Good Friends

Because we all know I am a huge slacker-I am just now writing about our good friends who came to visit us in October. Ahem. We have missed living with the Skousens and as fate would have it, Geoff had to come to Arizona for an interview so we got to spend the week with them.  It happened to be a really hot week in Arizona(weird right...) so all our outdoor activities were limited.  I am so sad but we really only got one good picture of me and Alisha and it was at the swimming pool.

 Alisha and I were back row nursing buddies with a similar sense of humor. Ever since then we have been best friends.  Alisha is all sorts of Martha-e and because I need my hand held, she and I do fun projects together.  She taught me how to can food, blog, cook delicious food, take pictures, do crafty things and now she has got me(and Andrew) hooked on pinterest(shaking fist) We always have such a good time together!

 We took a little outing to papa-go park but it was 100 degrees so we didn't stay long but Henry had a blast as always.

 We tried our hand at making caramel apples

 It started out good.....

And this is what came out....don't laugh. They weren't our best work.  And they were rock hard. 

But we ate them anyway!

Alisha is an amazing photographer. As such I have stolen all of these pictures from her.  But she also offered to take me and Andrew's pictures.  Turns out, me and Andrew had some misunderstandings about the pictures and so by the time he got there it was almost dark. But, being the amazing photographer she is, she still managed to get some good pics.

 

We are so glad they came to visit and hope they come again.  It was so fun to have them around like old times-sniff sniff.

Halloween!

 In case you can't tell, I'm Olive Oyl and am cheating on Popeye with Indiana Jones

(He's so much hotter)

Henry wanted to be in the picture too but turned away at the last minute. He has to be a part of everything.

Andrew kept changing his mind on what he was going to be and put his awesome costume together in the last 2 hours before the party. We went to an ER work party with a bunch of drunk people-always entertaining.

And I made these homemade doughnuts-first time and they were amazing.  Alicia was my inspiration as she made these for me last year. Apple cider doughnuts-delicious.

Seaworld

Seaworld rocks!  We had so much fun there.  We went to all the shows and spent all day there.  I am so amazed by all the animals and the shows they put on.  The killer whales were so cool.  They would go around the pool and splash people with their tails and everyone in the first 15 rows got soaked.  And I mean soaked. 

Ok, seriously how cool are these guys.

They would swim up on to this platform and use their tales to spin themselves around a few times and "break dance"

So cool right, the show was amazing and thoroughly kept me entertained the whole time.  They were jumping and splashing and interacting with the trainers.  It was so amazing.

Then they had a big "Shamu Rocks" finali at the end of the night with all 4 killer whales.  And that was even cooler

 I loved the lighting, it made for some awesome pictures

 They are waving at the crowd.  Notice the bleachers behind them are totally empty because we had all been to the earlier show and got wet and it was a little nippy outside now. Everyone sat a little farther away this time.

See the top of the tail.  This is about 2 seconds before getting splashed. The whales would swim around the edge of the pool and use their tales to splash people.

And now on to the dolphins...

 Um, what kid/adult wouldn't want to be a dolphin trainer after watching this?

 I mean, riding dolphins. Soooo jealous

I price-lined a hotel the night before we left and we got a great hotel with an awesome view

Later that night we went out to the gaslamp district for some dinner and treats.  After walking around for about an hour we(the two most indecisive people ever) finally decided on this burger place. There, I had the best burger I have ever had in my life-it was called the stinky burger.  I had this blue cheese sauce on it that was to die for.  And for dessert we went here....

and ate this...

and it was as good as it looks.

The whole quick trip.

You stay classy San Diego

Andrew had Friday off a week ago so we took advantage and took a short drive over to San Diego.  We drove straight to the zoo for some animal fun.

Ok really, can you get any more cute than this? I don't think so.

 And don't forget the Elephants! I love them-so very much.  Seriously, ever since I visited them in Africa I think they are the coolest. Ever.

And when you get tired, you can lay your head down on your own butt. 

But our favorites of the zoo, were the monkeys and the orangutans. They were hilarious!

 It first started with the monkey's.  This little baby hit it's mom in the head and then ran away.  When she tried to escape, he chased after her and wouldn't leave her alone.

 The burlap sac

I don't know why but all the orangutans wanted this burlap sac, but they did

 They would steal it from each other- one monkey in particular was so fun to watch.  He just harassed the other animals. Swinging on the ropes and rolling in the grass.  I seriously could have watched him all day.  I tried to get some video of it but it just doesn't do him justice.

If you have ever been to the San Diego zoo, it's enormous.  And it's on a big hill.  So to get back up the hill, you ride the moving walkways! Genius!

  

We got to the zoo a little late so we only had a few hours.  We practically ran through it but managed to see almost everything.  The weather was perfect and we had a blast.  I highly recommend to those of you who haven't been.

We're THOSE people

You know those people with one hand out the window holding the mattress on?  Ya we're those people.
Ok, Andrew actually did a great job tying the mattress on and we didn't have any problems but all I could think of the whole way home was "please don't fly off, please don't fly off" We totally kept sticking our hands out the window to see if the mattress was lifting at all but Andrew's knots held like a champ.  I say that because when I asked him what kind of knot he was tying-he shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't know?" So you just made them up? "yep"

We got the mattress home safe and sound so we could put it in our guest bedroom for the Skousen's (and anyone else who wants) to come and visit. We are so glad they came to visit and everything seemed to work out great.  More to come soon.....

Haboob

 It's coming..... Da da da.

It's here!

We were on our way to Target when we saw the haboob coming.  We took some pictures on the way in the store.  We were only in the store for a few minutes to get a gallon of milk and when we came out the dust storm was here.  I don't think this picture even does it justice, you couldn't see anything. It was kind of cool to watch it coming though, I could almost hear theme music.

White Coat Ceremony

Well, he's official.  Andrew had his white coat ceremony officially starting off his schooling/career as a PA.  Doesn't he look handsome.  He is in the middle of finals this week and is studying hard! 1 Semester almost done already!  I can't believe it.  On another note-I got a job!  Yeah! I will be working in the ER at Chandler Regional hospital.  I officially worked my last day in Utah on Sunday and drove back to Arizona today. It's not really fun to drive 12 hours by yourself, there was a lot of singing to chick music along the way. I start my new job on Monday so wish me luck!

Those poor other souls who Andrew spends all his time in the library with.  All I have to say is I am soooo glad I am done with school and I swear I am never going back. ever.  Congrats Andrew and friends and good luck on finals this week!