Fall time

After our meeting up in Denver, I flew with Nick back to NC for a week, before leaving to head back to AZ while he headed to TX.  Are you following??  Yay, me either!  hah, but this is our lives these days.  Just a few random things and pictures to share.

Halloween 2013:  Our NC friends Brett and Emily had us over for dinner and trick or treating.  Putting on orange shirts is about as festive as we got this year.  I did steel on of their kids Almonds Joys when she wasn't looking (delicious), I don't think she will miss is it :)

 Pretty funny that we have to be all the way out in NC to find a Chinese Restaurant that we love, and it has the best name--Double Happiness!   Love this fortune, so true.

 We decided to head down to the beach for date night.  What a nice night-windows down, sunroof open, feet on the dash, country music on the radio---maybe I'm starting to love Nick's truck too :)

Love Love Love that the Atlantic Ocean is always so warm.  Nick is wishing he had on sandals right about now.

Can't go to Wilmington and not stop for breakfast at Goody Goody.  I will never eat another biscuit without wanting them grilled.

Back in AZ, it was back to birthday celebrations of course!

Finally a night out to celebrate Kristina's birthday

 And another fun night out to celebrate Tara's birthday.

Phoenix was the first city ever that hosted a Time out for Women.  It is put on by Deseret Book and this year over 5,500 women came.  It was craziness, but I loved last year so much that I knew I wanted to go again.

 Caitlin and I decided that we are the TOFW orphans!  It seems like everyone goes with their mom, sisters, sister-in-laws, but what about those of us who have no family to go with!!??  That left the two of us, and what a great time we had together.

One of my favorite speakers (Richie Norton, who is actually from AZ) spoke about Authenticity and finding your TRUE self.  It really stuck out to me and here are the 10 things I want to remember:

1-Recognize authenticating moments-Look at trials as a way to grow

2-Know yourself by knowing Him- get to know the Lord

3-Don't be afraid of looking stupid-who cares!?!

4-Crush fear- sometimes it is safer to go with the fear than to run away from the fear

5-Destroy the waiting place- just do it now!  Don't way to the perfect time when you think, then it will be right.

6-Will I regret it when I'm 80?

7-Clear the Clutter-Make room for your dreams

8-Replenish-Clear out the extra commitments.  Set aside time for self.

9-Turn to the Lord

10-By Small and Simple things are Great things brought to pass- Don't let circumstance overcome you.

What does your husband do at work??

When people ask me what Nick does for work, I usually say "you're guess is as good as mine."  I cannot go on his job site because I don't have safety credentials, I've never seen his office (unless you count over Skype), and I think it's funny that some days he has to dress up in a nice button-down shirt and other days he is in his bright neon safety color t-shirts.  I really don't know what he does all day long, except he goes to a lot of meetings.

Big news:  Nick got into the the Leadership Succession Program at work!  Pretty much is recognizes employees who are in the top 10% and fast tracks them into more management positions.  It usually takes 3-5 years of being with the company to get into the program, but Nick got nominated and voted in after only 16 months!  Yes, his hard work is paying off!!  This has required Nick having to travel all over to go to different trainings.  He spent two weeks in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and a week in Corpus Christi, TX recently where he learned what all the craft (laborers) do for their jobs.  I guess they feel like if you are going to be telling these people what to do all day, you better know how to do their job to make sure things are going smoothly.  He has had a crash course on welding, electrical, pipe, and I'm sure a lot of other things I have never heard of.  

When I asked Nick for some pictures to put in the post, he must of sent me 50 with detailed descriptions of what he is doing!  Hah, it was really funny-but I love how much he loves his job.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures that he sent me minus the long boring descriptions :)

Pre-fabrication pipe school

 Grinding on the pipe

 Welding

 How romantic?!?!  I think.  He did "plasma cuts" of our names out of metal.

Torch cutting in Texas

Grinding on a metal pipe to smooth it out

Placing grout in a form

Oil Platform building yard in Corpus Christi, TX

This is a picture of the job that Nick is on in Wilmington, NC.  Big day, this was the first test run to have the plant make power!!!  Success

 Some of Nick's crew taking a moment to honor the veterans in the morning meeting on Veteran's day.

 From now on when people ask me, "What does your husband do all day?"  I'm going to respond with "he plays with grown up legos!" :)

Work or Play: Denver Trip

It's safe to say that Nick travels A LOT for work.  Even though he is working and lives in North Carolina right now, he has been gone quite a bit to different trainings and job sites over the last two months.  The company's headquarters are in Denver, so anytime Nick has to go there for work, I always fly up and we make a weekend out of getting to play with one of our favorite families-The Badger's.  This time Nick was up in Steamboat Springs for two weeks at a training and we had initially planned on all of us going up there since it is a cute resort town, but when we heard of the snow and cold that would be happening the ladies quickly decided against it!  So Nick finished his two weeks, and then found a ride down to Denver to join us for the weekend.

I got to babysit this cute girl while her Mom and Dad were working on Friday.  She was the perfect playmate minus the blowout diaper and TJ leaving without even telling me where the diapers were!  ha!

TJ's oldest son is a sophomore in HS and got to dress for his first varsity football game, so we decided to all go a cheer the team on.  It was sure cold sitting on those metal bleachers, but it was fun to see them totally demolish the other team.

The next day we drove down to Colorado Springs and went to the Garden of the Gods.  It is a large area of land that was owned by a man who had in his will when he died that he wanted this to be opened always to the public free of charge.  There are large red rock formations and we picked the perfect day to go explore.

 I'm sure somewhere there is a sign asking people to not climb on the rocks, oh well :)

 So beautiful!!!

That night TJ wanted to go one of the oldest restaurants in the Denver area called The Fort.  He warned us that it would be a little pricey, but we all gave in to him wanting to go there.  I was not impressed the $45 6oz steak that Michelle and I split, but he boys seemed to like their assortment of wild game.

 Rocky Mountain Oysters.  Yes, they are buffalo testicles.  Disgusting.  I had one bite and texture about killed me.  It was funny to watch them eat the whole plate since they forked out some $$ for them!

 Nick ate buffalo, quail, and elk for his main course

Being that I wasn't very hungry or impressed with the food I got to keep little Scarlett entertained.   

And just like that, the next day we were headed to the airport.  So grateful for these friends and the chance we get to travel to Denver quite a bit for Nick's work.  More on what Nick does while he is working in the next post.  

BOOTS

Let it be known that I did not own my first pair of REAL cowboy boots until last month!!!  That is saying a lot considering I'm married to the man that has more pairs that he can wear--pick an animal and I'm sure he has boots that are made from it!! (ok, so maybe not that many but you get the idea).  

I just never could justify the cost.  They are not cheap!  I finally gave in as I realized that there are many times I found myself saying, "I wish I had a pair of boots."  So when the boot-man himself, Nick, was in town, I knew nothing would make him happier than to escort me to buy my first pair.  Let's just say it was a long 3 hours in one store!  I have never been so indecisive in my life.  Overall, I think for my first pair I got a good neutral and was surprised at how comfortable they fit.  

And here was the winning pair!!

What better place to break the new boots in than the AZ State Fair!  It was a perfect fall night and just our luck, Trace Adkins was playing.  We went with our friends Kristina and Taylor and had a great night eating more food than humanely possible.  Seriously, my stomach hurt for days just from having one or two bites of each thing.

After seeing this picture Nick said my next purchase needs to be a big belt buckle--yay, pretty sure that is never happening!

It was Kristina's birthday, so I felt extra special to get to spend it with her!

Trace Adkins Concert

This was one delicious corn dog.

Pretty sure between the four of us we ate: bacon batter corn dog, turkey leg, carmel apple, philly cheesesteak, deep fried snickers, cheese fries, Texas size bacon maple donut, ice cream cone, and fresh squeeze lemonade!! 

Love this picture of my man

I got to wear my boots a second time that week when I had a night out with the ladies.  Jason Aldean came to Phoenix with his tour, Night Train, so a few of us bought last minute lawn tickets and had a great time!!!

Overall I have loved my boots purchase so far!  I have a feeling that I will get some good use out of them, I just wish I didn't wait 30 years to buy them!

Goodrich Annual Girls Trip: Connecticut September 26-29

How quickly a year goes by!  It seems like all of us were just in Tennessee have a great time at Dollywood!  I LOVE that the ladies of my family make it a priority to get together each year for a woman weekend.  How much fun it is.  Sadly, grandma wasn't feeling up to making the trip to Connecticut where this years outing took place, but the rest of us were sure to have enough fun for her too.  My sister in law, Rachel's mom lives in Newton, CT and offered to let us come invade her beautiful home for the weekend.  My mom was excited to go there because the Goodrich ancestors had land and settled in Wethersfield, CT (about 40 minutes outside of Newton) back in the 1600's!!  So the trip was decided.  As usual my mom (Terry), my aunt Carol, my sister (Katherine), my two sister in laws (Rachel and Becky), and my cousin's wife (Christa) came.  It was fun to have Henrik there (Becky's cute little toddler boy) and meet baby Myles (Christa's 3 month old).

The first day my mom had arrange for a private walking tour of old Wethersfield.  It's the oldest town in CT and were my 16th great-uncle (I hope I'm getting this part right) lived.  It was neat to see the old houses and to see where William Goodrich had his plot of land.

Here we all are outside the Wethersfield Historical Society Building.

They had a cheesy little museum of the time period back then, but the saddest part was the book of handwritten letters from soldiers back home during the Revolutionary War.

A map showing where William Goodrich's homestead was.  Of course my mom bought multiple copies of this!

One of the old historic houses.

I'm assuming the people that lived in this house were very wealthy for that time period.  If I remember correctly, this light green house is now a bed and breakfast.

Another cute bed and breakfast

This is where William Goodrich's plot of land was, his house is not longer there, but it is close in proximity to where that blue house now stands.

Henrik was sure a happy little boy throughout the trip

We visited the oldest cemetery in the town.  The higher up on the hill the headstone was, the higher up in society they were.

Grace Goodrich's headstone.  For dying in 1712, it's amazing how well her headstone looked.

There were so many Goodrich's.  It was great to see these.

Of course we had to go find Goodrich Drive!

After a little afternoon shopping (because every girls trip must consist of that), we came home and with 8 women in the kitchen a fabulous meal was whipped up in no time!  We had such a great time just sitting and chatting at night.

The later the night got, the crazier we became.  We had a wild night of pictionary and literally I don't think I have ever seen my mom laugh so hard in my life!  It was hysterical.  Haha...love her!

The next day we explored around Newton, CT.  What a charming town.  I think Rachel's mom told us there are over 1000 historical homes just in that town alone!  The streets were beautiful as the leaves were just starting to change colors.

The old library is a fabulous place.  We spend time going through old books and watching Henrik play in the best kids area I have ever seen.

Henrik loves his Aunt Rachel

After a yummy lunch at the old General Store it was back to the house for book club.  We all pick a book to read and this year we read "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand.  We had an interesting discussion about humanity and the life of Louie Zamperini.  The weather was perfect 74 degrees outside and it was so great to relax.

My mom with baby Myles

Next up:  Apple picking at the local orchard.  We decided we were going to pick our own apples and then come home and make apple pie of course!

Katherine and I

Mom sampling if this was the kind of apple we wanted to take home

I thought I would give it a try too

Henrik loved this place!  Here is the cute little man with his mama.

The whole group on a perfect fall day

After buying apple cider and apple donuts to take home we headed to the local duckpin bowling alley.  Rachel's family loves to come here when they are all visiting so we thought we would give it a try.  I had never heard of this before.  It pretty much consists of mini pins and mini balls but otherwise it is like bowling.  We had a so much fun and lots of laughs as Katherine beat us all!

We came back to bake our apple treats.  Here is Rachel with her mom, Eve, who was such a fabulous host!

That night we got the computer out and all Skyped with Grandma Goodrich.  It was so fun to see her and it was like she was on the girls trip with everyone.  I know it meant a lot to her to be able to do that.

And just like that another fabulous weekend comes to an end.  My mom is amazing and puts these things together with every detail.  I love her!  Eve, was such a generous hostess and despite us all living all over the country it is great that everyone puts the time aside to come.  Until next year's outing...  :)