Some people have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car.

So this Labor Day Weekend Brady and I went Arizona to visit our dear friends the Lignell's and the Hassell's--and befriended a homeless guy who watched our car for us (it'll make sense later). We rented a car and drove the 400 and some change miles down to Phoenix with Julie and her 2 friends in the back seat.

In case you didn't know, Julie has some kind of gland problem and has to have the A/C on full blast all the time otherwise her "hands get sweaty". And then she reaches out and tries to touch you with them. She also got really excited whenever she saw cows. She claimed they were C.O.U.S.'s, but they were regular cows. Maybe that was her first time seeing one. It definitely was her first time seeing a real cactus and palm trees.
Luckily, we made it to Phoenix without needing to kill Julie because we had a DVD player.

On Saturday, we went down to Chandler and met dear little Lindsey Lignell for the first time. The Hassells also made the trip down from Surprise to hang out with us as well. Little Hailey is already walking. Last we saw her, (in January for the PF Chang's 1/2 Marathon) she was still just crawling around. We all went to BJ's Restaurant and had some a-MAZ-ing cookie dessert. I believe we also ate some dinner, but I don't recall....all I can think about is how great that dessert was. Also, thanks for letting us harrass your cats, Elliot and Kristin.

Brady and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary going to Scottsdale Mall, Halloween Express (yes, I love halloween, and they had an entire store dedicated to the festitivies), and a small Italian Restaurant for lunch. Afterwards, we drove back to Phoenix, relaxed, and then headed out to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner with a bunch of Diamondback fans (the game ended right around the time we decided to show up at the restaurant).

So the homeless guy. Yeah, there were homeless people all around our hotel camping out. (It's dirty downtown Phoenix. What else can I say?) But, one in particular was sleeping right across from where we parked our rental the first night. In the morning I insisted that Brady get the DVD's out of the car (because it's so damn hot they would probably melt). When he came back, he informed me we had left the car unlocked all night. The homeless guy could've--but did not--sleep in our car. So, as an expression of our appreciation, Brady took all of our leftovers from our meals during the trip (Italian Grotto, BJ's, and Hard Rock) and left them by the homeless guy's sleeping bag. We are positive he feasted like a king that night.

The drive home would've been a lot more fun if Brady and I hadn't promised the girls "a ton of breakfast places" in Happy Valley, and ended up only having a Carl's Jr....or if I hadn't pulled a Dumb and Dumber and driven the wrong way for 30 minutes. (I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque!) All-in-all, great trip. I'd do it all over again. Minus the sweaty hands.