Arizona Adventures

I've been home from my vacation for over two weeks now but I still have some Arizona adventures to tell you about! One of the nice things about my vacation was the new things I experienced.

"Oh, what new things did you experience?" you ask? Where do I even begin?

* For one, I ate an ostrich burger at an Ostrich Festival with a blogging friend (who's identity is top secret). It felt slightly strange eating the thing I was supposed to be celebrating. I'm just glad it's a tradition that doesn't carry into other celebrations (birthday parties come to mind). The ostrich burger was really good by the way, though it tasted like buffalo. Who would've thought?

* I met two blogging friends. And they were both awesome - it felt totally natural to hang out with them! Have you ever made friends through blogging?

* I saw my dear old friend Vaughn who happened to be in Phoenix the same weekend as me. Some of you might remember Vaughn from this post. It was the first time we've seen each other in four years! Vaughn pinched me to see if I was dreaming. Pretty sure that's not how it works. Then when saying goodbye, he said we should wait eight years this time. I know he didn't mean it though. He misses me terribly.

* I held a gun for the first time in my life! This was Vaughn's doing. He was outraged that I've never held a gun and wanted to remedy it as soon as possible. Don't mind my face in this picture. I had just woken up.

* I went to a site where a meteor hit the earth 50,000 years ago! Yes, this is one of the nerdiest things I've ever done on vacation. And yes, I loved it. Me and all the retired couples there that day had a blast.

* I saw the desert and cacti... I felt weird calling it "cacti" so pretty much every time I was talking about more than one cactus, I'd just say, "cactuses....cacti." I don't know why I couldn't just say "cacti" the first time. Probably because we don't have cactuses....cacti in Michigan so I didn't want to act overly familiar.

* Speaking of not understanding lingo, I had the same experience with "froyo" or as I call it "frozen yogurt." I'm sorry, I'm just not ready to call it froyo yet. It's too soon in our relationship. Though I haven't hesitated to express my love to it. You guys, it was so good. It wasn't my first time eating frozen yogurt,  but in Arizona they're more into it than we are in Michigan, ie more toppings, more flavors, more hype. And that's not a bad thing. It was divine.

Mochi, fruit, etc.... My mouth is watering.

Those are just a few of the new (or new-ish) things I experienced on my Arizona adventure. Is it any wonder I already want to go back?

Arizona Adventures: Special Assignment

Monday I had a completely free afternoon and was looking for something fun to do! So my friend sent me an assignment:

1. Go to Bahama Bucks to get a shaved ice drink.
2. Go to the Mesa LDS temple with a blanket.
3. Put on sunscreen and sunglasses, lay on the blanket and soak in the sun.
4. Instagram pictures of the temple: a close up of a feature on the exterior of the temple, a cool feature somewhere on the grounds, a photo looking up from my lay out spot, and a self portrait.

It was the best assignment ever! I hung out on that blanket reading and daydreaming for hours. The air in Arizona smells like citrus - who knew Arizona was full of orange and lemon trees (besides everyone who lives there)!? And the weather was perfect on Monday - sunny and around 80 degrees. Here are some of the pictures I took while "on assignment":

I'm sorry you have to see my butt in this picture.

And that was my lovely, lazy, sunny afternoon - my last afteroon in Arizona (for now). And bonus: a couple hours into sunbathing, I took a half hour break to get some of the best Mexican food I've had in a long time for lunch. Tacos, horchata, rice, beans, sunshine....

Arizona, will you marry me? (Oh sorry, Michigan. I still love you too!)

Wednesday Thoughts

I love this! (source)

I have several more Arizona Adventures that I can't wait to tell you about but I'm going to put those on hold for now to write some Wednesday Thoughts.

I'm home from my vacation now which is bittersweet. I loved Arizona, and the people I know there are pretty awesome. And I want to go back like now! But the people I know in Michigan are awesome too, so - what's a girl to do?

While on vacation, I had some thoughts I wanted to share with you. Male readers might not be as interested in this as female readers, but I could be wrong. After all, my prolonged single status could be used as evidence that I know little about men.

But I digress. What I was thinking a lot about over the weekend was self esteem. This is a topic that is on my mind all the time. It's possible I've mentioned it on here before, that self esteem is something I struggle with. This year, however, I've really been working on improving it. One important thing I've worked on is not saying mean things to myself and then replacing the negative thoughts with positive ones. So far, it's really helped a lot.

But this weekend I was in several social situations with a lot of new people - including some cute guys - and I found myself falling back on that evil comparing game. You know: "she's skinnier than me, she's young and cute, she's super stylish, she raises weevils"... and while those things may be true, that doesn't mean that I have nothing to offer, right? (Enemies: don't answer that!)

I talked to a girl the other day who told me that she feels she's competing with all the girls she knows for attention from guys. That got me thinking and I decided that that really isn't how it works. I mean, we just are who we are, and people either like us or don't. But we're not all trying to be the same person or have the same skills, or the same thighs, or the same education, etc. It's apples and oranges, really. And cantaloupes, pears, grapes, etc. All kinds of fruits. And maybe veggies. Girls are fruits, boys are veggies. I just decided that. It makes sense in my head.

Anyway, my point is that there's no point in comparing ourselves to others because we'll almost always come up short. Or it could go the other way where all we look for is the flaws in others. Neither is healthy. Or accurate.

What are some ways you have worked on improving your self image? I've heard some women say that being in a good relationship improved their self image. That's awesome, but unfortunately not happening in my life right now so I've mostly depended on positive self talk, cultivating my talents, and trying to ban negative self talk. I really have seen an improvement.

The thing is, while we should do our best to take care of ourselves, there's no reason we have to be/look a certain way to be loved or found attractive. I've heard some guys say they are self conscious about their receding hair lines and I think, "I couldn't care less about that," or they complain about their bellies and I think, "but that's cute!" In other words, not all "imperfections" are bad or make a person unattractive. Some "flaws" can actually make a person more endearing. In my opinion.

Am I babbling? I'm babbling. But I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Happy Wednesday!

Adventures in Arizona

I'm still on vacation in Arizona, and I have certainly not had a boring trip! I have a few stories to tell you but I won't overwhelm you with all of them at once. I'll start out with one that happened Saturday night. Here's a hint: it ends like this:

The scene: the exit to get on the highway

The crime: getting rear ended in a hit and run situation

The suspects: a scruffy looking dude and his unkempt girlfriend

So, to simplify, my friend Kristine and I got rear ended last night and the guy who hit us fled the scene. Two good Samaritans who witnessed it chased the guy to get his license plate number. Meanwhile, Kristine and I got the license plate number too and called the police once we'd pulled over.

After updating our Facebook statuses (priorities in check), we checked out the bumper and there was no damage, thank goodness.

Now here's the awesome part: the police caught the guy. One cop car went after him, and one came to us. Our police officer, also known to Kristine and I as "Handsome Cop" ('cause he was) kept us updated on what was happening with the police officer who caught our hit-and-run perp.

Meanwhile, he was also giving me grief stemming from the oldest war in history: Michigan vs. Ohio. After he looked at my drivers license, our conversation went like this:

H.C. (Handsome cop): (exasperated mouth noise) Michigan! (looking up at me with scorn in his eyes. Then explaining:) I'm from Ohio.
Me: (Realizing the severity of the situation.) Oh, so we're mortal enemies.
H.C. Yep.

Handsome Cop went back to his car after that and did whatever cops do in their cars, then he came back and told us that the guy had been caught, and that there were warrants out for his arrest so they were taking him to jail. I expressed some excitement then said, "I shouldn't be so happy. I don't hate the guy." And HC said, "really? Cause I do."

You guys, HC doesn't mess around. He straight up hates perps!

After that, he went to meet up with the arresting officer to get the paper work to bring back to us. He told us he'd return in five minutes but a half hour later, wasn't back yet. Kristine and I were getting impatient. After all, we had places to be. Luckily, he came back about ten minutes later, apologizing and explaining that the guy "was high and got belligerent and had to be beat up a little bit." Adding, "it happens."

The rest of our conversation went like this:

HC: If you feel worse later, give me a call.
Me: What's your number? 911?
HC: It's on the paper.
Me: Ok.
HC: If she (pointing at Kristine) is having a seizure later, call me.
Me: What if I'm having a seizure??
HC: No, we don't care about you.
Me: What?? Because I'm from Michigan!?
HC: Yep.

You guys, the situation between Ohio and Michigan is no joke.* Anyway, all's well that ends well. Except of course for the guy who hit us, got beat up, then thrown in jail. It didn't end awesome for him. But Kristine and I (and the car I was driving) were fine, and we were grateful for that. Plus, it's a pretty good story, huh?

*It's a joke.

Wednesday Thoughts

I know Wednesday Thoughts is late today, but I have a really good excuse! I've spent the day traveling and haven't been at my computer till now. The bad news is, I've been up since 4:30 this morning and am exhausted. Every time I try to think of something funny or interesting to write, it escapes my mind before I can command my fingers to type it.

I'm pretty sure that didn't even make sense. That's how tired I am. So I am just going to show you pictures of where I went today: THE GRAND CANYON!! Some quick thoughts on the Grand Canyon:

1. It was freezing there. I was so glad I brought my Eskimo coat!
2. I didn't see the Brady Bunch (though I still have fond memories of our trip together)
3. There was snow on the ground. That just isn't right.
4. It was beautiful and amazing.

Arizona friends - what are some places I have to visit or eat at while I'm here (Phoenix/Tucson/Flagstaff)? I need tips!

Happy Wednesday!