Arizona Sunsets

So, I'm sitting in the Phoenix airport and I've been trying to entertain myself for awhile. I read my book. I tried not to listen to the "news" - yap, yap, yap. I called Father and talked to him for an hour. And then suddenly I heard this ad on the airport t.v. that they have free HiFi. Who knew? Suddenly I have plenty to do!! :) Which is good because in the last line of this I heard and accepted an offer to change my flight to later for $$ for airfare. And 3 1/2 hours of waiting has been extended to 6+.
Anway, that means I can tell you all about my fun times in Arizona. What I really wish is that you could see the gorgeous sunset that I'm looking at out the airport window. With palm trees in front of it and a city skyline way out there. And the sky is so pretty. I can't even take a picture because my camera battery died yesterday.
So, I thought I'd give a quick itinerary of my trip to Arizona and then I'll have further blogs to supplement after I get home.
Wednesday was an extremely stressful day - which made leaving on vacation that much better. But also meant that I was exhausted for days.
Thursday morning, fresh snowfall on the ground, my friend Sara picked me up for school. I made it to a couple of classes/meetings. Then we headed out. My suitcase broke right as I was walking out the door. Sara saved me with a great duffel bag. So, made it to the airport and a great little flight to Phoenix. Weather was really nice when I got here. warm!! Took a shuttle out to ASU campus, met up with Heidi (a new friend) and then we went to the opening fireside of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society conference. Sheri Dew gave a great address about leadership. And then I got to go to my "hotel" for the weekend - a guesthome at a local attorney's house. Really nice. The only drawback being I didn't get to be there more often!
Friday was a day full of conference - sessions, large speeches, lunches, fancy hotel dinner, lots and lots of visiting. It was really fun. I met so many great people - students (including some past BYU friends), attorneys from all over the U.S, etc... Sandra Day O'Connor spoke to us - I was on row 4 for that! Just a great day. The only downside was it was raining and cold. In fact, colder than home because most of us weren't dressed appropriately. So much for warm Arizona. But my tight curls were very cute. :)
Saturday morning was more of the same. I ate a lot of good food, met really wonderful people and learned some useful information.
Saturday after lunch the conference ended and my other vacation began. I rented a car and headed to the Mesa temple. It had quit raining and was quite nice. I did a session. Then headed to Tucson. Drove through the desert as the sunset. So pretty.
Stayed with my cousin Melinda and her husband and so cute 16 month old son. Visited that evening. Slept long and well on Sunday morning and then went to church with them. Children take a lot of energy! Went to dinner with Leann, another cousin. Fun to visit. :)
Monday I went off adventuring. I drove to the border and went to Mexico. I'll write more about that later. Enjoyed it a lot. Hot all this day. Got back to Tucson and met up with my friend Elizabeth (from BYU). Had wonderful, wonderful conversations with her. As well as fun in the cactus national park. Cool pictures to come from that. Just so good to visit!
Today I drove back up to Mesa. Went back to the temple - the grounds now empty from all the Saturday crowds. It was so gorgeous and peaceful. I felt like I was in the garden of Eden - I even saw the doves and humming bird. :)
Then headed to the airport. Where I've been too long. But I've been able to use my time. So all is well. Got a food voucher and I'm off to eat now! Stay tuned for pictures.