27th Birthday

Just celebrated another year of life...it will be interesting to see what this year will hold.  Maybe a baby?? 

Breckenridge, Colorado Ski Weekend



Vern and Mom on the way to ski Friday morning.  We started off at Beaver Run and Vern and Rob led the way for us.  My favorite run is 4 O'Clock-a little bit of a blue mixed with a green.

Colorado is majestic and beautiful.

Mom and me before lunch at The Keg in Manitou Springs-we all had the Buffalo Burgers,yum!

With my love just after checking into our hotel Friday morning.



View of the ski slopes from our hotel room, Breck Inn

We all had a great day skiing in Breck last weekend.  We flew into Colorado Springs via Allegiant Air Lines (we are still on the fence about about whether we will fly them again...) Thursday night.  We headed home and straight to bed as we had an early morning.  Friday morning we were up bright and early and heading to Breck.  Got to Breck and were able to check into our hotels early and then headed to the ski slopes.  Spent all day skiing and that night headed into town for dinner at Bubba Gumps Restaurant...by this point my altitude sickness was kicking in and I had NO appetite.  Afterwards, Vern and Rob wanted some ice cream (crazyguys!) so we headed to an ice cream parlor and played a game.  Saturday morning my mom was extremely sick with altitude sickness so while Vern and Rob hit the slopes we checked out at oxygen bar hoping that would make her feel better...it didnt :(  That afternoon she stayed in while I headed up to the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 to check out the hot tub and outdoor pool with Vern and Rob.  We had a nice time relaxing.  That night, we used a Restaurants.com voucher for dinner at Spencers where everyone (but me) got the All You Can Eat Prime Rib dinner, lol.  Sunday morning we headed back up to the Grand Lodge for our timeshare talk which we kindly denied and were back on our way to Colorado Springs by 11.  Lunch in Manitou then home to relax.  That night, my dad picked us up and we had a delicious dinner at a new Mongolian  BBQ in Colorado Springs and then he dropped us off at the airport.  Except for the altitude sickness, all in all, this was a successful trip!  

Amanda's Year In Status

Warm & Foggy Christmas in Indiana

Currently, Rob and I are in Indiana for the week celebrating Christmas with the family. We were hoping for a White Christmas but instead we are getting rain, fog, and gray skies. Oh well! We flew in Sunday afternoon and headed to Rob's Aunt Danny's house to visit with his aunt, uncle and cousins in Indianapolis. Monday, we spent hanging around Rob's childhood home with his Mom talking, reading and watching TV. Tuesday we headed to visit his Grandma Frankie at her nursing home and had a Christmas dinner with her and then played Sequence in a game lounge. We had a great 4 hour visit with her. She is fun and likes to talk :) That night, we headed to Roanoke to Sydney's school to watch her Christmas program. That night, we stayed with Heather and Joe at their house. When we got up (late! ) we went to Ihop for a brunch and then did some shopping. I found some super soft and comfy sleep pants from Old Navy, a cute pair of jeans at American Eagle and then something cute for a friend at Charming Charlie's for my wonderful friend, Amber. That night, we headed to Pizza Hut in Bluffington for a dinner with highschool friend of Rob's, Adam, and his wife Holly and their little ones Noah, Logan and Hunter. We played the XBox Kinect with them afterwards which was fun for us because we have never played Kinect before! This brings us to this morning..."Christmas" Day for us. Soon, we are going to put Christmas music on and start cooking Christmas dinner. Later this evening we will open presents and stockings. Tomorrow, we head to Madison, Indiana to visit with Rhonda's side of the family. That brings us to 330am Saturday morning when we head back out to the Indianapolis Airport and back to Phoenix....I work that night and I am hoping that I get plenty of sleep. I am not sure I am in the mood to go back to work but I am missing my Sonora Jones and comfort of home...even though I am sleeping wonderfully here! Also, one more thing, we are TIRED of pizza...yes, us! Monday night Rhonda made us a wonderful homemade pizza, the next night Joe ordered a pizza and then the next night we had dinner out at Pizza Hut...no more pizza please!

October Update

Amanda & I at Wine Wars,
Page Springs Cellars

It is Saturday morning and I'm just hanging around the house watching college football and taking care of some household tasks. The past month has gone by quickly, but its been a different quickly. It isn't necessarily the busiest time for us, but it is a work hard time frame. Work does seem to be a primary focus these days, with our separate schedules keeping us on the go, and making us cherish the days we do get to spend together. Some weeks are better than others, and its why we plan little day trips to Northern Arizona and elsewhere. It also doesn't hurt that we need to go North to pick up our Wine Club shipments.

Speaking of wine, Arizona actually has some really good wineries! We've joined a couple of clubs, which let us get quarterly shipments of wine. I know I enjoy it a lot, and we start to see the differences not only between varietals, but between vintages of the same varietal. In other words, we can see how different years of wine are different from each other...based on growing conditions, soil, and the way they blend and age the wine. We get several tastings for free with our wine club memberships as well, so Cottonwood, Cornville, and Jerome have become a bit of a second home. Even Sonora likes going up there because she knows there are hikes nearby (Sedona is just 15 miles North!) and a couple of really fun dog parks where she can run and play.

In fact, Sonora absolutely loves playing fetch. On weekend mornings if I don't go run, I can take Sonora by car to a nearby neighborhood park to play fetch. She doesn't even need a leash these days, and is only interested in the ball! If others are around, she just says hi and then goes back to the ball! Last weekend, she even let me know when she was tired and needed water, by running back to the car and waiting for me to open the door! She knew it was time to go home!

One final note of the past month is that we are full-time attending a new church. A friend and classmate of mine is the lead pastor of a small church plant called Emmaus Road. We've been supporting them in various roles over the past year, but with me being done with school there are also some opportunities to serve and do pastoral care within that community. I love their vision, and they really do get to know each other. What's funny is they meet just about a mile or two from where Amanda works at John C. Lincoln, so now we really are more tied to Central and North Central Phoenix than we are in Avondale, where the house is. If property values were different...would we look to move? I'm not sure!

Personally, I realize that there are some major drawbacks to the suburbs for me. I think community loses some of its value. Everyone just does their own thing, living their own schedules and there is not a genuine connecting with those around them. Even churches have this challenge, which is why some of the programmatic, attractional models work well but lose some of the pastoral care and "life together" which is better found in other models of church. For us, its a matter of God's call, and I truly feel God calling me to serve in a role that builds up community around the Kingdom of God; that values individuals for who they are, and not what they do or don't do for the organization or in life. This is the call of the church I believe, which is not programs or even "doctrine" as primary, but simply Jesus Christ, and the love and grace which comes through His proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God. We live in this love, aware of this grace, together remembering we are ALL beloved by God.

Projects & School & Heat!

It is September and we are still dealing with highs in the 100's. This is when us Phoenicians start to become impatient and demanding of the weather to cool down...haven't we endured enough at this point? I am looking forward to cold mornings and evenings where I have to wear fleece pajama bottoms, wrap myself in a fleece blanket and drink warm tea. I even bought a heated fleece blanket on clearance at the beginning of summer that I can't WAIT to use (something like $15, regular price $50+) Decorating for the holidays is always fun too and i LOVE how the house feels with all the Christmas decorations up, especially the Christmas tree!

My sis in law introduced me to Pinterest, this fantastic site where you can find anything that you are interested in and share ideas and become inspired. It has finally got me taking an active step into home decor. I have found a few blogs that also showcase amateur self learners who have done all kinds of beautiful home decor projects and lots of DIY stuff. I am so looking forward to the cool down so I can refinish this vanity and dresser set we bought from our neighbor over 3 years ago for $20. They are beautiful French inspired pieces of furniture, I am thinking they will be perfect for a nursery!

I also found a great deal with coupons at Michael's and bought five frames to create a picture gallery on the large wall on our staircase. I am tired of our house filled with pictures taken by other people that have no meaning to us. We have so many beautiful photos we have taken so I am going to look through all our photos and find ones to blow up and frame. So looking forward to this little project, it is something I have wanted to do for awhile now.

I have been off for four days so far and would be off for two more days for a total of six but I have decided to attempt to pick up two extras this week...that means Tuesday-Saturday. It is hard on the body and mind to work five days in a row in a trauma ICU...but kinda need the paycheck. I may or may not have spent a lot of money on skin treatments (laser treatments) and really, it was not a great financial decision at all. I also have not gotten the results I wanted so to say the least, I am having major buyers remorse. I feel really bad about it. Before we got married I had spent money on laser treatments in Colorado and got excellent results and I have not seen the same with this treatment regimen. The battle with my skin never ends...I'm 26 already and now I have signs of aging WITH regular breakouts. To say the last, I am sick and tired of it.

Well, don't want to end the post on that subject. Rob is grinding through the last two weeks of his graduate work and then he is DONE. I know we are both looking forward to him having more free time. Lots of things for him to get done around the house :) He also has his first Bioethics Committee Meeting at John C. Lincoln tonight, he actually goes to class with one of the people on the committee so it will be nice for him to have someone he already knows there. I am excited for him, I hope it is something he really enjoys.

Well, its about 800am (I have been up since 4am...weird sleep schedule bc of night shift work) and already have half of my to-do list done. Laundry almost done, closet organized, car trunk cleaned out and organized, sheets changed on bed, bathroom cleaned, premiere of Housewives of Beverly Hills watched, a bill paid. I am feeling pretty productive this morning. Off to go finish my to-do list and hopefully tire myself out enough to take a long nap before work!

Love is in the Air!

Mi familia
Sisters

Nic & Andrea

Vern & Mom

Mom & Me

Rachel & John


JC & Sharon

Bride & Groom

Matt and Brandy Baca

Pictures from my cousins wedding to Brandy Baca at Flying Horse Ranch in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The only person missing was my love.