Fun Times in Greer :)

Wow! Last weekend we had one of the best times in a very long time. Houston and I along with 5 other couples from the fire department rented a cabin in Greer, AZ for our friend Dan's surprise 30th birthday celebration. His wife did such a great job planning the weekend for Dan and he was completely surprised! It was absolute craziness the entire time and you better believe there was a lot of drinking involved!!!!! We played lots of games over the weekend such as kings, speed quarters, left-right-center, charades, the last word, Edward fortyhands and the list goes on and on... We truly are blessed to have the friends that we do from the department, we are definitely one big family. We all get along so well and we always have so much fun together. We stayed at the Greer Lodge Resort in probably their nicest cabin on the Little Colorado River. The cabin was decorated so nicely with beautiful furniture and appliances and a Jacuzzi outside on the deck. I would highly recommend this place to anyone!!! We had beautiful weather all weekend, we even got 4 inches of snow on the first night which was a blast to play in. There were snow ball fights, snow angels made and lots of fun pictures taken. I will say if you have never played Edward fortyhands that you have to try it because it is hilarious! Here are some pics from the weekend...

Billy Joel and Elton John Concert!!

Amazing is all I can say about this concert!! Last night, Houston and I with some of our friends went to the Billy Joel/Elton John concert and I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. I didn't realize that I knew most of the songs that they played until last night. These two are truly remarkable to watch live and so talented as musicians. We all stopped and had a few drinks before, except for me, I was DD. The show was over 4 hours long so we didn't end up getting home until really late but being tired this morning as I was getting ready for work was so worth it. We had so much fun and I would highly recommend this concert to anyone!

March Madness

Oh how I love the month of March!!! The weather is absolutely beautiful, everything is in bloom, St. Patty's Day celebrations, spring training games, friend's birthdays and our anniversary! We had so much fun this month with family and friends and here are just a few of the pics we took. I am so blessed with the people who surround me and for the wonderful job that I have. I hope you all had a nice month as well :)

My awesome work friendsDinner with my best buds from high school!

Spring training games and day drinking with friends St. Patty's Day celebration at Padres

More spring training game fun with friends...The infamous weinermobile...

Fit 2 Fight

Last weekend, Houston and his fellow firefighters competed in a competition called The Fit to Fight Firefighter Relay which was held in the Anthem Community Park. The event is a challenge, testing the strength and stamina of fire departments from around the state. It is also an opportunity for fire personnel to promote cardiovascular health, the leading cause of death among firefighters. It was so nice to see all of the families with their adorable kids from our department and get a chance to cheer on our guys! All of the fire fighters participated in a 70-mile relay run, which I was a little worried about Houston doing it after his knee surgery a few months ago but he did great. The Daisy Mountain Fire Department donated all proceeds from the event to We Care in Anthem, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families. The day of the event started early for the guys, Houston was there at 4am, as the teams of 12 from the departments rotated teams of two running throughout the 70 mile relay in full gear, with one member of the team carrying the American flag. After completing the run the teams took a brief break before gearing up for the combat challenge. Last year Daisy Mountain won the event defeating Goodyear and Sun City West in the contest. This year the contest grew as Goodyear, Surprise and a team from Georgia participated. The combat challenge requires four people from each department to make their way through an obstacle course. Each participant had to get fully dressed into their fire gear while being timed, carry weights approximately 40-50 yards, flip a tractor tire down a field before finishing by dragging a 170 pound dummy 40-50 yards before the second person from their department starts. They were so exhausted after this event! I felt so bad for all of them but they all did a fabulous job. Daisy Mountain did not take first place but they all worked extremely hard and raised a lot of money for their charity. During the relay every guy involved ran somewhere between 10 and 15 miles. I was so proud of Houston and his buddies!!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary

This year, it was my turn to plan something fun for our anniversary. Last year, Houston surprised me with a wonderful trip to Vegas with all kinds of fun things planned. So this year, I wanted to do something really fun but different than anything we had every done before. On Monday, we headed up to the Grand Canyon Railway for a train ride. Houston had never seen the canyon before, so I was so excited to show him how beautiful it was up there. We got to the depot in Williams, checked into our hotel room and then boarded the train on our luxury parlor seats. I have to say that first class is the only way to go on a train. You get nice comfortable couches and plenty of walking space, not to mention your own private fully stocked bar. We had pastries and mimosas on the way in and enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way. When we got to the canyon we had lunch at the El Tovar restaurant which had beautiful views of the canyon at our table. After lunch, we walked around and took some pictures and did a little shopping. It was so cold and windy at the top, I was actually surprised how cold it was. I guess I'm used to being at the bottom of the canyon at the campgrounds and it is much warmer down there. We boarded back on the train after 3 1/2 hours at the canyon and then headed back to Williams. We listened to a few musicians on the way back and enjoyed a champagne toast (or a few!) with the rest of our friends on the train.

We had a delicious dinner that night at a Mexican restaurant, it was so fun just to walk everywhere since it's such a small town. The next day we had breakfast at a little diner there and then took off for Sedona where we spent most of the afternoon walking around the down town area. We had reservations at L'Auberge de Sedona for a very romantic lunch by oak creek. It was very quaint and the food was to die for! On our way home from Sedona, we stopped and Houston let me pick out a new pair of running shoes because I've been wanting to get new ones so bad. When we got home, I had surprised Houston with a professional massage table set up in the middle of the living room with candles and rose petals everywhere. He was so surprised! I gave him a hour full body massage, it was so much fun! We had such a great time together and finished the night with dinner and dessert at home. It was so nice to not be rushed at all and to have my husband for two WHOLE days! Cheers to many more to come :)