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}