Day One Of My Spring Stay-Cation

I'm not sure how this really happened, but somehow I was talked into hiking the Bell Pass yesterday. It was a whopping 7 miles with 2 of those miles being straight up. It took us a total of 6 hours from start to finish. Our energy bars kept us going, but I was really looking forward to my Chipotle later. It was my prize for my hard work. :) I have learned that hiking in the desert is really unlike hiking anywhere else that I know of. I lost track of how many lizards we saw. I guess they enjoy 80's degree too. The wildflowers were great too! It's too bad that in a few short weeks they will be gone and so will some of the spring color of the desert.

I'm not sure if this is a sign of our age or not, but we had to rest before we went to Chipotle. Kind of sad I know. On a positive note today, I am not sore at all!! I'm ready for day two!
C.

Well, it's finally spring break! I guess we are going to do a "stay-cation" and find some fun things to do around Phoenix. Years ago on my spring break, I would always go to Arizona. Now that I live here I'm not sure where you go. California? My weekend started with a much needed trip to my hair dresser. Mandy had a baby in February, so I had actually gone 8 weeks since a cut and quite a bit longer for highlights. Let's just say between the noticeable gray hair and the mullet that appeared to be emerging, it was becoming a scary sight.

This is a great time in Arizona to find things to do outside before it gets too hot. We found a small craft show to walk around yesterday. I bought a cute beaded bracelet there. I probably own more bracelets than any other piece of jewelry. It was a small fair, but still fun to walk around. We also stopped by Holland Boone. I had never been there been there before. They seem to specialize in pewter decor from serving plates to wall decorations. They had a lot of other cute stuff too. Everything from Italian pottery to Mexican glassware plus quite a bit of seasonal decorations. I will definitely go back there again.

I guess it's time to have some lunch and get ready for church. I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

C.

I had a great day with my family today. It really made me wish that this week was spring break for me. The weather was so nice! I guess I have something to look forward to in a couple of weeks. Our day started at 9:30 and didn't end until 8:30 tonight. I think everyone is tired from a full day of shopping. We started our day at Dunkin Donuts for free coffee Monday. I, however, was more interested in the donuts which I might add were fantastic. I did find a couple good shopping deals. I think my most interesting was the KU shirt at Old Navy! I can't believe that I could get anything KU in Arizona!!! Now if I could only find some Wichita State things here!

We had a mini shopping timeout and played a few games at Dave and Buster's. It's good to know that if the teaching career does not work out, I do have some skeeball talents that might come in handy! haha Everyone came to our house for dream pie tonight. We definitely love our desserts! I should get on the exercise bike, but I think that will have to wait for another day.

I'm looking forward to my special lunchtime visitors tomorrow. :) Hope everyone has a wonderful evening.
C.

Well, we are having a very busy, but fun few days with my cousins from Kansas. They came in last night and will be here through Wednesday afternoon. Today's highlights included a great Sunday lunch compliments of my mom, an abbreviated hike, Sunday night church followed by banana splits at my brother's. I'm actually a little tired tonight! Tomorrow I am taking a personal day, so we can have a fun filled day shopping. I'm looking forward to going to the H&M store. I have heard some great things about it, so I'm anxious to see for myself. The temperature is suppose to be 79, so it should be a beautiful day. I think we will be having dinner at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant in Arizona, Rumbi! It is a lot of fun when friends and relatives come visit! I know I must put on at least 5 lbs!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!
C.

Well, I have returned from the blogger hall of shame. It has almost been one month since I last wrote!!!! I promise to do better. There have just been so many things going on that blogging took a back seat.

I am happy to report that my Linguistics class is over!!! And more importantly, I received a "B." It truly shocked me!! The last few weeks, my grades were less than stellar. I'm just glad to have that behind me. My next class starts this coming Tuesday. I have been told it will be easier. I am certainly hoping that to be true. It will be so nice to have a weekend and not worry about a paper or test being due.

Tonight, I had my Six Traits class. Next week will be the last class. I have enjoyed this one, but I'm kind of looking forward to cutting back on some of my night classes. I have definitely had my share this year. I'm just glad that the classes meet close to my home.

Also, as many of know, I have been working on a microgrant for my school. I completed the information for it two weeks ago not knowing that it would take on a life of its own. I never thought I would receive 100 votes let alone 932, but I did. I appreciate every one's votes and support. Unfortunately, I came up a little short. The top winners all had over 1400 or more!!! I don't know where they found them, but they did. Anyway, it was a great experience working with grants and I hope to do it again sometime.

I think we are going to try and hike tomorrow. It has been a very long time. I know it's good for me, but I'm not looking forward to it. I hope I can talk them into doing half the trial. :)

It's time for a little t.v. watching. I will try and write more this weekend. Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!
C.