Yola's Wedding

So, the real reason we went to Arizona was because my precious Yola got married.  And, she married a truly great guy named Paul.  It's an awesome thing to be able to share in a special day like that with one of your friends, but when she marries someone who you know will especially treat her like gold, it makes it that much better.  Paul is an awesome addition to her life (and to ours now too).

To back up for a second... because we had a butt-crack early flight the next morning, we had to seize our last morning and search out a local spot for a mexican breakfast.  I didn't really know where the hell we were so basically, we just googled, "good mexican breakfast in Tucson", entered it in the GPS, and started driving.  We were fiending for something authentic and since it was a fairly long drive, we were pretty hungry and anxious by the time we got there.

You can imagine our faces when we pulled into the parking lot of THIS:

Luxurious, no?  I had signed up for breakfast, not death - be it from getting shot in the head or foodborne illness!  This joint was a problem.  But, on second glance of the parking lot, not only was it completely packed, but it was full of nice looking cars, and the people we saw coming out looked "normal". 

Against better judgement, we decided to go in and thank goodness we did because the food was awesome!  I would have equated the whole thing to a Mexican Waffle House.  It was definitely the most unique breakfast experience we've ever had.

We went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding and drove to Tubac for the ceremony.  Yola looked beautiful and I choked up the instant I saw her.  I always wondered who she would marry - the tough girl from New York, smart as a whip, with an unwavering loyalty, a lawyer, a soldier, and an untamed sexiness you couldn't stifle under a thousand blankets.  Those of us lucky enough to really know her, can see her fragility and also know how soft her heart is under all that armor.  I love her to death.

True to form, she was about to shock us all.  She looked stunning coming down the aisle and when she met her groom at the altar they both turned around and smiled as they addressed the crowd.

"You may have noticed there is no officiant here.  That's because, earlier this year, on January 29th, Paul and I we're already married in Vegas.  By Elvis himself."

Uhhhh... Come again?!

"You all were invited here today to witness a vow renewal in front of our family and friends."

Holy shit!  She was not playing.  Half of me thought it was the most awesome thing ever.  After all, as a kid, I used to tell my mom that my dream wedding would be at a drive-thru chapel in Las Vegas with Elvis too. Not even kidding. Then, Brent whispered in my ear, "They were already married when we saw them this summer." and a little piece of me felt suckered that we didn't know sooner.  But when she broke down and cried during her vows, we had all already forgotten it was the second time around.

The reception was awesome.  The wine flowed a little too easily and my dress was a little too short to have gotten that ridic on the dance floor.  Brent and I had so much fun through laughter and happy tears.  I didn't want the night to be over and I hated to leave.  It was a great trip and I am so anxious to see where life takes Yolanda and Paul and all the blessings that form from their life together!

Tucson, Arizona

We just got back from Tucson and it was awesome!  What an unusual part of the country!  Before this, the only kind of cactus I had ever seen, were in tiny little flower pots at the grocery store.  Arizona was unbelievable and loaded with cacti!

Before we even got to our hotel, we knew we had to hit up El Guero Canelo to get a Sonoran hotdog.  This hot dog trumped all the other hot dogs in the universe.  It was, by far, the best hot dog I've ever eaten in my entire life.  Why the hell the rest of the country hasn't picked up on this phenomenon, is beyond me.  It's a bacon-wrapped hot dog, topped with beans, fresh tomatoes, onions, jalapeno sauce, mustard and mayo, tucked in the most buttery, heavenly roll you could imagine.  It was the best!

We were way too full and tired after traveling to keep exploring so we headed to the hotel instead.  It was incredibly beautiful but we were so overwhelmed by the dramatic change in landscape.  If you told me that we were on another planet, I would have believed you.

The next morning, we ventured off on an early morning hike with a tour guide. We learned about lots of different species of cacti - even ate some, saw javelina pig poop, tarantulas, snakes, and petroglyphs that were dated to be between 8,000-10,000 years old.  It was total nerdy fun.

Ranger Rick and petroglyphs on the rock.

The cactus we ate.  It tasted like green pepper and made our throats swell slightly.

After that, we headed to the Old Desert Museum which was a complete snooze fest.  Skip it, if you ever head out that way.  We did see a few cute animals and some really gorgeous views though.  It was kind of cute, I guess.  It would have been perfect for families with little kids and it really made us miss ours.

We were in desperate need of some 'normal' after that, so we headed over to the mall to shop for awhile and eat some fabulous sushi.  It was nice to put on some blinders to all the dust and brown for a minute.  We grabbed some wine and headed back to the hotel to hang out in the pool while the flute player dude on the hill did his spiritual indian music thing at sunset.  This is the only silly video I took where you can actually hear the flute guy.
 

Best Halloween Ever!

We may have found a new family tradition!  Not only was it our favorite Halloween so far, but it was our favorite Disney trip too!  We've been to Disney in October before, but never made it to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.  I feel like we found the happiest way to visit the happiest place on earth. (Although, I bet the Christmas party is fun too.)

We were allowed to enter the park at 4pm and the party lasted until midnight.  I didn't think we'd make it the whole time but the kiddos proved me wrong.  We hit it hard for a full 8 hours and because the crowd was so small, we hardly ever had to wait in line.  It was awesome!  The trick-or-treating was fun too.  The worker peeps gave out huge handfuls of candy and let all the parents trick-or-treat too.  Holla!

Trust me, we did pay dearly for the little monsters staying up that late.  We had planned on going to the parks again while we were there, but they were so tired and we had already hit every ride in the park that we wanted to.  Instead, we only stayed one extra day and hit up Downtown Disney instead.

It was such a fun little trip.  I have no doubt that we'll probably be trick-or-treating there again next year!