I Love AZ

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Doppelgänger

In the vernacular, the word "doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-alike of a person.

I have been told a few different times that I look like different celebrities each of which seems weird to me. Twice in college I was told that I look like Avril Lavigne and both times the person asked if I got that "all the time" like it was a compliment to look like a slutty singer.

Next was just a few weeks ago at Sam's wedding when some relative of the Jones or Gilespie family (I really don't know who it was) told me that he and his wife thought I looked exactly like Gweneth Paltrow

which seems like a better compliment but I still don't get it.

There was also a period of time in elementary school when Hanson was super popular that I was told MULTIPLE times that I looked like the super hunky youngest brother Zack... Not something I wanted to hear as a 10 year old girl that I looked like a boy... even though I was a huge tom-boy

Who's your doppelganger?

Live and Learn

To get in and out of our humble little one bedroom apartment you have to pass through 2 doors (one regular door and one screen door) and 4 locks. The doors are old and sometimes the locks are hard to turn with the old keys we have.

So in efforts to make our lives a bit easier Ben and I decided that when we leave the house we would lock the handle, shut the door and then lock the top one with our keys.

One day we locked the handle, shut the door and then realized neither of us had our keys.
We were locked out of our own house.
Very embarrassed, we called our landlord to come rescue us.

Now every time we leave the house I make sure to ask Ben if he has his keys.
Most of the time he closes the door and pretends he doesn't have them.
Then one time (again) he really didn't have his keys... and neither did I.

We were embarrassed again.
But this time we remembered that one of our windows wasn't locked.
So Ben (in his church clothes) pried off the window screen, slid open the window, and jumped through the blinds to let me in.
The whole time I was on the look out for others in our ward to be walking home so I could just act casual like taking the screen off our windows was something we did all the time.

It was then that I realized that we don't learn from our mistakes.
So I changed that (in a way) and put the key to the back door of our apartment on with the spare key to my car and took it over to my parents house.

Since then, I have (by myself) locked myself out of my house two more times... most recently on Tuesday
Each time one of my parents has so graciously brought me the key to my back door.
And each time I tell them to wait for me so I can give the key back because lets face it... it will probably happen again.

This also worked the time I locked my keys in my car at my old job

Things I've Learned...

While sitting at a desk on the 3rd floor of an office building in Phoenix in front of a window.

1. Planes fly into Sky Harbor two by two
2. Rarely is the roof to Chase Field closed (D-backs)
3. I'm easily distracted by birds
4. And I now have an odd appreciation for palm trees. How do they stay standing with their skinny, ridiculously tall trunks and top heavy fanned out leaves?

Normally I'm out of the office a few times a week but this month I will be sitting here at my desk EVERY SINGLE DAY. So please, for my sanity, update your blogs on a more regular basis so that I have something to read when I need a break from writing reports. If anyone has any blogs they recommend I am totally open to blog stalking people I don't know.

And for your viewing pleasure. Meet baby Elliot.

We Crossed the Border

And they almost didn't let us come back

My passport is in the mail I swear

Last week we spent our days playing with our favorite beach buddies

Walking in the cold water

Looking for sea shells

Getting chased by big wet dogs

And eating fish tacos every day

It was perfect

25 years old... my mother she told me so

(what's the next line to that song?)

Last week Ben turned 25 years old

That's 5 times older than when he wore cowboy boots and shorts to kindergarden

He's a quarter of the way to being 100 and

he's now closer to 30 than he is to 20.

To celebrate we went out to dinner at a Venesuelan place called

My Arepa, which we highly recommend

and then met up with Brittany and Brady for an Improv Comedy show

The next day we packed ourselves up and headed off to go hiking and camping

On the hike we got to have our last snowball fight of the season

Hiking was a lot of fun but we didn't plan for enough time. It wasn't too long of a hike but we couldn't finish because the sun was starting to go down and we still needed to set up camp.

We plan on making time for this one again

On our way to the campsite we saw a bunch of wild turkeys

We forgot to bring the converter pump for the air mattress

 so we slept on the cold, hard ground

inside the cold, small tent...

It was cold... real cold

Besides our sleeping arrangements it was a fun trip.

We were the only ones on our hike and the only ones at the campsite.

This is not where we camped

but we found this sweet spot where we'll be camping next time...

Anyone want to come?

Happy Birthday Ben!

Yogurt Yo' Way

Attention all frozen yogurt lovers!

Yodipity is the new Mesa Frozen Yogurt

Better selection of flavors

Too many toppings to count

Colorful, friendly environment

and awesome management.

Come check it out this weekend!

Get your BUY 1 GET 1 FREE coupon.
Free yogurt for bloggers, click here for details.

New Year... New Job

Steak anyone?

I think Tiffany started a great tradition.

When you get a new job

you should celebrate with steak.

So we did.

I just got hired to work with a new company

and start on Jan. 6th

It's going to be bitter sweet

I love my job now and those I work with

Its been my second home for the past 5 1/2 years
Its going to be hard to leave

and I'll probably cry

But with a new job comes better pay

much better

And that will be sweet

Wish me luck!

Thank You Melissa and Sam

Dear Melissa and Sam,

Thank you for selling me this wonderful bike just 4 years ago for the generous price of only $10.

I have loved this bike and used it often.

It got me through that time when my car died and I rode it to work for a few weeks in the cold winter.

I rode that bike to friend's houses and on plenty of casual rides through the neighborhoods.

My first kiss with Ben when we were dating was after a ride on this bike you sold me.

And now the tires are worn, and need to be pumped before each time we take it for a ride.

The seat shows of sun damage, and the chain is a bit rusty.

It's time to say goodbye.

This thank you goes more out to Melissa for not knowing the real worth of this bike and for not consulting your husband before selling it to me just 4 years ago.

Because today I sold this bike to a nice gentleman for $80

I loved this bike and the memories I have with it are priceless.

Merry Christmas Melissa and Sam!

Happy Birthday to ME!

This past Monday the 9th was my birthday. My present to myself was a day off of work... and I did absolutly nothing... it was perfect. I didn't have a care in the world. Ben had school but on his break he took me out to lunch.

Wed was Veterans Day so we had the day to spend together. Ben tried to surprize me but I was too good at guessing... not that it made the day any less fun cause it was AWESOME. We drove up to Out of Africa wildlife park.

Here's two of my favorite pictures of the day...

 Warning... I took a lot of pictures that day so be prepared to scroll down through a lot more pics.

This giraffe love the smell of my hair so much he wanted to eat it.

Does this picture make anyone else want some gum?

This bear and tiger's tummies say "I'm Hungry"

(as Sophie would say)

And this last picture is of the TIGER SPLASH

(the video wouldn't upload)

Traditions

Apparently there's this tradition of cutting into the top layer of your wedding cake on your first anniversary. My mom took the liberty of freezing ours and we cut into it the other day (about a week late)

It was discusting.

There IS Fall in Arizona!

You just have to find it.

Our anniversary surprise #2 was heading up to Sedona for some hiking and camping. The camping part kind of leaked out when I was telling Ben a story but I had to tell him eventually so he could help pack and make sure we had all the right stuff (even though we still forgot a bunch of stuff). I just didn't tell him where we were headed.

When we got into Sedona it was SO crowded. I've never seen that many people in such a small area. We tried to just keep driving until there was less people but it was very difficult. I had forgotten that it was the end of Fall Break for everyone... plus it was a Saturday

Sedona is so amazingly beautiful in the Fall. The weather is perfect and the colors are so pretty and Fall-like. We found a hike to go on but then didn't end up staying on the trail. Ben and I are more of explorers than trail followers... plus we don't like to follow other people on trails or feel like we're being followed. So instead we explored the creek and hopped on rocks.

I'm laughing really hard in this picture because we had to put the camera on a timer to get both of us in the shot. I sat on the rock while Ben got the camera ready and on his way over to me he slipped in the water and disappeared for a few seconds behind a different large rock.

After exploring the canyon we needed to go find a place to camp and knew of only one area close by that didn't make us pay a fee. It was just past Jarome on the top of Mingus Mountain. It was dark when we set up so we didn't realize how awesome it was until the morning.

From our campsite we only had to walk a little ways to see off the side of the mountain. Then we were driving out and got a little lost but ended up finding this launch pad for hang gliders.

All in all I'd say it was a great weekend... just not nearly long enough

One Year Celebrations!

Today Ben and I have been married for one year. It seems weird to me that this year already came and went but we enjoyed every second of it. I told Ben that I would plan our first anniversary and wanted it to be a total surprize.

I think he's been surprized so far...

We made it home safe and now we're off to do some hiking and camping.

Amazing Dates... I mean Jakes

A few months ago Ben and I decided that we would switch off each month planning a special date night doing something that we don't normally do. Last night was the first night that it actually happened because in July and August things kept comming up that prevented us from doing it. Last night we went to Amazing Jakes... here's why.

A few years ago I was taking a break from work and as I got in my car and turned the radio on I heard "Be caller 10 right now". I used to always try my luck at those things and that afternoon I was the lucky winner... although I honestly had no idea of what I was trying to win. Turns out it was a Tim McGraw CD and a $50 gift card to Amazing Jakes... that card had been sitting in my wallet form maybe 3 years and almost forgotten about until we used it last night. It got us a dinner buffet, 3 hours of unlimited rides and attractions, and $14 worth of token games.

I would never actually spend my own hard earned money at this place but knowing that it was all free made for a fun night. Next months date night...

1 year anniversary

This is Quincy

We were kitten sitting for this cute slash crazy thing all week.

(and yes Ben and I do own this orange couch... jealous?)

Abbie was busy in the hospital this week making this dimpled chin baby
Meet Samuel Jay

Congrats Abbie and Jake on yet another amazing baby... this one comes complete with dolphin noises. He's perfect

You Don't Wan Breafas?

Going in late to work plus making breakfast with my husband equals awesome



These French Crepes did not disappoint

Swine Flu?

This last week Ben and I traveled down to Mexico with Danny, Lindsi and Ellie who graciously let us stay at their time share with them... (we did not where masks nor were we infected by the swine flu). We could only stay for a couple of days but it was well worth it. The resort was fancy, the beach was deserted and the water was nice... very nice.

We spent our 2 days there swimming in the ocean, building sand castles, skim boarding, eating fish tacos, laying out, and hanging out. It was a relaxing few days to celebrate the end of another semester of school... for Ben.

Thank you Danny and Lindsi for allowing us to accompany you on this amazing trip.

The drive home was delayed for 2 hours just as we crossed the border because of a roll over accident. We distracted ourselves by eating oreos and milk, playing about 10 games of Uno, and almost a full game of Yatzee.
It also rain slash hailed on us in our delay. The 4 hour car ride turned into 6 hours but we made it fun.