2500 miles and I'm finally back home!

Well it's been a long week... 8 days and 2500 miles in the car. I definitely did a ton of stuff to fill all of the time, but it's been a long week... I will be posting some more this week cause I have pictures from most of what I did this week. So stay tuned for more info later, but know that I am back and still alive!

Going home...

I'm going to be at home in California in less than a week, and it will be the first time that our family has been together in two years. My brother Rob will be returning from his mission on Monday. I'm excited for all of us to be together.

Right after Rob gets home I will be traveling with my sisters, Melissa and Marie, up to Provo to get Marie settled in for her freshman year at BYU. If anyone will be in Provo during the last week of August let me know, cause I would love to see you and catch up.

10 weeks to go...

So I started studying again... no I didn't decide to go back to school, but I decided to finally start studying for the Professional Engineering Exam that I will be taking at the end of October. I will be taking the test in California in hopes to pass the test there... and then in another 2 years I will be able to transfer my license to Arizona. I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed last night when I started studying, but at least of started.

1 year down... 29 to go!

Well today I am celebrating a very momentous occasion. I've been in my house now for one year. It's crazy to think that I've really been in it for that long. I very happy with all that I've done in the first year:

• painted and decorated the living room, kitchen and dinning room (I love that I went with the red)
• finally had place to put a piano, so I bought one. I love being able to play whenever I want
• added the handles to the kitchen cabinets
• painted and decorated the downstairs bathroom (I've got to have something that reminds me of the beach and home)
• finished the backyard (I still need to pick up some dirt and plants, but I'm almost there)
• finally set up my wireless internet (I did that last week... now if only my computer battery could handle it I could walk around the house on the computer, but the laptop is going on 6 years, and the battery just doesn't hold its charge very well, so I'm still attached to the wall)
• got the first dent in the wall (that actually happened the first week I was in the house when the movers came with the fridge)
• got the first stain in the carpet (I probably shouldn't paint my toenails on the carpet... especially when I'm using red nail polish)

Overall it's been a great experience to have the house... so here's to 29 more years!

More site visits...

This morning I was out on another site visit. This time I was taking picture of four intersections located in a historic district of Downtown Phoenix. This project will involve making improvements to four intersections that are part of the Willo Historic District in Phoenix. The historic neighborhoods in Downtown Phoenix are kind of cool. For the most part they've been really well taken care of. The houses are small, but I think the owners take pride in their houses and their yards. The historic districts in Phoenix actually have some of the most expensive house ($ per sq ft). This could be a cool project just because I'd learn more about the rules and regulations required by this specific historic district.

I Love the Olympics

The Beijing Olympics started this weekend and it reminded me how much I love to watch the Olympics. There is something about the camaraderie that happens at the Olympics that just seems to make me feel good. There is also somethings about the passion of the athletes. All around I love it.

Plus there have already been some good memories...

• The opening ceremonies were amazing!
• The men's 4x100 relay race win was so exciting.
• I enjoy watching the gymnasts, swimming and beach volleyball.

Here's to more memories to come in the next few days!

Bringing the Beach Home

So my project this weekend involved work on the bathroom. The biggest part of the project this week was the mirror. I borrowed my co-workers saw and framed the bathroom mirror. I think that the end result looks great. The white frame really added a ton to the mirror and seems to make it pop a little bit more on the wall. It's actually a relatively easy project. I just got molding from Home Depot and cut it at 45 degrees with the saw.

Here is the sign that influenced the design for the bathroom.
Here are the pictures that I did on Monday on the wall.

Well so the bathroom is definitely coming together, but I still want to find a white shelf to finish it off. Unfortunately I haven't found one, so I will continue my search.

Out at the Lake...

Oh the beautiful Lake Pleasant...

pristine blue water...

empty parking lot...

and rip rap (technical term for rocks use for drainage)

So as much as I would like to say that I was out at Lake Pleasant for a beautiful day spent on the lake, that's not the case. I was actually out there early this morning to do a walk around for a project that we have at the Scorpion Bay Marina. I never really realized, but you still have to be concerned about how the water flows even when you are around a lake. It's nice to get out of the office once in a while, but I'm glad I was out this morning when it was only 90 degrees not the 108 its suppose to be this afternoon.

8 minutes 23 seconds

The amount of time that it took me to donate my blood today... slower than normal, but since it was in the morning I hadn't had as much water to thin my blood. But I did my part.

Arts & Crafts!

I love having a project that I imagine in my head actually come out as good (if not better) than what I imagined. So the project tonight was for my downstairs bathroom (which is a work in progress, so I'll keep you posted as to what I've done.) I don't really know where I got the idea from, but it worked and it made me so happy, so here is the results of today's arts and crafts project! The background pictures are from my trip to Maui this summer. My sister Melissa is an amazing photographer... and seems to know what to take pictures of so that I can use them. I wish I could say the shells were also from Maui, but they are not... they're from right here in Phoenix... at my local Michael's store. The sand happens to be sand from the backyard (I'm definitely resourceful). Anyways it all came together... and the best part it's one (maybe two) of a kind!

You may think I'm red neck now...

So I know that my family thinks I'm totally crazy, but there are lots of fun things that happen here in Pheonix, that I never had the opportunity to expereince living in Orange County. (Or maybe we just never sought them out) One of those opportunities I took last night when I went with a group of friends to see the PBR (Professional Bull Riding Tour).

I'll tell you these guys are crazy... there is no way you would ever find me riding a bull. And I'll tell you that 8.0 seconds becomes a very long time. (This is the amount of time that the rider must stay on the bull in order to score points.)

It was totally fun... not only watching the bull riding, but watching the "clowns" and watching the crowd. (I'll tell you you can see some amazing/interesting people at the PBR)

I finally got (and downloaded) the pictures from Canon!

I probably got the email last week with the link to the Canon website so I could go get my pictures from the Grand Canyon (see Best Trip to Grand Canyon Ever!) The only issue is that you had to download each file individually... so after spending a little time on the computer getting them all downloaded I'm ready to show them off ;)

Here are a few of my favorites Here is a link to the rest of the pictures if you really want to see them...

http://picasaweb.google.com/shelly.mcconnell/71208GrandCanyonCanonPhotos