Lazy Daisy

Christmas Concert Cuties

In Exchange for His Summer

There's certainly a lot of life that has happened since my last post. I may or may not ever get caught up on posting it here....

We made deal with Bud when we moved back. Commit yourself to building a house with us during the summer of '11, and in return, you can pick out:

a) a mountain bike of your choice

b) an ATV of your choice

c) money to put towards that future car.

Mountain biking is pretty shabby here, compared to Gunnison, and he's already got money in the bank for his car. So, it was a no-brainer.

He searched this out on eBay, talked it over with Steve, and a speed-run was made to the southern part of the state to pick it up.

It is incredibly fast, loud, and grey hair-producing for this mom. But he's so good on it, proud of it, and he truly deserves it after this past grueling summer of house building.

Love you Bud!

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

Quickest post in the west...

We're moving back to Wisconsin.

More details to come.

(sorry we didn't get to spend more time together Linda! Life can be tricky that way. You better believe I'll continue to read your posts though!)

Life is never dull.

Kayak Camping - July 2010

All this real estate nonsense has fried my brain.

Sometimes I just need to reboot.

Solo kayak camping is a salve to my soul.

pre-sunset

post-sunrise

Makes Me Want to Unplug

To everyone who received the scam email this morning that I was stuck overseas without $ or a visa, blah blah blah, absolutely disregard it! I am safe & sound in Colorado, wishing I knew how to even begin tracking down the person who has turned my world upside down today. They would not be so safe & sound.

If you & I have emailed back & forth, would you please send me a note saying "howdy!"? That way I can start rebuilding my email contact list. The yo-yo who hacked my account deleted every single address & email I've acquired in the last 5 years!

If we correspond on Facebook, could you send me a friend request? They got that account too and deleted over 200 friends & family. Oooh, if I ever find out who they are....

And finally.... I love you all, and appreciate your concern, but please don't call. I've been on the phone so much today, assuring people I'm not in London or explaining, "yes, I know you received a scam email from my address, I'm sorry, just delete it..." It's really old news considering I found out about it at 5 a.m. this morning. It's been a long day.

And one last thing.... to those of you still using hubby's cell phone number... please stop. We only use those phones for emergencies, will not likely get your message for days, maybe weeks. You know who you are.

And now, I'm off to make myself a margarita. I do believe I earned it today. Adios.

Only a Little Bit to Go

Yesterday, at the pool, Mudge asked me if she was big enough yet to go down the waterslide. I knew she'd grown a lot over the summer, but I wasn't sure if she'd made the 4' mark yet.

So we walked over to the height chart & measured her. She's only got 5" to go. I showed her how much too short she was & she said, "Does this mean I need to eat more?!"

Gotta love 'em. They do pay attention, even when you think they're tuning you out. I tell her all the time that she needs to eat her "fill in the blank" so she'll grow big & strong.

My baby's not so little anymore.

Update: Nov 2009

Facebook has commandeered my blog time...

I vow not to let this blog go, so here's a quick post/update.

We fell in love with a property, tried all summer to make the purchase happen, but so far it appears that it's "not to be".

We found a much smaller, altogether different type of property that we are planning to use as a stepping stone. Buy it, get out of paying rent, build some equity in it by making easy improvements, flip it in 2 years. In the meantime, we are hopeful that our Chetek properties sell & we can use the funds to eventually buy mountain land & build.

I applied for 2 part-time positions. One is with the Division of Wildlife as an admin assistant. The other is a bookkeeper for a local property management group. Neither has made a decision on the resumes, so I'm waiting to hear back this week.

The kids are still homeschooling. We're tweaking the structure a bit, as Bud needs more & more in his day, while Sis & I are perfectly happy with the pace set for her. Mudge is coming along nicely with her alphabet, has known her colors & shapes for years, and loves to read a book back to you once you've read it to her. It's uncanny how close she comes to the actual text. It reminds me of cousin Karin's Linnea when she was about that age.

Steve is still loving the job. He's looking forward to plowing snow, which should start happening with some regularity soon. I heard the plows this morning.

We are involved with Boy Scouts, ice skating, rock climbing, youth group at church, and making inroads into our community & church. We love it here so much, if only we could get settled in a house.... it really would help. We still feel like vagabonds. We are spread out between 2 mini-storages (20 minutes away), our moving van (bus), and various closets of boxes. Six months is far too long to still be digging through boxes to find stuff. But I know that we'll look back on this, shake our heads, and chuckle at it. (Remind me of this please).

We are visiting my Aunt Kay and Uncle Marty for Thanksgiving. My cousin Courtney will be home & it will surely be nice to relax among family again.

I just can't think of another thing at the moment, so I'll leave you with just a sampling of what I have to endure of the Anderson sense of humor. In our home, Steve's sense of humor prevails.

Just last night Bud said something typical "big brother" fashion to Sis. Whatever it was it was pretty condescending. Steve piped up & said, "Hey, don't talk to your sister in that voice." Without skipping a beat Bud absolutely repeated himself word-for-word...... in a Darth Vader voice.

See? See? Intolerable! Right?

it was pretty funny, I had tears running down my cheeks...

Reliving My Past

When I was a kid we spent so much time on Pueblo Reservoir, south of Colorado Springs, that it could have passed as our second home.

I have logged countless hours fishing off the rear sundeck of a boat.

So, why shouldn't they?



I owned my first fishing rod when I was 2. I'm not sure when I started baiting my own hook, or taking my own fish off. I'm confident there's a special place in heaven for the grandparents who patiently took me fishing, even if that meant that I was going to cast out and reel in 10 million times in one afternoon.

Fishing is one of my most treasured childhood memories.

So, I'm going to do everything I can to make it their's.




Our family vacation time, as a kid, almost always involved a boat. I have a very strong love & respect for lakes & rivers now.

I can only hope that my children will learn to love time on the water, just as I do.









Watching a boat motor throw a rooster tail is as familiar to me as my own reflection.

Thank you God, for helping me pass these memories down to my kids.

Girls Camp - Labor Day '09

We had such a good time, the girls & I. We headed out on Sunday afternoon for the West Elk Wilderness & found a great, remote campsite. We chose to stay in the forest instead of a campground in order to avoid barking dogs, late night revelers, and dust from the driveways.

We lucked out on finding this site. It took 4-wheel drive to get there, but we were in walking distance from a little creek, had peace & quiet, and lots of wildlife to observe. Last night we had 2 deer wander through just after sunset. The coyotes were howling both nights, but sounded quite a ways off. If we had a dollar for every chipmunk we saw Steve could retire early! Lots of fun.

My girls were ultra tired when we finally got home today, so I'm sure a nap is on the agenda.

Our Piece of Heaven on Earth

Feel free to click on the above image for a better view....

In about 2-3 weeks, we are, quite possibly, going to be the new owners of 36 acres with a roughed-in, shell of a home, We still need to install the septic, some doors & windows, the insulation, and, well, just about everything!

The only things done are: the well, the exterior walls, roof, some windows, and the pilings for the wrap-around deck supports.

As God would have it, there is also an existing foundation for a large shop for Steve, a small barn, and a seasonal creek (which runs down the center of the property).

It is about a 20 minute commute for Steve & about an 8 minute drive to church, the library, the pool, groceries. It's a 5 minute drive to the ski hill, and about a 2 minute drive to one of Bud's new friends from Boy Scouts.

I can't put into words how excited we are!

Thanks be to God!

1st SIL K8 is 48!

Holy Cow! K8, can you believe this is from 3 years ago?

Happy, Happy B-day from Gunnison! We love you & miss you & cannot wait to get you out here!

ps: I know this is late. Yesterday was nutso, will fill you in soon : )

High Mountain Gardening

Apparently, Blogger ate my pictures yesterday. So here is another try....

This is my wee garden, in our wee backyard.

The rocks are native, gathered by my tribe.
The antler was found near other skeleton parts, not far from our back gate.
The pepper plant is producing!
There are about 6 tomatoes growing, not visible here.
The mint tastes great in ice water, tea, or a mojito.
And I have no hope the squash plants will get with the program before frost, which could come next week.

You never know at 7700'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wee Garden Update:

We were able to use one of our own-grown tomatoes last night with BLT's. And they said I'd never grow a tomato in this climate! We paired it with our own-grown bacon from last year's pigs. It was wonderful. Not everyone in the family is a tomato fan like me. I think if it were left up to them they would have eaten BBB's (bacon-bacon-bacon).

We picked a very stunted green pepper 2 weeks ago, and I should have 4 very small zucchini soon. The summer squash just flowers pretty, no fruit. And the mint has been overrun by the zucchini.

Overall, I would say the wee garden was a huge success, but to feed this family I may need to turn to greenhouse gardening.

Holding Pattern

I have no doubt that there will be a time in my near (or even distant) future that I will have that "a-ha!" moment concerning what God is doing in my life right now.

I think back to a year ago... just home to Chetek from a high school reunion in Colorado Springs, dreaming about mountain real estate & spending tons of time online trying to find Steve a job & us a home in Colorado. It would appear as though I was setting the ball in motion, but it wasn't me. It was Him.

Now, here we are in Gunnison, and quite frankly... I don't have a clue what to do with myself.

Back in Dairyland I was wife, mom, bookkeeper, teacher, waitress, teeny-tiny hobby farmer, gardener, kayak guide, and in constant daily contact with friends.

Now, I feel like I play tourist everyday. We fish, or hike, or camp. We visit the library, the rec center, the parks. We are slowly meeting other families, other homeschoolers, other Believers. We think we've found a church, we love the teaching & the small congregation has welcomed us with outstretched arms & words of encouragement.

I'm so thankful for our apartment here at the park. Steve is able to walk the 5 minute commute to work each morning. The kids have ample biking & skateboarding room with all of the inter-park roads & trails. We have gold-medal fishing just minutes away, and hundreds of miles of hiking right outside our door.

So how is it that I'm so frustrated?! I have all of these good things, yet each day I feel helpless.

Now, don't misunderstand me! There has not been a day since we arrived here that I don't stand on the front stoop, looking north at the West Elk Wilderness, and get misty-eyed. Because, holy cow, I'm really back! After 22 years of thinking Colorado was just vacationland, it's home again!

I suspect the frustration really boils down to impatience on my part. I know the real estate market in Chetek is lousy, and it might take many months to sell our house or business. To top that off, we've found property here that we love & could afford & it's just at our fingertips, if only something would sell in Chetek. And so many things are brewing right now that Steve & I have absolutely no control over, it's driving me batty! It's such a long, convoluted story that I won't tell it here. It's all real estate-related & to be blunt, I'm really sick of it.

So, here I sit, staring a long winter in the face, predicting that this homeschooling family of 5 will be driving each other completely insane on the days it's too cold to venture out. There's only so many places you can get away in 750 square feet!

Looks like it's about time to take up snowshoeing/snowboarding/skiing. And, I suppose the motorheads of this clan are dreaming of snowmobiles, now that we've heard 35 feet of snow fell just north of here last winter. Yes, you read that right. 35 FEET! Think of the snowmen you could make!

It also looks like I need to stop wishing & wanting for a bit, because really.... my cup runneth over. Patience is what I'm lacking, not blessings.

Better Than No Post At All?

If there's anyone out there still checking in here, that's not reading me at Facebook...

Howdy!
(note the new western accent, although I'm continually asked what part of Minnesota I'm from!)

You would be amazed how many people know where Chetek, WI is! People clear out here in Gunnison have heard of Chetek! crazy.

Lots going on here; and really, I have no idea where to start, so I'll just dive in...

My dad is arriving today & staying for 5 days! Our kids are so excited they can't sit still. They are waiting for the phone to ring, which will alert us to his departure from my original hometown of Colorado Springs. Then commences the hourly countdown 'til Papa rolls into Gunny.

We have a trucking company looking to buy our commercial property in Chetek. However, the bleepety-bleep town board is frowning on our desire to lift the spring road ban on a measly 300' of road leading to the property. So, the buyer will probably look elsewhere. This will be our 4th lost sale.

Bud is hoping to join Boy Scouts in the near future. He attended their Knot Rodeo this week & now knows 4 different ways to tie you up.

Steve is still loving his job. The man is plumb tired at the end of the day though. We rise at 5 am & have him commuting by 5:45. It's a lot earlier than we're used to getting up, but I do like that quiet time before the kids get up.

I gave Mudge a new haircut last night. Pretty short & really cute. I lifted her up to the mirror to see it & she just grinned. I asked her if she liked it & she said, "I like it Mom. I thought it was going to be annoying." I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. What a card.

Sis has mastered the climbing wall at the Rec Center. Each run is harder than the first & she can do each one equally well, even the expert level run. I'm so thankful for the harness system she wears while climbing, she's like a little spider climbing up that wall & then she just lets go & zips to the floor. Have I mentioned my grey hair...

Steve & Bud will be heading back to Chetek during Labor Day week to empty our shop. Then they'll turn right around & drive the bus back to CO. The girls & I will probably spend that time camped out somewhere in the Elk Creek Wilderness. Nothing like an all-girls campout!

I'm looking forward to the end of my run at the local supper club. It's been nothing but a soap opera. Backstabbing, lying, gossip, etc. The pay is good & the commute is super short, but I just can't stand working in that mess. The new managers are over-the-top, ego-maniacs. Heaven help me....

The park is on the downhill side of the summer season now & some of the seasonal staff is packing up & moving on. It's kind of sad. All these neat, interesting people from around the nation will be gone until next summer. It will seem like a ghost town here around the staff housing.

Well, Dad just called & we have just 4 short hours! Better scoot!

Enjoy your weekend!

New Favorite Pastime

This skill will prove handy in the Rocky Mountains!

I'm Told These are Small Specimens

On our way to Haystack Gulch last night, we came across these two handsome fellas.

There was a 3rd, but he's out of view here. They were snooping along the lower hillside when we came along & they quickly made for the top.

What did I do to deserve this...

When I drive to:
the library
the grocery store
to church

This is just a sample of what I get to gaze upon while running errands.

Heaven on earth!

Before I Lose My Connection

I have very iffy wifi here at the park.

I'm forced to make a short list, instead of a post, for each of these items. I might be able to expound later.

• hummingbirds here are fierce, if that word can possibly be used for the little bird. They buzz around here making that noise the Jetson's flying car makes. I love it!

• Our cat brought a baby chipmunk into the house yesterday morning. It was not injured, but it did get away from the cat and quickly scurried behind the woodstove firewall. It stayed there all day until I could take its pitiful squeaking no more! I tore apart the firewall to extricate the little guy, who quickly dashed to our bathroom. I trapped him in a box & let him out the back door. The cat loves her chippies! She loves to hold them, not hurt them.

• Steve finally got his official NPS uniforms. He looks very handsome in uniform, but a little silly when he accessorizes with Sis' Jr. Ranger hat ;)

• Our house showed yesterday. No word yet on their interest.

• We also looked at a house yesterday. It's on 37 acres, has a foundation laid for a huge workshop, and the house is only a shell. That could mean great fun in completing it how WE want. Please pray for this!

• I start my new job today. I will be a server at the restaurant here at the National Park. It's called Pappy's, and I can't wait to get there & straighten tables, chairs, and reset the tables. I'm a little OCD when it comes to this kind of thing. I chalk it up to working at Canoe Bay. (can you relate Mol?)

• It rained the most wonderful rain last night. My little-bitty garden in our little-bitty backyard is thriving. Peppers, tomatoes, summer & zucchini squash, & mint (for the Mojitos!)

• One of my perks with my new job is free access to any rental pontoon. When you live at the largest lake in the state, access to a boat is HUGE. Can't wait to hit the water.

• I could list bullet points all day, but alas! My battery is dying & I can't sit on my front stoop any longer (the one & only place I get wifi).

Enjoy your weekend everyone! Keep in touch!

There Are No Coincidences

Let's say you're moving west & are looking for land to buy....

So, you place an ad on Craiglist, out west, stating you're moving from WI to CO and are looking for land. Within a week you get an email from someone who is moving from CO to WI, and they ask if we know of any property for sale? wow.

So you reply, with full details of your WI property. And then you don't hear back from them. Oh well, maybe we're not in the area they're looking at. Then in the midst of the chaos of getting packed you forget about this "coincidence."

Then, while going through your emails & purging old messages you come across these emails from 2 months ago. You decide to contact them, just touch base.

As God would have it these folks from CO are looking at properties with their realtor this week. Between Rice Lake & New Auburn.

Did you get that?

Between Rice Lake & New Auburn.

Now some of you might not grasp how amazing this is. You may not know that our house? It's about as "between Rice Lake & New Auburn" as you can get!

Do you have goosebumps too?

What are the chances that in Wisconsin's 65,000 square miles, these folks I've been corresponding with are looking precisely where my property is?!

I'm at a loss for words, but you'd better believe I sent them our MLS listing for our house!

Please pray!!

And for those of you totally freaking out over any kind of crazy "Craigslist" stalker scenario, nobody is come to my house without a realtor present, or at least my hubby.

I can hardly wrap my mind around this....