I'm famous!

Yesterday, I got the sweetest most unexpected text from my old boss (side note: my school closed down and I have moved to a school just down the street. Yes, I'm still teaching kindergarten and school started this Wednesday).

Anyways, the text read as followed: "Great picture in the paper. I miss seeing that beautiful smile of yours everyday" Awww, how sweet. Thanks Becky.

Wait, what? My picture in the paper!?!?! I drove down to the library to get ahold of a Yuma Sun and see what in the world she was talking about. Sure enough, smack dab on the front of the local paper, there I was, greeting one of my sweet new students. Ironically, I didn't even see the photographer at the school and would've never known about my newspaper debut, had it not been for the text. Now I know why the neighborhood paperboy, Robert, has been leaving that "Free 14 day Subscription" ad on my doorstep.

So, thanks to 13 years of orthodoncia and a hidden cameraman, I'm famous. Ha ha.

P.S. Even though my kiddos hardly speak of word of English (another side note: I'm teaching an ELL kindergarten class), I love them already!

date night

This last week was a bit of a rough one for Los Bryants. My car and the house A/C both managed to break down on the same day. As my dad would say...groovy. So, after spending some unexpected money to fix both the car and the house, two nights of sleeping in a 97 degree house, and learning to laugh at our circumstances, we thought it was time for a little date night. Nothing keeps a marriage hot and steamy than an occasional date night....oh wait, a lack of A/C in 110 degree weather keeps you plenty hot and steamy.

For our date, we dressed up in our nerdiest golf clothes, went golfing, and tried to pretend like we knew what we were doing. Wes is such a good sport putting up with my shenanigans. Golf was followed by a nice dinner (thank you Mom & Dad for the gift card!), and a midnight showing of Will Ferrell's latest comedy, La Casa de Mi Padre (by midnight showing, I mean a redbox rental viewed via laptop.) We are such old people, that we fell asleep trying watch the movie. Note to self: Don't rent a movie with subtitles after 10 pm.

check out those golf clothes!

another date night in paradise

life is rough

my handsome date

home sweet (overcast, rainy, green) home

When I left Oregon last July and moved myself, my husband, and all of his possessions to the sunniest place of earth (aka Yuma, Arizona), everyone kept telling me how much I was going to miss the green that Oregon has to offer. Perhaps because I was a bright-eyed first-year teacher desperate for a job or desperate for some much needed sunshine, I refused to believe that I would miss the green. I was determined to get out of the rain and cloudy skies, that I simply didn't think I would "miss" it.


But here it is people. For all of you who told me, "You'll miss the green", YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Don't get me wrong. I have thoroughly enjoyed our adventure in Arizona. I've learned to appreciate the desert for its unique beauty, I love traveling to Mexico bi-weekly, and I love teaching kindergarten.


However, now that I've been visiting Oregon for the last few weeks, I must fess up.....I love the green.  I love the smell of crazy fresh Oregon air. I love hiking in the trees. Well, technically not in the trees, but I'm sure plenty of Oregonians do that too. I've been snapping pictures left and right of "green things". Oh great, have I become a tourist in my own hometown? Crap. 


Ironically, as I write this post, it's pouring down rain on this June "summer day", but for the sake of this mushy-gushy environmentally romantic post, let's just say...I LOVE YOU OREGON! 


Here are some of my touristy shots....

I made Wes park at the very top of a parking garage so I could take this shot.(Eugene, OR)

view of Portland from Pittock Mansion

(Portland, OR)

My sister is one lucky gal. 

This is the view of Mt. Hood from her bedroom window.

(Portland, OR)

hiking Spencer's Butte

(Eugene, OR)

hiking Spencer's Butte

(Eugene, OR)

DeBows in the Desert

This last week, my wonderful sister and momma came to visit Wes and me. It was a best treat after finishing my first official year of teaching. Even though Wes spent a week outnumbered and surrounded by girls, we had a wonderful week.

Here are some highlights.....

1. We birdwatched, and birdwatched, and birdwatched some more (My mom is the Bird Whisperer and Yuma was a perfect place for her to come visit)

2. We hiked the Grand Canyon

3. We enjoyed simply being outside and letting the Oregonians soak up some heat and defrost their frozen little bodies :)

4. We enjoyed many delicious meals (thanks for spoiling us Mom!)

5. We did plenty more, but frankly Wes old brick of a computer is starting to bug me, as it takes minutes to load each picture, and I need to go jump in the pool. I lead such a rough life, huh?

P.S. Please come visit us! We love having visitors! Thanks Mom and Kierra for a wonderful first week of summer.

bienvenidos a mexico...apparently not

So, Los Bryant's have done it again. We've officially been kicked out of Mexico twice. See the first time here. Only this time included a high speed car chase. We decided to bring the dirt bike again today, but we thought we had dotted our i's and crossed our t's by bringing the bike's registration. Apparently not.


Ironically, we were given the green light when we passed through Mexico's border patrol and cruised right on into San Luis. Just as we got ready to crank up our favorite local Mexico mariachi radio station, we start to hear sirens. Sirens? Behind us? I looked at Wes and said "Are you being pulled over?". Apparently so.


A "lady on a power trip" (according to Wes) from the Mexican border patrol chased us down Calle 2 (aka Street 2) and told us we needed to go back to customs. I didn't know you could be given the green light, only to be chased down and told you need to go back. So, we diligently followed the border patrol agent, as she caused a dozen traffic jams just to make sure we followed right behind her. We showed her the registration and thought we'd be good to go in no time. Apparently not. Today, they decided that we couldn't have the gas can, that was accompanying the dirt bike. We are learning that Mexico's border laws tend to change daily hourly. We laughed and decided just to go home for the day.


So, instead of a relaxing day in Mexico, filling my tummy with homemade tortillas and deliciousness, I am sitting at school filling out report cards. Back to the life of a nerdy teacher.


At least I can cross off "Being chased down and kicked out of a country" off of my bucket list. Yes!

random road trips

Yesterday while hiking Telegraph Pass, midway up the trickiest part of the hike, I blurted out, "Let's go on a road trip today". An interesting fact about Wes and I is that we have an uncanny ability to hop in the car and go on, shall we say, "random road trips". The kind of trips where you don't necessarily have a planned destination, you lack any form of an itinerary, and you simply go where the wind blows you (or rather, where the car drives you).


So, after a great morning of calf-killing hiking (leg calves, not to be confused with baby cows), we literally jumped in the car and drove north on highway 95. Thankfully, we ended up in Lake Havasu City, a great little touristy town, located perfectly on Lake Havasu. We enjoyed a day of exploring, swimming in the lake, and laying out in the good ol' sunshine. I am so thankful I have a husband who is just as spontaneous as I am.

the real london bridge

lake havasu

swimming

view from the towel. life is rough.

just another az sunset

FUNNIEST STORY OF THE DAY: for all of you who made it to the bottom, this is by far the best part. on our way home, we stopped at a mexican restaurant in a little podunk town. as you can tell from the video below, here are some of the locals at their best. awesome

date nights

Wes and I are pretty cheap people. So, this Friday night, when the temperatures started to kick it up a notch (into the 100's), we just couldn't bring our cheap selves into turning on the air conditioning (despite the fact that the thermostat claimed that the indoor temp was a whoppin' 92). I decided to use the opportunity to be cheesy and have a cute little movie night date in the backyard. As the evening went on, the temp outside dropped much lower than the temps inside our oven (I mean home) and we enjoyed sleeping outside in the 70-something degree weather.

here are a few pictures of cute little date night. awwwww......