We’ve had a couple weeks of getting settled in to our new home here in the mountains. The final push from Greeley, to Kremmling, Colorado was a stressful one to say the least. Packing and cleaning out the old apartment was not an enjoyable experience, and I found myself wishing for it all to be over! But now that we are up here, the unpacking and decorating of our new home has been a lot more fun. This may be the first apartment we have had that I am actually in love with how the kitchen looks. I adore the many large windows that let in natural light, (my plants enjoy it too!) The space is a little smaller than our last apartment, but it is still 2 bedrooms. It has our own washer and dryer, a tiny garden with lavender and a rose bush, and it is literally a 30 second walk to the school where Sam works. God has provided for us so wonderfully during this season.
Kremmling itself continues to surprise me with all the local perks and hidden gems that it contains. Within the first week we discovered the cutest little library you’ve ever seen; both of us got new library cards that work throughout the district, even at the libraries in Granby and Fraser. There’s a thrift store that has a $1.00 deal for a full bag of books. (Obviously, I’m going to become a regular customer…) We’ve also enjoyed checking out the local coffee joint: Big Shooters, exploring the fairgrounds with our nieces, getting fresh, Colorado peaches at the Mercantile, and dining at the different restaurants that we have available to us.
Sam has finally begun teaching at the West Grand High School. It’s been a long journey of getting through 7 years of college, student teaching, a pandemic, and substitute teaching math to get him to this point of actually getting to teach what he went to school for. Though this first week has been really stressful trying to figure things out; I’ve been really proud of him and his creativity in approaching how he instructs his students. He’s got 6 classes to come up with ALL the curriculum for! Talk about having your work cut out for you! I got to tour the high school with him and see his classroom (one of the biggest in the school). As the lady at the front desk gave us the tour, she mentioned that Sam: “Stole everyone’s hearts” during his interview for the art instructor position. He seemed surprised, but I’m not! My man has such a warm and charming personality and gets along well with so many people. 😊
Several people have asked what I was going to be doing as my husband has gone off to teach. For the first couple weeks, I was just wanting to rest a bit before jumping back into the workforce. I’ve kept myself busy by unpacking, painting our living room, and keeping everything clean at home. I’ve been so grateful for a little time just to let myself adjust to moving, but I have taken steps to work part-time and supplement our income in a small way. The principle at the high-school offered me a few options to work with the school district. It looks like I’ll be jumping right back in to food service! I ended up accepting a position in the elementary school cafeteria; but I can’t complain since I will only be working Monday-Thursday from 6-2, WITH benefits. This will give me enough time to be home a little before Sam gets off and I’ll get weekends and holidays off with my husband.
I wanted something simple and part-time because of something HUGE coming up that I am so so excited to share about soon. This has been a big step in our lives and something that I feel very passionately about.
Hope you are all doing well! I haven’t had a lot of time to feel sad about moving, but I do miss our dear friends and being close enough to a good place to get healthy groceries. (Haha).
Let me know if you have any questions about our new place, or if you want our new address! We love you guys.
-RNM
Top left: The mini garden outside our apartment that I got to weed out. I want to make tea with the lavender.
Middle left: Two of our nieces checking out a gray-black sheep at the fairgrounds.
Middle right: The sign outside of Big Shooters--the only coffee shop in town. It's got a colorful, cowboy vibe.
Top right: One of the windows in our new kitchen. I have my teapots set up in the windowsill and my golden Pothos plant dangling over the side of my cabinets.
Bottom left: View of West Grand Highschool from our front yard. It rains a lot up here and I've seen a couple gorgeous rainbows.
Bottom right: View of the mesa that rises near the north of town, as well as some distant mountains.