Where to begin? Leaving Santa Fe Tuesday morning?  Well, I told everyone I was excited to get to OK City so I wanted to leave around 7am.  I woke up at 7:27am!  So, that didn’t happen!  I guess if I’m planning on leaving earlier than my kids naturally wake up, I better learn how to use an alarm again rather than expecting them to know my plans and think they will wake up according to my wishes!

We got about an 11/2hrs down the road when we decided we should stop and fix our broken windshield wipers.  It was a wet day and the lack of working wipers was going to become a problem.  Cathy and Ryan were following us in the work van pulling the Airstream.  Apparently, when we parked our RV at the gas station, Ryan and Cathy noticed our DAMN DOLLY tire looked crooked!  Oh no, not a flat this time….the wheel axle detached from the wheel.  I don’t know if that is a proper description or not but in Ryan’s words when he came into the RV to tell me about it “Um, your dolly tire is f@ck@d up, I mean REALLY f’ed up.”  GREAT!!  Have I ever expressed how much I HATE this dolly?  We hobbled over across the street to a tire shop.  We had them check our back RV wheels too because the ride felt a little rough.  AND that same tire from the mountains flat coming to Santa Fe from Park City was flat again.  The guy determined it was a bad valve and replaced the valve and we are hoping to not have that problem again.  The dolly was going to cost several hundreds of dollars to fix and we had to wait for parts from Albuquerque.  We opted to leave the piece of junk there for them to have.  Yeah! No more dangerous dolly!  So, Cathy rode ahead of us to Amarillo in our van to hunt down an unavailable part for our wipers.  Ryan drove the work van and us in our now dolly free RV and away we went 2 hours later!  My very kind family hosted Shelley and Sarah at their house (whom they had never met) while we tried to get there before midnight.  We made it at about 10:30 and my aunt still had dinner warming in the oven for us. Man how I love my family!  We were back on the road by 8am the following morning.  Certainly not the visit I was wanting with my family but still happy for the little time I had with them.

Levi wearing his first pair of big boy underwear!

The tractor graveyard at the RV park

Our first city on the road is finally coming to an end.  Today is the last weekend of classes.  They have one meeting Monday night in Albuquerque, then Tuesday the 3rd we head out to Oklahoma City.  We are picking up and dropping off Sarah and Ryan.  They will be trading places for about a week.  Lucky for me, the location picked for “the switch” is OKC and I will be able to see my Aunt Carol and Uncle Ken.  We passed through OKC many times last year and I wasn’t expecting that to happen at all this year.  I’m thrilled with the plan change as Piper and I really need to see some family!  I had to show Piper a calendar this week and we are now counting down the days before we see Ken, Carol, Bryce and Chad.  She announces how many more days we need to wait randomly throughout the day.  Sometimes she whispers the time line to Levi.  He just looks at her like she is crazy! She then asked me to show her how many days before we see Emma. I don’t know when we will be driving there for sure so I told her she needs to wait a long, long time like for Halloween.  She woke up yesterday and asked if it was Halloween yet!  Oh my babies!  Always entertaining me!

I met a guy on the walking trail yesterday that really got me thinking about all this “solar stuff.”  The typical conversation of where are you coming from and where are you going was being exchanged between us.  I told him we were hosting a solar class here at the RV park this weekend and then on our way to the next city.  He said “Solar!  That’s great!  With the prices of gas rising, we really are all going to need to go solar.  It only makes sense.”  I was happy to be talking to a kindred spirit on the subject.  I went on to tell him how this RV park is run mostly on solar panels.  And guess what he said?…. “Oh, really? And it really works?”   What the hell!?  Are we really facing the challenge of convincing people not only the the price of panels are dropping and that this is a smart, cost effective way to produce electricity, we still need to convince people that we are not tree hugging hippies trying to sell a mediocre product?  How can we trust all the other technology advances like smart phones, GPS and internet and think that amazing advances aren’t happening to the solar panels we want to put up all over the world?  Sorry, I will get off my soap box.  It just feels frustrating to realize how much information needs to be shared to get us all to understand the benefits of change.

On another subject, FOOD!  Highlights this week were Enchilada Casserole (I added a can of corn to this recipe), Angel Food cake with pineapple (I added blueberries and strawberries to this one) and Hamburger soup. And my old favorite Taco Salad with the all important addition of Cool Ranch Doritos and I tried adding drained and rinsed Ranch style beans this time and I liked the change a lot.

I’m working on colors with the kids.  Explaining primary colors and what colors you get when mixing the primaries.  We took out the watercolor paints.  I love for Piper to paint but it is really hard to keep Levi under control in such a small space with paint.  Does anyone have any other ideas of how to demonstrate this lesson for Piper?

I will be busy packing up the RV and doing extra organizing preparing for 2 days of travel. I am so very happy to be hitting the road soon!

This past Saturday the 24th was the biggest day thus far for us.  The NABCEP exam was taken by Ryan and Sarah.  And it was our first day of class here in Santa Fe.  Class reviews are high.  Cathy taught all day and hardly had a voice by dinner time.  She is so jazzed up after a class.  It really is her happy place to be teaching people!

We went out to eat at The Ranch House to celebrate Ryan’s test completion and the first day of class out on the road.  Eating out has become a rare luxury and I enjoyed the food and being served!

Piper is anxious about getting near South Dakota to see our family there.  Most of all Emma, but she asks for Uncle Jeff, Great Grandma and Linda too.  Between her missing Emma and Taylor in Texas, I’m afraid this is going to be a very hard year for her.  I wish there was something I could do to make it easier on her.

Levi has learned how to peel a Cutie Mandarin.  He is so meticulous, he won’t eat it until EVERY string has been removed.  Very cute…and slow!  At least it keeps his hand busy for a long time.

I made Apple Pancakes today.  I didn’t know if we would like them but everyone gobbled them up before I had time to put the syrup out!  I guess I will add that one to the list of breakfast choices.

Tonight we had Sous Vide Pork ribs.  I also made Fettuccine Alfredo. I have never made my own Alfredo sauce but I knew I would need heavy cream and all I had was Greek yogurt.  But guess what?  There are tons of yogurt Alfredo recipes online.  I threw it together with what I had on hand and it tasted pretty good!  I love it when a thrown together meal turns out decent.

The last 2 days have been filled with bookwork, filing and “house” cleaning.  I love that cleaning my home takes under an hour.  However, the amount of laundry a family of 4 produces is amazing to me.  I miss my washer and dryer at my “real” home.  I spent $18 at the laundry mat today!  We had a small leak under our bathroom sink so I had an extra load of smelly towels to wash.  I tried the idea of adding borax to this load and it took out the smell and made the whites very white.  I’m officially sold on adding borax to my laundry now.

The work crew has been extra busy getting ready for our first class this coming Saturday.   Enrollment is lower than we would have liked but still well worth the effort and time we have put into the marketing here.

I’m actually ready to move on from Santa Fe.  I LOVE this RV park but I am truly so sick of this wind!  We have been here for over 3 weeks now and I’m thinking there has only been 4 days of decent non windy days.  Iowa is next on the list and if that is anything like South Dakota, I’m thinking I still have a lot of wind in my future.  I guess I better just learn how to deal with it!  At least the temps are in the 60’s now so we are getting out of the RV more.

We bought Piper and Levi the Nick Fit game for Wii and Piper does a little workout every day.  I highly recommend this game for bad weather days.  Levi is still too uncoordinated yet to really do the game but he likes to stand by Piper and mimic what she is doing.

I made a new dessert tonight, Pots de Creme a l’Orange.  It was very rich and super easy to make.  I used Orange extract instead of Grand Marnier.

That is it for now.  I hope everyone is marching along happily in life as much as we are!

The drive to Albuquerque was a complete sandstorm.  I was so nervous!  It is only a 45 min drive so I pushed through it, but thought about giving up several times.  I had Patty Griffin on Spotify hoping that would help calm me down.  I had to turn it off a few times to listen to how badly my hood was rattling.  I was sure it was going to fly off!  But, we made it to the Expo Center in plenty of time to enjoy the event.

The spot SolPowerPeople set up in was right next to the music stage.  We were able to listen to a guy and a guitar sing the blues for hours!  I felt like a little part of me was in Austin enjoying SXSW.  Home Sweet Home.  The show was actually a Home and Green Expo, not a Home and Garden like I thought.  The entire event was filled with Green People.  It was very interesting and informative.  More than that, it was amazing to all be there selling ourselves.  Both kids had SolPower t-shirts on and it feels so good to be a part of this company/family.

Home and Green Show

Santa Fe pictures as promised:

Santa Fe Farmers Market

Richard and Levi enjoying Farmers Market

Levi running toward the train

Piper running with the train

Piper's workshirt

Levi admiring the trains

And that is a wonderful weekend folks!

Yesterday we all met down at the Santa Fe Farmers Market.  Richard, Ryan and Cathy parked the work Sprinter in this prime location along the strip and I met them there with the kids.  We shopped and hung out displaying our SolPowerPeople shirts and brochures.  Watching Cathy talk to people and explain our class is so moving to me.  It really shows why their class is different than any other “sit and learn” class.  She is so dynamic and her passion for what we are doing is contagious.  I just love watching her in action.

The Market is right next to the train station in town.  Ryan got some really great pictures of the kids with the trains in the background.  I will post them soon.  Levi was in awe of the trains and threw a proper fit when it was time to leave them. I found some organic local honey that I HAD to buy.  I’m so picky about my honey and I just love the taste of my new purchase.  I also found an herbal blend mixed to target the local allergies that have been dragging me down.  I felt much better yesterday evening after taking a dose.  I’m still not sold enough on it to quit taking my Zyrtec and Benadryl regularly.  This is the worst eye allergies I have had since my teenage years!

After the Farmers Market, Richard and Cathy went to Albuquerque to check out the Home and Garden show.  They have secured a spot with the show for today with enough space to pull the Sprinter right into the Expo Center and set up!  I will be meeting them down there in a couple of hours.  I wish I could go with them now but I don’t think the kids would enjoy a home and garden show for more than just a few hours.

I can’t wait to get down to Albuquerque today!

After having the doors open for several days, I now can’t stop itching my swollen eyes!  I have the serious “don’t wanna’s” today.  So since I plan on doing nothing today, I will blog about my favorite thing…food!  Can I just say, RV living and the crock pot is a great match.  In the last few weeks I have made so many meals in the crock pot.  Chick slop – chicken, rotel, cream cheese, corn and black beans.  Root beer pot roast, BBQ chicken, and chili.  I also love my Sous Vide.  I have made Roasted Tomato and Cilantro Pork roast and some chicken breast in that already too.  And lastly, I’m trying to learn how to cook in a convection oven.  I made a chicken, rice, broccoli and cheese casserole in the convection and it turned out really good!  I need to start trusting and learning that my Microwave really can be an oven.  I tried brownies in my waffle maker (a Pinterest idea) and that did NOT turn out right at all.  So, with the remaining brownie batter, I put it in the convection oven.  It tasted wonderful but I’m sure we were eating raw eggs because it was much like a lava brownie rather than a cake brownie.  I will try baking in it again someday.  Until then, I will stick to my few no bake desserts.  I have made a Banana Cream pie and Strawberry, Angel Food cake, jello dessert so far.

SolPowerPeople has been hosting some food meetings this week so we are eating leftover food from those.  We had pizza for breakfast lunch and dinner one day this week.  And today, we ordered 30 breakfast burritos for a morning gig and guess what?  Its lent and no one is eating meat, so we will have breakfast for the next 3 meals!

If interested, I get most of my recipes from Pinterest.  I am terrible about repinning.  But my “likes” page is full of yummy food ideas.  I do try to only repin the recipes that I have tried and want to save for another time.

Hope everyone is having a great day.  I’m going to go take more allergy medication now!

March 13^th Very big things are happening with work.  Santa Fe is treating us very well.  We have decided to take Las Vegas off of our tour list and stay here longer.  We are figuring out just how flexible we as a company can be!  We will change and tweak our schedule as needed to continue to bring quality classes to people who really need and are looking for it.  I am proud of Richard and Cathy for getting out there and really showing people that this is not just a job for us.  This is a solar and renewable energy movement that we feel very strongly about.

On the home front, the weather is finally wonderful so I am getting outside with the kids more.  The RV windows and doors are open during the day, so we as a whole are not feeling so stifled.

March 11^th 2012 – I have been busy and unable to write as often.  Cathy and Ryan got in on the 5^th and along with them came a lot of bookwork for me to complete.  I run the books for our company but while I was in Park City and Cathy was home back in Austin, she kept all the books with her.  I was on a little vacation from SolPowerPeople for a few weeks.  But alas, all vacations come to an end.

I have been cooking and crunching numbers.  The weather has been so windy and snowy.  I usually get the kids out a few times a day if for nothing else a walk around the RV park but it’s just impossible with 20 mph cold wind blowing them over.  So I decided it was time to pull out Richards Just Dance 3 Wii game.  Piper is becoming a regular dancing diva the last few days.  Levi lasts a few songs before his dinosaur toys become his main focus again.  I’m happy to have the music in the background instead of Nick Jr.

Today is my son Levi’s 2^nd birthday.  He woke in a happy mood as if he knew today was special for us.  I am just so in love with his little face!  Then I decided we should start celebrations off early and make orange, cinnamon and pecan waffles!  I was so excited about our feast.  Of course the kids were standing on the couch so they could see the kitchen counter and “help”.  Piper had burned herself on the waffle iron last year and was warning Levi of the “Ouchy, hot”.  Levi was saying hot, hot, yes hot.  I love watching one child teach the other child life lessons.  I think they hear it more when it comes from their peer.  About 15minutes later, Piper went off to watch cartoons.  I turned away for a moment AND of course, Levi cried out from his new burn on his little hand.  Oh poor thing!  It made for a less than happy morning but no mention of it after nap.  I wanted to serve him his favorite food for his birthday but of course that was chicken nuggets and I wasn’t going to serve nuggets to everyone.  I could make this great homemade recipe for nuggets but I know that is not the nuggets he was referring to when I asked his opinion.  Instead we ordered pizza.  Then when it was time to sing Happy Birthday around the ice cream cake, I was lucky enough to have my sister Rachelle, John and my niece Taylor on Skype.  I set the laptop on the kitchen counter and it was like we were together celebrating his birthday.  They also stayed on and watched Levi open his new wooden clock we gave him.  I love technology!