Farewell Colorado!

A week after leaving Colorado, it's still hard to think about the goodbyes. We made so many wonderful friends and had so many amazing adventures. Now it's time for our next adventure way out east, which is why I've started a new blog (harpersnextadventure.blogspot.com). Two things have encouraged me over the past week. First is the fact that Chris and I arrived in Fort Collins almost 8 years ago with no friends and a whole bunch of uncharted territory before us. We found our niche and thrived there, but importantly we did it together. Now we've added a new member to our ranks, who almost always makes us smile, and I think the three of us will get along fine in England. Second, I have some really great friendships from high school and college. Knowing that it is possible to maintain a friendship even with thousands of miles between us encourages me that we'll be able to stay close to our Colorado friends. Staying in touch can be hard, even with all the internet-enabled means of doing so. But when I get together with my old friends, we can pick right up where we left off, and I think the same will be true of many of our Colorado friendships.

So, this is probably my last post here! If you're reading this, thanks for being a part of our lives so far, and I hope you'll keep up with us in England. And in two years, we'll be back (somewhere in the US, maybe Rachel can get me a job at NCAR?)! :) All the friends we made in Fort Collins are very special to us! I'll end with some pictures from our last month in Fort Collins (although I might have more pictures on my other camera, to be posted later).

Emmaline anticipating her return to Georgia - thanks Eric and Natalie for the super-awesome digs!

Easter at Erika and Mark Nossokof's

Emmaline is precious and looking especially cute in her Easter dress - thanks Mom!

Making fun noises

Some friends came over to help us pack, take stuff to the dump/donate, and burn our confidential documents! 

The kitties now live with our friend Nick in Pasadena. No-no Nora is now LaMichael (some Oregon running back) and Daphne is now Houston (in honor of Nick working for NASA and having frequent problems).

Saying goodbye to our home almost exactly 7 years after moving in. Our first home will always be special to us, and we're glad we found two great people to rent it!

We had loads of help from friends the last week - the move wouldn't have been possible without you all!

After leaving Ft. Collins we spent 2 nights at the Estes Park YMCA. We needed the time to decompress, sleep, enjoy mountain scenery, and catch up as a family. We've never been to this Y but it was gorgeous! We hiked part-way up Deer Mtn. Trail and Emmaline was super-excited about being in the kid carrier!

Bye!

What the heck are we still doing in the U.S.???

Some of you might be asking this question. Didn't I get some job in England? Well - yes, and no. I was offered the position, but due to some visa annoyances, I don't actually have the job yet. If this sounds confusing - it is.

Basically, the job was not originally advertised correctly according to all the rules one must follow if one is hiring a non-UK citizen. So the job has been re-posted (with the new job description tailored toward my CV), and will close on Friday. (Don't even think about applying!!) Then I'll re-interview (I'm guessing this will be informal), and be hired (if that doesn't happen I shall commence Revolutionary War II).

In the meantime, we've been in this weird limbo of needing to get ready to leave but not knowing when we'll leave or what needs to be packed (we're unsure about if moving expenses will be covered). It's been stressful and an emotional roller coaster and I will be much happier when I know for sure when I start etc.

We've rented our house out to a work friend and her husband. It's a great situation, but means we will leave Ft Collins the weekend of April 28 (less than 3 weeks!!). I'm getting incredibly sad about leaving, so enough about that. The good news is, we'll spend 4 weeks or so in Georgia with family. Emmaline will have lots of time to bond with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins before we leave, which is really important to Chris and I. We are still excited about living in Exeter, and I'm excited about the job. So hopefully we'll get there eventually ...

Making something wonderful!

The Brewmaster

Chris started brewing beer about two years ago. Obviously once I got pregnant, I could find better things to do with my time than spend hours making something I would never get to enjoy. But I decided to help Chris with his final brewing fling. We both love dark beer, so we chose an oatmeal stout. Chris made up a recipe based on some he found online and based on the stout recipe at Hops'n'Berries (the brewers shop connected with Equinox).

The big difference between this beer and the other ones Chris has made is the grain. Usually he buys malts and grains that are prepared for brewing. It cuts out a step (cooking the grains to make a soupy, malty mixture that becomes the beer). But this time we used super dark barleys, malt and oatmeal to make our own concoction*. The house smelled like chocolate, which seemed like a great sign!

Chocolatey spent grains (Chris tried to make bread with them but it was nasty).

I'm not going to attempt to go into detail about the brewing process. If you tried to follow my recollection of the recipe, your beer would probably taste like feet. All I can say is - it's a combination of having to be very precise (with temperatures, measurements, sanitation, & timing) and of just sitting around. Basically, brewing beer is a great excuse to spend 3-4 hours doing not much of anything. Luckily the day we brewed was another beautiful spring day, so we enjoyed sitting on the back patio while Emmaline slept. It was pretty fun and very interesting to see everything that goes into making a beer, and how each ingredient adds something to the flavor, 'mouthfeel', and/or color. Also we got to use the word "Fuggles" which is fun to say (that's one of the hops we used). The only bad thing is now we still have a few weeks of waiting for the brewing to finish.

Cooking stuff (this has been the best use of our turkey fryer!)

Cooling stuff.

We've named the beer "Farewell Stout", although we almost named it "Dead Squirrel Stout" because I found a dismembered squirrel in our backyard that day. Maybe we'll just have a picture of a dead squirrel on the label, that would be lovely.

Siphoning stuff. It looked amazing, like liquid chocolate. We finished just as Emmaline was waking up from her nap!

*Clearly I am no brew-master so excuse the non-technical language :)

9 months at a time

Here is a snapshot of my life 18 months ago:

And 9 months ago:
And today:

Celebrating Emmaline

Emmaline was baptized today. The weekend has been consumed by this event. All day yesterday we cleaned the house, a task made somewhat easier by the eminent move. Don't know what to do with something? Eh, just throw it away, we'll be gone soon anyway. This is probably the least cluttered the house has been in years :). Meanwhile, Emmaline mastered drinking out of a sippy cup yesterday! It felt like a huge deal, I was getting a little worried that so far she'd shown no interest in holding her bottle. But she figured out the cup yesterday and was SO pleased with herself! It's so funny, she'll pick up the cup, take a few sips, and then just giggle. Chris and I were really excited to watch this development!
To celebrate such a clean house, we had some friends over for a "Yeti Tasting" last night (or just because we wanted to drink good beer!). One of our favorite Colorado breweries makes several variations of this imperial stout, so we did a little side-by-side comparison and Yeti drawing. It was a lot of fun, and no surprise that my favorite is the Espresso version.

This morning we arose very early (for a Sunday). We wanted Emmaline to get up early so she'd be tired enough to nap at 9:00. The church service was at 11:00 and we were minimizing the chance of her sounding demon-possessed during the baptism. She slept very soundly until about 10:15 and then we got her dressed and raced out the door. She looked super cute. She wore a gown that my great-grandmother made for my mom. It is a simple blue long blouse with a nicely embroidered collar and cuffs. Since it was blue we put on a pink headband with a bow (she still has very little hair and can be easily mistaken for a boy).

The 11:00 service is contemporary, so they start with music from the praise band. She loved it! Recently Emmaline is really getting into music, she can't help but dance when she hears it. So she was bouncing around in Chris' arms and squealing in delight during the first song. Hilarious! Our friend Cindy, who's a pastor at our church, performed the baptism. It felt extra meaningful to have a friend baptise Emmaline. And the nap paid off - no tears! Chris and I feel so blessed to have such a supportive church family.Notice the bow was thrown off during the baptism, she's not such a fun of things on her head.

Emmaline talking to her friend Charley, who is just a couple of months younger.

Afterward we had a lunch at our house. In honor of Emmaline's southern roots, we had pulled pork, mac'n'cheese, coleslaw and a bunch of other delicious food. It was great to visit with friends, but felt a little bittersweet since we'll be leaving these wonderful people in about a month! :( The kids were crazy (especially after eating chocolate cake). We realized that our party with 7 kids under 4 is WAY louder than any party the college kids next door have ever thrown. So it was alright with us when things wound down, Emmaline took a nap, and we got to relax for a little bit. It kind of feels like the first time all weekend!

Another frightening look into my life ...

7:42 am - In my attempt to make eggs for Chris and I, I accidentally poured the eggs down the drain. Oops - at least I had already cooked some yolk for Emmaline (apparently babies are possibly sensitive to egg whites. Emmaline loves the yolk, which is great except Chris made up a creepy song about babies eating babies).

8:58 am - At work after a delightful bike ride in (my 3rd day to commute this week!), and a fun morning watching Emmaline dance. As soon as she hears anything with a beat she starts grooving, it's awesome :)

9:10 am - Gosh darn it. I have very involved coauthors, which is both a blessing and a curse. They are the reason my paper will be decent but also the reason I'm on revision #3 after sending out the first draft 1 year ago!! Feeling kind of moronic at the moment ...

9:53 am - I just had a coherent conversation with someone about heterotrophic respiration on the fly! Feeling a little more doctor-like.

11:25 am - Still working on soil respiration :( But happy for a quick snack/coffee break (my second cup of the day!!!)

3:54 pm - Holy crap, did I really just spend all day investigating modeled soil respiration ...

4:31 pm - To add to the futility of my day, I just reapplied for a job I supposedly already have. I'm disappointed with how little I've accomplished today but now it's 74 degrees outside so this is no time to dwell on work stuff.

4:35 - Just realized that though I rode my bike in with fleece tights, I neglected to bring shorts. I'm wearing a dress ... hmm .... do I sweat to death or be a little risque?

6:45 pm - Home from a lovely ride with Rachel. So glad it's daylight savings time now so we can ride late! (PS I went with the tights on the ride home.) Can't believe it's March and we just rode in shorts and short-sleeves.

10:45 pm - Feeling exhausted after finishing season 6 of 24. Poor Jack, someone needs to give that man a hug.

Moab with a baby!

Sunrise breakfast with the La Sal Mountains in the distance.

Life is good. From mountain biking in Moab, to playing softball on a sunny day in the Fort, to just hanging out on the floor in Emmaline's room - life is just plain good. This last week has been especially enjoyable, mostly for the reasons I just mentioned. But it's also just been nice to not be at work and to have taken a brief respite from moving/packing stuff.

Last week was spring break at CSU, so we did what any sensible couple would do when presented with a week off less than two months before moving overseas - we left town. Last Saturday we packed up the car with baby accoutrements, strapped our mountain bikes to the roof and got ready to make our journey 7 hours west to Moab, UT for what would be Emmaline's first camping experience. We made it all of 10 minutes to the Chick-fil-a before having second thoughts. "What are we thinking driving 7 hours for her first camping outing? What if she's miserable in the car, let alone three nights in a tent?" But after feeding Emmaline her lunch and munching on some waffle fries, we decided to carry on with the trip and head out. So at 11:45am Saturday morning we finally set off from the Fort. Emmaline was great in the car and we made it to Moab around 7:00, found a site and set up camp in the dark, then headed into town for some grease at the Moab Diner. When we got back to camp we had been joined by our good friends Jeramy, Christine and their 2 little boys - Carson and Bryce. Just five years earlier we'd made our first mountain bike trip to Moab with them over spring break and now we were back with kids in tow! My how time flies...

Moab 2007Moab 2012

The camping trip was mostly a success. Emmaline slept great at night - probably cause we had her so bundled up that she couldn't move to disturb herself. She did struggle with naps cause the tent was just a big playground for her and there was no real way to confine her movements. We ended up having to strap her in her car seat to get her to be still enough to actually go to sleep.

Our sleeping arrangements - Emmaline was all wrapped up!

The only real issue on the trip was the sand. We were camping right next to the Slickrock Trail, which is famous cause of it's unique path across the sandstone. Well, as you might imagine, when sandstone erodes, it turns back into sand. And we might as well have been camping on the beach. It wasn't a huge deal until the wind kicked up the last couple of days and we ended up with sand blowing into our tent and coating everything. It was a mess that took us nearly two full days to clean up from after getting back home.

We went on one hike to Corona Arch. The arch is pretty impressive and it's only 3 miles round trip, so a great family hike (if you don't mind a couple of ladders). We enjoyed lunch under the arch and watched a couple of people jump off it!! (Like this). Hiking with kiddos can be a slow process though and I'm afraid we only averaged about a .75 mph pace. :)

Emmaline enjoying her lunch under the arch.

The mountain biking was amazing, as it always seems to be in Moab. Chris and Jeramy rode the Slickrock Trail the first day we were there, then watched the kids while Christine and I rode Fins n' Things. The next day Chris and I rode together while they watched E and we then watched their boys while they rode. Chris and I decided to hang out and get in one last ride on Tuesday before heading home, so that morning I headed out to do the Two Tortoise Loop I found in a guide book we had. I rode up Gemini Bridges Road, which believe me had a lot of up in the first two miles! The road emerged into a large valley, which I followed for another three miles before the Singletrack gods smiled upon me - a system of slickrock singletrack trails had been constructed since the book was written, so I spent the next two hours blissfully riding on smooth, fun trails with awe-inspiring views of the Moab valley.

I'm happy about singletrack!

When I got back to camp Chris and Emmaline were hunkered down in the sweltering tent trying to escape the incessant winds and blowing sand. We broke camp and I dropped Chris off at the Poison Spider Trailhead to do his ride around 4:00. The book we had mentioned a trail that rode a cliff edge back from the end of the Poison Spider Trail, but since he was riding alone he assured me that he wouldn't take it though it did intrigue him. Well, I got a call around 6:30 saying that he was on the edge of a cliff on said trail because in his words "I'd rather risk falling off a cliff than ride back down Poison Spider." It turned out that it was really sandy and not much fun to ride up, and the cliff hanging Portal Trail was a welcome alternative. He survived, so I don't mind.

Chris defying death on the Portal Trail. The road is at least 500 ft below him.

We finally got on the road back home around 7:30 and after a stop for dinner in Grand Junction, powered through the night to arrive home at 3:00am. As we figured would be the case, Emmaline slept the whole time which actually made driving at night something of a pleasure. It didn't feel like we were keeping her strapped in against her will when she wanted to be out crawling and climbing.

So yeah, life is good...