Dreary Day

Who would've thought there would be rainy days in the desert? At this particular moment I'm sitting by a fire while it pours rain outside. Don't get me wrong, the "plants" need it but I need some quality lay out time! Life has been kinda hectic trying to get back to my regular routine after being in Ecuador! It was so weird to come back to America. It was kinda boring at first and then Stevie came to visit for her spring break! We had so much fun! We went to Williams, Az which we found out was only 2 and half hours away and not 3 and half (gave us a little extra time to take a nap) and rode the train from there to the Grand Canyon! It was so fun! I highly recommend it to anyone who plans on coming out west.  Williams is such a cute town which Route 66 actually runs through! After the train ride and the awesome grand canyon (which can not be described) We headed to Sedona. Another great place to stop off at if you have a chance to ever go there! We took a pink jeep tour which was so cool because you get to go down into some small canyons and really get to see the beautiful landscape up close.  It was breath taking. We watched the sunset at Sedona Airport (another great thing to do). I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. Just know, Sedona is pretty great.  We then headed back to the great land of Scottsdale.  We found out while shopping around one day that a saloon around here has bull riding on Wednesday and Friday nights.  So leave it to us to go try and find it. We did. And did we look like out of towners.  We were dressed up from dinner so we obviously didn't have cowboy boots and jeans on. This is probably the only time thus far that I have felt like I was back in the south. Just a little bit.  It was so much fun (watching, not riding) the bull rides. And it didnt hurt to watch the cowboys either ;). After a couple more days of shopping and relaxing by the pool we had to say goodbye but not for too long!

This past Saturday, my aunt, uncle, and myself hiked black mountain in Cave Creek and let me tell you. It's called black mountain for a reason. It's pretty much a 1,500 foot vertical climb and I thought I was going to die for most of it.  Don't get me wrong, the view from the top was great, but on the way up I've never prayed so much on a hike.  Embarassingly, my uncle beat me up there but he does run marathons so I don't feel too bad. I was just glad to be at the top and to be breathing. I wish I was exaggerating! One cool thing that happened while we were at the top of the mountain was meeting a fellow Auburn grad who is a veterinarian, lives in Washington part time like my aunt and uncle, his wife was a teacher like my aunt, and he is neighbors to one onf my uncle's good friends.  Talk about six degrees of separation. All jokes about dying aside it really was fun and and another thing I can add to my check list!  

I feel like my time here is flying by! I only have a month left and I feel like I haven't been here a week! The Lord has definitely been showing me a lot while I've been here. This has truly been a eye-opening experience and I've loved every second of it! But I will be glad when I get to see everybody back home! I miss everyone so much!