Intel offered a free corporate day at the Phoenix Science Center for employees and their families.  Jordan and I decided to go.  We like the discovery center in Boise and thought that this science center would be even more fun.  It was four floors focusing this month on the human body and how it works, how a home is made, the forces of weather and our digital world. 

Watching an open heart surgery being performed.  Very interesting and surprisingly not gross at all.  

 Jordan learning about our nervous system.

We spent about an hour in the science center. They had some really interesting and fun exhibits for kids.  It would be a great place to take our niece and nephews but for us we found it....a little boring.                 

Thank you Grandpa Newman

I went to the store the other day.  Jordan isn't much of a shopper and does not appreciate the idea of 'just looking around' so while he was working I took the opportunity to spend the afternoon at Target.
   
As I was checking out I noticed that the total was a lot cheaper than I thought it should be.  My immediate thought was "Wow! That was a great deal.  Something must have been on more of a sale than I realized."  I walked out to my car and started going over the receipt trying to see what was the big deal of the day.  That is when I notice that not all my items were scanned.  And not only was it not scanned but it was the most expensive item I picked out that was not rung up! 

I had a brief moment of thinking "Well, it wasn't my fault that the cashier missed it and so I shouldn't have to worry about it."  Then the image of my Grandpa Newman came to mind.  He was the most honest man I have ever known.  It was that brief image that got me out of my car. 

I will admit it, I walked back not thrilled about the inconvenience but hopefully thought "Maybe they will give it to me for free for being so honest".   It was rather uneventful when they said "oh, OK." rung the item up, I paid for it and left.  No praises for being so honest, no discounts given, no fireworks, high fives or pats on the back.  Just simply the knowledge of knowing that I did the right thing.

I am still learning how to be completely honest in all things and be truly happy about it. 

Thank you Grandpa Newman for being one of the great examples in my life.  For living a life of true integrity and for the reminder in a Target parking lot of the right thing to do.   
    

Date night

One of the things I love the most about Jordan is his ability to make friends easily and to keep his friendships strong regardless of moving, getting married, work and school.

   

Jordan met Shawn and Nicole while living in Provo.  Over the years they have stayed great friends and knowing them has made our move to Arizona so much easier.  They live in the same apartment complex as us and we are able to get together with them quite often.

 We decided to skip the usual movie for a night of haunted miniature golfing.

  

 Nicole and Shawn

The course had undergone a spooky transformation for Halloween.  As you played golf through graveyards the workers would randomly show up in costumes to hand out candy.  It was really fun. 

 Jordan and I after we both hit a hole in one during the game.   The first of many for both of us. 

Jordan and Shawn were nervous that their wives might not get along.  They had nothing to worry about.  Nicole is so sweet and we have really enjoyed spending time together.  

        

 Jordan made sure to keep us updated on the Boise State vs Toledo game. 

The final score 57-14. 

GO BRONCOS!!

I was the winner of the game getting the coveted holy grail on the 18th hole.   

Only in Arizona do you see Halloween decorations of pumpkins, cactus and chilies. 

Excitement in Arizona

 We had exciting weather this week complete with 75 mph winds, uprooted trees, downed power lines, hail and a lot of rain.  And that was just at our house!  

A tornado watch was issued for our area.  Being from Idaho I had no idea what that meant.  Luckily Jordan who has been through many tornado watches in his life explained that a tornado 'watch' means that there is a high chance that a tornado may form.  A tornado 'warning' means, find a safe place to hide and pray.  He told me that our apartment being on the top floor would not be the safest place, but do not go outside! Get in the bath tub and cover up the moment it switched from a watch to a warning.  Four tornadoes did touch down but luckily for us the storm moved further north.       

The storm came in like a wall of water and lasted less than a minute!  The power of weather is amazing!

A different kind of excitement.

 Most weekends Jordan and I spend our Saturday mornings at the local goodwill.  Every other Saturday is 50% off everything and we have been able to find some really great stuff.  Jordan looks for books and I am always on the hunt for new refurbishing projects.  

We have been looking for weeks to find kitchen chairs we can refurbish for our kitchen.  Finding one that is solid and well made has been a challenge. 

Finally we found one!!! 

It is disgusting and needs some TLC but we have big plans to sand and paint this chair making it into something beautiful for our home. 

Before we left the house to go to goodwill Jordan happened to check craigslist.  He saw an old dresser for free that he thought looked like it was in good condition, (we are always looking for extra storage). 

When we got there the family said that they had bought two dressers on craigslist a few weeks earlier for $30 and decided to only use one.  Not only did they give us the dresser for FREE but they also gave us these wood shelves.  They are perfect for our food storage!   

A little dirty, scratched up and in need of handles but I think this is a great refurbishing project.  The best part is that if it doesn't turn out it, we got it for free and can happily pass it on to someone else without feeling like it was a waste of time and money.

Now what color to paint it?

I also found this adorable pumpkin basket at goodwill for $.99 that I put on our bookshelves to make our home a little more festive. 

 It took weeks of shopping and a lot of compromising and discussion but we finally agreed....and our new leather love seat has arrived!  (The couch will be here in a few weeks.) 

We LOVE them.  Jordan loves how comfortable they are and I love that they are a soft leather couch with a modern look to them.  Now we can have our friends over and they won't have to sit on the ground.   

 While transitioning into our new life in Arizona we have been limited to one car (we pick up Jordan's truck this weekend!) which means I spend most of the day at home.  I have been working on little projects to keep myself entertained.  I am working on a baby quilt to give to Caitlin and Ryan when the right baby is sent to their family. (Surprise!) And I have been working on making our apartment feel like a home.  

Here is my latest project for Halloween 

Wreath frame $1.00

A bag of candy corn $1.00

Ribbon $.15

Total $2.15!!

The other thing we have been doing to stay entertained is Jordan and I have started going to the gym together once he gets home from work.  Jordan runs for thirty minutes while I have had to set slightly smaller goals.  I am NOT a runner.  My body was not built to run. Having asthma and scoliosis I simply avoided running.  I can only remember running a mile once in my entire life.  My goal is to run a entire 5K this Thanksgiving.  The training is hard for me but I am slowly improving.  

    

I LOVE blueberry muffins.  

It is one of the simple joys in my life.    

I always add fresh blueberries to the mix. 

Warm, fresh out of the oven, so yummy!!

We don't make blueberry muffins very often because it makes a lot for two people.  So on a whim I decided to try freezing them individually and see how they would turn out. Jordan started taking them out the night before so he could take them with him to work. Within the week they were gone. They froze so well and Jordan loved being able to 'grab and go' with them in the mornings. 

It looks like more blueberry muffins are in our future. 

Now all I need is to discover a healthier recipie that is just as yummy.   

Life in Arizona

Jordan and I are slowly settling into life in Arizona. 

He loves his job and comes home happy every night.  They offer amazing benefits, he can make up his own schedule and they have great perks.  He can wear jeans to work, gets free snacks and drinks, and he won tickets to Michael Bolton yesterday.  (Not our kind of music but still fun that he won) 

Going from being surrounded by family, friends and babies in Boise to alone the majority of the day has been quite the adjustment.  The first two weeks we didn't have Internet or television so being at home all day was really hard.  Jordan has been really good about getting me out of the house every night and surprised me with a Netflix subscription so I can watch movies while at home during the day.  We spend most nights looking for furniture and seeing what is around our part of town. Our first purchase was a new TV.  After looking at several stores and Jordan's negotiating we got a really great deal on a 42 inch plasma TV that we just couldn't pass it up.  It feels a little big in our small apartment but we love it!!  Now all we need is a couch.  

   I am looking for a job and until I find one I try to work on little projects to help keep me busy throughout the day.  We have a pool right outside our apartment but it is so hot that the majority of the day you have to stay indoors.  How hot is it?  Most days it is over 100 degrees and day or night it is always stays about 100 degrees.  It has taken me awhile to get used to it being that hot at night.  It never cools off and I am not used to being hot.  I would carry around a jacket 'just in case' everywhere I went.  I carried around a 'just in case' jacket for about week and then realized that I was never going to need it.  It may be hot now but this winter it is going to be soo nice here. 

Here are some projects that I have been working on.               

 

Started as this... 

Turned into this...

We decided to put it in our kitchen to add a little bit of color to the room and have been using it as our 'junk drawer' and bills area.  I am really happy with how it turned out.   

Next project to finish is in our bedroom.  I bought a green lamp at DI for $3.oo and had originally painted the dresser to match the lamp.  I then started searching for a pillow to tie all the colors of our bedroom together and just couldn't find what I wanted so I decided to made my own pillow.  

  

The birds were hand drawn by me and sewn onto the pillow by my Mom.  I LOVE how it turned out.  Now I need to find the right lamp shade for the lamp and finish sewing the pillow.  

Over all we really love living here and are excited about the future.        

Moments from Kylee and Shane's wedding

There is a monster in the room...

Last night while babysitting Ella.

Ella: There is a monster in my room

Grandma from downstairs: Just whistle at it like Poppy does.  Monsters hate whistling.

Ella:  Pffftt.  Pffftt.  It's not working.

Grandma then tells Poppy to go check Ella's room for monsters and to whistle them away for her.

Grandpa:  Hey, you are in the wrong room and there is a monster!! 

'Laughter' 

Grandpa:  I will turn it around for you.  Good night.

Ella had snuck into her Mom's room to sleep and was scared of the monster staring her down. 
That monster?  The Edward stand up!!  Poor little thing was whistling away trying to get Edward to leave her room.  Good thing Grandpa was able to save her from the scary vampire.       

Eat, Pray, Love and birthdays

For Amber's 37th birthday her friend Holli planned an 'Eat, Pray, Love' party that was so much fun.

  

Amber and several of her closest friends and family went to dinner at a resturant called the Flat bread community oven where they make authentic Neapolitan wood fired pizza.  All the ingredients are brought in fresh each day and the pizza is made exactly the way they do it in Italy.  It was soooo yummy!  Plus to add to the fun they had a live band that played jazz during dinner.  After dinner we went to see the movie 'Eat, Pray, Love'.  We all seemed to like the movie and had so much fun together.  It was a really fun night.    

Kylee, Shane and I bought Amber an Edward stand up for her classroom at school.  A little embarrassing but it was the one thing she asked for so what can you do? 

I tried to make Amber an ice cream cake as requested but unfortunately it turned out well.... horrible.  First it took me awhile to figure out which size and shape would be easiest.  I settled on a 9x9 pan and used the rest of the cake batter to make cupcakes for those of us (me) who don't like ice cream.  Ella and I made the cake, let it cool and put it in the freezer to get cold.  The next morning I come out and there are about six frozen water bottles laying on top of the cake.  Needless to say our cake now had a mountainous theme going on.  I called my Mom asking her what to do now and she suggested cutting the cake in half and flipping the cake upside down so that a smooth edge was on top.  Ella and I did exactly what was suggested and cut the cake, filled the middle with chocolate ice cream and put it back into the freezer.  It looked so ugly.  So now that is where the cake sits.  I figure when we get around to eating it we can cover it with whipped cream and it will still taste OK.  

In the end the cake didn't matter at all.  Amber had a wonderful birthday celebrating with friends and family. 

Happy birthday Amber.  I love you!!   

My first refurbishing project!

I found this old side table at DI for $10 and saw the potential it had to become the perfect side table to go next to my bed.  I like having somewhere to put whatever book I am reading and my eye glasses before I fall asleep and thought this would be perfect. 

After being sanded and patched up. 

(I am pretty sure this was part of a bedroom set at one point in time)

Primed and ready for paint.

The final outcome.....in Phoenix.  I was so caught up in seeing Jordan after three weeks, getting packed, the truck loaded and sending Jordan off that I forgot to take a picture of the finished project.  I loved how it turned out.  Jordan was a little shocked by my color choice but I assured him that my vision will tie it all together. 

To be continued.....