Currently living/working in: We are finishing up our environmental educator job in New Mexico May 5! This job was pretty awesome … and we may even come back for another season!
Photos by: Leanne Kimbrough
Current mood: The days are long and these kids are darn tiring … but we have lots of fun and the end is in sight.
Currently excited about: Naturally, J is excited about his Denali climb next month! The month of May will be dedicated to book writing for me, which is equally as exciting, but not as nerve-wracking. Oh, by the way, I rented a bungalow at a writer's residency for the whole month of May! Just my laptop, no cell phone service and 2 other writers ... pretty certain I will be focused on book writing.
Currently not excited about: Fights with health insurance. I know we are not alone in this.
Currently worried about: Potential for medical bills (see above).
Currently thankful for: Living expenses included in this job. When we move around for all these different types of jobs, some are more lucrative than others, but overall, we don’t make much money. People often ask us how we get by, and part of it is because of jobs like this that include all our living and food expenses. When you cut those things (Internet, Groceries, Gas, etc.) out of the equation and you live in the middle of nowhere and you go backpacking for fun, you can really bank some $$.
Currently proud of: Educating grades K-3 about nature. I’ve always loved teaching, but I never wanted to be a teacher. So it has been fun to be in this temporary role in a non-traditional setting (i.e., from a canoe). We’ve been getting compliments left and right about “being naturals” at this, which is definitely nice to hear. Like I said above, we liked it so much, we may come back.
Currently regretting: Shoddy dentist work. I got a tooth filled in December and the filling ALREADY came out. We sort of were skeptical of our dentist when we were the ONLY ONES IN THE OFFICE AT EVERY VISIT.
Currently amazed by: Seasonal allergies. From our 2014 summer in Oregon to our summer in New Zealand to our 2015 summer on the East Coast, J’s allergies were so bad, I’m surprised he didn’t fracture a rib from his sneezes. But this year in New Mexico? They seem to be non-existent for him. I, on the other hand, seem to have an allergy to something here … Having NEVER had an allergy to anything, I guess there is a first time for everything.
Current confession: We have a few friends hitting the CDT and other trails this summer … I am insanely jealous.
Current guilty pleasure: Protein drinks with tons of fruits and veggies every morning! This is a kick our boss has gotten us on.
Currently reading: “Together on Top of the World” by Phil and Susan Ershler. I borrowed J’s Kindle again. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with this device versus having a real book for the pure fact of its convenience in our nomadic life. "Together on Top of the World" is mainly about Phil’s journey as a mountain guide … with Crohn’s disease. It was extremely informative, but also a little scary. Remind me not to read any mountaineering books while J is climbing Denali next month.
Currently watching on Netflix: Limited bandwidth=no Netflix. We ran out of Internet once while here and don’t want it to happen again. Our DVD collection is in storage across the country (plus, we already watched through it when we had limited Internet in Maine and Massachusetts), so we have resorted to borrowed DVDs, which include classics like, “The Blue Lagoon” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Labels: Caretaking, Outdoor Recreation
