Remembering my 1st Phoenix Trip - February 2008

When Matt and Michelle were considering a move from Salt Lake to Phoenix, they went down there on a couple of trips to check out the place. On one of those trips I flew down to meet them, and Melissa and Sean flew in from Las Vegas. Tiffany was already living there, going to school at USU, and then Joni and Zach came from San Diego to visit too! So we got to have a bit of a family reunion that week-end.

It was so nice to be there in February - everything was absolutely beautiful.....palm trees, colorful flowers, green grass!!

We all got together one night for a Mexican dinner at the Tortilla Factory in Scottsdale *yum* and another night we all met up with Joni's brother and sister-in-law, John and Susan, for another fantastic dinner at Charleston's in Chandler.

We also did some house hunting, shopping at the Chandler mall, swimming in the hotel pool and late-night hot tubbing. Lots of fun.

Little did we know at the time, Matt and Michelle would ultimately end up buying a house just a few miles away from the hotel where we stayed!

Notre Dame Game Party

Last Saturday, Matt & Michelle had a Notre Dame party to watch the opening game of football season. Melissa, Jim and Sean were in town from Las Vegas, and Eric and I were also there on vacation. Michelle's friends Stephanie and Mike and their kids, Madison and Gunner came over for the party too.

The party turned out great!! Everybody had a really fun day and the Irish won the game: 35-0. It was a total wipeout! So the good news is that they won; the bad news is that it made for a very boring game.

By the end of the second quarter, we had all jumped in the pool - including Gunner, who is only 5 month old!

And including both dogs, Kaya and Lilah!!!

Around the house at Christmas

Thanksgiving 2010

There's a Kitty in our Nativity!

We have an additional (much larger) member of our Nativity set under the tree. Bella loves to lay there! We don't know if she goes there because it's warm, or if she likes the lights, or maybe she just wants to bond with other animal friends...

Christmas Images

The GRANDKIDS - all together!

My Sweeties on Christmas Day 2010   
 Zack, Sean, Hailey, Christian, Tony

 

CHARGE! San Diego 29, Houston 23

*Philip Rivers*

The NFL's leading passer threw four touchdowns against the league's worst pass defense, and the San Diego Chargers earned their first road win of the season in beating the Houston Texans 29-23.

Rivers completed 17 of 23 passes for 295 yards. He came in with 2,649 yards passing, an NFL record through the first eight games.

The Chargers (4-5) head into their bye week on their first two-game winning streak of the season.

Twinners!!

At work, it's amazing how frequently a few of us will show up wearing the same color on any given day. But Manja and I must have really been channeling each other as we got ready for work this particular day!

We not only wore the same exact "Imaging Services" red vest, we also donned black pants, a long-sleeved white shirt and black shoes. The funniest thing was when we discovered we had both brought similar mustard-colored purses!!!

What are the odds??? 
(Maybe we've been working together a little too long?!)

Boss's Day

I work with some of the nicest people!! They provided a really fun day for Boss's Day. The three guys were gone that day, so it was an all-girls Friday in the office! A gift from Colleen...LOVE the zebra bag! It's an argyle pumpkin! Yummy goodies to snack on. Breakfast of champions!

Brian and Caly

USU Homecoming

Eric and I went with Marty and Nyla to the Utah State-University of Hawaii game on Saturday. We had nice weather heading to Logan, but the skies opened up at half-time and we all got drenched! So we were forced to leave and head to the Beehive Grille for yummy dinner and "Witch's Brew Margaritas"!

Green chile-chicken chili

  

The perfect dish for a chilly, fall weekend.

Attitude is Everything!

                                         

Attitude is one of the only things that matters in this life.

We can choose to rejoice in our circumstances, or become bitter about them.

We cannot control what happens to us,

we can only control our response.

Super Charger Halloween!

Finally.....a win!

Antonio Gates received a go-ahead, 48-yard pass from Phillip Rivers midway through the third quarter, to help the San Diego Chargers rally for a 33-25 win against the Tennessee Titans.  We're 4-3 now.  

MakeUp Class

For the past five weeks, Jodie and I have been taking a make-up class on Wednesday nights called "How to apply professional make-up".  It's been really fun, and since there are only 5 of us in the class, we get a lot of personal instruction from the teacher.  Of course it's total fluff, but it's sure been a nice diversion from work right now!!  We're getting ready to install our new computer system, called RIS, and doing all of the advance preparation has been overwhelming. 

It's been refreshing to spend just a little bit of time each week thinking about MAC,
rather than RIS!

MakeUp Class by vinomama on Polyvore.com
purple eye shadows

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Shari's Berries at my door

A few weeks ago, the man in brown unexpectedly delivered an awesome box on my front porch.  A delivery from Shari's Berries!!  Jere sent me a box of fabulous chocolate-covered strawberries, along with this big happy cookie.

So thoughtful, so yummy, and so appreciated!

It's here!

My Mockingjay wine glass arrived in the mail today

This is the Etsy seller I bought it from ...

Oops!

Hubby and I got a lot of yard work done this weekend and finally finished up everything on a long-needed reno of our front yard.  It's so nice to sit back and see the finished product, and makes it worth all of the sore muscles, itchy eyes and ruined manicure!

However, while I was trimming some bushes this morning, I suddenly felt something on my leg.  Thinking it was a twig, I tried to just brush it away but it was still there.  Then I actually looked and there were about a hundred tiny ants crawling all over my foot & making their way up to my knee.  *GROSS*  Turns out I was standing right on top of a huge ant bed!! 

The good news.....at least it wasn't a snake.

Note to self:

Always look - before stepping - in the bushes.

(It's particularly good to remember this when wearing flip-flops.)

Book Club finds

Had a fun evening last night when I went with Nyla to her monthly "book club" meeting.   I had the opportunity to meet a lot of lovely ladies, enjoy some fabulous food and partake of some mighty-fine Merlot.

Thank you for a great time, Nyla!!!

Although NO stimulating book discussion actually takes place, :(  they do have a really nice book exchange. I picked out these treasures that I've been wanting to read for a while ~

** I've read quite a few of John Grisham's attorney books, and really liked his "A Painted House" which I think may be autobiographical. I have no idea of what the story line is with this one, but how can you go wrong with Pizza in the title??

** "Lethal Legacy" is one of the few Linda Fairstein books that I haven't yet read. I like the way she builds up the suspense in all of her crime novels. http://www.lindafairstein.com/

** Ever since I first heard about "Edgar Sawtelle" through the Oprah book club a couple of years ago, it's been on my reader radar. I just hope I can get through it without going into the ugly cry!

Nighty Night!

Left on the windshield of my car last night....

Goood night, Marty!