Our JOYous Stay-cation!

About two weeks ago just as Chris was finishing fixing our TV (it had been broken for about 4 months and we just got the part in!) we realized how hot it was in our house. The AC was set to 78 but it was about 84 in the house and every few minutes the temp was rising! Chris went out to the breaker box and saw that the switch was flipped. He then walked around the side of the house to look at the unit when, POOF it suddenly "explodes" spilling oil everywhere. Not good. Since the unit is only a few years old we knew most of it would be under warranty. For whatever reason the warranty company was ridiculous to work with leaving us sweating it out in our house for a few days before we gave up and moved out. We went on a"stay-cation". We spent one night with our wonderful friends, the Herrmanns before landing at the Wine's house for a full week!

You'd think with a toddler and infant living out of a suitcase at a friends place would be stressful, cramped, and irritating. NOPE! IT WAS GREAT! Good food, beautiful house, great friends, and a swimming pool! Of course we did not want to overstay our welcome and tried to be sensitive to giving Jeff, Joy and Hadley their family time, but we could not have stayed with a more gracious, welcoming, warm people. Not once did we feel un-welcomed or in the way. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

While there I got to spend time with my friend Joy and her beautiful little girl Hadley. I already had a lot of respect and admiration for Joy. I'm not sure I can describe her as wonderful as she is, but I will try... She is the kind of person that just makes you feel included, enjoyed, comfortable, special, and... better. She is warm, loving, fun, smart, approachable, and genuine. Hmm... I'm sure there are a ton of other words to describe her too, but I'll stop now because she is also super humble.

Since I was her "roomie" for a week I got to observe and learn some great things I thought I'd share with you!

Joy does the majority of her grocery shopping at Sprouts. A farmers market sort of store that sells mostly organic foods and has wonderful prices on produce. Yesterday I thought I'd try it out and was pleasantly surprised at how many fruit and vegetables I went home with. Everything was super fresh and super cheap. I will definitely be going back!

Joy is great at doing things the healthy way. She buys organic, uses reusable shopping bags, makes her own baby food, and uses Ecosense cleaning products. Ecosense products are eco-friendly, safe for your home, powered by nature and economical. You can find them here .

Joy's uncle wrote a book on studying the Proverbs. I really enjoyed talking with her about it and I am looking forward to starting it. It is called Foundations of Wisdom- The Book of Proverbs by Richard S Hockett. You can purchase it here.

Did you know you can get the pit out of an avocado by hitting it with a knife, twisting it, and pulling it out? I had no idea!

While there Joy went through my makeup and helped me figure out what was still usable and what should have been thrown out 6 years ago when I bought it! After giving me a makeover we went to the Laura Mercier counter at Nordstroms where her best friend Melissa was doing makeup. SO MUCH FUN. Melissa is amazing. And I loved it. Needless to say I bought a bunch and I am still working on my "technique". My favorite things are the tinted moisturizer and the eye primer.

By far one of my favorite things I've learned while at Joy's is Groupon! You HAVE GOT TO sign up for this. Groupon is a website that notifies you of "coupons" you can buy. For example, today I spent $25 and purchased a $50 GAP gift-card. Yep, that's right! Yesterday I spent $3 and purchased a $6 gift-card to Bergies Coffee in Old Town Gilbert. To sign up for Groupon or learn more click here.

Basically our "stay-cation" left me energized, refreshed, and ready to try new things. Thank you Joy for a fun week!