Home Sweet Scottsdale

Scottsdale, Arizona is AMAZING. When I heard that a hail storm hit Phoenix, I have to admit I hoped it hit close enough to Scottsdale so we could live in paradise. (I know that sounds bad- I don't want to wish harm on anyone or to their property)BUT It would be nice to live there and fix their roofs :) Perfect weather, beautiful scenery, great restaurants & shopping. Awww... its just perfect.

So I went this past weekend to find us a home. Leslie and I drove all weekend, up and down the 101 (not including the past 5 days she had already looked too) and we did find some great places. When we look for a place, it's not always the easiest. We have to do short term leases and find places that allow dogs. Most places say they accept dogs under 25 lbs, which is crazy because little dogs are usually the ones that bark all day and have potty accidents. (Sorry but they typically do, even though they are sooo cute & little) However, we did find some condos and apartments that would accpet our "little" ole Hampty. Thank goodness he is so cute & everyone loves to see what a "goldendoodle" looks like.

Well, I found a realtor on Sunday and she was soooo helpful. She just called me to tell me, out of the 60 properties listed, there was ONLY ONE that was available for 6 months AND in our price range, SOLD!!! It's in a great area and furnished. Bryan has his own office (and flat screen TV) and I have a heated pool and my BFF about 3 miles down the road :) Our best friends also found a furnished condo this past weekend. We are ALL so excited. I have a feeling the next 6 months are going to be fun.

Living in Lee's Summit, MO

I wish I would have written about this place sooner~ since I will be leaving in about 2 weeks. Who knew we were only going to be living here for a month??? I guess that's how it goes :) I have really enjoyed living here. Downtown Lee's summit is super cute and the Country Club Plaza is AMAZING!! The Plaza is in Kansas City, MO and it's the coolest place to go shopping, dining, or even to walk around.

I also LOVE our apartment here..probably because it's the 1st place we've had that kind of feels like home. We rented furniture and I actually got to decorate (a little bit) for Halloween. Bryan was so sweet when we called the furniture rental place. He let me "upgrade" to the package that had more stuff..this included a teeny little plant for our coffee table :)

Our friends that work with us, also live in the building across the street from us. It's been fun having neighbors and getting to hang out. When we first started on the road, I was the only girl. Soon another girl came along on the road with her husband, but they lived so far from us in El Paso we didn't get to hang out as much. Now, I have my best friend (Leslie)on the road with her husband and also 2 more new friends, Ashley & Sara. It's been so much fun having girlfriends on the road and being able to talk to them about "girl" stuff with them (no offense Bryan). I'm sure Bryan's happy too :)

Here's a couple pictures of our apartment and sweet little Hampton :)

The Oprah Show~ September 8, 2010

I was lucky enough to be invited to go to a tapping of the Oprah show while living in Chicago. My friend, Sara, applied online for tickets and the next day a lady from the show called her and she got 2 free tickets! It was so exciting to be a part of Oprah's last season. The show was about the "Modern Family". Although the cast was not there in person, it was so neat to see Oprah talk to them through satellite. They were hilarious to say the least. I will never forgot that day. I got to shake Oprah's hand as she walked into the studio AND she complimented me on my outfit~ which I had been stressing about~ so I am glad I got the Oprah approval :)

Kansas City, Power & Lights District

Hampton

Family Vacation in McCall, Idaho

We had the best family vacation with Bryan's parents and his sister & her boyfriend. McCall, Idaho is beautiful! The weather was perfect and there was so much to do. We went hiking, kayaking, walking, shopping, and of course had the best meals & "spirits"....I highly recommend going to Idaho!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

After a crazy night out, the 6 of us went to the Cubs game. When we got to Chicago everyone told us that it's much cooler by the water, and boy were they right. We were freezing in the shade! We had to go buy blankets because we were so cold. We had a blast and the Cubs won. Go Cubs Go!!!! Afterwards we celebrated at this cool bar and had some drinks before Andrea had to fly back to Dallas.

Night Out in Chicago!

After the last couple of weeks of working hard, we finally got to go into the city and enjoy a night on the town. Trey's girlfriend, Andrea, came into town and the 6 of us went out. We had the BEST dinner at Gibson's Steakhouse. It was packed with people...definitely one of the top places to try in Chicago. we finished the night at Y Bar. It's rated best lounge bar in the city. Thanks to one of our awesome suppliers, we had an table and VIP service.

Lynfred Winery

One of my favorite things to do is to find wineries when we visit (or lately when we move) a new town. Leslie and I were so excited because while she was here, we found a little winery in a town called Roselle. It was one of the most fun wineries we have been too in a long time. They had the cutest gift shop and they made their own delicious bread. Best of all, they were very generous with their wine tastings.

Cruisin back to the EP...

When we went home for Christmas.....we did a little extra Christmas shopping that wasn't exactly planned at first. But the timing worked out great because my brother, Wes, was in the market for a new car. We sold him our Jeep, and I got a new ride. This made driving back to El Paso after Christmas WAY more fun :) Thanks Bryan!!!!!

Cafe 1217

The best little hidden gem in Hot Springs you will ever find! One of the boys was driving around town, and stopped here for lunch one day. He knew I would love it, so we all went back. It is the cutest little cafe in town! It must be the happening spot, because it is always busy. Everything on the menu looks delicious! I love the atmosphere & feeling of this place, because it makes me feel like we're back in the good ole days. You walk up to the counter to order your meal, and they call your name when it's ready. You don't even pay until after you eat! You can't find that many places now a days that trust you to do that. That's one reason why I love smaller towns. We will definitely going back again. Oh...and the coolest thing is that one of our salesman signed up the owner and we're building their roof for them. They're super nice. We've partnered up with them and if you sign up with us, you get a discount at Cafe 1217. What a deal!

Heading East!!!

I haven't blogged in FOREVER since Bryan took my camera and I have not been able to upload pictures.But so much has happened to us so I decided to start blogging today and I'll upload pictures tomorrow :)

On March 10, a day after my birthday, the BEST thing happend to us. A HAIL storm hit Hot Springs, Arkansas!!! So as you can guess.... we packed up our belongings in El Paso and headed East for Arkansas. The boys left first and I stayed behind to help close up our office. It was kind sad when they left, but I knew I would be going soon after them. Luckily Hampton was with me, so I wasn't too lonely.

Since the drive from El Paso to Hot Springs is about 14 hours, I decided to stop in Plano and stay with my parents for 2 nights. It was sooo good to be home. We celebrated Jeff's birthday, went shopping, and my Dad took my Mom and I to La Hacinda for dinner one night. We had a blast. I was sad to leave on Thursday, but excited to see Bryan and our new city.

When I got into town that afternoon, I was soooo excited. It was beautiful! I could not believe we were going to be living here. It was so nice to see a lake, green grass, and tall green trees everywhere. What a change from El Paso.

I am one happy camper now :)Pictures to come....