to have a camp fire until late in the night so we could watch the stars come out. So, we stoked the fire for several hours and watched the beautiful sky as it got cooler and darker... 

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Penny instinctively goes into this pose. We call it the "Man Dog" pose, and apparently all the pups from her dad Riley do the same thing. Genetics are crazy.

It was so wonderful to take in the evening sky while we were up there. The months leading up to this point had been so busy. Jody accepting the job with Crosspoint. My trip to Nepal. The offer of the job with MountainChild. Wrapping up our jobs at Mosaic and Southeast. So many changes and so much stress. 

But out in the mountains there is just the wind. And the sound of the melted snow gushing through the stream. And the occasional bird or chipmunk that dares to be present. But mostly just the wind in the trees. It's as if time is standing still, and there's nothing else going on in the world. 

When we woke up on Day 3 we saw that a storm was probably going to make its way through the pass, so we decided that it was probably a good idea to head out by lunchtime. The afternoon storms can come quickly, and we didn't want to get truly stuck before the trail was even technically open. So we packed up and headed back to the Jeep.

I'm glad we left when we did, as it started snowing on our way down. When I stopped to look back at where we'd been just an hour or two before, it was difficult to see. Crazy how quickly the weather can change!

We got home safely, praise the Lord. The wienie dogs were happy, I think, to be back home. :) And I was ready to start some serious packing for the move. 

Now that we've been in Wisconsin for a few months, I am doing my best to settle in. Nonetheless, I think the West is in me. Denver peeps, I am coming to visit! (Not sure when... but I'm coming anyways!)