Seeing the angle of this first picture, you might be able to deduce that I was in a plane when it was captured. You’re right!

This past week I took my first flight ever and went over to Arizona to visit some of my best friends! I hadn’t been to Arizona before so I hadn’t seen their new home they’ve been in for 2 years now.

I flew from Oklahoma to Arizona on Thursday with a friend who would stay in Phoenix area while my other friend picked me up to take me back to her small mountain town. That was a pretty exhausting morning with my anxiety building up til flight time and then nothing eventful happening which eased all that anxiety I was feeling. It was a great experience for a first flight and so much easier than I ever imagined. I’ve always had a huge fear of flying and never thought I would see myself on a plane one day. Since I can’t drive myself to Arizona in a few hours, a flight was really my only option here. I was able to conquer my fear and actually enjoy the ride!! It opens up so many opportunities for me now.

The Phoenix airport was huge. Like… it looked like a mall inside. I didn’t know what I expected, but that wasn’t it, LOL.

>>>some pictures of the trip to small town America<<<

Notice palm trees that were only in Phoenix and nowhere else in my visit to Arizona.

THEY HAVE A QUIKTRIP. I felt like I was in Oklahoma for a second as we passed by.

Thursday my friends gave me a tour of the town and introduced me to their cat.

My friends cat was ADORABLE. She was so friendly, social and playful. Machie pretty much wanted to play at any time. She woke up ready to play, it was hilarious.

Another point for the memes was the controversial terminology. Is it a small lake or a large pond? Hmmm…

Said “lake” pictured below….

Friday we went a town over where we went to some gift shops and specialty stores – like one had all types of honey. Later we did some gardening and also had a 32 race MarioKart tournament. I did not win.

On Saturday morning we went to the town’s Farmer’s Market that they have every Saturday for a few hours in the morning. They sell different items, from food to handmade craft items.

After the market and some other errands, our friend from New Mexico came over to spend the weekend with us as well. I hadn’t seen him in 4 years!

The neighbors had a cookout and cornhole set up that they had invited all of us to. That was a lot of fun for all of us. The cornhole tournament was all in fun and was actually hilarious at times. The neighbors were great people and the food was delicious.

After that we went to the dairy place to get shakes or drinks and just hung out there for a bit before heading over to the park (by the lake…) and attending the outdoor concert. There were So many people there. It was a great atmosphere. We spent time talking and laughing and enjoying the music. The weather was absolutely beautiful. It couldn’t have been better. It actually got chilly.

After the concert we went back to the condo for even more MarioKart and games.

Sunday morning started off with church service which was beautiful. Great music and convicting sermon on communication.

My friends husband pastors youth during the second service so the three of us headed over to a coffee shop and played Sequence which she taught us until he was out of church. We went to a restaurant called Mackey’s Grill which was a hoppin’ place!! The food was great there too.

Shortly after we went on a hike. I had never hiked before so I was a total noob. I had my walking shoes and hat on, carrying water. I was hoping for a short hike, but even though it was a bit longer than I had anticipated, it was a huge accomplishment and I felt like I really achieved something. The hike was mostly beautiful minus the time I saw a snake slither up the rocks where I was trying to climb to get a better view. Nope. Not going off the path ever again. The guys tried to find it but it must have gotten into a crack in the rocks and disappeared while I was trying to get back down, LOL. I don’t know if they fully believed me but I know what I saw!

Sunday came to an end way too fast. I don’t know if any of us wanted the day to end because myself and our friend from New Mexico were both leaving Monday morning. We stayed up late playing games and chatting.

What did that result in? I couldn’t fall asleep til like 1am and then didn’t want to wake up but I did about 6:20am.

If there was a way to make that weekend longer…

How it went though was that I had a flight back home at 11am waiting on me and a few days full of memories that will get me through til the next time.

There were a ton of clouds on the flight back home so here are a couple of those.

It was such a great trip and much needed vacation time. I didn’t think about work to do lists, I did a little bit of reading on the plane and in the early morning before others woke up, but most of it was just going with the flow and relaxing. I can’t wait to go back and do it again!

Shoutout to the amazing friends who made the time to show me around, immerse me in their life for a few days and also the friends willing to drive 5-6 hours to spend time together! It was the best time. I value our friendship so much. We’ll have to do it again. ❤️