Man oh man.
My trip to Arizona was great.
It was well needed and a breath of fresh air. I and don't get me wrong- I missed my man for sure. It was the longest time we've spent apart {married, that is}. Every time we were together as a family someone would say, "I wish Zak was here too."
It was really weird being in Arizona without him.
I have got to say that Arizona Octobers are simply amazing. It's finally when the temperature starts to drop, and you can really enjoy the holiday season {and go outside without having a heatstroke}! I certainly spent most of my time outdoors, soaking up all the sunshine I could get.
When I got into town I was welcomed by my mom, niece and pup {Romie} at the airport. It was such a heartwarming feeling seeing them after over two months of being gone! I spent the morning with my mom up in Scottsdale, she just landed a new job at Restoration Hardware so she was showing me all around the store. It is beautiful, by the way.
I was oohing and awing over everything!
Afterwards I met up with my best friend over lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Sauce, and then went shopping. It was so nice to have girl time. We had tons to catch up on. I always love hanging out with my bff.
That night we had a family dinner at my absolute favorite restaurant of all time {I know I know, I ate out A LOT} Pita Jungle. And that's when I also got to see my pop for the first time! If you know me, you know how close I am with my parents, so it was wonderful being with them again.
On Friday my mom and I took the kiddos to Schnepf Farms. And PS if you have little ones and live in AZ you must take them here, it was the perfect place to celebrate Fall. There was a beautiful pumpkin patch, rides galore, a wittle piggy race and the best chicken chili i've ever had! We certainly had a blast and I'm really thankful we were able to spend the whole day at such a festive place. Afterwards we ended the night with dinner at another favorite spot of mine,
Liberty Market.
Too good.
I spent all of Saturday hanging out with my pop. Our first stop was
Joes Farm Grill. Yep more eating out {I told you I gorged myself}. Goodness that veggie burger was delish. Afterwards we just went shopping for a little bit and walked around the Santan Mall people watching and enjoying the perfect weather. Later that night we met my mom for sushi at
Blue Wasabi and then went to see a sneak peek of Tom Hank's new movie,
Captain Phillips. So much suspense packed into one film, it's certainly a nail biter for sure- you gotta go see it.
On Sunday I got up and went running with pop around the new Temple in Gilbert. It's gorgeous! I can't wait to see it finished. So I'm really close with both my parents if you couldn't tell, and
I honestly think them being divorced is what brought me so close to both of them. I had tons of one on one time with my dad growing up, we would always just go hangout and go on little adventures whenever we could. Even all the way through college and after I was married I'd go grab lunch or dinner with him at least once or twice a week. It's kinda crappy having divorced parents, but I have to say that was one blessing that came out of it I suppose. So anyways {sorry for the tangent} it was really nice getting to spend some time with them again.
After our little run I took my niece and nephew to another pumpkin patch and corn maze in the area. But you know what sucks? When you bring your camera, but forget to put the battery in it. Yuck.
It was great spending time with them though. I swear if you go a week without seeing little ones they grow like weeds! So I was soaking in all our time together.
The rest of Sunday we cooked and had a nice big dinner with our whole family and Zak's momma too. Sunday dinners are just the best really. I miss them most definitely. Monday was pretty special too. I spent the majority of my time with my mom in the kitchen. Ever since we got married i've been trying really hard to take culinary seriously. I mean cooking real recipes and not microwaving Smart Ones. So my mom took me up on my eagerness to learn and taught me how to bake her famous pumpkin bread that's been passed down in our family. Like I said before, it was pretty special. We baked about seven loaves together, laughed about life and of course ate a bunch of {unnecessary} calories.
Now the sad part comes in.
I had to say my goodbyes and then we headed to the airport. Ugh goodbyes never get easier.
We all hugged and cried. And I then I cried a little more as TSA checked my luggage and thought my pumpkin bread loaves {yes I took some home for Zakary} looked suspicious.
I had such an incredible weekend full of family, carbs, pumpkin patches and wonderful new memories.
Thanks Arizona for the sweet time, I'll miss yah dearly.
