I Love People Coming To Visit

So... last minute my friend Arianne decided to fly out and spend the weekend with me here in Arizona. She flew in Friday afternoon and had to leave early Sunday morning but we managed to squeeze some fun stuff in. Friday night we hit up Costa Vida (just like Cafe Rio) and saw the movie " What Happens In Vegas " with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. I thought it was hilarious. Saturday we headed to the discount store "Last Chance" which is owned by Nordstroms. I found the most adorable yellow purse for $40.00. I was eyeing this purse when I worked at Nordstroms and I think it was $160.00 or so in the store. So $40.00 was a steal. Then we realized all purses were 50% off. $20.00 ... Smoking Deal! I decided since I have no job I would leave with just the purse. Arianne found a pile of stuff and got it for almost nothing. I LOVE TO SHOP!



We hit up In N Out and headed back to my sisters to Swim the day away. That night was spent watching rented movies " Juno " and " Fool's Gold". Sunday morning we were up early to get her to the airport on time. It was fun to spend a few days with a good friend. Thanks for coming out Arianne.

"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers".

M. Scott Peck

My Life In Arizona

Well... not much going on with me lately. I have been pretty bored this week with my sister and family being out of town. The job hunt is still on. The day after they left their computer stopped working and so the highlight of my week has been getting a Mesa Library Card. Everyday I've been going to the library to use my 70 minutes of internet. Pretty cool I know. Last night my bro in law told me that I could use the computer in the kids playroom. That it had internet. So... lucky for me it's at a little desk with a little chair that my bum gets stuck in. It's kind of funny. My personal favorite are the stickers! : )




This week there has been lots of laying out (lots of sunscreen), going to the gym, visiting family, hanging out, looking for mattresses,etc. I do have a place to live now. I can't wait to move in and get settled. I get to move in Tuesday. I have my own bedroom and bathroom.

Well... I wish I had more exciting stuff to say. Life is pretty boring for me right now. I hate looking for jobs but I know that everything will come together for me eventually. : )

Holy *@#% Is That A Scorpion?

SO... for those of you who don't know I have been living with my sister and her family. Well they left Monday for a little vacation. So I've been here alone for the last few days hanging out. So I was getting ready to go to the gym and I was on the floor doing sit ups. I just happen to look under my sister's couch and see a tail sticking up out of the rug. I instantly jumped up and got a little closer. But not too close.




I grabbed my phone and hopped on the stools and called my sister. Not taking my eyes off the scorpion. She answered and I asked her what I do when I find a scorpion under her couch. She couldn't believe it but told me " I will freakin kill you if you let that scorpion go in my house" . I told her she could go ahead and kill me b/c I wasn't touching it. Oh.. and she told me if I got stung I needed to go right to the hospital. Ohh and that they are really fast. Real comforting. Where it was sitting...if I were to move the couch it would take off running. I was not about to chase a scorpion around that could sting me and make me go to the hospital. Thanks but no Thanks. So she called her neighbor who sent her husband over with 2 other guys from their ward. One had a plastic baseball bat. So they come in and are like that's a huge one. They all look at it. Move the couch and he hits it and all i hear is "it's fake". I couldn't stop laughing. So I called Carly and she was laughing just as hard. Yes,everyone I'm retarded and it turns out it was my nephew Cooper's transformer toy. In my defense all those guys thought it was real until they whacked it with a bat. I was laughing so hard. It was really bright in the room but it was far enough back under her couch that it had a shadow over it and I refused to get too close to it. My cousin later informed me that "scorpions are red" WHO KNEW?

My Niece Is The Cutest!

Time to Kick My Addiction! It's a Sad Day!

For the last few weeks I have been drinking A LOT of soda. Usually I would treat myself to one now and then and not feel guilty about it. Lately I have taken it to a whole new level. Drinking atleast one every day if not 2. I told myself after I got to Arizona... NO MORE! It is so bad for me and driving across the country I found myself drinking it all day to stay awake! So I arrived Monday afternoon and have not had one since. I have been very tempted ... who wouldn't want a nice Coca Cola with lots of ice in this hot weather? I mean when you become so picky you only want Coke from McDonalds b/c it tastes the best. I think it might be time to detox and not be an addict anymore. Good bye delicious Coke and Hello Water! What a Sad Day!

Sweet Home Arizona

One of the Reasons I am glad I moved to Arizona is I no longer miss funny moments like this......



I gave my 5 year old niece Elle a necklace and while we were on our way home from a busy day of errands she turns around in the car with tears rolling down her face saying it's stuck in her teeth. She had been sucking on it. Long story short my sister had to get pliers to squeeze the clasp together to get it to come out. It left an indent in her gums. My sister and I were both laughing b/c the chain was dangling down .

Finally... I Was Off To Arizona

The sky was gorgeous my whole drive

Tried to get a picture of every state i drove through but I failed miserably! : )

Thought this sign was funny!

Another Amazing Sky Picture

Pretty much how I looked the whole drive... drinking my Coca Cola and listening to " Wicked"

Finally...Arizona State Line

Driving through Northern Arizona was beautiful. So green..!


So... I left for Arizona Saturday afternoon around 1pm. Went to lunch with a good friend and then hit the road. I won't lie. I probably cried for atleast half the drive that day. It was just so weird to be leaving DC. All I could do was think about how I wouldn't be coming back. Sometimes it's hard to except when you need to make changes in your life and you don't want to. I've been so comfortable in DC and to have to start all over in Arizona is scary. So the first day I stopped about 100 miles outside of Memphis for the night. Got up early the next morning and drove through Memphis, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and 1/4 of New Mexico. It was a long day but I made good time. Stayed at the most disgusting hotel in Santa Rosa, NM. It was a motel 6 and cheap and it had been a long day. My mom told me to quit being a snob and suck it up. I did it. However I swear I will never ever do it again! Woke up very early and headed through the rest of New Mexico and on to Arizona where I made it safely to my sister's house where my 3 adorable niece and nephews were waiting for me. Nice to finally make it after all that driving. Thanks to Chareese for the book on tape of " Wicked" and to Nicole for my $25.00 gift card to McDonalds for my addiction to Coca Cola. Both of which kept me happy, awake, and on the road.

What A Fun Weekend : Tubing in West Virginia and A Good Bye Party!

Tabbi, Tom, and I decided to head up to West Virginia my last Saturday in town and tube the river. It was so much fun. Nice hot weather and the water was just right.






I have the most amazing friends! They put together the best little get together before I hit the road. Chareese made her famous fruit pizza and they invited my close friends from out here. It was nice being able to say good bye to everyone. Still not very real I am leaving! Here are a few pictures from the night.







Thanks again ladies!

Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Palmyra

Niagara Falls
Fireworks at the Falls
Morning Run by the Falls
Top of the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada
Hill Cumorah
Sacred Grove
Smith Frame Home
Smith Log Home
Book of Mormon Publication Site
Erie Canal
Smith Farm
Palmyra Temple

Tom and I decided to take another trip a few weeks ago. This time we were thinking Boston or Niagara Falls. So... we ended up going to Niagara Falls, Toronto, and Palmyra. This is the one trip I was most regretting not taking while living here. So when he suggested it I was all about it. Niagara Falls was pretty amazing. We didn't take any tours or anything just saw the falls at night with the firework show and then took a run along the falls on the Canadian side the next morning. They are pretty amazing. We decided from there we would head to Toronto b/c we were so close. So we drove about an 1 1/2 to Toronto, Canada and went to the top of the tallest building. The view was pretty amazing but not really worth the money. We walked around a little but decided to just head towards Palmyra. We got into Palmyra around 5/6 and went straight to the Hill Cumorah vistor center. Then headed to the Sacred Grove. The visitor center was already closed once we got to the Sacred Grove so we decided to just walk around. It was pretty amazing to walk through it. A very surreal feeling to be where Joseph Smith had been. The next day we woke up and headed to the Book of Mormon Publication sight. It's amazing to hear about all the work that was put into publishing the B of M. After that we hit all the sites.... Alvin Smith's grave, Martin Harris farm, Palmyra Temple, Peter Whitmer farm, and went back to the Sacred Grove to have the tour of the log cabin and the frame house. It was a great trip. Lots of driving but definitely worth it. I am so glad to have been able to make the trip. Probably one of my favorite trips since living out here! : )

Memorial Day Weekend - Duck Beach

So this past Memorial Day I headed down to Duck Beach in North Carolina for the weekend. Lots of LDS singles from this area and I guess all over the US rent houses for the weekend. There are parties, volleyball tournaments, 4x4, etc. It was fun. The weather was nice part of the time. It was fun to be able to go and to hang out with some of my good friends here. Last year we headed to the 4x4 beaches and had a bonfire. So... this year we decided to do it again. Probably one of my favorite nights. There is nothing like sitting on a quiet beach with the most gorgeous sky full of stars in front of a bonfire. : ) Late night hot tubbing with some good friends also would have to top my list! Chareese and Nicole - I'll never forget the magical question!!! LOL!

I suck at posting lately

So... I haven't been very good at posting lately. Sorry! Life's been a little crazy for me!