Birthday

Another year older, hopefully a little wiser.

If you are looking for me...

I will be in the 1870s.  I recently got my hands on The Bloody Benders from Rick Geary's Victorian Murders series which is about a family in Kansas in the 1870s who were discovered to be killing people left and right.  Then, I picked up the first season of Deadwood from the Library and proceeded to watch the entire thing in the past 24 hours.  And despite the fact that I own enough unread books to entertain me for the rest of my life, I picked up Cottonwood by Scott Phillips which is a novel that takes place in the same era.

It looks like without conscious effort my obsession has switched gears to post-civil war wild wild west... go figure!  If you are looking for an expert, I am definitely on my way.

Summer Embroidery

I am interning at Chandler Public Library's Sunset Branch this summer.  I work there on Mondays and Saturdays and then work at the Museum Tuesday through Friday ten hour days.  It is a lot of being on-the-ball which is tiring but I knew that I would like something to motivate me in my down time.  (Also Amy and her girls went to Michigan for three weeks so I am a little lonely.)  I am taking a web embroidery class through Wild Olive (http://wildolive.blogspot.com/) called All in the Details.  I love her blog and embroidery patterns! (I am a member of her Pattern of the Month Club, too.)  The class started this week so here is what I have made so far...

A jar lantern with a firework on it.  Simple and super cute!

Then, this was supposed to be a wreath but I don't really have a place to hang a wreath so I made a door-knob hanger for the 4th of July!

I also bought some bunting for the front of the house.  I don't have a photo and it is dark outside now so I will have to share that later.  It is smaller than I imagined but still festive!

Summer Solstice

The summer solstice was this week and on a whim, Bryan, James and I walked over at lunch time to witness the light effects created on this day at the Burton Barr Library. I had heard about this and thankfully Bryan remembered so we were able to experience it. I wasn't sure what to expect and I kind of feel like my photos look better than it did in real life but I am still glad that I went to experience it.

What happens is that the ceiling of the building is actually floating and the light comes through along both walls and the sky lights cause the tops of the columns to looks like they are candles that are lit.

Payson never disappoints

As my semester ended, Lani and I headed to Payson for a weekend at her family's cabin.  We accomplished some awesome thrifting and ate an amazing dinner.  I operated the charcoal grill which I was pretty proud of.  We grilled veggie burgers, potatoes, peppers, and onion in foil and corn on the cob.  It tasted so good.  Of course, we worked on a puzzle in the evening and slept-in in the morning.  The next day we headed to the Tonto Natural Bridge which was amazing.  I had never been before and the beauty of it took my breath away.  We saw a rattle snake (thank goodness Penny did not) and had a picnic in thee grass.  Afterwards we stopped in Strawberry for some ice cream and then closed up the cabin and headed home.  It was a perfect recharger weekend.

Jerome Home Tour

Oh, how I love Jerome, especially the home tour. This year I was able to share the experience with my Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob.

I finally ate at the Asylum at the Grand Hotel.  The food was good and we were able to sit outside on the porch and the weather was beautiful.

Original wall paper in a closet, which was beautiful.  This one is for Layla!

The Methodist Church was on the tour and they had cookies and drinks in the basement which was adorable. 

Beautiful flowers everywhere!

Billy Elliot

I went to see Billy Elliot!!  It was SO good!  My Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob came and had lunch at my house then we went to Gammage on ASU campus and sat way up high in the balcony.  Bryan and Michael sat behind us.  I loved the tap dancing and the music.  I am so glad that I didnt miss seeing the musical!

Out of Africa

I know that I have been slacking on my blog. So I will play catch up now.

At the beginning of May, the Wazny family and I went to Out of Africa which is a couple hours north of Phoenix. I was a littler nervous about going there but then once we were there, it was really easy to see how much the staff cared for the animals and how they had gone out of their way to rescue the animals from bad situations. We went to the Tiger Splash show and Matt and Katherine fed a tiger. It was chilly up north which was wonderful! Matt took some great photos so you will be able to tell which he took and which I took :)

We were all exhausted at the end of the day! 

We fed the giraffe carrots from our hands.  The girls got a kick out of it.  The giraffe was so nice and wrinkly!

Wazny Fun

Amy and I took her girls to Disney on Ice a couple weekends ago.  It was so cute to watch the girls enjoy the show.  They were so excited!  Katherine did say "Mom, I think there is a person inside that Genie," which was awesome!  Charlotte loved the bucket of popcorn that we bought.  I dont think she stopped eating it the entire show.

 The Evil Queen from Snow White with her awesome cape.

 The seven dwarfs - i think Sleepy was napping somewhere so we are one short :)

I celebrated Easter with the Wazny's.  We colored eggs yesterday and the girls also painted egg magnets.  Today, I acted as Easter Bunny and hid eggs in their backyard while they were at church then had an amazing meal and a quick trip to the Library booksale :) 

I am missing my family tons right now.  I wish that they were closer so that I could have come by to spend the day with them.

National Library Week

"It's National Library Week. You should be especially nice to a librarian today, or tomorrow. Sometime this week, anyway. Probably the librarians would like tea. Or chocolates. Or a reliable source of funding." -Neil Gaiman

Chatch up

Many things have happened since I last posted... Some happy, some sad and I promise that I will catch up on here soon.

Right now, I am in Minneapolis for the Art Research Library Society of North America conference.  It is my first time traveling for work and my first time staying in a hotel by myself.  All a little strange but I am enjoying it.  Though I did not sleep well at all last night.  It is in the 20s here and my flight was delayed because of a snow storm so there is snow everywhere but everyone is really nice and I am happy to visit the home of Garrison Keillor and the Lutherans.

Here is the view from my window.

 I went on a walking Minne tour this morning (librarians are so funny).  We saw the crystal court in the IDS tour and went outside to visit Mary Tyler Moore. 

Okay my computer is dying so it is time to go.  More thoughts from Minneapolis soon!

Busy weekend

This weekend I kept busy so as not to get too blue.  Here is what I did...

Friday:
Worked hard for the money
Had my first massage (compliments of a gift-card from the Wazny crew)
Wine, icing from the container and Who Do You Think You Are? with Amy

Saturday:
Cleaning frenzy (completely necessary)
Laundered everything possible
Evening Reception opening for Fashion Independent with my Aunt Karen
Discovered the second season of Jersey Shore is an instant view on Netflix = danger zone

Sunday:
Trader Joes
Cheesecake Factory breakfast and Borders with the Wazny family
Coffee with Andrew
Chatted with Reese, Sophia and Adrienne
Oscars pizza party at the Wazny's

Let me tell you what was missing from this list... school work!  I am lacking motivation and long for my furry friend when I have to read books on cataloging and collection development.  Hopefully a couple evening visits to the library this week will get me back to being the student that I should be.

Presidents Day in Indiana

 

 I spent last weekend with my three favorite girls.  

Sophia is getting to so big! She has the best thighs that I have ever seen. She now looks at your face and smiles and coos. I love her cheeks! Her hair is growing and getting lighter.

Reese and I made a tent where we played cards, read a book and played with the flashlight.  I even fed Soph a bottle in there.  It was a fun day at the house.

Reese thought I should wear here Dora panties on my head.  Not the best look.

It snowed a little bit on Monday so Reese and I went to play in it.  We ended up walking down the street and climbing the mountains of snow that was left over from the blizzard of 2011.  It was very cold but we had a good time.  I love watching her walk in snow boots.  So cute!

Leaving was especially hard this time.  It was the first time that Reese really understood that I was leaving.  She cried with me and kept saying "i go hona (arizona)."  My favorite days have been spent with her.  She is growing into a smart, beautiful little girl.  I love her so much!

I had to leave this post with the best smile ever!  I cannot wait to watch Sophia grow into a little lady.