4th of July Holiday Weekend

I think it is safe to say that this year was the best 4th of July I have ever had. Firstly, it was fabulous that the 4th was on a Friday so that I was able to have a 3-day weekend.

Our festivities began Thursday night where my roommate shared the tradition of making 'Freedom Shirts'. We had some friends over and decorated our shirts.

#SPARTAN

I recently agreed to run the Spartan Sprint in February with my team from work, so in an effort to stay excited and declare my independence and move forward in my life and goals, I painted a Spartan helmet :)

Friday morning I got up and went to float the Salt River with some friends. It was AWESOME! Tubing, little rapids, perfect weather. What could be better? There was a little haboob Thursday night which swept through the valley and brought a little rain, which resulted in a cooler 4th. (we didn't even reach 100F)

Afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch and then caught the end of a pool party. That was fun, but unfortunately the sun was too much and I burned! I met up later with my friend J, we lounged about and watched Penelope, then went and saw a small firework show. We were able to sit super close!

We called it a night fairly early because Saturday morning we had plans to hike Pinnacle Peak at 5:30 am. It came early, but the weather was once again perfect - it was cloudy and had a nice breeze.

 

Great hike! I will definitely do that one again!

Afterwards J. and I went on a scavenger hunt to find all the ingredients to make cheese. It led us to Gilbert so we made the sacrifice and got cinnamon french toast at Kneaders. (YUM!) Then checked out the farmers market and circled back to Scottsdale to drop by the library. Then a much needed nap was taken and a couple hours later we were back in the car on the way to Heber - AZ for a fireworks show. We drove through some heavy rain to get there, but once there it was great., Although it was mid 60s, so thankfully I had brought a blanket!  

Today was great :) Church was very uplifting. Afterwards I met up with J. and H. again and we made cheese. (Well attempted to.) It wasn't as straight forward as the recipe stated, so we will have to try again - but it was a great end to a fantastic weekend! We also made breakfast for dinner and watched Fantastic Mr. Fox, so all in all a very good night!

It has been a whirlwind of a month. New area, new apt., new job, new friends - a lot of it has been a pleasant blur.  I look forward to many more adventures in the near future!

-T