I always forget how much I love sleeping in a tent in the woods (and not sleeping in a tent on a football field) until I’m doing it.
I spent last weekend taking a really really quick two-day, one-night hiking trip through the Kachina Peaks Wilderness area just north of Flagstaff.
7/12 & 8/12.
It’s been just about three weeks since our foreign exchange student, Krissy, landed here in Flagstaff and joined our small family for the 2026-2027 school year.
We love having her here! She’s absolutely incredible.
It’s been a season.
Nationwide, we’re still in Preparedness Level (PL) 5 — which means wildfire response is an all-hands-on-deck situation and we’re pretty strapped for resources.
I just got back from my third (and last) fire assignment of the season, which was the Bench Fire up on the Warm Springs reservation in Oregon.
My second fire assignment this summer was the Willow Fire in Leadville, Colo.
I’m so so SO excited I can finally share this exciting news!
After a bit of a lengthy application process that involved some forms, background checks, a home visit, an orientation, and more forms, Ryan and I were not only approved to host a foreign exchange student for the 2026-2027 school year, but also actually got a student…
…and have been in touch with her!
Kristina gets here in just a few short weeks. We are beyond giddy!
It has been a moooooonth.
This past Tuesday was the first day I’d had off work since mid-June because fire season f*cking showed UP.
I managed to squeeze in four books in June before fire season popped off for me, and I had to return an entire stack of unread novels to our library.
6/12.
Well, it’s officially fire season in the U.S.
5/12.
