What goes up must come down. I started to get a sore throat yesterday and knew that I would get a cold. Perhaps I picked up some germs on the plane. No big deal, just a little case of the sniffles to remind me that it is back to the cold weather for me. Oh well, at least I got the blessing of a snow day today to sit and relax. Back to reality for me tomorrow.

How small do I look?




So Carrie and I finally arrived at the Grand Canyon. We took in the I-MAX film, confirming our status as tourists and proceeded to the canyon's many scenic view points. Words can't even describe its beauty and vastness. Standing on the edge makes you feel so very small. Here are some pictures:




The next day we headed down to Sedona. If you have never been there and happen to find yourself in AZ go...you won't regret it. It is a magical place. We spent two nights there surrounded by red rocks that glow in the sunshine changing with intensity with each passing hour. Our hotel had an awesome hot tub that no one seemed to want to take advantage of so we had it all to ourselves. We talked it up and then went to bed. The next day we got massages and Carrie tried accupuncture, braver than me. We then got lunch at a crazy little diner with an alien theme where Carrie insisted we order the strange delicacy fried pickles. I know...eww right? Actually they weren't so bad. Very spicy and tangy.



Then we went to have our auras read by a psychic. How new age. We ate dinner at the wildflower cafe after snapping these beautiful pictures during sunset.














The next day it was time to head home. We spent my last day in AZ hanging out with Carrie's friends and just relaxing. Overall I had a wonderful trip. I so needed this time alone with Carrie. We talked so much I lost me voice! We talked, we bonded, and we are closer than ever. I love vacation! Thank you Ryan. You always know what I need the most.

Road Trip

Arizona is breathtakingly beautiful and so different from the landscapes I see back east. Yesterday Carrie and I set out on our road trip to the Grand Canyon and we are still making our way there. Mapquest can truly stink sometimes. The route they gave me took us 3 hours out of the way to the 1 horse town of Meadview, AZ. If you look it up you will find it is a speck of a town on the far western rim of the Grand Canyon and pretty much in an Indian reservation...oops. We talked and laughed the whole way there though. We finally realized how lost we were when the town we wound up in had no stores or hotels, not a tourist trap in sight! What is it about me that craves the comfort of a Holiday Inn? Corporate America feels safe to me. I was looking for the tourist trap. What can I say? I wanted the guard rails and souvie shops. So we bought a map and called Ryan on the cel phone to get him to be our navigator. We trekked our way back to the highway and took some beautiful pictures of the sunset. We were lost but having a blast and I wouldn't trade the conversations we had in that car and the laughs we shared for the world.




Once on the road again we made the first stop we could for gas and what did we see in the distance? A Chili's! Bonus... civilization. We ate and refueled and were on our way again. Two hours of Elk crossing signs and highway curves later we arrived at Flagstaff. That's more like it. Here we are at the Fairfield Inn...ahh sweet sweet Mariott...and to the South Rim in the morning. I'll let you know how it goes.

What faith are you?

From Maggie's blog. Interesting results but not all that surprising. The quiz is long and thought provoking. Here are my results.

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Reform Judaism (91%)
3. Orthodox Judaism (90%)
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (90%)
5. Bahá'í Faith (90%)
6. Liberal Quakers (86%)
7. Orthodox Quaker (84%)
8. Sikhism (79%)
9. Jehovah's Witness (77%)
10. Unitarian Universalism (73%)
11. Islam (71%)
12. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (67%)
13. Neo-Pagan (61%)
14. Eastern Orthodox (58%)
15. Roman Catholic (58%)
16. Seventh Day Adventist (58%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (57%)
18. New Age (57%)
19. Mahayana Buddhism (54%)
20. Theravada Buddhism (52%)
21. Secular Humanism (50%)
22. Jainism (49%)
23. Hinduism (43%)
24. New Thought (43%)
25. Taoism (42%)
26. Scientology (41%)
27. Nontheist (25%)

In case you want to try it yourself
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

I am sitting in my big comfy chair looking out my window watching the winter birds come to visit my bird feeder and they make me feel so peaceful. Today I have seen chickadees, a tufted titmouse, sparrows of all sorts, a flock of blue jays, and one brilliant red cardinal. I decided to move around the furniture in my little office on Wednesday so that I can look out the window easily. Now I find I hardly even want to leave this room. Don't you love that about rearranging the furniture? I love my little room. I love the organized scrap book spaces, I love the sea foam blue walls, and I love love love my big comfy chair. My little room is my favorite part of our new home.