2 People, 4 Cats and a Dream: Arizona House and In-N-Out Burger!

Jodi: My aunts, Carol and Jan, are hysterical people. Back in November of '07 we were out in AZ a week or so before the CFP(R) exam. I studied all day and they took my grandmother out and did fun stuff. I don't know what kind of stuff, I was busy cramming. They came home each night and we all did dinner together. We would sit around and chat and laugh for an hour or so, and then it was back to studying. Call it CFP(R) delirium, call it lack of sleep, but one night we decided it would be pretty funny if Aunt Jan was the pope. The quick backstory is that my aunt is very devoted to the church and volunteers and helps people any way she can. She's currently studying to be an EMT. Aunt Jan is like the patron saint of Minnesota, but she would NEVER admit that. My dad's brother, Uncle Bill, (who you will see in a minute) had a dream that Aunt Jan was the pope, which we all thought made sense, but Jan found hilarious. She's also very modest. So I ordered her a pope costume and had it delivered to her house. I mean isn't that the obvious thing to do?

Carol and Jan took a bunch of pictures back in MN of Jan doing all the funny pope stuff that we thought up that night in Arizona. She swung on a rope swing and was "Pope on a rope". She even walked on water...

Or stood on a bucket in the lake in her backyard. They photoshopped out the bucket.

They also re-decorated the hallway of family pictures at the house in AZ. Here's a picture from my parents' wedding.

That's my dad, Uncle Bill, Uncle Phil, Aunt Jan, Grandma and Grandpa, the inventor of Individually wrapped slices of cheese. Seriously.

I guess defiling old family pictures isn't new in my family.

Uncle Bill, the guy who started it all with the pope dream.

I'm sure we'll re-decorate again, so these are some "before" pictures.

Here's a look on the outside of the house. There are a bunch of jackrabbits that live in a prickly pear in the back.

This is the cactus my brother sat on when he was still in diapers. Yes, that was lucky.

Isn't it calm and pretty? That's why we love to go out there an relax.

We also love to go out there so we can go to... In-N-Out Burger! The best fast food chain EVER! My buddy Nate in Sacramento introduced me to them when I was out visiting him and his wife, Shannon, back in 2003. Randy and I are completely addicted. You know we love Chik-fil-a, but you can't eat chikin all the time. Once again, if you live in the southwest, this is probably no big deal to you. Or it's like Wawa to us in Philly. Anyway, if you have any trips coming up to AZ, California, Nevada, certain areas in Texas, etc., check out In-N-Out Burger (no Clockwork Orange references intended, you sickos). The food is fresh, the restaurants are clean, and the menu is plain and simple. Burgers and fries. The fries are sliced from fresh potatoes and fried in vegetable oil. They don't use microwaves, freezers, or heat lamps, or over-process their food. They also fight child abuse through the In-N-Out Burger Foundation. They "do good" in every sense of that phrase. And they have bible quotes on the bottom of each cup. No, this isn't a commercial for In-N-Out burger, but when we find a place we love, we want everyone to know about it! If you're going to indulge in really yummy burgers, fries and milkshakes, you might as well feel good about doing it :)