The company flew us to Scottsdale, AZ on a Thursday morning. It was SOOO nice to leave Tulsa at 10:15am and arrive in Arizona at 10:55am! I LOVE gaining time!!!!! :) Here is the view from the flight. The mountains are BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!
Once we arrived at the airport, we called the resort to let them know we had arrived. We had a short wait before our shuttle arrived to take us into Scottsdale. And, of course, I knew it was a perfect time for a picture!!!!!! 
Once we were checked in at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort and got the bags into our suite, we decided it was time for some lunch!!!! It was 2pm Oklahoma time, after all! We hadn't eaten since 8am....but all the AZ clocks told me that it was only noon....I was wondering why I was so hungry!!!! We went to Remington's, the nicer steak/seafood restaurant on the resort property. It was SOOOO delicious!!!! I had Kobe beef sliders and Ken had catfish. However, we both agreed that our favorite was the pretzel rolls!!!!! YUM!!!!! They were AMAZING! Rolls that were pretzel dough and topped with salt!!!!! A-MA-ZING! :)After lunch, we went to Starbucks that was right across the street!!! I love going to bigger cities b/c they always have something different...even in chain-stores. What was different at Starbucks (for us, at least)??? Cake balls on a stick! Mini-layer cakes!!!! Mini- Turtle and Tirumisu desserts!!!!! YUM!!!!! It was the perfect little treat after lunch. I hope those make their way to Oklahoma....wait, no I don't....I will want to eat them! :) Then we went back to the room and crashed! We napped until it was time for us to get ready for our our first "business" event.
The company hosting the seminar had the entire evening planned for us. We all met over at the main lodge and loaded two huge charter buses. They bused us all into Phoenix to the U.S. Airways Center, where the Phoenix Suns play! We walked in and they had a red carpet laid out with Phoenix Suns Girls there to welcome everyone. Once we had everyone in the main concourse area, we were led downstairs and onto the the Suns' actual court!!!! From there, they walked us across the court and back underneath the arena and onto the practice court! At this point the President of the Suns came out and met us all...gave a little speech and then we proceeded back to the court and up the stadium to the club level. We were met with red and white wine, 4 buffet tables, and 4 OPEN bars!!! The buffets were full of roasted chicken, Caesar salad, wedge salad, huge ravioli, flat bread with tomato and mozzarella, asparagus, grilled vegetables, mashed potatoes, prime rib...and the dessert buffet was homemade ice cream (REALLY! They dipped it out of the maker!) with all the toppings for Banana's Foster!!!!!!! We were just in shock!!!! It was so much fun mingling and meeting people and just enjoying each others' company. 
The Practice Court:
The President of the Phoenix Suns:
From the Club Level:
Friday morning, Ken got up really early and headed to his all-day seminar. I, surprisingly, woke up around 8am, ordered room service, and sat on our patio for my quiet time. It was beautiful and I just LOVE LOVE LOVE that we had a private patio!!! I love experiencing new places and just spending time with the Lord! The weather there was just perfect. The mornings were slightly warm, afternoons were pretty hot, and the evenings/nights were cold! It was great! And I just have to say that my breakfast was FABULOUS!!!!!! :) 
Here are some pictures of our suite. Now the first picture you might find funny....we sure thought the room was funny when we walked in and saw TWO double beds!!!!! haha!!!! We made the most of it. Ken slept in one and I was in the other!!!! JUST KIDDING!!!!! :)
Here is the living area. Both the living area and the bedroom had TVs. Our little kitchenette was also in the living area, along with a workspace.
The resort was absolutely beautiful...and HUGE! It sits on 40-acres and has FIVE pools!!!!! I never thought I would like the mountains (b/c I am NOT a Colorado fan...hate the cold weather!!), but AZ changed my mind!!!!! Mountains and warm weather????? AWESOME!!!!!
Ken called and said that I could meet him for the lunch that was provided. After lunch, I got my swimsuit on and headed to the pool for a few hours. Ken was finished with his seminar at 4pm...and I was ready when he got back to the room. We had a full night ahead. There was a farewell cocktail party with an open bar and lots of yummy appetizers! At 6 pm, we loaded shuttles with our small groups and headed out to a local restaurant for dinner. We were taken to a wonderful place called Bobby's. We had some FABULOUS seafood!!!! Enjoyed great conversation and met some new friends. It was probably our favorite night of the event. 
Saturday was OUR day! We actually thought we were going to have more time to ourselves when we first heard about this trip. We didn't have any idea that there were going to be so many evening events until the night before we left. I usually drown myself in researching the city that we are traveling to so we can hit every single thing we want to do and see. We didn't have a huge budget for this trip, so we didn't do any doon-buggy, horseback, helicopter, or hummer rides. All of those seemed to be very popular in the desert and something we look forward to in the future. We improvised. :) First of all, we both wanted to be outside and enjoy the mountains. So, after room service for breakfast, we headed out on a hike. We walked around the grounds of the 40-acre resort before realizing how active-friendly Scottsdale is for people. We walked to one of the main roads that runs right next to the resort and realized the road took us all the way up into these beautiful neighborhoods. The reason I say its active-friendly is because there are wide sidewalks that line every street....I mean, EVERY street!!!! Everytime I travel, I constantly see other cities in other states that ENCOURAGE physical activity...it reminds me why Oklahoma has one of the highest obesity rates. Anyway---we LOVED LOVED LOVED our hike in the mountain neighborhoods! The houses were beautiful and we got a great workout!!!!! 
The famous Camelback Mountain:
Can you tell that it looks like a camel???? 
After our 2 hour walk/hike, we got dressed and headed to the Sports Bar HOPING that OSU would be on TV...sadly, it wasn't showing in AZ, but we did get to watch the first half of the TEXAS vs Nebraska!!!!! And TEXAS WON!!!! It was GREAT!!!!!! And we were sporting our ORANGE PRIDE!!!!!!
At half-time, we decided it was time for a little sight-seeing and shopping. We headed to Kierland Commons. It was awesome!!!! It was all outdoors and had all the great shops! I got to go to Anthropologie, West Elm!!!!, William-Sonoma Home and many other places that we only see in catalogs here in Oklahoma. We also got to eat at one of my favorite places....Tommy Bahama's! Most of the Tommy Bahama's stores just have clothes, but there are a few that have the restaurant attached...and its worth dining there! This was our "anniversary dinner" too!!!!
And, I can't leave out the fact that there were THREE Ferrari's parked while we were shopping. Ken was in heaven. Scottsdale residents definitely have fine taste in cars!!!! Not only did we see these Ferrari's, but we also saw a Bentley, a Maserati, a Lamborghini and quite a few top of the line Mercedes, BMW's and Lexus. NICE! :) 
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