Tom and Trisha

I met Trisha at work almost 2 years ago. We started hanging out and became really good friends. After a while we started "double dating" and now the four of us hang out almost every weekend. I really love them both. They are both so generous and easy going. Trisha is absolutely hilarious and Tom is probably the most laid back person I know. It was really awesome to have them come to Mexico with us. We had such a great time. They are the coolest couple and I am so glad we have become friends. While we were there I took some pictures of them for their Christmas cards. They are both shy (well, Tom is shy and Trisha claims she's shy) so it took a lot of encouragement to get them kissing in public AND in front ot the camera! Thanks guys, I had a blast! I can't wait for our next trip!

Paradise

I know I've neglected my blog the last few days, but I have a very good reason for it.

We were in Puerto Vallarta! It was the most wonderful trip ever!

Everything was just perfect: the place, the weather, the people, the food...

The main reason for the trip was to attend Brooke and Conor's wedding but we did much more than that. I'd say the highlights of the trip were:

1. Aunt Nancy laughing so hard she fell of the chair at Club Nitro

2. Getting Tom and Curt to dance on stage under the spotlight at Club Nitro for the dance competition

3. Swimming with the dolphins - This was a dream come true for me!

4. Dinner at Dos Santos - the best meal I've EVER had!

5. Playing with Avery

6. Spending time with my friends

7. Getting to wear a bathing suit 5 days in a row

Sister Time

I think today was the first time I spent time with my sister without my nephew ever since he was born 17 months ago. I missed having him around but we got a lot more accomplished than we normally do when he is around. This was also the first time my sister got to update her wardrobe ever since she got pregnant. Needless to say it was quite the shopping spree! We shopped for five hours - no brakes! I'm exhausted! I felt like we were on that show What Not to Wear. We got some great clothes and had some good laughs. The best part of it all though was spending time with my sister. No matter what we do, we always make it fun and today it was no exception. I love you, sis.

I love Saturdays

Yesterday morning I went over to Chandler High School to give a talk on sports nutrition to the wrestling team. They were a great group of kids to present to. They were very respectful and asked a lot of good questions. I'm looking forward to watching them this season. Go Wolves!
From the school I went over to the Chandler mall to meet my friend Trisha. We had lunch at the Wild Flower Bread Company and it was really good. I love it that we always get something different and then share because I have a difficult time picking just one thing. After lunch we did some shopping for our upcoming trip to Mexico. She's the best shopping buddy in the world! And this became even more evident as we were shopping for shoes and I heard one girl telling her friend "Those are dynamite, you have to get them, they will go with everything!" I looked over and the friend had the ugliest pair of boots I have ever seen in my life and she was really unsure about getting them and her "friend" kept on pushing her to - how mean!! Girls, only shop with people you trust! By the way, I don't usually listen in on people's conversation, but when you hear someone use the word dynamite you can't help it but pay attention.
When we were leaving Trisha got a flat tire and I went over to the gas station to help her. It was really funny because we didn't really know what we were doing, but we figured it out.
My boss Pam attended a wedding at the Seville golf club with her family and she asked me to come take some formal portraits of them after the wedding. It was only 3pm so the sun was still pretty high and even though it's November it was really hot!
At night we went over to Mickey's Hangover to meet my friend Daniela (and some other friends) to watch the UFC fight. I think it's safe to say the guys watched the fight while the girls talked. We got home pretty late and this is why I'm only posting this today.
Here's my boss Pam and her family. Her husband John, her girls Kelly and Kimmy and her son Kendall. I really feel lucky to work for someone who's so wonderful. It was fun to see you on a weekend, Pam!

New Friends

Tonight Curtis and I went over to Mary and Brett's place. They just bought a townhome pretty close to our place and it's so cute. Mary has done a really good job decorating it and making it feel cozy.
Brett made a delicious lasagna and then the boys went out and got us all some Cold Stone ice cream. So good! (I had cheesecake ice cream with strawberry ice cream and almonds).
This was the first time that we hung out just the four of us. I really enjoyed getting to know Mary better. She's such a sweetheart! I feel like I have a new friend :)
We had a great time guys! Thank you!

She's so beautiful!

The cute couple! Thanks, it was great!

Really think about it - It's funny!

While I was at the gym today moving my legs in circles on the eliptical machine and really putting a lot of effort into it, I started laughing... It felt kinda dumb to be putting so much effort into moving my body but really not going anywhere!
It's interesting how we think we are saving so much time and effort by having dishwashers, microwaves, cell phones, automatic cars, being able to shop online, buying your food without getting out of the car, etc... But then we need to go spend at least one hour a day exerting ourselves without really having an immediate purpose. In the old days, you would put a lot of effort into your daily activities but with an immediate goal in mind. Such as squating down to pick up logs and do a few bicep curls to bring them inside the house to use them for fire for cooking. These days we do squats and bicep curls just for the heck of it! The more I thought about this and looked around the gym the funnier it got! So don't skip the gym tomorrow but try not to laugh :)

Good Buy?

My second day blogging. Yay! On my way home from work today I stopped to get a few things for my Christmas party. I was going to blog about that but I want it to be a suprise... So, as I was looking for cute Christmas dinner things, I spotted the most gorgeous brown, knee-length, leather boots. Yeah, I know, shoes are in a completely different section, but I can't help it, my eyes just do that all on their own. As I walked over toward the boots, I was secretely dreaming that they would be my size and that they would be on sale, but really I knew that would be impossible. Afterall it's just the beggining of "boot season". I couldn't believe that they were a size 6 and they were 75% off! I bought them - of course! As I was driving home (feeling really good about my purchase) I noticed that the temperature outside at 6:30 pm was still 78 degrees! Kristen, can my boots and I come visit you in Colorado?

Wonderful Friends

Speaking of having the people I love far away from me... My wonderful friends Chris and Al are moving to Florida - Sad for me, good for them! They actually live in Tucson but we always made an effort to see each other often. This weekend Chris, Al and their little Gabriella came to see us. We met at the Chaparral Park in Scottsdale. They are the sweetest people ever and it's always so much fun to hang out with them :) I couldn't help it but grab a few shots of this beautiful family. I'll miss you guys. Thank you for being such wonderful friends.

Greetings from Arizona

I can't believe I'm writing my first blog post. I remember the first time I heard about chat rooms, blogging, etc. I thought to myself "I will never do that". I like human contact and talking to people way too much to ever trade it off for a computer screen. Well as it turns out half the people I really love and care for are spread all over the world! I guess blogging makes me feel like we are all a little bit closer and that's a really good feeling :)

So here's to blogging and to all the people I love who are so far away from me. I hope we can meet up again soon. Until then, check back often. I'll try to post daily :)