Mesa, AZ Wedding Reception

My brother got married in the Mesa, AZ temple Saturday morning, we all went to lunch at Gecko Grill and then there was a reception in a backyard in the evening. It was set up so nice I had to capture it on multiple camera, Snapchat and a FB Live in my sibling chat. Haha. I made the rounds quite a bit that evening!

Spark! Mesa Festival of Creativity

My friend Jennifer told me about this cool arts festival going on in Mesa and it so happened to be the Saturday I was in town. Score! I picked up my friend Catt and we met Jennifer and her friends at the Mesa Arts Center around 2pm.

Catt & I found a fireman so cute he couldnt show us his face. Haha

I expected to see a lot more sidewalk chalk art but this is all there was.
Still cool to watch for a few minutes though

The process

Such a nice day, the kids were playing in the water

The trees had sweaters (thanks to Jennifer for taking this picture!)

Lego building event. So fun to watch a little of that

This is what people were working to build

 so funny again when I saw more trees with sweaters

Then we got involved in a project that involved painting cardboard tubes.

My friend Catt in the red shirt working on her creation

Impressive 

Click to make this collage bigger. Super interesting to see what different people did to come up with fun ways to cut out and paint their cardboard. Of course I did an owl ;-)

The finished products side by side. I really like the way Catt's tree with the flower garden around it turned out.

More art :)

The beginnings of a tea party...these people moved really slowly - 

interesting to watch

awesome bird lady - had to take a pic!

Got to see Squonk Opera perform. They were very entertaining!

Check them out some more here.

It was a great way to end the afternoon.

Friday in Arizona

Friday was a better day even though I was very sad that it was my last day being able to work out of the office. It's so chill and relax and I enjoy talking to my co-workers & listening to what is going on. I like helping Melinda with the orders, I've really missed that!

Enjoying the sun and being able to wear short sleeves

After work I went over to Tricia's house. She used to work at BMI but we've kept in touch since she's been gone. She is so much fun and I love talking to her, helping her with her iphone or computer and just hanging out. She invited me over for dinner and to help her with her computer but the electricity had been out for awhile before I came so we ended up only having dinner instead of me helping with her computer. But! I got to meet her new husband and help figure out some things for him on his phone so at least my visit wasnt a complete waste. Haha.

Her backyard is so beautiful! 

I love the grass growing in between the cement

A fireplace in the backyard. 

I know , it's Arizona, but so cool anyways!

My camera didnt pick up the sunset so well but it was really pretty

She made ham-steak I think it was called, fresh green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy. Since it was Pie Day , I got a little pie but took that with me to eat later. So so happy to have a home-cooked meal instead of eating fast food. 

Then I headed over to my friend Hillary's apartment to film a Harlem Shake video. This is me and my friend Mark H. Cant wait to get the video done and posted.

Then my friend Catt (pictured above) and I and her boyfriend Jason headed out to Tempe Marketplace to hear a band perform. My friend Jennifer had invited me so we met up with her out there. This picture is funny because one of the band members jumped off the stage while we were taking a picture and ran over to photo bomb us. So funny!

Me & Jennifer

Jennifer & I went the band, "1967"

Jennifer and I walked around and talked after the band had finished performing, Catt & Jason had left and so we were just catching up. Then a crazy story happened. Basically she wanted someone to take our pictures and she asked a guy sitting a little bit away from us and he talked to us for at least an hour or so , saying he had a spiritual gift from God and that he could tell us things in the future but only if they were positive and only if we really wanted to know. I'll probably blog the details on my private blog but wow..it was pretty crazy. Like seriously. I felt like I was in a movie or dreaming or something. It was soo weird but interesting.

I finally got to where I was staying with my friends Jill & Seth in Phoenix probably around 12:30 at night. Up early and to bed late...that's how things seemed to work out on this Arizona trip :)

Roadtrippin'

I left Tuesday night with my friend Celeste and new friend Brooke for an adventure in Arizona. We left about 6:20 from Midvale, UT - only 20 min later than I planned on - and drove and drove and drove all the way to  Phoenix and arrived about 5am. I think I fell asleep around 6am and had to get up for work at 730 so I could be in by 8. Ahhh so busy! 

But, the weather has been perfect.

It's the first time this year I have been able to wear summer clothes.
I heart this.

I worked out of the office but accidentally left an hour early because I was looking at the clock on my laptop which was somehow still on Utah time. Oh no! I was part way out to Maricopa to meet up with friends when I realized I had left work too early. Oops! Nobody said anything! haha...I guess I was more tired than I thought?

Ate at Native New Yorker for dinner. These chicken bites are so good, with pineapple teriakyi sauce and ranch. Mmm

Then we went across the street to Yogurt Jungle. 

I loved the decor, even a painted ceiling to look like the sky.

Fantastic.

Got banana, strawberry, vanilla and pineapple down in there with gummy bears, those little green bead things with juice inside, strawberries and marshmallows (stale, sad). 

 Maricopa has a sweet movie theater now AND a bowling alley + new little stores coming soon. Julie and Dallin took me to go see it. Very nice!

Julie & I before I headed to Mesa to drop something off to someone. Love her and her little family. Thank you so much for dinner and for hanging out with me last night. And all the cherry stuff!! ;-)

See? So cute cute cute! 

And before anyone jumps to conclusions I've been collecting cherry baby clothes since I was a teenager. So just because I got a bunch from my friend (luckily all the ones she gave me I didnt have yet!) does not mean anything. No plans on getting pregnant for a long time. Rumors halted!

An Arizona Trip [part 2]

Saturday morning I woke up early and went to my good friend Candace's house to hang out for a bit. She made me a delicious smoothie for breakfast!

Then we headed out to look for baby clothes...she was pregnant with her first little girl and I was looking for some warm winter clothes for my nephew. The shopping trip was a success and then we went to Phoenix so I could vote and then ended our time with some pizza from Barro's (one of my favorites).

Me and Candace. I heart her!

Spent some time walking around one of my favorite Goodwill stores in Mesa and found this awesome hot air balloon..smock or something. Haha.

The temps were a bit warmer on Saturday

Tony got me this drink for me to bring to Arizona. Love him. It was yummy

I had won Kayola Skinner's famous cinnamon rolls in a contest on Facebook awhile back and I was finally able to get them! Fresh batch thank goodness...it was not months old. I shared them with Johnny & Brittany because it was too many to eat all by myself!

Getting gas at the Fry's down the street where I used to live. Brand new pumps. Nice!

What a Crazy Week!

Working as a pageant warrior for the Easter pageant was very time consuming and hard work but like serving a mission, it was totally worth it. I got to help with parking in the handicapped section and the gravel lot, work at the missing children table, help with trash and one of the neatest things, help hold the curtain right up on stage on the nights it was windy! Here are some shots from the temple pageant:

Ben, Ashley, Hillary & Hillary Hillary was lost so I stayed with her..hehe

Easter pageant crowd - last night! me & my friend Ben from Tucson

my good friend Brennen brought me Subway because I was cold and hungry and on a dark street corner...lol

It was cool because the last couple nights we got a general authority to speak to us , the first night it was Elder Anderson (newly called at Gen Conf!) and the other night it was Elder Mash I believe...or something that rhymes with that name. Hash? Nash? Anyways it was incredible to hear them speak and be in their presence. I feel so blessed that the pageant warriors were allowed to attend the devotional which happened every night Tu-Sat for the members of the Easter pageant cast.

During the last few days of the pageant my friend Carli who I met when I served as a missionary in Oregon came to visit me and see the temple pageant. She and her daughter Gracie stayed with me for a week! It was interesting sharing my room with 2 people because I am not used to that but it worked out okay. I didnt get to spend too much time with them because right after work I was headed to the pageant but on Saturday we went shopping at Last Chance in Phoenix (a clothing store) and on Sunday we ate dinner at a mutual friends house.

In the morning before church I went to Al & Sara's house - friends of my cousin Paul & his wife Rene and we had brunch which there was tons of good food - waffles, rice, ham, pasta salad, fruit, hashbrowns....and then the adults hid eggs for the boys to find. It was so fun and I hated to leave but in the afternoon Carli dropped her daughter off with a friend & we went to the Gable YSA ward for Sacrament Mtg and Sunday School.

After dinner at the Hoopes' house where they had very delicious food, I went home to chill and try to get things cleaned up. My roomies are not so good sometimes about keeping things picked up so I vaccumed, mopped and wiped down. Phew. I hate hate hate having a messy place and even more so people that keep it messy. Carli did a fairly good job of picking up after her & Grace though.

Monday we ate at Costa Vida with Carli's friends Beth & Jimmy and their daughter Kennedy. I really liked the food here and my friend Steve came and hung out with us a bit and took this gangster shot of me with his camera. Hehe After eating Carli & I picked up my friend Alex & we went to the institute to hang out and play pool, etc.

All in all it was a great time working at the temple pageant and I am sad to have it over but it was very time-consuming and demanding. Thanks to all who came to see it! One night there was 17,000 people who attended! It was fun to have Carli visit and meet her daughter Grace and be able to do some fun things with them.