1Q09

Swoosh - The first quarter of 2009 is history! It's hard to believe that the past three months have passed by so fast. On top of that, I have a back log of "Blog Articles To Write." So... I have decided to do the 35,000 foot flyby and lump everything into one article. It's a cheap way to get everything on "paper."

Buckle up, this is going to be fast!

Shortly after our last blog post, we took a trip through Sedona to the Grand Canyon. There was fresh snow in Northern Arizona and I wanted to see it (Notice the lack of WE in the previous sentence). Needless to say, the snow was great and so was the trip. We even played in the snow a little.

Other big trips in the past couple of months include:

• San Diego, CA -- Sea World and the beach!!
  
• Austin, TX -- Business trip/training
  
• Chicago, IL -- Saw my step brother, his wife and three nieces while I was on this business trip
  
• Las Vegas, NV -- Really cheap way to get-a-way for a weekend! We crossed the 10,000 mile mark with our Honda Civic during this trip. A friend came in from out of town, so we decided to make the journey!

Locally, Phoenix has a lot to offer. Spring is a great time in this city and we have made the most of it this year (There are only three seasons in my mind: Spring, Summer and Fall - I know that Spring just began, but it feels like it is actually summer now):

• Dare2Share -- I went with our youth group to this event. We had a fantastic time. Singing. Witnessing. Learning. This is a great event and I look forward to it each year.
  
• Luke Days Air Show -- Unfortunately, this only comes every other year. Fortunately, this is one of the years. Even more fortunately, we know a lot of people in the Air Force, so we felt like we had the royal treatment this year. We had a great time at the Air Show and are very thankful for the men and women that we know that serve this country. It is a real blessing to have them as friends. How many people get to go on base and fly a simulator?! Too cool!
  
• Golf -- I went golfing early in March. I had a great time and did reasonably well. This is only the third time I have ever golfed.
  
• Baseball -- I helped work on the Goodyear Ballpark earlier this year. As a reward, I was able to see a few spring training games for free. Not only that, but we got the best seats in the house (That would be the room with all of the A/V stuff, naturally)! It was fun getting to be a part of the stadium and seeing the first couple of games.
  
• Zoo -- We went to the Phoenix Zoo a couple of weeks ago. In fact, it was the same day that we went to the Air Show. Yeah. We got a lot of sun that day.
• Aloha Festival -- Another great outdoor activity in Phoenix. Lots of sun. Lots of food. Tons of fun! This is a March Must!
  

One of the biggest blessings and changes in our lives is climbing! In the beginning of February, we joined a climbing gym and have tried to spend 2-3 nights a week climbing. We love climbing! It is a great way to workout and have fun at the same time. It is neat to look at how we have changed during this time.

Work has been up and down a bit recently. Due to the economy, we underwent a little downsizing at work. Thankfully, I am still happily employed right now. The downside is that I lost some leadership that I really respected and trusted. It will take a while to build up again. Other than that, work seems to be picking up quite a bit.

To close things out, I have decided to add a few more pictures from the past couple of months. I am really bad about sharing our pictures, so I am going to try and spruce things up a little by adding pictures more often.