Day 211, September 17th

Saturday morning, I headed up to PV Mall to have breakfast with my Rachel and her little man Asher.  We had a nice breakfast at Chompie's  and then decided to wander around the mall for a bit.
Rachel asked that we go somewhere close to her house since Asher is only a few months old and isn't a big fan of hanging out of the house all that much.  Well, she is a liar, because we walked around the mall for hours and he only was awake long enough for lunch and was quite the perfect little angel! It was a fun afternoon of shopping with Rachel, we haven't shopped in years so it was a nice treat, and I got some great deals, while staring at Asher's adorable face all afternoon.

Day 210, September 16th

Friday night, we decided it was time for a serious date night! It was Friday, so the perfect opportunity for Fox Fridays!!  He headed to the Biltmore and True Food, and I thought I'd dress for Fall since we're half way through September...well it wasn't Fall weather, I was hot!!
We had a nice dinner, but awkward company.  The couple sitting next to us seemed a bit off from the start, but once they were done with dinner, the wife suggested they go see a movie...bad move on her part.  He yelled at her, they got in quite a fight about why he didn't want to go to the movie, while Ryan and I sat creepily and listened.  After we thought maybe they were on to our eaves-dropping, we headed out to get some frozen yogurt at Mojo.  Another successful Fox Friday in the books.

Day 209, September 15th

Wild Thursday! As I finished reading My Sister's Keeper, which is far different from the movie, Ryan watched football.  We decided to just order some pizza and lounge on the couch.  It was nice, I finished the book, Ryan enjoyed the game, and we had no dishes to do!!

Day 208, September 14th

On Wednesday, we decided to hit the gym and then make some dinner.  We had a nice dinner, glass of wine, and enjoyed our mid week treat.
After dinner, we got to cleaning up, when Gus snuck his little tush into the pantry to try and get some treats, as if he is missing food by any means! He shamefully looked at me when I caught him, apologized and jumped down.  Kids...

Day 207, September 13th

Tuesday was quite a treat, we got rain! Us Phoenix folks are not used to getting rain, so when we do, it is quite a treat.  We were able to turn the air off, open the windows and enjoy the evening air.
After we ate dinner, we decided to take a stroll along the canal and enjoy the rain scented night.
Relaxed and lovely Tuesday.

Day 206, September 12th

Monday was very exciting! My friend Jen, who moved to Denver, was in town so we had a little ladies happy hour.  
After work I headed to the always favorite Aunt Chilada's to meet up with the crew.  We had a good evening chatting, catching up on life and listening to all the excitement that is the life of Jen.
It was a great night getting up to speed, and always a wonderful time with all my lovely friends. 

Day 205, September 11th

Sunday was really a day of not too much excitement. It was the first day of football, so that was really how Ryan spent his day.  I did some chores around the house, read a little and we headed out to the grocery store.
We had some bananas that were on their last leg, so I made some banana nut muffins for the week.
Since it is the 10 year anniversary of September 11th, we had taped all the specials on during the day, and spent the night watching some of them.  It was actually quite a depressing night, and I'm not sure why we did it, but it was a reminder of that day, and how awful that tragedy really was.

Day 204, September 10th

Wooo, it's 9/10/11!
Saturday, I had some family team events around the Valley, so I headed out to make my rounds and support the fundraisers.  While I headed out, Ryan spent the afternoon watching college football with the boys, by boys I mean our cats.
When I got home, we watched a movie and made turkey sloppy joes! This was my first time cooking with turkey, and I must admit I was nervous to try it, but it was quite delish! 
We watched Just Go With It, which was really quite funny! Nice little night in the house of us!

Day 203, September 9th

Friday night marked the start of ASU football season.  I am far from a football fan, but since Ryan and I started our little love session at a football tailgate, it holds a lovely place in my heart.  This year, our usual tailgaters weren't in commission, so we knew it'd be a different year for us.  The first game was a Friday night, and my friend Amy has season tickets and asked if Ryan and I wanted to go.  So instead of tailgating, we hit up Mill for a drink beforehand, which was crazy and reminded us why we tailgate, and then headed into the game.
The weather was crazy, insane lightening storm and a little bit of rain, but the game ended up being quite exciting. ASU won in overtime, which really added to the less then exciting game.  It was actually the first game Ryan and I attended together, so it was a magical moment!
It was a great start to a wonderful college football season.

Day 202, September 8th

Thursday night, we gym'd it up, and then made some dinner.  It was day two of our Abs Diet, six packs coming in nicely :) It was really impressive how yummy their meals are.
We ate dinner, watched a movie cuddling with our children and doing a whole lot of nothing!

Day 201, September 7th

Wednesday was a very stressful night.  Ryan and I had our Fantasy Football draft, BUT Ryan had a baseball game, a playoff game, so he couldn't miss it.  So I was in charge of both our teams.  I've done fantasy for the last few years, but I'm not really a pro in the draft, last year was the first year I did a draft, I've always just done the auto one.  So it's nerve wracking enough to do your own team, but then to have to do someone who actually knows what they are doing...that's stress.
I set up both our computers, had Ryan's picks, and spent the night stressing out and picking our teams.  I was so happy when it was over, and hope Ryan doesn't lose because of the team I got him!

Day 200, September 6th

So as I mentioned last post, Ryan and I bought the Abs Diet Cookbook.  We super love food, and the book has real food recipes so it's right up our alley, we aren't ones to eat chicken and salad every night.
We decided for September we'd try to eat majority of our meals out of the cookbook, so we started Tuesday with the Taco Salad.  We are Mexican food lovers, as I'm sure you're aware, so we decided to start off with a bang with our favorite food.  The meal was really good, I must admit I was hesitant, and we're looking forward to the rest of the month!

Day 199, September 5th

We were super smart about our weekend vacation, coming back, and still having Monday off, because of Labor Day.  That's really the nicest thing to have another day to recover!
We searched for kayaks to buy, they aren't cheap, spent some time with the kids, and went grocery shopping.
Even though we spent the weekend feeling bad about ourselves for knowing exactly how many calories we were eating every meal, I decided I wanted something sweet, so I made some yummy chocolate chip cookies.  The recipe is from the Abs Diet Cookbook, so technically they aren't that bad! Great ending to the perfect weekend.

Day 198, September 4th

Sunday morning, we got up, and started our goodbye tour to SoCal.  After we got ready and packed up, we drove north to Huntington Beach for breakfast.  We ate at this cute patio restaurant, sat next to a couple who lived in Arizona for a bit, and since Ryan wore is Dbacks hat, they chatted us up about our beautiful state for some time.  We shopped for a bit, Ryan got a new pair of board shorts, if you know Ryan you know he has like 27 pairs and really probably doesn't need another, but if I have have 10 fedoras and 10 purses, I can't really complain.
After we watched some crazy street performer, we decided to hit the road back East.  We made the fun drive home, got home late evening and did a whole bunch of nothing.  It was a great weekend getaway, just what we needed.

Day 197, September 3rd

Saturday morning, we woke up, and headed out for the day.  We started off at Park Avenue Cafe for breakfast, enjoyed a morning of eavesdropping and trying to figure out the relationship of the group eating next to us.
After we were fueled for the day, we headed to the bay to do some kayaking. I was a bit nervous about my arms getting exhausted but we had a great time! We kayaked all around the bay, looking at the multi million dollar homes, and made some sea lion friends.  When we were cruising back in, this sea lion was headed right for us, we slowed down so he could cross us, I figure he had the right of way, and he stopped and just stared at us.  It was adorable, and I begged Ryan to buy me a sea lion, and he said his go to answer of we'll see, and we headed back in.  I'm hooked on kayaking, Ryan and I literally want to buy a kayak!  

After kayaking, we hit the beach, had lunch at Ruby's and just soaked up some sun.  We sat on the beach next to a super cute family who had these adorable twin boys, and of course I was totally creeping on them, not in a weird way, but I acted like I was in their family most of the day.
After we were beached out, we headed back to the hotel, got ready, and headed to Laguna Beach for the night.  

We had dinner at Cucina Aleesa, which was delicious and I spent the night trying to find LC's family so I could get in to eventually become her best friend.  That was a bust, so we walked around the shops, sat on the beach for a bit and then headed back.  It was a very eventful and fun day.

Day 196, September 2nd

We made the drive to California Friday morning, rocking out to some seriously sweet tunes.  When we got to the coast, we changed out of our car clothes, and started our weekend fun.  When I was growing up, my family went to Newport every summer, so I have lots of memories stocked up.  My bestie Rachel went three times with me on the family trip, so Ryan was able to hear about all the fun we had together when we went all those years ago.  I also text Rachel most of the weekend to walk down memory lane with her!
We took the ferry over to Balboa Island, wandered around, shopped a little, and enjoyed the beautiful day.  
I have a picture of me on this little horse when I was a youngin, so of course I wanted to recreate it, this little boy walked by as I was reliving my childhood, and told me I was too old to be riding the horse...so I hit him, no I didn't, but I thought about it!! 
We headed back to Newport, walked around the beach and then had dinner at BJ's, which does contradict my rule about eating out on vacation at a place they have where you live, but I think the Phoenix version is nothing like the Newport version, so it's okay.  When we sat down to read the menus, we noticed that they had the calories next to everything!! Why would we want to know that?!?! Oh California! It was a great first night in California, and we were already super relaxed!

Day 195, September 1st

On Thursday, I woke up early and hit the road to Tucson to help our branch down there with their Walk Kick Off Lunch.  It was a great event, and always a lovely drive to the south.
When I got back in town, I ran a few errands, hit up Target, and Hobby Lobby just because, and then headed back home.
Ryan and I made some dinner, cleaned the house, and then got to packing up, because tomorrow morning we are off to Newport Beach!!   Last week Ryan and I were driving somewhere, and I said I wanted to go to the beach, then bam, the next week here we were planning a weekend getaway. When this next month picks up, I am going to start to get overly busy at work, so this weekend was sort of the last chance for us to get away.  We hit the hay early, so we could get on the road early in the am!! 

Day 194, August 31st

I know I got lucky in the husband department, and I try not to boast about it too often! Wednesday night, I had some homework to do, which is tough since it can be hard to be in the same house with someone and not talk to one another.  But that's what needs to happen, which means Ryan needs something to do too.  Ryan always irons his clothes in the morning for work, which I think is insane, a little wrinkle never hurt anyone! :) So I suggested, if he'd like to have an extra 10 minutes, he should have an ironing night, and get it out of the way for the week.  So while I did homework, that is exactly what he did! Lucky me, some of my clothes got into the mix as well!!! 

Day 193, August 30th

On Tuesday, Ryan had a baseball game, and always the sly fox I am, I asked my mom and Rick if they'd like to treat me to dinner!!  They agreed, so one more night I didn't have to make dinner or sit home alone all night. 
We usually do Mexican food, as it is my favorite, but I often feel like Rick wishes we'd go somewhere else.  So I suggested they come to our house, and then we'd head down to the adorable Amano.  They loved it, and we seriously ate so much food.  Glad I was able to show these two the cute cozy side of SoPho rather than the ghetto perception.  

Day 192, August 29th

Monday, nothing too crazy.  After the gym, we made dinner and did a bunch of nothing! Gus, our oldest, is really quite helpful around the house, and he helped Ryan make dinner.  It's weird how he is so interested in what we do when Max could care less most of the time if we're even around!

Look at that adorable little fur ball!! Sorry, we legitimately did nothing interesting this fine Monday! 

Day 191, August 28th

Sunday was Ryan's mom's birthday, so we headed up to the North valley to celebrate!  We had a yummy lunch, and two delicious cakes, carrot and red velvet! Yum!! Luckily Danielle shared with me, so I could have each cake and not look like a total oinker.  We were finally able to give Denise the photo book we made of the wedding photos, so that was nice, since I had been anxiously waiting to give it for weeks! 
After lunch, we headed home, made some dinner, and did some serious lounge work!

Day 190, August 27th

Saturday, I had our Walk Family Rally at Arizona Science Center.  We had a fun day, talking walk, and hanging out.
When I got home, Elise requested that I pick her up from the Airport, and we have a ladies evening out on the town.  I picked up Elise, we got ready, and then headed over to Amy's house.  Our men were out on the town together, so it was the perfect evening for just the girls to get together.
We went to Bravo Bistro, on Scottsdale, which I've driven by 1000 times, but never thought to actually go there.  It was a little romantic for the three of us, but it was a delicious dinner and a great night.
After dinner we went back to Amy's chatted for awhile until the boys came home, and then continued our chat with them! It was a long, but fun day!

Day 189, August 26th

Thursday night, we whipped up a creamy pesto dish for dinner that was simply magical.  We had dinner, enjoyed a glass of wine, and decided to try, for the third time, to watch The Roommate.  We got the movie a few weeks back, and Ryan was looking forward to watching two hotties, but the disc wouldn't play in our dvd or wii, so we sent it back to Netflix.  We got a replacement, it didn't work, we sent it back, got a replacement, and for the third time, it didn't work!!! 
Finally I gave up on the movie, we sent it angrily back, and returned to our life.  I hear it wasn't a good movie, but that is besides the point.  I would have liked to have been the judge of that!!

Day 188, August 25th

On Thursday, my sister and I headed out on the town for some grub and gab! We went to Zinburger, I know, two Fox Restaurants in one week!! Wild!
We had a delicious dinner, watched the awkward table next to us dealing with seating issues, and all together had a nice evening.
We went back to Ann's and I helped her shop for a new chair for awhile, until the clock said I best mosey on home.  Always a lovely time with Annimal Kracker.

Day 187, August 24th

Wednesday night, Ryan had a baseball game and since I have recently started back up at school, I spent the evening at the table, learning, and drinking. I always find a beer helps retain knowledge.  I set up a little fiesta, and got to work.  It was a lovely, productive evening.  You can even see that Gus was interested in what was happening! 
When Ryan got home, we chatted about his game and then hit the hay!

Day 186, August 23rd

When we saw Cindy on Saturday, she suggested we do a little double date action that week! So Tuesday, we took Cindy and Keith up on that offer!  We all met up at Blanco, had a yummy dinner and then decided to head up near the mall to have some frozen yogurt at Yogurtland. It was a fun night, Cindy confessed to us that as a child she had thoughts of being a serial killer, which is way weirder then my imaginary friend Kenny who I every once and awhile forget was imaginary and wonder why I can't find him on Facebook...

Day 185, August 22nd

Monday, we turned the day upside down!! That's right, we had breakfast for dinner!!! Ryan has gotten into getting up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym, and as lovely as that sounds, I can't quite jump on that train! So while I was at the gym Monday evening, he whipped up a nice little brinner for us! I scarfed down the delicious food and we spent the rest of the evening on the couch.