Winter Fun

I had a busy, fun-filled weekend! On Saturday morning, Heather, Nathan & I went to see "Fred Claus" (good movie!) and had lunch at Claim Jumpers. We then came home for a few hours and I put a dent in the packing/sorting/shipping tasks. For dinner we headed to PF Changs for a farewell dinner with our landlords, Steven & Christie and their friend Ann Margaret. Great food, great conversation, great people! Sunday morning I attended my last service at Trinity and said my goodbyes to my church family. For lunch we went to Applebee's for another farewell meal with the young adults then headed to Polar Ice for some winter fun!

I wrapped up the day at Ben & Claire's for a last time with the kids.

Christmas Cookies

The kids and I made Christmas-shaped sugar cookies and had a blast decorating them.

I was compared to Scrooge when I would let them eat only one cookie before bedtime, but I think they've forgiven me by now! :)

O Christmas Tree

Heather and I put up the Christmas tree today.

Thanks, Mom, for the gorgeous tree skirt. It's so pretty!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I'll be putting up the lights outside tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Day 2007

Steve and Darla were so kind to open their home and host the "Orphan Dinner." There are quite a few of us young adults who don't have any immediate family near by and were unable to travel back east to spend the holiday with family, so we made our own "family." We all contributed to the menu and had WAY more food than could be consumed. After a delicious meal of glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cran-apple sweet potatoes, bread, and jello, we all crashed in the living room to facilitate the digestive process. After a few hours of rest and relaxation, we broke out the apple crisp, ice cream, and pumpkin mousse pie. YUMMY!!! We then went for a lovely walk through the park. When we got back, Josh and Alisha were waiting with MORE pie! Cherry delight... mmmm delicious! It was a great time of fun and fellowship.

See photo album for more pictures.

Fire Station #5

They have completed construction on our new fire station! It is just down the block from our house so it's been an adjustment for us to be hearing the sirens at all times of the day.

It's fun to see all the shiny red trucks and the cute firemen are a nice bonus! :)

Ziggy

Nov 9-14th, I had the pleasure of dogsitting Ziggy. Her parents were out of town so I stayed at their house while they were gone and took care of her.

We took long walks after work and played fetch with her squeaky toy in the backyard. She's extremely affectionate and has deep soulful brown eyes.

I love her coloring and she's SO soft. She loves belly rubs and also likes to cuddle.

Halloween at the Office

April and Julissa were the only brave ones to wear "costumes" to work on Halloween.

Picnic

I spent Saturday with the kids and we had a lovely picnic in the backyard. Now that Charlie is walking all the time, it's too hard to keep him contained in the park. I couldn't even keep him sitting still long enough to eat his lunch!
Such a cute smile!

Pumpkins & Ice Cream

Friday night we had a pumpking carving / homemade ice cream making party at Marlin & Dell's house. Fun times!! We all brought our favorite toppings for the ice cream and had a blast designing our pumpkins.

So very delicious!!!

Baby Shower

Eric & Rachel are going through the process of becoming licensed foster parents so we had a baby shower at church on Saturday in anticipation of their first placement. It was so great to see everyone come to support Rachel & Eric. I think the kids outnumbered the adults! :) See photo album for pics.

My Angels

I babysat again last night. It's so much fun to spend time with these kids!

Aren't they adorable?

Retreat

I had a wonderful time at retreat. There were many opportunities to fellowship with the Trinity family and sessions of reflection, prayer, and restoration. Click on "Photo Album" for pics.

Church Retreat

I'll be at church retreat (Emmanuel Pines Camp in Prescott) from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to this time of relaxation and revitalization. See you on the other side!

"Baby Fix"

I got a "baby fix" tonight! I spent the evening babysitting for Ben & Claire. I love those kids to pieces! We always have so much fun. Charlie is walking now but only if you applaud his efforts every time. He stands, claps his hands, then takes a few steps toward his destination and claps again. So cute!!

Lazy days

Aaah... I love lazy days. No obligations. No plans. Just endless hours of rest and relaxation. A welcome rest from the hectic schedule at work and the perfect prelude to yet another intense week of training! ;)

A week in review

So... life has been really great since graduating... busy, busy, busy, but wonderfully so. I finally have a day without plans or obligations, so it's time to catch up on my blogging. :) Here's the last week in review:

Saturday, August 18th:
Hosted an Open House for all my Arizona friends and family.
Had a GREAT time celebrating my liberation from classes and my transition from "Student" to "Graduate." I'm looking forward to this new chapter of my life. 20 years of formal study is quite enough! After most of the guests left, Heather, Wendy, Nathan and I went to the Surprise Recreational Campus and played a few games of tennis. I'm slowly but surely converting all my friends into tennis partners! :D

Sunday, August 19th:
Signed up with Heather to co-teach K-1st grade Sunday School for September-November. I love spending time with kids and being able to serve in this venue. Went to lunch at Chino Bandido (a Chinese/Mexican restaurant) with folks from church then came home for a nap before catching a matinee of Becoming Jane with Kerry and Heather and then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory.

Monday, August 20th:
Arrived at work to find a scorpion on my desk!!! It was hiding in the leaves of my plant.

It's pretty cool what artists can do with a little bit of copper wire! :D
I also received a promotion at work and started some intense training on my new responsibilities. My brain was pretty fried by the end of the day. We are projecting complete training and transition of responsibilities by the end of September so work is going to be rather demanding for a while. I know it will be hard work, but I'm SUPER-excited about this opportunity! Monday evening I spent quality time with the Goldensun bookkeeping records and read a short novel just for fun!

Tuesday, August 21st:
Purchased Diamondback tickets from the Goldensun Thrift Store fundraiser and enjoyed the game even though we lost to the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2. Our seats were in the bleachers directly behind right field. It was a lot of fun watching the fans interact and cheer their respective teams. I believe all 18 Brewer fans in attendance were sitting in our section so the evening was very spirited! :)

Wednesday, August 22nd:
This was supposed to be my night off to relax at home but instead I attended another Diamondbacks game. Henry, the owner of Southwest Metals, has 4 season tickets and couldn't use them so he gave them to me and Natalie. I invited Nathan to attend and we had fun cheering the D-backs to a 3-2 victory! The seats are directly behind home plate, Row H. We were closer to home plate than the pitcher! It was a much different experience from the night before. No Brewers fans in our section... instead we had all the diehard, intense D-backs fans who owned season tickets! It was also fun to see the players' faces and watch them interact with the other team, the crowd, and the umpire.

Thursday, August 23rd:
Went to ASU Gammage Theater with several Trinity young adults to see the MAMMA MIA! musical. It was fantastic! Excellent choreography, vocals, and acting. You really can't go wrong with ABBA songs. We had dinner at Pita Jungle before the show. They have excellent food!

Friday, August 24th:
Wrapped up my first week of training at work and felt mentally DRAINED! My brain is spinning! I headed straight to Ben & Claire's after work to babysit while they went out to celebrate their anniversary. Six years and still going strong! I was sound asleep 2.5 minutes after putting the kids to bed and spent the night in the guest room.

Saturday, August 25th:
Accomplished absolutely NOTHING essential. I had a few giftcards to spend, so I went shopping at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and then to Target. I bought a Quesadilla maker at Target and made chicken & cheese quesadillas for supper. YUM!! I took a 2-hour nap and am now wide awake! I have learned that while the absence of classes has opened up hours and hours of free time, I don't actually HAVE to fill those hours up with other activities. I need to take an occasional break and enjoy a little "me" time. I have no regrets for all the events I participated in, but I think I'm ready to slow down and pace myself a little better. :p Hopefully I won't be too busy to blog! This one is quite the epic! I also finally loaded all the pictures from graduation into my photo album. Check it out!

YEAH BABY!!

It's official. Signed, sealed, and delivered. Check it out!

MY DIPLOMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHOO HOO!!!!!!!

Tennis

Well, I'm no Venus or Serena, but I sure had fun playing tennis last night. Heather and I hit the courts after sunset and we played several matches. We ended up playing doubles with two guys since there was a long wait for an open court. It was a blast!

Aftermarket rims

Anyone want to buy some aftermarket rims? See my Craig's List posting.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/pts/364840462.html

Goldensun Bookkeeper

Beginning today, I am officially the new bookkeeper for Goldensun. It is a volunteer position and I'm excited to serve in this ministry.

Polar Ice

We had a great time skating Sunday afternoon at Polar Ice in Peoria. I didn't check the batteries on my camera and discovered they were dead when we got to the rink, so the only photos I have are from my phone. They're a bit blurry, but better than nothing! It was so great to get on the ice. It's been quite a while since I've skated and it was a fun way to stay cool on a hot summer afternoon. It was a lot of fun spending time with friends.

You can hardly tell that it was Phillip's first time on iceskates! He has an amazing sense of balance and started off without even using the wall for support. Very impressive.

Social Life

One of the awesome benefits of being done with college is the return of my social life!! :) YAY! I'm able to say "yes" to invitations instead of saying "Sorry, I have homework" every time. Last night we celebrated the time we had Alicia in our lives and wished her well as she moves back home to Nebraska. I'm sure she'll visit occasionally, but we will all miss her bright and sunny smile. She was a wonderful addition to the Trinity family.

Tonight I was able to participate in the volleyball game between the Trinity and Sunnyslope young adult groups. (we had a few recruits from other churches on both teams as well) Both sides lost and won several games and EVERYONE had lots of fun. My arms are rather sore now, but that will fade quickly enough.

Tomorrow I look forward to iceskating at Polar Ice after church. (12:30-3:30pm for those who didn't get the email) It will be so much fun and it's a great way to stay cool in the warm summer days.

Now if I could just round up a few tennis players, I'd be happier than a bug in a rug. Heather is willing to learn the sport and I'm sure I can find other willing participants for a doubles match. Mom & Dad: y'all want to come play on Aug 5th?? :D It's not THAT long of a commute... just a short 37 hours!

We had so much fun playing tonight that I completely forgot to take out my camera and capture visual aids. I guess you'll have to use your imagination this time.

DONE, DONE, DONE, DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm done, done, done, done with college!!!! My Bachelor's degree in Accounting is complete!!! WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Camping July 20-22

Wow... what an awesome camping trip! So much to tell! From the beginning:

We decided to go camping in Oak Creek Canyon this past weekend... and so did 90% of the population of Arizona. Ben & Dierdre arrived first at Cave Springs campground Friday evening and could not find any open sites there or at any other forest service campground. Heather, Diane, & I arrived about an hour later and added our efforts to the search. Unfortunately, cell service in the canyon is spotty, so we weren't able to coordinate our search. Ben & Dierdre ended up at a campground Southeast of Flagstaff on Friday night while Diane, Heather and I pitched camp at an unmaintained campground 10 miles north of Slide Rock on SR89. Luckily, both vehicles were self-reliant (we each had tents, food, gear, etc) so we spent Friday night in our respective camp sites. Saturday morning Ben borrowed the camp host's cell phone and was able to call me and get our location. They packed up camp and joined us in time for breakfast. Nathan and Phillip drove up Saturday morning as planned and with a little effort were able to locate our site as well. After breakfast we discussed options for the day and Diane decided to join Amanda (her housemate who happened to be in Flagstaff) and drive up to the Grand Canyon. The remaining 6 of us were preparing to take a hike when the storm clouds rolled in. We had just enough time to secure the tents and gear before the rain started to fall. The guys decided to wait out the storm in Becky's Castle and we girls took shelter in our tents. See Video The rain didn't last very long and soon we were on our way to the West Fork Oak Creek trail for a beautiful afternoon hike. There were some ruins of an old lodge near the beginning of the trail and we had fun exploring those before continuing. Phillip had lots of fun sliding on the mossy rocks in the creek about 1/2 way into the hike. We returned to camp for dinner, then roasted marshmallows and made S'mores. It started to sprinkle again soon after, so we decided to turn in for the night. Sunday morning dawned bright and early and we enjoyed omelets-in-a-bag for breakfast before packing up camp and heading to Midgely Bridge and Wilson Canyon Trail. We enjoyed that hike then returned to the picnic ramada at the bridge for lunch. After lunch Ben, Dierdre, & Nathan headed back to Phoenix while Heather, Diane, Phillip, and I crossed to the south side of the bridge and hiked down the canyon to Oak Creek. I operated the cameras while the other 3 went sliding down the creek. The combination of red rock and algae makes a great natural waterslide in the creekbed. See Video After we had all the fun we could fit in before another storm front rolled in, we climbed back up the canyon (I have the aching leg muscles to prove it!) and headed back to Phoenix. I enjoyed every minute of this trip and definitely will be planning return trips.

See Photo Album for visual aids! :D

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

The countdown continues... only 2 days of class left until I finish my Bachelor's of Science in Accounting degree!!

Oak Creek Canyon

We're going camping this weekend at Cave Springs Campground in Oak Creek Canyon. We'll leave after work and come home Sunday afternoon. I'm so excited!! See ya on the other side.
:)

El Encanto

Heather took me to El Encanto in Cave Creek for a birthday lunch. The food was even better than I remembered! Part of my birthday present was this framed photo of our horseback riding trip in January (my Christmas present from Heather!) in Wickenburg.

The day started with Heather making me my favorite breakfast: Baked Oatmeal. Also waiting for me were these absolutely gorgeous flowers! I'm so lucky to have such a thoughtful housemate!!

It's been a really great day! I'm off to bed for a nap... my tummy is full of good food and I'm so sleepy. :)

Birthday Shoutout

Happy 25th Birthday to my older and much wiser (as he persisted to tell me whenever our 7-day age difference was the topic of conversation) cousin, Matthew Rudd!! Have an awesome birthday, Cuz. Love ya!

Happy Birthday USA

231 years old never looked so good! Happy Independence Day everyone!

God Bless America!

See photo album for more pics.

Johnny's Uptown

A bunch of us went to Johnny's Uptown last night for dinner and live jazz music. We had a lot of fun conversation and the music was wonderful.

Here's a short video clip I recorded on my Kodak EasyShare C533 (shameless advertising plug, I know, but I love my camera!) of a sax solo.

Johnny's Uptown sample

Turn up the volume... audio is the only thing you'll get. The lighting was too dim to capture any kind of picture.

Swimming Pools

I think it's fantastic to have friends with pools. I can't imagine anything more enjoyable on a hot Sunday afternoon than to relax in a pool and enjoy cool relief from the heat. :) Perhaps we shall talk Steven & Christie into sacrificing the backyard for a pool! Or maybe not...

Fun Project

One of the assignments in my current (and also LAST!!!) class is to create a sample company and record all accounting activity for a fictitious month in order to complete the steps of the Accounting Cycle. I'm really excited about this project because it allows me to explore the reality of owning my own business ( a dream I hope to realize within the next 10 years) using actual accounting software, Peachtree. It is an educational version of the software, but the usage is practically the same as the actual software. I'm really looking forward to this project! It's going to be so much fun!! Today I had to create the business name, address, type, and description. WHEE!!!

Happy Birthday Heather!

Happy, Happy 26th Birthday to my housemate, Heather!! It was so much fun celebrating last night! I can't wait for the next game of ultimate frisbee and next year's music video.

Heather

Diane, Kerry, & Bryan

Heather w/Frisbee

Rachel & Christie

Erin & Rachel

I'm so glad we're roomies and I look forward to another AWESOME year!