Baseball Game

So for the 4th of July, Dan and I decided that it would be fun to go to the baseball game. We got a good deal on the tickets and so we really enjoyed our seats. We also figured it would be more fun to watch the fireworks from our air conditioned seats rather than from the 110+ weather outside. Although the Diamondbacks didn't end up winning the game it was still fun, and probably a much cooler (weather wise) alternative to what else we could have done.

 

June Books

So I actually read two books during the month of June. They were both really good.

The first book was The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. He is a NPR foriegn correspondent who spends a year traveling to different countries to try to determine what makes the different countries happy. It's was an interesting view of countries around the world and about how happiness is viewed. I think that one of my favorites was when he talked about happiness being at home. I can definitely relate to this idea. 

The second book that I read was Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson. If you follow blogs at all you may know Stephanie Nielson from her blog NieNie. This book was a little said, but an amazing story of growth and recovery. Stephanie Nielson and her husband were in a horrible plane crash a few years ago. In this plane crash both were horribly injured, their bodies were covered in major burns. The book is written in three sections. The first is about Stephanie and her life before the accident. The second part of the book is about the accident and the initial recovery time that was spent in the hospital. The third part of the book is about her continued recovery at home. I think one thing that was amazing about this book is that it was honestly a struggle for her, but she turned to her family and to Jesus Christ to strengthen her. It was amazing to read her story and how her life changed. 

Taliesin West

A few weeks ago Dan saw a Google offer for tickets to Taliesin West. It's somewhere that both of us have wanted to visit for a while, but it's kind of expensive, so we were excited when we could get the tickets for half price. Taliesin West was the winter home to the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Currently it houses the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, although since it's warm in the summer here and the home isn't air conditioned, the students go else where during the summer months. The tour of the house was neat to see. Very fitting with the desert landscape. Frank Lloyd Wright also liked statues and art, so there were a ton around the house.                                              

 

 (Dan was using the cap to shade the sun, but the picture turned out kind of cool)

 

Desert Botanical Gardens

Back in April when my parents and sister came to visit we went to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens. At the time my parents were kind enough to get Dan & I season passes to the gardens so we can go back whenever we want. We headed back at the end of May hoping to get some of the good cactus blossoms before it got to hot. Had fun getting some pictures of the plants and wildlife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Update

So there are a couple other things that I wanted to post before I got to this one, but I figure this is the one that most people are interested in anyways.

We reached the 30 week mark in my pregnancy this week. So according to the app on Dan's phone that we've been following our little girl weighs approximately 3 pounds and is about 15.5 inches long. I can definitely feel that she is taking up more space in my belly. No long are her kicks gentle taps, they are getting stronger and stronger. There have even been a couple times this week that it feels like her head is just sitting in a certain spot, because when I feel my stomach there is a hard round spot. She is definitely running out of space, but making more space, by causing my stomach to grow.

Things are still going really well for me with the pregnancy still. Short of the fact that none of my clothes really fit anymore, and I haven't found a great place to purchase maternity clothes, I can't complain. That and on certain days that I eat too much, I'll end up with a little bit of heartburn at night. It's nothing a pepcid can't resolve, but I'm thankful that I don't get heartburn on a regular basis. That and I think the heat of Phoenix is finally getting to me, I always seem to be warm no mater what I do. It makes me incredibly thankful for air conditioning. I have a couple coworkers who think that my pregnancy is going too easy, which I definitely won't complain about.  

In other news we picked up a swing from Craigslist (probably our favorite place to look for baby stuff). We were super excited about this find, because it was in great condition and it's one of the swings that swings in both directions.

Still haven't had any luck in finding fabric to make the quilt for the baby's room. I find that my problem often lies in the fact that I get in my head exactly what I want and when I can't find it I get discouraged. I just need to spend some time out looking for fabric and decide what to do.

Anyways things are going really well and we are super excited to welcome our little girl into the world in a few short weeks.

Bedroom project

This is a project that I have been meaning to get around to for almost a year now. It's been sitting on my project table upstairs just waiting to be done. Well a couple Saturdays ago when I was feeling super productive I finally finished them. 

It was probably about a year ago that I picked up three canvas boards from a local second hand store. Originally I looked at getting news ones, but these were significantly cheaper and with a little white paint as a base coat they looked the same. 

Ultimately the idea for the boards is something that I found and "pinned" on Pinterest a while back. Ask anyone who knows me well, I have a thing for words in my house. I think every room in my house has something spelled on the wall. I figure it will help my kids learn to read earlier.

So since I decided that I was going to be productive and finish up the projects that I had before starting more projects I went to the store and picked up some letters. 

For the other two boards I used the pillows on our bed as a starting point. It took a little creativity with painters tape, three colors of spray paint, a little patience and I ended up with a finished product that I was pretty happy with. The picture of the finished product isn't the best, but it's nice to finally have them up on the walls.

Jerome

On our way home from Oak Creek Canyon we headed back through Jerome, Arizona. It's a small mining town that I've been through a few times, but it's always fun to see. This time Dan & I stopped at the Jerome State Historic Park. We learned about the the history and mines in the Jerome area.

We even stopped at the Audrey Shaft Headframe Park. It was here that we could peer down the mine shaft that was 1,900 feet deep. There was a piece of plexiglass covering the mine shaft, but even than it was a little unnerving to stand over a shaft that deep. 

It always amazes me how much personality all of the buildings in Jerome have. The town is small, but there are some very unique buildings.

Camping & Hiking in Oak Creek Canyon

This post is a little old, but I've finally got around to it. Almost a month ago Dan & I took a weekend and headed up to Oak Creek Canyon, which is north of Sedona, Arizona. It's not to very far away, but the weather is so much nicer, especially since it was starting to get hot down in the valley. We found a nice place to camp, set up camp and than headed to the West Fork Canyon trail to do a little hiking.

  Our camp site

Dan after setting up camp

The hike up the canyon was really pretty. I was a little slower than I normally am because I'm pregnant, but the trail was still nice and easy.

Shelly on the trail

View along the trail