Eric's Visit

Last weekend, Eric came for his second trip to Arizona. This one was a little cooler than the last! He landed Thursday, and we went straight to Pita Jungle, one of my faves, for dinner. Friday called for a trip to Grand Canyon...BRRRR! The high was only 39! I'm not used to that here in the desert. It's such a beautiful drive up through the countryside. We had perfect timing because Northern Arizona got over 20 inches of snow last night! Saturday we went to the Tempe Arts Festival and then watched football. GO JACKETS!!! Eric was good about being supportive as painful as I'm sure it was for him :) It was a short trip, but it's always fun to get to spend time together. Thank you for coming Eric!

Our Trip Across the Pond!

This year, we decided to go to the UK for Thanksgiving. Well, more like we were given the amazing opportunity to have an international vacation! Some of our friends from Steven's company have moved over there, and we were able to go over and visit. We had a wonderful time and got see to a good bit of England.

We landed on Wednesday at 2pm and spent the afternoon in London. That night, we took a train up to Norwich, where Christoph and Becca live. Steven worked with Christoph in Atlanta and St. Louis, and Becca is Christoph's amazing girlfriend. Becca and I had so much fun while the boys were talking business. Thursday, Becca and I went back into London for the day. We went to Covent Garden, Oxford Street, and then had Thanksgiving dinner. We even got to watch American football on Thanksgiving! Becca and I had a great time shopping on Oxford Street. We tried on about 500 pairs of shoes between the two of us! So much fun! After Thanksgiving, we stayed up and talked for a while before calling it a day. The next morning we took a train up to Birmingham where we spent the rest of the weekend. We went out in downtown Birmingham on Friday night to the Pitcher and Piano. Saturday was the big rally for the Eurpoean division of Steven's company. Christoph got promoted to Regional Consultant. He's kind of a big deal. :) Then, we headed back stateside on Sunday. A whirlwind of a trip, but a wonderful time. It was great to spend 5 days together. It's been a while since we took a vacation together, since our honeymoon actually.

Visit Home

So about two weeks ago, I can't believe it's been that long already, I made a fall trip home to Atlanta. Unfortunately, Steven wasn't able to go, but I had a wonderful time. I got to see a lot of my friends at dinner on Thursday. SO much fun! Thank you to everyone who was able to come! It was so good to see you!

I also had a wonderful time with my family. The weather was georgous! A little chilly for me, seeing as I am used to 100+ weather, but I had my little personal heater to sit next too. My Grandpa also came into town for the visit. It was great to have our little family all together. And of course, I got to see all of the animals. The chickens, dwindling in numbers, the horses, the dogs, the cats, the birds, everyone on the farm.

Just a few of the Chickens

Hi Strangers!

It's been a little over a year now since we moved out to the desert. Phoenix has been wonderful. Of course that's easy to say now that's it not 120 degrees anymore!

Snickers and Twix have also adjusted to life in Arizona. They love going hiking in the winter, but have learned it's better to be inside during the summer. A hard lesson to learn for me as I'm used to spending the summers outside. Just a slight adjustment.

Here's a brief synopsis of what has happened so far during the past year:

-Of course, y'all know we moved out here for Steven's job. While there have been some challenges, things are really improving with his company now.

-I got a new job in January. I'm working for Wilmington Trust in the Retirement and Institutional Services division. Basically, I help companies with their retirement plans.

-I joined my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, alumnae group. I have met some great friends through this group. I never knew joining a sorority would provide so much support after college.

My big news is I've sign up for a race in February. I haven't been running much lately, but I'm hoping this is the motivation I need to get back into it. The race is called the Ragnar Relay, http://www.ragnarrelay.com/delsol/index.php. I'm on a team of 12 people, and as a group, we run 200 miles in a little over 24 hours. I'm pretty excited!

That's about it for now. Nothing too exciting. Just looking forward to spending more time outside now that the weather is beautiful!