McFarrens of Roanoke visit the McFarrens of Phoenix

Today wrapped up a wonderful seven days of Joe and Heather visiting us for a week in Phoenix!  They decided a few months ago to come out for vacation and also run the PF Changs Marathon before Joe left for Africa in April for nine months.  A couple months of talking and planning...and here they were!

They arrived Friday morning and we immediately headed to Matts Big Breakfast for, well, breakfast!  This is a well known and popular breakfast spot in Phoenix with waits up to two hours.  We got there, had a 5 minute wait, and they put us in the prep kitchen room.  One that you normally have to reserve!  While we were waiting and eating, the crowd grew and we could quickly see the wait build to over an hour.  Granted, the food was delicious and homemade but I would not wait more than 30 minutes for a table there, personally.  It was a great meal though for the five minute wait :)

Afterwards, we headed over to the Convention Center to attend the PF Changs Marathon Expo.  At the Expo we explored all the booths and tried samples, got PF Chang gift cards, tshirts and just had fun.  Afterwards, we grabbed drinks at Heritage Square then headed home.

Saturday was a lounge day and overall rest day to prep for the race.  That night, Heather and I went to a painting class at the Art of Merlot in Scottsdale and painted Van Goghs "Wheatfields"  What a beautiful painting...

Sunday was race day!  Joe ran his fastest marathon time and Rob, Heather and I had fun running the Mini Marathon, which is 5.4 miles.  That evening, we grilled steaks and relaxed.

Monday morning found us up and headed North to Flagstaff for the night.  We hung out with Vicki and Jim, cousins of the McFarrens, and then stayed the night at a hotel in Flag that night.

Tuesday we spent the day exploring the Grand Canyon South Rim.  It was such a beautiful day and we had so much fun!

Wednesday we had another lounge day and that night had a movie and game night.  We went through three movies and finally crashed around 11pm.

Thursday, i had to head back to work but Joe and Heather headed to Gold Canyon Golf Resort for a night just to relax together.

Finally Friday rolled around and it was a sad day because Joe and Heather hopped a plane and headed back to Indiana.  We had such a great time with them and makes me wish that we lived a bit closer.  Lots of laughs and memories. 

2012 Amanda's Year In Status

Refinishing Project

Right now, Rhonda and Gary are out here visiting us and I thought this would be a great time to work on a couple pieces of furniture I have had sitting at the house waiting to be refinished!  I have never refinished a piece of furniture and wanted to do it the first time with someone with experience.  We took a look at the furniture and headed to Lowe's yesterday to pick up what we needed.  Today we started.  Uhh...yeah!  It is a lot of work!  Here are some pictures from Day One.

Day One:

Day 2-3

Well, I thought I had taken pictures of these three days but apparently I didnt because I cant find them!  Anyways, it was just a lot of stripping away layers of paint and sanding.  Would I ever do this again?  Probably not! 

 I would start with a piece of furniture that already had the paint removed but I will never strip furninture of paint again (unless, it was a piece that I just couldnt imagine life without...but still, i dont know).  It was very hard work and definitely took a lot of patience and motivation.  I think having a time limit helped in some ways (it kept us motivated to keep going) but it also was an impending deadline and so we spent long days (especially the last day) to finish. 

All in all, i think the pieces turned out beautiful. I love them!  Love the color, love the way the hardware looks updated and beautiful with a simple layer of spray paint.  I still need to clean the glass of the vanity some more and apply a wax to the wood to really give it a shine but right now, I just enjoy looking at it.  Thank you Rhonda SOOO much for keeping me motivated and taking on this project.  I had no idea what we were in for but you did and you still agreed to help me and taught me a lot along the way.  Thank you!

Summer coming to an end?

These last couple weeks we had Rhonda and Gary with us after we returned from San Diego and I think they might have brought some of the cooler temps with them from Indiana!  Granted, Indiana is still warm but they are starting to experience some of their fall temperatures.  In fact, Joe and Heather took the girls to a bonfire last week, so it was cool enough for that!

We have been loving the cooler weather!  Last week, I drove to and from work with the windows down.  It is amazing that 88* can feel cool to this Phoenix body!  We can't wait for the cooler temps, the ability to open the windows and turn off the continuous a/c. 

I'm sure Sonora cant wait either as she loves to spend her mornings sitting on the couch outside checking out the backyard and listening to the noises of the neighborhood. 

Well, I need to cut this short as I am getting ready to start a weekend of work.  I am trying to have a positive outlook on this weekend and be ready to grow personally and professionally and remember that God gave me this natural ability coupled with education and training to take care of His people. 

I am also 1/2 through with Week 5 of the exercise program Turbo Fire by Chalene Johnson and I am loving the program, the results and Chalenes contagious encouragement...even through a television!  This is a 20 week program so I am not there yet but am already seeing results so I can't wait !  After this, I plan on starting her Chalean Extreme program (which focuses on weights and toning not just Cardio) and do the Hybrid program of Turbo Fire and Chalean Extreme.

San Diego in September

We always LOVE going to San Diego and it is such a wonderful escape from the heat...and the drive is only 6 hours.  Lots of people from Phoenix will also take a quick 45 minute flight, as well.  We have always drove though because we like having access to a car. 

This past weekend we left at 9 am Friday morning and traveled to San Diego.  I had worked Thursday night so it was a quick drive for me as I slept the whole way.  :)   When we got into San Diego, we stopped at Influx, a favorite coffee shop of ours in Little Italy for a quick caffeine pick-me-up.  We took a quick walk around Little Italy to stretch our legs from the car ride.  We then headed to the airport to pick up Rhonda and Gary who had flown in from Indiana to spend the weekend with us! 

We headed up to Point Loma Lighthouse to show them the amazing views of San Diego and the harbor.  We then decided to check out Point Loma Seafood...a suggestion from a co-worker of mine.  The food and atmosphere was perfect.  You could tell this was a place that locals visited.  We had fresh seafood and ate at an outside table overlooking a marina.  We saw lots of pelicans and a couple seals.  There were a lot of people relaxing with families enjoying a glass of white wine with their seafood after a long week of work.  Ahh, to live in San Diego....(maybe one day) ;)

Afterwards, we headed to our hotel near the Qualcomm Stadium.  This was the reason for the trip.  We were checking out the Army vs San Diego State football game Saturday evening. 

The next morning, we woke early and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed out to Torrey Pines State Reserve beach.  What a beautiful morning!  We walked about 3 hours on the beach watching surfers, fishermen, helicopters and quite a few old WW2 planes flying down the coastline. 

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up (and I took a quick nap) then headed to the stadium for a West Point tailgate party.  Food was amazing and we enjoyed spending time in the beautiful weather.  The game started at 4pm so we made our way into the stadium.  The Army lost big time but it was still an enjoyable game.

Sunday we woke early and headed to the Scripps Birch Aquarium and had a great time exploring the small but wonderful aquarium.  My favorite part was their Seahorse exhibit.  What amazing creatures God created. 

On our way out of town we stopped at Lucha Libre, a Mexican restaurant featured on Man vs Food that a lot of people have recommended to us.  Food was delicious and Gary commented it might have been the best quesadilla he had ever had!  We then headed back on the road to hot Phoenix. 

All in all, a relaxing and enjoyable San Diego trip.  We always love coming to San Diego, it is such a neat and beautiful city that has so much to offer!

5 Year Wedding Anniversary

We were able to spend our 5 year wedding anniversary up north and explored Flagstaff, Sedona, Cottonwood and took a couple scenic drives.  Such beautiful part of the country the northern part of Arizona is.  I have said it many times before...Phoenix is the ugliest place in AZ!  We are kinda getting tired of the summer and can't wait for the BEAUTIFUL weather of winter here. 

Summer

Haven't posted on here in awhile!  Life stays busy but doesnt seem like there is too much to talk about.  I was going to get on here and write about our summer vacation but never got around to that, either! 

We headed up to Death Valley NP, Yosemite NP, Bryce Canyon NP and Zion NP for a week with our friends Barry and Andrew.  We finished up the trip with hiking Mt. Bierstadt, a 14er in Colorado, with my dad and brothers in celebration of my Dads Birthday.

Currently, we are pushing through the summer.  Rob is busy working as the Admissions Counselor for Fuller and I am still working nights in a Trauma ICU.  Definitely can tell I am more comfortable in my job so...that means I need to continue to push myself to learn more!  My next goal is to start studying and take the CCRN (Critical Care RN) certification.  Not only will it give me a $1 raise (whoop!) it also denotes certification as a critical care nurse.  Anyway...I keep putting it off because I have not been in study mode!  Maybe when it starts to cool down I'll be more in study mood.  Instead, I just lounge around the house all day.