twilight

I can't believe I've jumped on the twilight movie bandwagon! Went to my sister's this evening for girl's movie night and we had a "red" theme going and watched the movie. My niece thinks this is the best book and movie series ever, and I will admit I really liked the movie. Academy awards are doubtful but it was an interesting story.


We incorporated the red theme into our dinner: Ham (OK, I know that's pink), bing cherries, red applesauce, juicy watermelon, cherry-pomegranate drink, red wine for the adults, sugar cookies decorated with blood red icing...and a slice of red velvet cake!

It's interesting for me that the author, Stephenie Meyer, lives in the Phoenix area, and there were a few shots of the city in the movie (i.e., Camelback Mountain). She also made a cameo appearance in the movie, just like one of my favorite directors used to do -- Alfred Hitchcock. So now we eagerly await the next movie, New Moon, which comes out in November.

25 Random Things About Me

From my Facebook page:

1. I am an organized pack rat!

2. I would love to live in another country. Such as England, Wales, Italy, or Canada.

3. I am dying to visit Japan one day.

4. I snore (purportedly).

5. I've had a couple of plastic surgeries.

6. I attended the 62nd Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman walked past me!

7. When I was learning to drive, I almost took out a row of mailboxes on a country road. Just ask my Uncle Kenny!

8. I think I will be married again someday.

9. I woke up one day and realized that I forgot to have kids.

10. I love estate sales, garage sales, and thrift stores.

11. I am not a big fan of dogs.

12. My most recent celebrity sightings were baseball player Luis Gonzalez and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

13. I have a fear of the bathroom (lavatory) door flying open when I'm in it on the airplane.

14. My hair and nails grow very fast.

15. I cut my hair short a few years ago and donated it to "Locks of Love."

16. I drive a stick-shift and prefer it to an automatic.

17. I drove a rental car in England and Wales on the opposite side of the road ~ talk about stress!

18. I chewed tobacco (Skoal, Copenhagen) a few times as a kid.

19. Everyone in my family (blood relatives) has blue eyes.

20. My niece and I share the same middle name (Anne).

21. I have never felt more loved and adored in a relationship as I do today, with Ernesto.

22. I do not have any tattoos and currently have no desire to get one.

23. I seem to be getting a lot of gray hair, which is irritating.

24. I have a very bad sense of direction and tend to get lost sometimes. OK, a lot.

25. I dance a lot, but not in public.

Garden in progress!

We have started a garden in the backyard, at the side of the house. My brother-in-law (who lives a couple of miles away) has had a garden for a few years (with success!) so we wanted to try one, too. We don't get full sunlight all day in the planting area, which is important since we're growing in a desert region. The first picture is lettuce, cabbage and cucumber, and the second picture is corn and beans. Nesto put in the watering system and designed the garden.

Here's a picture I found showing the garden that the Obamas have planted at the White House. This is really the year to see if you have a green thumb!

My man is proving to be quite talented ~ he built a patch of brick pavers to set the new BBQ grill on, so it wouldn't take up space on the patio. The pavers came out looking so perfect and professional!


















One last picture to post from the backyard: Our jacaranda tree is in bloom! The tree itself isn't real robust ~ almost lost it a couple of years ago during a frost, but it survived and we have some lovely colorful purple blooms!

So many animals

I'm going to do a quick post before we head off on holiday. Another sign that spring is in the air here is all the baby animals I've seen over the past few days. I did not take these pictures but wanted you to see pretty much what I got to see! Mom, Ernesto and I saw a quail family, which was the mommy, daddy and ten chickies. They move so quick and are very fluffy and cute! They hide in the cactus.

This morning, Ernesto and I looked out at our lake (man-made, but scenic) behind the house and we saw a duck family, which was the mommy, daddy and eight ducklings!

We have these large white stork birds (egrets) that hang around the lake and one visited us yesterday in the yard. He was stalking something in the yard - bugs, I suppose.

I saw a coyote sprint across the road the other morning and also saw a roadrunner (beep-beep!) and a few cottontail rabbits.
I love our desert-dwelling animals! Aloha!

Spring in Arizona

Springtime in central Arizona in the desert region, is short! We enjoy pre-season baseball, Easter BBQ's and keep the windows and patio door open as long as we can, until it gets too hot outside. We couldn't take it anymore and last Sunday we used the air conditioner for the first time...but this morning I've got the house all opened up and am hoping for a breeze between the front door and the patio door. Here's what spring looks like where I live:
This is my Mom's yard.
Lavender in my backyard.

Wild poppies and wildflowers in Wikieup, Arizona.
Mom's rosebushes.

Lunch today

Everyone that knows me knows I do not like restaurant chains in general; I prefer to go try local fare and support small restaurants. I'm not big on fast food either. However, I have been wanting to try the In-N-Out burger, so I stopped by there today and Wow! What a great-tasting cheeseburger they have. I substituted the Thousand Island dressing for ketchup and mustard. I liked that the bun is slightly toasted.

In-N-Out is a California-based chain, and have been in Arizona for a few years already. I'm probably one of the only Arizonans who hadn't eaten there...Yum!

Motorcylin'

I wanted to write about our newest hobby, motorcycle riding, and also post a few pictures. I've been thinking about riding for a few years now and Ernesto's been wanting to ride forever. His regular mode of transportation is a Ford F250 4-wheel drive diesel truck with a lift kit! (Affectionately named "The Red Dragon.") Last year, when gas prices were really jacked up, he was paying over $4 a gallon for diesel, getting about 13 miles to the gallon and commuting 40 miles one way to work. Yikes!

So we went to the Honda dealer to look at bikes for him and I decided then, "Hey, I want my own bike, too!" So he got a beautiful blue Honda VTX1300 and mine is a grey/black Honda Aero Shadow 750. The bikes are "retro" style and average about 45 miles/gallon.

We immediately enrolled in a two-day motorcycle riding class, mostly because I had never drove a bike before. Taking the class enabled us to get our motorcycle licenses.

Next thing we did was join a motorcycle organization called Star Touring & Riding and we are in Chapter 393 in Chandler. We're met some interesting characters and have really enjoyed the group rides so far. They schedule about two per month, all over the State of Arizona, and we're going on the ride to Las Vegas in March!


Here is a picture of some of the Ladies of Star on our New Year's Day ride:

Here is our member photo for the Star website:


Recently we took a day trip to Superior, Globe, Miami, Roosevelt Lake and Fountain Hills with my friend Kathy and her husband Randy and a few of their buddies, fellow DPS officers. What great stories they told at breakfast.

Here's Kathy and I:


A few shots from the back of the bike (my vantage point):


We've got the leather jackets, vests, boots, and chaps and are now collecting patches for our vests. Although I love to ride my own bike, I am afraid to ride in a group and I need more practice and confidence as a rider! It's pretty easy to jump on the back of Nesto's bike and go. He's an excellent and safe driver.

But I think my goal is to be like her: