Christina's Blog

Gracie

2012-01-14T23:09:00.005-07:00

This is our girl Gracie. She recently turned 1 and is having a little separation anxiety from our bed. She got mad at us last night and pee'd on our bed. She's now banished from getting on it and keeps going over to the foot of the bed, looks up and starts whining because she knows we won't let her up on it.

I don't really feel too bad about it because I'm the one that laid down on the wet spot. Sorry Gracie girl but you only have yourself to blame for not being able to sleep in the lap of luxury.

To blog or not to blog?

2012-01-14T22:33:00.003-07:00

That is the question. I don't know what happened since my last blog but I lost my desire to blog and the desire to pick up my camera. I think 2012 is the year to bring both back to life. Stay tuned!

Shane & Sophia 8th Birthday party

2010-04-19T22:02:00.003-07:00

Sophia and Shane celebrated their 8th birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. I can't believe they are 8 years old. My how time flies when we are having fun.

Sophia showing her new pillow that Granny Lucy made for her.

Shane showing the card that Granny gave him. He's really a little old to be in to Manny but Granny really doesn't know any better. : ) He had asked her to make him a new elk pillow and he got his wish. Most kids love their blankie but not Shane. He can't sleep without his pillow.

Family picnic ~ April 10, 2010

2010-04-19T21:56:00.003-07:00

Our company had a family picnic which worked out great because we had our nephew Brycen and my Godson, Cody spend the weekend with us. The boys had a blast!

Cody, Me, & Brycen

Cody & Brycen

Cody flying down the inflatable slide - wee!

A little basketball action.

Dunking action

DBacks game ~ opening week 2010

2010-04-19T21:52:00.001-07:00

A couple of pics from opening week.

April 7, 2010 ~ Dback vs Padres.

Catching up

2010-04-19T21:33:00.007-07:00

Whew! How long has it been since I've posted..hmmm. Way too long. I haven't really been on my blog or my computer for that matter because it's still dying that very slow death. It's very slow and I need to get a new one. It will most definitely not be a Dell, what a crap laptop.

I believe the last post was about taking my Life and Health Insurance exam. The great news is that I passed it with a 72 on my first try. What a major relief. I'm now able to concentrate on my new job. Woo hoo!

I'm planning a summer trip to Minnesota with my girlfriend and then my hubby is meeting up with me in Chicago. We are looking forward to the trip. Lots of planning to do.

We are excited that baseball season is upon us. We've had the opportunity to go to an opening week DBacks game. We scored tickets from a co-worker who has season tickets with a parking pass and they are excellent seats. We are going again this Friday and we can't wait.

Well, that's about it for now. Some pics will follow this post. Night all.

L&H class and exam...yikes!

2010-03-02T21:40:00.004-07:00

I have my Life and Health Insurance class coming up on Thursday and Friday. I'm nervous about the exam on Monday. My goal is to get the minimum passing grade. I'm trying not to put pressure on myself so that I don't freak out on Monday. The good news is I can take the exam 4 times in a year so I've got another opportunity but I REALLY don't want to have to take it again. Send me good vibes that all this information sinks in and that I can at least retain it to get me through Monday morning.

February update

2010-02-22T21:27:00.005-07:00

I just can't seem to get to my blog these days. I don't know if I'm losing interest- oh, I know. It's facebook and all those darn game apps. I'm addicted. So much so that I have to remind myself to step away from the computer. *sigh* I think I need Facebook game apps anonymous! Hi, my names Christina and I'm addicted to Facebook game apps!

February has been pretty low-key for us Cavanaugh's here in AZ. We've been caught up in watching the Olympics. We've really taken to watching Curling. It's a pretty interesting winter sport. We had to look up how to play the game on-line because we were highly confused on how the points were achieved.

The USA women's Curling team

I'm happy to report that I've got a new job. It's with the same company but a new position. I'm really excited. I'll get to work with implementing new clients into our Med D business and them maintaining them. I have to get my Life and Health Insurance License. It's a hard exam but I'm looking forward to the challenge. I take the exam in two weeks after taking a two day class. Wish me luck. : )

We get to do another Flat Stanley project. The last one we did was for our niece Murphy in 2006. My girlfriend Laura asked her daughter Rowan to pick between NY, Colorado and Phx. For some reason she thought Phx would be more exciting. I would have picked NY myself. We are very honored to do another FS project. I'm going to have to get creative with this one.

This is Flat Stanlea at a Cubs Spring Training game in 2006.

That's about all that is going on this month. I did miss this months 12 of 12 but had good reason. The day before I was coming back from a business trip to Dallas. The night before our flight they were hit with a major snow storm. We ended up sitting on the runway for 4 hours waiting to de-ice the plane. Needless to say it was a pretty stressful day and I woke on the 12th feeling hungover. Luckily a wonderful back, and neck massage help ease the suffering.

Time to log off and watching some Ice Dancing. Go USA!

Our 1st year anniversary

2010-01-25T20:33:00.002-07:00

I can't believe it's been a year since we got married in St. Thomas. Boy, do we miss being in a tropical climate enjoying some R&R. It's been a great year and looking forward to many, many more! Happy Anniversary Babe!!!!

12 of 12 FIVE: January 2010

2010-01-12T21:05:00.006-07:00

I missed doing 12 of 12 the last two months. It's a new year and the final one for Chad Darnell's concept as he's putting it to bed. So, my goal will be to complete every month for 2010. Click here to check out this fun concept thought up by Chad Darnell. On to my day....

7:45am - Me driving to work on the 101.

7:50am - This is the Henkel building that people think is a real eye sore as it looks nothing like the other Arizona buildings. I understand it's a German company that acquired Dial Corp. and think it's interesting that they brought a little German architect to the AZ desert.

8:00am - The tents are going up along the 101 in preparation for the Russo and Steele car auction. It's an annual event for car lovers.

8:05am - The beautiful McDowell Mountains.

11:00am - My hubby as we head into AJ's for our ice tea fix.

4:30pm - My workout partner...the elliptial machine. I sprained my MCL and PCL in my knee last month putting Christmas garland up in the house by stepping off the ladder the wrong way so I haven't been able to go to Boot Camp, which sucks! Hopefully a few more weeks and I can get back out there with the Boot Camp Chicks for some early morning workouts.

5:15pm - Post workout and looking all red in the face. Today I felt the best working on the elliptical and knee wasn't that sore tonight. Progress!

5:20 pm - The weather for the week. Lucky us when so much of the US is being hit with freezing temps. This is why we live in Arizona.

5:45pm - Christmas all packed up. It's been packed up for a few weeks now but we just haven't made it to the storage unit yet. This weekend for sure.

6:15pm - Doing a little farming on Facebook.

7 ish - Watching the new season of Biggest Loser.

8:30pm - Checking out my home page on Facebook.

Stehower 2009 Christmas

2010-01-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

We always get together for Christmas with my mom's side of the family. It's really the one time of year that we all get to see each other as we are all so busy throughout the year. It was great hanging out with the Stehower clan at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Mary's new home in New River, AZ!

Miss Sophia with her new ornament.

Cousin Adam and my brother Dan.

My sister-in-law Linda and brother Dave.

Aunt Donna, Adam and Uncle Jeff (my mom's brother).

My cousin Caitlin.

My beautiful cousins Jenny and Caitlin.

Sophia with one of her presents. It was a cute singing dog.

Shane getting a tool set. Now it's time to help dad!

My Grandma Anne with my Mom, Aunt Mary, Uncle Tom, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Donna.

The grandkids with Grandma Anne and Mart.

The great Grandkids, Sophia and Shane.

Grandma Debbie with Sophia and Shane.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

A few shots from Christmas...

This is our new ornament we bought in WDM to celebrate our wedding year.

Our tree. I love my star that I purchased in Cabo San Lucas.

Christmas day at my brothers house. Brycen and Shane goofing off.

My mom gave Joe a leg lamp that is a replica from the move A Christmas Story. It was a perfect gift.

My mom and her grankids. We were so happy to have Caitlyn and Piper home for Christmas!!!

An orange creamsicle sky

2010-01-10T20:51:00.004-07:00

The sky was amazing tonight at the start of dusk. We had this orange creamsicle display in some clouds outside our apartment. It was so pretty that I had to get a few shots.

Thanksgiving in Iowa

2010-01-10T18:41:00.006-07:00

So, I've got a few post to catch up on...here we go.

We got to spend some time with the Cavanaugh clan in West Des Moines, IA for Thanksgiving and had a great time!!! We saw New Moon opening night, saw the Blindside, shopped at our favorite grocery store, HyVee and visited the local gym where I tried a Spin class for the first time. Between Spin class and my father-in-laws stairs my legs were like jello all week! Here's a few photos from our time in WDM.

11/19/09

Loren, Kaye, Kate and I in front of Bella's truck at the New Moon premiere. We saw the midnight showing and I did find it a bit difficult to stay awake because the movie theatre was warm and we'd been up for just about 24 hours.

I love the Chipmunks. My favorite is Theodore. The cute lifesize posters were in the theatre lobby. I could resist snapping their photo.

11/20/09
The amazing cookies at HyVee.

My hubby waiting at Maid Rite for our sandwiches.

Maid Rite sign...they have unbelievable loose meat sandwiches. I'm wishing we had them here in Phoenix.

Yummy time!

Thanksgiving football with John, Nelson, Murphy and Gabby. It was very cold out so there wasn't alot of time spent outside.

My hubby throwing the football.

John tackling Murphy...they had fun despite the cold temps.

More football

11/27/09

Major shopping day!

Here's Miss Murphy sipping a hot chocolate sample from Godiva Chocolate.

Uncle Joe and Murphy at Jordan Creek mall.

Me and Miss Murphy.

Uncle Joe and Nelson

Nelson attempting the upside down smile.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-20T22:02:00.003-07:00

Here's wishing all our family and friends a Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. The picture below is of me and my brothers with Santa. It has to be one of my favorite photos. I believe this was taken in 1976 or 1977. It's a classic!

Today, we spent some time with my mom's side of the family celebrating an early Christmas. It is always nice getting together with them and catching up. Some pictures to soon follow.

Jim Carrey's awesome website

2009-12-04T17:40:00.002-07:00

I stumbled upon Jim Carrey's website. Check it out. It's pretty wicked!

Happy Birthday to my brothers!!

2009-12-02T20:55:00.005-07:00

Wishing my brothers a very happy 34th birthday! Love you guys!

New Moon fever...

2009-11-02T21:43:00.003-07:00

We are super excited that in a few weeks we will be heading to West Des Moines, IA for Thanksgiving. We already have our tickets purchased for the midnight showing of New Moon (thanks Kate!). This past weekend we met Loren, a very dear family friend for lunch at Grand Lux at Fashion Square Mall. We had a nice visit with Loren and his sister. After lunch we walked over to Nordstrom's and saw these life size cardboard of Edward and Jacob. We couldn't believe all the merchandise that Nordie's had...shirts and jewelry with Team Edward and Team Jacob. Of course we couldn't pass up a few shots with the life size cardboards of Edward and Jacob.

Joe and Edward ~ 10/31/09 Nordies

Oh, who to chose?! I don't think you can go wrong with either one. ; )

And on this day 4 years ago....

2009-10-14T16:23:00.007-07:00

Christina and Joe met on-line using a dating website. We instant messaged for a while and proceeded to talk on the phone until 5am the following morning. We had our first date that evening and needless to say it was an instant connection.

This is a picture of the white roses he brought me on our first date. So beautiful. I wish they could've lasted forever.

This was our first New Years together and was taken while we were having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

The proposal...October 14, 2007 at Cheesecake Factory.

Now four years later we are married and very happy. I'm a very lucky woman to have found such a wonderful man. I love you babe!

12 of 12 IV: October 2009

2009-10-12T20:53:00.010-07:00

It's 12 of 12 for October - yay! It seems that this is the only reason I update my blog. All I can say it's all because of the new crack called Facebook. Well, here's my day...not overly exciting despite being a holiday. We had to work (no holiday for us- bummer!) so I couldn't take too many shots at work. Some kind of HIPAA violation or something. : )

As always...credit for this fun concept goes to Chad Darnell, click here to see more 12 of 12 participants.

7:30am - Fresh from my Boot Camp Chicks workout and all set to leave for work.

8:30am - My niece Sophia who's seven years old sending me a few instant messages. Oh, to be a kid again and have every holiday off from school. Such the life.

11:00am - The daily AJ's run to satisfy our caffeine kick.

1:30pm - My hubby fresh from his dental appt. Look at those pearly whites!

4:30 pm - Watching Mad Men from the previous night...Love, Love, Love this show!!

5:15pm - I was checking out the registration for The Freaky 5K. Our normal plans for Halloween at my brothers isn't happening this year so my hubby and I are going to do this fun 5K walk/run.

5:30 pm - Random shot of our little patio. Yesterday we walked to our storage unit a few blocks down the road to bring our bikes to the apartment. It's that time to get out and ride.

6:00 pm - Attempting to launch Farm Town on Facebook. Boy, was it slow...

6:15 pm - Finally! My farm it coming along. I had some blueberries to harvest. Cha-Ching!

9:00 pm - Watching the Rachel Zoe Project. Another addictive show. How cool is my pic? I got both Rachel Zoe and Taylor in one shot. Drama, drama! Just gotta love it!

9:30 pm - I'm ending one pic short for this month. My final picture is of the projected weather for this weekend...101? Give me a break! I'm anxious for some 70 and 80 degree temps.

October already?

2009-10-03T22:18:00.004-07:00

I can't believe it's already October. Our temps are still in the 90's but it's better than 100 degrees. Give us another week and we'll be sleeping with the windows open. I can't wait! We've been spending Saturday's watching my nephew Brycen play tackle football and he is loving it. He won his game today. Way to go Nitros!

I'm getting close to having to buy a new laptop. My power cord is not staying connected and it's causing it to go into battery mode therefore my screen keeps flickering which is highly irritating. It all started after the motherboard was replaced. Of course, the warranty is no longer active. I'm not too happy about this at all but pretty soon it's going to force me to break down and buy a new one as it's grating on my nerves and may be thrown out the window soon. Argh!

I've been working on getting my wedding scrapbook album done. I can't believe how many pictures we ended up with so it's been a bit challenging figuring out what pictures to include but I'd rather have too many. I'll post some pics of the pages completed as soon as I can.

12 of 12 IV: September 2009

2009-09-12T22:23:00.005-07:00

I'm a bit late in getting my 12 of 12 done. It was a very busy and fun day so I'm going to make this short and sweet because it is seriously past my bedtime and I have to be up early for hike up North Mountain. Here's my day and check out the rest of the folks that participate in the 12 of 12 concept by Chad Darnell.

7:45am - Brycen slowly getting ready for his football game.

7:40am - My hubby helping Brycen fasten the belt on his football pants.

8:30am - It's me. Chillin' at the football field.

8:45am - Brycen is #62. The team warming up.

10:00am - Brycen running to his Center position.

10:15am - My hubby concentrating on the game.

11:40am - Brycen coming out of the family & friends tunnel. Oh, by the way the game was tied 14 - 14.

12:45pm - Brycen all showered up after the game and we joined mom at Manuel's for lunch.

2pm- Brycen hanging out waiting for grandma to arrive so we can hit the pool. It was another toasty day.

2:30pm - Brycen wanting to play a little frisbee in the pool. Game on!

3:30pm - We took a little break from the pool and played a few games of Uno. Those two in the picture are major cheaters! I had to keep my eye on them. : )

7:00pm - Dinner. Papa Murphy's pizza. Half pepperoni/sausage and BBQ Chicken. It was very yummy!

What's happening...

2009-09-11T11:23:00.004-07:00

Do you remember what you were doing on Sept. 11, 2001 when you found out about the planes flying into the World's Trade Center? I do. I was home getting ready for work and turned on the TV which was out of the norm for me. It's usually the radio but I decided to listen to the Today show and that was when I sat on the edge of the bed completely shocked at the images being shown and what was being told to me. I'll never forget that moment and hours afterwards. I pray for all those that lost a loved one that day.

As we must move on...this weekend is more football. We are having Brycen spend the night and taking him to his game tomorrow. We hope they pull off another win. Joe's anxious to get home right after the game to see Notre Dame play Michigan. Brycen, Mom and I will plan something fun to do so we can get out of his hair and let him enjoy the game time.

Next weekend is a girls scrapbook weekend in Payson. I can't wait as I really need to work on our wedding and cruise album. Lots of organizing and photo printing to get done this next week.

Oh, tomorrow is 12 of 12. So, look for a post of 12 shots from my day. Bet you can guess what the main theme will be tomorrow. Yep, football. : )

It's been a while....

2009-09-08T09:53:00.004-07:00

It's the start of fall with Labor Day holiday behind us, the kiddies back to school and fall TV closing in on us however it is still 100 degrees here in AZ and still feels like summer. However I will take 101 over 115. It doesn't sound like much but trust me there is a difference.

We spent Labor Day weekend on the home front. We watched our nephew Brycen win his first Pop Warner game-- Way to go Nitros! Joe camped out on the couch to take in all that College football had to offer and was so happy to see Notre Dame win their game(this makes for a very happy hubby- yay for me). We ran some errands and took some naps (which were much needed). I watched the Rocker starring Rainn Wilson and Christina Appelgate. I must say I enjoyed watching this much more than I thought I would and found myself laughing out loud.

These long weekends are great because they give me a chance to catch up on some recorded shows like Project Runway, Inside the Actor's Studio, What's Brian Bointano Cooking?, and of course Mad Men.

How great was the opening scene on this weeks episode of "The Arrangements" showing little Sally Draper driving Grandpa Gene's Lincoln!

We scheduled a trip to West Des Moines to visit Joe's family over the Thanksgiving holiday. We got a smokin' deal on airfare. I'm just hoping for some pretty decent weather meaning no snow! This AZ native is a stranger to that kind of weather although we did have snow when I lived in Texas but that was 25 or so year ago. We are super excited for the trip and can't wait to eat at a few of our favortie places and hit the huge scrapbook store....tenderloin sammie and Archivers here we come!

Brycen's Pop Warner scrimmage game

2009-08-22T21:28:00.005-07:00

On 8/20/09, my nephew Brycen had his first Pop Warner scrimmage game. They have been practicing every night and every Saturday in sweltering heat for two weeks. Brycen did very well playing Center despite having a bronchial infection. The team didn't fare so well though and lost their scrimmage. Let's hope they can get it together for their first game on 8/29 and let's hope for some much cooler weather!

Brycen in uniform

Brycen coming in for a drink...man, was it hot. There was a breeze but it felt like a hairdryer blowing on you. Yuck!

If you look carefully you can see Brycen in center position.

My hubby while we are waiting for B's scrimmage game.

Joe and Piper. She loves her Joey!

Joe with Piper and Caitlyn. We will miss these girls. They were leaving the following day to live with their dad in Wyoming. : (

Keri and the girls

And me with the girls. Christmas can't come soon enough as it will be the next time we see them.

Go Cards!

2009-08-18T14:05:00.002-07:00

Ciao ~ Christina

2009-08-18T13:30:00.001-07:00

I'm testing to see if my cell will update my blog.
Ciao ~ Christina

12 of 12 IV: August 2009

2009-08-12T21:23:00.010-07:00

Yes, it's the 12th of August so you get 12 photos of my day. It was a bit challenging because I am in Dallas for work and was in an all day meeting which didn't provide me with too much opportunity to snap some photos but I did manage to get 12 shots. I'm heading back to the dry heat of Phoenix tomorrow and can't wait because this humidity does nothing for my hair. : )

Credit for this concept goes to Chad Darnell, click here for more info.

7:20am CST- Smiling despite the fact my internal clock has not caught up with Central Time.

9:30 am - This was inside the women's bathroom stall. Apparantly it is necessary to provide a courtesy checklist on proper toilet use and I must say it was a very polite checklist.

This was outside the bathrooms. Nice to know where to go if a tornado touches down because I come from a state that has no major weather issues.

Mmmm, Panera Bread ice tea. My caffeine fix.

6:00pm - Dinner at Texas Land & Cattle with the work gang.

The view from my hotel room. The green awnings are of the Dart Rail System that can take you downtown. The window was super dirty so the shot isn't very good.

8:00pm - Checking my farms on Facebook.

8:30pm - Watching Wipeout. Nothing much on TV...

so, I decided to read the USA Today.

10:30pm - I took a little walk outside the hotel and they have this neat water and light display that dances to music beats. People like to run through the water to see if they can avoid getting wet. It didn't work out to well for a few people.

More dancing water

11:00pm - Watching Big Brother 11 on Showtime After Dark. I was surprised to find that the hotel had Showtime becuase typically they have HBO. Sweet!

Fun in the sun

2009-08-03T19:17:00.003-07:00

Joe and I spent our day off today hanging in the pool with my sis-in-law, Keri and the kiddos. We grilled mini burgers and munched on some yummy fruit. It was a very fun afternoon.

"B Money" saying hi.

"Evelyn" giving the peace sign.

"Piperella" looking cute as ever. My hubby was so happy to see this little cutie!

Mom and daughter pic.

Piper, me and Brycen

and just for fun...

2009-07-27T12:51:00.002-07:00

My hubby trying on the goofy helmet hat at Wally world.

Happy Monday everyone!

It's all about the journey

2009-07-27T11:30:00.006-07:00

We had another Boot Camp Chicks challenge where we were to climb North Mountain as many times as we could in 2 hours starting at 5:30am. My goal was to not only survive but to make it up and down twice which thankfully I manged to do both. We ran into some very interesting people on our hike and most were very nice and encouraging. Of course there were some kids that would run up and down the mountain making me wish I were young again to have the stamina and energy. I'm very sore and have some lovely blisters on my feet but it felt good to accomplish this challenge. A few photos from our day. As you can see it was very beautiful out but don't let the photo fool you. It was also very hot outstide!

Adriane, Kim, me and Sarah coming down the mountain. My legs were like jello at this point!

Sarah, Kim, Me, Adriane and CC at the finish line. It was now time for some breakfast!

Is it really only Tuesday?

2009-07-21T22:25:00.003-07:00

It's been a very weird week and it's only Tuesday. It started off with me seeing some young guys up to no good in our complex and caught the license plate # which led to a cop in our new place taking my statement because a poor fella in our complex got his tires and rims stolen. The cop proceeded to tell us the SUV the hoodlums were using was stolen from a home a few blocks away.

Today, a kamikaze bird flew into the hood of my car on the 101. I don't know what it is about the 101 and the birds but they sure fly low and it's been a fear that one would come through the windshield and cause a major accident. Lucky for us it flipped over the car and all we could do was burst out laughing.

This evening I managed to spill my ice tea on the remote to the cable box and it died for a while and then came back to life with the buttons not performing as designed. Lucky for me it's back to working condition becuase I don't know what my hubby would do without being able to channel surf.

So, as Joe put it I've killed the hopes of the hoodlums getting away with their theft, I've killed a bird (or as a friend on Facebook commented- "I flipped the bird today") and just about killed the remote...and it's only Tuesday!

Frenectomy- huh?

2009-07-14T21:23:00.003-07:00

I had a Frenectomy on my labial frenum this afternoon which is the removal of the band connecting the lip to the gum in front of the teeth. Apparantly, this small band is causing receding of my gums so it has become a necessary procedure to undergo. It was quick and done with a laser so no bleeding. It's a bit painful tonight but luckily my dentist gave me some generic hydrocodone to ease the pain.

I'd take a picture but the gaping hole is pretty disgusting. So, I'm sitting here very relaxed with a damp cotton roll in my mouth. I'm thinking it's time to catch some ZZZ's.

Progress

2009-07-13T19:37:00.004-07:00

Progress indeed...

The before picture of my closet.

Ahhh, it's nice to have an organized closet again.

The DVD's all over the guest bed.

Joe did a beautiful job organizing the DVD's.

Next room is the computer/scrapbooking room and the hanging of the photos and pictures.

12 of 12 IV: July 2009

2009-07-12T21:20:00.006-07:00

I'm a little late in getting my 12 of 12 posted as we've been consumed with moving for the past four days and mixing in my birthday celebration. Today was spent getting as much put away as possible. I've got the kitchen and living room pretty settled. My clothes are still in boxes so that will be next to unpack. What an exhausting process but it sure is nice to be in a new place with hard wood floors, granite counter tops and a MUCH bigger kitchen - yay! I'm mixing a couple of photos from my birthday dinner last night because somehow I was short in my 12 shots.

Here's this months 12 of 12, click here to find out more about this fun concept created by Chad Darnell.

7/11 ~ 6:00pm - My mom made me this super cute birthday sign and gave me a gift card to Lane Bryant. Thanks mom!

7/11 ~ 6:15pm - Me and my babe at Oregano's waiting for our order to arrive. It was a very nice birthday celebration.

7/12 ~ 8:00am - My hubby at AJ's. We enjoyed a post birthday/moving survival omelette.

8:45 am - Ahhh, passion fruit iced tea. It was starting to get hot outside.

9:15am - We had to make a run to Walmart and cruised down the drink isle to see if they had stock of my hubby's new drink of choice, light Lemonade.

9:30am - New M&M's...Strawberried peanut butter. I had to buy one to try it out and they were actually pretty good but not something I would opt to buy again.

10:00 am - The before picture of our kitchen with boxes consuming it's space.

1:30pm - The after picture of our kitchen. Everything is in it's proper spot and it's look beautiful!

10:00 am - The before picture of the living room. What a mess!

4:30 pm - The after picture of the living room. There is still pictures to hang and knick knacks to arrange but progress was made today.

7:00pm - TV time. Our summer guilty pleasure, Big Brother. I'm so not happy about Jessie coming back into the house. He just irritates me to no end!

8:15pm - The birthday flowers my brother Dan and sister-in-law Keri brought over to me. It was a very pleasant surprise. I finally found the box with the vase! They are so pretty and a fitting way to end my 12 of 12. Happy July everyone and stay cool!

25lb 5K Boot Camp Challenge

2009-06-22T21:02:00.013-07:00

A few weeks ago I participated in a Boot Camp Chicks challenge. It was a 5K carrying 25 lb of rock in your backpack. There were five stops along the way where you would drop 5 lbs. Surprisingly it was alot of fun. Thanks Kim for a fun challenge.

Fathers and Daughters

2009-06-22T19:08:00.006-07:00

This is a picture of me and my dad. It's been a little over four years since he passed away. Father's Day made me think back on our relationship and how complex it was for the both of us. I always knew he loved me and would do anything for me but it was so difficult for him to show me any affection and tell me he loved me. In turn I had the same issues toward him. It was a circle that didn't seem to break until his last few years of living.

So, if I can give any piece of advice to father's that have daughters it's to spend some quality time with them and make sure you tell them you love them and never quit telling them so. It can make all the difference in the world.

12 of 12 IV: June 2009

2009-06-12T20:48:00.006-07:00

It's June 12 and time for peek into my day. Click here to go to Chad Darnell's site and see the rest of the 12 of 12 posts.

5:10am - Driving to Boot Camp. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the spectacular AZ sky.

5:20am - My mat and foot before warming up for Boot Camp.

6:37am - Post Boot Camp. Like my headband? It may not be fashionable but it sure does it's job!

7:45am - My hubby ready for work.

1:30pm - My desk.

4:15pm - Running errands after work and liked this sign at an entrance to a construction site.

4:30pm - My hubby and I ran to Target.

7:00pm - Watching the Stanley Cup final.

7:30pm - Items to donate to Goodwill.

7:45pm - Boxes waiting to filled. We move in 3 1/2 weeks - yay!

7:46 pm: Our dining room is now filled with packed boxes. This weekend will be filled with more packing.

8:00pm - The new Black Eyed Peas CD. I can't wait to listen to it!

Dream home

2009-06-05T14:44:00.003-07:00

It's hard to believe a home like this exist in the heart of Phoenix, click here to view the slideshow. I want one!

Bored, Bored, Bored...

2009-06-04T20:44:00.002-07:00

I'm feeling a bit like my 7 year old niece tonight -- bored. It's not for lack of anything to do around the house but the fact of the matter is that none of it is appealing. I could be packing for our move next month, scrapbooking, cleaning (ugh!), watching a movie, reading, playing a computer game but no...I sit here changing channels trying to find anything exciting to watch- nada! Maybe I should try these mindless suggestions.

Where for art thou Orangeade?

2009-05-26T22:02:00.003-07:00

This drink has gone missing from our local stores. We are not sure what's up with this lack of stocking the Tropicana OrangeAde Light drink. This is the one drink that my hubby enjoys drinking that is sugar free and non carbonated. We've called the company that makes it and they said it is in a particular grocer in our area but alas the shelves are empty...*sigh*.

2009-05-18T20:47:00.007-07:00

Congrats to my brother and new sis-in-law Keri on their marriage. We celebrated their wedding with tons of family and friends last Friday night. It was a bit warm for an outside party but fun was had by all. Here are some shots from the evening.

The newlyweds

Joe and Piper

Caitlyn wearing a new hat.

Brycen sporting two new hats....yes, they were food covers. Suppose it wasn't too sanitary having these on their heads. Oops.

The Stehower siblings...Mom, Uncle Tom and Uncle Jeff

Me and my beautiful niece Sophia.

12 of 12 IV: May 2009

2009-05-12T21:25:00.006-07:00

It's the 12 of May which means you get 12 shots from my day. The concept brought to you by Chad Darnell, click here to see all the posts for this month.

7:00am - We didn't have to be at work until the afternoon since we were going to the Student of the Month celebration for our Niece Piper so I ventured out on a bike ride using Joe's bike. I wanted to try his out since it had gears. It as pretty challenging but fun.

9:30am - Joe waiting for the Student of the Month festivities to begin.

9:40am - Piper and a friend dancing to the cotton-eye-joe. The school staff was getting the kids all hyped up. It was alot of fun.

9:45am - Piper doing the SOTM run. They take a run around the room giving the students and parents high fives. They really make this a fun event for the kids & it's hard not to get caught up in the excitement. Congrats Miss Piperella!!!!

9:45am - My nephew Brycen apparantly not too happy to have his ole Auntie snapping his picture in front of his friends. He's just lucky I didn't call him "pumpkin". Lol.

10:45am - At our favorite place, AJ's for some tea before heading to the office.

5:15pm - We were at Fry's grocery looking for some OrangeAde but alas they were all out. Just our luck especially when it's a good deal.

5:30pm - Watching the Neely's cook up some goodies on the Food Network.

6:00pm - A few scrapbooks that will be put in the mail this week to one lucky buyer. I've been in cleaning out mode since we are moving in two months. It's nice to make a little money with some things that have been sitting in the closet.

6:30pm - What I'm currently reading...very addicting series of books. I never thought I'd enjoy reading about vampires and werewolves.

7:15pm - The Biggest Loser finale. Three hours is a bit much. They could've had this done in an hour and I wasted three hours of my time watching my least favorite person win it all. : (

9:00 pm - Our boxes waiting to be filled with our important belongings.

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful mom

2009-05-10T15:00:00.003-07:00

Happy Mother's Day mom! I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful, smart and beautiful mother.

Facebook is consuming my blog time...

2009-05-07T20:43:00.008-07:00

I just realized this evening it has been quite some time since I've posted. So, here's a bit about what's been going on with us lately.

Some exciting news for us is that we are moving apartments. We found a great three bedroom apartment that has granite counter tops, wood flooring and a stove with two big burners (yes, our current place only had one big burner- very annoying) and it's less expensive than where we live now, go figure. The bummer part of it is we are moving July 10th- HOT, HOT, HOT!!!

My hubby got a great surprise in the mail today from our nephew Nelson. A Star Wars coloring book page that he colored with a Han Solo sticker. The best part is was signed by him. Priceless! It immediately went to the fridge hall of fame. We still have Murphy's wedding present to us on the fridge. It was a wonderful handmade book with drawings about our destination wedding.

Our Niece Sophia and Nephew Shane turned 7 on Cinco De Mayo. I want to wish them a blog belated Happy Birthday! I spoke with them that night and my Sister-in-Law was making sopapilla's for their b-day celebration with friends. Yummo! We will go over to my brother and sis-in-laws house to do the family celebration this Saturday. It will actually be one big bash as we will be including our Nephew Brycen and Niece Piper's birthday. I'm sure I'll have some fun photos to post.

Stay tuned for more updates from the AZ Cavanaugh's and look for May's 12 of 12. Happy odd day (05/07/09)!

Do-it-ourselves haircut

2009-04-19T16:39:00.005-07:00

We purchased a shaver to use on Joe's hair. It was my first attempt to shave his hair and it didn't turn out too bad. I struggled a bit around the ear but it's not exactly the easiest place to shave. I'll get better as time goes by. I'm just glad I didn't have to trim the top because right now it's the perfect length. Using the scissors scares me a bit. I like the fact that the shaver has guards! Now he needs to get some sun!

Crown King

2009-04-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

We took a little trip to Crown King, AZ on Saturday 4/11 to attend my brother Dan and Keri's wedding. It's quite a rough road up and is about 2 1/2 hours north of the Valley of the Sun. We got a big surprise when our final climb to Crown King brought snow falling on our SUV. It was pretty cold and we ended up having a mix of rain and snow falling down upon us. It sure made driving up and down the mountain challenging but was sure a beautiful site!

The cherry blossom tree covered in snow.

The beautiful scenery

Joe standing outside one of the cabins.

Proof that I was actually in the snow. My nephews got a kick out of throwing small snowballs at me. I would've gotten them back but they were in their wedding attire - lucky fellas!

Joe and I in front of the snow covered pine tree. It was so beautiful.

12 of 12 IV - April 2009

2009-04-12T19:55:00.007-07:00

Happy Easter! This weekend was busy and fun. My brother Dan got married yesterday up in Crown King and to give them some private time for their honeymoon we took the kids back to valley with us. It was a beautiful ceremony despite the rain and snow (yes, snow!). I'll post some pics from the wedding later but here are pics from Easter for April's 12 of 12.

9:00am - My nephew Brycen with his bacon and cheese omelette made by yours truly!

9:30am - One of the five omelette's that I made for Easter breakfast.

10:15pm - Brycen, Caitlyn and Piper right before we leave for Easter service.

1:15pm - Joe chillin' out in Granny's backyard.

1:30pm - Caitlyn, Piper, Brycen, Cody and JR

This was after hunting for eggs.

1:45pm - Brycen and Cody smashing the confetti eggs on eat others heads.

2:30pm - I snapped a pic of Brycen as he took a breather from throwing the football around the back yard.

3:00pm - Brycen, Piper and Cody watching the neighbors play badmitton and hunt for their easter eggs.

3:10pm - Caitlyn hanging out in Granny's grapefruit tree.

3:10pm - Piperella also chillin' in the grapefruit tree.

3:30pm - Piper using my camera to snap her own picture.

3:45pm - Joe with Piper's rabbit ears. Easter is now complete!

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter day!

What's going on?

2009-04-05T15:58:00.008-07:00

It's been a rough few weeks for us. We both battled sinus infections, and I found out I have tendonitis in my left foot which requires some physical therapy. This past week we also had some car repairs that couldn't be avoided. We had to buy a new radiator, new belts and new tires along with an alignment. When it rains it pours however we had great help with my SUV from Uncle Ruben who was able to replace the radiator and belts. My mom was great in getting us connected for a good rate on tires. Thanks to both of them!!!!

Today it was such a beautiful day with less wind than the past few days. We took a bike ride this afternoon and it was great to get out into the sunshine. Joe is still getting use to his bike and was able to make it a bit further than previous bike rides - yay! This is his sporty bike.

Here's my bike. I love it. It's a cruiser which is great starter bike as it has been many, many years since I've ridden or even owned a bike. Eventually I'll upgrade to sport bike but for now this is my new two wheeler.

Last Saturday we had a wedding reception with family and friends at Uncle Ruben's house. It was a lot of fun! Uncle Ruben and Kathy really made it a special day. We can't thank them enough.

Here's our very yummy cake. It was a strawberry mousse cake and was too pretty to even cut and eat. The cupcakes on the table were for the kiddies. They were very colorful and the way the kids devoured them they must have been super yummy as well.

2 Summits in one day- yay for me!

2009-03-21T21:03:00.006-07:00

Today was the Boot Camp Chicks 4 Summit Challenge. We were to do Piestwa Peak, Lookout Mountain, North Mountain and Shaw Butte in one day in any order. I opted to do 2 Summit's since hiking is brand new to me. Kim, my Boot Camp instructor suggested N. Mtn and Shaw Butte and hiked along with me. Here are some photos from the morning hikes. A big thanks to Kim for all the support!!!!

6:00am: the rough part of the N. Mtn hike and the start of our day.

6:30am: Sunrise, the start of a beautiful day!

Adriane (a fellow Boot Camper) and me at the top of Summit 1

The most driven person I've met in a long time. You rock Kim!

Here we are at the top of Summit 2 - Shaw Butte

Ecstatic that I made it to the top of the 2nd summit!

Sunday Picnic Fun

2009-03-16T20:30:00.008-07:00

My mom's company threw a family picnic. There was rock climbing, bungee jumping, food, games and prizes. We had so much fun and mom won a $100 in the raffle- score!

A "B" for Brycen.

Sliding fun

Brycen tackling the obsticle course

Sophia and I with our faces painted. She opted for a dalmation face and I got hearts and flowers on my cheek.

One of the many fun hat prizes

A pimp daddy hat

Brycen and I stopping the game play for a quick pose.

Crazy Grandma Debbie - Gotta love the hat!

My nephew and niece love their crazy Grandma Debbie!

The giant blow up hammer won from one of the games.

They loved the gumball machine prize.

The newlyweds

Joe had his duties down pat...those kids scored mucho prizes!

The purple pimp daddy hat that Brycen was going to give to Piper.

Sophia enjoying a blue snow cone.

"B" lovin' the cotton candy.

Joey with his snow cone- yum!

The picnic wouldn't be complete without a Bomb Popsicle.

Brycen getting preped for the wall climb.

He was so fast getting to the top and ringing the buzzer.

Bungee time! What a great way to work off all that sugar.

Brycen jumped a bit higher than Sophia but they both were too scared to attempt a flip. We had so much fun at the picnic. Thanks Mom for inviting us to share in this fun day!

It was such a beautiful day and Brycen still had some of that sugar rush happening so he and I went for bike ride and crossed over the "scary" bridge by the 51 freeway.

12 of 12 IV: March 2009

2009-03-12T21:31:00.005-07:00

It's March 12th and time for sharing some pics of my day (click here to find out how you can participate in the 12 of 12). I got to spend my day in two different states, Dallas and Phx. The weather in Dallas was cold and rainy so I was glad to be coming home to the sunshine and 70 degree temps.

8:00am (Dallas) - My suitcase. I've never packed this light but with a two day trip to Dallas for work I decided to give it a shot. I had to document it because I'm not so sure this will happen again. : )

10:15AM (Dallas) - This was the restaurant we ate at the night before, Texas Land and Cattle. It was good. I had a filet. You can see the raindrops on the window as there was no way I was rolling down the window as it was like 36 degrees. My blood is way too thin for those kind of temps!

11:00AM (Dallas)- The Best Buy kiosk at DFW airport. You could buy an IPOD and camera by entering your credit card and it drops down just like a soda machine. I wonder how many items actually get purchased. The digital Elph camera was $299.99. Seems a bit pricy.

12:45pm (Phoenix) - My hubby picking me up at the airport. He stopped and got me an ice tea from AJ's and these beautiful roses. What a guy! Love you babe!

1:30pm (Phoenix) - This is where we went for lunch. They have 40% off lunch specials. What a bargain!

2:45pm (Phoenix) - A run to Target for a birthday card for my niece Caitlyn. These were these cute Easter decorations hanging from the ceiling.

2:55pm (phoenix) - A nice sunny day in Phoenix. This is the drive out of the Desert Ridge shopping center. I like the look of the palm trees. Nice shot of my SUV antenna.

3:00pm (phoenix) - My hubby with his fairly new haircut. He decided on going a bit shorter and I think it looks good on him.

3:15pm (phoenix)- The MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) that is opening in 2010. They are moving right along with the construction. It's been interesting to watch the progress.

7:30pm (phoenix) - My neice Caitlyn. We celebrated her 12th birthday tonight. Happy Birthday Miss Caitlyn!!!!

Let me introduce you to Special (yes, this is the name my Nephew Brycen gave his new fish). This little fish is living up to his name as show in the next picture....

I think Special needs a good wipe because he seems to swim around with junk hanging out of his trunk for quite some time and check out how long it is! What are they feeding that fish?! LOL!

On that note I'm off to bed as it's been a very long day and I'm feeling the two hour time difference.

Vacation withdrawals

2009-03-01T19:41:00.008-07:00

Can you believe it's already March 1st? February just flew by us. We are enjoying some nice warm weather but tomorrow it's going to be 90 degrees - WTF? Oh, how we wish we were still on the cruise ship visiting the beautiful caribbean ports and on that note here some more pics that Josie recently shared with me.

Beautiful Magens Bay

Kate, Loren, Josie with Joe and I in the background. At the ships midnight buffet party.

The lovebirds

All of us at dinner

I wish we were still this tan!

Loren, Josie, Louie, John and Kate right before one of the formal dinners

Josie and I in our bridal party t-shirts.

The gals. Darn! My eyes were closed.

Another beautiful view of Magens Bay.

Random Wedding & Cruise photos

2009-02-19T22:00:00.003-07:00

More photos from our wedding and cruise...

Kate took this photo of the ocean view from our hotel in Puerto Rico. So beautiful!

W!kked ~ the restaurant in St. Thomas where we all gathered for our wedding brunch.

Nelson and Uncle Joe on the patio of W!kked. Nelson was wearing the new t-shirt that his Uncle Joe bought him.

Here we are in front of the restaurant.

Murphy and Nelson

Me and my hubby. We were waiting in one of the bars on the ship for our group to be called for departure from the ship...boo hoo, back to reality.

More wedding photos...

2009-02-17T11:00:00.001-07:00

Thanks to those that are sending CD's and Flash drives full of photos from the wedding and trip. Keep them coming! Here are a few more wedding photos.

I'm getting my hair done on the ship and look it's Oprah doing my hair! Not really but she looks exactly like Oprah in her thin days!

Another hair shot and better look at Lisa my Oprah look-a-like hair dresser.

The first time Joe saw me in my dress.

Dinner on the 25th. Our wedding cake which interestingly enough they put a candle on and sang to us. It was definitely a different and fun moment.

Our head waiter singing to us and I just can't recall what song he was singing.

Feeding my hubby some of the cake. I was very nice and didn't smash it on his face.

He got a little on my face but overall he was very nice about it. : )

Cruising ~ Our day at sea

2009-02-16T22:10:00.002-07:00

This was our last cruise day and it was spent sailing and hanging out by the pool. It was a nice relaxing day and we didn't want to leave the ship. Nothing like being pampered!

My hubby lounging by the pool.

Hot tubbing it. We were watching the water volleyball game when mom came by on her way to the Solarium (the old people pool). It was the crew vs. ship guests.

What handsome men!

Me and my momma.

Our final towel animal. A swan. It wasn't my favorite. I think out of them all I like the monkey hanging from the curtains.

Barbados ~ Our Fifth and Last Port of Call

2009-02-12T20:35:00.008-07:00

Our last stop was Barbados. It was very beautiful and we had quite the adventure at Malibu Beach. I'll probably never get Joe back on a Jetski again! We were able to do a little shopping after our beach excursion. We purchased another hat and some pure vanilla which I can't wait to try out.

Malibu Beach. This is where we spent our afternoon in Barbados.

Malibu Rum factory. I opted for the free rum punch drink but not for the tour of the factory.

This sign was at the entrance to the Malibu Rum factory/beach/gift shop.

Malibu Beach - in the background you can see our docked ship.

More of the beautiful water. It was so refreshing and clear.

I talked my hubby into taking a Jetski ride. Now mind you he is a little freaked out about sharks so this was a big step for him to venture out into the ocean on a jetski. Of course I offered to let him drive but he opted for me to take the reins.

Everything is good we are off and running.

That hairpin turn was not so good! I know. I didn't listen very well. I was to head straight out and turn wide. Sorry babe for the bump on the head and dunking you in the water. I told you life would not be boring with me!

One more go by myself. Joe opted to hang out on land.

Once I got the hang of the Jetski it was all fun, fun, fun!

He forgave me! Love ya babe!

Betty and Joe waiting for the bus back to the ship.

Joe trying on hats. I liked this one but he chose a baseball cap that said Barbados and waves on it. It seemed fitting.

Our nightly towel animal. A monkey hanging from our curtain. Very creative.

12 of 12 IV: February 2009

2009-02-12T19:42:00.006-07:00

It's 12 of 12 of February. This fun concept was the brainchild of Chad Darnell. To find out more about it click here. Now on to my day...

7:00am - Ready for work

7:05am - My hubby ready for work. It was a glasses kind of day.

7:15am - In the car. Like my new scarf? It was given to me by my Uncle's Fiancee, Kathy and I love it!

9:00am - My messy desk. My office it quite the controversary because they built it larger than the others in our building and my title doesn't warrant the large office. It's been quite the talk amongst my co-workers- lucky me!

10:00am - My cell phone. I'm up for renewel and have the opportunity for a new phone. I just can't decide what to opt for, a Blackberry or another LG Env. Decisions!

10:30am - On my weekly client conference call...so much fun- not!

10:30am - My heater. It is freezing in my office. See, it's not so great. People really need to get over it!

11:45am - My car parked in our carpool spot. We were on our way to Wally World and AJ's for a caffeine jolt!

11:50am - The LOML at Wally World. He needed more floss.

12:30pm - Yes, some passion fruit tea from AJ's!

4:00pm - A little scratcher fun. Let's hope for some luck.

6:30pm - Veggies and Chicken for dinner.

St. Lucia ~ Our Fourth Port of Call

2009-02-11T20:43:00.013-07:00

We spent our time in St. Lucia walking around the local shops on the hunt for a new hat for Joe(see pic below). We also spent the afternoon with mom hanging out at the beach. It was a nice relaxing day. The ship had a special midnight buffet with all kinds of decorated watermelons, ice sculptures and chocolate delights.

Welcome to St. Lucia!

Time for us to head to the beach.

St. Lucia beach

More of the beach

Hanging out at the beach.

The honeymooners!

Sunset before dinner

My hubbie behind the wheel.

Me, taking control of the wheel. Lord help the passengers!

Our family and friends in the Spooner Bar playing TV Trivia.

The midnight buffet out on the pool deck. It was a special presentation with live music and dancing.

More of the midnight buffet

Joe enjoying his beer.

Kate and Loren with their new souvenier glowing glasses- pretty!

Joe and I out at the pool deck enjoying the festivities.

Our nightly towel animal. We got a cow!

Antigua ~ Our third port of call

2009-02-10T20:38:00.006-07:00

In Antigua we spent the day exploring the local shopping and hanging out on the boat. Only a few purchases were made, two hats (can never have too many hats) and a dress that was perfect over my swimsuit. It was the perfect day to relax after all the excitement of the wedding and the excursion the previous day.

Our boat the Serenade of the Seas

My sexy husband

There was another ship sharing the pier with us. It was a pretty cool ship and I bet looked unbelievable with its sails at full mast. Boy, our ship looks massive!

Look, Antigua!

Me and Antigua

Joe and his Dad just happen to be wearing similar shirts to dinner. I couldn't miss the photo op.

St. Maarten ~ Our Second Port

2009-02-09T21:46:00.005-07:00

St. Maarten was our second port of call. It was the start of our vacation since our first port of call was all about the wedding. It is St. Maarten or St. Martin depending on if you were on the French or Dutch side.

Here we are riding on the elevator up to the Windjammer for some breakfast.

Joe on the deck overlooking St. Maarten.

Here I am also overlooking St. Maarten.

On the bus making our way to Orient Beach. (pay no attention to the guy in the background, we just picked him up along the way)

Orient Beach, our excursion for the day.

Mom on the beach

The guy in the background stuck around so we threw him a small birthday celebration. Happy 44th John!

Our surprise when we got back to our cabin. A towel animal in the shape of a dog. How cute that he's wearing my sunglasses and has the TV remote?! Oh, also our Cruise Compass explaining the next day's activities on the ship.

Stay tuned for more ports of call....

Cavanaugh & Acosta Wedding ~ St. Thomas

2009-02-02T18:50:00.011-07:00

Our Wedding ~ January 25, 2009

We got married on a garden terrace overlooking Magen's Bay. It was such a beautiful day and we were blessed to have family and friends join us. Thank you to everyone for making the trip as it meant the world to us that you joined us on this very special day! Also a special thanks to Loren for taking photos with my camera!!!

The view from the terrace

The guys waiting for the gals to walk the aisle.

My mom walking me up the aisle.

Listening to the minister

Joe saying his vow while putting the ring on my finger. It was a very emotional and beautiful moment for us.

I barely held it together saying my vows and putting Joe's ring on his finger.

I'd like to present to you for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cavanaugh!

Our first kiss as man and wife.

The minster Jeff. He performed a beautiful ceremony and as you can see was quite a tall man.

Posing with Joe's Father, Stepmom and my Mother

The Cavanaugh Family

Miss Murphy. My beautiful flower girl and niece.

Our wedding cake that we enjoyed on the cruise ship at dinner. It was very pretty and quite tasty.

More photos from the cruise to soon follow...

12 of 12 IV: January 2009

2009-01-12T21:30:00.007-07:00

It's a new year and the first 12 of 12 of 2009. Here are some shots from my day.

5:00am - Buckled up and ready to drive to Boot Camp.

5:15am - Ready for my warm-up jog before camp starts at 5:30am.

7:45am - ready for work and stopping to pose with the LOML

10:00am - Joe's co-worker gave me this paper and two pennies that explains the wedding tradition of placing pennies in the brides shoes. Small problem. I'm wearing flip flops. Maybe tape them? : )

10:15am - Toys at my desk.

11:00am - A run to the post office.

11:30am - I needed some caffeine. A run to AJ's for some passion fruit ice tea.

7:20pm - Just getting out of the tanning bed. Need a little color for the wedding. Don't you just love the goggles.

7:25 pm - A shot of the tanning bed. I have yet to turn on the music behind the bed. I'm still a bit freaked out being enclosed in the bed.

8:30pm - Getting caught up on the DVR. Watching the last recorded Dirty Sexy Money.

9:00pm - Surfing the internet. Oops, only 11 pictures. Guess I miscounted. Happy 12 of 12 everyone. Next weekend I'll be a Mrs. I can't wait! : )

Happy 40th Birthday Babe!!

2009-01-07T20:41:00.002-07:00

Today the LOML celebrates his 40th birthday! Sending big wishes to him on this special day. A few photos at Oregano's for his birthday dinner.

Love ya babe- Happy Birthday!

18 more days until we are married- woo hoo!

Goodbye 2008. Hello 2009!

2008-12-31T15:13:00.005-07:00

I wouldn't say 2008 was an overly fun year for us after all we were planning and saving for our upcoming 2009 wedding. However there are a few highlights for the year.

1. The removal of the braces has to be the best thing about 2008!

2. The fun bridal shower that brought together many family and friends. Thank you Mom, Betty and Cristin for making it so special!

3. Uncle Ruben's birthday party. It was great having the Acosta family together again. It had been long overdue!

4. Watching Brycen and Shane play flag football.

5. Meeting up with my girlfriends, Melissa, Josie and Leah. Our lives get so busy that this proves to be a rare occassion.

6. Going to a few D-Back games with the LOML.

7. Shane & Sophia's Kindergarten graduation.

8. Crying when my younger/bigger (yes, he is taller than me) cousin Ben proposed to his girlfriend Christa. We can't wait for the wedding on 1/2/09!

Joe and I want to wish all our family and friends a very Happy and Blessed New Year.

The Familia photo

2008-12-22T11:00:00.002-07:00

I was able to gather the family for a photo this year as it had been a few years since the last photo and we've had some wonderful additions to our family.

Taken 11/23/08 ~ Anthem park

(l to r: Caitlyn, Piper, Keri, Dan, Brycen, Mom, me, Joe, Sohpia, David, Linda & Shane)

Altered Clipboards

2008-12-21T21:17:00.003-07:00

I got this idea in my head to make altered clipboards for my nieces and nephews as one of their Christmas gifts. I did a bit of research on the web and most people said they were time consuming and difficult to make. I actually found them pretty easy to assemble and alot of fun! Now I did these thinking they may use them for their school work so I didn't want to add too many embellishments. Here's how they turned out. I can't wait for the kids to open them. I hope they like them!

The front and back of the boys clipboard.

I was going to make them each different but liked this paper so much that I made them all the same. I think this makes them edgier and know they will think it's cool.

Here's the princess one.

I painted a chipboard using their first name initial and put ribbon on the clip.

I decided to make the girls clipboards each different to fit their personalities.

More of the girls altered clipboards

Happy Holidays!

The Acosta grandchildren

2008-12-21T12:00:00.002-07:00

It's a rare occasion that all us grandkids are together in one location and everyone is willing to smile for a photo. Of course there are few grandkids and great grandkids missing but this is pretty good gathering.

Photo taken 11/15/08 at Uncle Ruben's

l to r (back): Craig (Michelle's husband), Kevin (Jodi's husband), Daniel, Paul (Melissa's husband), Melissa, Joe (my soon-to-be-husband), & David

l to r (front): Michelle, Leila (Melissa & Paul's daughter), Keri (Dan's soon-to-be-wife), Me, Brycen (Dan's son), Jodi, Cody (Jodi & Kevin's son), & Linda (David's wife)

It's Christmas time!

2008-12-18T21:34:00.002-07:00

The place is all decorated, gifts have been purchased, wrapped and shipped. Cookie baking has been happening the past few weekends and will continue this weekend. Supposedly, my sugar cookies are a hit with my niece as she took them to bed with her. : ) I've been good and have avoided snaking on them. After all the wedding is approximately a month away.

This was last weekend. Joe brought the totes full of Christmas decorations from the garage to the apartment.

The mantle decorated and the stockings hung with care. Like our new Christmas Story lamp lights? We had a set last year but they stopped working so luckily we found a new set.

Here's our tree with all our fun ornaments.

The LOML's interior illumination skills. He also did the exterior as well.

The LOML with his reindeer ears. Isn't he cute?!

Yay! We got our cruise papers in the mail. Only 1 month, 6 days until the wedding and vacation - woo hoo!!!!

JoeStina

2008-12-02T08:48:00.003-07:00

Yep, Joe and I should now be referred to as "JoeStina". It's our new celebrity signature. I was reading this article on a bridal site about a couple saving their first kiss for the wedding and I see this little ad for what the site calls "The Name Game". It's where you come up with your own celebrity signature like "TomKat". It gives you a few combinations so you can pick the one you like the best or that has a good ring to it. Give it a try and feel free to comment back your celebrity signature.

Happy 60th Birthday Uncle Ruben!

2008-11-16T19:48:00.002-07:00

Happy 60th Uncle Ruben!!!

A pig was roasted underground, ribs and burgers were served and the beer was flowing. Pictures from the birthday party to soon follow but I wanted to make sure and wish my Uncle a VERY Happy Birthday since today is the big day!

Love ya Uncle Ruben!

What's going on?

2008-11-08T21:42:00.005-07:00

Absolutely nothing. I'm a bit under the weather right now. It's a major bummer because I'm not very good at being sick. I know it's because of the weather change and lack of down time. I went to see the doc and was advised that I haven't had the head cold long enough to warrant antibiotics and that rest is what's recommend. Rest? What's that? I'm trying to follow doctors orders but I'm finding it difficult not to putz around the apartment. Of course, Joe is a great reminder of the doctors orders. I know. In a minute babe. I need a few more minutes and I'll shut the computer down...

Juno and Sweeney Todd are the new movies tonight on Cimenax and HBO. Awesome! We've yet to see Sweeney Todd and can't wait to watch it. Of course we missed the 9pm showing because Joe was watching football. Oh well, it'll be on again.

I learned today that Big Love will be back January 11th- yay! The Ex-List was canceled - bummer! Lost will be back January 21st with a 3 hour premiere - awesome!

I must give a shout out to my dear friend Rebecca. She offered to take engagement photos of us as a wedding present. We had so much fun hanging out with her and I must say the photos turned out absolutely beautiful! I used one of the photos in my new blog title and another one I've put down below. If anyone is in need of a great photographer, check her out at Snootie Patootie Photography.

So, rest is on the agenda this weekend. Let's hope that this nasty head cold passes pretty quickly. The next few weeks are jam packed with activities starting with a bridal shower for my cousin Ben's new bride-to-be, Uncle Ruben's 60th B-day bash, family pictures, the Mad Mud Run, cookie baking and of course Thanksgiving.

I haven't forgotten the wedding...need to do a final fitting on my dress, get together with the MOH and Bridesmaid to see what they will wear and plenty of other little things to finalize...much to busy for a head cold!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-05T09:42:00.009-07:00

We had our annual family Halloween gathering at Dan's house. Here are some photos from our fun night.

Brycen opting for a scary costume this year. The blood was pretty gross!

Brycen again looking creepy in his costume.

A couple of hippies

Granny with David

Sophia as a goth fairy

Piperella our award winning actress

Sophia, Piper and Granny

Brycen, Granny and Shane

The kids ready for trick or treating

It's me with my mardi gras mask

Dan brought out the wolfman costume. Even though one ear is a little droopy he still managed to scare some of the kids in the neighborhood!

A hippy and a wolfman

The kids gathering around their soon-to-be Uncle.

Caitlyn and her boyfriend Cameron checking out their candy loot.

Cody the cool zombie skateboarder

Shane the gangster

Brycen with his candy loot.

Me and my beautiful mom.

Fun at the Halloween Store...

2008-10-28T20:16:00.003-07:00

"To infinity and beyond!"

Awww, nice leopard ears!

"Luke, I am your father."

Look deeply into my eyes!

Check out these groovy glasses. All I need now is smokin' purple outfit!

So fitting but they'd be even more perfect if they had ND on them!

Saturday is all about Football

2008-10-25T17:41:00.003-07:00

Last night we had our Nephew and Nieces spend the night. We played a rousing game of Uno to which the girls pooped out early leaving Brycen and I to battle it out. After he beat me it was off to bed as he had an early flag football game.

It was nice having an early game time (8:30am) because it's still a bit warm this time of year. They lost their game 6 - 0, but Brycen had a great pass and did some excellent rushing (yes, I am actually learning a little more about this game of football that the LOML is so in to every fall). YOU ROCK BRYCEN!

It's ND football time and let's hope they can pull a win against Washington. Per the LOML they stink so it should be an easy win for ND. Oh, let's hope so!

Happy Anniversary Babe!

2008-10-14T17:21:00.003-07:00

It's the 3 year anniversary of our first date and the 1 year anniversary of when he proposed to me at Cheesecake Factory. We get married in 3 months and I can't wait to be his wife!

This is a scrapbook page I did of the LOML

The flowers he brought to me on our first date. They were also a big hit with Grandma Lucy! ; )

Our first picture together. I knew the moment I met him that he was a keeper! I love you babe!

It's Football season...

2008-10-13T21:13:00.005-07:00

This past Saturday was spent hanging out on the football field watching both of my Nephews play in a flag football league. Here are shots from our fun day.

Brycen is the team quarterback.

Brycen taking the snap.

Nice throw!

The team running through the family & friends huddle.

Piper and Caitlyn

Granny Lucy, Mom, Keri and Daniel watching the game.

The LOML and Dan killing time between games throwing the football.

Piper and I were waiting for Shane's game to start

The gang watching Shane's game.

Shane coming in for a drink at half time.

Shane running with the ball.

12 of 12 (3): October 2008

2008-10-12T20:00:00.005-07:00

It's time for peek into my day...the good ole 12 of 12. We had my two nieces, Caitlyn and Piper, spend the night with us last night. The LOML and I had fun hanging out with these cutie patooties!

To join the 12 of 12 fun, check out Chad's blog for more info.

12:30pm: The girls are taking a dip in the hot tub.

12:30pm: Here I am watching the girls hang out in the hot tub.

The girls are attempting to try the chilly pool. Brave girls!

2:15pm: The LOML cheering on the Cardinals.

2:30pm: The girls having a snack after some hot tub/pool time.

Go Cards!

4:30pm: I finally got around to cleaning out the freezer. It's all nice organized and likely not to stay this way for long.

5:00pm: Towels are done drying. Time for the next load. Our Sunday fun- not!

5:00pm - The girls bed all in shambles. They'd spent the afternoon after hot tubbing watching Mean Girls.

5:19pm - The temp today. It was beautiful outside today. These are temps we look forward to after such hot summers.

7:00pm - I got to use our new blankets we got from the D-Backs game. It got a little chilly on my legs with the back door open.

7:30pm - We were watching the Amazing Race. We still don't have a favorite team but we sure are enjoying this season as they are providing us some hilarious entertainment. One question though....why do the women feel the need to put on makeup and apply fake moles? I get that they're on TV but it seems a little ridiculous.

Must watch TV...

2008-10-06T20:30:00.011-07:00

The DVR's are super busy now. Here are some of the TV shows we are watching this fall season. Yes, we have no life. After all we do have a wedding in 4 months so it's cheap entertainment for now!

I am lovin' Mad Men on AMC. If you haven't watched it you are truly missing out. I completely forgot that people use to smoke in airplanes and anywhere else they darn well pleased. All the characters have superb storylines that it leaves you craving more.

2. The Big Bang Theory - Gotta love these brainiacs. The episode tonight rocked!

3. Two & a Half Men - Started watching the re-runs over the summer so this is on the DVR list.

4. Project Runway - Love watching who will be aufed.

5. Brothers & Sisters - Sally Fields and Calista Flockart - enough said!

6. Amazing Race - The teams are so entertaining this season.

7. Biggest Loser - Jillian rocks!

8. Pushing Daisies - The first episode this season didn't knock my socks off. Going to give it another shot.

9. Ugly Betty - Always entertaining

10. Grey's Anatomy- Hoping this season is better than last season.

11. Samatha Who?- I can't wait until this comes back next week.

12. Dirty Sexy Money - Guilty pleasure.

13. The Girls Next Door- I know. I just can't help it.

Shows that I'm going to give a try-

1. The Ex-List - 1st episode is recorded but have yet to watch

2. Gary Unmarried - So far it's been pretty funny.

3. The Starter Wife - I love Debra Messing so will see where they take the show.

4. The Real Housewives of Atlanta- I gotta kick out of TRH of the O.C., so why not?

Oh, and has anyone checked out Little Britain USA on HBO? I've seen it a few times and laughed my butt off.

My Bridal Shower Collage

2008-09-29T22:38:00.003-07:00

A shout out to all my friends and family that braved the one lane roads and detours due to road construction to attend my Bridal Shower. You really made my day special. I love you all!

My Dad

2008-09-25T07:00:00.004-07:00

The past four years have been filled with sorrow and happiness. The loss of my dad hit our family hard and we are still adjusting to life without him. He is thought of often and it's funny to see his personality come out in us three kids in some form or fashion. I found my true love about a year after his passing and know that my dad would welcome him to the family despite the lack of hunting and fishing skills. ; )

Miss you dad!

The braces are history- YIPEE!

2008-09-24T19:57:00.007-07:00

It's finally over. The braces are off- Oh Happy Day! I do have to say I truly enjoyed seeing Dr. Dickerson and his girls but I definitely won't miss the adjustments that left my teeth aching for a week and a half. Here are some pics from the day.

Me and the girls at Dickerson Orthodontics. The whole staff is wonderful!

Right before the braces were pulled off. It was weird to have them pull the brackets off but the worst part of it was the filing to remove the glue. The sound from the instrument was horrible.

Inserting the permanent retainer on my bottom teeth.

The results- Don't they look fabulous? Was it all worth it? I suppose so. Now it's time to get use to the feel of smooth teeth and permanent retainer.

The parting bag of goodies. Dr. Dickerson's staff gave me this bag filled with all the foods that shouldn't have been eaten while wearing braces. Very clever idea.

The contents of the goodie bag. Interesting that it contains all that is bad for you. The only thing in there that even temps me is the Kettle Corn. The rest I've given up eating. Guess I'll have to bring it to work.

I was so excited to be able to eat corn on the cob. It's been way too long.

Say goodbye...

2008-09-23T20:25:00.003-07:00

to the braces!!!!!! Yes, they are coming off tomorrow morning. Oh happy day! Stay tuned to see a pic of my smile with out the metal.

Spring & Summer 2008

2008-09-14T21:30:00.005-07:00

12 of 12 (3): September 2008

2008-09-13T10:19:00.004-07:00

I'm a day late getting my 12 of 12 for September loaded because I was scrapbooking with my girlfriends until 11pm last night. We must do it again gals!

As always...credit for this fun concept goes to Chad Darnell. Click on the title to see all the 12 of 12's for this month. Here are photos from my day....

6:30am - My day started at 4:50am going to Boot Camp. Here I am wearing my Boot Camp Chicks shirt. I took the day off and was waiting for the LOML to get ready for work.

6:30am - The boot mark on the back of my Boot Camp Chicks shirt. Looks like I've been stepped on. : )

6:50am - The LOML as we are in the car ready to drop him off at work.

6:55am - The usual shot of us together in the car....wouldn't be a 12 of 12 without one of these shots.

8:30am - Our mailbox. Yeah, we haven't checked the mail in a week. This is what happens when you have a community mailbox.

12:30pm - Just leaving Costco where I picked up photos that I needed for scrapbooking. Plus Costco has a new site for uploading photos for print and they were offering 50 free prints- Score!

12:45pm - Filling up the tank at Costco. $3.29 a gallon. Cheapest around our area right now.

1:00pm - Headed to Desert Ridge to do some Target and Joann's shopping. This is the main entrance.

1:30pm - Going into JoAnn's to stock up on a few scrapbooking items. They had a coupon commotion happening this week so I had four 40% off coupons - YES!!! Love to get a good deal on scrapbook items.

2:30pm - Picked up the LOML from work. We made a run to AJ's to get ice tea's. This is the dessert counter. How good do all of those look?

2:40pm - The LOML with his Arnold Palmer drink.

4:00pm - My scrapbook items all packed. I'm ready to meet the gals for some serious scrapping! : )

Red Rock Canyon in Las Vegas

2008-09-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in Las Vegas for a training event for work and while there me, my boss, and few co-workers spent an afternoon visiting Red Rock Canyon. It's a very beautiful place north of Vegas and is a nice change from heading to the Vegas Strip. These are a few shots from the afternoon.

This post is for you Uncle Ruben

2008-09-02T19:32:00.004-07:00

Our hero today...

We are so thankful that Uncle Ruben was able to fix our Sorento. It had a tiny leak in the power steering hose and would've cost us quite a bit at the dealership. Thanks again for getting us back on the road!

My Babe has skills!

2008-09-01T21:50:00.003-07:00

Oh yes, he does. Here's the proof. He installed this shelf in patio storage closet. I couldn't be more proud!

Oh, and he also managed to put a second shelf in the coat closet. He's a pro now!

12 of 12 (3): August 2008

2008-08-12T21:57:00.006-07:00

I can hardly believe it's the 12th of August. Of course credit for this fun concept goes to Chad Darnell. Click on the title to find out more details. Here are a few pictures of my day.

7:45am -Morning smooch for the LOML

1:00pm -The LOML and I going out to grab some lunch.

1:15pm - We made a run to AJ's for an ice tea and an Arnold Palmer.

1:30pm - We then made our way to Paradise Bakery for some grub. They have very yummy sandwiches, soups and salads.

5:00pm -We were heading home on the 101. This is the new 64th St. overpass that has no road connecting to it yet. So much growth is happening in this area. I expect in a year for it to look completely different.

5:10pm - The LOML dropping a letter in the mail for me.

5:15pm - It's me. Waiting for the LOML to come back to car.

6:30pm- Cornflake cookie dough. We are having a bake sale that benefits the Special Olympics tomorrow at work. These are one of two cookie's that I made to be part of the sale.

7:30pm- Monster cookies. These were the second set of cookies I made for the bake sale.

7:30pm -Watching the Olympics on the TV in the kitchen while baking- Go USA!

8:30pm - The baked Cornflake cookies all packaged ready for the bake sale.

8:45pm - The baked Monster cookies. They look pretty yummy, right?! Well, they were if I do say so myself. They aren't a part of my diet but I had to try one to make sure they were good enough for the bake sale. : )

My M&M Avatar

2008-08-12T12:02:00.006-07:00

I created this fun M&M character of myself. How'd I do? Click on the title to create your own.

Look for 12 of 12 later this evening.

My Wordle...

2008-08-09T21:47:00.004-07:00

Isn't this cool? Click here to create your own Wordle.

What's going on?

2008-08-06T21:20:00.007-07:00

It's August already! We have a little less than 6 months until the wedding. Boot Camp is in session so I'm working my little heart out. The wedding dress is at my mom's so there is no peeking from the LOML. The wedding arrangements have been made and my bridal flip flops arrived in the mail the other day. Aren't they super cute? This picture makes them look white but they are actually ivory.

This past weekend we celebrated mom's birthday with a little BBQ. Here she is with Miss Sophia.

Miss Sophia found my Mardi Gras mask. She ran around the apartment showing it off. I love that my niece is so full of life and fun.

My nephew Shane upside down on the sofa. Oh to be a kid again!

I went to the see Dr. Dickerson, my Orthodontist yesterday for an adjustment on the braces. It's been 18th months now and he informed me that I would probably have them on 2 more months. He is doing the final adjustments- YAY! I have hated these braces so much and the end is almost here.

Oh, and here's a picture of the LOML's keys left in the door. I was on my way to check the mail and found them hanging outside the door. I don't know what it is about this place but I have done this twice. Once the neighbor knocked on the door and let us know about my keys and the other time we didn't find them until the morning when leaving for work. We are just fortunate that nobody saw them hanging there and entered the apartment. Here's hoping we now remember to remove our keys when entering the apartment!

Cake Wreck Blog...Must check out!

2008-07-28T15:01:00.002-07:00

Hi all,
I stumbled upon this blog. People request some pretty off the wall cakes. Click here for a few laughs.

Birthday Flowers

2008-07-12T21:53:00.003-07:00

The LOML gave me these beautiful roses for my birthday.

Thank you Babe!

12 of 12 (3): July 2008

2008-07-12T20:51:00.008-07:00

It's 12 of 12 for July. Here's some shots from my day. It was spent running errands. This fun concept is the brainchild of Chad Darnell. Click here to learn more.

10:00am - Made a run to Jiffy Lube for an oil change.

11:00am - Filling up with gas at Costco. It was $3.99 a gallon. The cheapest in the area.

11:10am - Filling up my tank

12:00pm - My cute window shades. I just got my car washed and you can see a palm tree and cloud shot on the hood of my car.

12:30 - Mom and I entering Fresh & Easy for a bit of shopping.

1:15pm - Driving home.

1:30pm - My new reusable Fresh & Easy bags.

2:30pm - The LOML outside of Dick's Sporting Goods. Time for new running shoes.

5:30pm - Costco run for detergent, TP, water and diced tomatoes

5:45pm - Hair cut for the LOML

6:00pm - The new summer hair-do!

6:45pm - Dinner at Dragon Palace. They have very yummy garlic chicken (sorry, forgot to take a pic of food)

Goofiness ensues tonight

2008-07-10T20:22:00.002-07:00

My new bangs...still getting use to them.

The LOML getting a bit frustrated w/the DBacks but they pulled it out- WHEW!

Grandma Debbie & Sophia

2008-07-10T19:27:00.003-07:00

6/29/08- At Granny Lucy's house

TV summer slump

2008-07-07T15:45:00.005-07:00

I miss my favorite TV shows...Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty, The Big Bang Theory, Project Runway and of course Lost. The summer TV is really lacking however there are a few shows that have made the summer a bit bearable. Here's a list of some that I think are worth checking out.

I Survived a Japanese Game Show
The Next Food Network Star
Ice Road Truckers
Black Gold
Last Comic Standing

Also, the LOML and I are pretty excited that Big Brother 10 will be starting this weekend. It's a summer guilty pleasure because not only do we watch the shows that air three times a week on CBS but we subscribe to Showtime so we can watch the Big Brother After Dark. Click here to see the new houseguests.

Blog update and 7 months until the big day!

2008-06-25T14:38:00.004-07:00

I've been slacking on updating my blog and the only reason is that I am too tired by the time the evening rolls around and just can't muster the energy to write or post a photo. I've recently joined Boot Camp Chicks which is a fun and hard workout. I started out only going 3 days a week and upped it to 5 days. Kim is a good Boot Camp leader and is helping us stay motivated and requires us to track our calorie intake. She suggested a website called SparkPeople that I would invite anyone to check out if you want help tracking calories.

Last night I got the pleasure of meeting up with some of my bestest girlfriends. We have been hanging out with one another since the early 90's. In our 20's, we spent so much time together going to clubs, movies and traveling. Now that we are well into our 30's and busy with work and family we find it challenging to get one night that works for everyone. Luckily, we were all available last night and had so much chatting and laughing.

l to r: Melissa, me, Josie & Leah

The LOML and I are busy working on the details of our wedding or should I say I am busy with the details! : ) We have 7 months from today until the big day. Very exciting! We are happy to annouce that Miss Murphy agreed to be our flower girl and we are kind of hoping Nelson will be able to carry the rings down the beach but Murphy informed us that he was too little to carry out this duty. We shall see.

12 of 12 (3): June 2008

2008-06-12T20:46:00.012-07:00

It's that time again - 12 of 12. As always thanks to Chad Darnell for this fun concept.

Here's my day...

6:50am: Me. Ready to leave for work.

6:55am - The LOML pulling the vehicle out of the garage.

7:10am - Breakfast stop at AJ's.

7:10am - The LOML but if you look closely into his sunglasses you can see me taking his picture. : )

8:00am - catching up on some Pop Candy .

9:00am - my morning 34oz of water

2:30pm - Conference calls were done for the day so time to block out my new LOUD cube mates with some tunage from my MP3 player. I believe I was jamming to an oldie, Listen Like Thieves by INXS.

4:10pm - Driving home and a shot of the gas price in North Scottsdale which was $4.25/gallon - Yikes!

4:20pm - Outside Target Greatland to return a bucket that I didn't need. Here's the LOML carrying said blue bucket.

7:30pm - The LOML catching a few pretend zzzz's - LOL!

7:45pm - Gathering my books to send to fellow BookMoochers (many thanks for the tip on the website Helen)

8:00pm - Snacking on some yummy cherries.