ten years of hard work

Rory is celebrating over at Weather Defender! Swift Weather has ten years of weather safety services under its belt, and the company is only growing stronger. Be sure to click over to his company blog and catch up on company news. And then add the Weather Defender blog to your reader. They update a few times each week and often share the glowing testimonials Rory and his team have rightly earned.

Well done, Rory.

blue and green

Mesa was filled with bright blue skies and bright green palm trees. I soaked up these colors and now I'm trying to figure out how to decorate a room, or paint a picture or revamp some part of my life to include these bright, glorious colors.
We got to watch this guy for a while, painting the bluffs ahead of us. I would love to try this one day...to set up an easel, to squirt out a rainbow of colors and play with paints while soaking up some sunshine. It just seemed like a very happy, content past time. We had a family picnic in the desert and honestly this is the best part of a trip to Mesa: family time. My grandma has been going to this place, Venture Out, for over 30 winters. And now my folks go for part of the winter, as do my aunts and uncles Jan and Don and Wayne and Judy. It's basically a family reunion every winter that goes on for weeks at a time. Everyone rides their bikes or golf carts from place to place, involved with stained glass or wood working or card games or Bible studies or stamping groups and it makes for one dreamy picture of retirement

Yes, this is my dad going to church on Sunday morning, ready to hop on his bike in his suit and tie.

Elbert Hubbard

Of course this isn't fully true. If you haven't been anywhere warm this winter, I'd imagine you'd like to shake my shoulders, and explain to me in colorful words why you need a vacation more than me.

But all I am saying is that it is hard to come off of a vacation. Especially a vacation that included palm trees, reading by the pool, a picnic in the desert, valentine making with aunts, shopping at an all-time favorite store, biking from here to there, a quilt and craft show, eating dozens of cookies, and all the while enjoying my folks, grandma, aunts and uncles. It just was that good.

Annika got bronchitis last week and was told by her doctor if she got a fever it would likely lead to pneumonia. So she wasn't able to come. Which was horribly disappointing. Horribly. Disappointing. But, she's working on switching her ticket now, so hopefully she can go and live the bliss I am currently trying to come down from.

I've got pictures and a few sweet stories to share. Perhaps tomorrow...

cold tangerines

My friend Shannon got me this book for Christmas. It's a easy and thoughtful read filled with stories and life lessons. I love it. I'm just a few chapters in and decided to save it for Mesa. It seems to be the perfect 'get away' read.

This link brings you to the book's website, where you can click on a link to read a quick chapter to get a feel for her style.

***edited: I wrote all of these posts on Tuesday night, but now it's Saturday morning and I have finished this book...read it on the airplane and devoured it. If you're looking for a good book, order this one and start passing it around your circle of friends.

six.

Six. That's the number of gallons of windshield wiper fluid I have gone through this winter. This might be because I am a little trigger happy, but it also might be because I drive a ford focus that doesn't defrost the windshield until the car is in motion. But the car can't be in motion until I can see out the windshield. It is a wicked little cycle. And since my car resides in a parking lot and each morning is covered in a coat of ice, I really do love of this sweet potion.

But a girl can only take so much winter. The week we came back from Christmas in Minnesota, we had another snowstorm. And I took matters into my own hands. I called my sister. I called my mom. And Annika and I made tickets to meet up in Mesa where my parents spend six weeks of their winter. So today, I am here. Paradise found.