Ah, the Beach...

This weekend we took off with a group to Rocky Point, Mexico. We stayed in a huge 4bdr, 4bthrm condo that was owned by a couple that one of the girls knew, and they let us rent out for the weekend. It was an amazing place to stay with awesome views of the Sea. We had gorgeous weather, heat and humidity made bearable by a huge, crazy wind. It was awesome to be in the sand and surf! It's been awhile since we took the kids to the beach anywhere and they enjoyed themselves immensly. They are totally pooped today though (day after) and they slept in fairly late which is uncommon for these two early risers.

We had a very relaxing, yet fun time; playing in the waves, having some drinks by the pools, negotiating some good deals with the vendors and Craig even got stung by a jelly fish on the arm. We went with friends who clearly knew all the good places to eat now, which helps a lot since we've only been there a handful of times and places can be hit or miss. Anyway, good times and fun memories.

Vegas Baby!

Did I mention we're going to Vegas this weekend? We're pretty excited to get over there and have a non-stressful time. I completed my project shipping target for Q1 revenue (whew!) and we've finally locked in a mortgage this week too. Looks like that might pull through. On top of that we're celebrating Craig's birthday on the 24th, our friends Kim's & Jill's birthdays on the 26th and on April 1st, and Shel and Mike's 11th wedding Anniversary with them.



We've got a lot of celebrating to do! Maybe we should have booked for more than the weekend!

Charlotte, NC

As you know, last weekend we hopped on a plane and headed East to North Carolina to visit Susan & Geoff Brown, per previous random Memphis post. Perhaps the best summary of our trip is actually on the Gibson's blog - Great job Laura! - but we also wanted to post some of our favorite photos from the weekend. We had lovely weather for the entire time, so I think the Riebe weather curse could be lifting. Maybe this comes with the May addition of a new, sunnier Riebe :o)

Anyway, we had a great time, thanks so much to our hosts who thought of everything. The first day we toured several wineries in the area. We tasted such a lovely Riesling at the second winery; I loved it so much we had some shipped back to Arizona. It has arrived, but UPS has custody of it now, since you need a signature to have it delivered. Wine gets better when it sits in a 200deg warehouse somewhere doesn't it, I think I heard that somewhere.

Day 2 was fun on the Brown's boat! Craig and I really missed just being out on a boat these last couple of years, so it was great to get out on a lake again and their boat is fabulous. To the right is Matt Gibson doing his 'shark'. Just as the sun was setting, we pulled into the dock to find all of Susan's friends there waiting to celebrate her 30th birthday. Geoff did an amazing job planning this special event for her, and she was totally surprised!

One of the many cool things about our trip was the Bears-Panthers game we went to on Sunday. Thanks (again) to Geoff, we had amazing seats! I've never been to a professional football game before, it was so cool to actually be there for it. Very different than watching it on TV, that's for sure - the game seems to go by so quickly when you're there? On TV, and when Craig's watching the games all day long, they seem to never end?

Thanks again to Susan & Geoff for having us at their lovely home. We had a wonderful time, and their puppy, Jasper is adorable! It was also so great to see the Gibsons, and the Hunts too. Good spending time with everyone... when Craig and I finally buy a home, you are all welcome for a visit. Maybe sometime in the winter months! You can see all of our photos from the weekend here.

Palm Springs Baby

I won't bore everyone anymore with the story of how our trip to Maui for a honeymoon got cancelled. (Our airline went under.) I think we just got slapped by the universe for trying to take a huge trip when neither of us had jobs?!









So, while my parents and sister were still in town, we took the chance to get away for a few days to Palm Springs. We thought about San Diego, but SD in May is not very hot and we wanted some pooltime.









We stayed at the Viceroy, Palm Springs which is pretty much in the heart of everything. It was the coolest boutique hotel, very European in style, as evidenced by the God-like, very tan, slender gay men lounging by the pool. Everyone there was super gorgeous and super LA. Very Calvin Klein. Craig likes to tell me that I wasn't cool enough to stay there, which may be true, but then I don't think he was cool enough to stay there either! We had a wonderful, restful stay. We did a couple's massage for the first time and I think Craig is now hooked. He's decided that anytime we go somewhere for vacation, we will book this appt. OK, I won't argue. My therapist was a lovely small-ish man (also very Euro) and so I thought it would be good. The next day though, I felt a little beat up. He was really trying to work out that wedding/job hunt stress, I was pretty sore?

We also did the touristy thing and took the Tramway to the top of the Mountain. From the top, it was a great view and the brisk air up there was a pleasant change. And, it just wouldn't be us if we didn't do a bit of shopping. The Lacoste and Armani Exchange stores were calling our names. We both got some cool things.

All in all a good mini-honeymoon, but we are still planning to go to Hawaii at some point!

Catch Up Posts

Over the last few weeks, I've neglected to post. So, that means I have lots of photos. Probably two weekends ago, Craig and I took a drive to Canyon Lake. He had never been there and we figured that if we could recommend it on our wedding website, we should know how to get there and what it looks like? So, we went on a ROAD TRIP! Anyone in my family or any one of my friends will tell you that I'm no good to anyone on a road trip. After about 15 minutes, the hum of the car will lull me to sleep. This makes me the worst car companion ever. This trip was no different. Craig says I missed a beautiful drive, but I guess I'm more of a final destination girl. Its funny that Mallory and Nicholas are the same way! Here are some of our photos. We got some photos of it when we first arrived, then the camera seized up. Not nice.

Rocky Point Vacation

After Thanksgiving we headed off to Rocky Point, Mexico to the beach for some fun. The weather was gorgeous sunny, but windy and chilly at times. That would be chilly for us Arizona kids. We stayed in a huge house with a really nice kitchen that had a bar all across the entire counter, there must have been at least 11 stools and it had a great living room area.

The kids had fun on the beach, it was a little different for them to be there when we wore pants and sweaters. There's no way you couldn't be out there though, the sound of the ocean and the sand under your feet is awesome, at any time of year!

There were lots of good things about our trip, going into town with everyone is cool. Talking the local vendors down for my Prada purse is always interesting and Rocky Point is starting to have some cool local spots along the water. Of course the seafood at the fish market is always amazing too. Huge shrimp for $5.50/lb!

Some other fun smaller things: Seeing the sweetest black cocker spaniel on the beach that reminded me of my little critter at home, seeing our friends' daughter Madi dig her little heart out in the sand, flying a kite with Mallory - "Run Forest, Run!" and collecting shells with Nick.

San Diego with Dad

For the longest time, I've been trying to get some photos up of the vacation the kids took with their dad and his friend Amy. But he gave me the hard copy photos and so now I've been having trouble getting them scanned. Even harder now that I don't have access to fancy office machines anymore. But, I managed to get a few, check them out. Good times.

They were able to go to Sea World and hang out on the beach a bit, before the fires flared up and it didn't seem right to occupy hotel rooms in a city where the actual residents needed them.

I wonder if that's the real Shamu. Doesn't Florida promote Shamu also? Who has the real Shamu? And hasn't Shamu been around for what seems like an incredibly long time - what's the normal life expectancy of a whale? ... these are the questions...