Jill's Visit

Jill's here for a visit! She's officially the friend who has been able to visit me at each of my travel assignment locations so far. How fun! You know I've said that you're all invited to visit me, and I'm so glad she's taken me up on that offer. And, just so you know, she probably won't be able to come while I'm in California, so the invitation's open for the rest of you! Well, not all of you, that would be a lot, but you know what I mean! I really would love to see you!

She arrived on Saturday afternoon, after I slept a little from working the night before. We ate at a fun restaurant in north Scottsdale, Chompie's, then grabbed some stuff from the Farmer's Market next door. I wanted to take her to Camelback Mountain, and we arrived at sunset (which I thought would be fun) but it turns out they close the trail at sunset and it seems like we just missed it. Oops...!

After heading back closer to my apartment, we went on a hunt. We had been talking about watching the "Anne of Green Gables" trilogy since they are movies I hadn't seen. I know, I know, I'm a few years behind since I think every woman anywhere near my age has seen them multiple times. The truth is, I know I had caught a few hours here or there when they were on a PBS mini-series, but never the whole thing start to finish. So, we headed to my nearby Blockbuster. It turns out Blockbuster doesn't carry them! How disappointing! So, we then went to Hollywood Video. Once again, no luck! Agghhhh!!! By then, I really had my heart set on watching them, especially since in the past everyone's always already seen them, and with Jill, she wanted to watch them again. So, we decided to stop at the one place both Blockbuster and Hollywood Video said to try: Scottsdale Video on Thomas Road. We were told this was a family place that often carried movies the other places didn't. Well, we drove to the location that we were told, and figured we must not have found it yet. Let's just say it looked a little questionable... Bars on the windows, really low lighting, just... well... not really the place we thought we'd find "Anne of Green Gables". Hmmmm... Should we even go in? Well, we really wanted to watch the movie, we were now at video store #3, so we knew we shouldn't give up. Luckily, we walked in and the guys behind the counter were friendly and helpful, and they knew right where to direct us. If you live in the Scottsdale area, this video store has thousands of videos, and most likely has any video that you won't find anywhere else. Believe us!

So, we made it back to my apartment, and watched the first half of the first movie before I was crashing to sleep (remember, I had only gotten two hours of sleep that day). Since church here is Sunday evening, we were able to wake up Sunday morning and finish the movie. I'm now officially in love with Gilbert Blythe! What a great guy, who was so faithful with his love of Anne! And, it was really fun to realize that many of the redhead quotes I've read over the years are from Anne! I feel bad for her, though, that she dislikes her hair color so much. Someone should tell her how great it is to be a redhead!

After the movie, Jill and I were able to relax by the pool a bit. My fair skin is now a nice shade of pink (ouch!), after only 40 minutes outside. Ah, the hot Arizona sun.

After our time by the pool, I took Jill to Old Town Scottsdale so we could grab some lunch and walk around a bit. We ate at The Sugar Bowl ice cream shop (but wow, didn't even get ice cream, just a great sandwich!) then walked around a few blocks. We found some cacti and thought we'd snap this picture:


It was fun to take Jill to Rock Church in the evening, so she could see what she's heard about since I moved here in 1999 to help get it started. It was also really fun to introduce her to my friends/family from the area!

After church we watched video #2 then went to bed. Today we spent a little more time by the pool (not as much as yesterday!) then went to Scottsdale Fashion Center for lunch and some window-shopping. I guess there was a little bit of actual shopping as well...! Then, I needed to head back so I could get to work (where I am now, on my break) and Jill was going to just hang out for the evening. I'm so thankful that it worked out for me to only work one day while she's here! What a blessing!

Tomorrow I'll sleep for a bit, then in the evening we're going to hang out with the Schubrings to celebrate the birthday that Lindy and I share. Yup, that's pretty special! I'll turn exactly 20 years older than her on Wednesday, and was really fortunate in 2000 to celebrate my 24th birthday with around twenty 4-year-olds at a Madeline party! One of my most memorable birthday's yet! I'm really excited for Jill to meet this wonderful family.

On my actual birthday on Wednesday, we're going to the Grand Canyon and Sedona! Yippee!!! What a great way to spend the day, so check back for pictures later!

When I was at the grocery store on Saturday, I found a really great deal! There were a dozen roses on sale for $8.88. I thought it would be fun to have some fresh flowers for such a great price, and since yellow roses are my FAVORITE of all flowers, and I'm always a big fan of red, I thought this was the perfect bouquet. Enjoy them with me!