Packing...

...it's a family affair at our house!

New Neighbors

We live at the base of some "mountains" (large hills, really) so we get our fair share of wildlife around here on a routine basis. Bunnies, lizards, and javelina are the usuals. I don't mind any of these. The bunnies are kinda cute, the lizards small, and though they eat our landscaping (cactus), the javelina don't really bother me.

Last year I saw a roadrunner on our street. That was a rare, but fun sighting!

Lately, though, we've had some new visitors that I don't really like having so close to home. Last week Casey and I were sitting in the living room - I happened to look out the window and there was a bobcat walking past our patio. A bobcat! Casey maintains that it wasn't much bigger than one of our cats but I would say he was the size of a medium to large dog. It was crazy to see such, well, wild wildlife literally right outside our window.

And then today, I was vacuuming the living room, happened to look outside and saw a snake slithering by the patio. Ew. I really dislike snakes. I know we live in the desert and I know they are "out there" - I just don't like seeing them so close!

Again, I know that we live in the desert. I know that all of these critters were here before we were, but I'd appreciate it if the bobcats and snakes would stay out of our backyard. The bunnies can visit anytime though :-)

(Photo credits: bunny, lizard, javelina, road runner, bobcat, snake)

Winter Fun in Arizona

While cheering on Team USA during the Olympics, Casey and I realized it had been a while since either of us did any fun winter sports. With the warm weather and lack of mountains Arizona doesn't exactly lend itself to winter athletics...or so we thought. After a little research we found a great deal on a stay and ski package at Snowbowl up in Flagstaff. So last week we dug out our winter gear (from the very back, bottom corner of the closet) and headed north.

We hadn't been to Flagstaff before. With it's pine trees and close mountains it reminded me a lot of central Idaho. The small college town feel reminded Casey a lot of Moscow. It was such a refreshing change from the Valley of the Sun. We hit the slopes first thing Wednesday morning and only stopped twice before they closed down the mountain at 4. I chose to ski and Casey boarded. I was so impressed at his skills! He had only been snowboarding a few times before (at Ski Camp) but he was really good. I've only been boarding once and spent most of the day falling on my you-know-what. It was so fun, though, to get back out there and ski after several years. I love the feeling of the wind rushing by while careening down the mountain; I love being outside in the snow all day long; I love the adrenaline rush of conquering a run you were too intimidated to try earlier in the day. I loved it in case you couldn't tell!

Because I didn't want to take my digital camera on the slopes with me, we used a disposable camera to snap a few shots. We haven't had it developed yet (remember the days when you actually had to wait to see how your pics turned out?) I'll add pics when we get the camera developed but in the mean time, these should give you a pretty good idea of what we looked like. Here's Casey showing off some sweet moves:

(credit)

And here I am attacking the mountain:

(credit)

One of my favorite parts of the day was riding up the chairlift with a kiddo from ski school. There was one instructor with two students so he asked me to ride up with one of them. His name was Nathaniel and he was five. We had a very entertaining conversation on our way up the mountain. He spelled his name for me (only missed one letter), told me about his family dog named Ike or Mike (he couldn't remember which), and informed me that he could count to ten hundred. He was adorable.

After calling it a day we headed down the mountain to check in to our little cabin. It was such a cute place with a fireplace and mountain view. We took a much needed nap and then had dinner at the main lodge. We spent the rest of the evening in our own private little cabin. No phone, no internet. Awesome. What a great day :-)

Phoenix Suns Game

Casey got a call from the dean of his program on Friday asking if we wanted free tickets to the Suns game yesterday. Free NBA tickets? Yes, please! Not only did we score free tickets, but a tour of the US Airways Center where they play, a photo-op during warm ups, and a Suns tote. Nice!

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge basketball fan. But there is just something about going to a pro game of any sport that is so fun. It's an experience. The Suns were actually really fun to watch and they won which was just icing on the cake.

This was the view from one of the swanky private rooms. It had comfy leather couches, it's own bar, and it's own bathroom. Not too shabby, eh?

Here we are smiling, before they told us we didn't get to stay in the suite.

(Just kidding of course - we're grateful for the free tickets!)

This area was the whole reason we got the tickets. The Suns contacted the dean of Casey's program to comission a new gaming experience for this kid zone at the pavillion. This night at the game was for "research."

After we finished playing in the kid zone and finished our tour, we got to sit courtside to watch the Suns warm up. It was pretty sweet.

I'm really glad we had this opportunity - it was superfun and I don't think our time in Arizona would have been complete without it!

True or False:

The thermometer on my car got up to 121 degrees today. Yikes!

Amazing Date Night

We had the most fun date night ever last night! Fountain Hills had an outdoor movie night at the lake - and they were showing Kung Fu Panda! I have been wanting to see that movie since it came out and I can't think of a better venue. It was a beautiful clear evening, perfect for movie watching under the stars. We took a blanket, our picnic dinner (chicken, mashed potatoes, tomato-feta-basil salad, pineapple), and some homemade caramel corn (recipe here) and had ourselves a great time. The movie was fun, the food tasty, and the company unbeatable. It was a little more chilly than I thought it would be, but overall a superfun evening! Oh, and it was FREE - even better :0)

Gorgeous Weekend!

Yesterday was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The sun was shining and it was the perfect temperature - high 70's, low 80's. We had plans to play frisbee golf with some of Casey's friends from school and we seriously could not have ordered better weather. We headed down to south Scottsdale to an awesome park that had two of my favorite, yet rarely seen in AZ, natural elements - water and grass! There was a full 18-hole frisbee golf course and we hit all of them (we think - the layout was a bit confusing). We haven't played in quite a while but got back into the groove pretty quickly. We had a blast and really made the most of a beautiful spring day! Oh, and I should mention that my disc only made it into the lake once. Casey was sweet enough to fish it out for me - I don't know if he would have done it a second time - good thing I didn't have to press my luck!

Javolina sighting!

Earlier this week I was in the living room, minding my own business when out of no where a javolina just walked on by our back patio. Holy cow! I knew they lived around here, but I haven't seen one in person except for at the zoo! I grabbed my camera to get a quick shot - it didn't turn out so well but hey, I tried.

The Mega Update

Alrighty folks here it is: the mega update, a chronicle of what we've been up to the last several several weeks. This is going to be a super long post - so don't say I didn't warn you!

Before I get started with all the major events, I just wanted to give a shout out to my awesome husband. Casey is a fabulous scorpion wrangler. Last night we found one of these most unpleasant creatures in our house and was a manly man and took care of it while I played the girly girl and stood on the couch and squealed. Hey - they're scary little buggers! Just another reason I love you so much Case! So the two big things that have happened since the last post are my trip to visit Nicki in California and Casey and I going to Riggins, Idaho for Preston and Jodi's wedding. Oh and one little project I did in my spare time. The little project was redoing an old dresser that I've had for years. It actually belonged to my great grandma and had been in my grandma's basement for who knows how long. I thought I'd give it a new life so I sanded it down, painted it black and added new hardware. I think it came out pretty good! It now resides in the sewing/guest room and looks great :D

~before~ ~after~

Californ-i-a

Back in October I went to visit Nicki in California. We had such a great time having all sorts of fun adventures and just hanging out. We went to a great little area called Apple Hill outside of Sacramento where we saw beautiful orchards and vineyards and ate all sorts of tasty homemade treats. It was INCREDIBLE to see all of the wonderful fall colors. We had an absolutely delightful afternoon in Apple Hill!

One of my favorite adventures with Nicki was visiting the Jelly Belly factory. What a fun, fun place! Everything is decked out in bright colors and all things jelly bean, and because it was close to Halloween all of the employees were dressed up. Even the giant jelly bean out front had on a witch's hat. So festive! We took the tour, got our free samples, and enjoyed ourselves to the max. During the tour there were these two little old ladies in front of us. They were so cute and Nicki and I were joking that that would be us in 50 years!

Nicki happens to live only 30 minutes from Napa Valley so one afternoon we headed over there to visit a vineyard and do some wine tasting. First of all, Napa is BEAUTIFUL in the fall. There were so many vineyards and all of the fall colors were so vibrant. We did some wine tasting and walked around the grounds at V. Sattui Winery. Sipping wine, sharing stories, enjoying beautiful scenery - what's not to love? Our splendid afternoon was followed by a scrumptious dinner in Napa. Ah, good times.

Sprinkled in between these fabulous outings were the enjoyable things of everyday life that Nicki and I don't get to do together very often. We made french toast and ate it in our jammies, we vegged out and watched TV, we went to Starbucks. I feel like this post doesn't even begin to describe the awesome-ness of our weekend. Oh, Miss Nicki you are such an incredible friend and I miss you so so very much!

Wedding Bells

Last weekend we had the privilege of witnessing Preston and Jodi get married! Jodi is from Riggins (Idaho) and so all of the wedding festivities took place up there. Autumn in Riggins is pretty, but boy is it chilly! Okay, it wasn't as cold as I thought it would be, but keep in mind it's still been in the 80's and 90's down here! Preston and Jodi are such a great couple - they both looked so genuinely happy together and thrilled that this day had finally arrived. The wedding itself was a memorable one - I've never laughed and cried so much at one event! Casey looked so handsome in his tux and he did a stand up job as the Best Man. He was a little nervous about giving the toast but his delivery was great and he got all of the laughs he was hoping for.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. It was so nice to be home - to see each of our families and lots of our friends. We're really looking forward to moving back home and spending more time with everyone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Okay, if you made it this far you are amazing, you should get a prize or something. Thanks for reading and being interested in our lives :D

Autumn...

I absolutely LOVE fall - it is by far my favorite time of year. I love the crisp feeling in the air, the leaves changing colors, and the opportunity to wear jeans a little more often. Unfortunately, none of those things happen here in AZ in the fall. While I appreciate the slightly less inferno-esque temperatures, it's just not the same. We are headed to Boise tomorrow for a weekend wedding and although it's still a bit early in the fall, I'm hoping to enjoy some cooler weather and to see some beautiful trees begining their transition.

Stormy stormy night

Had a little storm here tonight...

Edited 8/30/08 10:28am

Hey all, Molly here. I thought I'd add a link to Casey's post. This is a slideshow of pics from people around the valley. There was so much lightning and so much damage done from this monsoon. They are saying it was the worst storm in 12 years. Crazy! http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/commphotos/show.php?referer=azcentral&colid=6780&slide_nbr=1&numslides=125&go=1

Phoenix = Oven

Now I know that this picture is super small and you may or may not be able to see it well, but it says 112. That's right - the themometer in the Mazda read 112 today. Casey doesn't seem to mind the heat, but I sure do! In fact, after running errands today I felt awful. I was dehydrated and overheated and felt like I was baking in an oven. Ugh. After laying on the couch for a bit and drinking lots of water I felt much better. My hopes of surviving in this heat though were dashed when while laying on the couch I saw on the news that it's supposed to be between 110 and 115 all week. Geez louise! I'm generally a positive, optimistic, glass-half-full kinda gal, but when it comes to this extreme heat I just turn into a whiner...

Ostrich Festival 2008

Last weekened we witnessed the most hilarious and ridiculous sight ever. We had the privlige of attending the 20th annual Chandler Ostrich Festival! It all started when I was driving in my car and heard a commercial for the Ostrich Festival. I had never heard of such a thing, but of course my interest was peaked immediately :D I did a little web research and knew right away that I had to partake in this festive occasion. After one short conversation Casey was on board too, so Saturday we drove 20 miles south to Chandler to on an unforgettable experience. The whole set up was kind of like a mini version of the Western Idaho Fair. There were carnival games, rides, tasty fair food, booths, and the usual attractions. And then, there were the ostrich races...

Bleachers jam-packed with spectators encircled an arena where we witnessed 450 pound birds race around a track, mounted by ostich jockeys. It was crazy! These birds are so huge and so weird looking and have the most peculiar bodies with such long necks...and they were racing. What made it even more entertaining was the obvious lack of intelligence of these feathered beasts. To get the ostriches to go the direction they wanted, the jockeys would wave a little stick to one side of their head. The bird would see it and think "Ahhhh! A scary stick, I should run the other way!" and then would turn away from the stick. Within moments though, the jockey would wave the stick on the other side of its head and it would be turning again. Poor dumb birds. There were two different styles of racing. The first was what the announcer referred to as "featherback" racing (i.e. bareback). No saddles, no harnesses, just you and the bird (and the stick). The second was Ben Hurr-style chariot racing. These contraptions were harnessed to the ostriches and a jockey stood in it and ushered it onward to the finishline. What a spectacle. I am trying hard here to describe what we saw, but words really cannot even begin to convey the mayhem. After the races we went in search of dinner - Casey had an ostrich burger. (We joked that the ostriches were encouraged to win the races so that they would not become dinner.) Ooo, and we had our favorite fair food - tortatoes! The band Vertical Horizon played a great concert that night (free with admission!) where we met up with some friends. What a fabulous day it was.

"featherback" racing

chariot racing

Weekend Adventures

Casey's parents and sister came to visit last weekend and we had a great time. We ate lots of tasty food, had a few margaritas, went on two different hikes, and just enjoyed spending time with each other. Oh, and Harv hung ceiling fans in the office and sewing room. They have made such a big difference. Thanks Harv!

Case and I made lemon pepper shrimp with homemade alfredo sauce for dinner on Friday. It was really really tasty and we used all of our burners to make it so I felt compelled to take a picture:

The first hike we went on was at Spur Cross up near Cave Creek (north of Scottsdale). It was a nice hike with lots of variety in terrain. Here a few of my favorite shots (to see all of them click on the link to the right to get to our Shutteryfly gallery):

Who knew the desert could be so beautiful?

The whole crew (except for Aunt Kate who took the picture).

So lush and green...I don't think we're in Arizona anymore Toto.

Old dead saguaros make good benches :)

Cactus vs. Casey 2008

I LOVE this one! There is something about water in a desert

that is just beautiful and wonderful and unexpected!

A perfect ending to a great hike.

The second hike was more urban, but just as fun. We climbed Pinnacle Peak on Sunday. The trailhead is by no means rural and as you're hiking you can see enormous houses and several holes of a golf course. It was definitely a unique setting. We went sans Casey though as he was at home working on physics homework. I've never taken physics myself, but I'm pretty sure I would much rather be climbing a mountain than doing physics! Here is a pic of Kassi and me on the trail:

So all in all it was a good weekend. Yay :D

Hiking Picacho Peak

Last weekend I went hiking with two friends from college, Angie and Emily. We had a grand time. I confess it was a tough hike (I'm so out of shape!) but it was so much fun :D

We enjoyed chatting and catching up as we climbed Picacho Peak. For the first part of the six mile hike you meander through cacti and other desert vegetation, then as you approach the peak, the fun starts. The terrain gets ridiculously steep and you have to use cables mounted on either side of the trail to help pull yourself up the rocks with you arms. It was lots of work, but the view from the top was worth it. Coming down was a challenge, just as much of an adventure as getting to the peak. Later that night Casey and I met up with Angie, Emily, and Angie's husband Ray for dinner and a friendly game of Catan. It was an all around lovely day with lovely friends.

Hiker chicks :D