Living in New Mexico

since everyone asks me how we're doing here and how we like New Mexico, I thought I'd share what it's been like here the last few months.

Rio Rancho is a suburb of Albuquerque, think of peoria or glendale, and thats pretty much what it's like. I'm not sure what the altitude is but it reminds me of high desert in Az, so the weather is significantly cooler here. We had quite a few snow days this winter actually, it was very neat! I didn't go out in it much just because we didn't really have the proper gear for the kids, and Tenley was still very small when we first moved here. The spring is pretty with all the trees starting to blossom but it is sooooooo windy!! The wind is evil and i hate it!

Our ward is pretty good, very diverse compared to where we came from, but i've met some great people so far. Jared works very long hours and it can be pretty stressful since they are really pushing to meet their completion date, but i think he is learning a lot and gaining good experience with this project. The jobsite is really close to our apartment too, so that has been wonderful!

Our apartment....well it's a pretty good size, but going from our house to this 2 bedroom place has been a HUGE adjustment! A[artment living sucks, and I am looking foward to leaving it behind! It works for our little family for now, but man does it suck going anywhere with the kids by myself, especially the grocery store! Actually everything with 2 small kids is a lot harder by myself, but i am learning tricks to help manage easier.

The first month or so here was very difficult for me. I think having a newborn and all the emotions of just giving birth made it worse, but it's very hard moving to a new place and not knowing one single person. I make it a goal to get out of the apartment with the kids as often as possible, but it is not easy. There's a great group of women in the ward that started a playgroup on Wednesdays, so wonderful!! Kaleb can get out some energy and I can get in some adult conversations :)

Jared and I have yet to go on a date or make it to the temple here, man was it nice having family around to babysit my kids! Kaleb does not do well with people he doesn't know and Tenley is tough to predict, so getting a Young Woman to watch them is pretty much out of the question. It's one thing to leave Grandma Tieman and Grandma Marble with crazy kids, but I'm not mean enough to do that to someone i don't know very well ;) Tenley is getting much better and starting to take a bottle, so I do see a date in our very near future :)

I try to be positive about living here, because there is really no point in being negative, but I feel like as soon as we are totally adjusted, we'll probably be moving :) It really is a nice little town and we've found some great things here....um, like Pizza 9, the best pizza ever!! As much as we miss our families and friends in Arizona, I think being here on our own has been a great experience for our little family and I'm thankful for all that I've learned in the past 5 months.