Faith

We are lucky to have others who share the same faith down here in AZ with us. When we're so far away from our home congregation, it makes spending time with our church family even more special.

This picture is from back in September when we visited Elaine S.


And church in early November with Ken L.

Brings back good memories of childhood

Except back then, we had a mom who made us frosting. We were too lazy to do that, so we bought marshmallow creme, which, although sticky, does not hold for more than a half hour or so.

I quickly snapped a picture before candy started sliding off.
The brown thing in the front is a palm tree, duh. :)

Just because we're not home doesn't mean we're not having a big dinner

We are! Ok, so we only bought part of a turkey, but we have a lot of other food too; squash, mashed potatoes, salad, green beans, cranberries, bread, pumpkin pie and ice cream. Yum. Can't wait to eat.

I called my mom yesterday and got a little sad about not being home for the holiday. Viv was chatting away in the background whilst stealing candy from the cupboard. She has Grandma (and Grandpa) wrapped around her little fingers. Christmas isn't that far away though, and I'll be home before I know it.

What I am thankful for:

-food
-family
-friends
-faith
-MRK
-shelter
-laughter
-the opportunity to be here in AZ!

A day off = shopping with An

Work is... going to consume my life until I leave for home on December 21ish.

Except today. My boss called just before I left and said I didn't need to come in. Whoo-hoo! An and I drank coffee then went shopping; Trader Joes first, and the (outdoor) mall next. I bought my first Christmas gift. It feels good to get that started!

I've been slightly boycotting the Christmas spirit, but at the mall today, there were carols blasting over the speakers and wreaths, lights, and trees everywhere. After a bit, it broke through my grouchiness. I'm starting to feel it... the excitement of the season!

All work, no play

Tomorrow I start another job. I will be then working from 9 am to 10:30 pm about 4 days a week. Whew. It's going to be tiring, but with the holidays coming up, I need some extra cash.

The good thing is that my new job is just a block down the street from our apartment. I will be working the front desk at an Extended Stay hotel in the afternoon/evenings. The flower shop will have me in the mornings, then I'll bike home and run over to the hotel.

Another Love

I have a lot of loves :)

We went to the Fountain Hills fountain again today; Nat, Sarah, and me.

My New Love

The music of Bruce Springsteen.
Thank you Coralie, for putting it on my mp3 player!

I especially like this song.

And 2nd place goes to...

Rita H, Kim H, Anna K, and Heidi H from the cities. They are our second group of visitors down here. Sara K took the gold home back in the beginning of October.

Last night, I (practically) begged Rita, Anna, and Kim to take me up on South Mountain for the sunset and city lights view. Twice before I had tried to go, but neither time could make it up to the top for one reason or another.

Third time's a charm. It was cold up there... like maybe 50 degrees! Such a neat view of "The Valley of the Sun" though. Phoenix and its suburbs are surrounded by mountains, and from our vantage point, we could see them coccooning the city.

Rita posing for a facebook prof pic :)

I'm not sure if you can see it in this picture or not, but downtown Phoenix really stands out, since it has most of the many-storied buildings in the valley.

All of us girls, freezing our buns off.

Can you see the heart-shaped lake on the golf course that Tiger plays at?

Unbelievable view!

Afterward, we filled our rumbling tummies with Grimaldi's pizza, then warmed up in the hot tub. I was really wanting a sauna, but had to settle...

We went to church yesterday

for the first time in what feels like ages. We went Saturday night too. I'd been looking forward to it since I heard Ken L. was coming a few weeks ago. Saturday night, services were at April G's in Gilbert. There were eleven adults there, and two kids. Sunday afternoon we gathered at Elaine S's in Sun City. Same numbers of adults and kids, but some different names. After church (communion), I got to hold sweet baby Gunner, brother of adorable little Ella. There was lots of visiting over coffee lunch, and we learned of some new places to hike. The whole weekend was a happy one.

5 big ones

I have a special, sunshine-y niece who turned 5 today. I kind of forgot until this morning though, so her card will be late. Happy Birthday Kaisa!

Wow, did I feel powerful today

Maybe it was the strawberry Nerds I ate before I walked out the door, or the Skillet blasting through my pink Skullcandy earbuds, but I felt like I could run forever on the treadmill. Of course, I didn't go much further than normal, but I did turn up the mph a teench. Love that feeling!

On a completely unrelated note, although sometimes I do feel powerful at work, I took a few pictures there.

This alstroemeria was so open and completely perfect, I couldn't not take a picture.
This is the chaos of a back room in a flower shop. It may look like a mess, but Lucie (the owner) and I know where almost everything is. The amount of stuff a florist needs to make all the different arrangements customers ask for is amazing!
My workstation is the bit of clear counter space next to the sink, as evidenced by my white waterbottle I go nowhere without.

The colors of the vases (and the organization) on the back shelf speak to me.

Just thought I'd share a little of my job with all of you who have probably never seen (or are even interested in seeing, well too bad ;) a flower shop back room.

YAY!

We have a BALL to play with and a sand VOLLEYBALL COURT to play on. With lights! Plus, it's only a short walk away. It's in the middle of a neighboring apartment complex, so maybe we'll get some randoms to play with too. Last night we played two on two. It was a blast! I have been missing volleyball, and I didn't even realize how much.