The
Plaza in Santa Fe is a park/gathering area for locals and tourists. When I
was there, it was cold and had snow built up from earlier days of snowing. The
sidewalks were busy, but not crowded. The shops had authentic and “touristy”
items in them and were on the “pricey” side. There are Native American sidewalk
vendors who sell traditional and modern jewelry.
Lots of hanging shop signs.
Dog friendly place.
Those were real pine boughs wrapped around each post!
Pedestrian friendly as well.
Window reflection.
Traditional Pueblo artwork on a building's wall.
We ate at La Fonda, a famous hotel and
restaurant- it has been there since 1929! We had their New Mexican buffet and
were fairly impressed. Their green chile enchiladas, refried beans, and soups
were delicious. For dessert they had biscochitos (a
traditional new Mexican cookie made with anise seeds) and vanilla custard.
Heavenly!
I loved the heavy beams and hanging copper pots! (source).
St.
Francis Cathedral Basilica is beautiful and sits just off the plaza area. Please
follow the link to learn more about it. I wish I’d had time to go inside. It is
still a place of worship, holding services regularly.
You innocently turn the corner and see this majesty in front of you.
I’d love to spend a few days walking around the
plaza area and surrounding streets. It
is such a creative and lovely place. Have you ever been?
P.S.- I thought I had taken a bunch of Instagram pictures on my phone, but alas, I'm a techno loser who apparently doesn't know how to work the app, and none of my images were saved. Any tips would be appreciated.
Song of the Post: A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. This has been in my head lately.
So I visited my mother in New Mexico, arriving last
Friday with my aunt, and leaving Tuesday morning. Boy was it snowy on some days!
Doesn't that just epitomize the word "cold"?!
My aunt and I had fun stopping both ways to eat at Charlie's Spic N' Span in Las Vegas, New Mexico. I bet you didn't know there was an LV in NM! They have some of the best green chile sauce. I could eat it every day. YUM.
We did a lot of fun things, like take over a
Goodwill changing room, argue with the Salvation Army manager, and have an
argument about how things were “too expensive” for me in a certain second-hand
store. I was able to supplement my wardrobe with pants, shirts, and jackets. I
still need to buy some more items of clothing, but it was a great start.
Can you see the windshield crack?
I felt like I had two personal shoppers- both my
mother and aunt would find things for me to try on and would gloat when I
picked their choices. It was fun, except for the chaffing on my legs from
trying on so many pairs of pants!
I may have had a few 12-year-old moments during the trip. Do you ever feel as though you revert to old patterns with people who knew you when you were young?
I’ll post pictures of my time in Santa Fe, New Mexico soon.
Song
of the weekend: The
Trouble with Girls by Scotty
McCreery. The radio played it every hour! I didn’t get to see the most
recent American Idol, because
we’re a couple seasons behind in South Africa, and I’m amazed at how talented
he is for how young he is!
These last few days have felt like two weeks have
gone by. Although there are three adults in the house right now, only two are
functional at any one time because the baby is monopolizing the third. Throw in
a three and a half year old, and mild chaos ensues!
Brand new bum!
We are developing a
routine, it changes slightly every day, but things are improving every day. The
first two nights of the baby’s life were difficult- she hardly slept, meaning
mommy hardly slept. We think that she was “backed up” and hadn’t needed many
diaper changes. But, with the combination of some tummy medicine and mommy’s
milk coming in, baby is now a gold medal pooper!
Getting weighed: 7.5 oz.
Sleep has become more regular,
so mommy is feeling much better herself. My hubby and I have been doing a lot
of the day-to-day stuff- laundry, picking up, dishes, cooking, and caring for
the older niece. There have been a few tantrums, and not just by
the 3 year old. Time has slowed down to a crawl. We are exhausted due to lack
of sleep and jet lag. However, we are getting things done.
Getting the footprint. Not a real birth certificate- just a nice one for the family.
It has been interesting for us, as a couple. We keep
looking at each other, saying “do we really want this?” Hah. We do, but living
in the world of babies and toddlers can be overwhelming at times. We have been
missing our “couple time” and our “me time.” We really only have each other in
Cape Town, and are together so much. The transition to family life might be harder that I thought-
in ways I hadn’t expected.
Big sister meeting her new baby sister.
Tomorrow, I get to see my mother and some family
members on her side of the family. I can’t wait! I more than likely won’t have the
ability to post again until next week.
See you then!
One last look. Little Darling!
Song of the Post: Baby Baby by Amy Grant. This song takes me back to the 90's!
My sister-in –law
(henceforth “sister”) was due on December 12th, however at 12:50
a.m. yesterday morning, my sister’s water broke! We spent some time confirming
that it had ruptured, then she took a shower, and she and I arrived at the
hospital at 3:00 a.m. My hubby stayed home with our 3 year old niece, who was
sleeping.
Since I don’t have children yet, I really cherished
this entire experience. I took notes and a timeline of most events so that the
daddy, who is in Afghanistan, would have an idea of what happened. I also took
notes so that my sister can use it for scrapbooking in the future! I was DJ,
and played Enya and Norah Jones for my sister, because she wanted relaxing music with a
female voice. I rubbed her back, which was the source of most of her pain. I
used a cold wash cloth to cool her when she was hot. When she got her epidural,
I told my hubby and niece to hurry over. They made it just in time (but waited
in the family room until after the birth)! I got to cut the umbilical cord and
took the first pictures of the baby!
What amazed me is how mommy’s skin went
from ashen and strained to glowing and beautiful. Baby immediately started crying,
and when placed on mommy’s chest, she started trying to nurse. She was perfect.
The doctors and nurses said that it was a “textbook” birth and one of the least
complicated all week.
I kept my hubby updated through text/SMS’s, which he
then relayed to the daddy via facebook. Unfortunately, we don’t think that
daddy knows yet that he is now father to a second adorable baby girl! My sister
has notified the Red Cross, they
notify soldiers of emergencies and births while in combat. We’ve also
e-mailed him, so hopefully he finds out soon!
I’m not posting a lot of pictures until daddy knows,
but here is a preview:
