Spring Break in the Desert & A Winner

I had a great vacation in Arizona a few weeks ago.  My Dad spends half of the year there, and my sister and I usually go out to visit a few times.  In March, we plan our visit around our brother's Spring Break.  We always have a good time with him!

We don't do much when we are out there.  We like to relax, enjoy the sun, and swim.  We spend most days looking at this:



My Dad's grapefruit trees were blooming like crazy and the smell perfumed the whole area by the pool.  What a beutiful scent.

Dad & I played a round of golf.  I didn't beat Dad, but did beat his two friends who we played with.  Not bad for my first round of 2012!



A few photos before heading out to dinner at Flemings. 

Me with Baby Sister.  We were in a great mood because our Spartans had just beat OSU in the Big 10 Championship game.  We gave up pool time to watch the game.  Nothing usually trumps pool time!

Me with Dad:

My sister with our Grandpa.  He's 91!

So many interesting plants to photograph:



Heading out to watch MSU play in their first game of the NCAA tournament.

It was another great trip to the desert!

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And now, on to the winner of the giveaway from Modern Fabric Studio. 

Congrats to Rachel of The Traveling Spoon!

Off on Vacation...

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I am on my way to Arizona today for 10 days of vacation.  I don't plan on doing much other than reading, resting, swimming, and enjoying time with a few of my favorite people.

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I have a couple of great guest posts lined up for you next week and of course, Tasty Tuesdays will be up as usual on Tuesday morning ready for you to link up.

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Have a great week!.

{ With World's Cutest Brother; AZ trip, October '07 }

Long Weekend Away...

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Today after work I am flying out to Phoenix for a long weekend.  I'm really looking forward to a few days of HOT weather because we sure don't have it here yet!  I'll be back here Tuesday morning with Tasty Tuesday.  And then I hope to get back to regular posting.  The last few weeks at work have been crazy busy and I haven't had much energy for anything else.  Hoping to change that starting next week! 

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Hope you all are having a great week!

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Arizona Vacation Recap...

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I had a wonderful time out in Arizona.  The weather was perfect - sunny and 85 everyday.  Only our last day there was cloudy and cooler.

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We spent A LOT of time in the sun and the pool.

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World's Cutest Brother is happy to stay in the pool for hours...

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He was also determined to hold his breath underwater for a really long time and so we kept timing him...

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I love this picture of Baby Sister....this photo is just so her!  It makes me smile when I look at it.  I was laying on a raft in the pool and she handed me my camera and I got this shot.

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We went out for dinner at lots of our favorite places.  One of my favorite meals was at Razz's.  If you are in the Phoenix / Scottsdale area I highly recommend it.  The food is delicious! 

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I forced everyone to pose for photos one night before we left for dinner.

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{ World's Cutest Brother and our Dad }

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{ Me with Baby Sister }

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One morning we went on a hike.  It was beautiful but I was pretty worried we were going to run into some sort of dessert critter.  Luckily the only thing we saw were rabbits.  I'm always worried about rattle snakes, javelinas, and coyotes when I'm out in AZ!

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The scenery was beautiful.  It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

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This is an old Saguaro - look at all those arms!

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It was St. Patrick's Day, so after our hike we headed down to the fountain in Fountain Hills (Where my Dad's house is) to see the fountain turn green! 

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A little info about the fountain taken from the town's website:  The fountain, built in 1970, sprays water for about 15 minutes every hour at the top of the hour. The plume rises from a concrete water lily sculpture in the center of a large man-made lake.  With all three pumps and under ideal conditions, the fountain reaches 560 feet in height, though in normal operation only two of the pumps are used, with a fountain height of around 300 feet. When built, it was the world's tallest fountain and held that record for over a decade.

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The fountain went from this:

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To this:

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I took a whole series of photos of agave plants.  I'm going to frame them and hang in my bathroom.

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Baby Sister and I each got a pair of cowboy boots.  Yes - real, honest to goodness, made in the U.S.A. cowboy boots!  I've been wanting a pair for a while now and where better to buy them than in AZ?  We went to an authentic western store { Saba's }.  You would not believe all the boots they had - hundreds for sure!

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Other trip highlights:

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: : I tried escargot for the first time @ Razz's.  I can't believe how much I liked it.

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: : We went and saw The Adjustment Bureau at an ipic Theater.  I'm not sure I'll be able to go to a regular movie theater again!  The seats are huge and fully recline, you have a server and full menu { I enjoyed a glass of wine with the movie }, they come around with free popcorn, and pillows and blankets are included.  It was really fun!

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: : Spending time with Dad during his morning ritual - Going to the gym @ Copperwynd and then to Starbucks for his daily Venti Ice Green Tea.

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: : Sitting outside at night with Dad and Baby Sister looking at the stars, talking, and sipping on wine.

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: : I played my first round of golf of 2011 and hit the ball pretty well!

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It was another great trip!