Happy, happy

We celebrated Kayla (Sept 29) and Anneli's (Sept 9) birthdays last weekend when Anneli was home. She works on hiking trails, and is gone for 11 days at a time.

Oh, did I mention that Kayla and Sara got into town last Friday? Now we have six girls here. Three don't have jobs though, so they hang out all day livin' the life :)

On Sunday, after a very fun visit/lunch/Scrabble game/song services with Elaine S. who lives in Sun City, we went up South Mountain for the sunset.


This week, I've been settling into my new job. We've been pretty slow so far, so I've had time to learn the ins and outs of receiving wire orders (teleflora, ftd, bloomnet) and making them for delivery.

My style is slightly different from the shop owner's. It's been a might frustrating to adjust to her way. I think she is losing money because she puts too many flowers into the arrangements. I didn't think I would ever complain about that (usually it's the opposite), but the beauty of them is lost when they are smushed together with hardly any greens.

Last night, we went to a volleyball game at this high school. Coincidentally, it is where uncle Aaron (Coralie's dad) graduated from. The Firebirds lost in 4 good matches, but I had a blast watching!!!


Go Firebirds! Only in Arizona would they have a weird mascot like that ;)

Tonight we're headed to Applebees to use a gift card we got from our girls back home as a going away gift. Whoop for half-price appetizers after 9!

things are looking up

I just got back from meeting a nanny family, one that I will be spending probably just 6 hours or so a week with. They're super relaxed. I like.

Next Tuesday, I am working at a flower shop! It'll be like a trial day, and if Lucy likes me, she'll keep me on part-time. The pay is not so good, but I'm happy to get some experience. Plus, I get to work with flowers :) :)

So at least I have some income. I will still be looking to fill more of my free hours.

Camelback

I know I post about Camelback a lot, but we climb it a lot... Here is a smattering of photos from various trips.

Early, early morning from the top. It was so windy!

Kind of looked like rain in the distance.

Sunrise from the top. What a great way to watch it come up!

Soooo pretty.

Camelback at night. Can you see the camel? Two humps and a head. We climb to the top of the taller hump.

Our sweet idea was to climb it during the full moon, but a police van sitting at the end of the road stopped that idea pretty quick.

What were we thinking?

Oh, I know- we justed wanted to do something. Preferably something outside.

Unfortunately, hiking eight miles in 107 degree weather isn't very fun.

On Saturday, we drove down to Tucson (about two hours away) and the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, where we hiked the Bear Canyon trail to Seven Falls. It was a pretty trail through the desert mountains, but I had a hard time appreciating it when I was so hot and thirsty.

Wetting our shirts and hair in the little "river" helped some, and then we got to swim in the shallow pools beneath one of the falls. It felt AMAZING.

I didn't want to leave the water for the hike back...

But we made it, and now it seems like it wasn't so bad. Ha, but it kind of was.

love/hate relationship

What I love about not having a car:

• forces me to bike where I want to go=more exercise
• no gas, insurance, repairs, etc
• no sitting in traffic
• I never have to be the driver

Coralie and Shannon in front of the library last night. It's only 2.5 miles away!

Cor and I got up at 5:30 this morning (funny, in MN we would have never even dreamed of getting up that early to exercise) to see how far the bike ride to Camelback Mountain is. It took us about 40 minutes.

The view is awesome!

We didn't actually climb, because it would have been a miserable ride home. Instead, we rested at the foot of the trail, took some pictures, then rode back home.

What I hate about not having a car:

• mostly (could take the bus) at the mercy of someone else to go places that are more than five miles away
• got turned down at two job interviews because I don't have a car
• we stay home a lot because it's too hot to bike during the day=boring

Oh, and I'd also like to say

thanks for all the encouraging words. They really did help, and made me smile (Jan, I still miss you, just not MN :D).

Shakier legs

If I thought I had shaky legs earlier, I didn't know anything. This morning, Jill, Cor and I climbed Echo Canyon, the harder trail of Camelback Mountain. It is pretty much climbing up boulders the whole way. We made it up to the top in 43 minutes, and back down in 31. That was slow though, compared to some hard core people who made it up and down and were on their way back up as we climbed down. What a leg workout it is! Kind of hard on the knees too.

More about the move

Me, Anneli, Coralie, Jill, and Shannon at our apartment

I have to be honest, I wasn't always looking forward to moving down here. It was hard to look past the fact that I was leaving. When I thought about what I would miss, I got teary and sad: Vivy and Sierra will get so big, and R ladies will have fun without me, and no saunas, and no Sunday dinners... Everyone kept saying, "you'll have so much fun, and you won't regret it". And I knew that, but still... SIL Chrissy's words really helped though: "you'll have many more MN falls, but this might be your only AZ fall."

Once I got onto the plane, and dried my tears, it was easier to remember that, and look forward to being in a new place with new challenges. Now that I'm here and settled in, I don't miss MN as much as I thought I would (sorry! :). I like it here thus far, even though I don't have a bed.

This morning, Jill, Coralie and I got up at 4:30 to hike Camelback before it got hot and Jill had to work. It was tough! Felt so good though.

Come visit, and I'll introduce you to the joys of shaky legs (from lots of climbing). We even have plenty of floor space :)

I'm here and it's hot

Hotter than normal for AZ, it's been over 100 the past few days.

I like my new home already. The girls are fun, and we went out for dinner last night, than hottubbing.

Today, my mission is to drop off applications and check out potential jobs.

So I really am leaving

on Saturday at 6:55 pm.

Flying turned out to be the easiest way for me to get to AZ. This severely cuts down on the amount of things I can take, but that's okay. I won't need much beyond clothes anyway.

Now that I have a departure date and time, I'm a little nervous, but excited. I feel like I'm floating around here in MN, because living at home feels weird, and my job is ending this week. It will be hard to say goodbye to my family.

On a happier note, S Weekend at the Point was a blast. Mark came and met the fam, and Uncle Duey proclaimed him to be "a hard worker, maybe even the hardest" when the guys helped out with projects over at Grandma and Grandpa's. :)

The weekend consisted of fishing, canoeing, sauna/swim, Darren/Allison's reception, and bowling. A perfect last weekend for me.

Delayed departure

Kayla had to have surgery on her wrist, and has to stay for a few weeks for check ups, etc. That leaves me to squish with Coralie and Jill leaving for AZ on Labor Day, or figure something else out. I'd like to get down there ASAP, but don't want to leave Kayla without a rider.