Whew, I'm out of shape...

Okay, so about 3 weeks ago, I bought a brand new bike. I had given my old Giant Iguana that I got used around 1989 to my cousin. The bike was in good shape, and I never had any problems. I researched bikes for about a month or so and dragged Dez and the boys to several shops spanning a few hundred miles.

I had narrowed my search down to a Giant or a Specialized. Given my luck with the old Giant I had, I opted for a Giant Rincon. Initially, I was looking at a much cheaper bike, the Boulder. When I visited the shop in CDA, I opted for a Rincon. I tried Craigslist for months, too, and I thought I had one a time or two. Each time, no go.

I contacted the shop in CDA via email after visiting the store. I became aggravated when I didn't hear from them. Dez told me to chill because not everyone checks email like I do. Bah, I say! Anyway, I coaxed Dez into contacting a shop in Spokane. Coincidentally, if you believe in such things, this guy had the bike, the size, and the color I wanted in stock-no special orders, etc.

So, off to Spokane we go. We decide for some crazy reason to take a different route, which turned out to be a scenic route. It ended up taking longer, and did I mention that it was blizzard-like conditions? Um, yeah, it was. We make it and actually locate the shop, Spoke n Sport. Once again, we're not paid advertisers, but I recommend the shop. We couldn't ask for better service and friendliness.

As we are walking into the store, I notice the sign that says "closed" as the gentleman, Rob (I believe) my wife spoke to is walking out the door. He offers to help us; we tell him we were interested in a bike. He recalled speaking to my wife, showed me the bike, sized it up, prepared it for me, and gave me a $40 discount upfront. Coincidence? Nah, I think not.

Today, I finally ride the bike. It's smooth and comfortable, shifts well. The only problem I noticed was the lack of energy from the rider. I pooped out not far from our place on a steep curve. I ended up walking it back to the house on jelly legs. Now, my goal is to make it a little bit further until I'm able to ride it all the way back from the post office.

Zennioptical

So, Jack broke Dez's glasses. I think she stated she paid about 300 bucks for those. After growing tired of watching her squint and complain about not being able to see, I decided to research inexpensive eye wear available online.

I came across the site Zennioptical. I realized how scary it can be ordering things online, especially something as necessary as vision wear. After seeing the prices, we decided to check it out. She was able to get a new pair of frames with transition lenses and protective coating for about 60 bucks. It took approximately 3 weeks total. In a recent interview with Dez, I asked her how her new eyewear was going.

"I love 'em," she said in her steady Southern style. "I'd recommend it [Zennioptical]. The only thing they need to know is that they need their prescription and the distance between the center of one pupil to the center of the other pupil in millimeters." We were able to use a tape measure and convert the measurement using a Google search (e.g., converting inches to millimeters).

There you have it, folks. We are not paid advertisers for Zennioptical (although we should be!). We are just regular folks bringing you our experience.

Dog

So, we have this dog. We got her almost 2 weeks ago now from the Panhandle Animal Shelter. We were very impressed with this place first of all. Extremely nice people and facility. We went in looking at two dogs, Brown Sugar and Willow. Willow won out because she seemed more intelligent and listened better. Both dogs were amazingly good with our kids. Willow was sweeter and prettier.

We get her in the truck and try to figure out a name for her. Jake ran through his usual Mississippi pet names such as Miley and Kiki to which we said no. He then offered up Hannah. I had thought about Hannah a lot actually. I like the name because it's a palindrome and also because there was a related story from one of our school kids. And, let's not forget Hannah Montana. Vital stuff since we are in Montana.

Apparently, she has a bit of separation anxiety. She barks a lot when we are not here. So much so that I am able to hear her at school. The problem is we have neighbors-all of whom we like and would like to maintain good relations. Barking became a problem.

Last night, we went to Walmart to find a bark collar. We got one and are in the process of trying this out. We hope it alleviates the barking so that we can maintain peace on all accounts.

When does it STOP???

So, this is Dez. You will be able to tell because Jason is much more eloquent when it comes to putting together thoughts, where I am a little ADHD and jump around a lot.

We have nearly been in the PNW (Pacific Northwest) for 6 months now. Time really has flown, even though the snow has pretty much had us trapped all winter. I spend most of my days doing the same general thing...it's my work schedule. I wake up early in the morning and take Jakub to school. He attends Noxon School which is a fabulous K-12 school. It is also about 15 miles away, and yes, it is the closest school around. So far at Noxon he has been able to paticipate in anything he has wanted to...or been forced to (we had him in wrestling and he HATED it). He has been signed up for t-ball for the spring, which in their words is "When the field melts". His teacher's name is Mrs. Fitchett and she is awesome. He is learning to read, and does a great job with it. The work he brings home on Thursday's is always surprising. I am very proud of him and the way he has adjusted to the move. Which reminds me, he only goes to school Monday - Thursday. After this year he will go Monday - every other Friday, I really like how it is set up here.

Well when I get back from Taking Jakub to school it's me and Jack time. Jack is so much fun to be around. He is funny all the time and it is very neat to see him learn something new everyday. Most of the time he plays, want's a pop-cicle or pop-tart, watches Noggin (his favorite show is Wow-Wow Wubzy...I have no clue why) and then he naps till we go pick Jakub up from school. I am either playing with him or picking up after him :).

So the title of this was When does it stop??? I am referring to THE SNOW. Over the last few weeks it has been raining a bit and melting everything off. I start getting excited at the prospect of "SPRING" and then it will dump a foot on us. I woke up this morning to find 4 new inches on the ground. After a while it does start getting a bit depressing. We have been covered in snow since the first of December. It isn't like the south where it snows and then melts off by noon. When it snows here it piles up...and piles up...and piles up... and well you get the drift. I am so very ready for someone to leave the freezer door open and let Montana defrost.

Other new stuff over the last week or so... We got a dog. Her name is Hannah and she is a Husky/ Alaskan Malamute mix. She is beautiful and sweet. We wanted a dog for companionship, but also for when we start camping and hiking. It helps to have an early warning system for Large animals...such as GRIZ, Black Bear, Moose and Elk... none of which I want to meet up alone with in the woods.

Jakub, like I said, will be starting T-Ball when the snow melts. Also, He has his first loose tooth. We discovered it yesterday. I was excited for him, but at the same time wanted to boo-hoo because my little big boy has met yet another mile stone. I tried to stay excited for him and not show him my angst.

Other than that...not much else is new. We are looking forward to the "big melt" and can't wait for the big Newcomb family visit in July. If anyone else wants to come up you are ALL welcome and we would love to see you. We have bunk beds that barely ever get used...cause the kids prefer to sleep with US!!! We also have a pull out. Get yourself up here and we will take care of the rest!!! If you fly, the best airport to fly into is Spokane.

We love you all!

Dez

Flakes

So, apparently, Montana has something called snow. It's white, fluffy looking, sometimes wet, mostly cold, and unique every single time. I never saw a lot of it when I lived in MS although I remember maybe a 10 incher one time when I was a kid. Now, I can look outside and easily see waist high white stuff.

Some days, it reminds me of a giant snow globe here. It's almost as if God shakes it up for amusement or perhaps for something different. A few months ago, with God's help, we shook up things. Many, many things and people were impacted by this shake-up. We moved away from everything and everyone we have ever called friends and family basically. Moved from everything with which we're comfortable. Took amazing and vast risks. On basically nothing more than a giant leap of faith.

See, Dez and I trusted God's will. We sought something greater than what we had despite the risks involved. We leaped out of our very comfort zone into something bright, white, and unknown. We had prayed about things for months and were very active in our search. I think about all of the near-hits we had with jobs and about how grateful I am for those to have landed where I am. I believe I am finally in a position to make some lasting impact on some folks. That's pretty much all I have wanted to do. So, with God's help, our flakes of our tiny snow globe landed in Montana.

During this same time, it both angers and more truthfully hurts me to think about how little we hear from people back home. I totally understand it. I can get whatever the reasoning is behind it. I'm a pretty practical person. It just stinks to feel like it's been pretty much me that's trying.

So, I think about the reasons why. Could be money, but there are options for the world wide web enhanced folks that are free 100 percent. Could be anger and hurt feelings on their end of things. I get that; I guess it would be nice knowing rather than wondering, though. Could be perhaps those folks are going through their very own shake-up. I can totally follow that logically, emotionally. Personally, it sucks not knowing. Maybe I could even help if I only knew. Could be this is just the way things will be from now on. That possibility saddens me more and hurts the most. I get it, too-like all the other possibilities. There were hints of winds of change in how things were going before we ever left Mississippi.

I've spent my professional life pretty much so far using compassion and empathy to the best of my abilities all in the name of helping another person feel better in general. I have much hope that someone out there is impacted. I realize how every person with whom we come in contact has the power to affect our own lives in some way, large or small. I realize the changes we have made have affected people-in some ways good and in some ways, not so good. Since I have known about chaos theory and the butterfly effect (please wiki this-it's amazing), I get blown away by small alterations of things.

So, for those we hurt, I hope you realize hurting you was never our intention but certainly a possible side effect. We simply wanted to flap our little wings in a different part of the world to see what happens (did you wiki as I suggested?). I don't think any of this would have happened without God's magic anyway. Come Sunday, someone we know and love (mom) will be flapping their wings (seriously, come on-wiki already) back in the Magnolia State (she's going home, okay?).

That will most definitely affect us-from me, to Dez, to our wonderful-amazing-beautiful-loving boys. It will be yet another challenge of the many we have already chosen to face since our move. Times can be stressful; they can be challenging; they can be sad and full of hurt (much like what my beautiful-amazing-incredible-supermom-loving-phenomenal-wife has felt lately). Times can certainly be rewarding, too.

I could easily choose to live in sadness and hurt, in the past. I can choose to live in guilt. I choose, though, to live in wonderment. I choose to live presently, in the moment. I choose to live with love and child-like curiosity. I choose to live in faith. I trust God and His hand that shakes my little snow globe. I watch intently and passionately the flakes that fall around me and simply say "thanks be to God."