I was born and raised in the Piney Woods of Texas, and attended college in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but this is definitely a side of the state I'd never seen before we moved here.
It's dust, dry heat, and prickly plants, with mountains on the horizon.
Cloudless blue skies and sunshine, all year long.
The wild west definitely has its own kind of rustic charm and beauty, and we're grateful for the opportunity to experience a place like this as a family when we might never have, otherwise.
But, I can't tell you - not with a straight face, anyway - we've loved living here 100% of the time.
The Stateside Sandbox, especially when times are hard and deployment is right around the corner, can definitely feel like the middle of nowhere.
Boring, desolate, and light years (okay, maybe just hundreds of miles) away from family.
The truth is, though, it can be all of these things, if that's what we make it, but we've learned there's always fun and adventure to be found, lessons to learn, and friends and memories to be made, wherever we are.
That is something we want to try to remember, and take with us everywhere we go.
If we'd never given ourselves a chance to get out there and really experience all this part of the country has to offer, we might never have watched hot air balloons lift off and fill a sunrise-sky with color.
We might never have picked our own peppers and pumpkins, tasted wines from southwestern vineyards, camped out in the mountains, hiked through beautiful canyons (like the one in the photographs), or visited White Sands National Monument, artsy Albuquerque, and the cozy ski mountain town of Ruidoso.
When it's time for us to leave here, we'll definitely have more - on the inside, anyway - than we had we we arrived. That's for sure.
When it comes to a duty station, another aspect of military life, or just life, in general, we're learning: it is what we make it.
And, I believe -
"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." - William Feather
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