Arizona Trip!

Let me start off by saying this is long, detailed, and sort of boring. But the primary purpose of my blog is to keep a record of my goings on, not to entertain. Although, I do try to make it fun sometimes. So, I have a bunch of pictures. I love so much to be home. I love to hear my Dad talk about his life and experiences get his advice on this or that. I love to talk with my Mom about whatever is going on at the present and reflect on the past. There is something so fulfilling to me to be with my parents and they are some of my most favorite people. They are people I look up to and admire and hope I can one day be like. I have been looking forward to a trip like this for so long and my memories seem to fade so quick I wanted to make sure I could remember it. So this entry is really more for me than for blog viewers. But if you're up to it...Enjoy!


Tuesday 4/22

We took a trip to Mesa! AJ and I drove down on Tuesday. The drive was great we had several engaging and exciting conversations for about half the drive (the whole drive is about 10 hours). I love talking to AJ he always has interesting points of view! The rest of the drive was spent jamming out to old school music. We relived the glory days of Britney Spears and N'Sync and we sang along to the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. This was probably my favorite road trip to AZ thus far of our 5 or so trips.

But the thing that made this trip so special is that we finally caught HWY 40 in Flagstaff at the right spot instead of driving through the whole town! This was our first success among all our trips and it was all AJ! Good job Love!

When we got home my Mom had made a delicious grilled chicken meal for us! Peas, rice, strawberries, fresh squeezed lemonade. This is why we came!! Well, one of the reasons. Then like so often happens in the Mays home we sat around and talked! One of my favorite memories! My Dad told us stories from his mischievous youth. I love his stories! He has such a great story telling ability too, draws you right in. You get so excited to hear more.

When it began to be late we turned in for the night. You may think the story ends here, but I have to tell you about the great feeling of the room. The window was open all night and the fan drew in the cool night air. The temperature was perfect and I slept great!


Wednesday 4/23

This morning my mom, AJ, and me went walking (for exercise) around the block. It was fun to go all together. I took a picture of it! I have been working on editing the family videos AJ and I have captured from last year. I chronicled the Olivia moments and it was fun to show my Mom. It is amazing how much she's changed over the course of a year.


That afternoon we all watched "August Rush" a movie I'd been wanting to see for a while. It portrays music in a really fun way. I think we had some pizza that night and then played a game of Sorry. I won!

Thursday 4/24

Today we went walking again but this time for 1 hr and 20 mins instead of just 40 mins. After the walk and breakfast we went swimming at a neighbor's house.

While my mom went to work around noon, AJ and I went up to Scottsdale to visit the Aston Martin dealerships. A rep at the first one we visited told us my husband's favorite car, the DBS (the car in the newest James Bond movie, "Casino Royal"), would be display for a special debut at the other dealership from 7-9 pm tonight.

After looking around we decided to head home. On our way home we speculated about how someone would get a job with Aston Martin (AJ's dream). We had a little more time than we thought so we stopped by the second dealership on the way home. As we walked in AJ noticed that one of the two display cars was the DBS! It was only 3 pm and we had happened upon the newest model of Aston Martin on the debut day! (Cool thing #1).


There was a gal off to the corner working that AJ spotted and asked her to tell us about the car. She was English and had a great accent and while I was interested in the content of the conversation I found myself distracted by the way she talked. It turned out she was the Marketing Manager for the region. (Cool thing #2). AJ's dream is to do marketing in the auto business and more particularly for the cars he loves: Aston Martin, Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari... This Marketing Manager, Francesca, talked with us for a good 20 minutes or so about the DBS and the company and was kind enough to give AJ her business card. We also asked her how she got her job as a matter of curiosity formed by our talk on the drive there. (She worked with Ford and then moved to AM.)

After the car dealerships we met my parents at the Mesa, AZ temple and did some sealings for AJ's family names. That was fun to do that with them. I haven't done that with them since my own marriage. There was a little old couple that participated. They faithfully come every week. Then we had hamburgers at home for dinner.

Friday 4/25

Today we again started the day walking. I had a hard time waking up and after walking I wasn't sure I wanted to be up for the day so I took a 2 hour nap after breakfast and woke up in time for lunch. Hmm, I sound like a certain niece...

AJ visited with Kwon, a high school friend, while my mom and I went to JoAnn's Fabric and picked out some fun fabrics for some cozy quilts my mom is working on. While we were there something caught my eye and sparked an idea. You'll see the result of that spark in a couple weeks so look for it. Don't be fooled this was a serious trip. It took us a good two hours or more to pick out the fabrics we wanted for 3 cozy quilts. I just like to see all the store has to offer before I can begin formulating possible combinations.

For dinner we had Matta's, a Mexican restaurant. I had a bean and cheese burrito with shredded beef. You would thing that would be more popular but there is no such thing. You have to order that combo special. I think they should make a name for it. How about encharrito?

This evening AJ and I spent time with Aaron and Becky Helvig. Aaron and AJ have been friends since he moved to AZ in 1998 (?). We all drove east on Brown until we reached Spook Hill, a hill with a spiraling upward path leading to the top. We looked at pictures of the Aston Martin DBS and last week's episode of The Office. The night air was cool and there was a slight breeze that was refreshing.

After Spook Hill we came back to my parents' home to show Aaron and Becky some Wii games like Mario Kart, Smooth Moves, and Trauma Center: New Blood. It is always so fun to introduce the Wii to new spectators as they are unfamiliar with the unique remote. We had a fun time demonstrating the operating table in Trauma Center and the loony games of Smooth Moves.

Saturday 4/26

AJ, my dad, and I started the day by watching the last half of Cribs on MTV. It was a special on the top 10 most expensive homes. This started another discussion about money. This topic has often come up between AJ and my dad as they are both interested in investments and personal money management and my dad has insight and experience to share.

Today we skipped the morning walk only to make it up at the Arizona Mills Outlet Mall. My mom and I went with a couple missions in mind: to make a return and to find walking shoes. We made the return in Eddie Bauer and I happened to find a nice zip up sweater. Perhaps I am the only one buying a sweater in late April in AZ. You may think it will go unused for several months, but as I am my mother's daughter, I will certainly put it to use. Also, my mom bought some sweaters so I wasn't the only one.

We made a couple stops along the way but eventually made our way to the Nike store where I walked right up to a box of shoes as though I would know right were to look in the wrong size section, picked it out, and my mom tried them only to find they were perfect. That ended a short and strange shoe shopping experience.

AJ spent the afternoon watching a Diamond Backs game with my dad and spending time with some old friends from high school.

For dinner we had breakfast omelets and we played Mario Kart on the Wii. AJ unlocked some new players and cars and we tried them out. My dad joined in some races.

Sunday 4/27

I woke up early at 7:30 am and got up to read an article on memory from the National Geographic on the family room couch. I got tired and fell asleep. I woke up to the sound of my Mom peeling potatoes. She is making a roast and mashed potato dinner for our May birthdays.

Church was great. My Mom taught Sunday school. She teaches the teacher development class. She does a great job, I always like to watch her do her thing. I have to force myself to not respond immediately after she asks for participation. I sort of act obnoxious when I am in her class. I think it is because I want to answer her questions and interact like we do when we have a one on one conversation. Whatever it is, I look like a teacher's pet or something.

After church we called Erika and Marcus to wish them a happy anniversary. They've been married 4 years! Wow!

We had the roast dinner my Mom prepared and it was delicious. After dinner we had my parent's home teachers come over and that was actually pretty fun to chat with them. I used to not like it when they came as a kid because it seemed to be all grown up talk and I was always bored. But this was fun. It felt like catching up with some good neighbors.

Later we played a round of Bowling on the Wii. These pictures are for you Erika, since you always laugh when I talk about Mom and Dad playing the Wii. This was our last Wii play since it won't work after we got home. We have to look into repair.

Monday 4/28

The trip home was ok. It seemed really slow and never ending. Our car started shifting funny while we were driving around Mesa and we found after talking with some car mechanics that it is probably a transmission problem that to repair will cost a lot of money. But it is more of a chronic issue that gets worse over time and it seemed we were in the early stages so we added vacation insurance and took the trip home. There were no problems luckily. We'll have to get the car in to be serviced ASAP.