Road Trip November 2011!

A couple weekends ago(Nov 18-20) me and three of my friends took a road trip to Flagstaff, AZ.  SUU was playing football at NAU and we decided it would be fun to go watch the game and spend some time in Flagstaff.  I had never been there and had heard good things about it.  On the way there we hit a wind storm that was blowing tumbleweeds allover the road.  It looked like a game where you were supposed to try to avoid them.  But we weren't able to.

Libby and the tumbleweed.

We had some problems finding our motel when we got there.  The GPS on my phone led us to a place that looked like a motel converted to apartments.  They looked pretty dumpy and we were really hoping that was not where our reservations were.  We finally found it.  The motel ended up having nice beds and I slept pretty comfortably. 

The next morning we went to historic downtown and did some shopping and looking around.  They had some really cool stores.  All of the store clerks were incredibly nice.  We decided that everyone we talked to in Flagstaff was.  It is just a nice place.  For lunch we ate at a place called Brandy's Restaurant & Bakery.  It had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives so we decided to try it.  I really liked my food. 

Garlic Fries and Quiche

This is where Guy Fieri sat

 After lunch we headed to the game.  NAU has an indoor football field.  It was really nice.  There was actually quite a few people there cheering for SUU.  NAU scored two touchdowns right at the start and I worried that wasn't a good sign.

Libby and I

At half time I was able to see some friends that live there in Flagstaff.  Brant works at NAU.  I know them because of our mutual friend Natalie.  So we took this picture and sent it to Natalie and asked if she was jealous.  She was.

Me, Rianne and Jana

Kyle, Libby and I.  Camaree wouldn't get in the picture

The game ended up being really good and SUU won 27 to 24! It made it worth the drive.   It was probably the football game that I paid the most attention to. 
After the game and shopping at a goodwill store (another wrong turn because of GPS) we ate at Stromboli's.  It is a pizza and pasta place one of my clients told me about.  It was pretty good.
That night we played girl talk.  It is a game that I remember from my childhood and Camaree still had the game.  Yes Kyle was a good sport and played with us.  If you fail the task you get you have to wear a sticker zit.

Camaree had zits too but she wouldn't get in the picture.

Don't ask me what Kyle was doing here.

Sunday we decided to take a detour to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  I have only been to the North Rim and that was only once.  I know, it is a shame considering how close it is to where I grew up. 

It was breathtaking!  I was really glad we went.

This is what Libby and I did while we  were driving.  Yes we are like old ladies.

We also stopped for a minute at Lee's Ferry.

We had made a road trip CD and I think the two songs that ended up being the themes from it were "Meet me in Montana" and "Let's here it for the Boy".  They were the fun ones to sing along to.  Kyle didn't love the latter but he was a trooper with us three girls so we dedicated it to him.  We finally made it safely home and I think we all ended as friends still.  :)

My Favorite Picture of All Time

 

This picture is of me and my Dad.  I don't have a date for it but I assume I was three or four. I post it today because today is the day he died thirteen years ago.  I'm not looking for sympathy I mostly just wanted a reason to post the picture because I have been wanting to make sure I preserved it.   The first time I ever laid eyes on this picture was the night before my Dad's funeral.   My Aunt and Uncle found it in their collection right after my Dad's passing and made a copy for me and my Mom and brought them to us.  It has become quite famous in my family.  My Grandparents wanted a copy and I think most of my siblings got one too.  It has hung on my bedroom wall ever since.  My niece was about that age at the time of my Dad's death and she looked a lot like me.  We displayed it at the funeral and people kept saying what a cute picture of my Dad with his Granddaughter.  I corrected them, don't worry.  I mean looked at those awesome sunglasses in my hand! Those were so 1983 not 1998.  :)
I love the emotion you can see in his face.  It makes me feel very loved.  I've always thought that I must have been thinking, "Yes, I have him wrapped around my finger."  I think about him a lot and especially this time of year.  He is a good man and I miss him everyday.

Halloween Present and Past

Recently I came across some old Halloween pictures.  So I decided to keep them close by and add them to this post.  I had to scan some of them in so the quality of those particular ones is not great. But get excited because there are some great pictures ahead! ;)

This is the girls at the salon this year.  Megan was a hippie, Becky is a pirate, and then you see me and I know you are thinking "She didn't dress up!" Oh but I did.  My sign says "Shirt....$20.00, Jeans.... $40.00, Halloween costume with minimal effort.....Priceless!"  That's right, I was a MasterCard Ad.  Crysta was Little Red Riding Hood, MaLynda was a slutty Eskimo (although not very slutty), Ashlee was a cat and Krista was a nerd.  We also had a potluck that day.  There was a lot of good food and we had a fun day.

This is little Adam.  He is the newest member of my family.  He was born October 1st.  It was in Connecticut though so I haven't been able to hold him yet.  He is a cute little cow.  

This is my cute little Ellie fairy.  She is adorable!

Here is Erica, Jeff and Adam.  Jeff sent me this picture with the caption "Blame it all on my roots".  It made me laugh because if you know Jeff he hates country music and everything that goes with it.

Here are the ones that actually live by me.  Marshal was a basketball player, Bret a robber, Danny a football player and Shelayne was a cute little spider who smiles after you take the picture. 

This is Danny in 2000.  He was the same one that was the football player in the picture above.  He is pretty cute both times.

This is McKenzie and Wyat also in 2000.  They are now 17 and 14.  I can't believe how fast time goes!

Here are the girls of Salon Divo.  No we didn't really dress like that in 2000, it was Halloween and we decided to be eighties girls.  There is Bree, Kacie, Dayna, Me, Tanny, Liz and Jamie.

And in case you needed a closer look at me with my awesome eighties hair...here you go.

Here is Danny in 2001.  You can't tell at all that his Dad is a sports fan can you?

Here is Wyat and McKenzie in 2001.  Wyat was a bear in case you can't tell.

Here I am in 2003.  I had just gotten back from Hawaii and had purchased that outfit.  I was super tan so I pretended I was Hawaiian.  I had a picture of all the girls at the salon but the picture wasn't digital and it turned out terrible.  

The next four pictures are from 2008.  I realize there is a large gap but I probably didn't dress up and if I did, I didn't find those pictures. 

This is Kristy as a white trash beauty queen and Kyle as a homeless man.  His sign says "Needs Rich Woman  (Preferably a HOT one).  M-Jay is the creepy cowboy in the background.  It was pretty funny because Kyle didn't even recognize him. 

Erin was gum on the bottom of a shoe, Laura was a bubble bath and I was a magic 8 ball.  My necklace was triangle shaped pieces of paper that had magic 8 ball responses. 

We had a few games....like doughnut on a string.  Jason obviously wasn't very good. 

This is Todd, Mike and Clint.  They weren't really dressed up but the picture made me laugh.

Here is Erin and Kyle in 2009.  They didn't really dress up but some other girls came over as very modest playboy bunnies and Erin and Kyle decided to steal their accessories for a picture.  

I didn't dress up either in 2009 but Ellie did!  She was only about 2 months old in this picture.

I am not missing last year in case you are wondering.  I blogged about it back then so check my older posts if you want to see my awesome "box of Kleenex" costume.  :)