Chocolate, Chile and Clear Blue Skies

My best friend invited me to a pampered chef party tonight, it was billed as a chocolate pampered chef party and quite frankly she had me at chocolate.

 

Like my favorite chocolate, life is somewhat bittersweet right now. 

 

I haven't been around spaces or the internet in general much lately. There is a lot going on, and not just with beauty stuff, but I"ll try to get you an update with pictures of the grey mare soon.

 

We are moving back home.  When my husband first mentioned it around Christmas, I said sure, but I didn't really think he was serious.

 

He's serious.  He has resigned his teaching job and we are moving to my hometown.  We don't have jobs yet, but are confident something will work out soon, we both have apps in for various jobs.  Hell, we'll work at the evil conglomerate if we have to.

 

We are going to live in a mobile home while we renovate a house. Luckily it is out in the country and we can park the mobile home near the house.  I vowed to never buy a mobile home when I was younger.  (What is that saying? Never say Never?) At least it is only temporary, I think.

 

I'll miss Las Cruces, and to be quite frank this isn't all the easy for me.  Maybe not for reasons you think.  Since I graduated high school I have lived here on and off. It's my second hometown if you will.  I had my first real job here, my first real apartment, my first hearbreak.  We've moved away before but I guess this time I really intend to put down roots and know I may never come back here to live.

 

As I was driving to my friends house, and I was passing farms and orchards and passed two of my favorite restaurants, I was lamenting all the unique things here that I will miss.  A certain part of my heart lives here.  My husband asked me a while back why I loved it here so much.  I had a hard time giving a verbal reply, my corazon just loves it here.  The mountains are gorgeous, the chile is hot, the skys are bright blue and vibrant.  Las Cruces in some ways represent the best of New Mexico. It's the old west, cowboys, indians and mexicans all mixed together. 

 

That is changing though, Las Cruces is growing rapidly, it has for the last 15 years.  It's a mecca for retirees because of the the mild climate and relatively cheap housing.   The farms are rapidly becoming subdivisions and the old houses in the barrio are getting too expensive for the people who live there to pay their property taxes.  I would bet in a few more years, I may not recgonize the place.

 

The reality is the place I am going to is just as beloved to me.  In a way choosing places to live is like asking me to choose between my mother and my father or between my children.  Making the choice hurts, because I love them both. There are mountains and valleys there.  Plenty of those pecans orchards, cotton, alfalfa and chile fields there too. People don't like their chile as hot, but they still eat plenty of it. 

 

Grandmas with cancer,

tia grandes to kiss my kids,

azul skies to garden under,

cousins to get lost in the pasture with,

a place where people all know who I am,

old friendships to rekindle,

horses to tell your problems too,

maybe even a few chickens scratching around

 

Sometimes life is too grand, I am lucky to have such wonderful places to live,  es verdad?

 

 

Dictionary....

chile -- not the stew, the pepper

corazon -- heart

tia grande -- great aunts

es verdad -- isn't it true?