Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Going home

I'm heading home tomorrow for the weekend. My grandfather turns 90!! So the whole family is getting together to celebrate. It will be nice to see everyone. I'm a little nervous to see some cousins (I always am). It's suppose to be in the high 80's low 90's so I think I'm going to freeze! It will be nice to be home and see Dad and Tom and Beverly. I can't wait to catch up with them and Zeb at the store!

Last weekend I took my new roommate to a roping. The Coconino Farm Bureau was having their annual meeting which includes a roping and I invited her. I think she had fun. She kept talking about the cowboys and how great it was to meet real ones. They really were nice to her (not like they wouldn't be). On the way home we stopped in Anthem to shop at the outlet mall and I think that may have been the highlight of the day.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

A Weekend In California

So I spent last weekend in California with a couple of friends and I had such a great time. They were there for a wedding and I just tagged along for the fun of it. We left Phoenix on Friday afternoon and got into Simi Valley late Friday night. Saturday morning I went with Lindsey to pick up her dress. Then we all had lunch and off to the hotel where the wedding was being held. I spent the afternoon reading and napping. It was fun just to relax and not worry about anything. After the wedding we headed up to Magic Mountain to ride the roller coasters for a couple of hours only to get there and realize we didn't have discount tickets and at 10 o'clock at night, I wasn't going to pay full entrance price for only a couple of hours. Thankfully Andy and Lindsey thought the same thing.

Sunday we woke up and went to the is amazing church called Mosaic. It was so different but very cool. Afterwards we went to lunch and then decided to go to the Santa Monica Pier to just hang out and maybe shop a little. We found the beach but didn't find the pier so we drove north thinking we would find a pier or some little shops to browse. After driving through Malibu and a couple of other towns (and a few hours later) we ended up at a beach in Ventura and had an ice cream cone and stood out on the beach. Then we got in the car and headed for Phoenix. It was 7ish when we left the beach and 3:00 when we finally drove up to Andy's. I got home at 3:30 and fell into bed.

It was a great weekend and I so enjoyed just hanging out with Lindsey and Andy.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Trading for an English Roommate

Well I spent a week and a half in the Washington DC/Virginia area last week. It was so great to see family in Fredericksburg and the kids have grown so much. The new baby is so cute and so laid back. It was nice just to visit with Cari and Vance and get to know him a little better. We toured around the area while I was there and I met some of Cari's friends. They are so nice. I even went to their Catholic mass. It was interesting and I had a lot of questions for Cari. She was so sweet to answer them. I wondered about the process of their mass. It was a great experience. We sat on the front row so I was able to observe so much more from the front rather than the back.

My week in DC was great. It began with a trip with Cari and the kids to the zoo. That was fun, even though we didn't get to see everything. It was so nice to catch up with old friends from other states. I never really thought about how many people I know from around the country. Some of my people I haven't seen in a few years so it was great just to see how they are doing. Some of them I see every year but it is always nice to see them again.

The first night in DC I took the metro down to almost the last stop in Old Alexandria and then caught a cab over to see Dana and to meet Lorraine, our new roommate from England. It was a nice dinner and a great chance to meet her and catch up with Dana. Then on Friday Dana and I caught up again at the airport and we had lunch then since my flight was delayed she ended up leaving before me. I cried when she left but I will see her again. I just miss seeing one of my best friends but I know that it will be like talking to Cari since I don't see her everyday but we do email and talk and I will visit them about once a year. Dana will have a great time in England teaching and experiencing the life. We are so excited for her!!!

I met up with Ang and Lorraine at BJ's for dinner. It was so late when I got in because of my flight that I met them there and had drinks. We took her driving on Sunday morning and then to her first American baseball game that afternoon. I think she will enjoy her time here.