Merry Christmas!

The days before Christmas our house was smelling super yummy...we didn't get around to holiday baking this year, but we did experiment (successfully) with making apple butter and lavender soap, which was really fun.


The Saturday before Christmas, Ryan and I went with his mom (Lori) and sister(Sara) to play guitar and sing Christmas Carols at his grandpa's home. It's so fun to be surrounded by such musical talent...(dad excluded, no offense mom and nichole :), I've just never gone caroling with family before where everyone breaks out into three part harmonies...actually, I've never been caroling before where we all know the melody from start to finish. :) Anyway, it was a fun night of singing, and then we went over to Lori's house for a great dinner.

On Christmas Eve, Ryan and I went to the Tucson Medical Center ER and passed out Christmas gifts on behalf of the Shyann Kindness Project to children and their siblings who were in the waiting room. I got to use my first little bit of Spanish that I've been learning on cd, and say, "habla espanol un poco" and "Feliz Navidad" (I don't know how to spell in spanish) to a family that we gave gifts to. Then that night, Cameron and his brother came over and went to the candlelight church service with us.

Christmas day, Ryan and I went over to Lori's house in the morning to do stockings with her and Sara and eat orange cinnamon rolls...a tradition that both of our families have always done...a definite sign that we were meant for eachother. :) Then we went over to Grandmo and Grandpo Green's house for lunch. And, then back to our house for dinner with Ryan's mom's side of the family. It was a fun rite of passage for us to get to host our first holiday!



We had the fireplace going (while the kitchen window was also open b/c it was too warm in the house), ate a great meal, and then did a talent show/sing along.




Merry Christmas!

Chill in the air?

Well, I haven't updated lately, and I promised my sister I would write something (I have no new photos) tonight. I can't really tell you what I've been up to lately, because that would then spoil the christmas gifts I've been making for people... So, I guess I'll tell you what I did today. :)
This afternoon I went out to lunch with Ryan's cousin's wife...she's a burst of energy and has two little kids that are fun to be around. After lunch we went back to her house and made candied apples. I had never made them before, nor had I even really heard of them before. They are basically apples on a stick with a candy (jolly rancher style) coating around them like a carmel apple. Quite tasty and a fun tradition for their family.
On my way home this evening, I had to pump gas in the car and I was freezing standing outside...I mean, it was 55 degrees out! Brrrr! Who knew it got this cold in AZ!?!
Then, I came home and worked on mailing out RH Christmas orders of cds and t-shirts, and now I'm back to working on Christmas crafts/gifts! :)
Oh, just to update you on the house...I'm in the process of re-painting the bathroom...the blue just wasn't doing it for me, so we're going to go with browns and reds, I'll post photos when it's done! :)

I hope you are all having fun getting ready for Christmas!

Belated Birthday...

Ooops...sorry I never posted about my ACTUAL birthday...I know you've all just been dying to know all the details! :)
Sunday, December 3rd, the start of the 27th year of my life, we went to church and then stayed afterwards with our Young Marrieds group to do some "fix up" projects that had been needing to get done...

Our friend Chris painting the sanctuary...


Me planting pansies...


Our young-marrieds group (+a young helper) posing in front of the soon-to-be empty "helps board"...


Ryan had planned a big surprise kick ball game to take place later that afternoon, however since by Tucson standards it was too chilly of a day (65 degrees)...we have had to re-schedule the game. I have to hand it to Ryan though, he somehow was able to plan this, the Little House party, and the bike without me having a clue...and all things that I totally LOVE!

That night we went over to Grammie's house for a great dinner! It was such a cozy evening with the fire place going in her place....and we even managed to get a game of "Gimme Five" in. :)

"A Harvest of Friends"

Ryan has been acting quite fishy lately with not allowing me to look at his computer, taking phone calls outside, and having to run mysterious errands without my company..."all in the name of birthday fun", of course. And, I guess once you start getting up into your 'late' 20s like me, you get not only one day of birthday fun, but a whole weekend...so the surprises started coming out today! :) This morning started out with one of those "mysterious errands", so while he was gone I worked on sewing our Christmas stockings...


Then Ryan got home, we ate lunch, he gave me a card which led me to the garage where he had brought home 2 mountain bikes (great deals on Craigs List of course...that's where we find all of our great birthday deals!)! He had researched a great mountain biking spot called "Fantasy Island", which happens to be less than 2 miles from our house, and where we spent our afternoon flying down crazy paths, seeing roadrunners, and getting a couple of minor bumps and bruises (well, I did at least).

I'm not much of a thrill-seeker type of person and don't enjoy rollercoasters, or even driving too fast over railroad tracks...but I loved mountain biking!

At the end of the day, we both agreed that bike shorts are probably worth the money..

The mangled bike art made us feel real safe...


But, I only had one fall...a mighty fall...just after Ryan said "we just got go for it on the hills", I don't even think I had gotten to the hill yet, but for some unknown reason, just tipped over. :)

We got home with just enough daylight to start putting up our Christmas lights...


And for those who have been wanting to see updated pictures of Squiter (again, pronounced skee-ter)...
Here is his picture from when we planted him in May...

And, here is his 6.5 month old picture...


So, just when I thought my birthday eve was coming to a close, Ryan picked out clothes for me to change into, "old fashion attire" as he phrased it... I had no idea as to what to expect was going on...never once did it cross my mind that we were going to be hosting a Little House on the Prarie themed dinner party (for those of you who don't know, I LOVE Little House!). Two couple friends of ours came over, also dressed in Little House wear (Melissa even in a bonnet that she made just for the occasion!)...one brought beef stew and rustic bread, the other apple cobbler...exactly what Michael Landon always wants for dinner.. Next, Ryan brought out season 1 of Little House! We watched the first episode, "A Harvest of Friends", tonight...and hope for many many more (we have 19 hours worth as of now) Little House movie parties! :)

David, Eileen, Abby, Ryan, Melissa, Chris

Our "Green"house!

It was colder in Tucson today than it was in Boston!! I looked at 4:30pm MT (6:30pm EST) and it was 48 in Tucson and 61 in Boston...eeks...I had to wear long underwear to the cafe today since adobe bricks don't tend to heat up too fast!...and I even wore tights for my run today...I didn't think I'd ever have to pull those out while living here!
We are supposed to be getting a frost over night, so we covered up our plants and brought in our pots so that the kids won't get too cold outside!




We decked our tree with lights and ornaments while listening to Papa David's Christmas cd...it's so fun to be celebrating Christmas in our new home!



Thanks for whoever was wondering about Squiter (pronounced skeee-ter)...he's growing strong and tall! I'll take a picture tomorrow and let you see his progress! :)

tis the season!

Ryan and I went for a walk to get our christmas tree today...and then had to walk home carrying it along a somewhat busy road without sidewalks...but we thought it would be much easier than having to tie it to the top of our car...which, I think it was!...as well as more memorable. We havne't decorated it yet (stay tuned for pics of decorating)...but our house is smelling sooo nice any piney!!


Tonight we went to the University of Arizona Wildcats basketball game, thanks to tickets from Lori! :) Great seats...great game...(the UofA won againt UNLV)!

Thanksgiving Week on the East Coast

I have a feeling that this blog is going to end up longer than I intend for it to be...so, I'll be brief with words and let the pictures do a lot of the talking. :)

Our first stop on the east coast was in NYC for two RH concerts. The first concert was near Greenwich Village at a cool music hall/ bar called "Rockwood Music Hall". It was a fun time of listening to my favorite band and seeing friends I hadn't seen in a long time! Kolleen (my roommate from Ireland) and her fiance, Doug, came to the show, and so did a high school friend that I hadn't seen in 9 years (Melissa and her boyfriend Jordan....in picture below). After the show we went out to a great Italian Restaurant and hung out until 1:30am...I don't know when I was out that late last, but we had to live it up since we were in the city that never sleeps.


Our great friend, Paul Ma, let us stay in his apartment while he was gone to Boston for the weekend...his place has the most incredible view...here is a photo from outside looking over the Hudson River.


We had the day off on Saturday, and had wanted to go to a Broadway show, but every single one we attempted to get tickets for was sold out! So, we walked around the city, had a great lunch, saw some hip hop street performers, and hung out in Central Park.



That night they had their second show wich was near Madison Square Gardens at a christian coffee shop called "The Underground". A ton of Ryan's friends from h.s. came, which was really fun! The place was packed...they had to keep bringing out more and more chairs for people to sit at...I think this may be a great new venue for RH shows in NYC!

On Sunday, I threw a baby shower for my friend Liz in Boston. It was a co-ed shower, with lots of games, and amazing Ugandan food (I didn't cook the food...Liz's friend Jen did the cooking). It was such a unique experience, as Liz had never even been to a baby shower before, let alone one for her! It was such a great day, and has put the bug for wanting to go to Africa in Ryan and I big time! At the end of the night one of the guests, Jen, said a little speech and explained how in Africa it is custom to give a gift to someone who puts on a party or does something nice for someone else, so she gave me a gift of a beautiful African dress!

Jen, Liz, me, and Ryan...


After the shower, RH played a show at Club Passim, a great folk venue/vegetarian restaurant. Our friend Rache who had been in Kuwait for the past 14 months just came back to the US and was able to be at the show...


And, our friend Phil was there and out advertising the show in the Harvad Pit...he's so great!


We had a quick visit actually IN Boston, but we did get to meet up with our wonderful friends Peter and Clare for a fabulous fall dinner at their place.

Then, we were off to Maine for our annual Thanksgiving at the Sady's! This year Jana was there as well, which made it even more special. Thanksgiving morning the ladies went for a run around the harbor....



While the guys played their father/son golf tournament (Ryan was on the 'sons' team...which won!)....


We had a great Thanksgiving dinner! Then, went for a walk to make room for pie...

Jana, Jill, Abby, Ryan, and Ian (Jill's brother)




We spent the rest of the night having fun playing charades (which is wayyy fun and should be played more often!), scrabble, scattegories...and of course lots of talking. :)

The next morning, Ryan and I had to leave to make our flight back to Tucson. We took our annual photo in Jill's driveway...hugged...and cried...can't wait to be all together again!


Oh...and on the way to the airport, we stumbled upon the Tom's of Maine outlet store and stocked up!! :)

Botanical Gardens Cafe

There is an incredible organization in Tucson called Cafe 54 (www.cafe54.org). It's a unique cafe that hires and trains individuals with mental illness to work at the cafe to gain job skills and confidence with customer service, food prep, serving food, counting money, etc. Whenever the trainees are not working, they can spend time at the Clubhouse, which is a day center located nextdoor to the cafe, and work on their resumes, coverletters, check email, attend meetings, etc. Once they are feeling confident and ready, we then encourage them to start applying for jobs out in the community and then coach them through the interviewing process, etc.

Well, to make a long story short, the Tucson Botanical Gardens has a horticulture therapy program for individuals with any sort of mental or physical illnesses, where they garden for therapy. The Botanical Gardens love that Cafe 54 is a like-minded non-profit, so they asked us to start a Garden Cafe. I've been helping out at the Garden Cafe as a job coach for about a month now, whenever I am home...and I LOVE IT!

It's a little adobe cottage set in the most beautiful surroundings. Right now there is a huge butterfly exhibit going on, so everyday I go over and check out what stages they are in and also see many butterflies just fluttering around the gardens.

It's a really tasty menu with prickly pear and raspberry hibiscus iced teas, goat cheese tarts, salads, mediterranean plates, pesto/mozarella/tomato sandwiches, etc...oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention the carrot cake and chocolate souffle bars!

Here's the front of the cafe...there are tables out in front, but they are hard to see in the picture...


Here is the ramada area where a lot of people sit to eat...

Happy Halloween!

I got home from DC on Monday at about 2:30pm. I was really missing Ryan, so I decided to book a flight to LA to have dinner with him and spend the week at the Rock 'n Roll Hotel! (Thank goodness for Southwest vouchers!!)...so by 5:30pm, I was back at the airport and on a plane to LA! While Ryan drove to the airport to pick me up, Cameron made a great dinner and we were able to bundle up and eat outside by candle light...so fun!

On halloween, we drove to Venice Beach to have lunch and spend the day with our friend Owen and his sister and brother-in-law. Owen, then came back to Fullerton with us, where we got dressed up, played guitar, and passed out candy to the kids...followed by having take-out Mexican!

So, Ryan's facial hair really did have a purpose bigger than being a fun surprise for me the other week!...but, the days of experimenting are gone, and so his facial hair as of today. :)

Run Jill Run!

Last weekend Jana, Jill, and I met up in D.C. for the Marine Corps Marathon...well, we weren't all there to run, but we were there because of the marathon. Jill was the focus of attention as she beautifully ran her first marathon!! Two years ago when I ran the Marine Corps Marathon, Jill met me at mile 22 and ran the rest of the way with me, so this year, I met her at mile 22 and did the same thing. It was so neat to be there and in it with her...she's a true gem!

Here's some photos to document the weekend with my ladies...

Pre-marathon preparations included writing JILL across her stomach in sharpie so that everyone could cheer for her along the way!


Looking so fine at mile nine...


Finishing strong on the uphill with only .2 to go!...


Yeah...she finished!! (and never has to run another marathon again if she doesn't want to...goal accomplished!)