12.18.2011

New People. New Experiences.

Change is inevitable.  Change takes some getting used to in most cases.  Change is awesome if you're willing to embrace it and make the most out of it...just like anything else in life.  I've shared with many of you that follow Our Love Shack Blog- the more we get out and explore the area and the more we get out and meet new people the more and more I am falling in love with Battle Mountain.

Have you ever been to a restaurant where the food was amazing but the service sucked?  (I have found myself using this analogy lately)  It's awful and as a former waitress it's even worse- you spend your hard earned money on going out to eat and then have a lousy experience.  I've been to some places where the food is mediocre and the service is amazing.  9 times out of 10 I'll choose the better service over the food- life is really about people.  Well Battle Mountain may not be my first choice for living but by golly I've met and come to know some awesome people in the 8 short weeks we've been here that make me not want to leave.  People here have been so kind to us, so open, so generous, and I'm looking forward to making forever friends here in Battle Mountain.

E & I did some more exploring out by Galena Canyon.  We went in a bit further and a bit higher.

Pooks & I Galena Canyon
We've become amateur rockhounders . There seems to be an abundance of quartz out here and that's been the only rock I've been able to identify.  It's fun to learn new things so I hope we become better geologists and botanists.
I struck quartz...wish it was gold!

E trying his hand at rockhounding.

 We also checked out the ghost town...or what is left of the ghost town.

E clearing the rats out of the cellar.

And the excitement of today 12/18...observing a heifer and a steer be sacrificed.

There were 6 this morning and now only 4.
A guy that we've met through the church that we've decided to attend regularly invited us out to observe how they kill the moo- moos.  I think he thought E might only be interested in the beginning but being the sick crazy person that I can sometimes be I was interested in tagging along too.  I tell you we are so far removed from how our food gets to our plate it's sad in a way but hard to stomach (no pun intended) in another way. 

There the Heifer lay.
I think the hardest part about the whole experience for me was that the cows were killed in front of the other cows.  It wasn't necessarily the killing, skinning, gutting, and quartering but the fact that it went down in front of the other cows. Those cows are going to die before too long tanywho but it just seemed a bit harsh to make the other cows watch.
Dropping the Heifer on the scale...946 lbs.
I was very impressed with Jim and his hired hand Kerry.  They worked the cows really fast, killing, skinning, gutting, and quartering 2 cows only took a little less than 3 hours.  I think E really enjoyed it and wants to learn how to do it.  Weird...he's always getting his hands on trying something new.  I think that may be why I love him so much!  He also started talking about hobby farms tonight...it sounds like work to me but it would be cool!
There she is in all her glory.
So it wasn't so bad observing but don't know if I could be the one with the knives.  The coolest part of the whole process in my opinion was the tail.  Something I did not know people eat the tail....SAY WHAT?  Yes people eat the tail, the tongue I knew about because I've seen it at the store but it's definitely not something I want to try anytime soon.  The tail however was super cool when Jim cut it out because it looked like an octopus tentacle (I still am not interested in eating it though).

We're off to California at the end of the week to be with E's family for Christmas.  I am very excited to experience my first California Christmas!

12.12.2011

E=ORP

So Pooks is an ORP which means he's an Outdoor Recreation Planner.  Is that the coolest job title that you have ever heard?  Yeah me too...I totally went the wrong route... business, marketing, event planner, sales...blah blah blah.  Outdoor Recreation Planner sounds so much cooler!

He is currently about 7 weeks in and from my understanding he still really enjoys it.  However, he has yet to get email/computer access...really federal government..really? (that's an entirely different post and a topic that I am just not going to cover on this blog).  We are here in the great state of Nevada, which over 80% is government owned.  A good chunk of that is owned by the Bureau of Land Management, Native American reservations, and military bases and the such.  Ethan's Office manages 4.4 million acres of Nevada and he's responsible for the designated recreation sites within the boundaries- yea he's a pretty important dude.

I can't express how happy I am for him to have secured this position.  I am also super proud because there is nothing better than to see someone plan, work hard, kick butt, and achieve a goal!

Here are a few of the recreation sites that he is responsible for:

Hickison Petroglyph Recreation Area

Spencer Hot Springs


E spent a night out in the field the first month we were here with a co-worker to take a peak at these two areas that are bit out there.  This time of year ORPs are not in the field as much so once Spring rolls in I expect more lonely nights...tear.

We've been out to Mill Creek Campground and the Copper Basin Trail which are both just south of town.  So there's a lot to see and do and I think E love will benefit from starting his BLM career here in Battle Mountain.  We've not claimed to move to the best place in the US but Battle Mountain has wonderful things to offer both professionally and otherwise.  This place is working out just fine.

To be Continued...






12.11.2011

Blog Resuscitation

It has been over 2 months since I have given this blog any love...WoW do I feel like an awful blogger!  Jesus loves me despite my faults and I hope you can find it in your heart to do the same.

What can I say we've been busy...very busy.  Things are actually starting to feel semi normal out here in the high desert.

We said our goodbyes to the wonderful people in the great state of Minnesota! 
See pictures below:   
A fun day at the Children's Museum with the Schmoos! 

Thank you KT for fitting me in before I left!
 Thank goodness for forever friends- no matter how many miles or how much time separates...
you know that you still have solid friendships waiting to be picked up where you left off!  
 
Hibachi with some awesome dudes!
 
Kara Beara 9er & Chris - Lovely Evening

Hadn't seen these goons in awhile.  It was great to catch up! 

October 17th was a bittersweet day...we headed west.  We spent the night of the 17th in Lincoln, Nebraska.  The next day we were ready to conquer our planned route to Cheyenne, WY.  E was uber excited to stop in Kearny - we have the best timing because that section of the Interstate was being closed off for something!  So we took a detour and backtracked just to visit the Archway in Kearney.

E in all his glory.
 
Sidney, NE Home of Cabela's HQ...E made it a point to stop in & check it out.
We stopped in Cheyenne for the night and enjoyed a delicious Outback dinner.  I seriously never get sick of that food...yummo.  The hotel was by far the nicest of our trip and the staff at the Days Inn were fabulous.
We couldn't stop at the Elk Penis but he made sure we stopped at the Ames Monument .

Beautiful Utah welcomed us on Wednesday the 19th of October.
We stayed the night in Salt Lake City which was great because neither one of us had ever been there.  We still had some day light left so E & I explored the city.  The city is beautiful- very clean, has a lot of trees and beautiful architecture.  Of course it is Utah and home of the LDS Temple Square - I was very impressed by the beautiful buildings.

Bonneville Salt Flats were a sight to be seen very cool place to check out.
Originally, we planned to stay a night in Elko, Nevada however their hotels don't love dogs as much as I love dogs so E called the BLM office and we were able to head straight to our new home.  Elko is a little over an hour from Battle Mountain so it wasn't very much further to press on for the day.  We met E's coworker here at the house.  I must say that it wasn't the most welcoming feeling but it was home.  The place had been vacant for a long while, dust accumulates fast here in NV, and cleaning supplies were very much needed.  We didn't get the memo that we needed to supply our own refrigerator.  WHAT?  Seriously...who rents a place without a fridge?  Apparently its common here in the west, I think it's ridiculous.  It didn't have a washer and dryer either- which didn't shock me but I was bummed.  Needless to say after some Lysol, Pine-sol, Windex, Febreeze, bleach, scotch pads, vacuuming, sweeping, wall washing, and some appliance buying.... a rather spacious house for 2 humans and a dog in the booming town of Battle Mountain has become our stationary love shack for now!

E started his big boy job the following Monday!
To be continued...