Halfway Done

I forgot to add this earlier. Last Sunday we took a little bike ride on our local path. Right in the middle of our ride this is what we found.....

                                              

Yes, you are correct, those are pigs. Where are we?! If I saw this driving around back home, I would not be surprised one bit. But in the middle of the city? Is this even legal????? Anyways, we thought it was comical so we thought we should share.

I finished my 1st Level II fieldwork this past week. YAY!!!!!! One step closer to quit being a student forever!! I definitely learned a ton, but am looking forward to my next place. My supervisor gave me a book I am really looking forward to reading and my other supervisor gave me a gift card. I also had some really awesome patients I will miss dearly. Of course, they will eventually leave too; I just had to leave before they did. One room of my patients brought me flowers for my last day. How sweet are they?!? I was so shocked; it was incredibly nice of them. 

Of course we had to celebrate my fieldwork being over. We did go out for some BBQ with Matt's aunt and uncle. After living in Kansas City, we know good BBQ. I have to admit, now I am always a bit skeptical to try BBQ. But holy cow am I glad we went. It was incredible!!!!! It rival OK Joe's (my personal favorite in KC). We will absolutely be taking all of our guests to Waldo's BBQ in Mesa from now on. Even better, it's so close to us!

Also, how cute is this Mason Jar? And I highly recommend the strawberry lemonade.

Sunday, we did take a chance to head out for some hiking. We headed over to Papago Park to hike around. We didn't hike up anything but just enjoyed the weather and gorgeous views.

This red rock is incredible. It is the only like it in the whole valley. We also ran into a roadrunner while we were out. 

I just finished day one of my second fieldwork, and I think I am going to LOVE IT!!! I also enjoyed some sun at the pool. So next time you see me, hopefully I am a little more tan. Happy Opening Day! Thanks for reading! 

Also, be sure to check out a new recipe I found-Taco Turkey Casserole. It was super easy, healthy, and really tasty!

March Madness

I must say we are LOVING Mesa in March! The weather is always gorgeous!!! My grandparents left this week so we are now on our own for weekend meals. My aunt DeDe flew down to drive them back home after my family left last week. It was very nice to see her again but sad to see them all go. It was great having them down here, but I suppose this is a sign we now need to go make some friends our own age. 

We took another Saturday to go explore this beautiful part of the country we are living in. Again, we were mesmerized by the natural beauty of this place. This week we journeyed to Tom's Thumb in Scottsdale. Matt can see this from work everyday and asked a colleague about it. His friend recommended the hike so of course we jumped at the opportunity. What was so cool about this place was that we were really able to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and just see nature. Instead of looking out to the city and desert we saw mountains and what appeared to be colder weather. We even thought to bring a real camera this time instead of just my phone. Be prepared for a little picture overload, we were in love with this place, and I got tired of carrying the camera which means Matt had it. And if anyone has been around Matt when he has a camera...well you don't need to be there because he documents EVERYTHING!!!

Hiking, hiking, hiking. My legs are very sore today!

Here is what is referred to as Tom's Thumb. From Matt's work it looks man-made compared to all the other mountain peaks around it (which you cannot see from this picture...)

 

There are always such beautiful things to look at. So luckily, I take lots of breaks to catch my breath and take in the beauty.

Almost there...

We finally reached Tom's Thumb. Obviously, it is not fake.

 We were also told you could see Fountain Hills along this hike. It is home to the world's fourth tallest fountain that shoots up once every hour. We just so happened to walk by a place you could see it when the fountain was turned on.

Off in the distance we also saw four peaks. We are hoping to hike this during the summer once the weather is too hot to hike here and finally warm enough up there.

 Saturday night we went to Lady Antebellum!! It was at Ak-Chin Pavillion which was really cool. We bought lawn seats because they were much cheaper. Turns out, it was really fun! We brought a blanket and could lay and listen to music and look up at the stars or stand and enjoy the fun. Kacey Musgraves and Kip Moore opened and were also really fun. My throat is a little sore today from so much singing! Next time, maybe we should choose a band we don't know the words to all their songs! We took some pictures during the concert but they really didn't turn out that great. If anyone is going to Lady A in Omaha this week, enjoy! It was a lot of fun!!

(And yes, I cut my bangs because I was tired of looking at my forehead all the time.)

Since I did title this post March Madness, I would like to point out some highlights on my bracket. There is no need to see the rest of my bracket, since I already dropped to third in my family bracket challenge in the first round. But just look at these upsets!! Mind you, Tennessee was a play-in game. Let's go Vols!

This will be my last week at my first fieldwork site. I can't believe it has been 12 weeks already! I will miss my current place but look forward to new adventures! Hope everyone had a great week!

#HighFamilyVakay

Yay!!! My family came to visit!!! We were so excited to have our first guests come to see us since we've moved. Plus it had been a while since I had seen them! They got here early Thursday morning so I could pick them up from the airport before work. 

They look pretty excited!!

Thursday night we took them out to eat at The Chuckbox in Tempe. It was good. Friday after work we went out to South Mountain once again. Are you catching on that we like that place? Atlee read my old posts and saw I mentioned if anyone came to visit we would take them up there and make s'mores. We did precisely that. Here is our view of the city.

My Eagle Scout husband got our fire going.

The lighting was not great on all of these with my phone, but you get the idea!

Then we headed out for some Authentic Mexican in Mesa. Atlee ordered a lemonade, and she got it in a fancy margarita glass. 

Friday night we had our first overnight guests at our apartment! We do not have an air pump for our air mattress. Last time we blew it up we used my hair dryer which has since broken. We were about ready to give up and go buy a new air pump when we decided to try the vacuum. We decided it went much quicker, and one section of carpet got really clean!

Here she is. Got enough pillows??

Our first guests! Hope they enjoyed their stay!

On Saturday morning we took my family to our favorite thing-mountain hiking. They had been up Camelback with me a few years ago so I thought we would try this one this time. It is not quite as tall as Camelback, but the trail in longer-still pretty challenging!

A great track workout for Jadyo.

Look at these awesome parents who made it to the top!

The whole family on top of Piestewa Peak. We made it!!! Missed having you, Nolan.

Headed back down the mountain. We saw one guy with an oxygen mask on that climbed up and down 5 times in one morning. We thought once was enough, and I was very proud of everyone for making it the whole way up.

The afternoon we headed to Salt River Fields at Talking Stick for some Spring Training action.

Are you seeing how many people are in the stands? It was crazy!!!

Rockies vs. Angels, record attendance! It was so packed!!

It went into extra innings and then ended in a tie...But at least the Rockies didn't lose.

Saturday night we rode the light rail to downtown Tempe. It was Spring Break so luckily there weren't tons of people down there. 

Sunday morning we took my family out for brunch and to Mesa Riverview Park. We FINALLY got to climb this huge jungle gym! 

It was much higher than I expected!

I gave up, but Matt made it to the top!

His view of us and the rest of the park!

These two climbing the other jungle gym. It was so good to see them!

As we were dropping my family off at the airport, this thing pulled up behind us! Apparently he is a photographer and travels all around the country. He has all kinds of figurines attached to his Jeep. It was kinda cool, but very interesting.

It was so nice to see my family again, and I hope they had a great trip. Come see us again anytime! Can't wait for another great #HighFamilyVakay