Wined and Dined

That's right, Boyd 'wined-and-dined' me last Saturday night for our Valentine's Date. We went to Scottsdale Quarter to the brand new iPic Theater. It is an upscale, very posh, very over-indulgent, extremely pricey movie going experience (and I LOVED IT) I love crap like that!

We sat in plush leather seats and with swivel tables so we could eat and drink while we watched the movie (The King's Speech). We ordered mini burger sliders and popcorn. Everyone was dressed up and it was neat to look down the aisle of seats and see everyone delicately holding wine glasses. So FUN! My Favorite part of the theater were these unique wine-dispensaries in the center of the lobby. You could view the wine bottle/label, and then choose three different pour amounts. These machines made it easy to dash from your seat in the middle of the movie to get a little vino-refill! I love wine... I love Movies... Needless to say, I was in HEAVEN. :)

Superbowl Party!

On Sunday, we hosted a Superbowl Party at our house! We invited our friends that live in Tempe (Boyd and I call them the '137 kids' because of the clothing company that most of them used to be a part of). We have lived in our home for 2.5 years and most of them had never made the drive out to our house, so needless to say, we were really looking forward to this get-together! We had about 20 adults and 8 kids crammed in our home, so it was tight...but cozy and FUN! Everyone loved our house (and Boyd's Barage) and we all shared good snack foods and lots of laughs, and some football watching.

Boyd relived the days of his youth showing off his skateboarding skills... and he is feeling the pain today (he is almost 30, but thinks he is still 18!) My favorite part of the night was during the halftime show... all of the children danced to the Black Eyed Peas' performance and the adults were pretty entertained because our kids have some "sweet moves"! Boyd and are grateful we have so many amazing friends to share our lives with and it is so neat to watch our friends' children grow up over the years.

I Hope...

I HOPE that the transition into having more children is easy and smooth. I hope that we quickly figure out the new dynamic and don't lose ourselves in the process. I hope that I can conquer big changes and make the right decisions regarding imperative life changes, so I can be the very best mother to an infant I can be...

I LAUGH when Boyd talks in his 'gangster-ghetto' way. He does this often at home. It gets me every time, I still find it to be surprisingly funny! I normally roll my eyes...but I really am amused. I try to imitate him and it just doesn't sound funny coming from me... oh well!

I CREATE beautiful memories for my photography clients. I hope they see the love and beauty I see in the moments they allow me to capture. Sometimes when I'm processing photos i'm overwhelmed and humbled to think that this one photo could be someone's favorite photo...and framed in a home for years...and then given to children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on... {wow}

I WISH that Ryeland could be with us full-time. I also wish and hope that he can go to Zaharis Elementary (my mom's school) next year for 1st grade because she would be his teacher. I'm not sure how that could possibly happen, but it might, so i'm wishing.

I SMILE when I read the strange, short, silly emails my Dad writes to me. He has such an odd sense of humor that I love. Even though he lives far away, I'm glad that we can still talk every now and then on the phone and share tidbits of our lives with each other via email.

I FEEL such a sense of peace and happiness when we come back from a vacation and enter our cozy, love-filled home. I especially love it if I had a chance to fully clean it before we left. It is so wonderful walking in the door and smelling our familiar smells and seeing the comfy couch beckoning to us. {ahhhhhh} I LOVE to travel, but I thoroughly enjoy coming HOME too.

A Little Culture...

Last Sunday was one of those perfect days with my family. The beautiful AZ January weather was great for beingg outside: 70 degrees. We planned on going to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum outside of Globe Arizona, but first we drove into the downtown area to see what this old sleepy mining town had to offer for lunch. I LOVE that Ryeland was immediately excited and curious about the old deserted buildings...he is beginning to see the differences and beauty in places around us. We had lunch at a hole-in-the-wall Mexican Cafe, called Cafe Piedra Roja. We were the only ones eating and it was obvious it was family owned and operated. We sat outside in the back soaking in the warm sun and ate our chips and salsa, they also brought us little bowls of vegetable noodle soup as an appetizers. We then had our lunch inside because the bees were bad outside. I'm thankful that Ryeland likes all kinds of foods and even knows what different entrees are called. He gobbled up the soup without picking through it and ordered a tostada with beans and rice. My favorite part of the day was when he closed his eyes and started swaying back and forth to the tinking Mexican music that was playing...he then got up and started dancing by his chair and I joined him. He knew that this little place was special and we felt so far away from our home (even though it was only 20 minutes down the highway). We were savoring the moment and so was he. That day was like a little mini vacation for me. {good memories}

Christmas Eve

Today was Christmas Eve and my family came over for Brunch at 10:30. We had Southwestern egg-bake, bagels with cream cheese, fruit salad, a butter-braid pastry, complete with coffee and mimosas! YUM! We then exchanged gifts…Ryeland of course had the most and we enjoyed watching him open his fun new toys, games and books! Later that afternoon we got ready for church (which was at 4pm) and hurriedly stopped at Burger King to grab a bite to eat and that is when Ryeland’s meltdown started. He refused to eat and then wanted to take his DS game into church; even though we told him he couldn’t. He continued to bawl all the way to church, where we gave up and promptly decided to turn around and drive all the way back home to put him directly to bed. I guess there really is such a thing as ‘too much of a good thing’ with all of the back and forth between Jenna’s family and our families and staying up late, opening presents, no school, his new big-boy bed being delivered…he HAD ENOUGH. Boyd and I were exhausted ourselves so we rested a little before heading over to Mom’s house for her annual soup night where we enjoyed some soup, snacks and brandy slushes with the family. Boyd and I didn’t stay too long because we were both tired from our busy day and had to get up tomorrow to pack and drive to Show Low to see Boyd’s family.

7 Questions ...

1. The first thing I do in the morning to start my day is (In order)... I usually wash my face first, quickly make the bed, let Brody out of his kennel, walk downstairs with him, let him outside and then pour some cereal for myself.

2. Today I wish I was not at work. Sadly. Most days I don't mind being at work... I like the regularity and normalcy. It is only a few days before Christmas, and the offices are quiet...most of my friends and family are at home with their families...

3. If I had an extra $100 in my bank account today I’d spend it at Name Brand Exchange...Maybe buy some new jeans and tops for myself!

4. Tomorrow hmmm.. tomorrow is Wednesday. I'm coming into work early so I can leave early for my massage at 4pm....with my favorite masseuse, Gary. He is actually not a massage therapist, he is a 'structural integrationist'. Sometimes the therapies can be quite painful...(but in a good way).

5. Two things that don’t go together are pizza and anchovies! why would anyone want little salty fishies on their pizza?! so weird! EEEEW!

6. Something I can never pass up at the grocery store is the good brands of frozen pizza when they are on sale for less than $4. (Digornos, California Pizza Kitchen, Frescheta, Newman's Own) well... from the looks of these last two questions, I guess i'm craving pizza?!)

7. The last time I tried something new was during our Vegas weekend a few weeks ago. We were at Uncle Doug's house and he had pomegranates out. Ryeland was instantly obsessed! He kept eating them by the handfuls, as if they were candy - and I really like them too! (I knew what they were and have had pomegranate flavored things before, but never the actual little nuts!)

A Tree...

We finally got a Christmas tree! The last month or so has been a whirlwind...so incredibly busy! This year I definitely feel like I'm 'less in the Christmas spirit' then the year before. I'm not really sure why... I don't know if has just crept up on me - or it's because I've been so busy with projects, deadlines, and other responsibilities. I'm not really 'stressed' per say, but I do feel like I'm not able to do what I WANT. I feel like I'm doing a million things for a million people. I don't know, maybe that is the point of the Christmas Season? Giving of yourself? I hope by the end of this week things start to slow down and I can focus on just 'being'.

Maybe reading a book...

Maybe just sitting on the couch and looking at the tree...

Maybe baking some cookies with Ryeland...

Maybe spending time with family without looking at the clock...