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!