Spouse Taxi:

The best day of my life. Er, second best day.

Yes, that IS me in a flight suit, thank you for asking!
Oh, you wanted to know about the silver hair in the background? That is my Dad, and yes, he does have the luckiest grey hair genetics in the universe.

Back to the flight suit though. When people with spouses graduate from B-Course they sometimes get to do a spouse taxi, the week of graduation. Since I was/am a spouse, I got a taxi.
No big deal, super casual.

Just kidding, super big deal, not casual AT ALL. (also, that is my babe of a mother, I know, we look alike).
I went through a go with my fellow B-Course spouses, so we sat through a briefing, learned about buttons to touch, not to touch, and definitely not to pull the lever that made the seat fly into the sky.

Afterwards I got all set up in my harness, and Chainsaw made sure I had ear plugs.

He is only a little invested in my long term hearing health.

You can't tell (okay, you can totally tell) but I was starting to get a little nervous. I wasn't the only one though, so it's okay. Mostly I was worried I was going to mess up my radio call.

I am going to take a moment and explain that the next three pictures are the best pictures from the whole day. It was time to buckle the bottom part of the harness.

"Okay guys, I can't get it myself"

Chainsaw heads over to assist, it doesn't go well. 
Alibi is forced to be the adult of the group and give us direction. While laughing hysterically.

Alibi was the IP in control of the jet, it was awesome, we had fun.


Dressed to Kill!

We taxied out to the runway, (I really hate rudder pedals) and once there, went into afterburner. That's fast y'all. It was amazing. 


Coming back from the taxi, it was super awesome, easily the best moment of my life. Well, second best.


Helmet Hair Hero Shot. (actual piece of artwork name)


Call sign:BARB. On my way to the danger zone.

Or Chainsaw and I's rehearsal dinner. Yes, our wedding rehearsal dinner was that evening, all the way across town. (our wedding was the day after his graduation.)

Bonus picture of him graduating, because YAY! 

Flying to Sedona:

You should know one thing about me, above anything else. I am afraid of heights. 
Yes, I, BARB, Wing Woman, girl who wanted more than anything to be a pilot when I was growing up, am afraid of heights. It is, quite honestly, my biggest fear, Ever.
I don't usually have a problem flying in airplanes, until turbulence is hit and then I am acutely aware how far we are off the ground.

So I decided to go for a ride in a Skyhawk II. Twice. 

Back seat, safe and sound, two Viper Drivers in the front, if something goes wrong, I am definitely safe.


Still in the back seat. Still safe.

Sedona! We flew into the airport and had delicious brunch. If you ever find yourself at that airport, eat, the, brunch.

This is where things get interesting.
I am obviously not in the back seat anymore.

If you are reading my blog, chances are, you know a little about air planes. Which means you also know two things. One, GA (general aviation) planes like this one, are small, which makes bumps seem big. Two, heat = bumpier air. If you did not already know those things, you do now,
We headed back in the afternoon, when it was heating up. It was bumpy. I was acutely aware of how far we were off the ground, and was breaking my husbands hand in the back seat. Still IT (the owner of that arm you see) let me attempt to fly. For about ten seconds before I had a heart attack.

Still, after that trip, I decided I wanted to go again for my birthday, and learn a little more. I freaking love air planes, so I will not be swayed.
I got to take off from the Glendale Airport, and it was the best day of my life (at the time, now its the third best.) I even got to fly some more. See:

There is a video of my take off, eventually I will post it, it's great.

However, soon my massive fear of heights kicked in, and I was done. IT got me to fly a few more times, briefly, but after a bit of a rough landing going into to Sedona, I had my fill.

It is safe to say I was not made to be a pilot, so my childhood dreams were probably right not to come true, but I love being up in the air, even if this post sort of makes it sound like I don't. I hope one day C and I own a plane. I love being in the sky and I hope I get to push myself a little farther.

Fly to Sedona, if you get the chance, eat brunch at the air port, it is a once (or twice) in a lifetime experience.

The Duce:

This is a blog about a bar. It is also about so much more than a bar. This is a blog about The Duce.
We first saw this place on Food Network before we moved to Phoenix, and dreamed of the day we would get to go to a place like that. (We lived in Enid, we had big dreams, okay?) Soon, we found out we would not only get to try a place like it, we would get to try that actual place, because we were headed to Phoenix for the F-16 B-course.

When we first moved here, we had to travel an hour across town to pick up a table for my craft room that I had bought off craigslist, and C surprised me by taking me here. We absolutely loved it, it was delicious!

After a while my cousin and her husband (call sign donut) flew out to visit us, and to take our engagement photos. We wanted to show them the awesome parts of PHX, so this is one of the places we took them too.



When you show up, most of the place does not have a roof, there is a little vintage air stream trailer you go up to, and order from. That is where they cook the food. The incredible, amazing, food. (meatball sub, chicken pot pie, that is all you need.) There are a couple different bars you can order old fashioned (through the decades) drinks from, a long with normal mixed drinks and beers.


On the other side of the building there are some old bleachers, a place to play cornhole, and some tables. There is also a genuine olde fashioned soda fountain. This is where you go to get an alcoholic milkshake.


When we went for our friend Magnet's birthday, D had a long table reserved for our party, right next to the boxing ring.
No, dear internet reader, you did not imagine that incredible sentence.

Yes, that is a boxing ring.

Where you can get.....

Boxing lessons.

Yes. Boxing lessons.

The Duce is not just delicious food, bar, and dance floor. It is also a gym. They have weights, yoga, and boxing lessons.

Go.

More:

It's that time of year, when everyone is talking about resolutions and goals. Usually I make some sort of half hearted comment about "losing weight" or "eat less junk" and then turn around and eat a cupcake and drink twenty sodas or something equally ridiculous. 

"What's different this year?" You might be asking. Well, interenet reader, let me tell you. First off, I went to school, and learned about fitness and health. (Insert "fitness whole pizza in my mouth" joke here). I learned that losing weight isn't a super goal, not for me anyways, losing fat is, I actually want to maintain my weight, with muscle. "Great, a post about not losing weight, tell me more" you say sarcastically. No! That's not what this is about. This is about MORE. 

Gone are my half hearted attempts at resolutions. This year, I am setting goals for myself that I actually want to obtain. 

More. 

More happiness. 

More adventure. 

More love. 

More friendship. 

More travel. 

More living. 

I want to be more. More for myself, and more for my husband. More present, more adventurous. 

More patient and kind, more me! 

Yeah, fitness is always a goal of mine, but I don't make it a resolution, that wasn't working for me. But so far, I am already on my way to more. This, this is a resolution I can handle. 

White Tanks:

This post will teach you one of two things:

1. Do not go hiking with us.
2. Do go hiking with the us.

You can not learn both. BUT before we get to that, let's talk about something else. Horseback riding. 

I have spent some time on and around horses while I was growing up, and was really missing riding. C had never ridden a horse before. We poked around and found a trail riding company that was based in the White Tanks, not far from us. We invited D and her Husband. 

We had a ton of fun, and luckily it didn't get too hot! 10/10 It is kind of slow going, for those with riding experience, as you can imagine, there is very little chance for trotting, or really anything above a slow paced walk, but don't let that deter you, the scenery is absolutely incredible, and very well worth it.

Now, about that lesson part. We love hiking, we do it often, we are prepared for hiking. We invited D and her husband along for a hike one Sunday afternoon. It started off great. Beautiful, and exactly what we were looking for, only slightly difficult and pretty short, a circle even!

This is a dance very popular in Arizona called the Cactus. (I am lying to you)


They bought it too, don't feel bad.


Sometime after this, things went horribly horribly wrong. The man that is apart of my relationship took us on a wrong turn. We didn't notice until it was too late. D was hangry, we only had granola.
A 3 mile hike turned into a 13 mile hike (no exaggeration,,,for once)

We found our way back, have no fear (I mean..duh, I AM writing this.)

We went to grab some BBQ, all pretty worn out, and spotted this beauty. No Ragerts. Though some say, D will never let us live it down. (she won't.) We had a blast, and got to explore, so do or don't go hiking with us. Your call, but you have been warned.

Ending the Year with a Steak:

We are currently sitting on the couch, sipping some mimosas and watching HGTV (hello Caribbean Living and Tiny Home shows!) We had a pretty late night, like just about everyone else in the world, and are just having a relaxing day at home.
We actually had a pretty relaxed New Years this year, we talked about it and with as hectic as the upcoming weeks/months are going to be, we really just wanted to chill and spend quality time together as a little family.
We did however want to end the year with a nice steak dinner, that we didn't have to cook ourselves. I let C pick the place, and he went to research on Yelp. We picked a place called Seasons 52, in Scottsdale, They change the menu depending on what is in season, and have a stellar wine selection, seriously, it's huge. Sold.

They have all that wine above the bar, and at least two wine cellars, that we saw. 

They definitely have some "mood" lighting.

Our seasonal cocktails, C had the Cranberry & Sage, with, you guessed it, cranberry and sage in it, as well as gin and lime...the sage was a candied leaf. I had the Bourbon Berry Bramble, with a mix of bourbon, elderflower liqueur, berries, and lime. They were both delicious. Try them.

Hummus Duo with Crisp Hawaiian Sea Salt Lavosh.

This was mine, I am a sucker for Filet Mignon, as you are bound to notice in some other upcoming steak posts, when I get around to them. I've ordered one at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, A Different Pointe of View, and Cattleman's. yum.

C's Boneless Beef Short Ribs.

Shot sized desserts, I will be honest about these, I don't remember what was in them besides one was peanut butter and the other was raspberry canoli, but they were good.

Now that I have forced you to look at our food, please enjoy these pictures of Moose which is probably why you look at my blog to begin with.
We are hoping to get out on a hike this weekend, so hopefully I will have that kind of adventure to report back on soon, I promise this is not a food blog.


After dinner we came home (before 9 P.M. even) and curled up on the couch to watch celebrations across the US, and at midnight we ran outside with our confetti poppers and champagne, and enjoyed the moment.
Soon we heard some fireworks, and then the sound of police sirens, because fireworks are illegal in residential areas here. Serene.

Happy New Year! What did you and your loved ones and friends do?