Only when living in Arizona.....

Can you use the money your parents give you for a summer gift as a winter gift instead. 

Winter or summer, Alayna still loves it!

Can you say cheese?

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa L.  Layna loves her sandbox!

It feels like Fall

FINALLY!

I have been waiting -not so patiently waiting- mind you, for it to feel like Fall.  I 've had enough of the 100 degree weather and am ready for a "chill" in the air. 

And guess what?  Yesterday it happened.  Alayna and I walked outside to go teach cub scouts and it was chilly.  The wind was blowing and the air was crisp.  Now, it was still 62 degrees, but it is amazing how much colder 62 degrees feels compared to 100 degrees.  (It makes sense, since that is almost 40 degrees different.)

And get this, today I wore pants.  That's right, PANTS!  I never thought I would be so excited to wear pants....and a jacket.  It is the fair this weekend so there was a parade this morning and we wore our jackets.

Here's Layna at the parade.  She insisted that she have her hood on.  Don't worry, she wasn't as miserable as she looks.  In fact, I think she is telling me something.  She LOVED the parade...until the end when three fire engines had their sirens going non-stop.  L-O-U-D!

Can you believe, there were too many other cool things to look at besides me? 

 And here she was showing me her pockets.  "Mom, there's TWO pockets!"  I don't know why that small fact was so exciting, but it was.

Here's to cooler, crisp Fall days!

It's an Arizona thing

or otherwise titled "This is not how it is where I'm from"

I will just state the obvious first.  The weather. Obviously 112 degree weather is not the norm in Wyoming. 

But I should also mention the "monsoon season" that we're in.  I still haven't fully grasped what that actually means here, but I do know the temperature is lower (in the 90's) and the humidity is higher...as well as the short storms that roll in almost daily.

Shortly after we moved here, we went out to eat and were puzzled by the word "burro" on the menu.  There were all different kinds.  It took us a minute to realize that burro=burrito.  Who would have thought.  It's not a bean burrito.  It's a bean burro.  I don't know why.  I have asked several different people and they all just shrug their shoulders.

Green chiles.  They are BIG down here.  It's not just an Arizona thing.  I believe it is a New Mexico thing as well.  But they are in everything here.  The other day we went out to eat and I was brought the wrong hamburger.  But before I noticed it was the wrong one, I took a big bite and sure enough, there was a huge green chile on the burger.

This next one was just introduced to me and apparently I am crazy for not knowing this one.  A cheese crisp.  I remember wrinkling my nose and saying what?  (I thought it was some sort of dessert.)  Nope.  Couldn't be more wrong.  Apparently what I know as a quesadilla is also referred to as a "cheese crisp".  I really had no idea.

I have to mention the lower elevation.  Clearly, that is not just an Arizona thing, but I am finding lower elevation+lots of sun=less (as in I think one) sunburn for a certain redhead.  Apparently I can get somewhat of a tan if I don't live at 7200ft.  And by somewhat of a tan, I mean more freckles and slightly darker than porcelain white skin.  Redheads, you know what I'm sayin, right?

Lastly (for now), the cotton fields.  We moved here just as they were harvesting the cotton.  And I was curious to see cotton grow. It really is quite intriguing to me.  I simply LOVE the green that all the cotton fields add to our community.

The big move

Just feelin' like I need to document that we did in fact actually move.

With the chaos of of life, I failed to really talk much about our move.

But here's some pictures to prove that we did move 1000 miles away from Laramie.

The mountain of boxes in the living room of our old apartment.

Us just minutes before we headed out. There were at least three people taking pictures of this momentous occasion. :)

The big truck. Dan offered to let me drive this beast, but I politely declined.

Can you blame me?

First thing's first

I finally uploaded the pictures on my camera from Alayna's birthday 'til now.

And all I have to say is whoa!

I have some major catch-up to do, which I realize is never all that fun for you blog readers, but maybe you'll cut me some slack since you will be hearing about Alayna's Halloween a month late and you won't mind as much now because fifty million other people aren't blogging about the same exact thing. Right? I hope so anyway.

But first thing's first around here. Before I overload you with pictures of Alayna, I wanted to say THANK YOU! Thank you for your kind comments, emails, instant messages, and phone calls!!! I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family. We truly are blessed. Our family is getting into the swing of our new life in Arizona and we're healing. We really are doing well.

And when I say we are adjusting to our new life. It really is in so many ways true. Over the last couple weeks since we moved into our house I have begun to notice the changes.

For one, Dan works a COMPLETELY different schedule than he ever did before. He now is on shift work. Which means he works 12 hour shifts, sometimes days and sometimes nights. (They alternate.) Although he doesn't work more than four days/nights in a row, he does get some great time off in between and once a month he gets seven days off in a row, which is really quite awesome. Coming from a family where my Dad is a professor (amongst many other things: heating and a/c guy, landowner, builder, etc.), this is foreign to me, but Alayna and I are adjusting to this schedule. Since Dan works in a town an hour away, we are really finding that the days can get long (14 hours), but somehow we are making it work just fine. I'll admit, I am having to rethink how to keep Alayna entertained for the two hours after dinner before Dan gets home. I'm so used to Dan being around then, but we're getting there.

Not having to share walls/ceilings/floors with neighbors has been, well, glorious! I will admit that there have been sometimes that I have dropped something and silently apologized to the "downstairs neighbors" that don't exist, only to realize we are it. We don't have to worry about neighbors, unless they come knocking on your door in their pajamas because their two-year-old locked them out, but I wouldn't know how that feels....

Oh, and maybe one of the biggest changes lately is the fact that I am potty training Alayna. I figure, I don't have a church calling, I don't know very many people-yet, we live 15 minutes out of town....why not? I'll let you know if I am still feeling that way by the end of the week. Maybe it won't be that great of an idea.

Oh, and I can't end my post without saying a little something about the temperature change. I hear there is snow up where we came from, but I wouldn't say that's an issue here. On Saturday it was in the 80's and a temple worker told me that I am probably liking the weather here compared to Wyoming, but it's "getting a little cold" for her liking. Crazy!

So there you have it. Things are different, but good.



P.S. Be prepared for lots of pictures in the posts to come.

We made it, and we're still alive!

So, we're here. In Thatcher, Arizona that is. 980 miles away from our beloved Laramie.

After 20 hours on the road, we made it and still lived to tell the tale. Alayna did so good. She was AMAZING in fact. After one break down (20 minutes of crying in the car) on the first day of traveling, she seemed to get the idea that we were going to be in the car for quite sometime, and she seriously was so awesome. We couldn't have asked for a better little traveling girl.

So now we are on to the next big task. Finding a place to live. While we were thinking that it wouldn't be too terribly bad, it hasn't, but I will say that it hasn't been all that amazing either. Luckily we are staying with some family friends right now, so we don't have to worry about staying in a motel and their daughter, that also lives here, has let us unload all of our stuff into her garage, so we don't have to pay longer for the U-haul or find some sort of storage. AND we get home cooked meals instead of fast food night after night. So really our situation is good and they are incredibly helpful. They really are just so wonderful.

But the down side is finding a place to live in a timely manner. That just hasn't been happening. While the valley that we now live in is comparable to the size of Laramie (maybe just a bit smaller, actually) there just aren't that many places to rent. And call us crazy, but we kind of want something nice to live in. For example: preferably no cockroaches. Please. Dan may or may not have seen some of them in a place that we looked at. Granted, they were dead. But dead or alive, I don't want them in my house. On the other hand we have seen a few very nice places, but time is not working on our side. I think we may be learning a lesson of patience, as Dan put it.

Anyway, we are here. We are doing good. And we are on the hunt for a place to live. Keeping us in your prayers would be much appreciated! I know we have been praying our little hearts out. Thanks!

FYI: More posts to come. A lot has gone on these last two weeks. It's unbelievable. Hope you don't mind a little catch up. :)

Some Thoughts

• So we have a starting date. Yahoo! I think both Dan and I were beginning to think we would be in the limbo stage forever. We knew we had a job, just didn't know when we would be starting...therefore we didn't know when we would be moving, which ultimately means....when should we start packing?! Anyway, October 25 is the starting date. (We will probably be leaving around the middle of the month to get down there to look for housing.)
• The middle of the month is so soon. Yikes! I am actually feeling a little nervous about leaving family this time. More for Alayna's sake. She loves "Maama's house" (Grandma's house). She has her friends from church that she plays with during the week as well.
• I find it kind of ironic that it will take me leaving Wyoming to live in a small town. And by small, I mean 10,000 or less. I am nervous about that as well.
• One of the first questions I asked Dan when he told me about this job was, "Is there a Target?" When we found out how small the towns were I said, "So, are you saying that there's no Target?" Seriously, I want a Target. Every town that we have lived in besides Laramie has had a Target. I think it's what got me through. Just kidding. I just really like Target. (Can I type the word Target any more times in this bullet?)
• Now that you know what my main concern was, I'll tell you Dan's. Hunting. One of the first things he said was, "I wonder if they have good hunting down there." I am thinking that his question probably has a better outcome than my hoping there will be a Target.
• Let's talk about my small town jitters for a minute. When I told Dan that I was nervous about living in a small town, he replied, "Why? I would think you would be more nervous about living in a city than in a small town." Remember, we're talking about the guy that comes from a small town (like 1200 people small town). I think I will get no sympathy here. I told him I am afraid that I will have nothing to do. I then proceeded to make sure that there was at least a Wal-Mart. You can imagine my sigh of relief when I found out there is one because really, I don't think I would know what to do if there wasn't one. Laugh at me if you want, but I am being honest here. :)
• When we moved back to Laramie, I swore I was not going to get too attached to the fact that my family lives here. Let me explain. We had Alayna away from family. We adjusted to parenthood on our own and knew how it was to have to find babysitters (that are not family), and basically not rely on our parents all the time. We couldn't just stop by if Alayna was wanting to get out. Knowing that our time near family was temporary made me want to try to not get used to the easy babysitting, and place to go if we needed a little time away from home. But let's just face it. I don't think it's possible. I will admit it. I think I am definitely going to feel the change when we move. Alayna is going to miss her Jordy (Jordan), Sahah (Sarah), Aam (Adam), Bampa (Grandpa), Maama (Grandma), Cici (Easton. It's a long story as to why his name is shortened to that.), Kendree, Wonnie (Ronnie), Ka-ee (KaLee), Nonnor (Connor), Craig, Sissa (Karissa), and Phil.
• Despite all my little worries, I truly am excited to start our new adventure in Arizona. I honestly do like the heat and when someone compared the heat in Safford to the heat in St. George, I was excited! I loved St. George and I hope we will feel the same way about Arizona.

A warmer climate

Ok. Ok. Now that I've "left you hanging long enough" as my Aunt put it...

(I'm sorry. It was not intentional. Let's just say that the blogging in our house normally gets done during nap time, and a certain someone has refused to take their nap the last couple of days.)

I will finally let you in on the secret.

Our little family will soon be living in

ARIZONA!!!

More specifically the Thatcher/Safford/Pima/Morenci area. (We're not sure which town yet. We still need to find a place to live.)

It looks like the Lord thinks we need to live in a warmer climate. First St. George, now Arizona.

We couldn't be more excited! Minus the fact that our family will be 14 hours away.

Dan will be working as a Diagnostic Diesel Technician for a copper/gold mine.

So there you have it. Our big news.

*As of now, Dan's starting date is pending until he passes the physical and drug test that he took a couple of days ago. Once we find out more details of our big move, we'll be sure to keep you in the loop. :)