arizona recap

I finally remembered to bring my camera back from the house, so now I can give you a full recap of our trip to Arizona! We originally traveled to Phoenix for a work conference for Jake, so we spent the first few days visiting and exploring with some of his work colleagues. We had a great time hanging out by the pool, exploring the city, shopping and, of course, eating. So many good places to eat. Seriously, so much food. But we also spent a good amount of time exploring the outdoors. The landscape is so different than here in the midwest. It's a lot less green with a lot more dirt, but it really is beautiful. On our last day in Phoenix, we rented a jeep and took it off roading through Tonto National Park. It was awesome and so scary all at the same time.

The men had so much fun scaring driving through the mountains. Even though there were moments when I thought we may tumble down the cliff, it was seriously so much fun! And a great way to see the mountains.

 

 

 

 

During one of our out of car explorations, my hubby managed to open up a prickly pear cactus to see what it was like.  He may or may not have acquired some pricks in his fingers.

 

 

On our way to Sedona, we took a side trip to drive the Apache Trail. It wasn't as nerve wracking as the jeep, but it was still filled with hair pin turns and cliffs. But again, it was beautiful. Plus, we stopped for some ice cream at a local ghost town.

 

We arrived in Sedona after having dinner with some of my family in Prescott. It was great to see them and visit with some friendly faces. Our first full day in Sedona was cold. We were really surprised that it was so cold because it was 90 while we were in Phoenix. Even though it was cold, we still wanted to hike in the red rocks. We started at the Boynton Canyon which was great, until it started to sleet on us. Then it got a little colder and wet. Thankfully, the sun came out and we could hike a couple other trails.

 

 

Yep, snow.

 

 

Oh, and there were the bears. We didn't actually see any, but it made it more interesting.

After hiking, we spent the rest of the day walking throughout Sedona shopping and taking in the sites. If you've never been to Sedona, it's a great little town to visit. So much to see and so many shops. Plus, there is a stunning view everywhere you go.  We originally had planned to go to the Grand Canyon, but thanks to the government, we couldn't go. Only slightly annoying.

 

We left Friday morning and traveled back to the midwest. We had a fabulous week in Arizona and definitely will go back. Hopefully, next time we'll get to go to the Grand Canyon. Anyway, thanks for letting me share all my vacation pictures. Now, I have to get back to packing so we can move in just 10 days!!!

i'm back

After a wonderful week of vacation, we have returned back to the midwest. Arizona was so beautiful. There were mountains, cactus, clear blue skies-- just beautiful. And I would love to share all the beautiful pictures from our week but I left my camera at our house. 

Yep! That's right, our house! We got the keys to our new house. 

We're so so excited! Today was the first day we actually started doing some work in the house. One wall has its first coat of paint on it. So far so good! We still have a couple weeks before we move, but we hope to get all of our painting and a major cleaning in before we actually have to move things in.

I promise to give you a full report of our trip to Arizona and pictures of our house as soon as I remember to bring my camera home.

this week

Just in case I forgot to tell you-- we're on vacation this week! We're enjoying Arizona! I'll see you in a week! 

happy closing day!

Today is a big day! We closed on our house this morning. Isn't she beautiful!

We are now officially homeowners! We're so excited for this next stage in our life and cannot wait to get into our new home. Although we don't move for a couple more weeks, we'll be busy painting, cleaning and packing. But for now we're off to celebrate and start packing!

fall bucket list

It's is an exciting week here! We close on our new house on Wednesday! Eek! So so excited! I can't believe that it's almost here, just as much as I can't believe tomorrow is the first day of October. Before fall gets away from me, I figured it was time to put together my fall bucket list! I love lists and especially love it when they include fun things to do. So here is this fall's list!

 

• Go to a pumpkin patch
• Make these apple donuts
• Paint our new house!
• Make lots of pumpkin bread
• Carve pumpkins from number one
• Go camping (this one is still in question) 
• Go through a corn maze
• Tailgate at a ND game
• Make apple cider
• Celebrate my birthday by moving
• Enjoy my hubby's pumpkin ale brew
• New blog design

Honestly, I don't expect to get a whole lot of activities in during these next couple months. Between vacation, painting, cleaning and moving, I figure most of my energy will be already taken up. But I can't let fall go on by and not enjoy all it has to offer. Oh, and we're leaving for Arizona on Sunday! Woo hoo! Can't wait for a vacation with the hubby. It's a partial work, partial pleasure trip and I'm really looking forward to it. I've never been to Arizona so this will be a whole new adventure.  Any suggestions on places to visit or eat? Ideas are welcome!

What other things are on your fall bucket list?

five on friday

Hey guess what? It's Friday again and that means I'm linking up with Christina, Darci, Liz and Natasha for Five on Friday.

 {ONE} Although it's already been a week, it was still a big highlight. Last Friday, I finally got to have lunch with two of my oldest friends. I have been friends with these two for a long time and since we live hours apart now our visiting is more limited. But Sara, Sophia (Sara's sweet baby girl), Kelly and I spent a few hours at lunch catching up and talking wedding plans for BOTH of them!

{TWO} Speaking of friends, this weekend I am heading to Indianapolis for a baby shower for a friend from college! I also get to meet another friends new baby boy and see some of my best friends from college. Babies, babies everywhere! So so so excited!

{THREE} Our apartment is back to looking like this...

which is totally ok, because that means we're moving into our house soon!!! Words cannot express my excitement!

{FOUR} Not sure if this counts, but I am tremendously pumped for next week. We close on our house on Wednesday!!! AAAH! I can't believe it. It's hard to believe it is actually happening. I'll be sure to share pictures soon!

{FIVE} Shhh...don't tell anyone, but I some how managed to find the first episode of Season 4 of Downton Abbey this week. And of course, I watched it. I am not going to say anything else just in case you are still in the process of catching up (like my mom and aunt). But I just love this show and can't wait until it premieres in the States!

Happy Friday to you!

pray for your marriage (even if you're not married yet)

via

While we've only been in the marriage boat for a little over a year, one of the biggest things that has been impressed upon me was to pray for my marriage. I am a big believer in the power of prayer. I know that God answers our prayers, even when we don't realize it and often in a different way than we think, but He still does. We pray for so many things for healing, forgiveness, direction, peace and most of the time those are in reaction to something else going on in our lives. And those things are important. But one thing I've learned is the importance of proactive prayer in marriage.

What would happen if we all prayed for our husbands and our marriages every day, even the days when it feels like everything is going just right and there isn't much to pray about. It's still important and it's just as important on those days as it is on the hard days. We can't be with or protect our husbands all the time, nor should we, but we can pray for them.

Praying for our husbands each day is one of the best gifts we can  offer them as a wife. God knows what they need far better than we do. This world is crying out for strong marriages and one of my greatest hopes in life is that I can be a part of that. I want to be able to look back and say that I did the best I could to keep my marriage healthy. And praying is crucial way to do that. It puts my marriage into God's hands instead of my own.

So what if you're not married? Still pray. Pray for your future marriage, for your future spouse and for a heart that is open to what God has in store for you in this area in your life.

One thing that helped me understand the importance of praying for my marriage was the book The Power of a Praying Wife. I received a copy of this as a wedding gift and I appreciate the insight the author offers. While prayer can be a difficult topic for some, the author does a good job of explaining how prayer can positively affect your marriage. It's a pretty easy read and even though I've read the through whole book, I still enjoy going back and reading the prayers over and over.

If reading is not your thing, that is perfectly fine. But I still want to encourage you, especially newly married couples, to pray for one another. Protecting your marriage through prayer will have an eternal effect and hopefully bring more joy and love to each day.