2013 -- week 37 -- #weekinthelife

 

i tried out a new project this week: week in the life -- it's day in the life amplified. 

check out all of my posts here:

monday

tuesday

wednesday

thursday

friday

saturday

sunday

2013 -- week 36 -- we love headlamps!

rcg and i love our headlamps! and we love local music. i share some of our favorite tucson bands on i scream for sunshine this week: read more about it here.

2013 -- week 35 -- monsoon season is kind of beautiful

monsoon season in tucson is quite stunning, check out some of my pictures on i scream for sunshine.

2013 -- week 34 -- a gonzalez wedding!

we spent the weekend in dallas for rcg's older brother's wedding and it was a blast. read all about it on i scream for sunshine!

2013 -- week 33 -- that time we almost died on a mountain

we bit off a little more than we could chew and tried to complete a 12 mile hike up to mt. kimball. it was kind of a disaster; we almost died on that mountain. but i learned a lot and shared my thoughts on i scream for sunshine. read my advice for going on long hikes here.

2013 -- week 32 -- arizona wine country

read more about our week in arizona wine country at i scream for sunshine!

2013 -- week 31 -- a super wedding weekend and july day in the life

 

read all about our week 31 on the new website: iscreamforsunshine.com.

2013 -- week 30 -- work, work, work, & lots of fun!

this past week was one of my busiest -- i had to work six of the seven days, drive over 1000 miles, and recruit students from three different schools to join the teen pregnancy prevention program i run. it was a bit intense. 

(ps. if you're interested in learning sex ed facts and statistics, please like pinal county teen outreach program on facebook. it's a great resource for teens, parents, and teachers to learn more about teenage sexual health education!)

but there were also some really awesome things that happened this week -- rcg and i celebrated our anniversary with dippin' dots, the ice cream of the future, and my favorite ice cream of all time, and we went to a matchbox twenty concert! it was like a two day extravaganza especially for me. and it was amazing for a couple of reasons. when rcg surprised me with dippin' dots, it convinced me, beyond any doubt, how awesome he is, and how well he knows me. and that's a really cool feeling. and then he was totally supportive of my desire to appease my eighth grade self and see matchbox twenty. he patiently sat through the concert, without so much as one whine, even though he had been up since 3:30am and hiked 15 miles, and would have much rather been asleep than listening to rob thomas croon to screaming girls. i'm so lucky!

since i am the one who puts together our project life "pages" each week, sometimes i feel like i'm not properly documenting what goes on in rcg's life, just my own. which is totally lame. especially since he gets to do some cool things at work; just check out his day in the life from february 28, 2013. so anytime he does something super cool without me i try to remember to ask him to take at least a couple of pictures for me. that way i can document the neat things he does when i'm not around. like this past weekend, when he went hiking with a friend in the santa catalina mountains. (if you're interested in trying out the trail they hiked, you can find it here.) they've been doing a lot of hiking over the past couple of months (in june they hiked mt. wrightson and in march we all hiked baboquivari) because they're prepping for a rim to rim hike through the grand canyon in september! i'm pretty pumped for them!!

what do you do so that you can document everyone in your family's week?

2013 -- week 29 -- a regular, normal week.

sometimes it's difficult to find the words to describe our week. i will sit for hours in front of the computer thinking about how to make that week's description interesting and relevant. but sometimes it's not possible. the week speaks for itself; there isn't anything that i can add to make it more interesting or explain it better.

this week is one of those weeks. it wasn't a busy week, and it wasn't a slow week. it was a medium week. we did things each day, but nothing particularly stood out. but i guess that's what real life is like. it's not always interesting. it's just regular or normal -- you get up, you go to work, you come home, you sleep. and it's ok to have these kinds of weeks, the weeks you can't really describe, because they just were. because you can't always be doing something extraordinary; sometimes you just need to do some laundry and wash the dishes.


do you ever have these kinds of weeks? what are they like for you & your family?

2013 -- week 28 -- our wedding party and an awesome weekend in flagstaff!

all you hear about planning a wedding is how stressful it can be. and i agree, it can definitely be stressful. but our wedding is still light years away so it's not feeling too bad yet. except for the dress. every time i think about anything involving the dress, i'm instantly stressed out. part of the problem is that i hate shopping, especially shopping for expensive things. i'm the kind of gal that needs to mull things over; i can't decide on anything right away. and when something costs more than $20, it has to be something i truly love to even consider buying it. small problem: wedding dresses cost more than $20 (unless i get something from h&m like i've been threatening). also, the idea of spending a lot of money on something i'll only wear once, is a bit of a stresser too. the other part of the problem is the wedding dresses themselves. they're poofy, lacy, long, intensely white, and made out of crazy fabric. they give me the heebie jeebies. so i've been taking it slow with the dress, trying them on when i see a place, but i'm still strategizing on the best way to tackle this daunting part of wedding planning.

i'm sure that i've mentioned it before, but we love flagstaff. it's a smaller, cooler (temperature) tucson. there's tons of climbing, great food, and a great music scene. so when we heard one of rcg's favorite bands, widespread panic, was headed to flagstaff we knew we had to go check it out. they played on sunday night at the pepsi amphitheater just south of flagstaff on I-17, and it was awesome. the space was super cool because it's all lawn seating so you can spread out and dance! we had a great time.

we had a great week, but the best part had to be when our brothers agreed to be in our wedding party! 

(thanks to sc, db, & sn for helping coordinate. we couldn't have done it without you!)

2013 -- week 27 -- a kitten birthday, homemade pizza, and a lazy holiday weekend

i can't believe it's already july; i feel like this year just started. but i guess we've been busy and, as they say, time flies when you're having fun. and this week was definitely fun.

on monday we had a birthday party for cornelius, our cute but precocious kitten. he turned four, and one can only hope that as he ages, he's finally starting to slow down. he's a super lover kitten -- he's always looking for a lap to take a nap on, or a body to lean against -- but he's also wild. over the years we've called him a raccoon, a black bear, a panther, and a master buggy hunter because he's always getting into things he shouldn't and rummaging around. he's become quite adept at opening cabinet doors, and any day now he'll be able to get into the bathroom by himself. despite all of his hijinks, he's still my baby kitten. happy birthday bug.

on wednesday night we decided to try making homemade pizza. we cheated a little -- we bought pizza dough from trader joe's, but that's only because we were so nervous to make our own dough and we really wanted to try out our pizza stone. we had some problems at first rolling out the dough, and then again when we tried to take the pizza off the peel and put it on the hot pizza stone, but we were resourceful and made a calzone instead. and it was delicious.


we especially enjoyed the holiday and the opportunities it provided for us to hang out with friends and eat well. on the fourth we ate at new restaurant, robert's. we'd heard that it's supposed to have amazing cinnamon buns, so we got up early on thursday to give it a try. and we were pleasantly surprised, because not only were the cinnamon buns huge and delicious, but they also had homemade pie! and i can't resist homemade pie for breakfast; i am my father's daughter after all.

for the weekend, we met up with friends at the salt river and went tubing. we went tubing last year, so we had an idea of what to expect, but it's a lot more fun with a large group of people and beer! it's so relaxing floating down the river; there's nothing to worry about (except reapplying sunscreen!) and it's refreshing being in the chilly water when it's 100+ degrees out. if you live anywhere near a river and tubing is an option, take one day and float your river -- you won't regret it.

what did you do for the holiday weekend?

2013 -- week 26 -- a fun weekend in the sun & june day in the life

finally a weekend we aren't travelling! don't get me wrong, i love to travel; i love exploring new, and familiar, places. i love checking out a new place and seeing all of the cool things it has to offer, to see the things that others love about it, and to experience it all for my self. but i also enjoy seeing the same place over and over again, each time a little differently, noticing things you've never seen before, and appreciating the familiarity of it all. so in that vein, we decided to stay home this weekend and explore mt. lemmon once again, but this time in a whole new way. 

 

the first time rcg and i went to mt. lemmon we hiked up the aspen trail. it was a medium size loop and i think we hiked for three hours or so. this past weekend we went back to the aspen trail, but this trip was so different! instead of taking our time and hiking the whole trail, we stopped at the top of the trail, where a couple of different trails converge, and we went climbing instead. we went with a bunch of climbers rcg's met and become friends with at the bloc so we had a nice group of people with us. and there was a climbing instructor with us as well, so the next time we want to go climbing we know all sorts of fun routes, or problems, to climb! it was a true sunday funday -- fun climbing, fun people, and sunshine.

the rest of the day was spent lounging about, listening to the wind, the monsoon (our first of the season!), and music at armory park's porch fest, a new event in our neighborhood with food trucks and local musicians jamming out on porches. it was kind of really cool.  

what did you do on the last day of june? anything fun?

2013 -- week 25 -- two disasters lead to a lesson in patience

do you ever have those days that really test your patience? of course you do; everyone does. this past weekend was our turn. and frankly, i think we handled ourselves beautifully. 

a couple of weeks ago i got a letter from a friend announcing she was pregnant and that she would be in san diego in a couple of weeks. seeing how she lives in virginia beach, and we wouldn't be back to the east coast anytime in the foreseeable future, rcg and i decided we would take a quick weekend trip to san diego to visit with her and her husband.

we made our hotel reservations and planned to meet them at the san diego zoo at 9am on saturday morning. we spent the whole morning together, looking at animals, taking pictures, making new best friends (basically every animal at the zoo is now my bestie). afterwards rcg and i headed to our hotel to check in, only the sign said no check ins for another hour, no exceptions. needless to say, i yelled, rcg yelled, and we were asked to not return. it was hilarious. (don't worry; we found another hotel.)

the next day we enjoyed a leisurely morning walk and a delicious breakfast and headed home. only to hear two large pops on a two-lane, one-way highway about 4.5 hours from tucson. luckily we have AAA -- if you don't have it, get it; it's so worth it -- so after a tow to the nearest town and a new set of tires we were on our way. and the whole time we kept our cool. i'm so proud of us.

2013 -- week 24 -- a quick trip to williamsburg for a beautiful wedding weekend with friends.

even though we did some super cool things this week, like make platters at the sonoran glass school (!) and start our kickball season, for me, this week was dominated by our trip back to virginia. 

because i grew up there, and became an adult there, williamsburg holds a very special place in my heart. williamsburg is home. so having the opportunity to go back to the 'burg, to be able to bring rcg along, was crazy awesome. and then there was the even more amazing benefit of getting to see two of my best friends get married. 

the biggest bummer of the weekend? somehow, in all of the hub bub, i didn't get a picture of the bride and groom. but it was a lovely ceremony and a super fun reception. and they both looked awesome. 

thanks for giving me an excuse to return to williamsburg.

and an even bigger thank you for giving me the honor and privilege to be a part of your wedding. and to let us share in your joy and happiness. i'm so happy for you both. congratulations. 

ps. how amazing is this reading they asked me to do?

Song of Solomon 2:10-13; 8:6-7

My beloved speaks and says to me:

‘Arise, my love, my fair one,

  and come away;

for now the winter is past,

  the rain is over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth;

  the time of singing has come,

and the voice of the turtle-dove

  is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs,

  and the vines are in blossom;

  they give forth fragrance.

Arise, my love, my fair one,

  and come away.

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

  as a seal upon your arm;

for love is strong as death,

  passion fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

  a raging flame.

Many waters cannot quench love,

  neither can floods drown it.

If one offered for love

  all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.

2013 -- week 23 -- a quick trip to mexico and another half birthday!

this week i got to check off two more things form my to do list -- crossing the mexican border by car and visiting a new mexican state, sonora. i think i'm more excited about crossing the border though, because it's my second border crossing in a month! but the best part of the trip was seeing tons of saguaro flowers. they're only supposed to bloom at night, but we were driving early enough in the morning that we still got to see them. and it was awe inspiring. these saguaro cacti are over 10 feet tall, probably over 100 years old, and the tops of each one were covered with delicate little white flowers. it was one of the coolest sights. i wish we'd had the chance to pull over and take some pictures to share with you!

you know how you're only supposed to eat oysters during the months that have an "r" in them? well, we broke the rules this weekend; we ate oysters in june. and they were awesome. because they were from a little oyster farm on the outskirts of puerto peñasco. it took less than two minutes from when they came out of the water to be placed in front of us, shucked and ready to eat. with a fresh lime and hot sauce, they were to die for. 

we ate six dozen in less than 20 minutes. fatties.

kitt peak is about an hour and a half away from tucson, so it's not a place we drive by often. but last weekend, we drove right by it, and couldn't resist the opportunity to pull over and take a couple of pictures. obviously these photos are totally posed because it's during the day and over 100 degrees, but how cute is my boo? 

what did you do last week? anything fun?

ps. bodanzalez boda is up and running for real now. check it out!

pps. i know i promised road trip posts, and i haven't forgotten about them, i've just been so crazy busy trying to get the wedding planned that i put everything else on the back burner. road trip posts will be ready soon. and so will wedding updates!

2013 -- week 22 -- a half birthday, the beginning of hot weather, and may day in the life

oh man guys. it's official; i'm 28 and a half. i think it's safe to say that i'm now solidly in my late 20s. gross. on the upside, i'm doing pretty good. i just went on a pretty rad road trip. i'm engaged to my best friend. we have two amazing furry friends/demon children. we go to lots of really cool places and eat some awesome food. and our friends are great. all in all, not too shabby. here's to the next 6 months!

it's officially hot in arizona right now. like 100 degree days, regularly. which i'm loving, because hot weather is infinitely better than cold weather. i mean, cardigans are cute and all, but ugh, so boring. give me a tank top any day, please. since it's all sunshine all the time, i basically have two modes -- hibernate inside or soak up the sun, in equal measure. now comes the hard work of staying hydrated and sun burn free. 

for my may day in the life i decided that instead of taking tons of pictures of me sitting in front of the computer, it might be fun to document the kittenz' day. i figured it would be a million pictures of them sleeping, and they did do a lot of sleeping, but i was pleasantly surprised to find out they do get up and do things during the day. it's nothing especially noteworthy, just eating and some idle exploring, but they weren't total logs. i wonder though, if i wasn't home, would they still get up and walk around, or do they just crash out as soon as we leave for work in the morning and wake up 30 seconds before we get home. ah, to have a nanny cam on the kittenz, my dream.

is it hot where you live? how are you surviving it?

2013 -- week 21 -- road trip!

i feel like everyone's bucket list should include a long cross country road trip. ideally you would take your time, seeing all sorts of weird things, eat strange but local delicacies, and stop in a lot of states. so when csv was talking about how she needed to get her car from vermont to arizona after her graduation, i jumped at the chance to accompany her. not only would i finally get a chance to drive across the country but i would also get to go to some new states -- this was especially exciting since i haven't been to a lot of the midwestern states, and my goal in life is to go to all 50.  

we've been planning this trip for a couple of months. we've looked at maps, ordered aaa books, read books about the sights and eats along the road, and researched the things to see along route 66. and all of the planning really paid off -- we had an amazing time, saw nifty things, and ate awesome food. and since i bought a fancy new camera the pictures are super cool. which means the blog posts should be great; be looking for those in the coming weeks, including a guest post by csv about all of the food we ate along our trip.

some highlights from this trip include the four new states i went to (missouri, kansas, oklahoma, and new mexico), local food in oklahoma (fried onion burger, a coney, and calf fries), the changing landscape from one state to the next, and the grand canyon where we met up with rcg.

have you done a cross country road trip? where did you go? what did you see?

2013 -- week 20 -- we have a doctor in the family!

when i think of vermont i think of deathly cold weather. like stay under the covers, make lava cakes, and watch movies all day cold. and it is. but only during the winter. the rest of the year, vermont is crazy beautiful -- it's so green, has awesome farmer's markets, and the blueberries are spectacular. and for the past four years one of my good friends has been living there attending university of vermont's medical school. this past weekend she graduated, so a bunch of us came to celebrate her hard work. and yet again, vermont was green and beautiful.

we spent the weekend doing all of the last minute things she hadn't gotten a chance to do in her four years of living in burlington, like visit the ben & jerry's ice cream factory and check out the von trapp family lodge. it was a great weekend with friends, good food, lots of laughs, and a new doctor!

2013 -- week 19 -- a strained back, a lost kickball game, and an awesome mom

i have to say, i was seriously skeptical of my own abilities when we started playing kickball last fall, and for the most part, my fears of being a hot mess on the field are totally grounded in reality. but i've definitely learned a lot, like the rules (who knew there were so many in a child's game), and i've got my strengths -- i'm not great at getting on base, but i'm pretty good at advancing runners. but the best part of playing this silly game are the people i've met and become friends with. they're as different as the day is long, but they all bring something awesome to the table, whether it's a knack for catching pop ups or making people laugh. unfortunately, in amongst all of plan b's awesomeness we lost in the first round of the playoffs last weekend. oh well. we enjoyed ourselves and played (& lost) with a smile on our face, and sometimes that's the most important thing.   

this week, bad news came in twos -- rcg threw out his back in a freak coughing accident. crazy, huh? we spent wednesday morning in the emergency room, but luckily it wasn't anything super serious, just a back strain. phew. 

 (ps. how cool is that x-ray?!)

i feel like i don't say this enough -- my mom is pretty cool. i know your mom is probably pretty awesome too, most moms are, but my mom is unique, because she's mine. she's funny, smart, interesting, kind of a bad ass, super organized, and crazy kind. she's gives great advice, writes a mean resume, and enjoys cosmos. she doesn't really like to dance, but she loves to read, and she's learning to clog! she speaks french, went to an awesome college (tribe pride!), and has two furry grandchildren. but most of all, she's pretty cool; she's a person you would want to hang out with and get to know. thanks for being so cool, mom. tkm.

why is your mom awesome?

2013 -- week 18 -- the importance of documenting the everyday and april day in the life

i feel like i'm busy busy, but for some reason, my photos aren't really portraying that. either i'm not as busy as i think i am, i've been really bad about taking photographs, or i'm so busy that i don't even have time to take photos. regardless of the excuse, it's a shame i haven't been more diligent about taking pictures because i really enjoy it. and i think photographs are a great way to document our lives -- i much prefer it to writing in a journal -- but that only works if you are actually taking pictures of the day to day. because although it's awesome to document the extraordinary it's also really important to document the ordinary. because the ordinary is real life; it's what happens between the vacations, the nights out, and the big events. it's the little things that make our world keep spinning, why not document them, remember them, share them with others, and most of all, cherish them?

it's with this in ming that each month i participate in ali edwards' day in the life. it is an exercise in seeing the beauty in the ordinary, the monotony, and the little things. and since each month's day in the life pictures threatens to be the same as the previous month, i try to do my pictures or my photo layout a little differently. in january i didn't take a lot of pictures (i forgot), but i did write a lot. in february rcg took pictures and documented his day. and in march we were lucky enough to be on vacation to flagstaff so we had fun documenting our day together. but april was a weekday, like january  and february; i had to work and rcg was too busy to document his day again. so i decided to try something a little different this month; rather than taking pictures of what i was looking at, the traditional way one takes a photo, i decided to take pictures of the places i stood throughout the day. because so often we are wrapped up in what we're doing, that we forget all of the places we've been and the things our feet have seen.

do you have any suggestions for ways to spice up next month's day in the life?