Why I Love My Job

This brides wedding was back in February of this year but I just can't stop looking at the photos. Her photographer was Pangburn Photography, who are absolutely incredible! Keith Perry Photography also came out to take a few shots of the property to showcase the little details of the reception and did a great job as well. Her name is Nicole Turner and she was the 2007 Miss Arizona. Obviously she is gorgeous but she is probably one of the sweetest individuals you will ever meet. She put a lot of time and energy into every detail of her wedding and truly captured the beauty of Blackstone. Nicole, it was such a pleasure working with you to plan your very special day. I hope my future brides are just as much fun to work with as you were! I hope you and Jake are loving married life together.

Birthdays Last Month

Houston and I both celebrated birthdays last month, Houston's being the BIG 30!! Luckily, we both got to celebrate a few times. I started off my birthday at breakfast with my family and a few friends. Then we spent most of the 4th up in Prescott walking in the downtown area...and then finished off the day with my mom, cousin Nicole and Houston watching fireworks in Peoria. Definitely had a great birthday, hard to believe I'm another year older. Seems like I'm approaching 30 way too fast. At least I know I will always be a few years younger than my husband :) Houston then surprised me with a birthday dinner with my family and a bunch of our friends, which was awesome! I was completely surprised. Thank you to all of you who shared it with me. For Houston's birthday, I took him to the Bass Pro Shop for dinner. The food was amazing and the restaurant was so cool inside, it reminds me of how I want my cabin in the woods built! Then I surprised him with a big group of us going down to the Diamondbacks game sitting up on the balcony of the TGI Fridays for dinner and to watch the game. Good times! I would highly recommend this if you've never done it. We also went out to Tempe for dinner at the Four Peaks Brewing Co and a comedy show with our friends Dan and Ellie. Comedy shows are so much fun to go to and I always leave there saying that I wasn't expecting it to be as funny as it was. Thanks Dan and Ellie! We love you guys!

Oh the Beauty of Colorado...

My mom and I were able to sneak away to visit my uncle and aunt up in Chimney Rock, Colorado last weekend for about 5 days and we had such a great time! The first day we got there, they took us on a beautiful 20 mile ATV ride up the mountains. When we got to the top, you could see valley after valley of mountain ranges and it was just gorgeous. We were so dirty from the ride but we didn't care because the scenery was breathtaking and the fresh air felt so nice. The next day we headed through Durango into Silverton, Ouray, Telluride, Rico, Dolores, etc and it was amazing. All of the mountains were snow capped and everything was so green...we took lots of pictures! We brought our lunch and ate at a cute little park in Silverton, then we spent some time in Telluride riding the gondola up to Mountain Village and walked around taking in the beauty. It was such a fun day and very relaxing. I was amazed at all of the handcraft beer Colorado has...every town we visited has there own brewery and new beers to try. That was a lot of fun! The next day, my mom and I went into the Pagosa Springs area in the Weminuche Valley to Williams Creek Lake. We have been going up there since I was a kid with all of our uncles, aunts and cousins and have so many wonderful memories there. So we just relaxed at the lake all day and remembered that it was 115 degrees back home. It was so nice to be there, just wished that the rest of my family could have been there too. The next day, we went to First Fork and fished for a few hours...I did catch one fish :) If Houston had been there with me, I'm sure I could have caught more. The only thing that would have made this trip even better was if he had been with us. I can't wait to show him this part of Colorado...it is just absolutely beautiful. One day, I truly hope that we can retire up there on a ranch with horses.

Dinner at Dillon's on Lake Pleasant

We decided to check out Dillon's on Scorpion Bay at Lake Pleasant for dinner the other night. We got there right at sunset and man was it beautiful out. Not too warm outside and the light reflecting off of the water was just gorgeous. Eating dinner right on the water was a perfect ending to a long busy day. Great food in a great location!

Getaway to Sedona

This past weekend, I planned a trip to take Houston to Sedona. We just really needed to getaway from everything and just relax and enjoy each other's company. We left on Saturday night when I got off of work and headed up to our hotel. Once we got there, we went to the Cowboy Saloon in the downtown area of Sedona and had drinks and appetizers. If you've never had cactus fries with prickly pear dipping sauce there before...you have to go because they are unbelievably good! We had a great night on Saturday and continued the relaxing vacation on Sunday with beer tasting at Oak Creek Brewing Co, wine tasting, walking around town, playing pool, eating amazing food and watching the Suns win! I don't know what it is up there but something comes over you and gives you such a feeling of being at peace when you are there. You kind of put all worries aside and take in the cool fresh air and breathtaking scenery. A true sense of contentment comes over you while in Sedona and I absolutely love that about that place. Even though we have been there so many times, every time I see the red rocks...it feels like it's more beautiful than the last time I saw them. We had a great time together and felt rejuvenated to head back home.