Some Observations You Didn't Ask For

1. My iPod ran out of battery power so while it was charging I had to listen to the radio in the car.  I am one of those people whose brains light the fuck up for catchy, nonsense pop songs, but I gotta say that for the most part the allure of new top 40 music totally eludes me.  For example, I can't stand Adele.  That song where she strains neighs "I set feouririeerr to the reeihghhgghn" literally makes me cringe (it doesn't help that during our 4-day cross country trip I heard this song literally 17 times a day). Someone told me that Adele "strains her alto range" which I think is totally true. She's talented and gorgeous, but I think she makes the blood vessels in my eyes pop.

2. The band One Direction absolutely fascinates me. That "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" song is super catchy but I just find myself totally shocked that manufactured boy bands are, you know, a thing again. Listening to that song I think, "holy shit prepubescent ladies (and some boys I'm sure), how are you not aware at how manufactured these songs are and how obviously they are pandering to you? Christ, none of these boys are even from the same town, they were literally dragged together by a faceless record company solely to cater to your ever-changing tastes!" and then I realize holyfuckingshit, I bought into that shit back in the late 90s with N'Sync and the Backstreet Boys!  The cycle of tween girls falling all over themselves for impossibly attractive early 20-something boys continues.

3. And finally in the "music" category of my crotchety post, how about this song from Karmin?  First off, the male part of Karmin, Nick Noonan, is from Maine and went to a high school from which many of my friends graduated (we also graduated the same year, and I just looked up the girl on the Facebooks and we have a mutual friend).  Anyway I much preferred this band when they were doing silly raps on YouTube rather than the manufactured pop crap they're churning out now, but that "Brokenhearted" song is catchy and as previously mentioned, I'm a sucker for catchy songs.  I've even been singing modifications of it to Cypress using all her nicknames ("I've been waiting allll dayyyy for you to call me Diiiiddllerrrr...Honest, Scrabbler, Iiiii'd doooo anything Dids wannnnts toooooo").  I might be sitting at home alone too much.

4. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Report drunk drivers at #DWI" and my first thought was, "the police are monitoring hashtags on Twitter now?"

5. Robbie got called out for the first time yesterday. It was rough, guys. I got the text and immediately burst into tears (yayyy PTSD), then sort of shut down and cleaned for awhile.  I'm better now, and I think it'll get easier, but for now I'm wallowing a little, don't mind me. The upside is that Rob got me the number of a fellow significant other who has one fire season already under her belt.  She's really nice and we texted for a couple of hours last night; I think we're going to get our beasties together this weekend assuming the boys are still gone.

Sedona & Jerome (Photo Heavy!)

First of all, I want to apologize for being a positively abysmal commenter of late.  Work last week was hell on steroids and my Bloglovin' feed quickly spiraled out of control.  Currently I'm at 426 unread posts...eek!  After long days of training, preparing, and dealing with unprepared trainers the idea of writing a post was just unthinkable.  Hence why my Grand Canyon post was so boring.

But now it's the weekend and I finally have some time.  Aren't you all excited?

So when I first came to Arizona everyone I met (and I mean everyone) would tell me, "You have to see Jerome, Sedona, and the Grand Canyon."  It was completely universal.  Most of you have probably heard of Sedona.  Jerome is a small former mining town that is built into a mountainside.  Rumor has it that it's haunted both by its many inhabitants that died in the various fires and mining accidents as well as the patients in the mental asylum (now turned hotel). 

Anyway I woke up early on Saturday morning and headed to Sedona by way of Jerome.  The road you take to Jerome from Prescott goes up the mountain meaning I was dealing with switchback curves at around 20 mph and l o n g drops down.  If I looked over the side I had mini-panic attacks.  I actually laughed out loud, though, when Bruce Springsteen came on my iPod singing "I'm goin' down, down, down, down..."

I managed to stop at a few places and take some photos of the scenery, the drop, and the curves:

I eventually made it into Jerome though it wasn't easy given the narrow streets.  I parked and walked around a bit, admiring the original buidings and the gorgeous view.  I was a bit surprised that Arizona hasn't done more to preserve the buildings--many had either been purchased as private residences or were completely rotting.  I watched a history video in the old silent movie theater which was quite interesting.  I won't go into Jerome's history but you can read more about it here.

Also, the building below with the Nelly Bly sign used to be a brothel, which was the third iteration of the building after the first two burned down.  Fun, huh?

After walking around for a bit I ate a delicious lunch of taco salad and the most amazing margarita ever at a restaurant called Quince (yes, a margarita at noon, don't judge).  They were one of the very few restaurants I've found in Arizona that had knowledge of gluten-free diets.

 

After Jerome it was on to the positively gorgeous town of Sedona. Just like other places in Arizona, I audibly gasped when I caught sight of the huge red rocks and gorgeous silhouettes. I don't think it will ever cease to amaze me. I decided to go on a helicopter tour, since my brother- and sister-in-law really enjoyed the one they went on. Before actually leaving I had some time, so I visited some of the scenic view points and even hiked a little up a trail. It was pretty perfect for pictures.

While on the helicopter tour (which was amazing, I totally recommend it if you're in the area) my camera died. I've never had an issue with this camera so I was pretty bummed. However, I decided to take it as a reminder that I will still have the memories despite not having a camera to capture them and just enjoyed the scenery with my eyes. I did get a few good pictures though, which I have shown below:

If you want to see all of my pictures please check out my Flickr.

All in all I am really enjoying my time in Arizona.  I have flashes of homesickness (like when I walked into Walmart and it was set up almost exactly like our own Walmart) but I know that this really is a great opportunity and I should be thankful for it.  Sadly no matter how hard I try, the bright red of the rock just isn't as brilliant without my Robbie by my side.  He's like a pair of 3D glasses.

I hope you all aren't getting tired of these photography posts.  I wouldn't worry too much if you are, however, since...you know, my camera is dead.

Have a great weekend, all!

Bits and Pieces: Travel & Arizona

So I'm here, and I'm alive!

Rob drove me to the train station pretty early Thursday morning.  I cried a lot but felt better once I actually started my trip.  I managed once again to completely mis-plan this trip in terms of timing and thus ended up waiting at the airport terminal for about 5 hours straight.  I entertained myself by taking various pictures with my iPad.  And I totally didn't look ridiculous doing it, in case you were wondering.

Does anyone else have Instagram? Follow me at @tomakelovestay!

Then I jumped on the plane for another five hours.  All I can say is thank goodness for iPads and Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes.

I landed in Arizona at around 7:45 pm Arizona time.  I really thought I could handle the time difference but I felt like a freakin' zombie.  It's amazing that I made the 2-hour drive to Prescott, frankly.  Though it was dark I could tell that the scenery was gorgeous.  I'm excited to drive it again tomorrow to pick up my brother- and sister-in-law, who are coming to visit this weekend to see the Grand Canyon.

On Friday I woke up and went to a work meeting.  After getting acclimated to the campus and meeting the team, I came back to the hotel to get some work done. 

I started texting with Adie and we decided to meet up for coffee.  I suck so I didn't get any pictures of this, but I had a really lovely time and it was so awesome to get to meet such a wonderful person.  We talked for a few hours and enjoyed some yummy chai and frothy (wow, what a gross word) hot cocoa.  Delish!  I'm hoping we get to meet up again soon. 

Some of my first observations of Arizona:

1. The people here are extremely nice!  An older gentleman told me in the grocery store how nice it was to see a young woman wearing a skirt (which is super sexist and weird, but he seemed genuinely nice), and the cashier gave me the club discount despite the fact that I didn't have a card.  The team members at the college were extremely helpful and are eager to make training go as smoothly as possible, which is shockingly rare in projects like this.  Plus, Adie was willing to meet awkward little me after only knowing me only through blogs and Twitter!  See? Kind, lovely people all over! :)

2. God DAYUM the air is dry.  My lips are extremely chapped, I'm itchy all over, and I feel constantly dehydrated.  It feels like all the moisture has been sucked out of my body.  Strangest sensation ever.

3.  The scenery is gorgeous.  I'm hoping to leave a little early tomorrow so I can stop and take some pictures.  The sky looks like you could reach up and touch it.  I understand what people are saying now when they talk about the beauty of the Southwest. 

That's all I got now.  This time change has thrown me through a loop and though it's 9:30 here my body is still at 12:30 a.m., and I feel like a zombie once again. 

What are your plans for the weekend?