Italy Bound~ honeymoon!

It’s been a long time since I posted a blog! I’m still here and ready to jump back in.

Ben and I were married the last Saturday in April this year. We spent time thinking about where and when we wanted to go. Part of the process was, patiently, waiting for my passport to arrive. Patience is NOT part of my character. But, irregardless, wait I did.

Finally the passport arrived and Italy became IT! We decided to wait until October because that is considered beyond HIGH season.

The train fares have been pulled and noted to make transitions as easy as possible. Our base is Rome and everything will start from there. We are so excited about this trip to celebrate our marriage. After much research I selected a small bed and beverage to call “home.”

New Year in DC!

If life isn’t fun then there is something wrong with that! I have to refocus on mixing work with FUN. I haven’t spent much time Upshabby’g and I miss it! Time to get back headed in that direction.

I’ve got a fantastic project that I’m ready to start. This was something that occurred to me on this trip in DC! Mixing fun into my life needs to happen MORE!

Looking forward to getting back to Tempe tonight. I have the day off with Ben tomorrow but head to the airport tomorrow night.

Daisy dog/ girl we’ll be home tonight!

FLG- Flagstaff

Overall I loved Flagstaff. It reminded me of a mix of Bend OR, Tahoe and Tempe AZ. It was a gorgeous area and the airport was very small. What I didn’t realize was that their idea of “public transportation” and mine didn’t match. I was under the impression that there was bus service from the airport to downtown. That was incorrect. 

I take minimal cash with me on my day trips because the idea is to use the public transportation getting to and from the downtown and explore. This trip didn’t work out that way. I either had to take a taxi downtown or turn around and go home. I jumped in a taxi for the 7 mile ride to downtown. The driver gave me a “deal” for the $10 ride. 

In speaking with the driver I learned that yes FLG has bus service but it doesn’t go to the airport. That doesn’t make sense to me, but a lot of things don’t. After being there for a few hours it was time to decide how the bus system worked to navigate my way back to the airport. I saw the City of Flagstaff building and decided to drop in and get the information I needed.

That was so frustrating because the woman I spoke to at the Community Services desk had zero idea how to help me. Keep in mind that I worked at that same desk for the City of Euless back in TX. Not only did she not know BUT she wouldn’t ask anybody that might help me!

When I left that building (muttering things I will not repeat) I decided that I wasn’t going to risk more time trying to make sense of the unknown. I had 2 hours before my flight left and 6 miles was doable. Off I went. There was a guy working on a building that I stopped at to ask for help. He drew me a crude map to get back.

As I continued on I stopped for fast food to give me the energy to make the hill that I knew was coming. The trek was probably 2.5 miles on fairly flat road before the hill climb of the last 3.5. I knew I had worked when I finally arrived at the airport.

The good news is I got to the airport with time to spare. Loved the area and will go back. Bad news was it requires taxis to get downtown. The other option is to rent a car but I am solely interested in public transportation. Or a mix of public trans and my folding bike. The Schwinn Loop that I picked up was started by this experience. 

I give the area a 10 for atmosphere and “feel.” The downtown was very homey and felt like someplace called home. Public transportation is a 3 based on no bus service from the airport to downtown. My interaction with City of Flagstaff is a 1. It would be a 0 except she was present at the desk but uninterested in helping me to find a way to get back to the airport. 

I’m going back to FLG but this time I’ll take my Loop aka Lupe.

 

 

Year Anniversary? Oh how time flies!

Year Anniversary? Oh how time flies!.

Year Anniversary? Oh how time flies!

Upshabby has been fun AND I’ve enjoyed everything about it.;) Will continue to blog Upshabby, but there will be a twist of mixing my passion for travel into it.

Today I pick up a major piece of my traveling experiences. It will make the process of travel much more efficient and part of the BIG picture relying on hostels and public transportation. I’m loving the concept

If you’re interested in the next chapter of my blogs, please shoot me a message and I’ll give you more info prior to the 1st post later this afternoon. I chose the name for the blog when I first started working for the airline and began to travel.

Signed… Upshabby

Rolling w/ life’s changes…

I’m not sure where to even start with this. I’ve been a shadow on Upshabby. Not “gone” but faded into the background. We moved 23 miles a month ago. Most would think it’s no big deal but it seems like a whole different world. First, instead of 24 miles to the airport/ work… I’m 4.9 miles. I know that’s true because my car had issues in the employee lot the other day. Ben picked me up and the following day I rode my bike to meet the tow truck driver there.

This house is small but amazing. I’m still trying to get my head around how to fit all of our stuff in here and make it “efficient.” I hate living in constant chaos. I’ll just say its a work in progress. Love the misting system Ben installed in the back!

The swim job didn’t happen but it’s a good thing. He hadn’t been made aware of our move. Instead I’ll focus on finding a position in the Tempe/ Scottsdale area. My résumé is already out there. ❤

The wedding is quickly approaching in November my bride crew and I are going o NYC for a getaway. I’m super excited about that. I was under the impression that I was responsible for taxes and fees but not the cost of the flight. Unsure how I’m going to put this together but it’ll happen.

Things are fantastic! I had planned on going to San Diego but with the issue of my car I put that on the back burner. With the car issue and getting us to NYC, I’ve got to pick my battles.

If you follow, you’ll know that when you see a topic of a “foldable” then I’ve found another job to make my life a bit easier. I had been very clear with the swim owner that I had no desire to replace my airport job.

Hour glass sand timer~ life…

Oh my… things are so busy right now. I work at the airport so am constantly in motion. Often times it’s 125* in the bin! That’s where I prefer to spend most of my time as I deal with bags and NOT people.

Ben and I and Daisy are moving next week. We say good bye to the East Valley and hello to the West Valley. The house we’re going to up is smaller and older but I ❤ it! It reminds me of a former house that I owned. So the process is on to pack the house.

It feels like life has just been put on a timer. I was just offered the full time job yesterday. I’m in the negotiation process as it’s a huge time commitment. I’m looking forward to being back in the water but as GM my focus will be coordinating all the pieces from staffing to schedules, etc. fingers are crossed as it’ll help me pay off some personal bills before the wedding.

Wedding… even though we are still months away it feels like it’s at a break neck speed. Much of the basic coordinating is done. Have the venue, BBQ’R and photog are lined up. The new house puts us closer to the venue. I’ll also be 5miles from the airport instead of the 23. Happy about that!

I’ve been reminded why I need to focus on surrounding myself with people that care about me and love life like I do. Hostility and negative energy is NOT on my list of characteristics I need to be affiliated with.

Recap… New house~ check. New additional job~check. (I won’t leave airport.) Wedding~ check. Packing… back to it. Going to Portland to see bridesmaid in a few weeks~check!

Newest Upshabby’r

OMG! I got into Fresno yesterday at 330pm to see Karen. We’ve  been friends since 4th grade! One of those people that time elapses but when you get together it all fades. I asked Karen to be my maid of honor. Thankfully she took the “position.”

Imagine me flying out with a small carry on. Inside it has 2 dresses that I’d selected as wedding potentials. The idea in coming out was 2 fold. Have Karen help pick the dress and Upshabby!

When I tried the dresses on her response and input was priceless. “Why don’t you wear both of them?” They each fit like a glove and they’re great. When she said that I was immediately loving the idea.

Next was the Upshabby. It was her grandmother’s. Nice piece but needing some TLC. It’s not done quite yet as we are going to antique it with stain but it looks fanTasTic!

Should also mention that my bride crew and I are taking a 1st class flight to New York City to celebrate the wedding!

Try this again…

I started this post and somehow “lost” it. Try again. I’m flying out to see my Maid of Honor today. I work for the airlines so it’s not like it costs me money, if it did, I wouldn’t be able to go. 😦 Wedding is 9 months away and time is flying. We move this month to a community next door to the airport. Smaller house but vintage so it’s up my Alley, pun intended.

I threw out the message to my bride crew that I want to take a gal trip prior to the wedding! Just the 3 of us. Wasn’t sure how they’d respond because each has a family but I want to do it without all the stress.

No I’m not expecting a stressful wedding. On the contrary. Many of the details are worked out. I have the skewer mustaches for photo ops. The sparklers are fantastic. Those will coordinate with glow in the dark bubbles. Unsure how that’ll work but I have the bubbles now. I’ll add glow in the dark and take them with me to play with in Fresno.

Made amazing dirt cake by adding espresso powder. I’ll make that for Karen too. I want her to know what to expect when we get closer! Working on the catering. I don’t care about much but I want the BBQ to happen on site. The ambiance is what I want.

We’ll Upshabby while I’m there which is just the icing on the cake! Thumbs up for a fantastic trip of making memories by the pool!

 

Upshabby challenge~ look at things differently

Are you able to do this? Too many of us get caught in the “it’s not ‘perfect'” conundrum. Sorry mom but I blame that “training” on you.

Those of you that have any understanding of me know that regularly I’ll say “it’s not ‘perfect’ but I don’t live in perfect.”

The pic of the washtub was a stretch. I knew that I wanted metal buckets for our wedding reception. Those buckets are $20 ea. Most people would think “big deal” but not Upshabby. I’d rather spend that $60 on something that matters to us.

I found this antique washing machine cylinder on CL. It was in great shape for the task I wanted it for. Ice bucket anyone?

I brought it home and painted the lid and added the key logo on top. It made sense to me as Ben bought me a key charm that looks antique that hangs around my neck.

Getting back to the challenge of looking at things differently. The coffee table was trash! Not only was it thrashed BUT it had been oil painted. No fears. It was free to me and after I Upshabby’d, I sold it for $75.

There are several places within the blog that I’ve talked about how I do the transfers. I’ve asked people to “like” the Upshabby fb page. Even went so far as to say that if we went to xxx in likes I’d do a video tut on exactly how I do it.

Got a very few likes but I’m done with that. I feel like I’m begging people to allow me to teach them to get the same result. One person says, ” I don’t ‘follow’ but can you produce multiple for me to use?” Excuse me?

She knows who she is and she doesn’t read the blog so I needn’t be concerned. At some point I will do a tutorial but not yet. Feel free to send a message if you’re up for the challenge of looking at things differently.

Signed… Upshabby