Rainy Fall Saturday in Arizona

It doesn't happen too often, but it's been happening more than usual this year (of course). It's been raining all day today! Full on thunderstorms, we had warnings and thunder and lightening and tons of rain! It even flooded our drainage basin again. 2.14" was the final total for today. The other great thing about today's rain, it dropped the temperature from 90° to 70°

This cold front has been the first sign that it will eventually cool down and I can be thankful I live in a winter paradise! We brought in the first day of fall with a high of 104°! Fall is my favorite season so it will be interesting to see how I manage without the crisp cool nights, backyard fires and the beautiful colors of the leaves changing. I miss my favorite tree on my drive to work back in Illinois, it was always one of the first signs of fall approaching. So go ahead and brag about your real Midwestern fall, complete with farmers in the fields.... we'll chat come December/January ;) 

Grand Canyon Trip #2

Yes you read that correctly, I went back to the Grand Canyon, twice in a three month span. My friend Tulip was originally going to come with us when the siblings were out, but she ended up making a trip back home instead. I told her that anytime she wanted to go, I would be more than happy to go back! That place just never gets old!

We knew we were running out of weekends to go before it go too cold up in the high country (That's what AZ folk call up North) and thought this would be a good weekend according to the weather. Man were we spot on! It was such beautiful weather, the high/low was 81°/44° [Compare that to the Phoenix area which was 100°/85°] There was a light breeze and it was just a perfect day to explore the Grand Canyon. We spent so much time hiking down into the canyon (which was awesome) we didn't make it to all the viewpoints along the rim, so this time we pretty much made it almost every single viewpoint there is along the South Rim! 

Here are just a few of the pictures I took from this trip, and again, they don't even do it justice... if you get the chance go! I hope one day I will be in good enough shape to hike to the bottom!

photo credit: Tulip

photo credit: Tulip

They said if you stand under the bell it's good luck! 

We even got to see parts of the river this time too! 

Desert View Watchtower

photo credit: Tulip

Hooray for jackets! 

photo credit: Tulip

photo credit: Tulip

Saw a lot more wildlife this time around too!

Our sunset view from Desert View was amAZing!

I got super lucky with this beautiful picture!

Six Months In

It is crAZy to me that it has already been six months since I moved to Arizona. So much has happened that it's hard to believe all of that was crammed into six whole months! I've survived the heat, dust storms, monsoons, and historic flooding! 

Here's a photo montage of a few adventures I've had to far, there were too many to fit them all in! 

Visit Home!

Good grief, I've had this post sitting ready to post for a few days. My appologies ;) 

For just a short weekend trip home (Friday-Monday) I sure got a lot accomplished! My Friday morning started with a beautiful departure from Arizona, just look at that morning sunshine (and no humidity)

Dad picked me up at the airport and our first stop was back at the office to say hello to all my coworkers that I miss very much! It was so nice to get to see everyone, I ended up staying way longer than I thought I would! Who knew people would want to hear all about AZ life and my new job.

After the office visit I had to make a stop at my favorite ice cream stop, the only place I know of that you can get eyes on your ice cream! My family has been going here since we were wee little ones, and anytime A.Drama or NiBo and I go, we still get eyes... dad sometimes even asks for them! 

After ice cream, dad and I had some time to kill so we just drove around until we got the call that the family was ready. The original plan was to surprise mom, gpa and gma.... so only A.Drama, a few friends and dad knew I was coming. For months and months the secret was safe. But A.Drama let it slip about 2 weeks before I was due to arrive, and to make sure she knew, my friend BWurm let it slip too. Oh well... it was good timing for mom since she was a little down that NiBo had shipped out for boot camp, so in the end I'm glad she knew and had something to look forward to. 

A.Drama sent us a text once they were all settled in their seats at one of our favorite pizza places (another haunt that we have been going to since we were all wee little ones) There was an empty seat next to gma so I sad down and said "Can I sit here?" The look on her face was priceless, she just looked at me with her mouth open and started to tear up! I didn't get to see Gpa's face but A.Dram said it was pretty much the same. They were so excited to see me, it was an awesome surprise! 

How I've missed these simple roads! 

Midwest sunsets are pretty awesome

I got my haircut, the bangs are back! 

A.Drama and I paid a visit to Roger Ebert and had to pose for a thumbs up! 

Cornfields as far as the eye can see! 

Had to made a stop at an Illinois pizza staple

Yay! Gma and Gpa! 

A.Drama and I also made a stop at the orchard, I picked up some apple butter and pumpkin butter! 

It was nice to visit back home, even if it was super humid. I was glad to get back to my dry heat Arizona though! The little kitties missed me!