March MADNESS!

Can you believe this month is already nearing an end?  Where did it go?  It's been such a great month.  The weather in Phoenix has been phenomenal, the basketball has been exciting, and we added to our family.  

 

March through May are the most perfect months in Phoenix; the weather is warm, the smell of orange blossoms fills the air, the cactus are blooming, people are enjoying their yard work and their bike rides.  It's a little piece of heaven.

Also with March comes the NCAA college basketball tournament!  Watching these games and filling out brackets has been a tradition of mine for years, thanks to my friends, Greg and Blair, who got me addicted!

I do miss my Indiana friends during this time, as we would all sit together at our favorite sports bar, Average Joe's.  But Eric and I are making our own memories.  Last year it was Vegas, this year we found Blue 32 and Cold Beer and Cheeseburgers...both fun places to watch all the games.

 

And also this month we adopted Hemingway.  It's been quite entertaining to have her as a new addition to our family!  She is FULL of life and energy!  She chases our 3 year old kitty, Grace, up down and all around the house; and that makes our 10 year old dog, Cyrus, curious so he chases the both of them!  I just sit back with my camera and enjoy the show.

Grace is still trying to get used to not being the only cat in the house.  This is how they currently interact:

 

Hopefully I'll soon have some cuddling photos to share!!  Fingers crossed!

Finally, a big thank you to "our" cousin, Adam.  We received a box full of coffee that came from the coffee business he previously owned!  Eric went out today and bought a coffee grinder and we're looking forward to starting our week out with fresh ground coffee in the morning!   Kismet, Honduran, or Sumatran?  Decisions, decisions!

 

I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen.

Anne Lamott

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/spring_3.html#g6bsGRs31vXIymVu.99

I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen.

Anne Lamott

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/spring_3.html#g6bsGRs31vXIymVu.99

"I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees.  I am going to close my eyes and listen."  ~Anne Lamott

"Great players are willing to give up their own personal achievement for the achievement of the group. It enhances everybody."  ~Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Arizona Falls / Cloudy Day Bike Ride

Today Eric and I drove to the Arizona Falls at 56th and Indian School and biked over to Old Town Scottsdale, down to Papago Park, up through Arcadia, and back. 

I'm trying to watch the hysterical Ellen host the Oscars so I'm going to make this a short written blog and let the pictures tell the story. 

Eric on the greenbelt trail...headed towards Old Town

Action Shot!  Biking and shooting.  Papago Park

Camelback Mountain

Clouds in Phoenix

O.H.S.O. viewed from the greenbelt

Thanks to the mud...my life was in danger!  See how close this klutz was to falling into the canal!!!!

Breaking her in!

Valentine's Day in My 40's

I remember a lot about my childhood.  When I ask others about their memories not everyone can remember a lot from being a kid.  My memories start as young as 3 or 4.  I was always outdoors.  In grade school years we would play outside well past dark.  We lived out in farmland so there really wasn't a lot of worry about traffic and such.  My mom had an iron bell mounted to the front of our house and when it was time for us to come in and get in our pj's she would ring the bell. I can remember the other neighborhood kids saying "Brittany, it's your bell."  LOL  Funny to me now, but it did the job.  I'd say my goodbyes and hop on my Big Wheel (in younger times) or bicycle (in older times) and ride home.

As I got into high school my grandparents got me a 10 speed.  My friends and I would hop on our bikes and cruise the back country roads for hours. We'd bike down to Flat Rock River or up to Tri High School.  Flying past the cows and the cornfields, the barns and silos.  Those were some carefree times.

  As I grew up and out of my parents home I left the bicycle behind for cars and boys.  I worked at the local Hallmark store so Valentine's was an even bigger deal to me.  I always hoped for my boyfriend to bring me flowers, candy, and the mushiest Hallmark card I knew was out there.  Over the years I have received my fair share of such Valentine loot.  I still have a couple of cute teddy bears I just can't part with.

But of course, now that I'm older, these are things that are not as important to me.  Don't get me wrong, I still like some recognition on Valentine's Day.  In recent years it's become a tradition for Eric and I to go out and enjoy a nice dinner (almost always at Tomaso's).  But this year Eric brought my childhood rushing right back in!  Eric bought me a bicycle.











Well, to be more precise, Eric gave me a beautiful and romantic homemade card where he said he wanted to take me out and buy me a bike. So that's what we did today.  We went bike shopping. My knowledge of bikes is red 10 speeds with a kickstand.  That's it.

 Luckily Eric knows a lot about bikes and was able to offer me some pointers and advice.

 I didn't go with the long bike, or the tandem bike, or the fat wheel bike that Eric liked.

I didn't go with a road bike or a hybrid bike or the REALLY cute cruisers.

I ended up finding my bike at a local Phoenix store, Landis Cycles.  

A Trek Cali 29er mountain bike - black and hot pink!

 And here she is!  These photos are not the best because we had just gotten home and I was dying to hop on and go for a ride!

 

 

WITH a matching hot pink and black helmet!

 Me on my first ride...just like when I was 14!

 And some critters I spotted along the way:

It's going to be a fun summer!  An activity Eric and I can do together.  :0)
Happy Valentine's Day to us!


And this week's quote is from one of my favorite authors!
It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. 
--Ernest Hemingway