Hot Footing it in Arizona- May Travels

And just like that another month goes flying through the books. Janel and I have been very busy in May, traveling to Arizona, Kalamazoo, Buffalo, and soon Philadelphia and New Jersey. While I have just a few moments I thought I'd get you up to speed on some of the things we're doing.

Also: we're starting a wedding blog! It won't be much so don't get too excited, but its a nice separate place to keep our thoughts in place as we work through planning for a small wedding. Take a look if you want.


When Janel's parents visited over Christmas this past year we were talking about vacations over the next year. With so many question marks about where we would be and what our finances would be like, we couldn't commit to much, but the idea of visiting Arizona popped up. Janel's mom had some connections with a vacation rental in Scottsdale and it sounded like we might be able to score a deal.

When we visited Seattle in March, the topic came up again, and this time, we decided that a family vacation in sunny Arizona would be a good thing to do. So we booked tickets and a few weeks ago the day came for us to pack our bags and fly out to the sunny southwest!

Janel had never been out to Arizona before so it was a special treat to show some cool places there. With family just an hour or so north of Phoenix, I had been out several times to visit, and this trip was no exception, we made sure to budget some time to visit Grandma and Grandpa and any relatives who were around. It was perfect timing as many of these family members will be unlikely to make the trip out to Michigan for our wedding celebration.

This was our backyard

After landing in Phoenix and making our way to the vacation home in Scottsdale, we opened up the house and pool and got to work preparing some snacks and lounging in the sun. Neither Janel and I are really people who just sit and let the sun beat on us, but we found that a few hours didn't hurt, especially after the crazy weeks we had just made it through. Our flight put us in about half a day earlier than Janel's parents so we had several hours to simply enjoy the heat of the day and explore our new neighborhood.

One of my favorite moments was finishing a run outside in the desert heat, walking into the house, putting on my swimsuit, and simply walking into the pool. Wow. It was wonderful.

The Grand Canyon

We zipped up to my grandparents on Mother's Day and had a nice celebration with my grandparents, several aunts, uncles, cousins, and second-cousins. We had a feast of sorts and were able to chat and catch-up, telling many people about our plans for the wedding, the schooling that I am doing, and what Janel is up to in her life. Everyone was incredibly happy for us and incredibly excited about the goings on in our life, even if some things didn't always make sense. I found a new appreciation for family after this encounter.

We Saw an ELK!

Monday, Janel and I made a road trip northward. Our only planned thing over this trip was to visit Sedona and the Grand Canyon. Neither place was a disappointment as the day was sunny and relatively warm, the skies were blue, the red rocks were red, and the Grand Canyon was grand. We spent a lot of time in the car driving that day, but nothing can replace the breathtaking views that are in Sedona and the Grand Canyon.

In Sedona

At the Grand Canyon

Tuesday morning I said goodbye to my family and we zipped back down to Scottsdale to enjoy some other family time. After all, Janel's parents were the ones who got us this awesome house, we should indeed spend some time there. We had a lot of fun lounging by the pool, eating tasty snacks, playing games, and chatting with one another. We even got a little tan!

Our flight left early on Thursday, meaning our trip, as always was too short. We were on our way home to see our friends get married in Kalamazoo in a ceremony that I promised I wouldn't miss nearly three years ago. As we left the Valley of the Sun, I felt relaxed, rejuvenated, and extremely fortunate that I had such a great family and that I was marrying into a great family. Its amazing how a few games of cards and a few moments away from the rat race can help put things into perspective.