Wednesday, August 14, 2013

New Mexico or Bust

*Long post warning*

Hey you guys! I found something to post about sooner than I thought I would. I went to New Mexico for a few days! I haven't been since the church used to take ski trips every year TEN YEARS AGO. We rented a cabin in Angel Fire, so that'll be exciting! It's supposed to be crazy nice weather, but they said that about London too.

We took day trips to Taos and the top of a mountain, but mostly stayed in the house

It took 9 and a half hours to get there. That's seriously more time than London.

I'm going to divide this up into the different days I spent there.

Day 1

Today, we left town around 8 am. We made our first major stop in Amarillo, Texas.

Ice cream time
 We stopped at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo. It's on Historic Route 66. None of us had ever been before, so we figured "why not?"
Cadillac Ranch
I pretended to paint
An older gentleman saw us pretending to paint for pictures and gave us a bag of slightly used bottles. He said everyone needed to leave their mark on history.




Dad's idea. I think my shirt inspired him. 



Family photo
After the ranch, we stopped for lunch at Red Robin (yummm.)

We brought Kacie's friend Peyton along on the trip. She made lots of faces and caused a lot of secondhand embarrassment.


Those are mountains!
We got to our house around 5 pm. It was 3 floors! The ground floor had a bunk bed room and a games room. I was on the top floor with sister Daryl. We had our own bathroom and loft area.
It was so pretty and big! 
There were stick tee-pees built in the yard


On some rocks outside of our house

Always dancing

It was raining when we got there, but that didn't stop us from heading back down the mountain (an eight minute drive) and going to get food.

Healthy, huh?
After we got back home, us kids started a game of Monopoly that continued the whole trip. The first night I bought Park Place and Boardwalk, so I really won. We kept playing though.

Day 2

Today, I woke up really early. Lucky, because I was able to witness the first casualty. A hummingbird smacked into the window and died. 


We explored a bit, but it was too muddy for much
This chipmunk visited us several times. We call him Theodore.
Today, we went to Taos, another ski town nearby. They have a pueblo that we wanted to see called Taos Pueblo. It's an Indian Reservation.

The church
We took a guided tour around the pueblo. The young guy who toured us said he was going to college next year. After the tour, we all bought jewelry from a lady in an adobe shop. She said she makes it all herself.

An oven and an adobe house
The cemetery

Sisters

Their water source 
The main house


After seeing the Pueblo, we ate at lunch and visited a market in the center of town. Then, we headed to the Rio Gorge Bridge to see where the Rio Grande is.

Each night, we ate dinner at the house. We had burgers and chicken and burgers.

There was also a hummingbird feeder that was always attracting the pretty birds

Rain again
Our house was a ski-in/out house, so there was a ski slope two minutes away. We walked over and enjoyed the view. There wasn't a ski-lift, so I'm thinking that was the ski-in part and a bit further down, it meets up with a main slop.

This pretty girl visited every morning and evening. Her name was Zuni and she lived next door.
This is the house that Kacie and Peyton built of sticks. In the end, it ended up with a fence as well.

They played "Katniss"

This night, we all sat around and watched the Teen Choice Awards in the living room. I didn't want Justin Bieber to win, but he did.

Day 3

Today we woke up with the devastating news that a good friend had passed away that morning. Andrew Duncan was only 20 and was killed in a car crash north of Amarillo with four others. The entire past two days Facebook and Twitter have been filled with memories. My favorite was when he broke a door during Narnia because he thought it would be smart to take his entrance for his bow through it. It fell and busted and he got in trouble. He also liked to poke my broken nose during CATS.

On this day, we were planning on taking family pictures. It definitely took a lot more to get us smiling. 

We rode the ski-lift to the top of the mountain, a 15 minute ride. There was a bar that you could lower if you wanted to. We did. On the way up, we waved at the few people heading down. On the way down, we waved at a ton of people, mostly mountain bikers, headed up.

The scariest part was unloading from the lift because you had to lift the bar
View down the side slope
See what I mean about getting us to laugh?
We got hot chocolate from the cafe on the mountain after the pictures. We were outside at a table when the waitress comes out with a bag of Doritos and dumps them on the ground. She said the chipmunk likes Fritos better, but Doritos work for getting him out of the cafe.




I wasn't supposed  to have my phone out on the ski-lift. Sorry mom. I didn't listen.
After finishing at the summit, we went back home for lunch. We lounged around the house and did some building on the fort.

At one point today, we also drove to Red River, but there wasn't much there. We had coffee and then headed back to Angel Fire.

For dinner, we went back into town because there was a pub that was only opened for dinners that had a ton of gluten-free options.
I had a pizza and a brownie. It was amazing.
I was hoping the pub would be London-y, but it wasn't. It was a restaurant.

Day 4

Today we headed home. We listened to Radio Disney the entire way and stopped for ice cream at a Dairy Queen.


For lunch, we stopped in Amarillo at "The Big Texan."
The restaurant is on Route 66 so it's a huge spectacle. The food was good though!

It's a novelty food challenge restaurant.
 Man versus Food did the challenge and won!

If you eat a 72 oz steak in an hour with sides, it's free. If not, it's $72.
My dad wouldn't let us do the challenge. Party pooper. 

After Amarillo, we headed home. It was a faster drive than the way there, but still long. I listened to 58 songs without skipping!

It was a good trip and I hope it turns into a tradition.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Jonas Brothers Concert? Don't mind if I do.

In early 2008, I went to my first Jonas Brothers concert. Rooney opened for them. When You Look Me In The Eyes

In late 2008, I went to my second. Demi Lovato opened. Burning Up


Las Vegas
In 2009, I went to my third. Jordin Sparks opened. Jonas Brothers World Tour




In 2010, it was time for number four. Camp Rock stars opened. Jonas Brothers Live in Concert World Tour

Tonight, I went to number five.

This was dinner before the show at HG Supply Co. It's a 80% Paleo restaurant, so it was incredibly easy to find amazing food.
Karmin opened for the JoBros. You know their song Hello, most likely.

Concert time!

I'm really only posting because I got great pictures I want to show off. 
They're so perf! 
I liked that guys keys. 
You go Nick Jonas. Rock those drums! 

I know it wasn't live, but I liked how they had Big Rob sing along from his house since he isn't with the Jonas Brothers anymore.
Their new songs are so good! My dad even liked them!!

Even though it was 100 degrees the entire night, I loved it! I was so close I didn't need headphones.

I am going to be 40 and still going to Jonas Brothers shows. Now that I've been to five, I can't stop. It would be wrong.