Weekend Update: Holy Cow!!

Jay and I went to the gym late Saturday morning only to return to our neighborhood to see 6 or more police cars parked along the road. I also saw a guy standing on the bridge above the wash with a lasso...yes, a lasso. My first reaction: I have to get home to get my camera!! (and I really should have thrown on my new cowgirl boots as well for effect, but that was an afterthought).

I quickly returned to find out that there was a bull in our neighbor's backyard. It had first been seen literally across town (on the west side of Phoenix - we live on the east side) and was running along major streets as the cops tried to corner it. It eventually made its way into our neighborhood and in our neighbor's backyard through a gate that was left open. We got a good view of the bull from the golf course we live in the middle of. Most of these pictures are from standing at the tee box of hole 12 on Arizona Grand Golf Course. There are 2 guys I'll call "wranglers" that were trying to lasso the bull with no luck. It kept charging them as it was very scared and quite pissed off that they were ruining it's day of freedom. 

The bull is right in the middle of this picture. A wrangler is sitting on the wall to the right of it.

Bull staring me down :)

As you can see, the whole back of their house is windows, so they were nervous about it charging through the glass into this poor guy's house. 

Wrangler man with a red towel - just like they do in Spain!! I thought that was pretty funny. 

They had a horse trailer backed up to the gate in hopes of it running back out of where it entered.  

I talked with a cop on the scene who said they were hoping to get some gates to lead the cow out of the backyard safely. Apparently nobody had reported a missing cow so the owner who might have been the best help was unknown. They were also having a hard time getting in touch with veterinarians that could help tranquilize him until they got him to safety. I volunteered to call the Channel 3 "Tip Line" hoping that they could broadcast the story in order to maybe find the owner (or a vet) but never saw anything air on tv or online. I can't believe that a 3+ hour cow chase in Phoenix didn't make the news, but the new Light Rail opened that day and snagged the headlines I guess :)

Other than that we had a relatively quiet weekend...spending today at the bar watching football with the Ameriflight boys, Erin and Kelley. No work for me until Friday, so lots of shopping and sewing ahead!! 

A Married Christmas

Our first married Christmas has been wonderful. The festivities started a couple weeks ago when we decided what we were going to get each other....ready for this? Cowboy boots!! We have been talking about getting them for a few years now and this year everything fell into place.

Jay took me to Saba's during my lunch break a couple weeks ago to check out the options. Little did I know we'd find THE boots! Check out what I was doing at work soon after our lunch date:
I had a little photo shoot with my new boots this morning too - in case you want a closer look:
I love the stitching:
Beautiful, don'tcha think?

Now here's the sad part: Jay has "special" feet. No store in the area carries his size, so we found a pair online that we are hoping arrive soon. Cross your fingers that they fit!!


Our Christmas continued last night as we took a walk around our neighborhood to check out some of the lights and enjoy the cool, crisp air. Not the best picture of us, but Jay only gave me one chance!!!
Right down the street was a cul-de-sac lined by luminaries. So pretty!
I had to get a picture of Santa in his airplane.
We stayed up late to attend midnight mass which of course was beautiful and very uplifting. It was a packed house so we were glad we got there early enough to get a seat! The Christmas music filled the church and the spirit filled my heart.

We woke up this morning to rain. The lemons are hanging heavy on the tree outside our patio and the air is fresh and clean. What a perfect morning!
Like Tricia & Sean, we too enjoyed Orange Sweet Rolls for breakfast as we opened gifts from family. We watched the Polar Express (thanks Stacers!) and have been just enjoying our day together. Dinner is braising in the oven and the house is fragrant of red wine and herbs. Mmmmm.


We wish you all a very Merry Christmas full of sweet memories and special moments with family and friends. God Bless!



Love, Jay and Amie

Weekend Update

Friday night was my company holiday party which was a very nice time. We started with cocktails at the owner's house and then headed over to the Chart House for a delicious dinner and a White Elephant gift exchange. It was great to finally meet people from our Wyoming office that I hadn't met yet and for Jay to meet the people I work with. 

There were 2 party favors given away that night and I was one of the lucky winners! It is a "pad" of twenty-five $2 bills. Apparently my boss' banker puts these together and for tips, etc., just tears off a bill when needed. I thought it was very unique, a bit funny and plan on using them for the Salvation Army bell ringers this holiday season :) 

Saturday morning we got up early to help Kathy and Matt move after which we stopped by our favorite farm stand for some fruits and veggies before heading home for some rest (we had been up pretty late the night before). Jay ended up going out with the boys Saturday night while I finished up some Christmas shopping and wrapped most of the gifts.

Today Jay took me to the Westin Kierland resort to attend the Sunburst Ball. Our dancing instructor was there competing with a few students and teachers from our studio. We were both very surprised at the energy in the room! They were dancing to music like AC/DC and the Beastie Boys, not the type of music many people would think of for a ballroom dance competition! 

Our instructor Michael dancing the Hustle with his mom. 

Instructor David and a student from our studio - dancing the West Coast Swing

It was great to watch people of all levels compete (most in heats where there were several couples at several levels dancing at the same time). Jay and I came home inspired and practiced our moves a bit before finally settling on the couch for some Sunday Night Football! And here it is, Sunday night. Weekends are just flying by as our busy holiday season continues... 

Weekend Update

Our weekend started off with dinner at Buca di Beppo to celebrate Jay's birthday. Unfortunately, I had stayed home sick from work that day, so Jay had to deal with a stuffed up and sneezy wife for the night! Krista & Angelo, Kiera & Joe, Jeff, Tara & Alistair all joined us for some delicious Italian food. We were seated in the "Passion Pit" for dinner which meant that we were surrounded by some very interesting photos! They ended up being great conversation starters! 

Saturday morning, I headed up to Glendale for a 5-hour sewing class with Myla which was really nice (thanks to some help from DayQuil). We really enjoy these long sewing classes as it's a good time to catch up and learn new skills at the same time! I worked on making a button down shirt for Jay which turned out to be more of a two-class project that I will finish (and of course blog about) at a later date. Class wore me out for the day, resulting in a 5+ hour nap while Jay in the meantime headed out to his company's "unofficial" holiday party. I'm pretty sure it was a good time because I got a phone call for a ride at 12:15am! As much as I missed out on hanging out with friends, staying home was a good choice. I needed the sleep!

Sunday we both slept until 11:00. Lazy day, but very nice. We just watched some tv and eventually left the house to grab some pizza for dinner. I was craving something to eat other than soup! We had to stop by Jay's work to send off a plane (it was the first time this particular plane has flown out of PHX for the company so Jay needed to be there to make sure things went smoothly) before heading home...and then back to the airport because the pilots left the maintenance logs at the base after taxiing across the airport!! It ended up being kinda fun because we drove across the airport (literally - on the airport) to get to deliver the logs while the plane was being loaded by the DHL folks. We got to go inside and check out the cockpit - an offer I will never turn down! I checked out GoogleImages for a photo of the plane and the actual one that I'm talking about showed up (of course this pic wasn't taken here): 

Jay had a sore throat today so we've got him on Emergen-C hoping that it will fend off the sickness! This week we have dancing lessons and my company holiday party on Friday night. Christmas is just around the corner so we still have some shopping to finish up as well! 

37 years

On our wedding day, I gave Jay a handmade card listing out 100 of the (many) reasons I love him. I thought I'd share some of these reasons with you in celebration of his birthday today!

1. You make me laugh

9. Your cooking

12. My family loves you

13. You take care of my car maintenance

17. Flexing in the bathroom mirror together

22. You go craft shopping with me

24. Your family

32. You watch tv on the floor with 2 pillows

43. You love bacon as much as I do

45. You insist that Frostys must be chocolate

46. You never leave the seat up

50. You don't hold grudges

53. You open the car door for me

61. You got me tulips instead of roses for Valentine's Day

66. You talk reason into me when I'm upset

67. You always ask about nuts in food when we are out

85. Your radio station A-D-D

97. You bought me the chicken pitcher even though you thought it was ugly

99. You are my best friend

100. My heart still skips a beat when I see you

I love you baby!!!

Weekend Update: Thanksgiving!

Man, was it a great weekend. Not only did we have a great time celebrating Thanksgiving at Jeff and Tara's, but we found the time to relax at home together. Here is our weekend in pictures:

THURSDAY

Alistair all dressed up

The Spread

Boys playing video games

SATURDAY

Jay sliced off the top of his thumb. Second injury in 2 weeks. Going to have to watch him with cutlery from now on.

Went shopping for fabric! Look at the pretty fabrics I got!!!

We made hawaiian bread and turkey soup from scratch. Both were delicious.

SUNDAY

I attempted making Eggs Benedict for Jay. It didn't turn out too bad for my first try!

Overall, it was a very relaxing yet productive weekend! This week ahead we look forward to Jay's 37th birthday on Friday! Time to celebrate!!

From our Kitchen: Sweet as Pie *UPDATED*

Today is a day to be thankful...and to eat lots of pie! Jay and I are heading up to Tara and Jeff's house this afternoon with three deliciously homemade pies to share.

This Thanksgiving, I wanted to try something new, so decided on a Shoo Fly Pie. Shoo Fly Pie is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch molasses pie and since Jay and I love molasses, we thought, why not give it a shot?! Wikipedia explains that the name is commonly thought to arise from the fact that the molasses in the pie is so attractive to flies that they have to constantly be "shooed" away. Here is a photo of my Shoo Fly Pie:

I found the recipe really simple to make and will let you know how it fares at dinner today. UPDATE: Overall consensus was that the pie was way too sweet. By the end of the day, it had melted into a tar-looking mess. Unless you like to eat molasses out of the jar, I'd say pass on Shoo Fly Pie. Looking forward to better luck in next year's choice.

In addition, we are bringing pumpkin bread, a pumpkin pie and, of course, Jay's Famous Apple Pie (we'll do a From Our Kitchen post on that one at a later date).

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and hope that you take the time today to realize and be grateful for all the beautiful things life has to offer. Thank YOU for being a part of our lives!

Love, Jay and Amie

Weekend Update

Not a hugely exciting weekend, but it surely was relaxing! Yesterday we went up to Westgate to see the movie Twilight with Jeff and Tara. Tara and I had read the book and the boys were along for the ride. It was a special day because it was the first time our friends were away from their little Alistair. Cellphone in hand, they managed to get through it while Grandma Kathy watched him at home.

After the movie, we headed to Sweet O for lunch and enjoyed some wine while munching on sandwiches, cheese and finally a pumpkin gingerbread chocolate that Jay selected for us. Delicious!

Speaking of delicious, we made a Barbeque Chicken Pizza for dinner Saturday night. I had to take a picture because it was so pretty. We made it with Boboli, barbeque sauce, chicken, cheese, and sauteed red onions. After it was cooked, toss on some chopped cilantro. So good.

I was excited to see Jay helping with clean-up by washing the dishes. He turned on the water and I quickly heard a loud "OUCH" and thought the water was too hot. Nope - not hot - he sliced his index finger with a very sharp serrated knife. In his words, "I could feel the serrated edge bouncing off the bone". Nice. I headed to Walgreens to get some supplies to patch my man up. Here's the result:

Today was a very domestic day for me - I did a few loads of laundry, baked some more pumpkin bread, started (and finished!) a sewing project, and shopped for a friend's wedding shower gift. All the while Jay had a very manly day - he watched several hours football and drank beer with the boys. 

Now back to work for only 3 days until we can enjoy a nice long weekend. 

Wedding Photos

It has been just over 3 months since our wedding day, so I thought I'd share a few more of my favorite photos with you! Here are some group shots from the big day:

Jay and the Ladies

Amie and the Boys

Our Wedding Party

The Whole Wedding in front of the Church

I can't believe how fast the time has flown by and will be sure to share more photos as I continue to go through them! Enjoy!

Weekend Update: Flying High

The weekend isn't quite over yet, but I'm already convinced that it's been a pretty awesome one! 

Saturday morning, Kathy and I carpooled to Kiera's baby shower which was a lot of fun - great to chat with the ladies and see all the cute things that little baby Blech will enjoy in a few months! I had to jet a bit early due to a very important event: Ryan was taking me flying!

It has been 2 years since my last flight and as you readers know, I have been quite upset about my lack of air time. My recent birthday presented the perfect opportunity to go fly the friendly skies like the good ol' days with none other than my smelly friend Ryan. For those of you who don't know, Ryan and I did 99% of our flight training together. Our many adventures included long cross country flights around the southwest, navigating over dust storms and around forest fires, 110+ degree sweaty flights with no air conditioning, extremely windy approaches, and landing upon squirly landing! We made it through training alive and well with a ton of great stories to tell! Thank you Ryan for an amazing afternoon!!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's flight:

Me and our airplane for the day

Lake Pleasant up ahead

Me concentrating on holding altitude & airspeed - it came back to me pretty easily!

Friends at 4500 feet

Deer Valley Airport (DVT) on downwind

Our final approach to land - don't worry, Ryan had the controls while I took this pic!

This whole time we were flying, Jay was in the car listening to the Nebraska game :) Luckily they won and we were all happy!

After the flight, the three of us headed to Jeff and Tara's to visit Alistair. He was wearing the little onesie that I made for him! How cute!

He's sooooo tiny!

Jeff's mom got them this kangaroo baby holder thingy. It was so cute how he stuck his little leg out!

The big kids made nachos and enchiladas for dinner. Very tasty!

Ryan holding baby Alistair

So here we are on Sunday afternoon still in our pjs. It's a welcome rest after a long Saturday. We might, just might leave the house later today to do something productive...but if not, I'm fine with that. It has been an awesome weekend already.

An Honor and Privilege

Jay and I are pleased and excited to announce the birth of our Godson, Alistair Travis McNeill. Our great friends Jeff & Tara welcomed him into the world yesterday at 1:02am after a long night of labor.

We stopped by the hospital yesterday during lunchtime to meet this little angel and see how Jeff & Tara were holding up. Everyone looked great! We are looking forward to seeing them again this weekend after they settle in at home.

Daddy & Alistair

Mommy & Alistair

It is such an honor that Jeff and Tara selected us as Godparents to Alistair. We look forward to being a part of his life and to help guide him in his spiritual and "worldly" journeys ahead!