quick-ish catch up

Seeing as it has been several months since I last updated our Blog, I wanted to do a quick catch up post, lest you all think Ry and I lead a boring life.  Seeing as it has been anything but boring the last couple of months, I am just going to hit the 'high' points...

I guess the rest of August wasn't too interesting, because I can't really remember anything that happened after the Grand Canyon visit...

So, moving right along, that brings us to September...

During the beginning of the month, we were visited by Steve and Diane.  It was a wonderful visit, but I think it was far from a vacation for them, as they dedicated their time in AZ to assisting Ryan and I with home modification projects.  I am still in love with my RED front door.  So great!  The other wonderful thing is that they gave us an awesome swing for our front porch!  

Red door love.

Red, of course!

While visiting, we discovered Bin 239, where we went for an early birthday celebration for Ryan.  The food was all around amazing, but the bread pudding was pretty much to die for.  Yum!  

A week or so later, Brian came to visit, taking the opportunity to carelessly travel prior to starting his NEW JOB!  It was a great weekend for him to visit, as it was the Arizona Best Fest -- an awesome event celebrating the centennial birthday of Arizona!  There were different sections devoted to various cultural aspects of the state, including the military, the hispanic population, being environmental friendly and a, uh, beer garden.  Even Wayne Newton performed, which we actually missed, but I heard it was a... memorable performance.  

We also got lost in conversation and ended up hiking amongst the Prescott Dells for hours one day...  love ya, bro!

During another weekend in September, we darted back for the wedding of my cousin Craig to his beautiful wife, Jenna.  It was a fantastic ceremony that was delivered by this pastor-dude that was from some far-off country and had an awesome accent that made his speech/sermon even more amazing.  At one point, I swear he said "childhood obesity" but I don't know what that has to do with getting married, so I guess I heard wrong.  He was absolutely wonderful to listen to and it was altogether a Beautiful wedding!  Welcome to the family, Jenna.  

Finally, in September, we celebrated Ryan's 26th birthday!  We recall that we went back to Bin 239 for another wonderful Bread Pudding dessert, but that is all Ry or I remember about his birthday.  Obviously I made it super-memorable.  Way to go, wifey.  Psh.  Must do better next year...

I love you, Ryan.  :)

Moving on to October...

What a busy, busy month.  It started off with me flying to Boise, Idaho for a Neuro IFRAH (Integrative Functional Rehabilitation and Habilitation....whew) certification course.  I have been SOOOOO super excited about getting certified and it was a crazy, enlightening week where I learned techniques for treating individuals who have suffered a brain injury or stroke.  After 8-9 hours of class for 7 straight days my brain was absolutely Fried, but in a good way.  It has been awesome trying out all of the techniques over these past couple of weeks and seeing such amazing results!  This is good because I go back in just about a week and a half for the second half of the course!

At dinner one night of the week, while I was at this course, this is the fortune I received in my cookie.  Encouraging.  :)

From Boise, I trekked across the country to Maine, where Ryan met up with me and we spent the week with the Allen family, including their newest little addition, Melanie.  What a blessing to be able to spend time with this family and get to know our little niece.  It was a definite perk that Maine is absolutely stunning this time of the year.  

Meeting little Melanie for the first time!  Love her!!

While out on a run!  

On one particularly beautiful fall day, we went apple picking at a local little orchard.  You are encouraged at this particular orchard to try apples while you are picking to make sure that you get the kinds that you like.  We took this one step further and decided that it would be best to try out the apples while they were still attached to the tree... hence, the evolution of "Hard-Core" Apple picking.

Post-apple picking endeavors included the baking of two Grandma Jo-style apple pies, fresh apple sauce, and a butternut squash and apple casserole side dish.  And we still weren't 'appled-out.'

Other Maine Highlights included:

Heading to the L.L. Bean Flagship store.

Mel-Beans and Uncle Ry Ry exploring L.L. Bean

Carving Moose-inspired pumpkins.  But seriously, what other kind of pumpkin would you carve while in Maine?!

Cool as a Moose

Braving the rain to see the Portland Head Light.

And, of course, falling in love with our new little niece.

At the end of the week, we were, of course, reluctant to leave.  But, never the less, our plane delivered us back to Arizona where we got back to a relatively normal life.  

What a joy-filled couple of months!

bringing colorado to arizona.

I have a new hobby...  Trying to find ways to bring everyone I love to live here in Arizona.  This is proving to be somewhat difficult.  However, I did make some some progress over the last couple of months by having several of the future AZ residents come visit their home.

First, there was the infamous, one and only Jenny Jones.  Her arrival couldn't have been more perfectly timed as I was incredibly homesick that week.  As the weather was crummy (it DOES, contrary to popular belief, Snow in Arizona), we spent the time chatting and catching up on life.  Jenny and my life have this awesome/weird way of aligning, in that, we generally experience the same life occurrence one right after the other.  It is kind of hard to explain, but it is like we are living the same life, just one or the other of us is a little bit ahead.  Therefore, you can see why it is important for us to check in with each other because it is like being able to see your future.  We are just kind of cool like that.  :)

Yay for Polaroid pictures!  Note the amazingly awesome manicures that we got!

Jenny, I miss you SO much.  BUT, we are in the final stages of purchasing your home which, conveniently, is right next door to our house.  Yay!

***

Next to visit was my older brother, Brian.  It was so much fun to have him here!  Just like the good ol' days, we went hiking... we just weren't wearing the dorky "desert hats" and tall socks that mom and dad used to make us wear on our excursions back in the day.

The West Fork Trail and Mormon Canyon.  Beautiful.

Favorite.  But, where is Franz??

I even went so far as to marry Brian off in hopes of keeping him here.  It didn't work...yet.  :)

***

Finally, the baby brother, Jared, stopped by on his way to fame and glory in California.  It was a very brief visit which, unfortunately, did not include any picture taking.  But we ate a In-N-Out so, all in all, it was a successful visit.  I heart you, little 'mano.

All of these visits had 3 things in common:  1.  In-N-Out.  2.  Amazing people that I love more than words can express.  3.  Crying when the above mentioned returned to Colorado and I stayed here.

Now, back to CraigsList where I'll continue to find everything (and them some) I need to help expedite the process of getting everyone to move down to the AZ...