10 Things: My First Visit Back to Small Town

This past weekend I had a short 4 day visit back home, my first since I have moved to Arizona. It was a little weird the things I noticed that AZ didn't have that Illinois does, or the things AZ has that Illinois doesn't.

Here's 10 things about my visit back home, stay tuned for a full trip recap! 

* Lightning bugs! AZ doesn't have any that I have seen, well really just bugs in general for the most part

* The Green-ness of the tree lined streets. AZ has palm trees for the most part lining the streets so the green is up high. Tree lined streets are nice

* Geese! I guess there aren't bodies of water all over AZ like there are in IL. A.drama and I went shopping and the little ponds were full of Geese! I've noticed ducks in AZ but not geese. {Correction: I saw geese today, so I guess you just don't see as many here?}

* Road kill. I saw more roadkill animals on the side of the road in one day than I have the whole time I've been in AZ.

* The character of the houses. Houses in Illinois just all have a unique look to them, I think it's the siding that gives them that look. AZ houses all have stucco and look the same for the most part.

* Bugs! IL has so many bugs, A.Drama's windshield was covered. Of course AZ has bugs but they are out in numbers. (which I'm glad of!)

* 2 lane interstates. Amature hour, I'm used to 3/4/5 lanes of traffic... my how my commute has changed.

* Combine tractor jams. I don't miss the highway being clogged with tractors and being unable to pass for miles.

*Humidity! My glasses would fog up every time I got out of the car or left the house... no thanks! 

* Cell service. I don't have to worry about dropped calls here in AZ. I was riding home with A.drama and remembered as the call was dropping out that there is a spot on the way home that I always have my calls dropped. Do not miss that one bit! 

Like I said, stop back later for my whole trip recap! 

NiBo's New Adventure

I don't think I've mentioned NiBo's grand adventure but he is currently away on his big new adventure. NiBo joined the US Army and left August 4th for boot camp in Georgia. We are all very very proud of him! 

I already miss him a lot, I'm used to getting several texts of silly pictures a day or something random that he has to show me. The radio silence is killing me! I hate not knowing what his day is like.... I'm sure it's a lot of hurry up, wait, then run. I can't say I'm envious of his current situation... all the yelling and screaming, and I'm in no shape to be running around Georgia in the middle of summer! 

Before he left there was a big send off of family, friends and neighbors. A.Drama even made him a great cake! I even made an appearance via FaceTime.. man ya gotta love technology! 

A couple days after he left small town, mom got the phone call about 1am from him that he had arrived safely. It will be awhile before we get to hear from him again. He won't have a lot of phone privileges, he'll have to earn those, but he does get to write home. I hope he writes good letters! I can't wait to hear all about it.

One of the nice things the families have is Facebook, they will post pictures throughout his training. Today we found the first picture of NiBo!! We were all so excited! (That's him on the right) Of course the little turd can rock the camo, and I swear that kid never takes a bad picture... ugh! 

I look forward to attending his graduation from boot camp later this fall. He will be in training for about 14 weeks I believe. I am so incredibly proud of my little bro, I can't even put it into words. I miss the little turd like crazy but can't wait to hear about all his adventures! I'll be sure to keep you guys as posted about him as I can!  

World Cat Day - August 8th

Friday was apparently World Cat day and I missed the opportunity to post about my two adorable cats, Oliver and Audrey! 

Last night there was a neighborhood cat outside the door

Even after I closed the door, they still had to keep an eye out

Here they are playing with their iPad, trying to catch the mouse

Silly Oliver, and a photo taken at just the right moment

Audrey in her cube

She loves to play with her feathers

Oliver thinks he is a BA, I had to put the over on to keep him off! 

It's a rough life being a desert cat

There was a hummingbird outside the window and they both had to be right there! 

I'm so glad these two are finally tolerant of each other. It was stressful at the beginning bringing Audrey into the picture, but I'm glad to say they are finally coexisting peacefully. They still aren't the adorable cuddle with each other picture I had in my mind, but they do play together. I'll be sitting on the couch and Audrey will run through chasing Oliver and the next time through it will be Oliver chasing Audrey. It's cute to watch them play. Oliver is much better behaved and has stopped meowing and waking me up each morning, so I think Audrey was a great addition to our house.

Happy World Cat Day (belated)

Gambling & Wicked Weather

Sorry for my lack of posting my friends, work has been busy! I am officially in week 3/4 for my first training class of new associates. I've had my fair share of up's and down's regarding my first class, but for the most part it's going great! I have a class of 22 students which I co-facilitate with two other colleagues. I'll be ready to just have the first class under my belt and over! 

This past weekend, MB stayed with me a few days while they were working on her apartment. She talked me into going to the casino to spend the day since it was supposed to rain anyway. I walked in with $60 and walked out with $173... I'll take it! 

After the casino, we decided just to drive around a bit, and found ourselves at the summit of South Mountain, and what a view! The pictures don't even do justice! It had just finished raining, so there were a lot of clouds so we didn't get to see the distances that we could on a clear day, you can even see the rain coming down in the distance in the pictures! 

The next day (Sunday) I was enjoying my normal Sunday routine.. surfing the internet.. when I heard what I thought was thunder. It could have been the stupid neighbors upstairs because they constantly sound like they are rearranging the entire place, but then I saw a flash of light and heard the familiar rumble of thunder again! Oh how I love when there is a bit of a thunderstorm here...... or so I thought.

This storm was not the normal rain, a bit of wind, some thunder and some lightening type of storm... oh no.. this one was different.

It began to rain, and as I've become accustomed to, I like to open the door and sit out on the patio as the rain comes down. This time as I opened the door to go outside, out of nowhere came this huge gusting wind and I immediately saw the trees begin to bend and then I heard branches snapping off left and right.... maybe I should just close the door and stay inside. Then I could hear the wind whooshing down the fireplace... that's sure never happened before. Then the power began to flicker on and off, and then it went off for good. Great.... this is really going to cut into my 'True Blood' and 'The Leftovers' HBO time.

Just as quickly as this little storm began it was over, in the span of about five minutes. Storms are a great way to meet ALL your neighbors by the way, as everyone began to come outside and confirm everyone else's power was out as well.

We were all also able to see the damage that had been done too. I was told 'Welcome to Arizona' and 'this is the worst I've ever seen' and several occasions, good to know this isn't the norm. I took a little walk around our complex to survey the damage and this is what I found.... some apartments had their windows blown in, luckily no one's car had anything fall on it, and we don't even know where that big piece of what looks like a roof came from.

... what a mess right? There was debris and branches and limbs all over the place. The great gardeners/grounds crew here works fast though, and they had it all cleaned up by time I got home from work on Monday.

Just look at this before and after! Minus the obvious missing branches from the trees you wouldn't know anything had happened! 

I know my Audrey and Oliver fans are surely wondering what is up with those two... well I'm happy to report they are kinda friends now! 

They chase each other around, one time they come running through and Oliver is chasing Audrey and the next Audrey is chasing Oliver, it's funny to see them play. They still aren't BFF's yet, but they do at least share the bed now.

I couldn't find them the other day and then I heard some noises coming from the bathroom, I turn on the light and look in the tub and find this! I'm sure they were up to no good right? 

The Chicago Cubs are in Town!

The loveable losers made there way to Arizona for a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they lost. At least some things never change.

It was weird watching baseball indoors but the air conditioned 79° compared to the outside 101° was a very welcome addition... I think I can live with baseball indoors.

We got lotto tickets at the game and won our money back! 

Superman was there too! 

My First Arizona Thunderstorm

This past Sunday I finally got to see my first legit rain and a proper thunderstorm! I had to make a Target run and noticed the sky looked a little dark, and after I had got home and been settled in for a bit, the wind picked up and I looked out the window and little drips of water started falling from the sky. 

Of course I ran outside to make sure it was real, and sure enough it was really happening! It was so nice to feel the breeze of a thunderstorm, but then the wind just kept going and soon it was raining sideways! Turns out it had been a series of microbursts and caused quite a bit of damage around the area, lots of trees were uprooted and knocked over, some even fell on cars! Zoinks! Glad that wasn't me! 

RAIN! #LOVEit

Here's a short video of the storm from my front patio, it was nice that I was covered and could sit outside and watch it rain and thunder and lightening! 

A Stroll by the Lake

I took a little stroll down by the lake last night, it was a little warm still but the colors in the sky made it worth it. I was also able to check out the progress on our new building that they are building. It will be nice to have it right by the lake, I'm sure the view will be awesome! 

Dust Storm Warning... For Realz this Time

I was sitting there minding my own business when the emergency alert tone rings loudly from my phone, Dust Storm Warning! I must say this alert is much like a tornado warning back home, the first thing you do before seeking shelter is to run outside and look in the sky! haha! 

Photo: AZ Central facebook page

I didn't take the above picture, I stole it from the local news facebook page but there was no way I could get that perspective from my level.

Here's what it looked like approaching from my complex, looks pretty wicked if you ask me! Then all of a sudden the sky turned very dark and the winds picked up out of nowhere! My friend Tulip lives out by the mountain and she has some wicked pics from there, she has more open area on the other side of her so it was way worse for her. The sky just turned a dark red, it looked like the apocalypse had arrived! 

Some of my other friends who live across the metro area got some nice rain downpours... no such luck for me! Just a couple sprinkles apparently as evident by the horrendous dirty spots all over my car! I long for a good summer thunderstorm, add that to the list of things I miss about Illinois! I think I'll get over it when winter rolls around.

Thankfully I had been home for a good amount of time for this dust storm. I hope the next time one rolls through I'm not out on the road! How's your weather been so far this summer!?

Sibling Visit Part 2: The Grand Canyon

A week between posts was not the plan... my apologies. At long last, here is the much awaited pictures from the Grand Canyon! 

It was $25 per car to enter the park and a few minutes up the road would be the welcome center and parking lots. We visited the South Rim of the canyon since it was a shorter distance. Once you get parked, it's a short walk to the first viewpoint and WOW! The weather was perfect! 86° and a slight breeze kept us cool and we thought ahead and brought plenty of water.

Mather Point

We continued along the trail that follows the rim for a bit to check out some more views...

The wildlife was very chill

NiBo was a little more adventurous than A.drama and I

After we walked along the rim trail (which was paved I might add) we decided we wanted to hike down into the canyon a little ways. I read that even if you are just a little ways into the canyon it's a completely different view. NiBo picked the South Kaibab trail since it was listed as one of the easiest and had the shortest distance for trail stops.

Down and down the trail we go

We almost lost a.drama over the edge!

We made it to the Ooh-Aah Point which was about .75 miles down and took us about an hour I would say. Going down was the easy part... back up was the hike.

If you look closely you can see people up that ledge... we have to get all the way back up there! UGH!

We thought we might have been goners there for a bit (A.drama and I are out of shape) but we made it back up to the bus stop for the trailhead. What seemed like miles and miles only ended up being a 1.5 mile roundtrip hike.

Then we checked out the view as the sun set.

The Grand Canyon was so awesome! If it's not already on your bucket list, I highly suggest you add it and make a point to visit. I will definitely go back! 

Look OL I didn't make it into the next edition of the book!