Grand Canyon!

After living in Arizona for over a year and a half I decided that it was about time to go to the Grand Canyon. Rach and I were supposed to go to Las Vegas with some friends for a long weekend, but that fell through. So of course it made sense to plan a trip to see one of the beautiful sights of AZ.
Rachel and I in the middle of our six mile hike. It was three miles down and three miles back up. I decided that hiking down a canyon was a great idea for me. Usually my problem with hiking is that I hike up and the hike down scares the living daylights out of me. Going down first is awesome. Except for that having to come back up part.
You could see the river from "Skeleton Point," the destination for our hike.

You know I have to pose.
The first night we were there we took our time and walked around the rim. There is a nice rim hike that you can go as far as you want, but it is not really a lot of up or down hiking. This is the spot where we decided to watch the sunset. Rachel caught this picture of me taking a picture, and I love it.

I saw this funky moss growing on some rocks.

The sunset was pretty.


They don't call it grand for nothin!

Megan Time!

One of the hardest parts about living over a thousand miles away from home is living that far away from this chica. I know that it is no normal to be this great of friends with your sister, but we are super close. It was really fun to get to hang out on "her turf." The girl is really growing up and it is hard for me to deny it. We had some fun time going out in downtown Iowa City and It was just cool to see her place and how she is living. She is an amazing woman, yes I have to admit that it is hard for me to say woman, and I cannot wait for her to move to the desert!

All pretty and ready to go out!

All sweaty and ready to go home!

Yea for Brothers!

Did I do that?

She is so hospitable. Look at how nice she made my bed.

Ha ha, I kept my stuff in front of the fridge in the hallway/kitchen.

Love you Megz!

Jo Lo

There is nothing like seeing an old friend. I was totally blessed to be able to see my friend Joanna when I was back in Iowa. Jo has lived in Japan for almost 2 years and just happened to be home when I was going home. One of the funniest things was that we knew we should be freaking out and doing the total girl, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe I get to see you!" thing, but we are just so used to being together it is like nothing changed.

Love you JO!

Grandparents!

I had not seen my Grandma Bartlett for over a year. It was really good to get hugged like I needed all the air let out of my lungs. No, I am not wearing heals in this picture. I am lucky to be as tall as I am. And the only hope that I had for height is my Grandpa McTurk. Who still is not that tall. And if any one wants a cool hat like his, I can hook you up for sure. Oh, and I guess I am taller than Grandma Becky too! But just a little bit.

I don't have any pictures of my Grandpa and Grandma Adams, because fortunately I am able to see them a little more often.

Bye Kerri

It seems like all the people that I like to work with are leaving. Boo. A few weeks ago I said good bye to Kerri. Rhiannon caught us getting ready for the photo.
I told Kerri I would photoshop that red spot out. I told her later that I don't have photoshop.

Grandma's Birthday

Way over a month ago we celebrated Grandma Adams' birthday. The grandkiddos that live in Phoenix went to a pottery painting place and each painted a plate for Grandma. Of course this included several photos of Kinsey Lynne. What cannot be captured is the funny stuff that Grandpa was saying throughout the entire day. Grandma and her birthday balloons. Tara made sure that everyone in the pottery place knew that it was Grandma's birthday.
Kinsey in the car.
Kinsey playing with my phone.
What is going on???

Beautiful Girl

Woo hoo! They have finally started!

First they dig a little hole.



Then they pour the foundation...




We will see what they have done today!

Dad to the rescue!

One of my favorite stories from my trip home is when my sister and I went to the mall. As we were getting out of the car I said "Why does it sound like the car is still running?" In the middle of that sentence both of the doors were shut. And sure enough, ,the keys were locked in the car, with it running.
So we called my dad. He came and brought the extra keys. Woo hoo what a knight!
Oh goodness I laughed so hard!

What I like about Iowa...

*GREEN, and pink, purple, yellow, orange: landscaping that does not consist mostly of rock and plants that can survive 115 degrees.

*Dogs that have not seen me in months, and not only know who I am but are happy to see me.

*Cars not locked in the garage where the door is wide open.

*Walking outside after the sun goes down and the temperature being cooler.

*People walking around the neighborhood. I must have seen twenty people on my three mile round trip to the grocery store on Thursday night.

*Friends

*Meeting friend's babies!

*Customer service

*No traffic

*A plethora of Iowa fans! Go Hawks!

*Neighbors that not only know you, but will successfully chase down your naughty dogs for you.

*Strangers saying hello.

*My parent’s house and how there is always something new to discover about it. Let’s play the game “What has changed!”

*Feeling at home.

*The furniture in my parent’s family room and living room that says, “Grab a book and read on me.”

*LOCAL coffee shops, sorry Starbucks. I do still love you.

*Wearing shorts and a t-shirt and knowing that is ok pretty much anywhere I would want to go around these parts.

*The news had 5 minutes worth of people yodeling and other contest winners from the State Fair. AKA, not much bad stuff happens here.

*Cable TV! I know it is terrible, but sometimes you just have to soak in as much HBO original series and repeats of Law and Order and CSI as you can.

Way behind!

I have several ideas for blogs that I want to post! So keep looking! Sorry for the delays.

Love it...

Quarter Century?!

So, lack of blog yes. Nothing seems so exciting as the Vegas trip. Seriously it was great. But this weekend was pretty fun. Saturday was Rachel's birthday so we went to a super nice diner on Friday night. I can't remember the name of the restaurants. Everything tasted so good. We went to go shake our grove things after that. Good times.

In all seriousness I am so thankful for Rach. I mean. How many people can you buy a house with? That is real friendship. She has been there for me through everything. I can talk to her about anything and I know I can ALWAYS depend on her. Thanks Rachel for your friendship. Happy Quarter Century Birthday!


Memories....like the corner of my mind......