Year 2006 in Review

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year so this will have to suffice. This is what happened this year. Kelly and I brought in the new year at the Tempe Block Party. They close all of Mill Avenue and have elephant rides, motorcross events, fireworks and beer!

Over MLK Day we celebrated our one-year anniversary by committing to each other. We rented a cabin that overlooked the lake at Roper Lake State Park. Roper Lake is at the base of Mt. Graham and has hot springs in the park. We also drove down to Willcox for the Wings Over Willcox celebration and watched the sandhill cranes take off over the Willcox Playa.

I've read there are two types of people: those who have driven Schnebly Hill Road and those who haven't. We now have. It's a scenic 4WD road that gives you great views of Sedona. It used to be the main road from Sedona to Flagstaff. We stopped and had a picnic and watched the sunset.

In February Kelly had to pick up a piece of equipment in LA for work so I came with and we spent some time in Joshua Tree National Park. I ended up losing a crown on this trip and made Kelly take me home.

In March we canoed down the Colorado River starting at Hoover Dam. This is one of my favorite trips with the hot springs, bighorn sheep, and great scenery. But this year we had a strong headwind and ended up towing our friend who was unable to paddle her canoe by herself.

Also in March my mom and sister came to visit. We went down to Tucson and went horseback riding and went to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. We drove down to Sonoita/Patagonia and went to the wineries and it was snowing! They had flown from Minnesota to get away from the snow and here we take them to the only snowy place in Arizona. We rented a cabin in the Santa Rita Mountains and went on a birdwatching tour.


In May we went to the Chihuahua Races in Chandler.

Also in May Kelly and I went to Minnesota for Holly and Corey's wedding.


At the end of May I was a bridemaid in Coreen and Nathan's wedding. Our friends, David and Sarah, also got married this year but we were unable to attend their wedding since it was the same day as Coreen and Nathan's.


In June we had one more wedding to attend. This was the wedding of Kelly's friends from college in Baltimore, Dave and Marni.

We also went canoeing while we were in Baltimore at the Loch Raven Reservoir.

Back in Arizona we went kayaking on the Blue Ridge Reservoir with some friends in a borrowed inflatable kayak. Afterwards we went to the members' opening party at the Lowell Observatory.

In June Kikona was having bladder stones and had to have them surgically removed. She had to wear a cone on her head for a week and hated it! Between my two cats and Kelly's two cats and dog, we have a lot of critters in our two-bedroom house. Kelly installed a cat door and enclosed the porch so there is now more room for all of us.

In July we spent a weekend up in Show Low and hung our hammocks among the pines at Fool Hollow State Park. We did some hiking and found one of my favorite caches so far (GC9DF2).

We went on an edible desert hike at Spur Cross Ranch Regional Park and learned how to harvest the fruit from prickly pear cactus and saguaros. We also went to a class at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum to learn how to juice prickly pear fruit. We had prickly pear margaritas and afterwards Kelly and I wanted to make our own. We drove around Scottsdale until we found a prickly pear cactus with ripe fruit. We had tongs and a paper bag with us and began plucking the fruit. But we were chased away when a car drove past us slowly and then turned around to come after us. The fruit had bugs in it and I got grossed out and never made the margaritas.


For my birthday, we rented a cabin at Hannagan Meadow in the White Mountains. We spent the weekend geocaching and hiking.

In August we went to the Harvest Festival at the Sonoita Vineyards. We tasted some wine and were able to stomp some grapes!

At the end of August we went camping on Mt. Lemmon in Tucson with some friends from the Take a Hike group. We had a great time identifying flowers, mushrooms and wildlife.



Over labor day we went to LA to visit Kelly's friend, Aga. She lives very close to the beach and has learned how to surf. Gracie got to experience the ocean for the first time.


In October, we went hiking in Flagstaff, caching in Pine, and went to Young's Farm for the Pumpkin Festival with Coreen, Nathan and Piera in Dewey.

For Halloween, I dressed as a tourist and Kelly as a welder. We both cheated by taking clothing out of our normal wardrobes. We went to Coreen's annual Halloween/birthday bash.


Our friends, The Strandbergs (see May), also came to visit. We spent a nice afternoon touring Tempe. We went up to the hole in the rock and ate at Arcadia Farms and Four Peaks.

In November, Kelly and I went to a class at Usery Regional Park to learn how to take digital pictures of the desert sunset. Afterwards we took a ranger-lead hike under the full moon.


Also in November, Kelly and I went to Dry Beaver Creek to see fall colors.

For Thanksgiving, I went to Kelly's parents' house in Alpine, Texas, a small town in mountains of the western part of the state. All of her family were very nice and we had very good visit.

For Christmas, I went home to Minnesota and had a lovely time with my family and friends. This is a picture of me with my sister and cousins.


Some other news for which I have no photos. In April I moved in with Kelly. She owns a condo in Tempe. We carpool to work. In the fall we had a pipe leak underneath the concrete slab of our house. We could hear water running and feel heat radiating from the tile floor. We had a plumber come out and he rerouted the pipes over the roof so he didn't have to break the concrete slab. And since the leak was underneath the concrete, the homeowner's association paid for it! I have made a commitment to paying off my debt and have already paid off several loans. I probably won't be debt free for another couple of years, but I have an emergency fund saved and for the first time in my life I don't have to rely on my credit cards. We went to the Pet Shop Boys concert at the State Fair. It was fabulous! This year I finished my 200-hour yoga teacher training program at the SouthWest Institute for Healing Arts (SWIHA) and am now teaching a gentle class at a studio in Phoenix. Earlier in December I attended the funeral of a friend, Jeff Johnson, who died in a car accident and Kelly flew to Monaco for work for the motion capture dance performance, motione, and then she spent a couple of days in London.

So that's all we've been up to. I hope this blog finds you happy and healthy and I hope everyone has a happy new year!