Spectacular September

I can't believe September has come and gone so quickly.  As most of you know, Fall is my favorite season of the year....too bad we don't have a Fall in Tucson....and September marks the start of Fall and my birthday month so, to me, it's the best month of the year! :)

To start off September was bittersweet for me.  It marked my last week at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson, which included a board mixer for work, celebratory dinner with Lee for my new job, my last furlough day, the start of college football (WHOOP!), U of A Game Watch for the first Wildcats game at the Secrests' house, Gran's birthday, and the first Notre Dame football game.  It was a great opening weekend for us....the Cats, Irish, and Aggies all won!

The second week of September included Labor Day, a few appointments for me before I started my new job, lunch with sweet Betsy, Pi Phi meeting, some shopping, date night with the Hubs, and the first U of A home football game, which the Mospans came into town from Phoenix.  While the guys watched the ND vs. Michigan game, Tara and I got a pedicure....oh, how I love when the Mospan's come into town!  We finished off the weekend with church and lunch at Tohono Chul Tea Room.

The third week was a blast for me.  I started my new job as the Events Manager for the Southern Arizona Affiliate for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  It has been a bit of a transition into this new job for me but I think it's going to work out nicely!  I also had my first Race for the Cure meeting that week along with Massage Envy's Massage for the Cure...that was fabulous!  I left on Thursday to fly to Dallas and then drive on Friday down to Austin with my mom for Candice's wedding.  I had such a fun time being back in Austin for Candice's Wedding Weekend.  Here's a sneak pick at the beautiful bride and me.



The next week, which was my birthday week, was really busy but super fun!  I didn't fly back to Tucson until Monday so I got to spend extra time with my family in Dallas.  Dad made my favorite dinner, chicken lasgna, I got to babysit my very sweet nephew for a couple of hours (loved every minute of that!), and spent some time with my grandparents for my bday.  So thankful that I have the best grandparents in the whole world! :)

On Tuesday, the day before my birthday, the girls from my Sunday School class surpirsed me with a "Surpirse Birthday Dinner" at Blanco in Tucson.  I absolutely loved it and had NO IDEA it was coming so it was a pure surprise....you can definitely tell I was surprised by what I was wearing.  Anyone who knows me, knows I would not be caught dead in public in a t-shirt and jeans....



....it was so sweet!  Everyone wore pink for me and my new job and got me the most wonderful cards and gifts.  WOW!  I am one blessed girl and love my Tucson friends all that much more!  Also, on Tuesday at work, my co-workers gave me flowers and a chocolate birthday cake.  It was so thoughtful of my new co-workers to do that for me that I didn't have the heart to tell them that my birthday wasn't until the next day. ;)

Finally, Wednesday...my 26th birthday...arrives and Lee wakes me up to hand me my birthday present.  It was a new study Bible with my new (well, not-so-new) last name on it.  We've been married for over three years now and I was still using a Bible with my maiden name on it, so it was definitely a fabulous present to receieve.  That night, we went to dinner at Bob's Steak & Chop House at the Omni.  It was so delicious and I loved every minute of it that we forgot to get a picture of us until we were on the way home in the car.  I would definitely have to say that was the best birthday yet....love you all who made it so special!

Oh, I almost forgot....my parents had a cookie bought delivered to me at work for my bday.  Love it! YUMMY!



We finished off my birthday week with Lee's parents and niece coming into town.  We spent the weekend having a blast with our niece.  We all had a birthday dinner for me at Gavi on Friday and then Saturday we watched the Notre Dame game as well as the t.u. game before heading off to Arizona Stadium to watch the Wildcats take on Cal.  We won in the last minute of the play and had an awesome time!  We topped off the weekend with breakfast at Cracker Barrell on Sunday before taking everyone back to the airport.  Why is it always so hard to say goodbye to family?

And now for the last week in September.  I had a Race executive committee meeting and another birthday dinner with Camille and Chrissy on Monday night.  Love those ladies and am so blessed to have celebrated my bday with so many wonderful people.  We had dinner with the Campbell's on Tuesday, and to finish off the last day in September, I had a U of A Athletic Department Spouse's Lunch at La Paloma Country Club.  It was a blast getting together with all the other wives (and husbands) and I'm definitely going to have to remember to do this one day when Lee's an AD.

Hope your September was just as spectacular as ours was.  Love to all!



Awesome August

What an awesome month August has been for us!  Man, I really feel like 2010 is just flying by....can't believe it's already September.

We started out the month delivering back packs that our Sunday School class, 241, filled for a few refugee families in Tucson.  That was such a great experience for Lee and me.  The rest of the first week of August was filled with watching the Bachelorette finale (yay for Roberto!), dinner with the McClain's, my board mixer for work, dinner with the Stine's, Lee's Wildcat Club happy hour, and 241 Ladies dinner.  Needless to say, by the time the weekend came we were exhausted!

The second week was equally as busy....I am starting think that our life will always be this busy!  We started off the week with a baby dedication for all of the 241 babies that born the last year or two.  I was in charge of planning that event and we had approximately 90 people there....glad it turned out well and we were able to celebrate all of the babies.  The rest of the week, I had a happy hour with my old boss, Jennifer, and it was fun catching up with her.  Lee also finished teaching his summer school class, and I had dinner with our realtor, Camille, before I left for Dallas/Austin trip on Thursday.

Speaking of Dallas and Austin, I had a blast going back to Dallas and riding with my mom down to Austin for a girls weekend and Candice's Bachelorette Party!!  Mom and I shopped in San Marcus (a little too much!), ate at the Gristmill in Gruene, TX before heading back to Austin for Candice's party.  I had such a great time catching up with Candice and celebrating her last night out with her and her friends.  Here's a few pics from that trip.

While I was out of town, Lee went to Fort Huachuca for the Arizona Wildcats football scrimmage and he also played guitar in big church....I hate when I miss him playing guitar in church.

The third week of August was filled with having the Scofields over for dinner, interviewing for a new job at Susan G. Komen for the Cure (yay!), packing and leaving for our summer vacation to San Diego on Wednesday.

Speaking of San Diego, our trip was fun despite me getting severly burnt (still peeling over two weeks later).  We stayed in Downtown on Wednesday night at the Grand Hyatt....so beautiful!  We explored Seaport Village before heading to Mission Bay for the remainder of our trip.  Thursday was filled with running around, doing work stuff, and getting settled into our room at the Hilton.  We had a nice dinner at the resort and got to watch the fireworks show at Sea World from our dinner table.....that was awesome.  Friday, we layed out by the pool and this is where the serve burn came into play...ouch, it still hurs thinking about it!  We went to Little Italy for dinner which was nice, and then Saturday, we went to Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Bird Rock, Windan Sea Beach (my favorite!), and La Jolla.  We had a great time!  And, we finished up the evening eating at George's on the Cove in La Jolla and then back to our hotel for more fireworks watching.  On Sunday, we drove to Coronado Island, had lunch, and then drove back to Tucson.  It was great to have a little time by ourselves and explore a new place before the school year started.

As August came to a close, we finished out the month with my work retreat, Lee's all-staff BBQ, prayer night at church, doctors and dentist appointments, dinner with the Tomczyk's, Key Leader meeting at church, met with Susan G. Komen and got a job offer, double date with the Ingrams, church meeting, Pi Phi AAC/EXEC meetings, Wildcat Club orientation, and dinner with Pastor Phil....whew, we ended the month just as busy as it started!

July Jubilee

July has been another awesome month for us!!  We started off the month with Lee's softball playoffs, another furlough (unpaid) day for Lacey, dinner with the Provost's and their super cute baby girl, playing golf, attending Chrissy & Ben's 2nd Annual 4th of July party, and having two couples from our Sunday School class over on the 4th for dinner fireworks that were being fired off in our neighborhood....it was so cool! :)

The second week in July started off with a bang too.  We went to Chase Field in Phoenix to see the Diamondbacks play the Cubs with our friends, The Dubs!  We sure had fun hanging out Jackson and Kenley!  Lee also had his weekly basketball game and band rehearsal for church on Sunday.  I attended my board mixer for work and had a long work week getting ready for my 4th annual golf tournament for work on that Saturday....which was a great success and 13 degrees cooler than last year's tournament!

In the third week of July Lee started teaching his summer school class, The Business of College Sports, at the University of Arizona.  Lee is so good at teaching....I just wish he would let me take his class.  Haha!  I worked late all week getting ready for my 19th Annual Steak & Burger Dinner at work.  Two work events two weekends in a row is REALLY hard and stressful.  Overall the dinner was a success with over 600 guests in attendance and lots of media coverage!  Lee and I also did a video filming for our church on Sunday which was a really neat experience.

The next week was a little quieter for us in a lot of ways.  Since Lee is teaching, he works late every night and comes home only to get ready for his class the next day.  I really feel for him and appreciate how hard he is working!  We had a 241 leadership team meeting at our house as well as had dinner with the Helphenstine's and Baby Payton.  We also went back to Phoenix on Saturday for another Diamondbacks game with the Ingrams and the Rohrets.  We had a blast and thanks to the Ingrams for inviting us!  On Sunday, Lee attended the Notre Dame Club of Tucson's Send-Off for the Tucson area students that are heading to ND this fall.  I heard it was super fun!

The last week of July was so relaxing for us.....that's so unusual but I loved it!  I was able to work out three times this week.  I can't believe that!  We also drove out to Vail, AZ to have dinner with the Pogue's at their house.  It's always so fun to be able to hang out with friends during the week.  The Lord has really blessed us with AMAZING friends out here in Tucson!!  We also had dinner at the Young's house on Friday night and attended sweet Payton's 1st birthday party on Saturday.  Can't believe tomorrow is going to be August 1st!  Summer is sure flying by so fast.

Joyous June!

June is one of my favorite months of the year!!  It's the month that officially marks the beginning of summer and the month we got married in!

The first week of June was very busy for us.  We met Baby Kennedy Jo and flew back from Houston on the 1st.  I had work meetings after work, board mixers, Lee had worship band practice at Casas Church, we took our friends, The Rohret's, a meal plan and met baby Zack, had a date night, and Lee played golf on Saturday and played guitar at church while I went to Scottsdale for the 2nd Annual Mother/Daughter Trip.

Speaking of my 2nd Annual Mother/Daughter Trip, it was fabulous!!  Mom and I stayed at The Phoenician Resort & Spa on Saturday and then moved to the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa on Sunday.  On Saturday morning, I picked mom up from the airport and we headed straight for The Phoenician.  We checked into our awesome room and headed straight for the pool where we stayed until dinner time.

On Saturday night we went to a late dinner at G&J Steakhouse at The Phoenician.  It was a so good!

On Sunday, we got up checked out of The Phoenician and into the Westin Kierland.  It was nice to try another hotel but we sure felt like we were "slumming" compared to The Phoenician.....Haha, who can say they are "slumming" in a Westin?!  We then went shopping at Fashion Square and didn't have much luck.  Finally, we just resorted to having Happy Hour at ZTejas before heading to our 90-minute massages.  That was so relaxing!  That night we went to the movies at saw "Sex in the City 2".  Mom had already seen the movie and it was so late for us that it didn't feel as good as the first one but still good!

On Monday, we got up and went to breakfast at my favorite breakfast place called Butterfield's.  I love that place so much but it's only in Scottsdale....wish they had one in Tucson.  Then we went to the pool and floated the lazy river for hours back at the Westin.  Finally, the hour I had been dreading came when I had to go back to Tucson without mom while she stayed at the Westin for another 2 days.  It's always so sad to leave each other but I knew I would see her in less than two weeks for my cousin's wedding.

The second week of June with busy also.  I am starting to think that is just a trend in my life!  I went back to work on Tuesday and that night we had dinner with The Hess'.  They are awesome people and I'm so glad we're in Sunday School together.  Of course, I had early meetings for work and Lee had softball games....the usual mid-week stuff for us.  Then, on Friday night, we drove to Saharita (just south of Tucson) to have dinner with some people from the Notre Dame Club of Tucson.  That was fun and we got to experience another part of Southern Arizona that we hadn't before.  On Saturday, we had our 241 ABF summer social, "Breakfast in the Park" at a park by our house.  It was great to see everyone and their babies all playing together.  After that a few couples came over to our house to watch the USA vs. England soccer game.  It was a blast watching everyone getting into the soccer game and making an In-N-Out burger run for everyone with Anna! :)

The third week of June was much quieter (is that a word?) fo us.  It was a nice change of pace for us for once!  On Monday we were able to work out after work and cook dinner without having anything else to do!  Tuesday we had dinner with the McLain's at On-the-Border.  It was nice to introduce our Tucson friends to Tex-Mex.  Wednesday night we did laundry and packed for our trip back to Texas the next day.  On Thursday we left work a little early and flew into Dallas for my cousin, Jenn's, wedding.  Friday was a relaxing day at my parents house and then we headed to Tyler, Texas for my cousin's rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at my aunt and uncle's house.

Aunt Susan, me, Papa Art, and Mama Granny

On Saturday we just hung out with my parents and mom and I ran a few errands.  Then we got ready and drove back to Tyler for Jenn and Marshall's wedding.  We had a blast and felt so honored to be a part of The Harrell's (fun to say!) special day.

Dad and me....we matched perfectly!  Happy Father's Day!

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Harrell

Mr. and Mrs. Lee De Leon

Thompson Family Photo....can't believe my parents have been married for 30 years this December!

On Sunday, we went to my parent's church, Lakepointe, which I just LOVE!!  It's always a treat to get to go there while we're in town.  We had my granddaddy and his wife, Shirley, over for burgers and also got to spend father's day with my dad, brother, and his son, Harley.  It was a fantastic Father's Day and I feel so blessed to have such marvelous men in my life.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

A VERY tired Harley with his Lolli :)

Granddaddy and his wonderful wife, Shirley

4 Generations!! (P.S. I love that Harley and Granddaddy are making the same facial expressions!)

Harley Man in the pool at Lolli Land!

The fourth week of June proved, once again, to be quite busy for us.  Lee's cousins, The Holmes, were in Tucson as part of their vacation so they came to our house for dinner and had s'mores in our firepit.  It's always fun to be around family and I'm grateful they came to see us on their trip!  I, of course, had late meetings after work, Lee taught at sports class in the College of Managment for a friend, played softball, went on a double date with the Ingrams....so much fun!....and had a date night with just the two of us!

Finally, the last week of June!  I had happy hour with a co-worker, Crystal, and a former co-worker, Shannon.  We laughed so hard at the wacky things that happen in our lives, families, and at our jobs.  I truly miss Shannon and hope to see her more often!  Lee played basketball with the guys after work on Tuesday and then came Wednesday......

Wednesday, June 30th, was our 3-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!  I can't believe it's been three years already.  I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun.  I am truly blessed to have Lee in my life as my best friend and the great love of my life.  He is the greatest man I know!

For our anniversary, we had dinner at The Grill at Hacienda del Sol.  This place is so neat and has won tons of awards for best romantic dining....what better place to go on your anniversary?!

I hope everyone had a joyous June as we did!!

Marvelous May

Oh May, Oh May!!  This month was filled with joy and sorrow but yet a marvelous month too. Lee started off the month with a golfing trip in southern Arizona with our friend, Gabe, for Gabe's birthday.  It sure sounds like they had a blast playing golf back-to-back days.  I'm glad we bought Lee new clubs last year....he's getting lots of use out of them!

In the first full week of the month we had Lee's student interns' end of the year dinner at Lee's co-worker, Tom's house.  I love being the host to Lee's events but it was nice to have it at someone else's house this time!  We also had a big fundraising breakfast for my work that raised $200,000 in just one hour.  I think it was a success!  Lee also had a softball game and his friend, Todd Adams, came in for the weekend.  That was a blast!!  Todd or "Tiger Todd" as we call him (he used to be the mascot for LSU) is so fun to be around.  We ate at our favorite places, went hiking at Sabino Canyon, the guys went to a U of A baseball game.  Here are a few pics from that trip!

The second week of May was filled with sorrow mostly.  We received a phone call on Monday from Lee's mom letting us know his grandmother had another heart attack and probably wasn't going to make it much longer.  Mimi actually passed away late Tuesday night, making Wednesday a tough day.  We also had our 241 Leadsership team over Wednesday night for our monthly meeting so it made it evening more joyful.  Then on Thursday, Lee's friend from Notre Dame, Andrew, and his girlfriend, Mary, came to visit us for a week before they graduated from Med School.

Friday was a C-R-A-Z-Y day that week.  We woke up around 4:00 a.m. and left for the airport in Phoenix by 6:00 a.m. so we could catch our flight to Dallas and then Houston for the funeral.  We let Andrew and Mary take our car to the Grand Canyon and Sedona while we were back in Texas with family.  Needless-to-say our trip back to Texas was very rough and crazy.  There was extremely bad weather in Dallas and DFW shut down the airport which left us grounded (on the landing strip, mind you) in Midland, TX in the middle of nowhere.  We sat on the plane for 3 hours, refueled and finally got cleared to take off for Dallas.  By that point, we had already missed our connecting flight that caused us to miss the viewing.  We got scheduled for a different connecting flight that ended up getting cancelled altogether and finally got scheduled for the last flight out of Dallas to Houston that evening.  Finally, we got to DFW from Midland, checked into our final flight to Houston, ate dinner, Lee sat down to write the eulogy, and then we received word that ALL flights in and out of DFW are cancelled for the reminder of the night.  Not good news at all considering Lee is giving his grandmother's eulogy at 10:00 a.m. in the next day in Houston.  So....we stand in line for 2 hours to rent a car to drive 4 hours from Dallas to Houston, finally making it into Houston at Midnight....15 hours later!  Like I said, crazy day!  Saturday was much better.  Lee did great giving the eulogy!

Lee with our neice, Ana, on the way to the burial.

Sunday morning we woke up at 4:00 a.m. Texas time (2:00 a.m our body time) and left Lee's parent's house by 4:30 a.m. to drive our rental car back to Dallas and caught our flight back to Phoenix at 10:00 a.m.  Our flight was 2.5 hours long, our friends picked us up at the airport.  We went shopping at Fashion Sqaure in Scottsdale, had a Sprinkle's Cupcake, and drove 1.5 hours back to Tucson.  That was a 20-hour day for us....whew, glad that day is over!

Finally, we're onto a new week!  I just rested ALL day on Monday while Lee, Andrew, and Mary went up to Mt. Lemmon in Tucson and played a round of golf at Arizona National.  They had a blast!  On Tuesday, the guys surprised us with a "spa day" at the new Ritz Carlton in Tucson while they played golf at the Ritz.  Mary and I had a blast getting our nails done and laying out at the spa pool.  It sounds like the guys had fun playing golf.  Wednesday came and Andrew and Mary left that morning.  Lee and I had to work extremely late that night; I think we got home around 9:30 p.m.  Thursday was my nephew's 1st birthday and softball for Lee, and on Friday Lee and I had a date night (at home!).  That Saturday, Ben and Chrissy had a pool party so we went over to their house and had a blast!  Sunday, Lee played guitar in the worship band for big church so that was fun to see and then we just rested the rest of Sunday.

The last week of May.....On Monday, we took our friends, Shawn & Eva, dinner since they just had a little girl, Scarlett.  It was so fun hanging out with the Chev's and holding sweet Scarlett.  We pretty much didn't have much going on Tuesday and Wednesday and on Thursday we had softball.  Friday was a furlough day for me so I got my hair done, went shopping, had lunch, and met Lee for the U of A Super Regional Softball game....it was soooo hot outside!  Saturday, we did stuff around the house, ran errands, and packed for Houston.  On Sunday, we went to church and Sunday School and then left for Houston.

For Memorial Day, Lee had a meeting that morning in Houston and then we went to our good friends, The Dukes, house for their baby's 1st birthday party.  It was so fun seeing all of our Houston friends....I sure miss ya'll!  We also hung out with Lee's parents, had a BBQ at their house, went swimming, took a nap, went to Mimi's, and watched a movie.  On Tuesday, we slept in, had lunch with Lee's parents, went to the hospital since The Dukes' had their second baby, Kennedy, that day, had dinner with Lee's family, and then headed back to Tucson.

Oh May, Oh May you sure were a fun month!!