Life is good...

So..... as some of you know and some of you dont know, there has been a certain someone that has come into my life and really spiced things up! The name of this certain person: Aaron. Therefore, my life really has been a lot more exciting so I thought I would share with you all some pictures of the fun times had here in Phoenix...

One of the things that I loved when I first moved here was the whole 'desert' feel. I loved that there were cactuses/cacti (whatever!) and palm trees everywhere! However, with time I realized that I had become so used to seeing them that it really wasnt so special anymore. Now, when Aaron came to visit back in December, he helped me remember and re-recognize the beauty of Arzona again. We spent a lot of time driving and soaking in the beauty that Arizona has!

Of course I had to share with Aaron the amazing 'new' invention called guitar hero. I am not quite sure what it is about it that I love so so much... but I do! So we headed off to an arcade (another favorite of mine) to try it out! He was such a good sport about it. I had to show him the moves of how to get it done!

I kinda think that Aaron was a little jealous of my rockin skills- so he tried to make up for it on the air guitar. Maybe he got some inspiration from the frog!

In all the driving that Aaron did while I was at work (poor poor Aaron- left all alone in Phoneix!) He found signs with both of our names on them! Random huh?!

Notice however, that below the 'Aaron' sign it says "Not a through street". I think he felt hurt at what the sign was insinuating, so I had to take matters into my own hands to help him see that that is not the case :)

After he left, I went to see what I could do! I would like you to first take a minute and look at the picture above. Doesnt that Aaron sign appear to be maybe just a few feet up? And the yellow sign looks about the size of a speed limit sign? Right?! All I am saying is that when we pulled up and I walked closer, I realized it was far above my head. I mean- come on! I just wanted to put my sign over it and clear things up a bit! Was that too much to ask?! I had to stand on my tip toes and still couldnt cover it all- even with stretching with all my might! Plus, the yellow sign- yeah. Much wider than my 2 pieces of computer paper could handle. Oh well- sometimes it really is the thought that counts! :)

We also headed off to see the Motorcross races. In our minds, it was going to be dirt bikes doing tricks. We thought..."Cool!" so we headed downtown. (note to all of you... driving downtown Phoenix is the quickest way to increase your blood pressure in a matter of seconds! I can feel my heart racing just thinking about it!)

So we learned... Motorcross does have dirt bikes indeed. But the focus wasn't on doing tricks, it was on speed! They raced around and around and the crowd seemed to really get into it when they crashed. Why is that always a fan favorite?! It all turned out pretty fun though. We just had to figure out all the rules.(I even tapped the lady's shoulder in front of me to get the low down. It was her first time too though, so we just had to figure it out on our own!) Once we got it down, we had a great time!

Here is a heads up for all you soon to be motor race car fans. Jimmy Stewart apparently is THE MAN in this sport. Just throw that name out the next time you're there and you'll be sure to impress all around you! (That way you wont look silly when you're looking around for the actor that well... died a few years back!)

We also went and saw the beautiful temple and the lights that were up for Christmas. It was so fun to continue the Christmas tradition of going to see the temple lights, that I did each year back in Salt Lake. However, the great part was that I could still feel my nose when it was all over and I didnt have to worry about driving home in a blizzard! I am really learning to love Arizona in the winter! They did a great job and the temple looked amazing!

It really was such a blast to get to know Phoenix( I know, it took Aaron coming here for me to finally explore my surroundings!)

And it was especially fun with such an amazing travel companion like you...Aaron!!!

Happy Valentines Day! My dear Aaron!
You truly are a keeper! :)

Estoy agradecida que estas en mi vida!

Um...Excuse me?!

So...I dont know if any of you recall that when I moved down here to Arizona last May, I was a little warm. Okay- lets be honest. I was HOT! But, the thing that kept me pluggin away was the thought of a nice cool winter with no snow, no worries about waking up to a blizzard, no scraping my car windows etc... Those beautiful thoughts got me through those rough days...

And I have to say, that has been the case. Each morning the thing furthest from my mind is snow! It was always a weird thought each time I talked to my famliy or friends in Utah and they told me of yet another blizzard that dumped 5+ inches the night before. Lets face it, I forgot that it is winter since each morning there are blue skies that welcome me and no snow in the forcast.

This morning my worlds collided. I was running a little bit on the late side (in my defense, it was only about 5 min!). I ran downstaris, grabbed a granola bar for breakfast and sped outside to drive off and catch up to those 5 min that I had lost. After I locked the front door, I turned to run to my car and BOOM! It felt like I hit a brick wall. There in front of me was an inch of frost on my car! WHAT?! This is not possible. I looked around to see if I was in actuality still is Arizona and didnt by chance get teleported back to Utah during the night. Yep. It was Arizona alright- Arizona with frost bite!

Well, since I had happily given all my scrapers away when I moved here, I sat pondering in my car what I should do. Then it all came flooding back to me. I opened my wallet and got some random card that I didnt need and got to work. As I was scraping the window with my safeway grocery store card, my thoughts were taken back to those many mornings in Utah. Those mornings when I felt like my lungs were going to collapse as I scraped the windows, trying not to scrap my knuckles in the process, and sitting in my car as I waited for my heater to heat up.

It really only took a few minutes and I was on my way. I am sure that from most of you out there, I am not going to get any sympathy... especially from those of you who spent hours shoveling this weekend!

In reality it was just shocking. Who knew?! Now I might begin to have those thoughts again about needing to wake up early "just in case" I have to scrap those darn windows again.. However, it was good to see- I still got it! :)

Totally Redeemed!

So yesterday I decided to brave the lucky charms shirt again! It was the first time since "the incident" that I have put it on. As soon as I pulled it out, I was taken back to the awful smell and sight of what had been over it previously days. Good thing it all came out in the wash!

As I slipped it on, I hoped that this time it would in deed turn out to be lucky...and was it ever!

Throughout the day nothing too out of the ordinary happened. At about 5:00 a nurse approached me about "a situation" in the lobby.

Heres the background. In our pediatrics department we have an amazing lobby. It has tables and chairs, a piano (which I would prefer to get rid of... but thats for another post) and it has a projector with a big screen. This projector is normally off in the slow months of the summer. However, winter is a different story. Because of so many respiratory illnesses on the unit (RSV, pneumonia, brochiolitis etc...) Siblings under 12 can not enter where the patient rooms are. They have to stay in the lobby. The patient, if not contagious, can go to the lobby and they can have a movie night. Its all fine and dandy... IF the projector works . And well, for some reason the responsibility of "knowing it all" and fixing it seems to have fallen on....well....ME! Those of you who know me are thinking...what?! I know- I think that same thing each time the come to me. Why me?!

So when the nurse came to me with a situation in the lobby with the projector, I simply shook my head and asked "what now". In the past, it has been something "simple"... no sound, or no picture. This time the problem led me to wonder why some people are allowed in public places.

She informs me that a dad of a patient couldnt get the projector to turn on, so he re-programed the remote and now the picture is playing, but playing UPSIDE DOWN! "Oh really" I said with a half smile and a tad bit of sarcasm. "and I'm supposed to know how to solve this..hmm..." In my head I actually thought "What?! Why?! Why was this man allowed in here?" The nurse said a few "nice" things about the man, and I headed off to "fix it!"

I walked in and he said "Oh look! Lucky charms is here to fix it!" My head was flooded with a lot of things that I wanted to say... "Why do you think you could re-program this? Is it yours to re-program? Do you think you're a super hero? Next time- ASK for help. And also- this lucky charms shirt doesnt have a very good history- so watch out! " But I kept that all to myself as I smiled and said "Sure am!" as he handed me the remote.

There is a great phrase "Fake it til you make it!" and I did exactly that. I started pushing buttons and asking questions trying to fix the 101 dalamations that was playing upside down. I had about 10 kids looking at me with those pleading eyes to help the situation. I couldnt let them down! This was serious business. I joked around and said, "Maybe if I turn the remote upside down it will work!" See, I think that I am so funny and cracked myself up. The mom laughed, but the dad said "Or, I'll just take the projector down and put it back up upside down as well!" I simply raised my eyes from the remote, and looked directly at him. "Um... I dont think so...but thanks!" I said with humor in my voice, but I also was thinking- yeah right! You've done enough...I think you should stay seated buster!

I asked him to tell me exactly what he pushed and I proceeded to work backwards. I pushed the same button as he did and got some menu. But of course it was upside down- so in order to read it, I had to be upside down. Somehow in that position, I pushed something and it all flipped around and worked!!! I received a round of applause from the kids and I felt like doing a victory dance. (and well... I did! ) Because in all honesty I did not feel like I was going to triumph! See prayer works!!!

When I left the lobby, I looked down at my shirt and told it that it was totally redeemed from the lack of protection from the diarrhea the month before.

Now dont you all think that that definitley deserves a gold star?! I thought so! ;)