dang it, Penni....

attached or single?	single single, and oh, wait, single
best friend?	people? Nicole and Cassie... dogs, of course, are the every day, live in, best friends :)
cake or pie?	depends on the cake or pie, but I'll take either right now, thanks!
day of choice?	Saturday!
essential item?	my blackberry (it gives me internet, email and a phone!)
favorite color?	poy-pull :) (purple for all you normal folks)
gummy bears or worms?	worms?
hometown?	Queen Creek, AZ
indulgence?	depends on the day ;-)
january or july?	January currently....
kids?	fur :) Dakota 5.5, Sedona 2.7, Chance - almost 2! eek!
life isn’t complete without?	snuggling with the puppers!
marriage date?	*sigh* it eludes me still...
number of magazine subscriptions?	just one, and i think it's expired!
orange or apple?	orange if someone else will peel it please ;-)
phobias?	being stuck in a traffic jam on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge... *shudder*
quotes?	"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necesssary plan." -Irving Townsend
reasons to smile?	I'm healthy, my fur babies, and the roof over my head :)
season of choice?	Winter
tag 5 people	Jeri, Carolyn, Emily, Kim K, Kate, Heidi, and anyone else who feels the deep seeded need to do this.... darn you Penni ;-) LOL

our day at Bryce Thompson Arboretum

My friend Rachel, her daughter Madeline, and I went to the Bryce Thompson Arboretum on Valentine's Day. It was a lovely winter day. They had a "Flowers and Chocolate" exhibit... the flowers inside the room had meanings for what the flowers meant or what they were sent for. Some were funny, some were sweet. I took photos of what I liked and what I might want to plant some day :)




(Above: I think this might be what I have planted out in the front yard actually)


And for my Orchid loving friends.... it was almost a milk chocolate color... it was beautiful.

This was a really cool looking stump that we found along our walk....
And then Rachel offered to take my picture with the stump... I had to be a silly goose! ;-)
And Madeline just HAD to do it too! ;-)
Then we came upon this MONSTER of a tree..... below is his sign....
Here is the base of the tree with his sign.... see how incredibly HUGE he is??
The beginning of the "Y" on the left above, is the main "Y" you see below...
And the top part of the tree... he was HUGE!!!
And here are Rachel and I.... we've known each other since we were in the 7th grade. Never mind the fact that I look like a washed out mess... I didn't intend on looking all beautiful to go on a nature walk ;-)
This is THE Queen Creek!!!! :) They had a suspension bridge that went over it, so I had to snap pictures of the creek that my "hood" was named after! ;-)
And the other side from the same bridge.
And standing north on the bridge....
some flowers blooming along the walk....
Madeline in a little nook cave.... it was HUGE!
Rachel and her daughter, Madeline :)
And a passer-by was nice enough to offer to take our picture together.
Some of the rock formations along the walk...
and some more....
Looking out from the top of one of the hills we climbed... into the valley where the creek is. :) (note the one palm tree! :P )
a view of a little waterfall we found along the trail...
another view of the same.
Desert scenery at it's best!
A view from our walk towards where the highway...
Ayers Lake ( a little man made lake in the park ). I love the reflection of the hills in the water.

The most incredible thing for me... a Prickly Pear Tree....
Just the view... on a beautiful clear day!
and before we left.... one of my favorite shots of the whole day... :)
We had a fabulous day - and I look forward to being able to take my northern visitors to visit.... :) You'll all love it!