Weekend with Dad

Rob and I had a fantastic time when Dad was out here this past weekend...and we think he did too :) His plane landed on Friday afternoon and we stopped at In-N-Out Burger for lunch and Fresh and Easy for groceries on our way back to the apartment. (burgers for Rob and Dad and an egg sandwich at home for me :) We spent Saturday in Goodyear at the Indians spring training site, in Glendale at Margaritaville and in Tempe at ASU. Saturday was some sort of fan fest at the ballpark and we watched batting practice, wandered throughout the stadium and even walked across the field! Here are a few pictures...

Rob and Dad on the hill behind the outfield/berm seating... I think was the word.
And below is a picture of Rob and me on the field!

And a picture of Dad and me on the field too.

I was ridiculously excited for a picture at third base :)

The fan fest festivities included a lot of bounce houses and activities geared toward kids. Obviously, Rob and I had to try them out. We had a bit of an epic battle on this inflatable mat. You could probably say I lost because all of the pictures show me on the ground, but I was light enough to stand up on the lil post at the beginning and the real "rules" of the game (if such even exist) say the winner is the person who knocks the other off. I should probably be victorious since Rob never gave me the chance to knock him off the lil post. Kind of a forfeit rule if you will. :)

Dad called this the battle of the century.

Another fantastic story...There are orange trees all over the place out here (mostly in people's backyards/on private property) and I have really wanted to pick oranges for quite some time now. Well, we discovered orange trees on ASU's campus, which seems less like private property to me and I made Rob hoist me up so I could pick oranges (picture below) and I filled a whole bag. I was ridiculously excited for this free produce. We packed three oranges on Sunday for our hike and when we were driving home, I decided I needed a snack. I peeled the orange. At this point, the car smells all citrusy and everything is fantastic, except the juice that's dripping all over me. I figured I'd just slurp a lil juice up from the puddle in the middle of the orange (not exaggerating, this was the juiciest orange ever!) and holy moly this was the sourest thing ever. My face puckered up and Dad and Rob thought I was exaggerating so they had to try a piece. Same conclusion. I think Dad spit some orange out even. We stopped for gas station goodies to ease the hunger, but I'm still a bit disappointed about the ruined free produce. It was almost the greatest deal ever.

I am hiding in the tree a lil, but I promise I'm there!

I mentioned our hike in the orange story briefly (which is my absolute favorite...I even told it to the kids at school yesterday to teach them active verbs...hoisted, slurped, puckered...just the higher level vocabulary words...and they think I'm insane probably.) Okay, discussing the hike now. We went up to Suwaro Lake, which is another Spanish word I can't spell, and it was absolutely beautiful! Supposedly, the lake is the best place to see wildflowers and unfortunately, they weren't out yet, but it was a huge lake with lil inlets and mountains and clear blue sky. The pictures really don't do it justice, but here are a few.


Overall, it was a wonderful, relaxing weekend. I spent a lot of Friday afternoon running around, gathering recommendation letters and applying for a teaching job in Gilbert-- the city Rob lived in before I moved out here. They are opening a brand new high school next fall and I have a screening interview at their job fair next Saturday. Fingers crossed things go well. Other than the application, I had all of my lessons planned for this week and was able to ignore school work for the whole weekend without falling behind!

Okay, I have laundry finishing in the dryer that needs folded and want to get outside for a run before I have to tutor tonight. Rob and I both hope all is well with you and to see/talk with you soon :) Love, Sarah and Rob

Picture Update

Here are the remainder of the pictures from Bubs' trip out to Phoenix and our Valentine's Day celebration off of Rob's camera.

Dad has been out here this weekend and we have been exploring areas of Phoenix new to Rob and I too! We have quite a few funny stories to share, but Dad and I are flipping back between the Oscars and the ASU/U of A game and enjoying his last evening of vacation, so my plan is to update the blog with pictures and stories on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I should have early release days both days because of standardized testing and plenty of time to get back on and share the details of his visit :)

Okay, back to the pictures of the past...

Bubs outside of Chase Field

Bubs and I both outside of the HUGE University of Phoenix stadium. You should probably click on these to open them in a new window...they are much larger and you can actually see us!

Bubs and I at the Goodyear ballpark...they were just finishing up construction when we were there.

My mess of frosting and the finished product...our Valentine's Day cookie cake! It doesn't look professional, but we used Rob's mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe and it tasted delicious!

This picture really has no relation to anything, but one night last week we made quesadillas (I can't spell this, obviously) and had Coronas...mine is the baby Coronita :) It was a wonderful mid-week break from work!

Check back in the next few days for an update and in the meantime...stay warm! (I'm not sure if you will want to know this or not, but the weather for tomorrow is supposed to be 87! Time to buy some sunscreen!)

A very long overdue post...

Holy smokes! Lesson planning, grading, tutoring and Rolly Pollies take up a lot of time outside of school! I am finally getting around to posting and only have half the pictures I want to share with you all...the other half are on Rob's camera and computer at work. So, read on, enjoy the pictures here and check back for the remaining pictures (sooner this time, I promise! I spent all day today planning the next few weeks and am finally feeling on top of this teaching thing).

Okay, rewinding quite a bit...Bubs came to visit! We were able to share a good bit of desert warmth and visit a few parts of town Rob and I haven't even gotten to! One day after school, we went on a tour of the Phoenix stadiums...Chase Field downtown (where the Diamondbacks play), the big stadium where the Cardinals play (and last year's Super Bowl was played) in Glendale and the Indians spring training site in Goodyear! The spring training site was my favorite...there is a practice area and then a separate field about a half mile down the road where games are played. We actually met the architect of the game field (which was almost finished being built) and he took us for a little tour. Dad is coming next weekend and we are definitely making a trip back to spring training...unfortunately games won't have started quite yet, but we are hoping to see a bit of practice and Rob and I really want to buy tickets to a game! I can't wait to go back :) Okay, here is a picture of Chase Field (and more of the spring training site will be to come!)


Rob and Bubs did a bit more exploring while I was at school and went up to South Mountain, where you don't have to hike much at all to get a great view of the city. Here are a few pictures from their adventures:


The other exciting highlight of the past few weeks was our Valentine's Day celebration. At the last minute we made plans to fly up to Flagstaff for dinner on Friday night! It was basically the best date ever. I felt like a celebrity...flying somewhere just for dinner! Unfortunately, we had banked on the crew car being at the Flagstaff airport and it wasn't, so we ended up flying to Flagstaff, freezing a bit (probably more me than Rob, but Flagstaff is up at the elevation for snow and whipping winds and everything that resembles Cleveland winters) and flying back to Phoenix. We grabbed dinner real quick and headed over to Scottsdale to hang out with a guy Rob works with and his girlfriend. We stayed at their house for a few drinks...it was a lot of fun. We didn't get home until 2am!

view of the mountains from the sky!

Sedona...and a lil bit of snow! also a lil glare off the window of the plane, sorry!

flying together :)

My bootleg Valentine's Day gift to Rob was a giant homemade M&M cookie cake! The pictures will basically tell it all (of course they are on Rob's computer too), but let's just say there was a lot of flour everywhere and my attempt to write with frosting through a lil corner cut off of the Ziploc bag ended with the zipped side of the bag opening and frosting all over! At least it tastes delicious :) With our cookie cake and the box of Valentine's Day goodies from Mom and Dad, we definitely have our fair share of sweets around here...Rob is loving it!

Alright, I am going to finish up a bit of lesson planning and get ready for school tomorrow. The department head is observing my ridiculously terrible 5th hour class because my teacher put a bug in her (and the administration's) ear to think about hiring me to fill the yearbook/newspaper position that will open in a few years when the man teaching the two now retires. I am hoping that all goes well and I can keep them under control! We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and weekend and are looking forward to talking to you all soon! Love, Sarah and Rob

Just a quick note to let everyone know that all is well, but ridiculously busy here in Arizona. Bubs was out to visit last week and we have some pretty cool pictures of stadiums from all around Phoenix to post, but I got buried in grading, planning and Rolly Pollies this weekend and won't have time to post them until later in the week. Check back though...I promise they will be up soon. Apparently grading essays is more time consuming than I expected...about 12 hours later they are finished! I think I need to figure out a way to make that go faster! Hope all is well! Love, Sarah and Rob

Go Cardinals!

Hello from the Rob and Sarah Super Bowl party...which, clearly, includes multi-tasking :) We are enjoying the big game at home...I made Kate's buffalo chicken dip (delicious) and we are taking a break from our day of lesson planning. Rob passed his flight check ride (mini-test) for the second flight instructor course last week and is focusing on his last section of lesson plans. I, on the other hand, am just getting started on a lifetime of writing lesson plans. I took over the classroom entirely last week to start a unit on persuasion that will ultimately lead up to a persuasive research paper assignment. It is a lot of work, but is off to a great start. Last week, I had my students analyze my favorite commercials and then create their own, which I recorded with my webcam so they could return and analyze them next week. On Tuesday this week, my supervisor at Miami will observe me on the webcam. I've spent the better part of Friday and today planning Monday and Tuesday and am nervous, but think I am just about ready for the first two days of the week. Monday I am lecturing on logos, pathos and ethos (I created a wonderful powerpoint presentation) and on Tuesday we are going to analyze FDR's Pearl Harbor address and Bush's 9/11 address in terms of logos, pathos and ethos and determine which President presented a better argument. I am hoping the class will cooperate and participate and my observation period will go smoothly!

In other (non-school/career news) Bubs is coming out to Phoenix tomorrow and staying until Friday! Apparently this warm weather attracts visitors :) Rob and I are both looking forward to spending some time with him and showing him around the desert. Also, I got my hair cut real short earlier today, which I am excited about as well. We are still waiting to hear from Quantum about a job for Rob, but his current instructor's last day is Friday and he is hoping that he will be hired on as the replacement (Rob is next in line to be hired). Okay, Arizona intercepted and there might be another Doritos commercial to make me laugh. Back to the game...Go Cards! Love, Sarah and Rob