Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend arrived, and I found myself able to leave work early. This called for a trip to California to visit AC/DC. Honestly, I was a little worried about driving over six hours by myself, and probably should have been more worried considering I had to take a nap after an hour sitting in rush hour. Still, I made it and we had a great time. I don't know what beach we were at, but there was a place to do all these crazy acrobatic tricks. As for my nieces and nephews, I believe we may have even found what Santa does in the off season:

These guys were in amazing shape. No joke.

We tried to catch a movie that had just come out, but missed it. Still, this provided an opportunity for the only picture I got of AC/DC that weekend:

Love these two, and I had a great time! I will most definitely be back for another visit, and hopefully soon!

West Virginia

April afforded me the opportunity to visit my cousin Cordell and his family (wife Katie, and kids). Who wouldn't love visiting a family that is CLEARLY so fun!

Katie and I met in college while on dates with friends. We ignored our dates entirely and loved getting to know each other. I felt like she was like family. When I returned from Arizona a few months later for Thanksgiving, she was dating Cordell and the rest was history. We were fortunate enough to have them join the Chipman family for Thanksgiving a few times, prior to my parents leaving for Peru.

A few notes on the trip:

• I had a great time playing with the kids. They are a lot of fun, and have a LOT of energy.


• Cordell recently put a sandbox, which the kids love. (And the house is getting a lot sandier, too.) He is also building a jungle gym, but one for adults. It is, of course, being child proofed. I had a great time helping him with the building.


• Katie and I had a great time driving around West Virginia, cooking, and exercising.

Many thanks to the Davis's for allowing me to come stay. It was great to meet them, their friends, and see some green grass!

Happy Birthday Jill!

Lives are always better with good friends around. And when birthday cake is involved. And, for some, a round of golf. Happy Birthday, Jill! Maybe next year we'll make it to the shooting range!

Singular Humanitarian Girls

It's always a treat to get together with friends you've done meaningful service with. Most of us went to Guatemala together last year, and it was great to get together with everyone. (Plus add in another great friend.) I look noticeably short here. I think it's just the distance of the camera.

Legends of the Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor

I've heard of them. I've seen movies with them. But I'd never actually ordered one. However, when a good, old fashioned ice-cream parlor that makes ice cream mountains goes out of business, you just have to have the experience. 10 flavors of ice cream, 3 toppings, and 18 people there to help out. As you can see what was left after the first round of servings (photo below), this was no small feat!

Don't you worry. We pounded it down like it was the last food left on the planet. I restrained and had only one, small serving. I'm not sure who it was that ate so much, but some things you've just got to do once in your life.

Superman Costumes Aren't Just For Halloween

Apparently, in Phoenix it's always a good time to wear a superman costume with fake muscles and aviator sunglasses.

Too bad I'm not Lois Lane...

Phoenix Botanical Gardens

Saturday was a lovely day to get out with this gal, J. Do you ever wonder what all those funny images are on your camera? I'm sure one is for sports (the running man image). One is for scenery (the mountain image). But I just don't know what the one below is for.


Anyway, J and I took our cameras and went out with our friend S (who has a totally legit camera, being a real professional) and went to the Botanical Gardens. I love that place. And now, you can love it, too! (We had the good fortune of catching all the desert plants in bloom. They are fantastic!)

I love the green in this shot, contrasted with the white. This plant never fails to catch my eye.

I really like this particular picture--I think it's the yellow specks surrounding the cactus...

We stopped in for a brief visit at the Butterfly exhibit. (Most of them were hanging upside down on the plants getting ready for sleep because the sun had started going down. We did catch a few of them out and about, though...)

I would like to sit on this bench...for a few hours. With a book. Anyone care to join me? The weather is in the 70's and upper 80's...

I don't really know the name of this plant, but I love the red and green...

Did you know that cacti have the most wonderful textures and colors?

It was a lovely day! And to think I almost didn't go...

Around town...

I had the great opportunity to get out and enjoy the Mesa Arts Center recently. I mainly wanted to go so I could mess around with my picture. Note that I have to say "mess around"...because I'm just not all that sure what I'm doing with it. Anyway, it was a great day to go. For whatever reason, they've intertwined thousands of strips of fabric along the guardrails around the place. It's a great place to take pictures of water and plants. AND, as luck would have it, I ran into another band, but unlike last time this group had lovely hats.

My favorite picture of the entire day. By far.

I just love these plants with those silly little strings all over them!

I love this--the hats, the suits, and the cheap white sunglasses.

Green Smoothie Trend

It has been recommended to me as of late that I should avoid canned foods. Not that I eat a ton of canned foods, but the comment was made by a well intentioned person worried about my nickle intake (!). I've actually thought about this quite a bit since the discussion. I actually think that it would be really great to eat only all natural foods, etc. But the reality is, I don't have the time. I had a friend who ate no processed food (all raw) for a number of years. It would take at least an hour a day to prep food. And, guess what? He got a full time job, and....that was the end of that (to some extent). I've been reading about "going raw", and I keep reading that it takes a lot of time and it's a huge adjustment. My friends who have also considered going "raw" have had the same comment: it just takes too much time. (On a more positive note, I've read and heard that everyone seems to loose a lot of weight, gain a little back, but then stay low. Not that I'm worried about weight. It's just an interesting little comment I've heard here and there...) All of that to say, I've been intrigued by the "green smoothie" trend. I was hesitant to try it, but finally decided to after going on a great run. I followed instructions given from a friend and created a FAST, GREAT smoothie recipe, and was thrilled to find IT. WAS. AWESOME. The recipe is below:

Spinach-Strawberry-I'm-Running-Late-For-Work-Smoothie

• 1 large handful of spinach


• 4 strawberries


• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of frozen pineapple (make sure it's frozen--this makes it so you don't have to add ice.)


• 1/2 cup of greek yogurt (added simply because I'm a fan and it has a ton of protein)

Instructions: Put in blender. Blend. Add some water if it's too thick, and blend again. (Oh--blend on the highest level possible and until it's as smooth as possible...) Enjoy.

Clean up: Add HOT water and dish soap to blender. BLEND. Rinse.

Now this is something I have time for. AND, it tastes like a yummy Jamba Juice! Don't worry about measuring out exact ingredients. It doesn't matter. Just try it! You'll love it!

Girls Night

The following pictures tells you all you need to know about getting together with sisters and moms when not in the same city.

Lovely.

I missed my calling in life

So, there are few things I love more than an outdoor gathering place with a great ambiance. Consider: the BYU commons in summer time, complete with people studying on the grass and a band playing nearby; outdoor markets with the aroma of brilliantly colorful flowers wafting through the air and couples milling around; and what I can only imagine the local Renaissance Festival looks and smells like. (And if you have any thoughts on that last one, I'd love to know it!). Last week we caught a high school band playing at an outdoor mall. And while they aren't brilliant, it made me happy. A few things to take note of:

• The neon tape--lead singer's left leg. And circles on the guitar player's pants. Awesome. But I don't think I could pull that one off at work.
• Pony tails--guitar player. Not just for kids anymore.
• Absolute commitment to the song. I guess they don't have a very long play list. I only wish they caught the part where they asked the audience to join in. (Sadly, it didn't happen.)

Freezing

It froze here this week. Numerous times. And before you start thinking I'm a wimp because it was only in the twenties (or teens, depending on where you were at), may I just remind you that it usually gets up to 120 degrees at some point during the summer. And I don't think it's hot until it hits 113. This means it was about 100 degrees cooler than our usual hot point. I think most people would agree that if the temperature was 100 degrees cooler than a typical hot summer day that they'd be downright cold. Further evidence that it was cold: It was colder in Arizona than it was in New York City when The Today Show announced their temperature. They, themselves, were commenting on how cold it was outside. So....it was cold.

So, the good news: I got to wear my winter clothes.

Peru!!!

I should probably warn you that in seeing these pictures, you might fall in love with Peru. Might. Or maybe,...will. That being said, a few of you have asked me what I loved most. I loved my family. Being with family makes me the happiest girl in the whole world, and it wouldn't matter where I was--I would still come away that happy. Still, here's a few other things that made my heart happy:

1. Christmas Eve. Singing in the town square. (Peruvians don't carol, so they weren't sure what to make of us.) My mother playing her violin as children placed their hands on hers so they could "play." The glow rings children played with and spun in the air and came down with the bubbles someone else was blowing. Christmas comes in summer there, and it's fantastic to wake up at midnight to fireworks. Watching them go off made me feel a little like a kid again.

My cute as ever parents. Love love love them!

2. Christmas morning was a treat. David and Abby arrived, and we returned home to "open" presents. Too bad most of them weren't wrapped. It made Christmas all the better. We all just had to close our eyes as someone placed something in our laps, or return to our seats as the gift giver to find something someone else snuck onto our seats. We all came away with Peruvian hats. Mine, of course, was decidedly pink.

3. What felt like a million types of landscape. In a three hour driving distance. Who knew Peru was so diverse? (Oh--and sorry about the pictures. Many of these were taken from a moving car.)

4. Time with family. Checking out ancient ... ummm..... stuff. Gold stuff. Bone stuff. Cool stuff. Old stuff.

5. New Years. On New Years Eve, the people in Peru (illegally) burn effigies with the name of a person (politician, Michael Jackson in one case) or event (e.g. Math 101) that they don't like. Before enjoying a little bit of that, though, we climbed to the roof of the mission home and watched the fireworks going off around us. And, we ran through the streets with a suitcase enjoying another Peruvian tradition. I'm sure doing so ensured I traveled safely!

6. And the rest. Insert: A flight down to Peru with Jonathan. A surprise flight with David and Abby on the return flight home (how did we miss that we were on the same flight until day of?). Watching missionaries leave the mission...and the new ones arrive 15 minutes later. Wii competitions... a lot of them. Discovering our wii ages (I was 72...but I got my age down to 42. awesome.). AND... lots of yummy food.

Peru,....you were wonderful.

For more on this grand adventure, check out my sis-in-laws blog. You'll get a few more pictures, and some great video.