7/12 & 8/12.
There really wasn’t much to July outside of work! I started the month on the Willow Fire up in Colorado. I spent two weeks working on that fire before coming home to spend another week working round two of the Pocket Fire here in Flagstaff.
Outside of those three weeks, I did have a chance to finally check out Indian Gardens down in Oak Creek Canyon, where I had an incredible sandwich for lunch.
OK, yes, this was actually a lunch break while I was on the Pocket Fire.
I also had a chance to dogsit my friend Katie’s pup Odys one day. He’s so adorable.
That was kind of it for July, outside of work!
Luckily, I found a bit more free time in August. I did spend the first two weeks of the month up in Oregon for the Bench Fire, but outside of that, I had a bit of time here in Flagstaff to spend with friends and family.
I picked Krissy up at the airport, and I’ve been having quite a bit of fun adventuring around and spending time with her.
I finally checked out Lowell Observatory for the first time! It was cloudy and storming so the outdoor campus was closed, but I still had a great time interacting with the indoor exhibits and attending some lectures.
My sweet friends Lexie and Nate threw a first birthday party for their sweet daughter Jo! I brought Krissy and she met several of my local friends.
It’s been really nice to play tourist in my own town with Krissy here. We took Ochi on a late-night walk through downtown Flagstaff last month. Krissy loves to take photos (understandably!) and when she pauses to snap a pic, it gives me a moment to appreciate the wonderful town I get to call home.
I took Krissy in to register her for classes on her first day of school! It was a bit of a process since the school has a new principal this year, and there was a bit of a mix-up with her paperwork, but we got it all sorted out and she’s good to go.
I mentioned it in my most recent post, but the two of us also checked out the Route 66 Centennial car show downtown last month.
Krissy, being the sweetest and most adorable, brought Ryan and I a host of gifts — including a massive bag of Korivka! If you followed along on my Peace Corps journey at all, you know that I am obsessed with Korivka. She also brought us some other gifts including a coffee table book, a box of chocolates, a model of Mriya, some tea and jam, a gorgeous embroidered dish towel, a magnet and some postcards. She is such a gift.
Krissy introduced me to diamond mosaics, which are one of her favorite ways to spend time.
Krissy tried tamales for the first time at the farmers market last month! She had a pork and red chile one, and (thankfully) she loved it.
We went thrifting and checked out Fourth Street Vintage at the end of last month. I didn’t buy anything, but Krissy got herself a comic book that she loved.
We also spent a rainy weekend day staying in and baking a batch of the brown butter miso chocolate chip cookies I rave about constantly.
And, finally, here’s Ochi just being a goober.
