Arizona race

We took a trip to Arizona in March for a trail race & had a blast.  It was a short trip but the weather was beautiful.

This, my friends, is the vehicle we got to play with all weekend:

 Budget was having a deal & the Mustang was the most reasonably priced selection.  I'll never own a Mustang but who can pass up driving a sports car for a weekend?  This baby was super fun - the interior night lights made me feel like I was Knight Rider, only cooler.

 Where we raced (flags on the far right of the pic are start/finish) - I ran a half-marathon, Steve ran a 50K.  Amazingly, these trails are right outside Phoenix - fantastic single-track trails that took us through the hills in the picture.

Hey!  I know that guy!

 Sweaty, stinky, tired, & oh-so-happy.

After cleaning up, we squeezed in an afternoon visit to the Desert Botanical Gardens (long story, but our previous trip to Phoenix included purchasing a year-long membership to the gardens b/c of the price savings, so we were happy to use the membership again before it expires).

Butterfly garden!  My absolute favorite place.

Bob White

Not to be confused with this Bob White:

 (Picture taken during honeymoon road trip)

Hello, beautiful.

Cool sculpture at the entrance of the gardens.

Us & finger of random nice person that offered to take our picture

To be continued...

Dog toys = kiddo toys

Who needs to have separate dog toys & kid toys?

We just let our goddaughter play with dog toys (she was completely uninterested in her toys & decided to go after the pups snake squeaker toy).



*Note before you call the child abuse hotline: Dog toys were put through the wash earlier that day & our floor was cleaned before friends came over.  And her parents were sitting nearby & had no problem with her making a beeline for the snake (they have a dog too & they were glad she was trying to crawl).

Sunset

We're privy to some beautiful sunrises/sunsets in these here parts:

We were in the midst of cooking dinner when this beauty sprung up in the sky.

Back that truck up

We're reversing back to 2011 to an annual tradition among many great friends (see this previous post for our 2010 debauchery)...

*Drum roll*

CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING EXTRAVAGANZA/DEBAUCHERY 2011!  It's a much celebrated day when a bunch of friends get together, fill their backpacks with snacks & booze, toss all their snow gear & dogs in the trucks, pile in, & head up the mountain to find the most Charlie Brown amazing Christmas tree.  And if they don't use live trees, they still come for the fun.  This year was no different.

Georgia & Starfish.
Starfish is the stage name of Avery Mae, our beautiful Goddaughter.  I haven't been able to formally introduce you because I'm still waiting for baptism pics from her mama.  Avery Mae was born in July & Steve & I were honored when Georgia & Shane asked us to be her Godparents.  I plan to take this task very seriously & spoil her rotten.  Interesting fact...at last year's Christmas tree hunting, Georgia had just found out she was pregnant but wasn't ready to announce it.  :)

Dogs chasing after the fast skier

 Lindsey being followed by a pack of vicious beasts

Friends

Dogs plowing the way for Shane

Everyone taking a short respite to sip an adult beverage.  Dogs wondering why the hell we stopped & coming back to keep moving us along.

The final product.  Four trees, ten friends, & one rogue dog (Brewer) that managed to stay in the picture (the other dogs were curled up in the trucks.
Total count of people: 10
Total count of dogs: 8
We had a wonderful time & will no doubt plan another epic adventure in 2012.

Politics...Ugh

*Disclaimer...I speak for myself.  Not my husband, family, or friends.  These are only my thoughts...*

We avoid politics in our household.  Not that we're out of touch with happenings around the nation/world, but politics, in our opinion, has become nasty, divided, & hate-filled.  Campaign ads are vicious, billions of dollars are wasted dumped in the industry, & each "side" blames the other for wrong-doings, refusing to work together to solve our nation's issues (What?!?  Work together??  Preposterous!).

Needless to say, I do have some rants on the current state of politics.  Such as, I loathe this man.  

Don't try to pretend like we're friends, Romney.  You have your head so far up your a**, you are completely out of touch with the average American.

On the other hand, I adore this man.  Evidence below:

(I realize that this post is completely one-sided & I'm not making entirely equal judgments.  Too bad.)