Wood Cutting....

The last two weekends Eric and I have ventured into the mountains to go wood cutting with his family. Yep, as in falling trees, splitting them and stockpiling wood for the winter. People still do that here in NV in things called wood stoves rather than using natural gas and spending a fortune on utility bills. So my brother upon finding out that I was involved in this was highly amused because growing up in Southern CA, wood cutting is not a normal activity for us. I joked around that I am officially trading in my flatlander status and perhaps I am real mountain girl now.

When the alarm initially goes off on Saturday morning at what is normally a weekday wake up time, the body wants to just continue to sleep. Eric and I both need a little time to get going in the morning (one of us more than the other =-) but once we are driving up the 88 and into Hope Valley, the tiredness is long forgotten and it is so enjoyable just taking in the beauty of the fall colors and the mountains. It's great just to be outside. It is a very gratifying experience to work with your hands and bring home the fruits of your labor and to know that it will benefit your home. There is a big sense of accomplishment in it. And despite the sore muscles that follow in a couple of days, it is a lot of fun. As a family we just had a good time together.

So the first weekend we got a skinnier tree that fell really, really easily right a long the road and then went back to finish loading up a tree that Eric's family had already fell the previous week. The next week we got a thicker spruce that was a lot more work for Brent and Eric to get down-it took 12 wedges! To top it off it got hung up in the adjoining trees but within 10 minutes its own mass made it come crashing down. So both of our families are set for winter!

Fall Fun and Brent and Fran's 30th Anniversary

Well fall is definitely here. I am greeted by ice each morning at work and we had our first real snowfall this last weekend. It's so weird getting all bundled up in the morning and then still having these afternoons that are so sunny and warm. It really is gorgeous here though. I just love the mountains and the way the aspens turn the different colors. So I am incredibly grateful for the woodstove in our house that keeps us toasty warm. It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly it heats it up...even too much! Sometimes we are actually sweating inside the house and have to crack open a window =-) We are planning on woodcutting this weekend to stock up on some much needed fire wood for winter.

We also spent several hours over the weekend cutting, peeling, boiling and pureeing a pumpkin (we still have one to complete from the garden) so that we can make some seasonal treats. So our freezer is filled with containers of pumpkin all ready to go. I cannot wait to make home made pumpkin soup. Yum.

Eric and I hosted our first dinner party! It was for a very special occasion as well. His parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on October 14th. Congratulations! Since I don't get home from work until after 6:00 p.m., my hubby took over most of the cooking duties and he did a fabulous job. He is quite the grill master and everyone loves his cedar plank salmon. He also made au gratin potatoes, steamed asparagus, garlic bread and a garden salad. We were stuffed! We had a favorite chocolate cake from Scolari's for dessert. So I think it was a success. Everyone went home very full =-)

Our house is also looking a lot more like a home. It was nice having Columbus Day off to do some cleaning and organizing. Eventually it will get there. At least we now have a living room and functional dining room to entertain people with. Yay!

Wedding Pictures

For those of you have not seen the wedding picture slideshow from our awesome photographer Bobby Earle, please check it out:


http://bobbyearle.blogspot.com/2008/09/joleen-eric-full-post.html


It really was a beautiful day. We will continue to post pics as we see them!

Half of Eric and Our New Vehicle on the News!!!

Well in preparation for winter, we have been looking at vehicles for Joleen to drive for her commute to Walker, CA. Eric's 1987 Chevy Blazer has seen better days, for all that is run in the ground, it has 240,000 miles and is ready for retirement. In Eric's opinion it is just broke in. Joleen's 2000 Honda Accord can handle snow with appropriate tires and 310lbs in the driver side. Heck it could probably even climb Mt. Hood if it wanted to with me in it. (Thats right, I, Eric am bashing myself. =) But alas neither one of these seemed like good options and if you know Eric, you know he wants his Sunshine to be safe.  He would put her in a tank if we could afford it but that's not an option either. (Eric typing again, I looked at one that was for sale here with the Douglas County Auction that was used for the S.W.A.T. but it needed a new cat engine and I could not find one that could do 0-60 in 3 sec. so I opted for the new Chevy Tahoe. Back to Joleen) So if you are following our stream of consciousness blog here...that's right, we bought a new Chevy Tahoe. "What!? Are you crazy you say? Isn't that thing a gas guzzler?" Well, not really because it has a FlexFuel selective cylinder engine which means it goes from V8 to V4 while cruising. It can also utilize ethanol. We looked at trucks and long story short, the Lord made it clear He wanted us to buy this vehicle. We had a great buying experience and even got to witness to our finance manager. How cool is that? So Eric is thrilled. He has new toy with all the bells and whistles...seriously loaded with all kinds of cool stuff. This will keep him entertained for a while. I am not sure if I am going to be able to get it back once the snow comes =-) So one of Eric's companies (he is a corporate safety manager for Bently), Bently Biofuels, opened up their fueling station as of yesterday. Eric got to use our new vehicle as a model for a flex fuel vehicle. Yes, that is the hubby's Cabela's shirt on the television. (Eric here again, I just wanted to fill you in that my agent said they were not going to pay enough for a face shot so I opted for the lower pay check with three commas instead of the usual four. Back to you Joleen) Enjoy the link everyone!