Golden Opportunities.

The high desert has offered us yet another opportunity that is too good to pass up. An opportunity that will keep us in New Mexico for a bit longer and enable us to pursue a few goals on our life's proverbial "to do" list. We will be moving deeper into the desert to live in a one bedroom casita on 14acres nestled against the Ortiz Mountains. In exchange for living in the darling casita, we will care for a horse named Corazon, two goats named Freddie and Horace and a handful of chickens. It's that simple.
We are incredibly excited and a grateful beyond words.

Another adventure awaits...

Atty laughs!

...the wait ends...

Here are some photos of the absolutely adorable outfits GiGi (my grandma) made for little Atalaya. Thank you SO much Gram...I love you (and Pup Pup, too) like no other! I'll post some more pics of her in other GiGi 'handmades' in the coming days; but, for now...

Oh my god. I think she looks like a mini Pup Pup or Uncle John in the last picture! Too funny!

Halllow-scream 2009

Things have been pretty quiet around these parts. Getting ready for the impending winter. Watching the golden leaves drop to the ground. Spending time during warm days in the park, knowing that these days are short lived - complete hibernation is just around the corner. Days spent baking cupcakes and cookies and cakes, in an attempt to outsmart the high altitude. Ever try baking something, anything, at 7500ft? Cupcakes sink. Cakes ooze. Cookies melt. It's hit or miss, but we keep on keepin' on!

Here are a few random photos from the past few weeks:

Papa and Atalaya

Atalaya showing off her vegan onsie care of Grammie....see photo above of her belly and tell me that being vegan doesn't provide enough nutrients!

Atty and mama going for a (freezing) fall walk.


Below are a few photos from our window just days before Halloween. It looks more like Christmas than it does Halloween - yikes!

For her first Halloween, Atalaya went as "Max(ine)" from one of our favorite children's books "Where the Wild Things Are." I have to say, we were mildly inspired by the fact that this book was recently turned into a movie. We watched the trailer this past spring when I was pregnant and for some reason it made me cry (oh, pregnancy hormones, how I DO NOT miss you!). I guess it's because I want Atalaya to know there's always going to be a place for her to be a
"wild thing."
Here's the trailer:

...and here's Atalaya...
unfortunately, she fell asleep every time we put this costume on her...that's as "wild" as it gets for a 3month old baby!

Rrrrwwrrr!

Keenan as "Scary Pumpkin Head"

Halloween day ended up being warm and glorious. We decided to take to the streets early and walked our sleeping "wild thing" up and down Canyon Rd. She was quite the attraction...gallery owners asked to take her photo, meanwhile offering us champagne and cupcakes - yay for us having a cute baby!! Thanks Atty Bom! That night we had dinner with our neighbors, Billy and Bethany, followed by a fire in our outdoor 'community' fireplace. Too bad there weren't any trick or treaters. But, Rudy the dog, who was dressed as a pumpkin, and Atalaya were all we need for a night of entertainment!

here are a few more from a walk the other day...

It aint easy being green.

Ok. How many times do I have to put our recycling curbside, only for it to be forgotten (or completely ignored) by Santa Fe's Waste Management?!?! Since moving a few houses down (and to the left, dammit!) the city of Santa Fe refuses my refuse. Any why, oh why? For a small family of three we produce a fairly small amount of garbage. Maybe a bag a week. Sometimes two bags. And not those big black hefty duty bags. We're talking "tall kitchen" bags of the recycled sort. Ok, enough about my garbage bags. Let's talk recycling. We're big on it here. Roughly 80% of what we get rid of is recyclables. Glass. Paper. Plastic. The usual suspects. If we're not attempting to turn salsa jars into 'charming' drinkin' glasses, then we're sending it to its next incarnation. So, sort and curb it. Well, week after week our efforts go unnoticed. Finally, it got to the point where we have SO much to recycle we had to take it into our own hands. We take our glass. paper. plastic. on a short road trip to the seemingly 'public' recycling bins at Whole Foods Market. As Keenan starts relocating our glass. paper. plastic. from trunk to bin, the enormous bald bearded scary gun toting security guard walks outside just in time to tell us, "No way, Jose! These thar bins aint for the public to be usin'. Whole Foods gets fined for mis-sorted recycling." Crap. Great. Let's bring the unwanteds back to the house to sit. Talking to our neighbor tonight, we find out that he's been trying to recycle for FOUR years, to no avail. How did moving a few houses down (and to the left) completely change the recycling rules??? Scratching my head, wondering where to send the orphans, all I can say is "this is SO Santa Fe." Since I refuse to send this stuff to a landfill, I will foster the glass. paper. plastic. until a reasonable home is found. Jeez.

Saturday, and the birds are singing... "it ain't all bad."

Sabbath

Today we went to the Farmers Market, our Saturday ritual, then home for a wholesome meal of tempeh scramble with peppers, garlic, onions, spinach, corn, cumin, turmeric, black volcano salt and a side of whole grain spelt biscuits smothered in earth balance.

We followed that with drinking chocolate (Guatemalan bricks brought back by our friend Ashley) made with strong black ohori's coffee, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon.

Seriously delightful.

So many colors in Santa Fe.

Above: A view of Acequia Madre.

Below: Johnnie's cash store gettin' all festive!

A little about Johnnie's cash store:

"Johnnie’s Cash Store on Camino Don Miguel, a crooked street winding north from San Acacio to Acequia Madre, just east of Camino del Monte Sol. Johnnie’s Cash Store began as a neighborhood store by Johnny and Bertha Armijo in 1946 and it’s been operating continuously ever since.Johnnie’s Cash Store is still a small family operation, less than 1200 square feet in size, just large enough for two aisles and a counter top. Bertha Armijo, in her nineties, still owns it and you’re likely to find one or another of the grandchildren at the cash register. Today, just as in 1949, Johnnie’s Cash Store stills sells bread, milk and Popsicles to its neighbors from behind a worn wooden counter, one of the last locally owned grocery stores in Santa Fe."

Scenery on the walk between our place to Johnnies.

Atalaya was amazing today. She just smiled and hung out with us, barely fussing all day. She is putting her hands in her mouth now, and that seems to keep her more calm. She made so many cute noises today and really just hung out with us, like a friend.

There's really so much to say. Atty makes us laugh and helps us learn so much about ourselves. She can push our buttons and teach us patience, she can coo and melt our hearts. She really is a miracle child. A real child of light. Bright shining hope filled light. Forget Obama, if you're really looking for hope... vote Atty Bom 2012! (she'll be three.) She's running on a platform of universal pediatric care, and full piggy banks for all middle class American babies.

"es ew tan!"

Yaaaaaaay!

...yaaaaay for visitors!!! We are SUPER DUPER excited that in less than 24 hours our lovely friend, Sarah Rose, who just returned to the states from nearly a year in Ireland is making her way to Santa Fe for a quick visit before she heads back to Portland!!!! Sarah Rose is a gentle kind spirit who we love dearly....we can't wait to see her!

In other news, Atalaya has become incredibly fond of her fists.....pacifier be damned, fists are much better for 'sucking.' We've been kinda busy in these parts...when Keenan's not working his regular 'gig' and we're not doing demos we're trying to take advantage of the great weather we've been having in the southwest. We're committed to Saturday morning Farmer's Market adventures...making amazing food with all the local produce...you'd be surprised at what can grow in these parts! This Saturday I'm hoping to let Keenan and Atty Trita have a date while I shake my booty with my friend Jo at an African dance class....ooooh baby baby, I can't wait to shake it! If I survive, I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Well, it's chore time. Here are some photos from the past week or so. For those waiting on pics of Atty in the fantastically sweet outfits her GiGi (great grandma Suttner) made for her, the wait continues. Of course, the pictures I took of her DID NOT turn out at all...in fact, you can barely tell Atalaya's in the photo it's so underexposed. I think we're just gonna have to charge the batteries to the digital camera to make this happen. Soooo, don't give up on me...it just takes me a lot longer to do things than usual and for those of you that know me, that means get your "patience" hats on, it's gonna be awhile.

Here are some photos of the Farmer's Market

Me and my babe.

Lisette and friend busking. You've never heard gypsy music so enchanting.

Cloud Cliff Bread....I love you!

Roasting Hatch Green Chiles...quintessential New Mexican food.

Shots from around the 'hood:

Atalaya and mama:

This is the weird bear I started to make for baby Silas, but thought he was 'too ugly' to give as a gift, so I gave him to Atalaya (she's my daughter, she understands). As it turns out, Atalaya loves this odd creature...I put him on her belly and his long arms 'hug' her and she hugs him back. So sweet.

...one for the road...