Stage 2 of Operation "Arizona Transplant"

The last few weeks have not been the greatest. It's not the mood-booster most people would like to read, but alas, it's happening. It's taken me forever to do because we haven't had internet for a while.

Cool Cars

Scottsdale is ridiculous. Everywhere you look there are cars that cost more than our townhouse did. We've seen multiple Rolls Royces. And since I go everywhere with dudes now, cool cars are drawn to my attention more. (If it weren't for them "oohing" and "ahhhhing" I might not even notice the cool cars at all.) Case in point, here is a picture of Dallin, Jon, Breman, and Spencer all checking out the Ferrari and whatever that blue one is. 

So, I decided to start up a little photo collection. 

These are not even a fraction of all the stupid cars people buy around here. I don't understand it at all. 

The Grand Opening

Everyone was so nervous the weekend before the first day that the office opened. I don't even work there and I was nervous. The anxiety mood in the house was practically palpable. Anyway, they all had a run-through of the schedule of the first day at the office, and I went along. Here is poor Jake setting up thousands of computers... (he must be the most patient person on the planet because he doesn't seem bugged by it at all). Anyway, I've only been there twice now, but so far it seems like it's going well. No one seems overly stressed anymore, I think it was just the anticipation of starting it up that freaked people out. (Including Dallin)

They took a picture on their first day with all the people they hired. Dallin said that they've done some exercises in training to get people to talk about themselves and all become friends. And they have to do with having a good attitude too because sometimes working at a call center is a grind. So he said that people were sharing the things they're grateful for, and people were saying the craziest things. It was an eye-opening experience for Dallin because one person said that they used to be homeless and they're just grateful they have a roof over their head now. Part of it was to write down 3 things you're grateful for and do one random act of kindness every day for 21 days, and Dallin said that because of that his perspective has changed a lot. He said that the new people he's working with now are so down-to-earth and ready to hit the ground running. They're so excited to be at such a fulfilling company that cares about their happiness and well-bing and excited to be the first ones to open up this brand new office. He's also expressed a lot that he is so grateful for the guys that he's working with who've already been at Clearlink but they're starting up the office with him. He says they're all working so hard and he's astounded by their various talents and skills. All in all, Dallin is elated and loving it lately. I'm happy for him because he seems to be inspired and motivated because of how much meaning he finds in his job. 

They did a cool Clearlink Chant one day and recorded it. I can't figure out how to get the actual video on here, so here is the link. If you click below, it should lead you to the video. It's pretty cool!

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/clearlink?source=feed_text&story_id=10154362396849577&pnref=story

Life at the Clearlink House

Conversely, my life lately has been very uneventful. So I'm sure when he wants to talk about all of that he finds me to be kindof a buzz-kill because my experience so far of Arizona has not been nearly as exciting. 

Anyway, this is the back yard of the Clearlink house. Pretty, huh? The only problem is, it's only fun to swim at night because it's so dang hot. It's so frustrating to not be able to walk from the house to the car without sweating. 

This is what it looks like at night. Still 100 degrees, but at least the sun isn't on you. It's so much better when you're in the shade or the sun has gone down, even if it's still the same temperature. 

We've been attacked by these ugly things twice now. Jon was the hero in the situation who saved us all. They're huge and ugly and part of the scary part was I didn't even know what it was. They're like flying beetles of death and like 3 or 4 inches! I also learned what a cicada bug is, and that freaks me out too because they just sit there and make this super loud noise. I'm getting used to them a little, but at first I couldn't even sit outside because I could hear them but I couldn't see them and I didn't know if they bite or sting or whatever.

Since there are 6 guys living in this house, there are a lot of video games. I have now come to learn that "FIFA" is a soccer video game that is completely mind-numbing to watch. But it seems to entertain them, because there is one side of the room completely engulfed in League of Legends on their computers and another 2 playing this soccer game on the tv pretty much every night. It must be a guy thing, because I don't see the draw at all. I guess it's okay though because they let me watch Tyler Perry movies and chick flicks while I'm out there too. :) There are way too many jokes to write on here (and some too inappropriate to write on here) but living with all guys is certainly entertaining. They all keep me laughing. 

The New Norm

Dallin tried to catch me while I was singing and dancing in the car, but I totally caught him. We like to play this game of who can do the ugliest singing voice or the weirdest dance moves. And sometimes he tries to catch it on camera. Speaking of music, oddly enough, I'm going through a Reggae phase right now. lol

Not last Saturday but the Saturday before, I insisted on doing some kind of date since everything has been so crazy lately. It wasn't creative since it was just a movie, but the theater blew my mind. EVERY SEAT IN EVERY THEATER IS A LUXURY SEAT!! They have a full restaurant at the front with everything you could imagine, and then the recliners that they have in Lindon. It was so cool. I mean it's not that surprising, now that I know Scottsdale is the home of so many disgustingly rich people. This movie rocked just like the first one did, the only thing I didn't love was that they made Harry Potter be the bad guy. lol

I was so happy that the temperature was so low that I had to take a picture. It was only like this for like a day and half because it was kindof stormy. It's been hard for me to get used to the weather because I end up with a head ache pretty much every other day. If I'm hydrating enough then I'm peeing every 5 seconds and if I'm drinking enough water for a normal person in Utah then I'll have a head ache. It's also annoying that you can't really get away with showering ever other day here. Jordan's had to teach Dallin a few tricks to avoid being "swampy." And I can't even keep the freakin' makeup on my face! I kid you not... the mascara literally melts onto my eyelids and under my eyes so that it looks like I have black eyes. Ugh, anyway, it's no joke around here. And I hate having to shower this often. lol

The dogs aren't able to stay with us because the owner of this house doesn't have a heart  ahem, I mean doesn't allow dogs. So when Kaylynn and her parents left, I had to make a decision between a boarding company and just another person's house. This website allows random people who like dogs to babysit dogs when they have time and want to make a little extra money. I liked it at first because I thought they'd get more attention than if they were at a professional boarding place (because the picture in my mind is a prison-like cell with chain link fence around it). Plus it was significantly cheaper. So I went with it, but I don't know if I'd do it again.
I'm sad about having to keep them at a strangers' apartment in Phoenix because they seem so depressed and distant. It's only been a few days, but I don't know how much attention they're really getting. It also doesn't help that they had to be away from us on the 4th of July (Doggie Doomsday) because they always freak out and need to be consoled a lot. Anyway, although it's not perfect, it's at least doable for a short period of time and they're alive. We saved a little bit of money and I will be able to finally pick them up tomorrow afternoon.

The 2 weeks I spent at the clearlink house were weird because I was either running around like a chicken with its' head cut off, or completely bored out of my mind. I have been going around to tons of house showings, trying to get the dogs taken care of, getting all the certification requirements done for my teaching license, getting things on the car fixed, returning a few things, etc. But on the other hand, there is a lot of extra time. And it's the same now. I have things I need to do, but I also end up with a bunch of time. 

For instance, one day at the clearlink house, while staring out the window I was convinced I saw a bunny. So I walked all the way out across the yard only to find out that it was just a rock shaped extraordinarily like a bunny. I'm either hallucinating because of the heat, or I'm going crazy since I have so much time on my hands. I've been trying to find us a place to live, trying to find a job, get the dogs a sitter, change the address, update utilities, etc., etc. But none of that has been fun, so even when I do have something to do I kindof dread it. I was going so crazy at the Clearlink house that I even helped the cleaning lady clean the house. She kept saying "no" but didn't speak english very well so I just kept cleaning with her. lol It's much different than if I were at home, because I don't have any of my stuff either. I can't do crafts, or paint the chairs I've been meaning to paint, etc. I went online and googled things to do in Scottsdale, and I found these segway tours. I seriously entertained the idea until I realized how odd it would be going on a segway tour by myself. lol I think I'm going to give it 3 more weeks and if I don't have a job by then I'm going to settle and work retail. Even though retail sucks, it's at least something.

You kindof get into this weird anti-social funk after you've been sitting in front of a tv all day doing nothing. Anyway all the people that have been coming to fix the light, paint the door, turn on the gas, fix the AC, install the washer, put in internet and tv, fix the fridge, etc. have been my only human contact. Lol Dallin makes fun of me and shows my texts to his coworkers so they can all have a good laugh. But it's true. One day I complained I was too hot and bored and depressed. So he said go turn the AC lower, and I said I can't because I'm too depressed. LOL 

Ugh. My life now days. 

I got so stir crazy a couple days ago that we literally just went and drove around aimlessly. Dallin didn't mind because he was just catching pokemon the whole time. lol

This is what I did all day 2 Saturdays ago. Wasn't feeling good again because I didn't drown myself in water the day before. Pedialyte saves the day again. Both Dallin and Chad got home complaining of headaches and asking for pedialyte. It's amazing, but still I don't understand how human bodies are supposed to acclimate to this without depending on a freaking IV of pedialyte. (I have since finished the 4th book and I don't know what to do with myself. I have to go buy the 5th and 6th. Dumbledore's speech at the end about Cedric  is so beautiful.)

My alter-ego Cindy got a green tea! lol In case you didn't know already, Dallin and I sometimes refer to ourselves as "Dylan and Cindy." For instance, when one of us forgets a task or messes up on something, we can blame it on Dylan or Cindy. ;)

Lesson Learned: Don't think you can just frolic outside on the patio barefoot. You'll burn the crap out of your feet. 

It was so annoying trying to get all my stuff on the other side of the pool. I'm sure the golfers on the other side of the fence thought it was hilarious to watch me jumping, squealing, and hopping from item to item that happened to be on the ground like I was avoiding molten lava. In essence, I was.  

I've had a hard time turning my frown upside down lately. The makeup-heat-sweat combination is making me zitty and I'm alone all the time and it's been extremely difficult for me to find a job. I knew that Dallin would be working really hard, but I guess this is just different. It's different because in Utah when Dallin was working, I was working too or I had friends to call and things to do. Now it's more noticeable. I don't know where any of my stuff is because of the move, and it seems like we're spending money out the wazoo. (Moving is very expensive!) I've been a bit of a pessimist, and poor Dallin has had to deal with that, but at least he understands.

Seriously, this may sound stupid, but I miss grass! And mountains! And I miss not having a headache every single day.

A major part of why I am such a "Debbie Downer" now days is because of my job situation. I was sooooo beyond happy at Summit. Anyway, everywhere we go, anytime someone finds out I'm a teacher they ALWAYS say, "Oh, then it should be no problem finding a job then!" The general public seems to think that teaching jobs are everywhere, and that may be true if you're an elementary school teacher or you teach a core subject in secondary. But it's even worse here than it is in Utah to find a teaching position in PE, Health, or Dance. (Or Yearbook, or Study Skills, or Student Council, or Social Dance, or Aerobics, or Cross Country, or Track, etc. You'd think it'd be easy with the insane amount of subjects I'm willing to tackle.) I was even applying for things super far away, and even then there were only a few openings. So then I got desperate and started applying for anything related. I applied for some teacher's aide jobs, and I only got 2 phone interviews and no offers. It was frustrating because I'm even over-qualified for that and still nothing. Now I'm up to having 5 phone interviews and only 1 real interview. It's upsetting that I've done so much and I'm so qualified and yet people don't even want to give me the time of day to talk to me face-to-face. I got one interview and the guy called me when I was half way there on the freeway only to tell me "let's just do a phone interview instead." Thanks. Ugh! It feels like when they do that they aren't even really giving you a chance in the first place. 

There was one company that schools hire as an outside contractor to come in and teach PE for the school. (Because schools are cheap and don't want to have to pay a full-time teacher, and this way they don't have to make sure that the person is qualified at all. They're able to bend the rules because the person is not technically faculty, and the outside contractor can hire any old Joe from the street if they want.) And that's exactly what this company does. They pay you dirt cheap, it ends up being part-time, and you're driving all over the state going to teach at different schools. So in the interview (phone interview of course) he found out that I am an actual teacher, and he was like, "Oh wow that's cool we've never had one of those before." (What a novel idea to have a licensed teacher doing a teacher's job.) I asked about full-time, and he said, "Oh good luck finding that here in Arizona. Most schools are going with companies like us now days because I can hire kids straight outta high school and not have to pay them very much, and then in turn the school saves money. It beats cutting PE all together, and most of them have cut back on how often the classes are offered. I could tell you about all the schools around here that are great schools to work in, but they've all contracted with us. But ummm, more power to you I guess. Good luck." 

So this meme felt incredibly accurate for my position right now. Never have I been happier to have spent thousands of dollars and 5 years of my life to obtain a degree in something that has apparently gone out of style. (sarcasm) 

And they wonder why our next generation has an obesity problem! That's it for my rant.

In the midst of my moping, I got pulled over. The cop was a really nice guy and let me off with a warning. Afterwards while driving, I realized that I am being a spoiled brat lately, and there are a lot of people that would be grateful to have my life. It was kind of a sad thing to realize, because all of a sudden I felt like a bad person or something. Honestly I had to say a little prayer and apologize to the universe for expecting so much and being so bummed about everything. If you get what you throw out there, then I'm attracting a lot of negativity right now. I was so angry about being lost on the road and then getting pulled over, and then after I realized that I got off easy and I should be happy about it. I also thought about that cop and how it has to be hard to be a cop now days. Dallin said that he saw a cop go into a fast food restaurant wearing a bullet proof vest and sitting alone at the back corner so he could see both doors. I am like the least political person on the planet, but after the shooting in Dallas recently where a bunch of cops were shot from a sniper, you can't deny it would be a hard gig to have. They were just standing there, didn't see it coming, did nothing wrong, and were shot at. So I might have stressors in my life, but at least losing my life (or Dallin's life) isn't one of them. (Obviously I got this picture off of google and I was too freaked out in the moment to take a picture. There aren't trees and greenery like that in AZ.)

And they're off!

I went to see off Kaylynn and her kids and parents as they started the trek to Ohio. I certainly did not envy their next few days. They had 3 adults and 2 little kids packed in the car, plus Mozzie the dog, and all their stuff. They had a rough time trying to fit it all in, and then they had to drive for a few days and through the night too! Another reason we had it good. It only took us 9.5 hours and I was worried about the dogs! And poor Mozzie didn't even have a seat! But anyway, they made it just fine. Kaylynn says she likes Ohio so far and they are just trying to finish up the renovation there. There's another thing I'm glad we're not doing right now....
(Eric did not want me taking this picture lol)

Another Bump in the Road (pun intended)

So then I got a flat tire. I have no idea how it happened because I didn't feel like I hit anything. Luckily Dallin and Chad were able to leave work and come to change it. Pictured below is Chad "Laser Guns" Simmons doing all the work while Dallin supervises. Lol To make things even I had to get a picture of Dallin putting the tire on. Can you believe I hit that enormous thing without even knowing it? 5 hours of waiting at a tire shop and a couple hundred dollars later, I'm still alive. I am still indebted to Chad for helping us so much on such short notice, so I'm thinking about making him a pinterest treat. 

A Sad Loss

Dallin flew back to Utah on the Friday night following their first week in operation at the office. His Grampa ("Papa") was not doing well, and passed away. It was eye opening for both of us because it's so easy to get sucked into the daily grind and forget about the big picture of things. As sad as it always is, I think it happened in the best way possible. Everyone involved was prepared, he was at home and comfortable, and surrounded by family and friends. He hadn't been doing well for a long time, so at least now he's happy and himself again, somewhere in a better place. 

Maybe it was inspired that Dallin got these pictures while on the plane. 

And this video

After he passed away we had a long talk about it. It certainly was cause for reflection on how we live and what it would be like to be near the end of your life. We both said that if either of us were to die tomorrow, we'd have regrets. So we decided to change a few things- start thinking of others more and contributing more to the world. I think that Dallin's Papa would be happy to know that he inspired us to make a change for the better. This facebook post was heartwarming, and we were both so happy to know that he was able to have peace in his last moments.

I've never been that good in these situations, so I don't always know what to do or say. I know how much of a mess I was when my Grampas died, so I know it's got to be hard and weird for Dallin. It's so weird how a person can be here and talking to you one day and the next, they're gone. He will be missed by a lot of people, that's for sure. 

Here is the link to his obituary.

https://prod3.meaningfulfunerals.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=3764249&fh_id=10655&lud=647DBFAC105E9C4A6C3C8AB110665859

Puppy Visitation

Like I said before, after Kaylynn and her parents left, I used DoggyVacay to find a sitter for them to stay with while we searched for a house. I don't think I would recommend it to anyone. This girl in her tiny 2nd floor 1 bedroom apartment, and she was watching like 5 dogs at once. It was in a sketchy part of Phoenix, and while I was there she didn't want me coming in. She was also never wearing pants. Seriously. I understand it because that's how I live too, but at least put some shorts on when you answer the door! I also think that the other dogs might have been mean or something, because Josie came back with a huge scratch on her nose. It was all red like it had been bleeding. (And it did bleed a lot when they were playing and the scab came off.) Here it is now that it's starting to heal.

Anyway, it sucked because they were so far away, and since she didn't want me coming in I couldn't stay to visit the kids. So I had to take them out when I'd see them, and it was so hot that we couldn't really do anything for long. It was also the weirdest thing- they were both soooooo depressed and distant. My theory is that they didn't know what was going on or if we were giving them away so they didn't know who or what to emotionally attach to. We took them to Petsmart and got them some toys, but it didn't even help. 

This was on a 5 minute walk (because it was 109 degrees out). After that we just chilled in the car because I didn't know what else to do. 

This time I took them to a dog park. It was such a nice place because the people and dogs were all really friendly, there was water, shade trees, chairs, etc. 

It was a cool dog park and I thought they'd be excited about it. They have always LOVED going to dog parks and playing with new dogs and being off-leash. 

But no. They were even too depressed to do this. They both hid under my chair the entire time. There's Josie sticking her head out.

And there's Jakey sticking his head out. It wasn't that hot that day, there was lots of shade and water, and this is SO out of character for Jake. It literally tore my heart out and chopped it up to see them so sad like this. They were so unresponsive to everything around them, even us when we tried to pet them or cuddle them.

This was on another day. Dallin and I took them to a park that had a lake, and the only thing that seemed to cheer them up was the birds. They both became fixated on them! They chased hundreds on the lawn, and then wanted to swim after the ducks in the lake! It was the first time we'd seen them act happy since they left the Miller's. 

This was Jake swimming his little heart out to try and pull me in and chase the ducks.

Just after this picture was taken, Josie's foot slipped on a rock and she fell face-first into the water. The fall ended up dunking her whole head, but she didn't seem to mind. Lol she was probably cooler that way anyway. But it was hilarious.

We decided to walk a  little ways over to a tree and we took this picture below. While we are taking this picture, little do we know, we are standing in a giant red ant hill. We both turned our attention to Jake swimming out again and all of a sudden my feet were on fire. Dallin said something like, "Wait are your feet... Oh my gosh! Ah!" I looked down and my first reaction was to just start running and screaming. Lol Dallin was much more reasonable, because he just stepped a little to the left, bent over and started pushing ants off his feet. I, however, have never been attacked by ants, and didn't know why my feet were on fire.... anyway I guess I have no logical explanation for what I did. I turned back (half-way around the lake at this point) while still doing these weird sort of high-knees things and saw what Dallin was doing. Then I realized that you have to get the ants off before they'll stop biting you, and I finally leaned over to face my attacker. I think at first I booked it because I thought I might've been standing in poison ivy or something. lol Anyway I didn't have the nerve to touch them, so I just poured the entire contents of my water bottle out onto my feet and drowned the suckers. After that I kept getting the heeby-jeebies and doing that weird little dance anytime we were on grass or standing still for too long. I can now say that I fully understand the term "ants in your pants." 

Afterwards, I took this picture hoping it would prove my battle against the great ant pack... but it didn't. You can't really see anything, but I swear it happened. It hurt so bad because I was just wearing flip flops and they surrounded my feet completely.

This was the kids driving back to the sitter's house after they were all wet and tired out. 

Happy 4th of July!

On the 4th of July we were going to go to the Diamond Backs baseball game with the rest of the clearlink crew, but it ended up being too expensive. I was bummed because I wanted to celebrate somehow and be excited about something for a change. But I was surprised by the end of the night , and it turned out better than expected. We found this place while driving around, and it was so cute! It's an outdoor mall with a splash pad in the middle and misters everywhere.

While the all the toddlers and little kids were playing in the water, Dallin dared me to run through. I surprised him and did it, and all the little kids and parents probably thought I was weird. I must be a kid at heart.

Here is Chad "Laserguns" Simmons posing seductively with Dallin as we explored the mall together. (Yes, this is actually them posing. I think they were trying to look as awkward as possible.)
DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for Dallin's shirt. He got it for free and for some reason he thinks bright orange and camo is a great combination and we shouldn't read into the fact that the shirt was free. He did not take my opinion into consideration at all when I told him he looked like a traffic cone- I think it actually made him more determined to wear the shirt.
              So ladies and gentlemen- there's fashion for ya. Flag socks with sandals and an in-your-face orange & camouflage shirt.

Those misters make a huge difference because when you're walking you don't feel hot at all. As we were leaving, Chaz made a joke to the Valet guy that he should just give us the keys to the Range Rover. "You can take em. It's insured." we hear a voice from behind us say. As luck would have it, the guy standing behind us in line was the owner of the car we were all oogling at. He then said jokingly, "I'm just obligated to get your name first." So of course, Chaz replied, "It's Jon McCutchan." Lol Laserguns Chad pulls through under pressure!

Later that night we could see some fireworks from the clearlink house.

And Spencer and Breman got us some of our own! (lol spencer sounds so demanding in this video)

 The day after the 4th of july this wreath was 50% off! score.

The selection for nails is very limited down here. I have yet to find anything other than French tip.

Finally Not Homeless

Dallin and I searched high and low, including every option possible when it came to finding a house. We debated on whether to buy or to rent, and to build or to buy existing, to get a temporary vacation rental, or to just get something right away. At first the plan was to stay at the clearlink house for one week until our vacation rental became available. It was going to be a temporary place until we found a place that we were going to buy. Well once we got down here, she stopped responding to us completely. So since she wasn't responding and we didn't have anywhere to go, I went into overdrive trying to figure out what the best option would be. Our plans were more complicated since we have 2 dogs. Not many places will rent to pet owners and we couldn't take that long to make a decision because every night they stayed at the sitter we were paying money. It was lucky for us that the Millers watched them for the first week and half. My dad is also so sweet. He offered to drive down, get the dogs, and take them back to Nebraska to live with him for a few months while we figured out what we were going to do. I told him I simply couldn't live without them- but that was such a thoughtful offer because that would be a long long drive!

At the end of the day we decided it would be best to rent because we were both putting so much pressure on ourselves to buy the perfect place, and neither of us know the best areas yet. I don't have a job yet and that will change things, and we didn't want to regret our decision. Afterwards we realized that it's better this way, because before we were going to have to move into a temporary place and then in 3-4 months later have to move again. So at least this time we got it all done in one shot and we won't have to do it again for another year when we get to buy a house. This made us much more comfortable since we're not making a huge decision right now or making a 30-year commitment to an area or a house. In the meantime we do get to enjoy some perks that we've never had before, including a yard of our very own! It also has a 2-car garage- which we've never had before either.

As you can see above there's a weird little area on the side of the house that I guess is supposed to be your patio. (Weird that it's not by the door where the covered part is.) Since it's not a very defined space, I'm excited to turn it into something usable. I found this idea on Pinterest and I'm excited to try it out! We've never had outdoor living space before, and so we are stoked to have some chairs, some lighting, a fire pit and maybe a hammock! I also want to look into getting a temporary dog door, because the kids loved using that so much when they were at the Millers.

Most of our belongings survived the move! I was excited to find that none of the glass was broken. Honestly, we both thought that more things would be broken while riding in the truck and bumping around in the boxes. However, we did lose basically all our dressers. We lost my small dresser I had all growing up and then the bigger dresser from my grandparents, the granite piece that goes in the top was broken. (See below) So now I find myself trying to unpack and not knowing what to do with all of these clothes. We are going to try and repair the big dresser, because only the top was broken and so we can still do something about it, but the other one was far past repair. It was basically crushed under something heavier. I would love to get an actual bedroom set so that we can use night stands instead of bar stools LOL but that may be a pipe dream for right now. Those are wildly expensive! Since that dresser was my grandparents I feel an emotional connection to it, and so I want to definitely save it. Luckily the movers gave us a discount because of the damage.

We had everything loaded up into a storage unit, thinking that we would be at a furnished, temporary vacation rental. It ended up only being 2.5 weeks that we had to store things in a storage unit, so it wasn't very expensive at all. This is the movers and I loading up the truck from the storage unit. (Dallin still had to work that day.)

And this is us unloading where our home will be for the next 12 months! It's cool having a detached house to ourselves, but there are certainly things that I don't like about it. It's definitely not a house that either of us would want to buy, but it's perfectly functional for a rental for the next year. While we were unloading a neighbor came over and introduced herself and invited us over after we're done unpacking. So cool, right? When I was talking to my mom on the phone she said I'm going to have to "go buy some cookies, then microwave them so they're warm and put them on a plate. Then take them around to all your neighbors and introduce yourself. That way they'll think you're a really good baker and they'll want to be your friend." lol
Apparently, faux home-made cookies are not necessary.

The kids were more excited than I have ever seen them when I brought them to this house. It was like they were relieved that they had all their stuff back. They were running around smelling all of their things from the old house, wagging their tails, and acting so happy. I was so happy to see that they are finally happy again. They haven't acted depressed since. They were so excited they scratched the crap out of my legs!

So here's a picture of something that I don't necessarily love about this house... There are dalmatian style spots in the granite in the kitchen LOL
Anyway, we decided to try our luck at scratch off cards since we are new to it. They don't have them in Utah, so we wanted to try it out. It ended up being less fun than I thought. We obviously didn't win anything.

This has been my job the last few days. All I do is hang around in this house and unpack stuff. I also just sit around and wait because we have so many people coming to install the TV, the internet, set up the gas, deliver things, people from the property management company who are fixing things, etc. It happens more than you'd think. I've had 5 different people come do different things around here. And they always give you that huge window of time like "8am to 4pm" so that you can't really do anything else until after they've come.

Needless to say it is quite overwhelming and I am accomplishing little bits at a time because I get exasperated and give up. It's also because my mom and I wrapped the stuff so well- it's like world war 3 just trying to unwrap it!

My mom's little method for coding the boxes ended up helping a little bit when the movers were unloading. All I had to do was stand there and tell them where to put it because of the color on the side of the box.

This was Jake exploring his new backyard. He was overjoyed. I wish that I had a video to show you all. They were both so happy just running around seeing every room here. I think that dogs can understand more than we give them credit for, because every other time that I had visited them they weren't as excited and, when I brought them here, they suddenly seemed to understand what was going on and they were happy about it.

As you can see he is no longer distant, and enjoys his cuddles just as much as he used to.

Josie doesn't ever stay outside for very long. That was no surprise for me, but I didn't know how much Jake would stay outside. In Utah he would always love to lay out in the sun. I didn't know if it would be too hot for him here, but he still does it here up to three times a day. It's amazing- in this picture he's laying out there and it's 113 degrees! He is crazy but loves the heat LOL he's working on his tan.

And on another day...

It is hard to go from the process of building a house and looking into every detail that you like, right into renting where you have no control over any of it. Before the process of buying a house or building a house, I wouldn't have noticed half of the stuff in this house that bugs me. But now, I do. It was slightly gratifying to me when I figured out how to get the purple plates off of the light fixture in the dining room. Luckily the guy from Invitation Homes that was here showing me around the house and fixing little things here and there was really nice. Everybody from that property management company has been really nice so far. He said that you are free to do anything here that you'd like to make it feel like your home. So he gave me some ideas so that we can personalize it a little bit without spending too much money.

They have some really good restaurants around here! This was at Red White and Brew last night. I was planning on making dinner but I became so stir crazy that we had to get out. I made fun of Dallin before for saying that Arizona has better food, but now I am really starting to notice that there are so much fewer chain restaurants here than in Utah. At this place we saw the owner right there as we were eating and it was the same at so many other restaurants around here too.

I noticed that we had a ton of pictures of Jake on here, so I wanted to even It Out by putting some cute ones of Josie. She looks sweet and innocent here, but the truth is, the other day she came up to me from outside and handed me a turd. She came up to me like she usually does because she likes me to throw sticks for her to chase, so when she handed me a turd I was quite disgusted. I'm not sure if she's really that stupid or if she was trying to prank me... lol 

She certainly loves her toys. She will carry one around all day.

This is my view from the window while washing dishes. They do this weird thing here on the windows called sun screens. It makes it so that the sun doesn't beat down into your window and make it really hot. That's also kind of weird though to look out the window and see that screen all the time. But I like the palm tree :-)

It has been a battle for us to keep the utility bills down, since neither of us really know what we're getting ourselves into down here. I had it at 73 degrees and the guy showing me around from the property management company said "wow you must be rich to keep it at 73 degrees!" That freaked me out a little bit and I have since learned that you have to keep it near 80 degrees in the house at all times if you don't want to spend a million bajillion dollars on your electric bill. So that's nice LOL we basically swim in our own sweat all the time.

When we first moved here I was thinking about how dependent this whole valley is on air conditioning during these 3 months of the year. I even said something to Dallin about it like, "Wow it'd probably be the absolute worst if your AC went out!" And of course, I jinxed myself. The worst has occurred. With the air set at 76 degrees, it went to 79, then 80, then 83, and steadily up and up today. Finally it was 87 degrees and the thing had been running non-stop so I finally called. It took them a few hours to get to me, but I was so fortunate that it wasn't a few days. I would have literally died. The dogs and I were starting to hallucinate so we went and sat in the car in a parking lot for an hour while waiting for the AC Doctors to arrive. I took the time to help my mother & Tom plan out their mid-life crisis, plot my next curtain purchase with Shelly, and hear about my Dad's plot to shoot a dog who keeps pooping in his yard. Thank the Lord above, because the AC doctors finally came and got it fixed. It was all surprisingly efficient, actually. When this happened I was expecting the worst. (People would come to fix it in a few days and then need a part that they didn't have and we wait a few more days.) I think they take failed AC units pretty serious around here because it was seriously 110 degrees today. (lol I think it's funny how you can see that Jakey has lost his will to live in this picture. TOO. DANG. HOT. poor kid.) On a lighter note, the kids and I had our first experience with Jack in the Box today while we waited, and their fries are not bad!

The Happy Ending

This whole thing was not the happiest, and I saved all the good stuff for last so you wouldn't leave here and go kick over a garbage can. (or... fill in the blank with any other destructive behavior.) 

I think with anything in life you just have to realize that you have no control over it and you just choose to be happy. I'd never want to look back on my life wishing that I would have taken advantage of more moments, laughed more, or spent more time with people I care about. That's nice and cheesy. Since I've had a lot of time on my hands and I've been all complainey about being alone and having nothing to do, I've decided to take my own advice and "make life what you want it to be." 

So, I've taken up a new interest.... drumroll please......... (and you may want to sit down if you're standing)..........

I have started cooking!

I'm serious! Like stuff I would consider real cooking too! I made chili lime chicken in rice the other night where I actually had to cook the chicken on the stove squeeze real lime juice into it and everything! Then, I was on a roll so I tried making muffins! AND THEY WERE GOOD! If you don't know me very well then this will seem completely trivial, but to me, this was a huge step because I have never cooked anything good in my life. It all started back in 2nd grade with all the inedible horrors that came outta that Easy-Bake oven....

Anyway, it was a major confidence booster when Dallin gave me the sincere compliment of saying that the chicken tasted "real." lol as opposed to the fake chicken we normally eat? I don't get it. 

Here is one pinterest comparison I tried. It was good too! And I didn't hate it! I think I normally hated cooking and baking because of all the clean up involved and I thought it was boring in comparison to my other options. But now that I have no other options.... I somehow don't mind. That's how you know I've completely lost it.

I got all excited while looking on pinterest at all the things I could try to make and I made this huge list. Most of this might seem like an "easy" or "lazy" dinner day for the average house-wife, but to me it's monumental. I even make Dallin breakfast! (It's too bright to sleep in here and I don't have much else to accomplish.) We'll see if I've set my sights too high or not... I have a tendency to get all excited about something and then not follow through. 

Lookey lookey! I got an amazing new washer and dryer! The technology in these bad boys is serious. The dryer detects when the clothes are dry and stops drying then, and it has a feature where it turns it every few minutes when you've left the clothes in there to prevent wrinkled clothes. And they're high efficiency and THEY SING BEETHOVEN TO YOU WHEN THEY'RE DONE! It's amazing. I swear they do that, because I heard it when the guy was installing them, but I haven't been able to catch it on camera. Dallin thinks I'm crazy (partly because I asked him last night if it was Monday)... and he could be right. But I promise you they sing.

The good news is, it's all worth it because I kinda like him. He gave people he saw today a gift card as a random act of kindness, and he just booked an exciting date for tomorrow. This might really show you how much time I have on my hands now, but I looked it up today, and I have officially loved him for 2,131 days. 

With the dogs laying by me sleeping, my brand new harry potter book, and a 76 degree house, I am content tonight. I think I am one of the lucky ones.

'Till Next Time...

Sydney the new Arizona Resident.