Let the Travels Begin...

I dropped Jason at the PHX airport Saturday evening and got a call this morning that he landed safe and sound in London. I am watching the Patriot vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game that is taking place at Wembley stadium in London. Jason was able to score a ticket last week, so I'm scouring the crowds trying to get a glimpse of him. We went down to Phoenix on Friday night, went out to this great wood-fire pizza place called "The Parlor" and Saturday I had a little shopping spree at IKEA...Jason managed to survive that part of the trip!
It was really nice to "get down off the mountain" and do something different before Jason took off for 11 days of travel. The only negative part of the trip was my near collision with an Elk on Hwy 17 yesterday, about 30 miles out of Flagstaff. If you have never seen an Elk, they are like deer on steroids...kinda like this...


It was dark by that point in my trip and I was in the left hand lane. On the left shoulder I saw a giant Elk walking out from the woods. Luckily, I didn't hit it, but did nearly have a heart attack and drove about 50 mph for the rest of the trip.
I am off for S.C. on Thursday night to see Tim's game on Friday and visit Clemson on Saturday. It will be a short, whirlwind trip, but I am so EXCITED to see everyone!! I'll post pictures when I get back.
Helen & Maddie XOXO

Jack - O - Lanterns and Aspen Trees

Boo!! Jason and I are enjoying a night of good football with GA Tech leading VA Tech and the Alabama / USC game...complete with cool beers and homemade wings, so I thought now would be a good time to catch you all up. Last weekend Jason and I went to Josh and Mary Hampton Lovekamp's house for a 1st birthday celebration for their twins, Will and Kate. Will and Kate were born prematurely and spent their first 10 months of life on oxygen, so to see them stuffing cake in their face was quite a joy! We also visited the Fall Festival in Flagstaff, enjoyed some hot chocolate, a walk in the woods, and visited with some friends we ran in to. Here is a picture of us before we left...

We also bought and carved our pumpkins on Sunday night (Maddie even made one:)) They came out surprisingly well; Jason's was the scary one, mine the scared one, and Maddie's the guard cat. They are now outside our front door. It gets so cold here at night that they are withstanding the wilting process. Here is a picture of Jason and I with our final creations...

Another one trying to (unsuccessfully) get Maddie in the shot...

Jason hard at work...

We also toasted the pumpkin seeds and had a yummy snack all week!

This week was NAU's career and graduate school fair on Wednesday and the interview day on Thursday. It was a lot of smiling, talking, shaking hands and other fun career duties. Here is a picture of my friends Sonia, Lisa and myself nearing the end of the LONG day.

This weekend we were up early to watch Clemson BEAT Wake Forest and then took a drive around to the North side of the San Francisco peaks to get some photos of the changing leaves. In fall the Aspen trees change to a brilliant yellow-gold color. It was an oddly warm day and the trees were beautiful!


On a side note, Jason and I are really proud of my youngest brother, Tim. He is loving USC Upstate and having a great season in his first year in Div. I competition. He scored his first career, and the team's first conference play goal just over a week ago. Here is a shot of the man in action!


No other big plans this weekend; just relaxing and enjoying lots of good sleep and football. Next Friday we are going down to Phoenix for a fun night with a couple of friends, shopping on Saturday, and Jason flies out to London Saturday night. I'll be home alone until Thursday night when I fly out of Phoenix on a red-eye to visit South Carolina! Go Trojans and Tigers!
XOXO

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry this post is so late, but things have been pretty busy here in Flagstaff!! Work is keeping me really busy right now so I've been slacking on the blog:(

We had a great time this past weekend; Friday night we made homemade margarita pizza and watched one of our Netflix movies we've had for months - haha. Clemson football vs. Maryland was on Saturday morning at our friend Eric's house, so we were up early to catch the 9am kickoff. On Saturday night I went out with some girlfriends for dinner and to watch a band downtown and Jason stayed in for some alone time with his guitars and loud music,

On Sunday it was a rainy, windy day so we watched a lot of football and cooked. Sunday night was the season finale of Entourage, and was one of the best episodes of the year.

We're just working away this week and don't have too much planned for this weekend. Hopefully the weather cooperates and we can go to the Fall Festival and get my pumpkins!

If you are interested in a good fall recipe, tonight we made stuffed acorn squash. Here's the recipe; it was SO good

2 acorn squash
1/4 pound sausage, seasoned if you can find it
1/8 cup diced onion
1/8 cup diced celery
1/8 cup diced carrot
1/3 cup homemade whole wheat bread crumbs or brown rice
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 TBSP Oregano
2 small cubes of butter
Splash of white wine
Salt & Pepper

Cut the top off the squash and scoop out the seeds. Cut off a little of the bottom if needed to place in a baking dish. Place one small cube of butter in each squash and set aside.
Brown sausage, and remove from pan, leave remaining juices. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until tender.
Add a splash of white wine, cooked sausage, salt, pepper, and oregano and cook through. Remove from eat and add the rice or breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. Stuff mixture into squash and replace its top. Bake at 400 degrees for about 1 hour.
YUMMO!

I promise pictures after this weekend!
XOXO

Fall, Football, & Lots of Zucchini

I finally found the battery charger for the camera and took some pictures of my fall decorations. I didn't get too out of control, but below is a picture of my mantel, table, and front step. There is already a chill in the air, and at night it has been getting down into the 30's, so in Flagstaff it is really starting to feel like fall. I noticed today a lot of the leaves were starting to change color.







This weekend Jason and I went to dinner Friday night at a new Greek restaurant in town called Taverna. The food was pretty good, and they dance and light food on fire, so that was different. On Saturday I watched my friend Heather's two kids for a couple of hours in the morning. In the afternoon we listened to the Clemson game on ESPN Radio (all we could get!) and then went to watch NAU play University of Montana. Both my football teams lost that day, but at least Tim's soccer team won at Presbyterian College; USC Upstate was the only one who came through for us that day! Luckily, I have worked it out to be able to go visit S.C. Oct. 30-Nov. 1 to watch Tim play at USC and catch a Clemson football game. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone.

On Sunday Jason went biking with his friend David, ended up with a flat tire, and had to take his bike into the shop. We had about 7 zucchini from a co-worker of mine whose vegetable garden is still producing like crazy, so we did a lot of cooking on Sunday also. Here is a picture of the zucchini pile, and this wasn't even all of it!


We made two loaves of pineapple zucchini bread (sounds weird, but is surprisingly delicious) and a zucchini au gratin for dinner. Here is a picture of the zucchini bread.


Nothing out of the ordinary is planned for this week, but next weekend we're going to a Fall Harvest Festival in town to drink beer and pick pumpkins. The plan is to turn them into jack-o-lanterns for our front step.

Hangin' in Flag

Had a relatively quiet week in Flagstaff. Friday night we met up with some co-workers at a wine bar in town, then had dinner. Saturday we watched Clemson beat Boston College at the house of a friend who also happens to be a Clemson alum, and owns one of the sweetest rides in town (see picture). On Sunday Helen decorated the house for the coming Fall season, and Jason went mountain biking with a friend from work (no wipeouts this time). We're both looking forward to a great work week, and possibly our first NAU football game next weekend.

Birthdays Galore!

This post is a little later than usual; Jason and I have been working like dogs! Jason was in Chicago last Thursday - Sunday. He was up there for a meeting on Friday, but then stuck around for two more days to spend some time with his brother, Kurt. He is away again tonight, in Sedona, for a product specialist meeting. He'll be home again tomorrow.

Funny story though...he left at about 7:00 this morning while I was getting ready for work; I usually leave at about 7:40. At around 7:30 I started looking for my keys, which I discovered were no where to be found. Then I remembered taking them into Jason's car the night before, which was half way to Sedona! Turns out our valet key was also attached so Jason's key chain, so all three keys to the Subaru were with Jason. Luckily, a friend of mine could pick me up and take me to work, and I have another ride tomorrow morning. I know this doesn't surprise any of you that I left my keys in his car:)

At work, we started advising this week for selecting spring classes; I have about 6 to 7 appointments a day, and all my other time is eaten up with a new initiative I've been working on...pretty hectic! Before the term is over, I will have met about 300 students to select spring courses...12 down, 288 to go!

Friday, while Jason was in Chicago, I helped my friend Heather get ready for her daughter's birthday party by making lots of origami butterflies...here is a picture of a few.

On Saturday, my friend Kristen came over for some coffee and a chat, and then Heather's daughter Jane's birthday party was at 11:00. Here is a picture of me and the little birthday girl...


Later that night I went to a grown-up beer tasting themed birthday party for a co-worker. Here is a picture we took of a few co-workers and I...


Jason was home on Sunday, and we watched NFL (Go Pack!) and the season final episodes of our HBO shows. Jason will be home tomorrow night, and is going to be in Flagstaff (as of now) until the end of October. We don't have too many crazy plans over the next couple of weeks. Clemson plays Boston College on Saturday, and I plan to begin my fall / Halloween decorating this weekend...can't wait!

XOXO

Labor Day Road Trip

This year, to celebrate our labor, Jason and I took a road trip to Utah. We are trying to visit as many states in the Western US as we can, and the scenery is Utah is rumored to be some of the best.
We packed up the Subi Saturday morning and drove to Mt.Zion National Park. It is in southern Utah, and took about 4.5 hours. Our drive was an interesting one, through the Navajo Reservation for about 2 hours, over Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell, and through various Arizona / Utah rocky deserts, along what is called the Grand Staircase. The Grand Staircase follows the Grand Canyon at the bottom, Mt. Zion in the middle, and Bryce Canyon at the top. We've now visited all three points! Saturday afternoon we took about a 3 mile hike along the Lower, Middle, and Upper Emerald Pools -- really pretty hike. After we checked into our hotel in Springdale, UT called the Pioneer Lodge(complete with a covered wagon on the sign), we ate at a surprisingly good restaurant called Whiptail Grill (Whiptail is a type of lizard we learned) and walked around the small town. I even got a hand-crafted mug from a local artists' studio for my morning cups of tea! Here is a slideshow of Mt. Zion...



On Sunday we headed to Bryce Canyon, about a 1 hour drive further North into Utah (pretty much in the middle of nowhere, Utah!). We were totally blown away by Bryce Canyon, and think you guys will be too by the pictures. I absolutely recommend this to anyone who happens to find themselves in Utah! We were pleasantly surprised, and glad we added the second stop to our trip. We took about a 3 mile hike down deep into the canyon along a trail called Navajo loop, walked along the floor of the canyon along Queen's Garden trail, and SLOWLY back up the climb along Sunrise trail. Other than thinking I may die at a couple points back up out of the canyon, it was a really unique canyon with a lot of interesting scenery. That night we stayed in Tropic, Utah, a town that was LITERALLY one street, no stop lights, in a cozy cabin. We ate at one of two restaurants in town, Clark's, and had a good ol' country meal complete with barbeque (Jason has ribs, I had the chicken) and blueberry pie...yummm. It was a really relaxing night just drinking wine outside our cabin, watching the stars, which looked almost as good as they do in Flagstaff:)

Monday we slowly got back on the road, made a pit-stop at Red Canyon, and Jason worked on perfecting his skills with the manual transmission (we made it home in one piece!) Here is Bryce Canyon...


J leaves Thursday for Chicago, and Clemson has their first nationally televised game of the season vs. Georgia Tech, so you know what I'll be doing! I believe it starts at 4:00 our time, so I'm DVRing the game to watch it when I get home from work...no one is allowed to send me updates until after 5:30 my time!!

Have a great week and GO TIGERS!!
XOXO