Today was a shit-ton of fun.

Today was a shit-ton of fun. We were up at 4 am because we have a friend visiting and TOOK HER ON A BALLOON RIDE. I'm exhausted and dusty so I'll try to keep this short.

The balloon ride was awesome. We didn't get to do the Splash 'n Dash on the Rio Grande this time, but that's how it is when you're at the mercy of the wind. On the bright side we did get to see our house. It's in the picture. 😁

As I tried to climb into the basket, I was like "Push my butt, Shaun!" and the pilot laughed. Shaun also had to help me get back out and that was pretty funny, too. Krystahl Roan has video of that. 😂😂😂 Husbang picked me a pretty flower after we landed. It was a gorgeous morning and we met some cool people. I also love the toast at the end of the ride.

After that, we had breakfast at Weck's and it was delicious as usual. Then we saw a gigantic penis lizard on a house. After that, we decided to head up to Sandia Peak. The tram was closed for maintenance, so we drove up. On the way up the mountain we saw lots of snow. When we got to the peak, it literally snowed on us! Krystahl was super excited about the snow. And we saw some deer on the way down.

After that, we went to see one of the Petroglyph monuments. We have a lot of inactive volcanoes around here and tons of lava rock, many of which have hundreds of years old drawings on them. It was really neat. And windy as fuck! I loved it! I think Krystahl was less impressed with the wind, but it is pretty typical for here - especially in the spring!

We went back to our house to dust off, regroup, and figure out dinner. We ended up going to Fuego505 where Krystahl and Shaun were served meat from a sword-sized skewer. Apparently it was good!

Here are a few photos, a video of the "daisy" at the top of our balloon, and a video of my face in the wind. We have tons more, but I don't want to bore ya - and like I said: I'm exhausted. I gotta rest up for tomorrow. We're going to the Badlands and I can't wait! ❤️

I just liked this view a lot

Lizard-penis hybrid house

Just a nice view with fellow travelers

Some more glyphs

Our house is in this photo.

My handsome husbang

My handsome husbang being snowed upon at Sandia Crest

Getting ready to stand the balloon up

A cactus plant I REALLY like

A shot of some of the glyphs with the rest of the hill we hiked

The "daisy" at the end of the balloon ride.

"Just a breezy day in New Mexico." 😂😂😂

Me and Shaun went to a plant nursery today.

Me and Shaun went to a plant nursery today.

We've been wanting to keep our plants healthy, but we lacked the knowledge on how to care for the things that were planted in our yard, so they've just been doing their natural thing since we got here over a year ago. We started trying to prune them a bit over the weekend and found that some of our yucca, as well as a large portion of our butterfly bush, had died. 🙁 Shaun cut everything that was dead from our butterfly bush. It used to look like a small tree, but now it's about a foot tall (it's the sad thing furthest to the right that I didn't try to photograph, but didn't crop out).

Now we have a giant blank space to the right where our dearly departed yucca was. We would like to get another one to put there. But we also need to figure out if and how we should prune the brown leaves from the remaining yucca. They look like wooly monsters (which I honestly kind of dig), but I don't know what is best for them. I joined a local gardening group on here, though, so I will find out soon.

So at the nursery we bought some Baby Rita prickly pear. They will stay short but grow wider, so that's what we're going to put in front of the yucca. They are often a pretty purple color, so I love that. The pokey plants will help keep Cub from getting up there and jumping into the BACK back yard. (He can jump to there, but not back over and it's annoying). 😂

In the little area to the right framed by rocks is where we're going to plant the agave. I don't know the species of this agave yet, but it was more blue than the others and has black spines. I'm so excited to have succulents, both indoors and pampered, and who will thrive outside!

We have another area of our yard that needs attention, as well. I have got to do some Googling, but I would love nothing more than a big old patch of "big ball cactus" as Shaun calls it. 😂😂😂 I'm pretty sure they are barrel cactus, but like I said - I need to research.

Anyway. I'm excited for spring! 🌵💚

I guess one way...

I guess one way to keep Harley out from under the couch cover is to give him his own tent. 😂😂😂

This is why Shaun goes everywhere with me.

This is why Shaun goes everywhere with me. I need a long being often. 😂😂😂

My nurse for the work day...

My nurse for the work day - sweet little Adrian! ❤️

I have skinned knees.

Haha. I have skinned knees. I fell down this morning on our walk. I rolled my right ankle, and my wrists and palms are sore from landing.

I'm a hot mess. My face is going through something and is peeling and flaky and breaking out. Also, I tried something new on my nails the other day and got too careless with my e-file so my cuticles are mangled up and sore, too.

I'm in good spirits, though, and Shaun is great at first aid (thank you, scouts), so I'm not actually complaining. Just going to take it easy and let my body heal. Thank goodness I can keep my ankle elevated and iced while I work today. ❤️

I am having a headache this evening...

I am having a headache this evening, but thankfully my boys take good care of me. ❤️