Getting the itch

So my 10 year class reunion will be next year--but I find myself wishing it was this year. I am tempted to just call everyone I know and plan some sort of a get-together this summer -after all, I only want to see my old friends anyway--who cares about the other 900 people that I barely knew:)

I ran across one of my old track coaches names online today and I couldn't help but wish I was back on the MRHS track team, practicing after school and having meets on Wednesday afternoons, Saturday practices (running with all the girls and talking about our dates on friday night), running no matter what-pouring rain or blistering heat, being a part of a team, having personal goals that were achievable that you could devote all your energy to and go for it. I don't have a scanner so I will have to settle for these snapshots of these photos. That's right -I was a rockstar :-) Regional Champion baby!

Hmmm...maybe I could round up my fellow runners and we could prepare for a 10k in honor of the 10 year reunion. Hmmmm...maybe a 5k would be fine...

(Let's be clear though--I don't wish I was back in High School...just back on the track team).

Spring Break

Rachel and I just got back from Utah. It was so fun to see my grandparents and a couple of aunts and uncles, and cousins. Rachel had so much fun coloring with her cousins, and doing plays, and playing with their babies. On Saturday my dad took us to a friend's house to let Rachel ride a pony--technically a miniature horse (which I now know is soooo much better than a pony ;-)

While it wasn't her first horse ride, she said it was the "longest pony ride ever" and she especially liked the pony's braided hair and pink saddle.

I was a little surprised to see Rachel having so much fun on a pile of dirt--I mean, that is all we have in Chinle and it isn't any fun to play in. Then I realized, flat dirt= no fun. BIG PILE of dirt= AWESOME! That said, we are going to try and create some big piles out of all of our dirt.

How many of you can say you've ridden a cow?! Random I know--but we were there for the whole experience and our friend said this cow (#111) would let you ride it--so we did.
I like this picture of Rachel-she was trying to be cool and act like a country girl-but here, her city girl roots are showing. (she is walking through all the cow pies and she is tip-toeing and holding her pants up so they don't get poop on them lol!) The two year old with us was running everywhere and jumped in a few on purpose.

Lots of sand + wind = no fun. We had heard that spring here can get very windy, and dusty, and today was one of those days. I drove through about 2 hours of dust, got ambushed by a troop of tumbleweeds, and came home to a power outage. I wish I could have captured the tumbleweeds on film, but I thought it better to keep both my hands on the steering wheel and my eyes focused on trying to see the lines on the road. Very glad to be home!

the weekend

Hmmm...what to say about the weekend.....S-L-O-W! :-)

I really thought I was sick of driving and that I was going to enjoy spending the weekend relaxing here. (We still have driven the 5 hours the Phoenix at least every other week since we moved here, except for the 2 times we went skiing instead, and just last week we were in Vegas. I thought I had my fill of a big city....until I was faced with my first 24 hours on a weekend here :-). During the week it is fine. Rachel is at school and I do my work from home, and chores and then we make dinner, go to t-ball practice and watch tv shows. The weekend however is a different feeling all together.

Rach wanted to go for a walk, so I went, but really how much of this:

can you look at?? hmmm more dirt, and more brown stucco houses. Then she wanted to have a picnic, only she wanted to have it in the front yard-on the driveway. I reasoned that the front yard was not a good spot since all of the stray dogs would come and bother us if we had food. I proposed the alternative, the back yard. It too was paved (ie: not covered in dirt and thorns), plus the dogs won't bother us.

To me it made perfect sense, and she agreed, however not without tricking me into a never ending discussion about how "Well, the dogs can bother us there too, if they smell the food they can jump the fence, dogs can jump fences." Geez! That kid is smart and she doesn't give up. I tried to "discuss" for a while, explaining that 'yes' it could technically happen but the chances are very unlikely, until finally I had to declare the conversation over so we could just enjoy the picnic.

Our evening ended with some Chinese food takeout and another great discussion. Have you ever been posed the question "Why do Chinese people eat chinese food?" Sounds easy enough to answer...but oooooooh was I mistaken. My advice, if you are asked this change the subject--it would also be appropriate to distract with candy :-) Bummer I don't remember any exact quotes-I will have to ask her if she remembers any of it since her memory is so good. All I know is I caught myself laughing quite a few times thinking 'who knew this question would lead to this.'

This morning before church we whipped up some Cinnamon rolls and I was happy to find they turned out (despite me missing the part to add sugar to the dough--doh!-I really wish I could say that type of behavior was not typical-but that would be a lie). It was kinda from scratch. It was from a box, but turns out it involved yeast, and leaving time to rise -so I conclude they count as scratch.

We survived another sunday at church (and yes, 'survived' is the exact word I want to use) :-) and then I spent the day reading this book

I am grateful for Denia lending me this and a couple of other books--all of which have been a little deeper than my typical choices, I am also grateful I am a speed reader and could finish it in one afternoon because I couldn't bare putting it down and going to sleep without closure (it's about a child gone missing). Okay book, though not sure if I would recommend it to my fellow mothers unless you are safe at home with all your family and have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE TO DO :) LOL!

This evening Rachel got in a couple fits of the giggles and I found myself just wanting to go along with her more often in the hopes it would be contagious. Don't you wish there was one thing in each day that would get you as excited as you were as a kid on Christmas morning (cinnamon roll) or that you could be completely giddy (drawing pictures for mom and dad that you find HILARIOUS!) The best was when I was singing her a bedtime song (away in the manger) when halfway through I blanked on the next line. Since this is her favorite song I assure you I have sung it many times. So I pause, meanwhile I am resinging it in my head hoping it will come to me--and then Rach, assuming correctly that I forgot the words, whispers the next few words and then she looks at me with this silly smile and we both starting laughing, and then hearing her giggle off and on made it impossible for me to finish either that or her second request 'silent night'. I found myself disapponted that I have to tell her no all day, to settle down, that "oh that would be fun...maybe someday. I wish I could just give in to anything she is that excited about, anything to let me see this smile all day every day. Buy her a kitty, and a puppy, and a chick, and a bunny, and fly to Boston to go ice skating on the frog pond... I love this picture that my mom took of us that actually captures a little of that excitement. I remember she got so excited and hugged me so hard she was choking me and I had to tell her to ease up. Man--check out her tan arms :-)

Going Brazilian... I highly recommend it

After going to Vegas for our anniversary Sam and I both agree it is one of our favorites. Brazilian food that is :-) (couldn't resist) We found this amazing Brazilian restaurant and the food was AMAZING! They come around with all types of meat on a skewer and you can have as much as you want. It was the most deliciously seasoned meat ever. Another good restaurant is in Quincy center --and that one is pretty inexpensive so we could afford it on a student budget. If you haven't been to a Brazilian restaurant yet--it should be on the top of your list (FYI though--we haven't found any good places in Phoenix yet) .

Rodeo Day

While we were in Vegas Rachel spent the weekend with her Aunt Heidi and Uncle Mike and her little cousin Jamie. Looks like they had fun.

adios

right now I am mourning...over my brand new blue shirt that shrunk in the dryer. :-( So glad I got to wear it on our fun trip in Vegas, and that it was captured on film. It really was perfect. Lower cut...but not too low. Tight, but not too tight. Nice and Long. Perfectly modest so I don't have to wear another shirt underneath it. It was nice and soft. Plus it was from Ross and it was only $7.99. Which is even more sad--because it was such a bargain, and since that store is so random it isn't like I could just go buy another one. maybe it is a little shallow...but I am sad nonetheless.

only in Chinle

1. have I seen a cow sprinting, I guess I knew they were physically capable, but usually they are just eating and moseying around (didn't have a camera so I had to settle for an image online)


2. can you rent a hogan for a night at a campground (this pic is for you Heidi)


3. Do you run into your daughter's teacher at the grocery store during school hours (it was around lunch time so she was on break, but it was kind of wierd thinking 'I left my daughter with you...and yet...you are here???'

My name in print

Here is the magazine that I edit. This is the first time that a digital version is available so I thought I would use it to show off what I have been up to. Not sure why it is so fun to see my name in print as an author and as an editor...but it is! :-)

Happy Anniversary...to ME!

Tomorrow we will be married for 7 years. We just got back from a trip to Vegas that Sam planned as a surprise. About two weeks ago he let me know that he found a babysitter for Rachel and made plans for us to go "somewhere" but wouldn't tell me any more. I didn't find out where we were headed until we were in the car Friday morning. We had so much fun and one of the nicest things about it was that I had absolutely no part in the planning process (which I inevitably always stress out about and make more complicated than it needs to be). A big thank you to Sam :-) (and to everyone who helped watch Rach)

In front of the fountains at the Bellagio, trying to perfect snapping pictures of ourselves. I am trying to be silly...yes, I need to work on my silly face :-)