Einstein on the Beach

Healthy in the Twenty Twelve

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:47:00 +0000

Remember that little health challenge we did with Miss Alisa last year? I would link you to her fabulush blog, but its private, so just know...its great. :) So my sis in laws and I decided to do it again this year!! The only difference is that we are doing it for only a month at a time.

If you want to get in on the fun, click here. Oh and btw, there might be a word in the name of the blog that some may find offensive.....my apologies if your feelings get hurt, but then again you clicked on it of your own free will.

Happy New Year!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:04:00 +0000

2012, doesn't it seem weird to type that? Its going to be 12 years since I graduated from high school...12 years??!!! That's as many years as you spend in grade school, well except for you smarty pants people who skipped grades. It makes me feel old, old and kind of freaked out. I worry that I'll blink my eyes and tomorrow I will be 88 years old and wonder where it all went.

Our day so far has been lovely and very restful. Here in Phoenix we enjoyed cloudless skies and 80 degree temperatures. My doors have been open all afternoon to let in the sounds of birds and the smell of oranges and lemons that are starting to come out on the trees. I am glad though that next week will bring cooler weather. I am definitely not ready to start that climb up to 110+.

I'm sure by now everyone knows about and loves Instagram, (hint I just wrote about it yesteryear). I'm not going to lie, I stalk Instagram like I would probably stalk Facebook if I had an account. Today I found a fabulous idea from Miss James @bluebirdvintage. It is 30 days of photos. Since I have lost my desire to take very many pictures in the past couple of months (too much work, worrying about dust in my lens, the sun goes down early etc) I think this just might be the ticket to make me decide to use my camera again, (yay!!!).

Should be simple enough, right? If you decide to do it on instagram, let me know!!!

My first pictoral below showcasing the bad lighting in my room and my starting-to-grow hair!!! holla!

Familia in Town

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:36:00 +0000

Brando and I have been very lucky to have family staying with us for a few days this week. It was perfect to have them here, it seemed super quiet around here after being with family over Christmas. Brando's aunt and uncle and their kids stayed with us after they had been in Nogales visiting an auntie who lives in the hills there.

We have had a fabulush time, they kept commenting on the lovely weather and we were able to get some quality time in the hot tub. Well, we were in the hot tub, the kids were going between the pool and the hot tub. I realize that I am far more acclimated to the Arizona heat, but there's no way you would get going back and forth between that frigid water and the heat of the hot tub.

They also came bearing tamales from Nogales. I have a weak spot for tamales, there's something about them that makes my heart happy. Now, Brando has brought up a few times that we should go visit his aunt in Nogales and each time I have informed him that I enjoy my head connected to my body, thank you very much. But our aunt and uncle assured us that they felt safe and comfortable there and so did their kiddies. After partaking of the divine tamales, I think that I might be persuaded to head down there. Sorry PHX, but you just don't have very good tamales!!!

BTW, Brando and I divorced ourselves from TMobile. Yep, we were willing to be seduced over to Verizon with my mom and little bro....Iphones were calling my name as well as a cellular service that actually works. I think Brandon is in shock, he can't look at an android without lamenting his skype and large screen. For the record, he could have gotten a droid...but homeboy was worried that I would just rave over the iphone and he would be left with his bulky, oversized droid.....the best part of the iphone you ask?? Could it be Siri? Nope. Could it be the sleep design? Nope. It would be Instagram. Holla!!! Come find me on there, my user name is Cancocom. I would love to see what pics you're taking!

Christmas in the UT

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:02:00 +0000

We had a lovely time in Utah the past week, I couldn't believe just how fast it went by. I was able to work in the office for a few days, gotta save that PTO yo, and we were able to hit up all sides of the family, whew.

I must say, good ol' Utah has some seriously divine food, we hit up:

*Takashi
*Sawadee
*Nielsen's Frozen Custard
*Piccolo Brothers
*Union Grill
*Ah Sushi
*Cher's (oh yes you can't forget that 2.95 sandwich mecca)

If you add the countless family dinners, well then you know what we spent our time doing....eating.

My two days that I worked I was able to walk around downtown. It was a bit chilly, but this time I came prepared, I had a coat, scarf, mittens and toasty boots. After I manned up it wasn't so bad.

I was able to reconnect with Sadie. Yep, the old gal still remembers me. She gave me her customary friendly morning greeting and subsequent ignoring for the rest of the day.

There are a couple of pictures capturing her true nature, specifically the ones where she is glaring over her shoulder. That cat honestly somehow knows when someone is trying to take her picture and she would rather have none of it.

Christmas day was a whirlwind, but a good one. Christmas morning was with my family and then we went to the Ritchie's for a sausage and bacon-filled breakfast and gift opening. We didn't attend church with the familias, but instead hit up each other's family while the other one was in church.

We were able to do our customary turkey dinner with Grandpa Hatch. We missed Grandma terribly but were able to facetime with her...go Grandma!! I have to put a plug in for her, she knew Apple was da bomb back in the 90's when they had a mac computer. No wonder why she was able to adopt the Ipad and Iphone so easily.

After that dinner we went to the Tauki'uvea's for another dinner and present opening. We were super lucky this year that Brando's grandparents from Heber came down for the weekend. I got to play with our new niece, Olive. The last time I saw her she was a brand new baby and now she's a giggling machine who does Michael Jackson moves....see below.

I'm thinking that I will save this for her to use as blackmail against her father one day when she's a teenager. "Remember Dad when all I wanted to do was enjoy being a 4 month old and you wanted me to dance and entertain everyone?"

She is a super cute, smiley baby that I didn't want to put down while we were there.

The best part about our time in the UT was spending it with family. Technology allows me to feel pretty connected to my familia for the most part, but it was great to spend some face time with them. I was able to ride to work with my dad each morning and chit chat with him, hang out with my mom and catch up with her and also get some one on one time with my little bro's. I didn't get any pictures of Thor, but believe me, we spent a night chilling with him. Chilling with Thor entails running around the house chasing him, playing with his chew toys and escaping his farts...seriously, that dog may have a flatulence problem.

We miss everyone terribly already and are trying to bribe everyone to come down and go to Mexico with us in the new year.

Day of the Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:42:00 +0000

For Halloween, the Desert Botanical Society had a Day of the Dead parade at the botanical gardens just outside of Scottsdale. I have been drooling to go, who wouldn't want to spend a day with natural flora and fauna in the desert?

The parade was a lot of fun, although it was a bit chaotic. People did not care if they walked right in front of you and your camera, darn it they were going to get their picture!!!

The parade lasted about 15 minutes and had people dressed up in masks and had their faces painted.

I thought these masked demons were the best part. They danced and danced and danced around everyone else in the parade.

I felt a bit sheepish once we got there and weren't dressed up like 90% of the people there.

After the parade we got to wander through the "garden", there were all sorts of cactus there. I could have stayed for hours, unfortunately the place closes at dark so I couldn't linger any longer.

We had a great time, it was a wonderful way to spend Halloween.

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:20:00 +0000

I am a little late in posting this, but I am finally getting around to some pics from our trip to Thriller. It was our 3rd year in a row and those crazy kids of Odyssey Dance Theater did not disappoint! Thriller is one of my favorite things, I look forward to it all year. Now that we live out of the state, it makes it even more exciting to me that we get to see family when we go. Its the perfect combination.

Most of these pics are of my little brother, the kid loves to pose.

A very thought provoking pose, I'm sure he was contemplating just how he was going to handle the ghouls not too far inside.

Yep, that's right.

This is Dad's "go-to" pose every time, an oldie but goodie.

Scarebear was a trooper, he spent the day golfing with Brando and my dad, who are serious golfers. I think he was super happy that Bill (my father in law) was there with us so the two of them could be the novices together.

My cute little mom and I, I think we are probably the most excited people about Thriller out of the group...we're the ones that keep the Halloween spirit alive.

I started getting a little bit nervous when the dancers weren't coming out before the show. Luckily they started showing up, a little late was better than never. Brando and I were so happy that his parents joined us this year, we were able to make it a big family trip.

We had a great time, as usual the weekend was over far too quickly. Brandon and I were extremely grateful to spend time with our family.

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:44:00 +0000

I promise to post very soon the pictures from our adventures at Thriller, however, the weather is too fabulous today. We're having "second Spring" aka Fall down here in Arizona. It is 83 degrees and I feel like I just came out of winter (except it was a winter where 110+ degree days were normal.)

Instead I will leave you with a picture of some cholla.

Have a wonderfully scary Halloween weekend! I will be enjoying myself at a play, called what else? Dracula. :)

Thriller 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:50:00 +0000

This Saturday it is the annual Ritchie pilgrimage to Thriller at Tuacahn. Honestly, I enjoy Thriller more than I do Christmas morning...people this is serious biznass!

Website for photo here.

So, this weekend I will be with my parents, siblings and in-laws for some "thrill-tastic" har-har fun, similarly to here.

Garret and Megan - Family Photo

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:59:00 +0000

While I was in Utah last month, my little brother and his wife, Megan asked me to take their family picture. Our plans were almost thwarted on that day by some bad weather up by Snowbasin, but luckily it stopped raining long enough for us to head up, take some pics, let Thor get a little muddy and get down before anything crazy happened.

One thing about visiting Utah once you've moved away, those mountains are gorgeous! Every time I come back I am amazed by how pretty they are...especially in the Ogden area. I was really excited that the colors were just starting to turn, I wish there were more reds when I was there, but I was willing to take what I could get.

I didn't have my camera with me, (dang carry-on bag limits!!) but luckily my dad's camera came to the rescue!

A few words about Mr. Thor, he's a German shepherd puppy (that's right, I just wrote puppy!!!) who is over 100 lbs of pure puppy goodness. I am not a dog fan, truly, they drive me batty and there's nothing worse than a dog owner who lets their dog run wild. Thor, however, has won me over. He has a sweet personality, is super well behaved and never barks. (Amen to that!) Garret and Megan outfitted him in the spiked collar. I think it adds to his mystique, although he becomes a weapon of mass destruction inadvertently once he's got it on.

I really enjoyed spending time with my brothers (Logan is holding a ball behind my head) and with my sister-in-law. I don't get enough of that time since we've moved!!!

The Cactus Cha Cha

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 00:16:00 +0000

Last Saturday Brando and I got up bright and early to drive ourselves to the other side of the valley for the Cactus Cha Cha.

The the Cha

I had signed up months ago to run the 7 miles trail race (back when I still thought I could run a half marathon), so I was super excited. Although, I probably should have looked into how far away it was before we left...I didn't realize that the other side of the valley meant over an hour drive away.

I was super proud of myself, I finished the run, even though I didn't realize that it would be up and down in the White Tank Mountains. I did feel better when I saw that the "mountains" were really just big hills...or maybe really old mountains.

There was one problem and that my friends is why there are no pictures...I fell, like we are talking epic fall. Oh my goodness, it was one of those falls where you don't even realize that you're falling, therefore you don't really catch yourself. They warned us before the start that the trail was really rocky and people have gotten hurt before, so I started the race thinking a lot about falling. For the first few miles I saw several people eat dust big time, so that kept me on my toes. Until 5.5 miles in (dun, dun, dun) when my feet started hurting because I was running in my minimalist shoes and I haven't been running up and down, just flat. I could feel some serious blisters starting. Instead of worrying about running, I was thinking about my feet and sure enough I tripped, fell right on my knees (we were on a big ledge of rock), kept sliding and went on my hip, elbows and right shoulder. It was one of those situations where if I was oh about 20 years younger I would have started crying. I seriously considered laying on the side of the trail until a trail volunteer came by in their 4-wheeler to pick me up. But, I remembered that there are snakes and scorpions and it was starting to get hot, so I got myself up and started walking to see if I could make it the rest of the way.

A girl came running by that reminded me of my ol' work buddy Sarah Yamane (seriously they could have been twins) and she offered to run with me. Bless her heart, she probably saw me crash from up above. She ran with me for about 5 minutes talking about all sorts of things other than what we were doing. Pretty soon, my knees, hip, shoulder, elbows and hands were numb and I could finish. I was a little late thanks to the big fall, but was seriously just so happy that I finished. I finished!!!!!

The trail itself was beautiful, we were running through saguaro's and barrel cactus and cholla. (You've got to be careful of that darn cholla, remember Ranger Amy?
I can see how runs like that could be addicting, it feels so great to do something that seems hard, (believe me I am NOT a runner) plus you're doing it with a group of people that mostly seem to be struggling just like you. The next run is at McDowell Mountain in December. That run is 10 miles...I don't know if I can keep up the running schedule that long though....unless someone wants to come down here and join me!!! December is a fabulous time to be in Phoenix, who can complain about 75 degrees and sunny?

Great Halloween Movies

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:07:00 +0000

Halloween is such a great time, seriously almost better than Christmas...almost. Every Halloween I try to take some time to watch Halloween movies, enjoy some Halloween candy and read some Halloween-ish books.

So far I have finished some of the great Edgar Allen Poe works...The Raven anyone?? I downloaded The Shining last weekend and plan on diving in when I finish my current book and I watch the original Fright Night.

I swear, I swear, I swear I have seen this movie before, however as I watched it and the few shots of bare chested women in the movie I questioned whether this would have been shown at my parent's house or the neighbors but I guess you never know what I could have watched across the street at the Ransom's while the parents were out.

The special effects you ask? Awesome.

The story line? Great, it even includes teenage, angsty love.

And of a course a vampire that moves in next door that is both handsome and charming to the ladies. Apparently the ladies are quite beguiled anytime a vampire is in the midst.

All in all, it was an enjoyable jaunt back to the 80's and it made me want to watch a few more, so here's my list of movies that I'll be watching this Halloween season:

1.) Nightmare Before Christmas: The best show ever. I can check this off of the list. I watched this with my parents the Saturday before I left Utah. We celebrated a Jack Skellington extravaganza.
2.) Fright Night: The 2011 version
3.) Beetlejuice
4.) Hocus Pocus: This may a hard sell for Brandon
5.) The Shining: This depends completely upon whether I finish the book this month.

Now I will leave you with my favorite shirt, if I could wear it to church, I would.

I'm Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 00:28:00 +0000

I am back in the great state of Arizona, enjoying the coolish temperatures and looking forward to the expected high of 85 degrees next weekend.

Today's post I thought I would share some pics from our trip to Miami. July was mine and Brando's 5th anniversary and it happened right at a time that we were about to leave to Utah for a few weeks and couldn't get off. So, we planned a trip around Labor Day, which worked perfectly as we could use that Monday (I am PTO challenged) and then I would be heading to Utah directly after.

Let me start with, I heart Miami. Actually, I heart southern Florida actually. You could put a big heart around it for me, I can find no wrong with it.

When I was little my Grandpa Ritchie gave me a subscription to National Geographic for kids. There were a couple prominent articles in there that captured my heart, the first being astronaut camp for kids and an article about the Everglades...both items in Florida. Are you seeing already why my love started early for this place??? Brando asked me what I wanted to do while in Florida and my first response was to see an alligator. Like any rational people, we headed through the Everglades and found the highest rated place on Yelp and stopped in. It was fabulous, absolutely fabulous.

As soon as we pulled up I knew we were in luck, I mean look who was there to greet us, match made in heaven...

We got our tickets and headed over to the line to save us a good place on the airboats. I will admit, I was a little bit nervous because we had just driven down the road and had seen the alligators just hanging out in the water on the sides of the road. I was convinced that one would come meandering out of the swamp and decide my ankle would be a nice brunch.

Once we got into the airboat, I couldn't resist reaching out and grabbing a lily pad, which the boat operator made sure to tell us not to do since that attracts alligators and would make them want to find out what is making the plant shake.

See those lily pads? Yep, those are the ones I couldn't resist touching. I was convinced they were just floating along the surface, drinking up water...nope, they're attached to some serious stems underwater.
This birdie is some prized bird...it was pretty, but not the most exciting thing on our boat ride.

Then, the excitement started. This little gator is 1-2 years old. Creepy little things, aren't they? Did I mention that the airboats are only oh...about a foot above the water? Yep, you are up close and personal with the critters.

With all of the little babies floating around it was inevitable that there was a momma around and I was not disappointed.

As soon as the boat pulled up, she came tearing out of her hiding place a little aggressively. She was right next to my side of the boat and I was feeling a little uncertain about it. In fact, it felt like she was staring me down and after a few minutes I started getting pretty nervous....don't animals think that if you look them in the eye its a request to fight?? I started shrinking into the boat, if she launched herself in, well then, she could land in Brando's lap. I later learned that miss alligator couldn't see me, they can't see directly in front of and behind them, but I was very nervous for a few minutes.

This picture is blurry since we were moving and the gator was moving, but it shows both a gator moving around and turtle, cleverly camouflaged like a gator, sunning himself on the rock.

Doesn't it look like a skunk ape could live in there? I promise all you Floridians that have claimed to have one in your back yard...I believe you!!! There are also signs every where to watch for panthers and panther crossings...I was hoping for something good to show up for us...like maybe a Werepanther ala True Blood style...but no such luck.

After the boat ride o' fun we headed in for alligator wrestling and other demonstrations of bravery.
As we were walking in they kept saying that they were scanning the audience for volunteers. I think Brandon was sweating bullets that they would ask him to be the volunteer. Little did he know I was plotting that if it came to that, I would generously step in and take one for the team. I would love to have alligator wrestling to put on my resume, who wouldn't? Luckily they never asked for volunteers, but instead performed some death-defying feats...or at least feats where you could lose your hand.

Then, we headed off to Naples, which is on the Gulf of Mexico side of Florida. We have some friends from Utah attending school there, it was a great time seeing them, seeing where they get to live for a little while longer and meeting their little boy...(born in the time they've been gone.) Naples is beautiful, it reminds me of Key West.

Adam and Erica, the aforementioned friends. :) That night we were eating out at a delicious Cuban restaurant. Did I mention I could eat Cuban food most nights of the week? Cuz I could.

We spent the last few days of our trip in Miami, which was almost deserted because it is off season. We spent an afternoon walking along the beach and kept noticing the dangerous marine life flags were up on the beach. When we saw all of the jelly fish along the shore we figured it wasn't sharks. I will take my chances with jelly fish...maybe not with sharks. I waded out into the water (I'm not missing a chance to get in the ocean) and was a-ok until I was almost to shore. I had a jelly fish just touch the inside of my knee, it burned for about 30 minutes and left me with some little blisters but nothing bad enough to keep me out of the water later.

All in all, it was a fabulous way to celebrate 5 years! Miami, hopefully I will visit you again soon!!!

Out for a Bit

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:46:00 +0000

Ok friends, I am out of this hot, sweaty desert for a month or so. Fernando and I are headed to Miami for a week and then I get to go back to the 801 for a while. I'll talk at you when I get back!!!

Desert Moonlit Hike

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 00:40:00 +0000

The other night Fernando, (that's right...he answers to it too) and I decided that we needed a little time in the Sonoran desert. Truth be told it was more like I saw it and decided that we needed to get to know the local flora and fauna. So........ended up on a night hike.

We headed to Fountain Hills and to McDowell Mountain Park at dusk so that we could participate. Side note: we almost ran out of gas...seriously we didn't realize that you have to drive many miles once you get on state park land, just in case anyone decides to head out there with only 1/10 a tank of gas.

I was genuinely surprised to find ourselves in a very large group of people varying in age from elementary school to grandparents. We had to gather at the entrance of the trail and introduce ourselves (oh boy) and then head out with a good warning that if you see something that looks like an S on the trail don't step on it.

Our poor ranger, Ranger Amy decided she would show us what cholla, aka Jumping Cactus would do if you get too close to it. She tried to lightly tap the spines, instead of getting one or two stuck in her hand...she had 5 or 6 spikes VERY deep in her fingers. She tried to flick it off with no luck, I think it made the situation worse. Finally, someone had pliers (who carries that around???) with them and they had to spend 10 minutes yanking the spikes out of her hand. Needless to say, Ranger Amy's hand immediately got swollen and she suddenly didn't have patience for all of the little kids running around.

It was a gorgeous night with lightning popping off in the distance, owls hooting and you could hear the coyote pups yipping under a full moon.

The destination point of the hike is a small pond where there are many different kinds of frogs and toads that survive the summer in the waters. Ranger Amy caught a Sonoran Desert frog, which is poisonous and well-known for its "effects" aka hallucinations. I was a little bit concerned that Ranger Amy was holding the frog in her compromised hands, but who am I to question?

We had a great time, it was a little toasty even though the sun was down but I fully plan on coming back in a few weeks to go scorpion hunting with a black light.

Tempe Town Lake

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:46:00 +0000

Good old Tempe Town Lake, created from the Salt River dammed up right at Mill. It makes this desert look a little bit like there is some water, but don't try to swim in it. (There are triathlons held here, but they have to test the water first.) At times it smells kind of like the marshes around the Great Salt Lake. Here you are looking across the water at the Sundevil's stadium, (ASU).

Question for you all...

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:11:00 +0000

How many of you read blogs in a reader, i.e. Feedly, Google Reader, Flipboard, etc? Or, do you just go directly to the website of your choice?

Google +

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:42:00 +0000

Google +....are you on it??? If not, you should be!!!!!!! Let me know if you need an invite...I have oh about a 120 or so left to give out ;)

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 13:04:00 +0000

Must I admit how much I have been drinking of this stuff lately? Between being in the office, (and having quite a large bag full of change) and my parent's stock I will definitely have to wean myself off of it again.

Shhh...don't tell anyone, but yesterday I drank 2 liters all by myself.

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 11:01:00 +0000

Oh it was a beautiful sunset last night!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:56:00 +0000

Oh I love this kitty cat. She started out life 10 years ago as probably the meanest feline we have ever had as a part of our family. She's starting to turn into a little old lady now that she's about to turn 10 years old. At this point she's almost like a dog, she follows my mom around, waiting for her to sit down so she can curl up on the arm of her chair.

Also, like clockwork she wants to go to bed at 7:00 every night. Going to bed consists of being fed Fancy Feast and then being shut inside her house, aka The Shed. I got to spend some time with her while I have been in Utah, I'm glad to see that while she has calmed down a little bit, there is still some of the old Sadie in there. I did get a couple of warning snaps while patting her head.

Its Time for August Break!

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:46:00 +0000

I don't know about you but summer is busy! Between everything going on I find it hard to find time to blog. When I saw the idea of having an August break, meaning just posting pics with a little description, it spoke to me! Here's an opportunity to blog but its definitely less of a time consuming activity.

So, today starts my first August Break post. Its a picture of Mr. Snake from a hike I took in Ogden, Utah. My little brother and I had every intention of making it to Hidden Valley. Unfortunately, we didn't make it, but that's ok, we'll do it next time!! I didn't realize that people in Utah get too hot at 90 degrees! Just kidding, I would have been one of "those" people a year ago...today...well 90 degrees is 6:30 in the morning.......

Garret left Megan and I to hang out by the water while he took his dog down off of the trail, the poor little guy was dying of heat exhaustion under his layers of fur....Megan and I started walking down to meet him when I suddenly saw this dang snake right next to my right foot. I jumped easily 3 feet in the air. Megan and I had to wait until he made his way across the trail because we were very concerned it was a rattler...luckily for me it wasn't. Needless to say, I was a little jumpy the rest of the way down the trail. It was a super fun day hiking with Garret and Megan and Mr. Thor, next time kids lets go up Malan's Peak!!!

Utah

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:06:00 +0000

I have been in Utah for the past two weeks, its been fabulous catching up with family and friends. The other night my mom, dad and I sat outside and watched the lightning show and decided to play with my dad's camera and tripod. We were lucky to catch this bad boy below!!

The 801 can truly create some awesome lightning shows!!!

5 Sweet Years

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 12:12:00 +0000

Oh my goodness gracious, guess what happened 5 years ago today!!!

This cat was born!!!! Ok, just kidding.

I married my sweet love!

It has been the best 5 year of my life and I look forward to many more.

Monsoon Season

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:50:00 +0000

When I think of monsoons I think of a ton of rain, crazy lightning and all around a lot of weather. People that I spoke with before moving here also led me to believe that the monsoons down here would be full of rain. Nope. Well...maybe there's barely a little bit of rain...and I certainly didn't expect haboobs.

I learned from the weatherman yesterday that the monsoons in Arizona consist of dark, threatening clouds, dry lightning, wind and then the storm blows out of the valley in the afternoon off to other places to drop precipitation. I'm all 8 inches of water that we're supposed to get during this season is dropped sporadically in places, but as for my house there have been exactly 2 times that it has rained.

What does the monsoon mean for me?? Well, it means fabulous nightly thunderstorms with all of that lightning and beautiful sunsets.

I will not complain about how gorgeous the sunsets are every night here. If only I could give it justice. There are nights that the pink will go from one edge of the horizon to the other. Now, if only I could capture a snap shot of the crazy ace lightning that follows these sunsets....

Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:02:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Brando had training in Chicago for a week and I flew out to join him over the weekend to enjoy the city. I really did not know what to expect. I figured that Chicago would be just like New York and I was completely wrong. I love me some New York City, if I could live there, even for a couple of months, I would do it in a heart beat. But, I fell in love with Chicago. Chicago has all of the good aspects of a big city, but it also has a smaller feel. The streets are wide and clean, there are a lot of couples walking around with their babies, and best of all...there are drawbridges!!!

We had a great time exploring the city. We went on an architectural boat tour, where we learned about all of the buildings and their history. It was extremely interesting! One night we went to a free concert in the park by the Bean and happened to come across The Taste of Chicago. They were having an outdoor festival where restaurants around the city were selling food. It was delicious!!!

On Sunday, Brandon's flight left 5 hours before mine. While he was gone, I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, I ate lunch right on the river, shopped on Magnificent Mile and pretty much explored the city. We had a great time, I hope that we get another opportunity to visit!!