Vortexes, magic and miracles

I spent last week in the Phoenix area.  My dad and stepmom have a house in Goodyear and we are super fortunate (and extremely grateful) to be able to use it during the winter months.  I know what you are thinking... more holidays?  Really Maren, REALLY?  I hear you, but let me put it to you this way:

A beautiful house to go to + a car to drive + a short three-hour flight = an offer we can't refuse...

You do the math.

We are not alone in our 'quest' to shorten up the loooong Canadian winter, as we had a multitude of friends/family in the area as well.  In fact, I learned that almost 600,000 Canadians spend their winters in the PHX area -- the 'snowbirds' if you will.  While I am not a snowbird (yet), I can truly understand what the draw down to the desert is!

Anyhow, as part of our vacation Trent got the brilliant idea that myself and 'the girls' should go to Sedona for a girls night.  He even found us a deal on Travelzoo for a night's accommodation/spa treatment/breakfast and a yoga class.  Do I need to do another math equation to illustrate for you why this was also a no-brainer?!  No, I didn't think so. 

Our trip to Sedona proved to be lovely.  Much, much better than I expected even.  The hotel was absolutely beautiful and very luxurious.  The spa even more so.  Our meals were all fantastic and we really enjoyed our 'girl time'.  We spent a lot of time giggling but also a lot of time discussing those 'big questions'... we were in Sedona afterall...

My beautiful travel companions: my mom Dianne, Gail and Darcie

While we didn't come up with any of the 'big answers', I would say that it was an enlightening trip for all of us: full of magic and miracles.  If you have never been to Sedona and you ever get the chance, go.  It will inspire you, it will mesmerize you and it might even change you... for the better. 

Hell, look what it did for my vertical jump:

No, that is not an illusion.  That is really me on the left... IN THE AIR!

See?  Miracles do happen.  That, or I was standing in a vortex.  Either way, it was MAGICAL!

Marebare  xoxo

All good things must come to an end...

One of the biggest challenges of 'living with less' has been cutting back on travelling.  Last year, I took 11 holidays (yes 11... after all, my little guy could still travel for free, so I was practically making money, right?).  So, besides our summer in the bush (NOT a holiday, trust me), we hadn't taken a single trip this year, until now.  If you haven't been following me on Twitter (with the exception of two people, no one is, so I know you're not), you might not know that we (the man, the boy and I) spent the past week in Phoenix.  Why Phoenix you say?  Well, simply, we lucked out and had a free place to stay... plus, Cheph could still fly for free b/c he wasn't yet two... on one of the flights anyways.  So, again, I am going with the argument that we practically made money on this trip.  We have had an awesome time staying at my dad/stepmom's place (which is luxury at its finest) and took in the best sights that Phoenix had to offer for a family of three.  We took Cheph to the zoo for his 2nd birthday, went to visit Trent's mom who is down here too, had a friend in from Tucson, had my mom come for a visit, had some more Canadian friends in from Palm Springs, went to a kiddie amusement park and last but certainly not least we hit the Children's Museum in Phoenix (which, let it be said, is NOT to be missed... even if you aren't yet parents).

Here are some photo highlights of the trip...



Baby Gibbon



Parrots enjoying the sun

Cheph's favorite - the carousel

Who could say no to those eyes?



Lion fish!



Have you ever seen someone so ramped up about bubbles?

Gymnastics lesson in Phoenix!



Another carousel ride... really not hard to make this kid happy!



Children's museum, part of the huge climber structure



Upcycled decorations (ok, art)



More upcycling, these are drums

We have really had a great (and inexpensive) trip to the desert... but, all good things must come to an end and we head home tomorrow.  Back to the land of the deep freeze.  Goodbye shorts and tanktops, I will miss you.

Yours remotely,

Marebare