Leaves are falling all around...

In case you were wondering, (and even if you weren't) we have not fallen off the edge of the Earth. We have in fact, moved back to our little hometown of Othello. Boy, are we glad to be here! We originally planned to move right before Christmas, but certain things fell into place that allowed us to come home sooner than expected. I joyfully fell smack-dab into the middle of Autumn! For those of you who may not know, Fall is my favorite season-followed closely by Winter, but only because of my Birthday and Christmas. Apples, leaves, crisp air and rain! Not to mention sweaters, furry boots and scarves. I love Fall-the end. We are currently living with my parents, and will eventually make our way out on our own again. I am starting the dreadful quest for my Washington State massage license, and Brandon is working part time for his Alma Mater of jobs-KUO. In January Brandon will start classes at CBC in Tri-Cities, starting his long and dreadful quest for acceptance into the Radiology Technician program that begins this summer. Until then we will continue to eat my parents out of house and home, and enjoy the company. I will also enjoy, the lovely colors, wearing socks to bed, snuggling on the couch with the afghan-aand maybe, if I'm lucky, it will get chilly enough to turn on the fireplace. Don't worry though, we wont wear out our welcome too quickly, we have plenty of projects to help with, and have already been helping out a bit. We've raked leaves, fixed the dog run, cleaned bathrooms, made dinner and dessert, cut boards and painted a pantry. (I think I may have even loaded a dishwasher or two..!) It's my kind of life. This week we will have shelves to install, flooring to lay, more leaves to rake, and a mountain of laundry to tackle...maybe, if I really need to. I could get used to this.

Get me out of here!!!

Ever hear the saying mind over matter? Well, my mind has been in Washington for nearly two weeks.....and the matter at hand is becoming extremely annoying. I want to move already! We still have a few things that need to fall into place (literally and figuratively) but as soon as they do it will be AU REVOIR!! I am so outta here.

I Love my Mommy

I am grateful to have a Mother, not just a mom, but my best friend. I'm glad that she is willing to drop everything, and fly to the desert, to be with her little girl, in a time of great personal need. (I'm also glad that my Dad just happens to have a zillion frequent flyer miles to make this possible) Thanks Mom, I love you, can't wait to spend the weekend with you-and thanks Daddy, sorry you have to be halfway across the country and not on your way here.

Pros and Cons of leaving Phoenix (Calley's version)

Things I will definitely NOT miss about Phoenix/Arizona:

• Being 12-24 hours away from family
• Blistering heat 9 out of 12 months a year
• The Traffic (also Spring Training traffic around Tempe Diablo..)
• Cyclists hogging 48th street
• Sky-High electricity bills
• Getting in to a car that has an internal temp. of 200 degrees
• Butter Melting into a puddle after 1 day on the counter
• Mildew that grows in the shower over night
• Noisy neighbors
• Listening to the golfers at Arizona Grand at 6am
• Having dirty flip flop feet because it's too hot for shoes and socks
• Cockroaches
• Cicadas
• No room for Lucy to play outside/too hot to take Lucy on long walks
• Sirens blaring past at least once a day
• Living next to the I-10 freeway
• Assorted fruit going bad after 3 days on the counter (Bananas, Peaches, etc)

Things I will Definitely miss about Phoenix/Arizona:

• Having a bank, grocery store, gas station, costco, ikea, barnes & noble, movie theater, mall, target, petsmart and about 45 restaurants all within 15 minutes of home.
• The Mesa Temple
• Palm Trees
• Oregano's Pizza
• Watching airplanes taking off/getting ready to land at Sky Harbor
• All the good people we've met here
• Swimming Year-Round
• The cute little geckos/lizards that we have to shoo out of our house every night
• Thunder and Lighting (although there hasn't been as much this year...)
• Broadband Internet (but I'm sure I will adjust to life without it)

Happy Anniversary!

It's official! Brandon and I have a whole year under our belts! (on the 16th) It's amazing how fast it has gone by, and to look back at everything we've done over the last 12 months! I'm grateful to be married to my best friend, so that I always have someone to hang out with! We are definitely looking forward to the many years to come!

HP #6

Ok, so Monday Brandon and I decided we were feeling adventurous, and bought tickets to the Midnight showing of Harry Potter. So Tuesday night, when I got home from my clinic shift, we pretty much went to bed, then got up at 10:30 and got ready to go. The theater had it showing on at least 5 different screens, there were tons of people there, and they all seemed to be young

for some reason....lol anyway, we had lots of fun and got home around 3am, to get back up at 6:30 to go to school & work! It was great!

Parent Visit #2

Last week, (7th-13th) my parents flew down from Washington to see us! Ok, not just to see us, my sister Britney had a clogging competition in Scottsdale, so they decided to do the whole, "two birds with one stone" trick. They came down a few days early to be able to spend some time with us, although sadly, Brandon had to work all week. Anyway, on Tuesday I went to the airport to meet them and give them a few directions to their hotel, my house etc. Once they were settled we went grocery shopping! Yay! They figured that while they were down here they would eat with us, (which was one of my favorite parts, not having to make dinner by myself!) Then we just hung out the rest of the evening, and I think we went swimming, I think? Wednesday we got up bright and early, and stole some breakfast from my parent's hotel. Brandon went home to work, and the rest of us started our trek to Sedona! On the way we

stopped at Montezuma's Castle, and it was pretty cool. They loved Sedona, and we had a good time sight-seeing.

Thursday was a little more laid back, I took my family to the Mesa temple and admired it's beauty, and from there we went to visit the Goldfield "ghost town" which was more of a recreation than an actual ghost town-but it was still unique and something to see! Since we were already in Apache Junction, my dad decided he wanted to drive the Apache Trail, so we drove to Canyon Lake and back. It was nice, andwe saw lots of Saguaro! We also made a visit to

the Chandler Mall and grabbed some lunch. That night we just hung out and enjoyed each other's company.

Friday was the beginning of Brit's competition, so I went over and watched that for awhile, then we went to the Macaroni Grill for dinner, boy it was yummy! Dad let the waitress know it was "Mom's Birthday" (Sunday the 12th) and she brought out a slice of cheesecake, which we all happily shared :D

Saturday was more competition, Brandon had the day off, so he got to see some this time. I'm pretty sure we hung out at the house, while Britney went back for the final dance off.

Sunday we went to church, and it was fun having my mom in Nursery with us, she finally got to see everyone she always hears about! Monday I skipped school and we went for a swim that morning, then headed to the mall for some more laid-backness. We said goodbye around 3, so that they could get to the airport, and we were sad to see them go. Our house has been so quiet since, and Lucy is still sad that her visitors left! We are very grateful that both of our families were able to visit us this summer, we had so much fun and wish that they (or we) lived a little bit closer! We Love you guys!!

Parent Visit #1

This past week, (24th-29th) Brandon's parents drove down from Othello to visit us. It was tons of fun! We all haven't been together since our wedding last August, so needless to say, they were happy to be here! They finally got to meet Lucy, and could hardly keep up with her, she gave many kisses and drew blood more than once. But all of that aside, they loved her and wanted to take her home with them! I got to entertain them on Thursday and Friday while Brandon was working, we mainly just wandered, I showed them a few things around the valley, and they had fun! At night and on the weekend, when Brandon was finally done, we visited Rustler's Rooste, Scottsdale, Downtown Tempe, The Phoenix Zoo, and on Saturday Brandon and his Dad went golfing, while his Mom and I went to Chandler to wander the mall. We got some lovely goodies, and then met up at Einstein's for lunch. While golfing, Brandon was hit by a loose ball, in the wrist. He has a nice welt, and it is starting to turn black and blue. I tried to get a picture of the war wound, but none of them turned out. We also went to the movies, and yesterday, we made a trip up to Sedona. It was gorgeous, and quite the cute little town! Okay., so in Sedona there is this giant home/castle that apparently is being built by some billionaire Romanian, he is building it for us! (see below) From there we went our separate ways, we headed home, and Brandon's parents were headed toward the Grand Canyon. Overall, it was a nice visit-we were glad to be able to spend so much time with them, and so were they-since we won't see them again until Christmas. We hope they can visit us again sometime!Brandon and Denny...Rustler's RoostePhoenix ZooBell Rock, SedonaOur future home :DIn Sedona

1/4 of a Century...

Happy Birthday Brandon! It's hard to believe that you are 25 today! Where has the time gone? I love you! 

One year older and wiser too!

Happy Birthday Daddy, I Love You! 

New Job

FYI- Brandon starts his new job tomorrow, with Apple, as an iPhone tech. We're excited! (and crossing our fingers that he gets an iPhone to play with...teehee) :D

Brian Regan

So, as some of you may know...Brandon's birthday is this Tuesday. But we celebrated a little early! Yesterday, we got to go see Brian Regan Downtown at Dodge Theater. It was awesome!! (thanks mom for pointing out to us that he'd be in town) We went and grabbed some food at a little restaurant across from the theater, called Crazy Jim's. It's a Mediterranean place with pretty good food. Then we walked across the street to find our seats. There were tons of people there! The theater claims to only seat 6,000 but it seemed like more than that. Brian's brother Dennis, opened the show for him, and in my opinion, he's just as funny as Brian! Lol-minus a lot of the facial expressions. Anyway, we laughed our guts out and had an awesome time. He is definitely worth seeing live! Happy Birthday babe! :D

I was kind of exited to see him

If it looks like we are red, that's because we are sunburned beyond belief...

Here is our view from up in the balcony..lol it would have been tough to see him without the giant screens....LOL

We've Moved!

Yes, if you've heard the rumors...they're true. Brandon and I had been wanting to get out of our old apartment for quite some time. Our rose colored glasses had finally faded. We were tired of the cars, the people on the sidewalk, the graffiti that would show up feet from our door every morning..and most of all- I was tired of living in a dungeon. We had 2 windows, and could hardly ever have them open, because we faced the street. So anyway, I guess Brandon got tired of my complaining-because last Saturday he says..lets go see if we can get out of this place. So we went, and found out Monday that we would be able to move immediately, to a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom..here's the best part, for the SAME price as our stinky 1 bedroom. So we pretty much signed the papers on the spot, went home and started packing. Tuesday we got up early and moved all of our stuff across the complex. Now we are happily settled in our new place. Which by the way, has 2 small windows, 3 giant windows, that face the horse corral and golf course, a huge patio that we can actually go out on now, and not worry about people staring at us as they walk by--an open floor plan for the living/dining room which is nice. Ceiling fans, which are awesome...and one of my favorite things- a huge master bath for me! :) Grass, that we can let Lucy run free on, and not worry about her getting in the street, we're across the parking lot from the pool, the mailboxes, and the management office. Needless to say, we love it! I'm grateful to see the sun again, and to feel like we are at home. We are planning on staying here at least until Brandon is finished with his Bachelors- and maybe longer, depending on where he goes from there. So- I just thought I would share the news with everyone, Home Sweet Home (finally!) :D

Our Front door :)

Lucy exploring the new patio-look at that grass!

A cute Hibiscus by our stairs

The Living room

The dining room put together

The horsies from our bedroom patio

Brandon exploring all of our new space

Dining/Kitchen

Me, happy to finally be here :)

Special Olympics Arizona

SUMMER GAMES 2009!

fyi- the Special Olympics are being held at Mesa Community College this weekend. I will be volunteering Friday with Cortiva, and think it would be something fun to do if you don't have a date planned! The opening ceremony will be Friday night, and events will be held throughout the day Friday, and Saturday. If you have the chance, wander over-it's free to the public, and should be quite the experience! I'll post photos this weekend!

www.specialolympicsarizona.org 

Man's Interpretation

Ok, so I was driving home the other day, and saw this board, I almost crashed! Leave it to man to interpret "COMMANDMENT" as "eh, suggestion!" 

Calley's Photo Mosaic

DIRECTIONS:
- Go to Google image search.
- Type in your answer to each question.- Choose a picture from the first page
- Use this website (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) to make your collage.

- Save the image
- Post

QUESTIONS:
1. What is your name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your hometown?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What is one word to describe yourself?
10. How are you feeling right now?
11. What do you love most in the world?

12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Happy Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's this year, Brandon and I stayed home! Brandon made me waffles for breakfast, and gave me three pretty roses. We lounged around all day watching movies and playing with Luce. I made some Chicken Parmigiana for dinner and some delicious Chocolate Mousse for dessert! It was a good day!