Another "Aspkt" of Phoenix

Some more pictures I hadn't posted yet, but I liked.  Every city has its own charm, I like the urban feel I found in some of the nooks and crannies of Phoenix.

(click to enlarge)

 

Pet Peeves

So its been a looong time since I posted last, and I have a lot to catch up on.  I have just not felt like blogging AT. ALL. for some reason.  (Maybe part of it is because I have been watching the whole last season of project runway on Hulu and have had time for little else?- I think the other finalist should have one, incidentally.)

The first part of this post though, is random.  I have been thinking of some of my pet peeves, and wondered if I am the only one who has these.  Its funny how I have such little patience for some things that are really trivial if I stop and think about it. Anyway, here are a few...

- When I try to take a hanger out of the closet and its intertwined in another item of clothing or hanger.  I can't just untangle it patiently, I have to yank and twist, and growl angrily until it (doesn't) come out.

-When I am with a friend in a new place and I don't know anyone, but they do, and they don't introduce me and just start talking with everyone.  Awkward.   

-Those straws that have the little covers on them SO tight that they have no room to actually come off the straw until you jam it onto the table so hard that it splits the straw and you end up sucking air in equal parts with your soda. oy. 

-People who don't turn right on red, when its legal and NO cars are coming. 

-"Hot Pants."  Unless you are a "never nude" these should not ever be worn.  

-People who use the bathroom stall right next you yours when its a big bathroom, and NO ONE else is there!  (this goes for movie theater seats too)

-When people say something like..."Are you busy tomorrow?" then they wait for you to answer.  I want to know what I am agreeing to do by saying "no" or missing out on if I say "yes."  But I don't want to sound like a jerk by saying, "I dunno, it depends." 

-When people emphasize the term "literally" when there is nothing literal about it. ex-"It was literally 400 degrees in today."  (Lets be honest, I do this too, but it bugs.)

Oh there are so many more, but these are just ones fresh in my head at the moment.  :)  What are some of yours??

...Aaaaaaand speaking of "Pets"  I got one. I was going to name him "Peeve" so I could call him my Pet Peeve, but then I remembered I'm not a hipster. 

I have been planning on getting a dog, but with my lifestyle and work schedule, there was just no way that I could get one.  :( Sad, but I had to give up the dream.  Sooooo I got what any single and almost 30 year old is supposed to get.  

A Kitten. 

Yep, I have an adorable little orange kitty.  I realize the stigma that comes with having a kitten as your only roommate, but I don't care. So go ahead, make fun of m in your head about being the Cat lady, my brother already did.

My co-workers cat had kittens, so I adopted one.  Well, it was a total of 2, but thats a long story.  Lets just say the first kitten I got was named Rudy, and this is him and this is what he did to me...

He was adorable as can be, but was a little terror, and I was awake every hour, and he meowed his little head off if he was not around me.  I was so afraid ever wake him up because when I did he would get all psycho.  I was bleeding constantly from him.  In an act of desperation, I traded him for his brother, Chester.  (I felt really bad, but I was beginning to thing I just wasn't ready for a Kitten.)

Once I traded for Rudy's little mellow brother, Chester, and it all went the way I was expecting.  Kittens are work, but they aren't supposed to attack your face at night, and shed your blood, you know what I'm sayin'?  

So Chester is adorable, and hilarious- he cracks me up, and we have bonded already.  He still runs up my leg but his little claws don't gouge a layer of skin off my leg. And he sleeps on my shoulder but I can move him without him getting crazy. 

So, here he is:

(I won't mention the semi-explosive diarrhea that he experienced 3x in one night, and the baths I had to give him while he was hollering.  Oh and how in the middle of that he locked himself in the bathroom by opening a drawer against the door.  Ok so that was a panicky moment, but all is well now.)  ;)

In a perfect world.

In a perfect world...

-I would be able to give my mom a table full of presents.

-I would have the perfect words to tell my mom how much she means to me and what an amazing person she is. 

-I would be able to re-pay her for everything she has done and sacrificed for our family.  

-I would have all the time in the world to spend doing fun things with my mom. 

-I would be there with my mom to celebrate mothers day.

My mom and I have had so much fun together, and been such great friends over the years and will always be.  My mother's selflessness, her love, kindness and friendship has made me who I am and gotten me through many rough times. 

I am grateful for a day where we can all stop and honor motherhood, because it is truly the hardest and most wonderful calling in the world. 

My mom is the embodiment of this scripture:

  And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Moroni 7:45

Happy Mothers Day to my mom and all the amazing moms that I know who also have these qualities! 

Here are a few of my favorite mums ever...(in no particular order)

You

Her

This one

Another one

This mom

That mom

A new take...

I posted this picture (among others) a while back, but have been wanting to try out more black and white, and I got something that I think is better than the original. It took some reworking of contrast, exposure, etc, but I am re-discovering why black and white is so great!

On another note, right after I posted the pics of this intriguing creature, I am sad to say that he disappeared.  Now in the same large "field" ther are three beautiful darker brown horses that run, eat and laze about together.  I am sad my favorite horse is gone, but maybe I will make 3 new friends.

Reason For the Season

HAPPY EASTER all! 

(image found here)

Don't forget the reason for the season, Jesus Christ.  I am grateful for holidays where it feels like many of us are on the same page.  I think the world could use more of remembering the Savior and His atonement and resurrection. I love this video clip, and I add my testimony that He lives.

Desert Hike

Deserts and Hikes are 2 things that I have lived my life thinking should never go together.  But this last weeked I allowed them to be together.  It was actually a nice hike,  albeit a pretty easy, but it was 90-somtething degrees outside, and the middle of the day.  Bad timing, yes, but my roommate wanted to go, so I decided to join her.  

I was surprised to see how beautiful things can be if you look! Its a spiky-er kind of beautiful but I quite enjoy it all. 

We decided next time, early morning would be better, and not so scorching! 

This is the beginning of the hiking trail on south mountain in Phoenix: {and the word Mountain is used loosely here.  When you've lived in Utah, these look more like "big'ole hills"}

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 The beautiful {& smoggy} view from the top, of downtown phoenix.  We drove {in our air conditioned car} about 1/2 way up and hiked about a mile the rest of the way.

Hunger Games

First of all, if you have not read these books, read them. 

I love them, although whenever I tell people the premise I have to start with a disclaimer that my description of the books isn't great, but the books are.   Maybe I am not explaining it right, but whenever I tell people its a post-apocalyptic North America, where the capital city of 12 districts choses 2 teens from each district to fight to the death in a reality show/battle, people give me suspicious looks. 

For those of you who have read it, what do you think? Did you love the 3rd book or hate it, or a combination? Being vague because I hate blogs with spoilers,  I'll just say I loved the first 2 and have mixed feelings about the 3rd and feel the last couple chapters were quite rushed, but was OK with it all in the end.

Anyway, I am reading them all again, after this lady got me to read them the first time.  I found out they were making a movie of it a while ago, but they only just released who the 3 main characters would be a week or 2 ago.  I have been SO anxious and nervous to see who they would be. (dramatic, I know, but I am picturing a Twilight movie-like-disaster.)

So, if you don't already know, or if you care, here they are. 

Jennifer Lawrence (Winters Bone) as Katniss Everdeen, the Main Character who is the narrator of the story, who is terribly poor, and hunts to take care of her mother and sister after her father's death.  She is a survivor, and is supposed to be small, thin and very plain but incredibly strong willed. 

I have never seen Jennifer Lawrence in anything, but she seems awfully tall and curvy, and not scrawny or plain by any means.  She got a lot of buzz at the Oscars so I am hoping she does not disappoint.

Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song), as Gale Hawthorne.

He is supposed to be Katniss's friend and hunting buddy who is like a brother, but Katniss struggles about what kind of love she has for him, and if there really is more.  

Aside from the fact that he already has a point against him being most known for a movie with Miley Cyrus and also her boyfriend, and that he is supposed to have darker wavy hair, he works alright i guess.  One plus is he is pretty darn hot, so I won't have any qualms watching him hunt.

And lastly but not least, Josh Hutcherson (The Kids are Alright) as Peeta Mellark.  Peeta is a boy in love with Katniss that is thrust in the games with her.  He has unconditional love for her which makes him tragic and sweet.  Katniss struggles with what she feels for him too, and why she feels what she does. Add to the mix Gale, and its a fabulous love triangle. 

For me he is the most beloved character, and the one I was anticipating the most, and consequently the most disappointed in who they chose.  BUT I have never seen him before so the only thing I have to go on are looks, and I am hoping he does the character justice.   His physical characteristics do not match what I pictured.  Also, I feel like he looks 12 and Katniss looks 20 and a foot taller than him.

What do you guys think!?  Besides the fact that I am taking this all too seriously. {Rachel I blame you.}

(photos from IMDB)