My goodness, did this faire go by quickly!

This happens a lot really, festivals go from “just beginning” to “almost over” in a blink of an eye. Suddenly, this creates the need for getting everything done that you have been putting off or saying “Yeah! Let’s do that soon.”

News flash, soon is always soon until it becomes now.

As such, the two of us have been making a concerted effort to get a lot of experiences in and accomplish our goals of really enjoying the places we are fortunate enough to visit in our line of work.

Sometimes, the action comes to you! We were present for a lovely wedding ceremony between two friends at the Monday Morning Bazaar on site. A couple hundred friends gathered and there was a brief ceremony which was succinct, touching and moving. The best of luck to the new couple as they begin their new life together!

We then proceeded to tackle the 2-week span of seemingly nonstop birthday celebrations. There were almost a dozen different birthdays all within this span (including mine and several good friends as well) and so we found some opportunities to find new experiences through those! To celebrate our friend Kendra’s bday, we went to the Phoenix Zoo. Having never been to this zoo before, I really appreciated how the whole place felt like a nature walk with exotic animals rather than the typical display-to-display presentation of most zoos.

This guy, right?

For my own birthday, we began the Rennie-vation project to revamp the interior of Condotron. Almost a dozen friends showed up at different times to lend a hand or just hang out. We disassembled all of the cabinetry (incredibly tedious and time-consuming), painted all of the surrounding wood, spray painted the hardware to a new silver sheen, and then reassembled everything back together. It took a lot longer than planned but we now have the fire lit under us and want to get more done as soon as we buy more paint! It was a great start to the project and I’m so grateful to have so many friends willing to come and help out.

Looking good and more to come! Happy birthday to me!

And so the excursions and experiences continued on. I took Finn to the Cosmo Dog Park in Gilbert, AZ. This super spacious park had a very large water feature that dogs could swim in. It even had a little pier. Finn didn’t really know what to do with the water. He loves wading out there but actually diving in is not his particular cup of tea yet. Maybe with a bit of training and practice, he can become more of an aqua-dog! Regardless, we had a great time, he made tons of friends and we are looking forward to going back to the park soon.

Dear God....My little puppy brain can't process this much amazing...

Other experiences managed to find their way in. We walked in the St. Paddy’s Day parade they had on site (a fun gathering of Rennies who walked the paths of the festival celebrating the day) and threw potatoes like confetti as we went by.

The festival St. Paddy's Day Parade!

We even went to Tucson to visit the University there, my alma mater. The campus was lovely as always, we even got lunch with my high school and college friend Mike. Alleigh found the Alpha Phi house on campus and Finn enjoyed being walked extensively. Meeting up with our old Chicago roommate and friend was the icing on the cake. It’s really fun to meet up with friends from other states in other states. Yet another perk of our traveling lifestyle!

Campus still looks gorgeous!

Spent 3 years in this dorm! Great times and memories

Phi-Bear!

All in all, we are looking at about 1 week left here in Arizona, 2 days of which are festival days. In the time remaining, there’s a million things to do and also very little at the same time. Since everyone is running around getting ready to go, a lot of social gatherings are postponed or canceled and everything seems to carry the air of urgency.

We can’t wait to begin the next leg of the adventure with our Los Angeles journey. Meanwhile, we are going to soak up every last bit of Arizona we can in the days remaining. There is something to be said about that sense of urgency and departure; it really makes you not want to waste time and make every experience count. I think it heightens our appreciation and gratitude for everything, thus leading to a more fun experience everywhere we go! Carpe diem and such!

Many more roads to go!