Even though I had an amazing time  in Arizona, it feels so nice to be back in the comforts of home sweet home. Since I’ve been home, I’ve tackled some of the tasks on my list of “to dos”. It’s always tough to get back into the swing of things when you spend a relaxing couple of days doing NOTHING but enjoying life.

  • Go to Memories Live On to pick up some new lines to get some work done. CHECK!
  • Do a couple loads of laundry. CHECK!
  • Make dinner. CHECK!
  • Scrap a layout (or two).
  • Pick up the furbabies from grandparents’ house. CHECK!
  • Get the mail. CHECK!
  • Write up the grocery list for the week.
  • Take out trash. CHECK!
  • Upload photos from the weekend before Julie and Deana start to nag me for being SLOW. ;) CHECK!
  • Take down Halloween decorations.
  • Do my daily reading.

Hopefully by the end of the day, I’ll get to finish the rest. …but for now, I wanted to share some stories from the weekend.

As most of you already know, I met up with some amazing gals, Julie and Deana. In all honesty, I don’t remember how I “met them” online. I guess I just really liked their work, and so I became followers of their blogs. It’s been over a year since we’ve all communicated via countless forum posts, comments, and emails. This weekend, we actually all got to get together. :) It was definitely a blast, and I’m so glad I’ve met some awesome scrappy friends. :)

We enjoyed such a wonderful dinner; thank you Deana, Bob, and Bryn for the gifts and for hosting! Thank you to the Tucker-Wolek clan for the gifts as well; you guys are too SWEET! Here are some of my photos:

(Some of these are either Deana or Julie’s photos. I stole a couple of them off of their blogs.)

Arizona

The whole crew hanging out.

Arizona

Here's another shot of us together. :)

Some of my FAVE GALS, Julie and Deana!

Arizona

What fun times!

Isn't this setup adorable?!

How sweet of Deana, Bob, and Bryn to have us all over for dinner!

The girls getting creative just like their moms! :)

Julie and I were taking pics of Bryn taking pics! hehe.

I finally got to meet the Tucker-Wolek crew! They're a bunch of "smilies" and more!

...and I'm so happy I got to meet Bryn too. She's such a sweetheart!

Thanks again to Deana, Bob, and Bryn AND Julie, Brian, “Abum”, and Brookie. We really did have a great evening spending time with all of you.

The following day, Gloria and I just took things easy. We drove around Paradise Valley for fun. Arizona has such distinct terrain. It’s definitely different from what we have here in the bay.

Just a random shot while driving around.

I love the plants in Arizona!

I'd hate to fall on to this. YOUCH!

…and what kind of pawrents would we be if we didn’t come home with something for the kiddos. We hit up one of the local dog boutiques near our hotel. Mackie’s Parlour was definitely one cute little place.

...and yes, we got something to take home to the dogs. :)

Sebastian wanted me to take a pic of him home to Maui and Hilo.

…and it’s become a tradition to also hit up Sugarbowl every time we are in Arizona. We can’t resist this place! The ice cream here is so D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! :)

….and to recap our trip in two words — MUCH NEEDED.

Now, it’s time for me to get myself into gear. I’ve got to crank out a couple layouts by tonight.

Hugs,

sarah.

WISHING MY LITTLE BROTHER, Sean, a HAPPY (one day early) BIRTHDAY!!!

Julie, thanks for that email. It will definitely come in handy because I am that popular to people.

Deana and Bob, Gloria loved the wine. Hence the reason, I drove back to the hotel! LOL. ;)