NFL Sunday! Vikes versus Packers

Today we woke with the idea of getting some Vikings jerseys from the local sports apparel store and head to a place called R.T. O'Sullivans for lunch. We stopped in last Sunday for lunch and were absolutely amazed at the layout of the inside. It has probably 45 T.V.s scattered around in precise locations. DH & DW thought how fun it would be to come watch the Vikes play here wearing the purple and gold. Today, we now know how truly fun this place is on game day!
When you arrive, the hostess asks which game you'd like to watch so you can be seated in the area where your game is playing. Today they had the Vikings game on in three different locations. The bar, the main bar room, or outside under the misters. We chose the outside and sat down to watch the game. Several Favre jerseys were scattered about and a few Vikings ones as well. We snuck in behind them without them knowing. As soon as the Vikes did something well we cheered. The Vikes fans turned around and applauded us wearing the purple and gold. The Packer fans were not amused however. (HE-HE)
We had a GREAT time here and have vowed to go back for each and every Vikings game. The place is loaded with people wearing every team jersey and they all have sections to watch the game with the opposing teams in the same area. GREAT idea! Things like that would have kept us in MN. Oh well, no such luck. Here we are sporting our Purple and Gold as well as the view of the T.Vs for us to catch the game.

We were enjoying the game when a man about 50 yrs old approached and asked if he could sit down near our table instead of standing? Of course being raised MN nice we said "certainly"! We enjoyed talking with "Jimmy" who helped us in finding more great spots around the area where we live as well as where not to go. He is originally from Boston and his wife is from Chicago. He was raised by a police officer and shared the same views as DH. They seemed to agree upon everything.
The game was over and DH & DW decided to head to lake pleasant since "JIMMY" said it's only about 10 minutes away. Well, it was more like 25, but worth the trip. We soaked up some sunshine and DW snapped some photos.
Again we were approached by a woman who asked if we could get a hold of the police. DH asked her "why, what's wrong?" She stated "My friend locked her keys in the van." DH stated he didn't believe that the Police do that sort of thing anymore. In talking more the woman stated she was from Minnesota. Too Funny! The woman's daughter showed up and they were able to get the van unlocked without involving the police.
Here is a photo of Lake Pleasant taken this afternoon. Beautiful and not a cloud to be seen! It was a great day for DH & DW to spend the day together for their 1 year anniversary. "Too many more!"

Mesa Market Place Swap Meet and Casino Arizona!

Well, today we had quite the adventure! DH remembered that while in "kowlage", he used to go to a swap meet on the weekends to look at interesting and fascinating collectibles. So we woke this morning and hit the net looking for such a place in the Phoenix area. Low and behold, we ran across Mesa Market Place Swap Meet.
http://www.mesamarket.com/index.html

If you click on the above picture, you can see the misters that spray a fine mist down the center of the aisle to help keep you cool while shopping! Very much an Arizona Thing! This pic was taken towards the end of the shopping day when the vendors were covering their wares for the night. We were told by a couple of very nice booth vendors formerly from Montana that we stopped to chat with, that during the winter, this place is absolutely packed with snowbirds every weekend!
We have been on the hunt for a metal wall hanging of a KoKopelli. It's a particular looking individual who plays a flute. We see them all over the valley here. DH just did some research on the name and it's actually a fertility deity! TOO FUNNY! Here is the link if you want to read ALL of what a KoKopelli stands for. "GIGGLES"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokopelli


We walked around the Swap Meet for a couple hours until things started to look very similar from booth to booth. We enjoyed ourselves as it felt like we were back in Mexico. Almost everything is negotiable so you can heckle and bargain till you feel you've reached the best purchase price. DW loved it and wants to go back. Here are a few more things we bought for the backyard.


DH also found a cool tombstone and skull arrangement for Halloween that he just had to have. He arranged it on our buffet for the Halloween season. If you clap, it plays thunder sounds and the tombstone lights flash. Once it goes off, Muncie goes CRAZY barking and his bark keeps setting it off because it's sound activated. He is entertained until we can't tolerate the barking any longer! Phoebe doesn't react to the sounds, she just looks at Muncie like "you're an Idiot". We have to agree on that one. : )

After the swap meet, we were driving home and saw a sign for the Casino Arizona and decided at the last minute we should stop in and see how lucky we would be.

Within about 10 minutes, DW lost $10 at the poker machine. She knew she should have just played Blackjack instead! DH decided to try his luck at a Lucky 7 slot machine. He started with $20 and got down to $5 when he hit it big! He cashed out with $135! So needless to say, we stopped at AJ's and got (2) 3/4 pound filet mignons and wild rice for dinner! And there's enough money left to go back to Tommy Bahama's tomorrow for lunch! After all it is our one year wedding anniversary....... Hope all is well and we miss ALL of you!

It Actually Does Rain In Arizona!

Today, DH and DW woke at 7 a.m. to the sound of thunder. Yes, thunder! DW was so excited that it might actually rain that she took the dogs out early and lo and behold, it was sprinkling! Enough to actually coat the back patio!
In the 6 weeks we've been here, it hasn't rained at our house. One time we had about 20 raindrops hit the patio and it was done, but this was just a bit more than that! Here are 2 photos of our patio during the sprinkles!

The rain didn't bother Muncie, he ran around the yard as normal but Phoebe wasn't too fond of the rain and hid under a patio chair most of the time!
DW settled down about the rain and we headed into downtown Phoenix for a meeting DH had with a local business he does contract drawing work for. We arrived 1/2 hour early and scared the poor receptionist when we walked in because she forgot to lock the front door after one of their vendors left! DH met with the company owner and her husband and discussed what was needed for drawings for an upcoming event. DH is excited and has done drawings for the Phoenix Museum of Art and for his next project, he'll be doing some work for an event to be held here in Phoenix for the FBR Open golf tournament.
http://www.fbropen.com/AboutThePhoenixOpen.asp
After DH's meeting, we went to the Phoenix Center in downtown. This is a neat little shopping area with grass and fountains all around and little shops where you can find all kinds of kitschy stuff!

After leaving downtown, we were caught in an actual rainstorm! It was pouring so hard, DH had a hard time seeing out the windshield! So of course when it ended, DW had to take a picture of the water!

We know back in MN that rain is no big deal, but when you go 6 weeks with no rain, this is a BIG deal!
On our way out of downtown, we were waiting at a stoplight on Grand. Now, Grand is a road you might really want to avoid when you are here. Almost every intersection has at least 5 roads converging at one point and in the photo below you can see the multiple stoplights above. And if you click on the photo and look between the 2 vehicles you can see a "magic truck" hauling about 6 matresses. "Magic Trucks" are the ones that are loaded down with #@$#@%#@% and nothing is strapped down! When you see one, you have to watch out for any coolers, rakes, or miscellaneous items that happen to bounce out of them!

We did some other shopping around town and found an amazing patio/pool store where they actually built a pool into the ground inside the store! Since we don't currently have a pool, we decided not to buy any pool accessories and instead went to a Halloween store where DH found this amazing underwater light/fog machine for our outdoor fountain! We're doing what we can to make this house feel like home! The light changes color and creates a misting effect so fine that it acts like a cauldron in the bottom of the fountain. It looks really cool. Below is a shot with the flash off and one with the flash.

Spotted Donkey Cantina - Fine Mexican Cuisine

http://www.spotteddonkeycantina.com/

We finally had a moment to post another blog. Thanks to all of you who are leaving messages! It's nice to know people are taking the time to see what we've been up to since our move. To those who haven't posted, it's totally free & you don't have to sign up for anything.
So on to the Spotted Donkey. This past weekend our friend, Tony, called and asked if we would care to meet him & his girlfriend Debbie at the Spotted Donkey in Scottsdale? We of course obliged and were soon on our way to yet another new adventure. We arrived at the quaint little shopping district which was tucked out in a part of Scottsdale called The Boulders. There is a resort right next to it that has two, Yep TWO championship 18 hole golf courses. It was dark so we didn't get a chance to see much of the surroundings.
We proceeded to the Spotted Donkey for a nice evening meal. We entered and DH & DW were blown away with the charm and atmosphere.

Tony had said how much he enjoyed this place just for that reason. It was nicely decorated throughout with nice southwestern feel. We didn't get the feel it was a Mexican restaurant at all. It looked and felt like a top notch eating establishment.
We were kindly escorted to the outside seating area where it was dim lighting with an exceptional view of the stars. It was pitch black with no city lights illuminating the night sky. Perfect for observing the twinkle of the stars above.
We tried to take a few photos with our cell phone but at best they turned out so-so. Here is a photo of Tony and Debbie and Tony's meal for the night. Shrimp served like we've never seen before. I will include the photo off the website that shows much better what it is he had.

DH had the Chimichanga that was to die for. The presentation was killer as they had cut it in half and served both halves standing upright with some nice decorative accents added. He gobbled it up in fine dining fashion.
DW had the chicken enchiladas she said were to die for! The portion was so large she couldn't finish it! Debbie had the salad which they deliver to your table with all the fix ens and actually prepare it for you table side. We had never seen that before.
After dinner we walked around the quaint shopping center which had a water fall running through the middle of it & an outdoor stage area for performances in the fall. It was just amazing!
The next morning we couldn't resist but to return and see it in the daylight. Here is a photo of DH standing next to an ENORMOUS saguaro cactus.

We can't wait to go back and try out EVERYTHING on the menu. If you're ever in Scottsdale & you're looking for a fabulous place to eat, we HIGHLY recommend the Spotted Donkey Cantina.

It's official - DH has a job!

It was a great day today for DH! He had an interview at 9:00 this morning that he went to and it was over by 10:00. DH thought it went REALLY well! At 1:30 this afternoon, they called and offered him a position! He will be assisting the Sr. Engineer with the design work of their automatic car washes. DH is so excited!

The company is Superior Car Wash. They have been in business since 1971. We had a celebratory meal tonight with 2 nice sized filets, wild rice and sauteed mushrooms. DH looks forward to his new adventure which starts Monday morning.

2001 "WE WILL NEVER FORGET"

Today is the anniversary of the biggest terrorist attack on the U.S.A. DH was listening to the radio this morning & the DJ's actually played all of the audio of the happenings in remembrance of that awful day. He listened, reflected and shed many tears listening to everything that transpired that fateful morning. With that said we flew our flag today in remembrance of all the lives taken. We hope we'll never have to surround ourselves with televisions and co-workers and watch such a terrible event unfold before our eyes again. Still to this day we both remember exactly where we were when we heard the news. "God Bless The U.S.A" Thank you to all of the service men and woman, the fireman, police, EMT's, nurses, doctors and all that help make us the safest and strongest most AWESOME place to live. DH & DW have the utmost respect for each and everyone of you. THANK YOU!

That being said, DH & DW went to the store tonight and looked off in the distance at some amazing cloud formations that had formed. The colors that showed when the sun was setting were AMAZING!

A very close friend of ours likes a scotch that we have never tried, but Craig swears by it. We happened upon a bottle tonight and were amazed at what you'd have to pay - $229.99 to enjoy such a taste. NO we did not buy it. Perhaps if DH gets a full time job soon we would consider buying it in hopes of enticing them down to the valley. : )

Birthday Lunch

Today, we decided to head into Scottsdale to have DH's birthday lunch at Tommy Bahama Restaurant located in Kierland Commons. When eating there, you have 3 options: 1-on the downstairs patio under the misters, 2-upstairs inside with A/C or 3-upstairs on the balconey. Since we enjoyed the upstairs balconey so much last time, the 3 of us grabbed 2 couches and ordered lunch. The overall feel of the place is complete relaxation! Their moto is "Relax. Life is one long weekend!" The wait staff is always wonderful and very attentive.
See the relaxed look of DH and DW! We love it here!!

We wanted to prove to everyone that we really do have a friend here in AZ! Here's the 3 of us after lunch.

After leaving the restaurant, we walked to the center of the shopping area, looking for the Coldstone Creamery for dessert. On the way, DW snapped this shot of shops/street.

If you click on the above image and look near the center, you can see the mist cloud under shop overhang. All of the shops and restaurants here have outdoor misters that spray and help cool the air on the sidewalks so you can be out there shopping in 110 degree heat but it feels much cooler under the misters! You know, you can't have all the trophy wives sweating when spending their sugar daddy's money!!
Within Kierland Commons, they have a really neat kid friendly area. There are many water jets that spray in different sequences and the kids are able to play in the water! All 3 of us were tempted to join the kids! But we didn't! Maybe next time!

Wine Bottle Holders

We've been shopping now at a local grocery store that has these cute wine bottle holders to display your bottles of wine. DH & DW were never big wine connoisseurs but after our last get together posted in an earlier blog, we went through every bottle of wine we had in the house. It was a GREAT evening with friends that we will not forget. We have walked past these for several weeks now and DH commented on we need to get that one, and "OH look at that one over there". Well we broke down and HAD to have these. One is a bear that reminds us of home, and the other is of Mexican or is that French decent that we had to have. The bears name is Bubba & the Sombrero wearing figurine's name is Frenchie. We tried to find "Frenchie" with a pink sombrero or at least a shirt, but to no avail. We've never seen anything like these in MN. One of the employee's at the grocery store had helped us find our missing "Frenchie" As we were in the store the previous night and had spotted him. Tonight however "Frenchie" was missing & the female employee knew EXACTLY who we were talking about. As she pointed out "Frenchie" and handed him to us she commented "HOW TACKY". Look at the following blog re: rocks on head! Guess that's why DH had to have these. Yep, we thought this one is tacky & after a short car ride, he made himself at home.

We're hoping after a short time, that he'll make us breakfast, vacuum, clean the windows and walk the dogs!
"Para nuestros amigos. Los echamos mucho de menos."

Our first palm tree EVER!

Well today was DH's B'day & we received some B'day cards in the mail and lots of cell phone well wishes. DH's mom made a personal "artistic" card with a photo of DH when he was just a child. WOW was that a long time ago! He was very happy with the fort he made until his father came home and made him remove the rocks and debris from the roof of the fort so he wouldn't get hurt. Little does DAD know that it actually DID fall on my head at one point and that's why I am the way I am today! "CHUCKLES"!

DH's mother in law also sent a funny card with flamingos on it. It was great! DH got a little spending cash in the cards and decided that we need our first palm tree to spruce up the all rock backyard. DH & DW headed to Home Depot to check out the garden center. We found a great starter tree and pot to put it in. We brought them home & transplanted the palm tree and it made a huge difference in the feel of the landscaping. The sun went down tonight and you could actually hear the russel in the palm fronds as the wind blew. Did we mention that we grilled burgers tonight at 9:00 p.m. and it was 90 degrees? "Evil laugh!" We hope all is well with each and everyone of you.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Tonight we had a treat like no other here in the Desert. DW won tickets at work to a Diamondbacks game and we attended it this evening. They won 9-1 "WOOHOO" It was nice to attend a baseball game where the home team actually WON a game! Seems the last few times we attended a TWINS game in MN they always lost. Tonight was a superb game of baseball. The stadium where they play is AWESOME to say the least. We know why MN is trying so hard to get a new stadium. Once you've been in an updated stadium such as Chase Field, it's easy to see why.



Here is DW & DH enjoying the game. Do you see how BIG our smiles are? This was the right move for us!!

Did we tell you how up to date this stadium is? They actually have a pool and hot tub out in right field that you can rent and use while the game is being played! How cool is that to get a bunch of people together to sit in a hot tub and or pool on the baseball field and watch the game.

All around the stadium as your walking around they have these great murals painted everywhere. It is such a different feel from being in the Metrodome that it would be hard to explain. Also the stadium roof retracts when the weather cools down in about 45 days. We plan on attending one of those games as a memory from DH's past was attending a baseball game at the old met stadium in MN.

Here is an example of the murals that are everywhere around the stadium.

Here is a view from our seats before the game started. We had a couple fly balls head our direction but we were about 14 seats away from the closest one. Oh well, "hit or miss".

Here is the Panda Express mascot throwing the opening pitch out to the Diamondbacks mascot Baxter. Steeeeeeerike!!

Medical Attention!

Both of our dogs, Phoebe and Muncie, have adjusted amazingly well to Arizona! They travelled here for 3 1/2 days like champs, basically only waking up for fuel/bathroom breaks! DH and DW couldn't have been happier!
Last week, we decided to take Phoebe to the vet because she'd had a spot under her left chin that had been irritated and she started scratching it so it swelled up. DW called several vet offices in the area and was told they were basically booked through September! She managed to find one that had an opening at 6:00 p.m., 1 hour from when she called.
So we grabbed her little muzzle and went to the vet. They were so awesome with her and with us. And she didn't bite anyone even after receiving 3 shots! We've found our new vet!
Turns out the vet moved here from Florida and currently owns an unoccupied house about 2 blocks away from us!
Phoebe got her medicine and we decided instead of a cone to prevent scratching, we would buy her a ring for around her neck to keep her from scratching.

Have you ever seen anything more pathetic!!
She's doing much better and the medicine is working well.
Soon she'll be back to her ornery self!

Home sweet Home!

Well today we took the time to walk down & take a photo of an accident scene that happened last evening. We're not sure what caused a car to careen off the road and strike a power transformer, but that's exactly what happened. It took the power out to the whole neighborhood. It did however (unfortunately) give a great opportunity for DH & DW to meet some neighbors. We met a couple that lives across the street from us. Actually when we moved in at one point we came home to cookies & a nice card that stated "welcome to the neighborhood" It was from them & they were so happy we were from the Midwest as they were from the Kansas City, KS. area and have been here less than a month. We walked with them to the accident scene & chatted about what we thought could have caused this. We came up with some educated guesses but we really don't know what happened. Our understanding is the victim was thrown from the vehicle & had to have CPR administered. The victim was hauled away by ambulance & we haven't heard anything since. Our prayers are with him/her. The impact was severe as it ripped the transformer from the concrete.

Amazingly, power was restored to the whole area within 47 minutes of the accident! The power company bypassed the transformer that was hit & was able to route it through another. We thought the 97 degree heat at that time of night would be a killer for everyone. Not the case.....

As we walked back to the house we thought this would be a great time to snap some photos of where we live. Here is a photo of the development we are living in. We actually love the location as it's 20 minutes from everything.

The neighborhood has it's own parks for the kids to play in & this one is actually just around the corner from us.

Here is a photo of the front of our house. It's awesome & we couldn't be happier living here. The only thing we are missing is a pool. Our next door neighbors have one, unfortunately we haven't met them yet, but we know we will soon. Perhaps they'll let us come over for a quick dip? A couple times we have thought Hmmmmm could we jump the block wall? We have been taught very well by our parents & we know that is NOT the correct way to make friends......

Hope all is well........ We miss you guys! TnA

Island Fever! AZ style.....

We trekked out on another adventure today to a little shopping area called Desert Ridge. We met up with our friend Tony last night & his girlfriend Debbie for a couple of drinks. We went to a place called Rock Bottom Brewery. It was a delightful place & the ambiance was incredible. This morning when we awoke we decided to head back and check it out in the day light. It is a great place about 12 minutes from the house heading East on the 101 & from a valley point of view about 20 minutes. Seems anywhere you want to go here in the Phoenix area worth heading to you, your average travel time is about 20 minutes. We walked around the strip mall & decided we were both hungry. We passed a nice looking place called "ISLANDS" & we decided this looked like a nice place to have lunch.

We had a great lunch & noticed they had a great menu for EXOTIC drinks. We thought when people come to visit that this would be a great place for us to take friends.

We finished eating & ventured out to see everything we missed last night in the darkness. DH was impressed that they have a "GREEN" vehicle you can purchase to drive around. It's called a TOMCAR. YEP you read it right. a "TOMCAR"

It looks like an over sized 4-wheeler, but It was awesome!

We walked around some more & they actually have a place for familys to stop & let the kids play in the water to cool off. We have seen this in numerous other places exploring. When it's hot your children have a safe place to cool off & enjoy the water. Anyone else who feels the need to get wet and cool off are welcome as well. "SHERI" lets make it clear right now that this a child friendly place. LOL!
DW decided that she was a little warm & needed to cool off her feet, Here is a photo of DW being a little kid.

It was so cute!!! We are surviving well here in the Valley of the sun & can't wait for our first visitors. We have soooo many places to take each and everyone of you that it will boggle your mind! We have noticed that the usual places to hang out in Slow-ah-Ton-ah have NOTHING to offer like Phoenix does. We are so glad we have decided to broaden our horizons! We both believe you're here only once & we will make the most of it.