canyons, fake nails, and new houses, oh my!

Again, Kelsey has persuaded me that it's time for another post. So here it is:

I just got back from visiting my sister in Arizona last Sunday. I was there for an entire week and I'm 99.6317% sure it was the best vacation I've ever had. I think it may even beat Disney World. Here's how the week went:

Sunday: My plane actually arrived in Phoenix, not on time, but EARLY. For those of you who know my luck with traveling, this fact is huge. I was a little nervous about flying by myself for the first time, but the worst part was pulling my very heavy bag--heavy from the 10 lb. Priciples of Accounting book nestled on top of my week's worth of clothing--off the luggage carousal. Stacie picked me up, and we went to lunch at the BEST Mexican restaurant called El Palacio's. It was a rainy day, and I was tired from the trip, so we just rented a movie and stayed in all day. The rain actually turned into a little storm that was pretty impressive to watch. I really thought the palm tree outside her apartment was going down, but it didn't :)

Monday: My birthday was a week before my trip, so when I woke up on Monday, Stacie and Chris gave me a present and basically forced me to get out of bed. And I was glad I did because they had decorated the apartment with birthday banners, streamers, and pin the tail on the donkey. They, along with Hannah, their golden retriever, were wearing party hats as well. We played pin the tail on the donkey at about 7 in the morning so that Chris could play before he had to go to work. That's my excuse for losing...

After we got ready we went and got our nails done. This was kind of an experience for me. It was my first time getting my nails done, and as lame is it sounds, I didn't really know what to expect. I couldn't really understand the guy that did them because of a language barrier, so we exchanged a lot of awkward smiles and the occassional "I have no idea what you're saying" chuckle. Even though I spent a lot of time trying to file them down after we left, I love them. Although I'm still trying to get used to long nails.

We did a little shopping after getting our nails done. The malls in the Phoenix area are huge! The guy at the Aveda store gave us some of the best tea I've ever had (which you can purchase for $14 per box--we didn't), and I got my free birthday lip glosses from Sephora :) That evening we watched a movie and ate the most delicious chocolate banana pie that my sister made for my birthday!

Tuesday: Tuesday was a little gloomy, so we decided to go to the aquarium. It was so much fun! We went kind of late, and we were the only ones there, so I didn't feel awkward acting like my goofy self when I'm around my sister. There were so many cool things--like a water ride (that we didn't go on) that actually goes through the aquarium and a sting ray pool. The sting rays actually come up to you and slap the water for food. They were so funny!

Wednesday: We went to the Grand Canyon!! I was so giddy as we walked toward it, and then when I actually saw it, I was in awe. If you've never seen the Grand Canyon, I definitely recomend that you do at some point. It's breath-taking. How anyone couldn't believe in an all-powerful Maker after witnessing something so magnificent is beyond me. Here are some pictures, but they don't do it any justice.

These pictures are from the way there, but on the way back we ran into a blizzard. Stacie hadn't driven in snow in about a year, so I volunteered to drive...before we actually hit the blizzard. I had to go between 25-30 mph on a 75 mph highway with an hour where traffic was stopped completely. A four hour drive turned into an eight hour nightmare. After getting through the snow, I very willingly handed the wheel back to Stacie. I never want to see snow again. But I have to admit that the Grand Canyon was worth it, although I'll probably never go back in the winter.

Thursday: We went on a trail ride at Lake Saguaro. Ok, so I've ridden a horse a couple times...on pretty level ground...for about 30-45 min. at a time. This trail kicked my butt, and I was sitting on it the entire time. It was an hour and half ride up and down a pretty steep mountain with really narrow trails. It was really pretty though, and I learned a lot about the desert. It was a pretty cool experience.

Friday: The zoo! If you know me, then you probably know that I absolutely love the zoo. I've always thought that the zoo would make a really cool first date--I mean that way if you really don't hit if off, at least you have something cool to do. Anyway, that has nothing to do about going to the zoo with my sister and brother-in-law. The Phoenix Zoo is absolutely beautiful (which seems to be a reoccuring theme in this post). There's even a small lake in the center that you can take paddleboats out on, and there's two little monkeys that inhabit the island in the center. Unanimously, our favorite exhibit was the monkey exhibit that you could actually walk through. They were so cute! We went to the San Tan Brewery for dinner where we sat on the sidewalk under really cool heater things and I had the best burger I've ever had!

Saturday: A bittersweet day since it was the day before I had to leave. Stacie and I went for a hike on the Heiroglyphics trail in the Superstition Mountains. This was so cool! It was really hot, the trail was really rocky, and we were starting to get really tired when Stacie asked me if I heard water. I did, but half attributed it to the wind (or a mirage...that you hear instead of see...I mean, we were in the desert). As we got closer, it became clearer that it was definitely water. After climbing over some really big rocks--that gave me more than one bruise--we found a small waterfall! It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. The trail's known for the petroglyphs on the rocks, but I was so mesmerized by the clear and refreshing water that it was hard for me to pay as much attention to the glyphs as I had intended. I even took my shoes and socks off and put my toes in the water. It was blissful :) Oh, and I got a sunburn, which kind of made my whole vacation in a weird way. I mean if I was in the sun long enough to get a sunburn, then it was a good vacation, right?

Sunday: I went home :( After a gate change scare, the plane ride went pretty smoothly. Coincidentally, the Hillsdale College track team was on the same plane as me. I actually found out before Sunday, but my parent's bought a new house...around the block. Which is really cool for them, but it means that we have to get the one we have now ready to sell. Which I feel would be a lot easier if I weren't in the middle of my most stressful semester. And, alas, reality begins again.

I miss the mountains.