Friday, January 24, 2014

It's been a while

It has been WAY too long since I have posted anything. I have been very busy with fieldwork, I have not had any time to find new recipes or do any crafting which means we are eating the same few meals over and over and no exciting new crafts to add to our decor. We are getting all settled into our new place and loving it!

Matt and I have found that we love mountain hiking so we have started a little journey to hike a mountain once a week. I guess we already knew we loved it, but now that we have the opportunity to do it every week-we are jumping at the chance! Our first weekend we chose Piestewa Peak right in the heart of Phoenix. We had some beautiful views. We got up early to try to catch the sunrise. It was pretty surreal. 










Last weekend we went to Hayden Butte Preserve. It was a very quick 10 min hike in Tempe that gave amazing views for such a short journey. It was totally worth our time!

Great view of Tempe Town Lake







Last Sunday was a day of Denver sports and was Matt ever excited! He got to watch the Broncos win on TV and head to the Super Bowl. That night the Nuggets were in town so we watched them take on the Suns. They lost, but it was still fun to check out US Airways Center. 



Yesterday was my birthday. My mom used to do an awesome job of helping make our birthdays a big deal. She has eaten lunch with me every year except the last two since I have not lived close enough to meet up. Matt did an awesome job this year! He made the best chocolate chips pancakes and bacon for breakfast with some beautiful flowers as a nice centerpiece. He also made my lunch for me. I had a good day at fieldwork. They bought me the most delicious cake to help celebrate. After work, we went to out for Italian at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale. The resort was beautiful! It was so calm and quiet when we walked up to the entrance, it seemed we were inside with a ceiling that went on forever. Once we got to the restaurant everyone that worked there wished me a happy birthday. They were so sweet! We basically got our own private dining room they way the place was set up. It was so great, and our food was delicious! Then they brought us dessert! Oh my!!! It was creme brulee. I am not a huge creme brulee fan, but I'm telling you-this was amazing!!! And the fruit, cookie and chocolate that went with is was so good too. And how gorgeous is the presentation?!?


They also have gondola rides with classically trained gondoliers. He sang happy birthday to me in Italian and German. He was incredible! Everyone seemed to be in the singing mood that day. I enjoyed Happy Birthday in English, Spanish and some crazy music at work totaling four languages of Happy Birthday. Then they had live music that we also checked out. It was one of the coolest dates ever. It was a great end to a wonderful day. 
Stay tuned for more adventures from us! Also we should be getting pics up of our new place soon!


Saturday, January 4, 2014

I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

The time has come. No more class, ever!! I start fieldwork rotations Monday. As you know, I am doing mine in Phoenix. Therefore a move to another state was needed. This marks our third state as a married couple within one year. We wanted to visit all 50 states but maybe we should change our goal to live in all 50 states! Nolan and I made the trip, on Matt's and my anniversary. I got KFC for my anniversary dinner, I did not complain! Hopefully though, Matt will still take me out sometime ;). The highlight of the trip was the cow crossing the highway in Kansas.


Thank goodness that didn't happen in Texas since the speed limit was 75 on a two lane highway. We made the trip in 24 hours and started apartment hunting as soon as we got here. Matt and my dad got here the next day. My aunt, uncle and cousins were here so we celebrated Christmas on New Year's Eve. The guys went golfing New Year's Day, and we headed to the Fiesta Bowl that night. It was pretty cool. We got free chips and salsa, and not all the seats were full so we each got at least two bags.



















We also ate at Rustler's Rooste. It was pretty fun. I had not been there since I was young. They have live music, country dancing, a steel slide, and it's on top of the mountain so you can overlook the whole city. We also got cotton candy to finish off our meal.


Everyone else went home so we spent the next day furniture shopping. We got some great design ideas. I took my first trip to a real IKEA; I think I will be back often!! We move in tomorrow so I will post photos of our new place once we get it ready. It may be awhile since I will slowly be decorating after work!
Hope everyone is off to a great new year!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Celebrate the Magic

This Christmas marked trip #8 for me to a Disney Park (the 7th trip to Disney World). I love the place!! Always so magical! I don't have much to say so here is our trip through pictures!



The reasons we had to celebrate. Christmas, birthday and two anniversaries!

Day 1

Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney





 

 It's always a good day for a ride in the PeopleMover!




New adventures at Belle's castle and Ariel's grotto.




The shows and parades are always my favorite, especially the holiday ones!






Can't miss It's a Small World and the Hall of Presidents. 






 How beautiful is the castle this year???


Another parade!













Day 2

Hollywood Studios



Beauty & the Beast show


 




Lights, Motors, Action! stunt show

Indiana Jones

Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights 








  Day 3

Epcot




Nine pound lemons


Day 4

Animal Kingdom


The Lion King show





















Our favorite ride-Expedition Everest. We rode it 8 times!

Happy Christmas Day!

 Day 5

Every Park before 3 pm and Downtown Disney


We got up early on our last day and visited all the highlights of each park. We started at Magic Kingdom, then to Epcot, Animal Kingdom and ended at Hollywood Studies by 3 o'clock. We spent the evening at Downtown Disney.

LegoLand at Downtown Disney





All in all it was a great trip as always. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!