An overdue update

Well, after hearing that a few people actually read these updates, I felt a little guilty that I hadn't added anything in such a long time. Here is a short update on what we have been up to over the past few months!

In October we closed on our first house! We are really excited to have a place of our own and slowly make it just how we want it. We spend hours working on things around the house and sometimes dont see much progress, but I guess thats how homeowning goes sometimes. We have 3 bed/2 bath and plenty of room for anyone who would like to make a trip to Phoenix. Did I mention that we have a pool..it should be getting warm enough to swim pretty soon!

In November we went north about 3 hours to Pine Top, AZ with a group of friends from the church. We stayed in time share condos that a couple families had available and took the chance to go to the mountains and enjoy a weekend in nature and away from the city. To our delight, we woke up Sunday morning to a blanket of snow. We had a lot of fun with some great friends.

Another important addition to our lives has been a new puppy. Her name is Wrigley and she is a boxer/shar pei mutt. She is just the cutest puppy ever, but terribly ornery. She loves to chew, and has decided to chew several things that I was not so happy with. Four plants to date have lost their lives to her, and more will I'm sure. I just discovered yesterday that she chewed the handle of the parking brake in my car when Ryan left her to run into the grocery store for a couple minutes. OOO, but she is so lovable and cute...and I should know that puppies chew EVERYTHING.

Ryan and I have been unlucky enough to have gotten sick several times this winter. That really slows down how much we can get done when he works the night shift every 6 weeks! We do try to get away on the weekends sometimes to see different things in the city or all over the state. A week ago we went to Jerome, AZ. It is about 2 hours north of Phoenix and is the largest ghost town in the country. We had a lot of fun. We packed our car full of everything we would need to camp for one night (unfortunately you need as much gear for one night as you do for one week!), Wrigley, our trusty Discover Arizona book and set off for an adventure. Wrigley spent the whole night in the tent watching out the tiny crack between the mesh window and the fly of the tent, guarding us as we slept. We spent a day looking through antique stores in Cottonwood and then toured the city of Jerome. We finished the day with a really neat hike in Sedona. Wrigley had the time of her young life. She couldnt even believe there were so many cool things outside her yard!

We are doing very well and feel very blessed to have such a great life. We look forward to my Mom and Dad visiting in April...and anyone else who comes out this way is always welcome!