The Good, the Bad, and the Weird

Arizona is home to some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen, some of the most controversial problems in the country, and some of the... well just plain weirdest stuff I've encountered.  And I lived in the Florida Panhandle for three years. 

Just a couple hours North of Phoenix, Sedona Arizona is a hub for both the beautiful and weird.  People flock from all over the world to gaze at the spectacular red rock formations, gain spiritual clarity, and if they're like me, indulge in a little curiosity.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Sedona with my dad and stepmom.  We enjoyed the crystal shops, psychic signs and vortex tour brochures just as much as the famous rocks themselves.   I see myself as a very scientific person, but I think it's fun to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while, read up on vortexes, and take a slight detour to a "UFO Center" that actually turned out to be a creepy purple trailer next to a creek that I swear must have been featured in the beginning of an episode of Bones.

It's the off-beat characters, stories and places that are my favorite things about living in the desert.  Where else can you find this many UFO sightings, or chupacabra believers?  Even the plants look like they're out of a Dr. Suess book. 

The highlight of our trip was a Pink Jeep Tour that took us up close and personal to the rocks.  We even got to see an old sinkhole that's now home to hundreds of bats.  It was a bumpy ride (extremely bumpy!) but worth it.  Definitely a trip to remember.

Conquering the Kitchen

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love food.  Drew and I love trying new restaurants, recipes, and have even gotten hooked on a few cooking competition shows (cupcake wars, top chef, chopped, the taste,) just a few....
The Phoenix area is actually a great city for foodies, with more than a handful of restaurants that have been featured on The Food Network, and even more undiscovered gems we've had the pleasure of dining in recently.
One place I feel I've never reached my full food-appreciating potential has been my own kitchen.  It's something I've been trying to change.  That road, however, is long and winding.  There have been ups and downs, and some epic fails.
Those of you who know me well may remember the forgotten-water-in-the-brownies blunder of '05, or the sea-salt-attempted-brownie bungle of '11.  You also may have seen the cupcake massacre of 2012:

This little doozy contributed to the subsequent oven fire of 2012.
While I haven't had many proud moments in the past, I can at least say I'm not completely alone.  Drew has proven himself to be a spectacular cook on a regular basis, but every once in a while he throws me a bone and comes up with a mess to rival even my most embarrassing culinary disasters.  There was the Chipotle-rice-replication attempt that was.... let's just say lime-tastic.  More recently, there was our first attempt at utilizing a slow cooker for beef stroganoff:

Luckily we live so close to family that we knew just who to call, just in time for dinner.  It's hard to believe I actually tried ...whatever this is... and managed to keep a straight face until Drew spit his out, giving me the okay to do the same.  To his credit, we discovered it was actually the appliance at fault, and after purchasing a new crock pot he redeemed his recipe and his reputation.  I can vouch, it was delicious.
My adventures may be doomed to continue on a roller coaster, but I am proud to say I came up with a healthy and successful meal just this week after a recent decision to maintain a healthier lifestyle (a.k.a trying to reduce my sugar intake to something below 75% of my diet.)
This is a broiled salmon-steak in a honey sauce with a side of mashed cauliflower.  Yes, that's right!  And, it's a great substitute for mashed potatoes.  I made a pretty big mess, but it was worth it.

From Spring to Summer in a Day

It seems like Arizona really only has two seasons:  Cold, and hot.  One of those seasons is much longer than the other.  This week, our high temperatures graced the 70's and 80's, and then settled into the 90's.  The flowers are blooming and the plants are turning a temporary shade of green so I guess we could call this Spring, but I think the rest of the country has a different word for it. 
Nonetheless, this time of year is when the weather just begs you to get outside.  It inspired Drew to buy a remote-control boat for the pond near our house, and last weekend we all met at the park to play with that boat and with Max of course.  He is adjusting very well to his new home, and he is feeling 100% after getting over an ear infection and kennel cough.  While he doesn't show very much interest in toys and he's a wallflower at the dog park, we're working on some new tricks:

Max is also great at running. He (and I) have been running about 2 miles every other day around the canal and pond near our house.  It's a great way to get him out and about to exercise, and to take advantage of this great weather.  While it lasts.

Meet Max

After about six months living in our new place, Drew and I decided it was time for an addition.  This Valentine's Day, I received a bouquet of flowers and box of chocolate, along with a stuffed Snoopy and a Snoopy valentine's card in which Drew wrote, "ready to get your own Snoopy?" Last weekend we went to the animal shelter to pick out the scruffiest, cutest homeless doggie we could find.                                                                                      His name was A3264205.  We thought "Max" would be easier to remember.  He's a 4-year-old schnauzer terrier mix who weighs about 25 lbs.  Max's history is unknown, so we're still learning about his personality, but one thing is for sure:  he loves to cuddle!  He snuggles up on the couch to watch TV, and he was great around the niece and nephew.  Max isn't a big fan of dog food or dog treats or even dog toys, but we recently found out he loves all kinds of cheese.  We'll have to use that sparingly as it's not the healthiest treat for training.  I'm sure with a little guidance and love he'll learn how to be a dog.

He's already proven himself to be a little Houdini.  On his first day home, I put up his dog fence to partition him into a section of the house, and I left classical music on the TV to keep him calm while I ran to the store to get groceries.  When I got home, he greeted me at the door.  His dog gate was still locked and the TV channel had been changed to a PBS documentary.  In addition to disliking classical music, we also discovered on his walk this evening that he strongly dislikes skateboards.

 Max seems to be adjusting just fine to his new home, his new family, and his new name.

Road Trip

One thing I love about living in Arizona is the opportunity for a great road trip.  Phoenix may sit in the middle of the desert surrounded by a whole lot of nothing, but that nothing can look  beautiful in the passenger-side window, driving to one of the many destinations within a day's reach.
Last weekend, our friends flew into Phoenix from Jackson, Mississippi and we hopped in the Prius and headed to Vegas!  I love driving a route I've never traveled, seeing all of the beauty this country has to offer, and indulging in any spontaneous side-trip.  We drove through Joshua Trees, enormous red rocks and plateaus, and stopped at the Hoover Dam to take a full tour.  Our tour came complete with an eccentric guide who didn't fall short when it came to inserting some dam jokes into every opportunity.  Neither did I.

Then, we arrived at our destination... Las Vegas!  And, well, I guess that's all the detail I'll divulge, because you know what they say.
I will note that Drew and I did not lose as much as we had last September during our first trip, mostly because I did far less gambling.  Just call me the cooler.

Our road back was just as eventful, as we stopped on the side of the road for an overlook and saw a river at the bottom.  We decided to drive down to the water, and on the way we encountered a herd of big-horn sheep by the side of the winding road.  When everyone in the car started gasping, I was the last to notice.  They stood and stared at us as we parked and stared at them.  I'd never seen anything like it outside of a zoo.  Then, they went on their way up a hill and we continued down to the water to catch the sunset.  That's why I love road trips.  It's those unexpected moments when you follow a trail or climb a rock or chase a river, only to see something you may have never seen before in your life.  I'll end with one final photo we took after getting back to Phoenix, taken at Papago Park overlooking the city.

Cold Snap

Okay, it's that time of year when we thin-blooded Arizonans get laughed at by our Northern counter-parts.  Because IT. IS. COLD.

I know this may not seem like a wintery high temp to most people, but look at those lows! It still amazes me that the temperature can change nearly 30 degrees from sun up to sun down.  Despite my D.C upbringing the sundowns are killing me.  But, if I think I'm unmotivated to get out from underneath my covers in the morning and brave the crisp, cold air of day, I need only look to my poor, Florida-born husband, who has been sleeping in long sleeves and a hoodie for the past week.

We have packed our outdoor pipes with towels so they won't burst (which they often do around here because the desert just doesn't have the infastructure for freezing weather) and our neighbors have bundled up their cacti for the season.

 It may be easy to laugh.  I know 25 degrees is nothing compared to the negative-somethings that so many other people must bear.  It may be easy to call us wimps, to tell us to toughen up, and in times like these it's all we hear from the rest of the country, but to that I respond:

I go running in triple digits.

Give me 75 degrees and I'll wear jeans and drink a hot latte.  When it's 106 we're outside hiking and playing sports when most would pass out.  Yes, we wear camel-backs and drink 2 liters to most people's 12 ounces of water, and lather on SPF 80, but I'll take all of that any day over this. Brr!

Making Progress

I am now 4 months into my new job and even though I left the news business, I can't seem to stay out of the media.  Our communications department is a unique one, with positions new to the government workforce, but I foresee others following quickly.  It's exciting not only for those of us on the digital communications team, but the local media and other municipalities are showing interest too.  Last month, we got an article in the Gilbert Republic.
This week, we had another article in Go Gilbert Magazine, with a spotlight on my position.  It's weird to be on the other side of the interview.  You can read the full article in their online edition of the magazine here.

Originally, I thought life in the government sector would be far slower than it was working in news, but I'm actually finding it very exciting.  I'm about to embark on my first business trip to Chicago to shoot a video on an economic development project, and I just wrapped up an extensive project on the town's new Mission, Vision, and Values where our department created a video, posters, logos, and re-branded the town's appearance.  This is the first long video I've created so far, (by long I mean 7 minutes, which in news time is a century) and I learned how to create all of the graphics to go with it.  I know it's not Spielberg or anything, but it's a start, right?