This is why we live in Arizona....

...FOR DAYS LIKE THIS!

It has been absolutely gorgeous here. Mid 80's, no humidity, light breeze, sunshine, and gotta love those AZ sunsets. I find myself saying several times a day, "Wow, it feels so great outside." We are back in our tennis playing, nightly walk, and hiking mode. This is the time of year when all you want to do is be outside. (**sidenote**-any family or friends wanting to visit AZ, this is the time of year to do so).

Drumroll please....

Yep, you've heard right...we BOUGHT a house!!! We are ecstatic. So excited. Can't wait for it to be done. We have been looking for over a year, and needless to say I was more than discouraged towards the end. With the help of our realtor (whom we highly recommend) he had us look at new builds because he said the prices on them were too good to be true. I wasn't exactly thrilled, but we went to check out this neighborhood. This house was started as a spec, and at the beginning of Sept when we went and saw it, it had only been framed so we could still pick out most of the interiors. I love the floor plan, it has a huge backyard (well huge for AZ), and the fact that no one else has lived in it made it that much more appealing. After much thought and even more prayers we decided we would make it ours. The first walk through is November 6th--right around the corner. We can't wait!

The most recent picture of the front. They had just finished the stone that day.
This picture is a few weeks old--but is shows how great the backyard will be!

The kitchen cabinets were put in just a few days ago. I love them. They were the only thing inside that we didn't get to pick out, so I am was so excited to walk in and see them.

This home will have plenty of extra space, so we will love visitors! More to come...

A Few of My Favorite Things

I feel the need to make a post about a few things that have changed my life.--okay, so maybe that is overstating some, but they sure have made life wonderful. Thought I would share them with you.

Truessence is the brand of essential oils that I have been using on my back for the last 6-7 weeks. A lady I go to church with introduced them to me, and I have really gotten into them for even daily use. I have even used them to help Nick with his sinus problems, and for headaches I have gotten. I love soaking in the dead sea salts with peppermint oil--and this is coming from someone who hates taking a bath. They are pretty affordable, and I have been accumulating a supply to help any future ailments I might get. Some of the ladies in this class I go to on Thursday nights have not had health insurance in 30 years, because they treat everything with oils. Pretty neat stuff--I have learned so much.This is the Fysical TheraP oil I put on my lower back every morning and every night. It has healed so much. It has birch and other oils to help with inflammation of muscles and joints. I take it to work and apply between patients if my back is bothering me. Such an improvement considering I was taking 1600mg of Advil a day!So, this next favorite thing I have been using for 6 months daily and I LOVE it!!! It is so great. It is Vitamin C Skin Boost from the Body Shop. It has made my skin velvety smooth! It is an antioxidant and good for the skins elasticity. I usually put it on after I wash my face and before I put on a moisturizer with sunscreen. On low key days I wear it alone and don't need any makeup because my skin is so awesome. This is #1 on my must have skin care list these days and for $26 it is much cheaper than what I have used in the past (in 6 months I still haven't finished one bottle yet--you only have to use one squirt).

Yes, another Body Shop produce--I swear I don't' shop there alot...but the few things I have gotten there I love. This tea tree face wash is great. It tingles on the skin, and has certainly cleared up my face. I learned in my oil class that tea tree oil is great for acne or to prevent acne, so I thought I would try this product out. I have noticed that it heals up the pimples I get much faster than other stuff I have used. And it smells great. One down side is that it doesn't remove eye makeup too well and it makes your eyelids tingle--so I use an eye makeup remover first so I don't have to wash my eyes as much with this product. I follow this up with a moisturizer--feels great!

Finally, this is a hair product that everyone must have. I was getting my hair done this summer, and the hairdresser suggested it. I usually don't give in to their suggestions, but I had noticed how dry this AZ summer heat makes my hair, so I thought I would give it a shot. Again--I love it! I spray a few skirts in my hair after I towel dry it, and then comb through. Have noticed that since I have been using it (3 months--since my last hair cut) I don't have near the nasty fried ends that I usually get. Then I blow dry and style..and my hair feels so smooth, but manageable (I know we have all used those leave in conditioners that make your hair too soft to do anything to--don't worry not that way at all). Another product I will keep on using.

I have been wanting to do this post for awhile because all these things are inexpensive and awesome. Anyone else have any other great products they love I want to hear.

Happy Birthday Domenic

Nick celebrated his 27th birthday this past week on Monday, September 8th. He had night class so we decided to meet up and go to Toby Keith's resturant. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a place that we need to get a group of our friends together so we can two-step! Here are a few pictures of Nick on HIS day. Love you!!

No Fear of Needles for Me!

Today was my fourth acupuncture treatment. And..............I FEEL GREAT!!! Skeptic no more I guess you could say. I have tried to research what it is about acupuncture that makes it 'work' but no one really knows. One theory is that the needles in various points release so many of your endorphins, which in turn are what repair your body and relieve pain. (Hence the reason why I always feel high as a kite when I leave the appointment). Since my second treatment three weeks ago, I haven't taken any pain medication!! I have learned so much about natural medicine and what essential oils can do for you. Don't worry I am not turning into the voodoo lady, but they are working for me! I have been doing a few other things as well, such as daily stretches (I am officially an old lady), nightly lemon detox, dead sea salt baths, and twice daily essential oil rubs on my back. But the verdict is in........IT WORKS! I hope to keep feeling on the up and up--and then back to the gym I must go!

She's Baaaack!!

In case you missed it - today was the 24th season premiere of Oprah. I do love her. This is no secret to most of you, since I quote her as most of my sources on things (hahah---but so true)! I must admit, that I thought after a long summer hiatus she would come back with a totally rocking body--but not so much the case. (Made me feel better about my summer hiatus...lol). Great show today, so you should check it out, especially the show opening performance by the Black Eyed Peas. I am glad to have my girl back on the air. :)

Lake Powell Trip

What a fun time! We went to Lake Powell August 16-Aug 23rd with our good friends The Evans' (John, Jeanine, and Mark), our best friends The Badger's (TJ, Michelle, and Brandon), and our new friends The Cannon's (Ray, Kelly, and Courtney). We stayed on the houseboat "The Powell Pleasure" ( I think I laugh every time I say that name), and were so fortunate to have awesome weather, except for the storm during the docking the last day. So many pictures, so I sized them small (click on the picture to see them larger) and the captions should give all the details of the rest of the trip. We had a blast with everyone and hope to go again.

Here she is--The Powell Pleasure in all her glory: 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room, slide, BBQ, theater--what else would you need?

Nick giving the passing houseboats an eye sore! We all were hysterically laughing. (side note-Nick only wore the speedo for about 20 minutes the whole trip, but so many hilarious pics)
Nick out of a wakeboard run. Such great water.

One of the many nasty fish Nick caught. He was using NY strip steak as his bait, no wonder he caught so many!

I even gave fishing a try. Not too much luck.

When all else fails-there is always redneck fishing! Huge fish at Dangling Rope Marina, but fishing isn't allowed, so Nick decided he was just going to be a "man" and grab one with his hands. He had quite the audience while doing this.

Slot canyon that we swam through. Glad I had some strong men with me because there were some huge rocks that we had to climb over .

Nick and TJ as getting ready to swim the canyon

Us on the ski boat exploring the slot canyons

Rainbow bridge with TJ, Michelle, and Us

Nick with a catfish he caught one evening.

Always time for a little kiss

This tree was sticking up out of the water. Thought it made a great picture. At one point we had seven people climb up the tree for a group picture.

Gregory Butte behind us. Right next to where we docked the houseboat.

We never got tired of looking at such beautiful landscape. The sunset was amazing each night. We slept under the stars and the bats!!

Such a great trip. We played cards, learned a few new games, watched movies every night under the stars, slept on the top deck of the houseboat watching shooting stars, ate way too much food, ate M&M's for breakfast, saw a crazy storm and watched two ski boats sink!!! So wild. And way too many laughs with great friends=great vacation!