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It has been a long, long time since we’ve updated our blog. With good reason- we’ve been a little busy getting ready for baby! I suppose we’ll be even busier once baby arrives, but until then, we’ll try to update you all more often. And once baby is here, we will try to be a tad more diligent about posting pix and stories. I will have 12 weeks off and will have a bit of free time right to post pictures right?

In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures of the parents-to-be from the past few months…in no particular order.

It has been from two baby showers, and the generosity of both friends and family that we are as prepared as can be. Probably not ready, but prepared.

Jeff snoozing with our cat Luto. Luto will be 8 this fall, and will most likely not appreciate the intrusion of a baby into his world.

My belly has grown to huge proportions. This shot is from a couple of weeks ago.

We’ll try to write more soon!

This is the first summer we’ve attempted a vegetable garden in Flagstaff. After planting, our little greens endured 2 snows, 1 killer hailstorm, and multiple attacks by javelina. I’m happy to announce that while nothing was entirely wiped out, we definitely won’t be receiving a bounty of squash due to the plants only having 15% of their leaves. This afternoon we picked some turnips and the first of our purple carrots. Quite exciting.

The big survivor was the corn. We have been closely watching Jeff’s little patch of Iowa grow. It has just started to tassel and we’d be over the moon if it actually produced anything.

We’ve been getting out to play a couple times a month. Now that it’s monsoon season, we headed up to the Peaks to play in the ferns.

The monsoons started early this year and everything is amazingly lush. Ferns up to my hips and wildflowers and mushrooms everywhere.

It’s been awhile since our last post…above and below are some not-so-long-ago pix from our hike up O’Leary Peak. We got distracted by a nearby cinder cone, which offered fantastic views…

…and pretty wildflowers.

I drove past this sign every day for almost 2 1/2 years. I’m sure it is/was a Forest Service sign- but it is a style that is no longer in use and no one on the district knows what it was for. But I always liked it. I passed it as I turned onto I-17 north and it pointed me home.

On Saturday we headed down to my old district, the Red Rock Ranger District, to help out with dutch oven cooking and so I could visit some of my old coworkers, friends and volunteers from the district. The Red Rock received approximately 44,000 volunteer hours in 2007, or the equivalent of 25 full time employees. Though I love my job in planning, I miss getting to hang out and chat with the volunteers at the visitor centers, or tell former oil CEOs that they need to wear a hard hat for trail work.

I must admit I have been taking quite the hiatus from thesis work for the past couple of weeks- hot tubbing it in Scottsdale while there for a retirement training, working on way too many crossword puzzles, getting into soup season, and spending more time with Jeff-away from the computer. He supplied me with Coors at 9 a.m. (not for consumption of course) to whip up 21 loaves of Bill Stafford’s Dutch oven beer bread, gets me to work on time, and has kept me sane and happy for many a day.

I truly admire pretty much anyone who has ever written a thesis, but particularly two women who both defended almost 8 months pregnant (a big no way as my caffeine and wine intake have both greatly increased) While I could probably do it, I am extremely grateful for my morning thermos of coffee. In addition to my constant flow of alcohol and caffeine- Jeff’s support and optimism, as well as his editing skills and data expertise have helped get to where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel- and still be smiling. He joined me in assessing many a transect, this picture was from the last day of field work.

My self-appointed break is over and Jeff just walked me through the joys of creating TOCs in Word. He’s also been working on getting our site switched over, so I took this opportunity to see if I could navigate the new system. I guess I managed. Back to work.