Family Time

My mother and sister came up to visit for a few days this past weekend since John is working in New Mexico and my in-laws are on vacation in Italy. It seems like whenever my family comes up we sit around and visit most of the time; but this weekend I wanted to have more fun-filled activities.

The morning after they arrived I took them on a hike at a nearby trail. The end of the trail reached out to the Mogollon Rim in the White Mountains. It is such a breathtaking sight when you reach that final destination! Here is my sister and I on our hike:

That afternoon, I scheduled all of us to get pedicures together as a reward for our one mile hike. It was absolutely relaxing getting a foot and leg massage after that long hike:

My sister picked out a dainty blue and my mother and I picked out a glamorous pink:

That night I made spaghetti with homemade meatballs from this easy recipe. The meatballs came out tasting amazing!:

The next day my mother taught my sister and I how to use a pattern to make matching pajama bottoms. When we were at the fabric store my sister picked out a blue pattern and I of course picked out a pink pattern, but since we all wanted to match, my mother had to make the deciding vote. Here is what won. Isn't it cute for pajamas?!:

Sadly though, the two sewing machines my mother brought up were broken so we couldn't finish our project. Since our sewing plans were put on hold, I decided to take on a 350 piece puzzle. It was a picture from the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. It was definitely harder than it looks but I think it came out looking spectacular:

We spent the following day going to a local swap meet, a fine art and craft show, an annual festival held in Show Low, and clothes shopping. My sister and I picked out the same shirt to try on (completely on accident!! She just happened to like the blue one and I OF COURSE just happened to like the pink one! Haha!). Too funny!

However, this is what I picked out. It's just a fun summer dress that I could wear to either church or a picnic in the park:

That night I felt a little ambitious and gave another new recipe a try. It was chicken and bacon shish kabobs with pineapple, mushrooms, and a delicious marinade to go on top. It was heaven in my mouth!:

After a long weekend of fun, even Caleb was exhausted!

It is always so nice to have family come over but sometimes I think it is more work trying to entertain guests and make sure everyone is comfortable. So I guess it is my turn for a vacation. There is nothing more relaxing than being able to curl up on the couch, watch a chick flick, and have ME-time!

Girls Weekend

John has been working in New Mexico at the Whitewater Fire for over a week now. He is out as an EMT on the medical unit. Every so often he gets cell service and gives me a call to tell me how things are going out there. He camps out and night and drives around all day in the ambulance patrolling the area in case of an emergency.

Yesterday, John's parents left for Italy for two weeks and now I'm all alone at home with only my two puppies and grandpa to keep me company. Let me tell you, you can only surf the web for so long before that even gets boring! I have cleaned the house multiple times, finished all my laundry, and watched more than enough television already. I think I'm going to go nuts with nothing to do!

But, thank goodness my mother and sister are heading up here for a few days for a girls weekend. I have planned a few simple hikes for all of us to adventure on to. We also decided that sometime this weekend we're all going to go get pedicures; which will be fun and relaxing. This Friday and Saturday, Show Low is having an outdoor carnival with activities, food, and games that I think we will hit up on as well.

Here is my mother, sister, and I visiting Alaska in 2009:

Hopefully this weekend will go by fast because this week has taken its sweet little time!

Edges Recap

You all must think I disappeared or something because I have not blogged a new post in over month. I have been extremely busy trying to finish out the end of my semester.

The musical I was in, Edges, was amazing! Everyone did a spectacular job and gave their 100% throughout the entire show! With every performance I became more involved with the music in the way that I was able to better understand what I was actually singing. The lyrics are so inspiring and relatable to real life experiences. With all my struggles this past semester (like: family issues, trying to get my health back where it needs to be, and all the stress from being a full-time student) I felt as though Edges was one of my main ways of being able to cope with it all. I would love to be apart of it again someday because of how it has changed my life; especially all the incredible friendships and memories I have made with my fellow cast members! Here are a few fun pictures from the show:

Me



Left to right: Katie, Randy, Kamery, and Laney





Left to right: Me and Jeff



Left to right: Katie, Francisco, Malori, and Randy

Julie (Our pianist and chorale instructor)



Joe (Our drummer)

After Edges was finished I had a lot of homework from my other classes that I needed to catch up on. I made it to the end and came out of the semester with all A's. I am glad the semester is over because now I can focus on more exciting things such as sewing and little crafts to keep me busy. Of course, I will post what I do so you won't feel left out.