Day 344, January 28th

Saturday morning we ate some breakfast and took a nice long walk on the beach. Nice little exercise and chat time!! Then we basically just chilled to the max the rest of the day.  Did a little shopping, a little eating, a little drinking and even a little bit more sleeping.
As the sun started to set, we headed to Wrecked at the Reef to meet up with Nate and Paula for dinner before The Peacemakers concert at JJ's.  Ryan and I hadn't been to Wrecked before, but it is a pretty happening spot.  The food was yummy and it was right on the beach, a place we will start frequenting from here on out!
After dinner, we drove out to JJ's for the concert.  We were having a few beers in the parking lot before the concert started and while we were sitting there, low and behold Roger and the rest of the band pulled up and headed in!! It was exciting, and also our cue to get inside for the show!! 

The concert was obviously amazing, per usual.  I think the JJ show is my favorite, it's sort of like sitting on your back patio with a band playing for you. After intermission we lost Nate and Paula in the crowd...Paula's fun level was met...so we wandered closer, ran into our usual Roger Crew and spent the rest of the night singing and rockin! 

Day 331, January 15th

Sunday, Ryan and I had Ann, my mom and Rick over for dinner to celebrate Rick's birthday. We spent most of the day cooking, but I did duck out for awhile.  On New Year's Day this year, my friend from High School's little baby passed away in her sleep.  So sad to watch a family have to deal with something like that.  Rachel and I headed over to our friend's house to help him say goodbye.  They did a beautiful balloon release, and it was nice to see everyone for awhile.

After that, I headed back home to get dinner ready. Ann sent this recipe for Chicken in a Pinot Noir sauce so we made that along with popovers, that didn't actually since I used wheat flour, darn me trying to be healthy!! 

Gus and Max were so happy to see Rick, Gus is always a social dude, but it was weird to see Max joining in on the fun.  All in all it was a nice day and I think Rick enjoyed his birthday celebration with us.

Day 330, January 14th

Saturday morning, I headed out early to work the Volunteer Training at The Phoenician.  This year I was in charge of the Gala Volunteers so that was exciting, I did that my first year working at JDRF, so it was nice to go back and do it again.  One of the volunteers said I looked like I was from the midwest...I was insulted, but not sure why.  Luckily I was hanging with one of my many midwest friends that afternoon, and she eased my fears.

When I was done with work, I headed home, got ready and then Ryan and I headed out to meet up with Tommy, Kristen and Elise at the Food Truck Festival. I had been pretty excited about going to this all week, and when we got there, this guy offered us discounted tickets so that was even cooler.  Then we got into the event, and saw why that man probably left and gave us his tickets.  There were lines everywhere!! Every truck probably had about an hour wait, we split up, waited the hour, finally got to the truck only to find that they had run out of almost everything.  Disappointing to say the least.  We ate, Ryan and Tommy rode the giant slide and then we said goodbye to the Food Truck Fest. 

After the Food Truck Festival, we headed up to Tilted Kilt to meet Heather and Alex to watch the Patriots game. We stopped at Target on our way there, and Ryan made an outfit switcharoo, and then we had a nice evening with G4.  Patriots won, as you all know since they made it to the Superbowl this year.

Day 324, January 8th

Sunday, Ryan and I hosted the AACC challenge.  This month was Chili, and being that I don't even really like chili, I knew that there was no chance I'd be victorious!!

We had seven different chilis, with white chili, chili with corn bread to more traditional, they were all pretty good for a gal who isn't a huge fan! It's very stressful voting for just one favorite.  They all had different things I liked but were all so different. 

In the end AJ was announced the winner and was given the traveling trophy for his amazing efforts!!  It was nice hosting, as stressful as the before is, it's nice to not have to drive home, instead just plop down on the couch.  Gus was his usual wonderful self, entertaining everyone, while Max hid, because he's a weirdo.

Day 323, January 7th

On Saturday, we hit the gym, the grocery store and then spent a good deal of time with household chores.  As the day was winding down Ryan suggested that since the weather was nice that we go grab a drink and some food on a patio somewhere.  He invited Brian to join us and I asked a few people if they'd like to come as well.  Lucky for me Elise's New Year resolution was to go out more, so she was basically forced to join us!!

We went to Z Tejas on Mill since it felt like decades since we had been there.  We had a fun evening of hanging out and chatting with friends.

Day 315, December 30th

Friday morning, Ryan and I hiked Camelback Mountain.  I have never done it and was actually scared I couldn't make it!! Whenever Sam stays with us we like to hike with him, so to finish off 2011 we thought we'd do something big!!

It was super crowded, lots of people in for the bowl games, but overall, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! We had some many people in love with Sam, and he seriously acted like he hiked mountains on the regular!! Overall it took us about 2 hours to do, with lots of stops for Sam, we didn't need them of course!! There was a girl there who said it was her third time hiking and first time actually making it to the top, that made me feel good about myself, and good for her too!

After our day, Sam took a long nap and Ryan and I headed to my dad's house for the Tamale Party.  Last year's Tamale Party was hard since it was my first without Stephanie and my other friends weren't able to make it, but this year was much better! I spent the first half with Rachel and my man Asher.  Now that's he's getting older and bigger, he's not as scary to me.  Their family left early to get Asher to bed, and Amy and Mary entertained me the second half of the evening!! It was a fun night, there weren't as many tamales left over as I would have liked since I'm a pigola, but a good night non the less!

Day 313, December 28th

Wednesday, Amy and Heath invited us up north for a day of snowboarding.  This will be my third time snowboarding and I am no better today then I was the first time I tried it.  Ryan tried to teach me the first time we went together, and God love him, but he's not the world's best teacher.  So this time, I decided I would just take a lesson and see if this is something I should even continue to try!!

We got there in the morning and the three of them took off, I felt bad for Amy having to spend all day with the boys, but knew she could handle it.  I spent most of the morning in line waiting to rent my stuff, sign up, all that jazz. 

I met back up with everyone for lunch, everyone including Ryan's sister Valerie and niece Sofia who also were up for the day.  After lunch, I ventured off on my own for my lesson.  Of course I got the least skilled snowboard teacher, but after 2 hours, I actually felt like I was doing a little better then I started out.  I actually stopped on my own, which I hadn't done before! It was a fun day, I'd say with friends, but I really was alone for most of the day!! haha

We headed home that evening, spent some time with Sam, headed to Gallagher's for a quick dinner, then relaxed on the couch the rest of the night. Sad to think our week off is half over!

Day 302, December 17th

Saturday we had quite a full day.  We woke up, went to the gym to get Ryan's mind right and then got ready for the day.  Afternoon found us in Tempe, meeting up with Tommy and Kristin to grab a drink and some snacks before they headed to the ASU basketball game.  It was a nice afternoon chill sess, and then Ryan and I went to World Market, drove around Arcadia and then headed home. 
We took a catnap, and then got ready and headed out to Amy and Heath's Christmas party.  We had a great night with our friends, sad Jen didn't arrive like she did last year, but a fun night indeed.  We pretty much closed that party down!! Can't believe Christmas is next week! Wowza...

Day 297, December 12th

Monday was nice.  I took the day off from work, had lunch with Julia before she started her road trip home to Minnesota, went grocery shopping and got some present wrapping done! All in all, it was a productive day.

I was hosting Book Club that evening, so the ladies were coming over to discuss everything besides the book! Ryan's sister Adrienne is in the club, and the only one who has kids, so things like getting a babysitter is something she thinks about, something we don't even have a clue about! Ryan and I had the genius idea to have her bring the kids, and he'd take them out to a movie while we occupied the house. 

It was a win win...babysitter for the kids, and something for Ryan to do!  We had a great time at Book Club and Ryan had fun with the kids out at the movies.  They went to see The Muppet Movie, which I'm sure Ryan was super excited about!

Day 295, December 10th

The Arizona Cardinals opened up their practice on Sunday for a few kids from JDRF, so I woke up early and headed out to hang with the kids and the players.  It was a fun morning, getting to see the inside of the locker room, gym and finally getting to watch a little of practice.  After practice the players signed footballs for all the kids! Because we are too cute to boot, my favorite kiddo and I wore matching shirts!! :)

After the practice, I went home, Ryan and I decorated the Christmas tree and then got ready and headed over to my mom's house for her Christmas Open House.  We had yummy food and spent the evening getting into the Christmas spirit.

After the party, we headed out to Toby Keith's I Love this Bar to say goodbye to Julia before she headed off to Minnesota.  She got a job back home so she was leaving us for cold weather!

It was a long, crazy, but fun day!!

Day 288, December 3rd

Saturday was a lovely little day for us.  A few months back when Ryan went to Marisa's birthday party and I had to do homework, he stopped by Alex and Heather's place to see their new home.  So finally, months later, I finally got to see the pad and have a nice little afternoon with our fellow G's.
The house is adorable, little baby's room is precious and pink, and Jasper is doing good per usual.  We cooked up some lunch and hung out all afternoon, talked life, watched some tv and had some serious friend time.
After we headed out, we hit the road north to Ryan's parent's house to put up Christmas lights on the house.  It was unusually freezing, so while Ryan hung lights, I sat in the heated car, or looked at funny pictures of little Ryan in their garage.  After the lights were hung, we headed home for the night to relax after our long fun-filled day!

Day 277, November 22nd

The wonderful thing about holidays is it brings friends back in town!! Michelle left in the Fall to get her MBA at NYU.  She is living a fancy life in the big city and we are all excited for her.  But, on the same hand, miss having her around.
So now it's Thanksgiving week, and she's in town for a quick visit.  After work I met the ladies at Mucho Gusto for some catch up time.  It was great to see everyone, and hear about Michelle's adventures.   
I am pretty confident all my friends are tired of me taking photos of them for the blog...sorry ladies!! 

Day 276, November 21st

Monday, Mary and I did our usual Piyo time then headed home, prettied up, and headed out to Postino for some bruschetta and wine.  
Anyone who has been, knows parking is not plentiful.  We pulled right into a spot and were surprised, and then puzzled when we saw a sign saying that it was only parking for the bakery.  We struggled with should we move the car, is it that big of a deal?! And finally, we decided karma would not be good if we stayed, so Mary pulled out of the spot, and as she did, someone was leaving another spot, closer to Postino!!! If that's not good karma, I don't know what is!
We got to the restaurant a little before 8 p.m., when the $20 deal starts, waited a bit for a table and then saw two open spots at the bar so headed up there.  We were in desperate need of catch up time, as we have both been so busy and when we lived together we used to have these random catch up sessions in the kitchen that could last hours depending on what was going on.  This was our kitchen catch up...just not in our old kitchen.

We ordered a bottle of wine, got our food, and got to some serious talking.  I finally caught up on her life and she on mine and it was lovely to have a fun Monday night together.

Day 275, November 20th

Sunday, we cleaned the house, and cooked up our soup for the big competition.  I always get stressed out in situations like this. I think well what if Ryan and I are the only people in the world that thinks this is even good?!?! Despite my worries, I cooked up the soup and headed over to AJ and Jenna's.
So, my Book Club isn't really much of a true club.  We do read the books, but when we meet, we very rarely talk book talk.  So when I realized how much more intense this group was, I knew I had to get my ish together!  We had about 8 or so different soups, all totally different and all delicious! It was a tough decision, but I voted for the eventual winner, French Onion soup, since I'm not really a huge fan of that type of soup, but loved this version.
After we tasted all the soups, voted and determined the winner, we moved on to the blind taste test portion.  One person chooses 4 foods and and each person tries to guess what they are.  
I was super worried about this originally, but didn't do as terrible as  I though I would.  I love this photo because of Ryan's face! 
We had a fun night, and it's always fun to do new things, not to mention a reason to continue to improve my cooking skills.

Day 274, November 19th

Saturday was quite a busy day! It marked 3 years since this crazy relationship started! We hit the gym and then the grocery store to celebrate! haha.  Tomorrow I would be joining my co-worker Jenna's Cooking Club to compete in a Soup Challenge. I think I make a nice Tortilla Soup and was happy to join! The challenge was that you had to make your own stock. So Saturday I hit the store to STOCK up on supplies and get to work on preparing the stock for the soup tomorrow.  It wasn't a bad experience, except chopping up the chicken, I had Ryan do that gross part.

After the stock was complete, we packed up and headed out to ASU for tailgating with our friends.  We knew the ASU/UA game would be a bit more crowed, but seriously, it was a madhouse! The lots were full, cars everywhere, madness I tell you!  We finally found a spot, in a lot far away, but luckily there were some folks there so we posted up.  It was a crew of mostly ladies, which is funny and sad in the same way.  We were having a lovely game of flip cup, having a grand old time, when we decided to take a quick bathroom break and noticed these young girls who asked for a water earlier, on the ground, not looking too good.  Well long story short, pretty sure one of the girls had alcohol poisoning, so we forced her to drink lots of water and called an ambulance to come get her.  She wasn't happy with us but when she is older and wiser like we are, she will come around I'm sure!! 
After that drama, we resumed our fun, and once the game started moved down to Mill to watch it.  Well it was a sad loss for us Sun Devils, but in us fashion, we still had a grand time! 

Day 272, November 17th

What a busy week!!! Thursday night, Amy hosted book club and we had a nice evening of not discussing the book.  This was especially good since not only did I not finish the book, I didn't even start it...or buy it.  I used the classic, school and work consuming my life excuse as to why I didn't read it. 

Update, I finally did read the book, The Shack, and it was very good. You should read it.

It was a nice night of catching up with everyone, eating delicious foods and enjoying each other's company.

Day 271, November 16th

When I was living with Mike and Mary we had Game Night every Wednesday for a good long while.  Then because life got in the way, we had to put it on the back burner.  We tried a few months ago, just the four of us to revive it, and although it was a fun evening, we let a lot of time pass before we did it again.

And here we are today! Mike and Mary hosted a wonderful, and full Game Night.  We had a lovely make your own Mexican Bar, and we battled against our friends and loved ones for the title of Champion.  

We drew names from a hat for teams, which I love, like when you are kids and you do things to get to know one another!!  Trivial Pursuit was hard, Jake and I were partners, and although we weren't terrible, we weren't excellent either.

We had a fun night with our friends, food, drinks and of course games!

Day 245, October 21st

Mary and I have a nice little tradition of going to haunted houses each Halloween time.  When I first moved in with Mike and Mary we went one Sunday without Mike, he is too scared, and a tradition began. We have had several fun nights, from Stephanie crying and being chased out of a field, to almost getting in a fight last year, so many memories!
This year we went to the 13th Floor which we heard was oh so scary!  So we waited in line, caught up on life, and then headed in.  There were two different houses, and we were excited.  The production was amazing, but I wouldn't say it was all that scary! It was hot, that's for sure, but I didn't scream all that often!
After the Haunted House we headed to bar to have a drink and chat before we headed home for the night.  It was a fun night with my best!

Day 234, October 10th

Monday, after Mary and I conquered Piyo, I headed over to Southern Springs to visit my old stomping grounds.  I hadn't seen Mary since she headed out on her road trip for work, so it was the perfect time to catch up with my froomies, and furoomies! Mike ordered us some pizza and wings, and we caught up like old times.  It's weird to hang out at a friend's house when you used to live at that house! 
It was a nice relaxing night, just like old times, and it is always nice to see Nash and Lucy, and play a good game of fetch.

Day 231, October 7th

It is hard to believe it's been a whole year since Stephanie passed away.  It really is crazy how fast a year can fly by.  This whole week had been pretty hard, so I was expecting to have a tough day Friday, but surprisingly felt pretty okay.  Rachel text me and asked how I was, and said she was experiencing the same thing.  
Ryan and I started the day by hiking Squaw Peak, and I'd like to say it's because Steph and I used to hike it every week, but that's just not the case.  To our defense, we did hike often together, and hiked Squaw Peak last spring while she was waiting to hear if she had been accepted into the Peace Corps.  She had gone hiking with her brother's girlfriend and felt out of shape, so we went to get in some practice hikes before the next hike she would take with Cece.  We hiked the mountain, and sat at the top talking about how crazy it will be when she is in the Peace Corps, not seeing each other for a couple years, and what if she met her future husband, and African King of something exciting like that.
So anyway, Ryan and I went out and hiked and I told him all the crazy nonsense I just babbled about on here!
That evening, Steph's parents had an open house for her family and friends to get together and remember our friend.  It was a great night catching up with everyone, and telling classic Steph stories.
The day as a whole, was pretty okay.  I think the hardest part was knowing that I don't have a friend like Steph anymore.  I thought about what she would have done on this day if it were another friend of mine.  She was very good about doing things for friends who were down.  She made me a break up box once, with all sorts of goodies to "help" me through a break up, so I knew if she could have, she would have been here for me today, doing something to cheer me up.  And maybe she was, which is why both Rachel and I weren't all that sad today.