Another Good Day :)

I had a beautiful day and evening with wonderful company today.

My day started with me waking early around 7:30am and leaving home a little after 9am to pick up Tony for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Oh my gosh, they make the BEST hashbrown casserole! If you love hashbrowns... it's a must try! I will so go back for more! I had a yummy scrambled egg and cheese sandwich on sourdough bread with the hashbrown casserole and cannot, must not leave out the fried apples! Mmmmm yum! It was so delicious! Tony had biscuits and gravy which are oh so yummy too! I've had that before there too. I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu there. At least I haven't the times I've been there.

Want the recipe? http://www.recipezaar.com/70239

And here's another http://www.grouprecipes.com/20878/hashbrown-casserole.html

Then we were off to the hospital/lab for blood work for Tony. Then made a couple stops, one of them at Office Max and the bank. Tony is the absolute BESTEST... (yep BESTEST Tony...lol, I know it's not right english...but I luv it!) because he bought me Quicken software so I may be better at budgeting my finances and for preparing for the future etc. I've been wanting this program for a long time now and TONY you are AWESUM and soooooo SWEET for purchasing this for me. I sooooo appreciate it. And then I'll get all started with Pay Trust (is that right? I keep forgetting the name) so I can have my bills paid automatically each month regularly so I don't forget this bill or that bill here and there. Which as my mom has helped me for a long time since I am quite forgetful in this dept. So I'm very excited to get started with this soon.

I am waiting until my next paycheck to purchase the newest and updated Office software so Tony will have that and then he'll give me his older version since my needs are much smaller when it comes to using the software. We've agreed to go half on it and that way we are both benefitted. So any students out there willing to help us? Having a student purchase it for us, there is a HUGE GIGANTIC savings discount and we need that discount. So I will be contacting my student friends real soon :) Tony and I will pay cash for this program. This way I will be able to use MS Word, MS Excel etc. Yay!








So can you tell where we went next? YEP we went out to the Phoenix Zoo today! It was a gorgeous day for it and apparently a lot of other people had the same idea. It was a busy day there with lots of people. We had a blast! Sadly the black panther above passed away within a week ago so we didn't get to see him/her. But we sure had fun seeing all the other animals. Oddly enough, we never had a chance to see the mountain lion cubs we were hoping to see. It dawned on us as we were in the shop before the exit of the park that we hadn't seen them. So we hope to make it out there real soon again for another visit and then see the cubs for sure!

Unfortunately we arrived at the zoo not as early as we had hoped as all the animals had eaten their lunches and were all pretty much sunbathing and taking naps. Lol. They were still sooooo cute and fun to be there to see them all nonetheless but we hope to make it there much earlier next time to see them when they are all active and before they've had their lunches.

I really enjoyed watching the giraffes eat their lunches and to be so up close to them. I have always been fascinated by them, just not as much as I was today being so near them. They are so cute and fun to watch eat... lol.

I also enjoyed having Tony as my tour guide. He has been to the zoo so many times as he has a membership with the zoo and has learned a lot about each animal there. So I was able to learn something about almost all the animals we saw together today. That made the visit that much more special, thank you Tony. Mwah! Mwah! :)

Of course as I've always loved tigers and lions - and any animal from the big cat family... I loved seeing them... only they were all spread out napping as we arrived at their dwelling places. I had to chuckle each time... and I could just imagine myself curling up beside one of those large cats and just cuddling and napping with them. Ahhh if only ...

The bears napping looked really cute too. Haha. And of course all the monkeys... all the different kinds... but they were all sooo cute.

Oh my gosh, we were able to look into this huge aquarium and see these gigantic fish that had grown quite large because they grow up to fit near the size of the aquarium they are being held in and dwelling. Oh wow... to see the size of fish that are normally smaller size ... was amazing and fascinating! I about did a double take when I saw how big the fish were and my mouth about hit the ground. It was cool to see the reactions of not only the other adults but the children as well. It was fun.

I wanted to comment on what my favorite would have been... but the more I think about it, I can't say. I enjoyed each and every animal for each of their uniqueness and beauty. Had a great time and can't wait for the next visit!

Then I was picked up at my place from one of the SWAT Gals (Kimber) and her other two friends as well. And we met up with three of the other SWAT Gals (Laura, Chalysse, and Pam) in Phoenix for dinner/dessert at Mary Coyle's (at 7th Ave and Camelback area). We had a marvie time as always! I soooooo love my SWAT Gals. We always have a roaring time together and sooooo need the rejuvenation and laughter I get from seeing my dear gals. I think we have two more members (Shayna-spell? and Georgia) - you gals have been initiated into the group! Yay! We love our group and are the dearest of friends! My cup is so full again! :)

So here I am typing away to let you all know what a great day I had and wonderfully blessed I am to have such lovely friends and a great man in my life! I love you all so very much and with all my heart. Thank you for the difference you each make in my life.

BIG HUGZ and LOTSA LUV :)