1/12.
January was a blessedly slow month after a hectic fall and December. Ryan spent the first two weeks of the month down on the Tonto, working on the Horton Fire, spent his third week of January home with me, and then left last week for a work assignment over in the Alabama-Florida border.
I’ve had quite a bit of time for myself this month, which has been really, really nice!
It’s been such a weird, dry winter here in Flagstaff so far. We’ve barely received any snow. I have a feeling fire season is going to be rough, unless it suddenly starts dumping here soon!
First and foremost: Ochi is nice and healed up following his early-January dental surgery.
He’s back to his normal shenanigans, including standing on top of our space heater and staring at deer across the way.
While Ryan was gone (the first time around), I tried a new “chicken” noodle soup recipe from Nora Cooks.
It was really, really good. I used “Daring” brand soy chicken, homemade vegetable broth, and traditional egg noodles (since I’m not vegan), and added some of Trader Joe’s “chicken-less seasoning salt” (RIP). It turned out amazing, and I can’t wait to make it again.
…I also got Ryan an Ooni pizza oven for Christmas, so we’ve been making a lot of pizza lately.
We experimented with a few new recipes, including a apple/vegan bacon bit/ sage/ cheddar combination.
I got Ryan the Ooni Karu 2 Pro model, if you were curious. (If you ever decide to get an Ooni pizza oven, here’s a code for 10% off your purchase. Disclaimer: I get a tiny kickback in the form of Ooni store credit should you use my link.)
Ryan and I also made it down to Phoenix for an errand day while he was home.
I stopped at Demi Cup to get sized for a new t-shirt bra – if you’re ever in the Phoenix area and need bra sizing, I highly recommend them! Karen and Linda were absolutely fantastic. (Please don’t ever go to Victoria’s Secret – pick an independent boutique or opt for Nordstrom if you must use a chain store. Victoria’s Secret intentionally incorrectly fits bras in order to force every body into the limited size range they manufacture. I could go on and on but I’ll refrain.)
I picked up a pretty new Natori Feathers bra that was so comfortable, I wore it out of the store.
We ran a few more errands (including a mandatory stop at Trader Joe’s for snacks!) and then ended our trip with a sushi date at Yutaka, which was incredible.
I recently treated myself to a sweet new pair of boots.
I’ve spent so much time barefoot over the past few years — working from home during COVID, studying yoga in India — that the toe boxes of my existing shoes have started to feel a bit crammed.
I recently discovered Birkenstock makes shoes and boots (!!!) in addition to sandals. After trying on a few styles of Chelsea boots, I ended up picking up the Birkenstock “Stalon” style at our Dillard’s here in Flagstaff.
They’re really comfy, and plenty roomy in the toes. Plus, they’re actually cute, and don’t look too much like clown shoes.
I spent a little bit of time at our public library this past month, too, which was really nice.
I usually rely on my Kindle for books, but I recently discovered that the Flagstaff library has a really cool program where you can request a book for order, and then get first dibs on a check-out when that book arrives at the library!
I stopped in a few times to pick up/ drop off my ordered books, and it’s just really hard to not linger. It’s so peaceful.
I had two surprise visitors! My college friend Hilary stopped in Flagstaff last week for dinner at MartAnne’s while she was in Arizona for a winter vacation…
…and my Peace Corps friend Emma also happened to be driving through town the same night during a family visit to Arizona for a winter vacation!
It was really cool to catch up with both ladies, and to meet their significant others as well.
My day job has been surprisingly busy. Given the lack of snow, we’re conducting prescribed fire work around Flagstaff. Because it’s such an unusual time of the year to burn, we’ve been getting a lot of media attention! Here’s one of the interviews I did with a TV station based down in Phoenix.
I’m excited for February! I don’t have too much planned — especially since the Lions have (unsurprisingly) broken my soul again and won’t be advancing to the Super Bowl — so I’m hoping it’ll be a somewhat slow, relaxing month* before a hectic March.
*outside of current political administration events, especially as a fed, yikes
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