Hiking Camelback Mountain

In celebration of moving to the Phoenix valley two years ago this month, I thought it would be fun to post a slideshow of where I live. I hiked Camelback Mountain, a prominent landmark in town, and took pictures during the ascent. Keep in mind...the blue skies, t-shirts, and 70-degree temperatures were all taking place in February! I love this place.

Hershey, Pennsylvania - Need I Say More?

When I stop to think about the good things in life, I am usually lost in thoughts of animatronic animals describing how great chocolate is made. Luckily, this dream came true last week when I was at work! We took the boss and his family to the Presidential Inauguration. While the women stayed there for the week of festivities, we continued flying the boss around the country for work. It was a week of firsts for me, since we were able to stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and drive about twenty minutes to visit the original location of the Hershey Chocolate Factory. As we approached the town we could smell the chocolate drifting in through the car vents! Oh my...this IS heaven on earth! They have a make-shift factory where you hop on a ride and are guided through the chocolate-making process by talking and singing cows. It was a morbid combination of Splash Mountain and Jurassic Park, with chocolate samples given out at the end! The town is magical, with the lamp shades shaped like Hershey Kisses. The real factory is just down the street, and we drove past it on our way out of town. They also have a huge theme park with rides, a zoo, and a water park. I was hoping the "water" was also chocolate, but it was too cold to find out.

I am just proud of myself that the only thing I bought was a fridge magnet. I found out too late that the chocolate fresh from the factory tastes different and way better than anything I could have experienced! I regret not buying at least twenty pounds. Oh well. Smaller waistline will be the outcome anyway!

Sicker than Sick

Silly me for not posting in so long, but I literally have been sick for a month. After a few weeks, I gave in and went to the doctor. Other than my flying medical every year, I haven't been to a doctor because I was sick in over ten years! Now I have been three times in three weeks! I just back back from yet another visit this morning. We were treating what we thought was a severe sinus infection, but the second antibiotic still hasn't kicked in. I have been achy, exhausted, and just plain SICK for almost four weeks! Working and traveling the past three weeks didn't help. Luckily, I have this week at home. I told my boss I was going to stay home until I could figure out what was wrong and get over it! The airplane isn't flying this week, and, if it does, my boss will fly in my place. I just hope I can beat this in the next few days!

Something I am not used to doing is taking it easy, but I haven't had any choice this past month. I have had no energy to do ANYTHING. I know it's sad when brushing my teeth wipes me out! And I had to get some shampoo at the store last week...and my arm was shaking from the weight after carrying it to the register! I have had brief moments of hope where I thought maybe I was starting to get better, but an hour later I am back to being good ol' sick yet again!

I have had lots of great support and advice from many friends and family. Gracias!

Someday, hopefully soon, I will be feeling better. I have pictures to post from my travels this past month, including a cold week in Canada and a visit to the Hershey factory near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Stay tuned, and if I don't die, I will post before you know it!