March 1 Seems Good Enough

Hello old friends. March 1st seems like a good enough day to come out of what seemed like a million year hiatus.

Big changes on the horizon. A new year and a new turn of the page to see what this story of life has in store, one door closes and another one opens, every end is a new beginning and yada yada ya. All that.. stay tuned. Familiar places, new adventures. Join me won't you....

Ugh. I Hate to Say It.

I turned on my air. Ugh! There I said it. It's hot here. It's too soon, and it's allegedly only for the past few days then it will drop back to a more normal and comfortable temperature. But it was up to 82 in the house here and I just couldn't take it anymore.

So farewell again to my comfy pants and warm cushy socks and slippers. It's time for shorts and tank tops for sleeping again. I guess that means I'm going to have to start shaving my legs again. Ugh. The struggle is real here in the desert.

Single Swag

Do you ever have one of those weeks that feel like two? Yeah.. been there, seems like weekly these days. But today when the clock finally turned 8pm... I was free! I had a happy mailbox when I checked this evening and it's always a nice to have happy mail! 

I'm a fan of subscription boxes, I've done Birchbox before which is a monthly box delivered full of makeup and beauty samples. I've never been a huge wearer of makeup and my beauty routine remains something to be improved so I haven't subscribed to Birchbox for a while but I did manage to find a few products that have become regulars.. I'm looking at you Lulu Organics Lavender Clary Sage Hair Powder. I came across the Singles Swag, which is a monthly subscription box where you can discover full-sized products from best selling books to artisan-crafted foods and trending fashion accessories. I've seen some of the boxes in the past on their Instagram page and who can say no to box off goodies to treat yourself! Here's a peek of what was inside my March box. Pretty good I'd say! Can't wait to see what I find next month! 

If you think you'd like to give a try use this code for 25% off your first box! 

Happy Fri-yay everyone and remember happiness is not having to set an alarm in the morning! 

Seven Years Ago on a Tuesday

Tuesday March 2nd is an important day in North of 10th history. Seven years ago this little blog came to be. I find it fitting that on the month of its seventh anniversary I'm back. 2016 saw only 5 sad little updates to the blog and that is not going to happen again starting now. I think I initially began the blog as an escape from my every day and sadly I find myself needing an escape once again. 

September 1st of last year I found out the job that I had moved to Arizona for, a job that I came to love so much, was being eliminated due to a reorganization at my company. The great thing about the company I work for is that a job being eliminated does not mean you are no longer with the company, it just means you have to post for a new opportunity within the company. At first I was bummed, but tried to remain optimistic knowing that this could end up meaning a promotion for me. December 5th, just three months after I first learned my position was going away, I was starting my new job in the company in our claims area. We had about a month of training before going 'live' on the phones and it the work queues.

Here I am about three months into this new position and I already feel off. I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is. But I can tell that this job is not inspiring me and using the skills I had become so accustomed to in my previous position as a new hire trainer. I should be happy this is a promotion for me and a great opportunity for me to advance in the company but it's not turning out to be the happy occasion I had hoped it would be. 

So yet again I find myself in need of distraction and inspiration. I hope those that followed me since the beginning and the new followers who I picked up along the way will once again join in this crazy little life of mine here at North of 10th. 

For those curious to see what the very first post was like all those years ago... click here for a little blast from the past.

Don't Talk and Target

Went to Target for 3 items, returned with 14. 14 of the most random items on Earth. I feel like the cashiers are past the urges of judgement. I was talking to my friend Tulip while I aimlessly wandered the aisles.

Here is my list of items. The first 3 are what I went in for: 

1. Paper Towels

2. Cat Food

3. Glass cleaner 

4. A Weekender Bag

5. Deodorant 

6. A Watering Can (for decoration, I have no plants)

7. Tampons

8. A Wedding Card

9. Razors

10. Toothpaste

11. Double Stuf Oreos

12. Blueberry Pie Oreos (had to try)

13. Denture Cleaner (for my retainer)

24. 2 emergency ponchos (for NiBo and I on our Hawaiian hiking adventures)

The Last Man on the Moon

Tonight while perusing the newly added movies and shows on Netflix, the documentary 'The Last Man on the Moon' caught my eye. 

The documentary follows the last astronaut to step foot on the moon in the final Apollo mission in 1972.

As I watched of course I was enamored by images and the thought of what it must have been like to be one of the few humans who have ever stepped foot on the face of the moon. 

The thing that unexpectedly struck me, even with the mind blowing thoughts of space, was a simple shot of the astronauts being welcomed back and a ticker tape parade in their honor. 

It saddens me to think that I live in a place where my generation has not stood together united as a nation for something so wholesome and hopefully optimistic about the future as my parent's generation did with the space programs. My generation has only stood in united somber and remembrance as tragedy after tragedy has befallen our great nation. We have stood numerous times together as a nation in mourning. Even as I sit here and try to think of a time when we have stood together united in happiness the thoughts escape me. 

Even though it's hard to see past the sadness and to feel hopeless for the future, I remain hopeful that in my lifetime I will be able to see our country united as one for a happy reason that betters all of mankind. 

Are you Ever Actually Done Cleaning?

My version of cleaning, I'm pretty sure, varies quite a bit from what a normal person would consider clean. Clean to me also changes on a daily basis. Can't see the stove because it's covered in delivery pizza boxes? Looks clean to me. Then there are other days where the sight of even the slightest bundle of receipts cleaned out from the bottom of my purse will send me into a frenzy. 

I also suffer from, what I have self diagnosed as, Nocturnal Must-Clean-Now-itis. You know those moments on a Sunday evening, when you should be winding down, preparing yourself for the workweek that is coming, but instead you begin with folding the clean laundry that you should have folded from last weekend when you attempted laundry but didn't. Then next thing you know, you have this urge to go through your closet and make an even better mess in an attempt to 'organize'.

I have been on this cleaning roller coaster for about a month. It ultimately ends up in stacks of clothing that get moved from side to side of my bedroom as I continue to live around the ever growing mass of clothes that I don't even know where they came from. 

A.Drama was in town over last weekend (more on that in the coming days) and we attempted to get organized, but instead fun prevailed (totally not complaining).

But here I am again, when I should be gathering myself for the work week ahead, I find myself sorting through stacks of junk mail into throw away and shred piles. I'm gearing up for a vacation too (more on that later as well) and I want to come home to a really really clean house. 

Even with all that work though, are you ever actually done cleaning? 

Hello Again Friends

Hello there Friends! Remember me? 

It's been a good little while since I've made an appearance here on the world wide web. 

I went to the Junk in the Trunk Market...

and found a Mystery Castle! 

and drove to the top of South Mountain!

What have you all been up to?!

It's 2016... Now What?

Hello friends and welcome to the year 2016! It appears the locals have grown restless with my blog hiatus. The two yahoo's pictured above within 5 minutes of each other had given me a hard time about not updating my blog, so I said smile, you're the front page, the above picture is what you get. 

You might be wondering what I have been up to since October, well here's the short version.

In Mid November we did the WipeOut Run...

December got busy...

On the same day that NiBo arrived in Arizona, that morning I did the Ugly Sweater Run, we had an ugly good time...

Then after that Tulip and I were hungry, and since we didn't make it up to our favorite little spot in Payson to see the fall colors, we decided we would go to see the snow.

The Crosswinds restaurant is a little place at the Payson airport and they have the most amazing Biscuits and Gravy.. seriously they are worth the drive in my opinion. Payson is a small little town and this restaurant is home of the million dollar view. It's right off the runway and small planes fly in to eat and then fly back out. It's net too because they play the communications with the tower over the speaker and you can hear the pilots talking as they make their way to the airport. Both times we've been we've got to see planes coming and going.

You may remember our next stop from my 2014 post 'In Search of Fall' 

We tried to take the same road we took last time to go to the edge of the rim, but it's not maintained during the winter and was closed. So we couldn't go as far as we wanted, but we made the best of it! 

Then that same night, NiBo arrived on the mainland from Hawaii! He has all kinds of interesting stories to tell about his adventures exploring the Island and tales from the Army. (I've tried to get him to guest post but he has declined)

NiBo hung out here in AZ for a few days and while he was here I had the terrible idea of us going hiking to the wave cave that I had heard so much about.

A little background, it's been cold (Arizona cold) for the past two months here. I blame El Nino for my higher than usual winter electric bills. The day we went hiking was really the only day that would work with our schedule and it wasn't the prettiest of days. It was overcast and a bit chilly, the first picture is actually the last picture. As we began our climb down from the cave it began to mist and the low clouds came in and made for a ominous picture.

The wave cave hike is listed as a 'moderate' hike. I don't know who decides what to rate these hikes but a more honest and helpful description might have been if you are out of shape at all, reconsider. I threatened to quit at least 5 times telling NiBo to go ahead and just leave me for dead on this nice rock. He declined and was annoyingly motivating. With my complaining on my end we made it to the cave. Normally you can see the mountains bathed in sunshine as the cave silhouettes you, but that was not the case this day.

You can see why they call it the wave cave! 

We did some shopping and saw all the pretty decorations...

Even the Chicago Airport was dressed in Holiday spirit.

NiBo and I flew into Chicago on Christmas Eve and rented a car to drive the few hours back to Central Illinois. We were not prepared for the lack of food options that late at night on Christmas Eve but at last, the golden arches of McDonald's shined brightly in the distance and we knew we would not starve, for 30 minutes later that Big Mac would be ours.

When we drove down our street and turned into the drive, I joked that mom would probably be sitting in the window watching for us. And sure enough like a little kid waiting for Santa to arrive with the pretty white candle lights in all the windows, there she was. She was so excited to have all three kids home for Christmas I was honestly surprised she wasn't in the middle of the street flagging us down. I mean just look at this tree and all the presents! 

The Monday after Christmas the whole family, mom, dad, A.Drama, Marvin, NiBo and me, went to see the new Star Wars movie at the IMAX theatre, and it was AWESOME! 

We spent the rest of our time at home visiting with friends and hanging with the family while we could. After dinner at our favorite local pizza place one night, NiBo and I went and saw Star Wars again for the second time.

Our time at home seemed both long and short at the same time. We flew back to Arizona on New Year's Day and NiBo flew back to his little island the morning of the 2nd. The kitties definitely missed me as proven in the picture where there isn't enough of me for all of us to be comfortable cuddling.

The first day back to work after a vacation that long is not fun. I'm glad I gave myself the two days of the weekend before I had to be back at work. Usually I don't give myself a break in between, but with this trip I was spoiled and might have to reevaluate my thought process on trips like that in the future.

I read an article and saw some posts on Instagram about this 52 hike challenge. Basically you pledge to complete 52 hikes this year and do just that I will.

My first hike was at the Lost Dutchman State Park on the treasure loop trail. This is the same trail that A.Drama, Marvin and myself completed last year for our first day hike. {you can take a trip down memory lane here}

I even bought myself an annual pass to the Arizona State Parks, so hopefully I will get to explore those this year too.

Howard the Travel Troll went hiking too! 

Be sure to give him a follow on Instagram @HowardsTravels

I also binged watched, on a Tuesday until 1:30am no less, Netflix's documentary show Making a Murderer. A classic tale of did he or didn't he.

That pretty much get's you all caught up on my exciting life. Not too much to tell, but I'll be sure to update more often (It's on my Resolutions list) If you missed the blog while I was on my end of year hiatus, thanks for hanging in there and checking back. I hope today you were pleasantly surprised to have some new content! Catch y'all later! 

3 Years ago today

Thanks to a little app called timehop, your past social media posts are only a finger tap away. Funny that this one popped into my feed today.

Exactly three years ago an overly optimistic October Heather, signed April Heather up for a race two races. A 5k Friday night race and an exhausting 10k race Saturday morning bright and early.

You can read about how that went with the posts titled: Dear October Heather and one gem titled 9.2 Miles in 48 hours.

I say funny this popped up today because, well the thought had crossed my mind to do something similar, only instead of April the race would be in January! I do have the fact that weather will be much more on my side here in Arizona over the winter than it would have been back in Illinois over the winter (which was my lazy excuse last time) I've been throwing the idea around of starting to run, I'm not 100% feeling the snug clothes and I'm past the point of being able to say oh I just moved it was stressful, that's why I eat like crap and never go to the gym.

At the very least I will sign up for the 5k race, stay tuned. I might do something stupid like sign up for the 2nd day race too. You just never can tell here at North of 10th can you?! Also I need some way to kick my dad's butt on the Fitbit steps, that man is a beast! Anyone else fitbit? Oh and that #195 days.. it's 100 days less to prepare as of today #95days #DoubleEek