Laughter

I have been doing some research for a presentation I'm giving to Cottonwood Alumni in a coupld of weeks. I've been looking for resources and information about things they can do in Tucson. Check out what I found!

Well, we all know that laughing does wonderful things for our mind and body. I have recently discovered a new phenomenon, Laughter Yoga! It involves laughing exercises and stretching and breathing as well. There is a class in Tucson that I'm thinking about going to... I'll keep you posted :) Here is a website with videos of the Tucson class in action. It looks rather intriguing :)

http://laughteryogawithgita.com/about-laughter-yoga.html

There are also Laughing Clubs all over the world that meet once a month and laugh together. They are led by certified instructors or leaders too :) Love it!

The Park

So, there's this park that is a block from our house... It has a large grassy area and a playground area. Barley has decided the park belongs to him. We take him every morning before work and every evening at sunset. This has proven to be time-consuming, but worth it because his energy is expended at every visit -- thanks to the other dogs who visit Barley's park. When we go to the park there is typically a pack of dogs there. Once we arrive, Barley proceeds to go say "Hi" to everyone and thank them for visiting his park. Any new arrivals are quickly welcomed as well :) Once the "Hi" 's are complete, Barley begins to run in circles and give kisses to every dog he sees. And then he jumps on their backs and bites at their feet as they roll around on the ground. These dogs include Andre (the old grumpy one), Sam (the boring, lazy one), Freah (the young playful one), Stella (the anti-social wanderer), Gaz (the barking herder), Charlie (the ball dog), Phineus (the smaller twin of Barley), Dallas (the old, wise one), Lulu (the scared, isolative dog), and some other characters as well.

When it is finally time to say goodbye, Barley has difficulty leaving his park. He stalls, smells the ground and lags behind. The walk home takes twice the time than the walk to the park.

This has become our routine for Barley's play-dates and it couldn't be better :)

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole."

~Roger Caras

Fourth of July

Yesterday was a GREAT day! It started off with delicious coffee on the couch. Then, off to Mount Lemmon for some rock climbing. We met some awesome people at the crag and Barley made some puppy friends too. We returned home and cooled off in our delightful pool with watermelon margaritas :) Then, we finally ordered a new clothes dryer (ours is overheating and we would prefer NOT to burn down our house). Finally, a night snack and a ridiculous movie (Crank2 - not recommended). No fireworks, but a wonderful day! :)

Home sweet home

Once our family frenzy had ended, we had a birthday party for Tommy and Glenn (the husband of a lady I work with) at our house. So, it was cleaning time! I took advantage of the clean house and took pics of it :)

This is a typically day with Barley running around the yard like a maniac :) He has an unlimited amount of energy!

Family

June was family month for us. We spent over two weeks traveling to see family and then returned to Tucson with family :) Here is a rundown of our family frenzy.

June 3rd to June 9th - Fly to Atlanta... dinner with Dad at amazing Italian pizza restaurant... drinks with friends... little sleep... caravan for 4 hours to Thomasville, GA... rehearsal dinner for Gregg and Anna's wedding... reception setup... drinks with friends... little sleep... explore Thomasville downtown... cute coffee shop visit (twice)... shop... pool time at hotel... wedding... reception... drinks with friends... little sleep... reception cleanup... drive 4 hours back to Atlanta... outlet mall shopping... dinner at Angie and Corey's amazing house... drinks with friends... little sleep... relaxing morning (yay!)... rock climbing... dinner and drinks with theSiegel's... little sleep... carpool with Angie to Knoxville... visit HPER building... lunch withDocand Dale... Market Square shopping... dinner at Tomato Head (Yum!)... drinkswithfriends...little sleep... drive back to Atlanta at 7am... Siegel'spooltime...Mary'sapartment and goodbye to Michael... delicious dinner and drinks with Dad and friends... little sleep

June 10th - Fly to St. Louis, MO... drive 3 hours to Santa Claus, Indiana... eat dinner at horrible "Amish" restaurant... welcomes from Kennedy Reunion Klan... little sleep on rickety futon...

June 11th to June 13th - Holiday World!... sit in muggy Indiana heat with family... babies falling asleep in our arms... pizza for dinner... little sleep... wake up to coffee... adorable nieces and nephew... boys go on hike... fun with Ellie... sit in muggy Indiana heat with family... lots of pictures... babies galore... late night cards with the fam... little sleep... repeat...

June 14th to June 17th - drive 5 hours to Columbia, Missouri... meet Josh's girlfriendElizabeth... babies galore... cards with the fam... little sleep... hang with family... walkdowntownColumbia... amazing coffee (thrice)... babies galore... pool time (amazing!)...yummy food...cards with fam... little sleep...

June 18th - Drive 2 hours to St.Louis... Fly home to Tucson... Pick up Erin and MomatGuadalajara Grill... return home to stuffy house... GREEN pool... little sleep...

June 19th - 23rd - Shopping with Erin and Mom... yummy food... Mom painted our ceiling in main room (YAY!)... frown at green pool... return to work... celebrate Tommy's birthday... play with animals... little sleep...

June 24th - Erin and Mom leave on trek back to Atlanta... empty house... couch time :)

It was SSOO amazing to see everyone in June! I can't believe that we fit it all in! Though it was busy, it was a great vacation and break from our Tucson life :)

Here are some pics of the frenzy :)

The Grandbabies :)

The boys preparing for the hike :)

Not much better than a baby sleeping in your arms...

Great Grandpa and Grandma :)

The boys and their childhood toys.

Uncle Tommy :)

Auntie Em

Mia just chillin in the pool :)

Amy and her babies :)

Tucson Update :)

I am on the "Green Team" at work - a group of us dedicated to helping Cottonwood become more sustainable :) We adopted a section of the road that Cottonwood is on and clean it twice a year. I am in charge of the Sweetwater Drive Clean-Up :) Here we are with some of the trash we collected :) Someone found a working iPhone in a ditch!

I finally have my own office at work :) It's AMAZING!! Having my own space helps me decompress and de-stress. Plus, I can now have patients in there too :)

Barley's bath time. He does surprisingly well in there!

This is how Barley lets us know he is ready to come inside :) Too cute!

Phone pics

We took Barley to Catalina state park. It was awesome... Except for the hookworm.





On our hike. This was the first place we hiked in Tucson. We've gotten used to the flora by now.







This is the view of Catalina highway from business time wall... Short approach!





This is our friend Dalton leading at business time. I think this is a 5.8 or 5.9 trad. We did a 5.10c by accident next. I did not do it cleanly by any stretch of the imagination, but I did it. I wouldnt have even tried it but we thought it was a 5.8; my mind can be my biggest limitation. There is a waterfall in the valley below... Picturesque climbing.





Kids have it too easy today. This is the vandalism department at our local ace hardware. Montana paint and every tip imaginible.





The Avett Brothers are coming to Tucson, and we will be there!





Em and I spent the morning walking to Avenue coffee (best coffee ever) with the dog and ate lunch in the park. The hardest decision we'll make today will be whether to lay out by the pool or go to the climbing gym. Life is good to us. Thank you, life.