I was in Utah four days last week, got home on Friday night and left again Sunday evening and shall return on Friday. After that, the travel should end and become very spotty at best for awhile.

Jina was sick late last week and over the weekend, so mostly I took care of Lyla and Jina got to rest both days I was home. I was so glad to do it…she’s been taking care of everything at home and that can get old, tiresome and boring. Plus when you are sick…it’s brutal.

Lyla is so independent now, so stubborn…she’s a handful when she’s not feeling good or needs extra attention. Sometimes she’ll be on her own for hours, othertimes she demands so much from you. Been loving her temper tantrums of late where she dances for a few seconds before sucking in a ton of air and letting it out in a major crying fit of rage *grin*

But she’s also amazing right now too, this phase of her life is so great. A few weeks ago I taught her how to say “Rain” and now she pretty much knows WHEN to say it too. She brought Jina one of Jina’s slippers from the closet the other day, so Jina asked her to go get the other one. Off she went and returned with the matching slipper! Amazing right?

She can also reach the doorknobs in the house now…and is about an inch away from being able to open them on her own. Yikes.

There is so much more, but no time to write much else. Just a quick update while I’m on break up here in Salt Lake City. Hope you enjoy the pictures below!

This above one was shot on Sunday afternoon a little before I left for the airport. This photo actually made Approver’s Choice on Wunderground.com! Was a fun shot…set the tripod, had 10 seconds to run ahead and pose…also was a bit tricky to get the clouds right. Had to actually combine two layers to get the foreground lit up and the clouds dark and ominous!

This is Lyla’s first time out in the rain on her own. She loves it…she just stood there and laughed a few times. I had to drag her inside from the cold.

Jina bought this tricycle quite a few years before Lyla was even conceived…as something just in case we had a kid someday. A few weekends ago, our friend’s daughter found it and rode around. We put Lyla on it and she loved it. On Sunday, she went out the frontdoor, into the garage and stood right next to it. Hint hint daddy!

As you can see, her feet are nowhere near the pedals…but she likes being pushed around on the thing. It’s amazing to me how old she looks here…growing up so fast.

Also our friends in Austin (Dave, Josie, Collin, Drew and a “coming soon”) last night had TWO tornadoes reported within miles of their house. I alerted them about an hour before the storms hit (because I have issues), and was watching it the entire time on radar.

They made it through safely, although it was a bit frightening!

Okay, so I am always  on this site Wunderground.com for their radar, my weather station and the photos posted from the community.

I love this one taken near Farson, Wyoming yesterday.

This one was taken in Laramie, Wyoming…the cool part of the photo is that a storm had just passed and the ground is littered with hail.

And today we had some record-breaking wind speeds. By record-breaking, I mean by my own weather station in the limited time I’ve had it. We had a gust of 14 mph earlier in the month, but that was bested by the 18.1 mph we got today.

The weather station uploads to Wunderground.com and so far, not including Monday, these are the trends for the month:

Now, as I said in the opening, the thing was working flawlessly. And in fact, it still is, but there is a problem with my placement of the temperature sensor.

I have it up on the roof, in a little cove that faces north. It doesn’t get direct sunlight, which is a bonus. However, a few days last week I noticed that my temperature HIGHS were running about 5-6 degrees higher than the two OTHER weather stations that are within two miles of me.

I took up another temp gauge to the spot on the roof and sat there for a bit. Sure enough, both of them matched. So that meant my sensor was OKAY.

But what it really meant was that my spot for it sucked. There must be some sort of heat bubble that forms up there from sunlight being reflected off the ceramic tiles.

So I’m looking for a new spot and will try and do that this weekend. I’m thinking the east side of the house, in the backyard, but who knows.

For awhile I’ve had a little tiny home weather station, which is basically just a remote temperature gauge that shows the temp outside as well as the one inside. Boring, but it was cool. I also had a manual rain gauge outside where I track the rainfall all year by logging the amount of precipitation we get anytime it rains.

Enough of these archaic and ancient tools! Time to move into the modern age! I present to you, the La Crosse Technology WS-2315AL Wireless Weather Station.

It was a gift from Jina, who told me at Christmas that one of my presents was to go out and find a cool weather station for myself. Thank you babe!

You can see from the picture to the right that this thing is pretty fancy. But it IS the cheapest of its kind out there, which is a good starting point for me.

Basically you get four pieces: A wind speed sensor, a rain gauge, a temperature/humidity/dew point sensor and then an indoor display.

Actually, there is a fifth piece: It can all be connected to your computer for logging. Which means you can PUBLISH it on a website as well, even professional weather sites out there like Wunderground.com.

I’ll be able to provide weather data online for those who choose to view it. And for myself to see when I’m not at home. There are actually two other guys with weather stations within a mile of my house.

I’ve always been annoyed when I’m out of town and have no idea how much it’s rained…well, now I can see it from anywhere!

The station comes today, Monday, and I cannot wait to set it up. Of course, the setup process isn’t going to be easy. I need to install the three remote sensors in good spots on the roof, meaning some work will be going into that.

Stay tuned for more updates! I know you are all excited to hear more about it!

Nothing fancy, I’m no photographer, but I liked the contrast of the sign with the dark clouds in the background.

When I first put up the new theme, it had a default “flower” kind of header up top and someone suggested I put something up there that was more “me”…so I grabbed a weather picture, because if any of you know me, a picture of a cloud is definitely ME.

It’s just about enjoying it.

Today has been one of those days that is worth remembering. It was chilly this morning, overcast and drizzly. I love it when it’s like this, but yesterday had been rainy all day and I was sort of ready to see it clear up a bit. We talked about going to dinner tonight, maybe sitting outside on a patio, but with the clouds and rain, it was a bit too cold.

I had to run a package to the FexEx store this morning, and it was still cloudy, but the rain had stopped. So I took the top off the Jeep, piled the dogs inside and we went for a ride. They loved it. Stopped at a park, they went running all over the place as if they hadn’t been out of the house in months.

Which is actually true.

But just driving in the cool temperatures was relaxing and awesome.

It didn’t take long for the skies to clear and the sun to come out. And the temperature rose, not too high, but to an absolute perfect 71 degrees.

I’ve been trying to work this afternoon, but every so often I have to go and sit outside on the patio. The wind picked up, so my trees sound so soothing as they blow in the breeze. The sun keeps you just warm enough not to get cold, and the air feels heavenly. Every now and then the light dims as a lone cloud blocks the sunlight.

It even smells good out there.

These are the kinds of days that make me feel close to God. Heck, heaven could be amazing, but I almost am hoping that if I ever get there someday, I’d like to be perpetually in a place that is like today.

Relaxing, eyes closed…just feeling the rush of the wind around you, the sound of the leaves swooshing back and forth and the wind chimes on our patio playing their soft music.

It’s basically my perfect day out there. The only way it could possibly get better would be a brief thunderstorm rolled through, reminding you that while God created this peaceful day just for me, he can also turn it on its head in a moment’s notice.

Not sure what compelled me to write this…it’s just how I get when it feels like heaven sitting outside on a lawn chair.

When you’ve suffered through a record number of days over 110 degrees, there is truly a “fall” for Phoenix residents.

Monday morning I drove to work for the first time without air conditioning since who knows when. It was 62 degrees at 5:30 in the morning and absolutely beautiful out. Even my drive home was only 85 and I still didn’t turn on the A/C.

It was 60 this morning here and I’m working at home with the sliding door open and the outside temperature at 10am is just now matching the 75 I have it set to inside.

This is the beginning of what I think is the best time to be in Arizona. Most come for the heat and to get away from the snow, but being outside in the evenings with temps in the 70′s is just perfect.

Should really help me with one of my 101 Things To Do: #78 – Read an entire book outdoors this winter.

[tags]phoenix,arizona,fall,weather[/tags]

Local AZ Radar

Henriette radar loop

Projected path

Amazingly, this Pacific storm is coming straight up Mexico and into Arizona, or so they predict. It wont be a hurricane, but it should still be a tropical storm or at least a tropical depression.

What does that mean? Rain and stuff! Probably Friday – Sunday maybe…check out the predicted path to the left. I’ll keep you guys updated.

Monsoon sunset 1 – the first shot

Monsoon sunset 2 – getting darker

Monsoon sunset 3 – just a spooky, dark color

Monsoon sunset 4 – the lines here are amazing

Monsoon sunset – Panoramic 1

Monsoon sunset – Panoramic 2

Hope you enjoy them…was simply one of those moments when you truly see God in nature. It was absolutely spellbinding for me.