12-31-11

Me: Green drinks & Grass

Bob's folks flew back to CA after enjoying 3 days of fun together: making homemade sugared orange peels dipped in chocolate, Bob & Bob flying their Christmas gift helicopters around the house,  golf course walks, slurping green drinks from our Vitamix, fabric shopping, & more. Thanks so much, Pat & Bob!

Today is the last day of 2011. It's been a full year and a good year.

No New Year's Eve plans tonight. Going to lay low with Bob and reflect on the past, talk about today and make goals for the future. I'm sure to proclaim the same resolutions I make each new year...hoping that in 2012 they'll stick.

Happy New Year's Eve!

12-30-11

Me: Insight.com Bowl

Bob and I attended the Iowa (my alma mater) vs. Oklahoma game last night. Unfortunately the Hawks lost but it was still a good outing with my sister, Carol and her family. The Iowa marching band was excellent -  performing at half with their amazing baton twiller (7x world champion). 

12-29-11

Me: Bugs and luminaries! Pat, Bob, Bob and I really enjoyed a night out to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens. It is their annual holiday event displaying 8,000 luminaries and featuring 10 bands. Plus David Rogers' sculptures of 11 enormous, whimsical bugs were on display. 

12-28-11

Martin: Giant free range rabbit. Became quite anxious after overhearing talk of the possibility of having rabbit for lunch come Easter Sunday.

Me: Pat & Bob flew into town today in their snazzy Bonanza! We enjoyed an evening with them at home; evening walk with Harley, a delicious salmon dinner, homemade holiday cookies and fudge by Pat and wonderful, thoughtful Christmas presents. Thank you, Pat & Bob...so glad you're here!

12-27-11

Martin: So what else do you do after Christmas lunch?

Me: I'm posting two more pics from last Friday when I hiked Quartz Peak with Anna. It was such a cool hike and beautiful day! Harley and I at the top standing on the white quartz boulders and then a view to the west with "bunny ear" cactus in the center.

12-26-11

Martin: Christmas Lunch

Me: Bob's home! Two contrasting photos from his Christmas week. 

Denver & Florida.

12-25-11

Me: Christmas Dinner

Had a lovely Christmas. Ran 6 miles with Harley in the desert and then attended Christmas service at Hope Church. My niece, Daira and her husband Clint came to the service. They are the ones who were married October 1st in Iowa and are in AZ now to enjoy a honeymoon. My sister, Joan also came for church. I then spent the day at Carol and Paul's. We had a feast - mmmm, everything was so delicious! Lots of visiting, presents and relaxing. Bob's Christmas took him from Minnesota to Florida to New York - where he'll stay the night.

Merry Christmas! 

12-24-11

Me: Christmas Eve morning bike ride - conditions were sunny yet crisp. Then I braved the busy grocery store, went to Christmas Eve service with friends and now I'm making fudge. I'll be celebrating at my sister's home tomorrow. Thinking of family and friends and especially missing Bob. He's in Deluth, MN tonight and said he saw Santa flying over Kansas tonight (our nieces Ro and Ree were sooo excited to hear that!) :-)

Merry Christmas Eve! 

12-23-11

Martin: Went to the city yesterday with the boys. This is the Strand Arcade. Crowded with Xmas shoppers and tourists. Another wet day. Don't think we have had a whole day of blue sky since last month. We have had the coldest and probably wetest December in half a century.

 

Me: Harley and I took Anna and Dot to one of our favorite hikes today; Quartz Peak. We were the only ones out there (mostly because not many people know about this hike and it's hard to access (it took us over an hour to drive there and much of it was on sandy desert jeep road). But it's worth it. The 4 hour hike has amazing views the whole way and the peak is so unique. The top is covered with white quartz boulders. Sorta looks and feels like we're sitting on snow and ice.

12-22-11

Me: "Vitesse, Rattle and Roll"

 That's the name of our four person team that will be racing on January 7th in the 12 Hours of Papago event. Team members: Jason, Geoff, Me and Aaron. This photo was taken a couple weeks ago when we rode Papago Park to practice the race route. During the 12 hour race we'll each rotate doing a 7 mile lap. The team that does that most laps in a 12 hour period wins.  

12-21-11

Me: I finished making our Christmas card today! Harley supervised the whole process, down to stuffing the envelopes and taking them to the post office.

12-20-11

Me: Our annual Christmas gift from our friend, Pat. I'll try not to eat it all before Bob gets home. ;-)

12-19-11

Me: We are now the owners of a Vitamix 5200. Bob and I were out and about today and couldn't resist the sales presentation of this machine. The thought of making homemade veggie juice, our own power bars for biking, delicious soups and fruit smoothies sounded so good. Hope it lives up to the hype.  

12-18-11

Martin: A nervous Adrian went for his driving test on Thursday morning and it was a happy camper who returned to the testing office. The examiner had already mentioned to him that he was a competent driver as they were getting out of the car. They are quite strict and the pass rate on the first attempt is 70% with a driving school and only around 40% if you use your own car. In the afternoon, he went for his first drive around Oyster Bay solo on his P plates. When he returned, he said it was a strange feeling driving along and having an empty passenger seat. He took Daniel to the tennis courts yesterday so they could have a hit. Strange feeling for me to see them both driving off in the car with Ruth being with them!

Me: Bob and Harley returned from their hike this evening and brought me this photo. I heart them too!!

12-17-11

Me: Hors d'oeuvres anyone? We had a couple more Christmas parties this weekend and I made a cranberry brie hors d'oeuvre. They were tasty! The cranberries had been soaked in maple syrup over night and then rolled in sugar (set one hour to dry). Then take a cracker, put on slice of brie, top it with cranberry chutney, 3 coated cranberries and some mint. It was an interesting squirt of tart with the sweet and the mint with relish and cheese was a nice compliment. I'm far from being a Giada but these were a big hit tonight.

12-16-11

Me: Caught on camera. Harley knows she isn't allowed on the couch but today she got away with it. Little rat!

12-15-11

Me: On our drive home from Dairy Queen ;-) we drove by some Christmas lights. We like the decorated jeep!

PS: The Christmas Blizzard (peppermint & chocolate chunks) is really good!

12-14-11

Me: Yard Art. 

We took this photo a couple weeks ago at the Tempe Arts Festival because I love this guys work. Various animals made of scrap iron pieces. Soooo creative! I particularly loved the peacock and the moose. I'm going to have Bob make me some of these one day! :-) 

12-13-11

Me: It's raining, it's pouring...

12-12-11

Me: Bob sent me this photo the other day: a great view of Three Sisters Mountains in Bend, Oregon. Bob and I have hiked to the top of Middle Sister Mountain and I have climbed South Sister Mountain too. Both amazing adventures were with my girlfriend, Marsha!!

12-11-11

Me: Janna's Baby Shower.

I hosted a baby shower for Janna this afternoon and the party was a big success! 23 of us; eating, laughing and smelling/tasting dirty diapers. I had 8 diapers filled with different melted candy bars and everyone had to guess what kind of candy bar it was. So funny as everyone got into it. We played that plus a few other games before Janna opened up her lovely gifts. 

It's been an incredibly busy weekend. Hoping for some down time this week. Good night.

12-10-11

Martin: Well, waited up till after midnight for the eclipse and everything was fine until the clouds started rolling in. Had to sit there hoping for a break in the clouds but only managed a shot at about 1:30am when the cloud thinned so the pic is not as clear as it should be. Woke to a fine blue sky.

Me: Vitesse Christmas Party

Tonight was our bike team's Christmas Party. It was in Scottsdale at Tim and Caroline's fabulous home. This photo doesn't capture it but we're standing on the upper patio that overlooks the city with  amazing mountain and sunset views. The main deck has an infinity pool, hot tub, outdoor grill, gas fire pit and comfy patio seating that is more cushy than our indoor furniture. We were 80 in attendance. I really wish Bob could have been there to enjoy the evening as well. Side note: I was awarded the Vitesse Female Road Cyclist of the Year. That was nice. :-)

12-9-11

Me: A few girlfriends hanging out at Heidi's annual Christmas party.