Halloween in Pictures

GQ Taylor at Buckelew Farms

Taylor and his green pumpkin

Literature Parade at school

 Jazzy as Cinderella

Cub Scouts Fall Festival

Science Spooktacular at the Planetarium

All dressed up!

We stopped at Tata's house first

....and then went trick-or-treating with the Hambacher's

Our Little World

So much to say and not enough time for blogging! Brooks and I are on mental overload, so when I have free time I just feeling like doing a whole lotta nothing. But we have had some pretty incredible things happen in the last few weeks and I don't want to be so overwhelmed that we don't stop and  appreciate these moments.

Halloween was lots of fun; I will post pics from that later on. Leading up to Halloween though, Taylor had two fun filled days at school. On the Thursday before, his class went on a field trip to Buckelew Farms Pumpking Patch. You bet Stalker Mom (me) was there as well. The bus ride was long, but the kids were all so excited to be there that everything went pretty smoothly. As we began to head back to the buses to head back to school,  Taylor fell and scratched his elbow. The owie itself was not bad at all, but controlling emotions is a really hard thing for him and he melted down pretty bad. I put a couple of band aids on his elbow (even though he really didn't need one) and we talked like we usually do about how sometimes when things hurt, they'll only hurt for a little bit and then it feels OK. Then we began to count to calm down and this time instead of counting to 20 and back down and then counting again, we only had to make it to 10 before he decided he was calm and could re-join his class. Phew!

The next day, the kids wore their costumes and took part in a literature parade around the school hallways. Afterwards, they changed and then rotated between the three first grade classrooms doing activities in each. In one class Taylor made a bookmark and when I caught up with him in the hallway he was pretty upset that one of the girls in class was holding all the bookmarks as he really wanted his. He went into class and I saw him again just before lunch. He was still crying and was pretty upset. It took most of lunch to calm him down and then I stayed and watched him play in the playground just to make sure he didn't get wound up again.

Both times his classmates were asking what was wrong, I knew the other parents were watching and it's moments like those that I just hate. Not that people are watching, but I just hate thinking that my child is different. But he is and there is nothing I can do to make it "OK" or make him "normal." I do get annoyed by Autism parents who seemingly gush about how beautiful this whole experience is and what a blessing it is or yada yada.

It's not. Autism sucks. And some days it is really, really hard.

It's also hard to relate to other parents who mean well but will never, ever really truly understand what it is like to feel the pain of knowing something is wrong with your child that you will never be able to fix.

Sure, he'll get better with all of his therapies and eventually he might seem like other kids. But that's because he'll have to work really really hard at it. Maybe it's like losing an arm or a leg. You might go a while without one and then eventually get a prosthetic and then adjust to the prosthetic and be able to do some of the things you were able to do before. But every time you reach for something and miss, or every time you have to attach it or take it off to go to bed or to take a shower you will be reminded of the extra work you have to do that others may not have to. That is Autism for the high functioning child. And as good as he will get at things,  he will always have to work  at it.

So as wonderful as my child is in every way, I hurt for him when something happens that showcases his weaknesses.

This past weekend we went to the house and Brooks and I were working in one room when we overheard Taylor in another room playing Barbies with Jazzy and talking in a girls voice as one of the Barbie dolls. Sure this is pretty funny, but it is also a really big deal. We both stopped and listened and determined this was the first time EVER Taylor had ever used his imagination to create a voice. Sure he's modeled voices before for example when he's playing Transformers and he's holding Optimus Prime; and the kid loves to do impressions like Mr. Krabs and Yogi Bear. But he's never come up with his own voice before and he certainly is not a fan of spontaneous play that's not modeled after something he's already seen. For Taylor to come up with a voice then was a pretty big thing. We stopped whatever we were doing and started thinking of all the things he can do now that he had problems with before. Brooks thinks he is doing better with tags, he doesn't care anymore if his food touches anything else on his plate and the kid loves mixing all kinds of things together- like syrup and bacon or noddles, refried beans and corn (yum, right?). His eye contact is pretty good now (except taking picture of course), His coloring and handwriting have really improved. He hasn't wanted to wear the same outfit everyday since he was probably 3; the list of what he perseverates on is so much shorter. So now Little Man has discovered his imagination and unlocking that part of his mind is just A-MA-ZING for us.

If I could go back in time and make it so he didn't have Autism, you bet I would. But I would never, ever want any other baby than this one. He is the blessing, not Autism.

Dress Up/ Pics to Show The Girlfriend

Apparently I have gotten too good at tuning the kids out when they are loud.

As soon as we got back home from school, the kids decided to play dress-up and I sat in front of the computer to veg out from my day of driving. Dress-up started innocently enough...

And then I looked up to see this...

...and then this...

Once they were both dressed up, Jazzy asked Taylor to dance with her. Which I guess was just totally out of the question. Dress in drag? Yes! Dance with your little sister? Heck no!

I'll be sure to save this pic for his first girlfriend.

Month O' Birthdays

October is apparently THE month for birthdays. We took Bella and Sophia to Phoenix with us the first weekend of the month for Mikey and Joshy's joint birthday party. Mikey's b-day is actually in September, but the Back Pack decides to double the fun and they have another joint bday party in January for the rest of the clan. Since it has been pretty hot, they had lots of fun water games and then the kids enjoyed superhero cookies and cupcakes. Joshy actually shares a birthday with our step-mom Ramona.

The following weekend we went to Jazzy's little friends joint b-day party at Pump It Up. Matt is in her preschool class and Reese is his equally fun cousin who is in the 4 year old preschool class. The kids love Pump It Up and had a blast! Taylor pretty much takes off and does his own thing, Jazzy has to have someone with her at all times, so Brooks and I were a little sore from climbing up the equipment. I made Brooks take her down the big slide, which is fun, but I am a weenie and without fail every time I get to the top of the slide I have this moment of panic trying to decide if I really have to do this. Brooks and I also decided to race each other through the obstacle course. In all fairness he totally would have beaten me if it weren't for the three kids blocking him from the final slide. We'll be having Taylor's party at Pump It Up (I think anyway, if we can get the guest list down a bit), so I took the opportunity to check out the party room and get an idea of how we could decorate. For all the planning I have done for other events, I always seem to drop the ball when it comes to the kids b-days. Not this year! Brooks still asks now why every party has to be like a Sweet Sixteen. Oh, that poor man hasn't seen anything yet! I have started my spreadsheet for Tayor's birthday as and soon as we figure out whether we can do one big party or will do two smaller ones, we'll be good to go!

This weekend we have my little brother Gabe's birthday. But, in true Mexican style, it hasn't really been planned yet. I am hoping they decide to barbecue because I am in the mood for some carne asada. We've actually only been to dinner there once since we've been back. I've asked Brooks a couple of times if we could call and see if we could go over for dinner; in true white man fashion he thinks we'd be imposing though. So the only rice and beans we have had (since I am not allowed to make beans) have been at Taco Tote and On The Border.

Finally, it is Sam and Katie's birthday on October 27th. I can't believe those kids are going to be 13! We went to Grammy's ranch last Friday for a visit since the kids had the day off for a grading day, but since Sam and Katie are in a different district they were still in school. I did however catch a glimpse of their birthday wish lists, which both included ipads. Thank goodness my kids are cool with Transformers and Barbies now. I'd like to prolong them being expensive teenagers for as long as possible.

Soleng Tom

The move back to Tucson really hasn't been bad at all, and one of the reasons why is the amazing school the kids are going to. Good Lord was finding Taylor a school a nightmare, but after the first week I knew we'd made the right decision. His teacher is great- she is just the right mix of experience, compassion and being on the ball. He seems to have a pretty good mix of kids in his class- there are some sweet girls who are very kind to him, lots of silly boys for him to be goofy with and not too many troublemakers where I have to worry about him being picked on or left out.

I've been volunteering on Tuesdays in Taylor's class. This past Tuesday I made a "quick stop" at Target just before my shift and managed to lock the keys in the car. AAA took 2 hours to get there, which meant I missed my whole volunteer shift. I had called the office and since he had a sub that day, it didn't seem like it would be a big deal, but I stopped by his class anyway to check on Taylor since this was a big deviation to his routine. He was fine but wanted me to stay for lunch. The other kids were beyond adorable! I received quite a few hugs, they seemed worried about me and one kid asked if I had gotten locked in the trunk. I don't know if the sub was that happy to see me, but the kids seemed relieved I was OK.

It's weird being called "Mrs. Wintemute" though, and I am not sure if I will ever get used to that. I think when I am a teacher I will have the kids call me Mrs. W if they like. There is a boy who is also in Cub Scouts with Taylor and he thinks it is pretty cool that he knows my name is Laura and always calls me that, which is totally fine with me. I don't mind my last name, it is just weird being so formal.

Aside from volunteering, I am also co-CEO for the class which means I help to organize the classroom events. It's neat being so involved and give me lots of extra opportunities to spy on my Little Man. At this point, he thinks it pretty neat and I hope he always does.

He's been talking a lot about going to college, and I can tell he is worried about it. He had a sub last year when he was in Kindergarten who made some comment that he would move out when he went to college. He cries when he talks about it now, so I tell him he can always live at home and when he goes to college it can be just like it is now when he goes to school. I will happily drop him off, have lunch with him and park and stalk him as he walks to classes.  I reassured him that even when he works for NASA I will still have lunch with him.

I am sure someday he'll decide he wants to do things with his friends and without his mom. Until then though, I am loving this time we can spend together.

From the Mouth of Babes

Today Taylor was on a roll. Here's some of what he said:

"Mom, I know you're smart because you married Dad...so tell me- how to bones move?"

"I was thinking about it, and I don't think I want to have my own family when I am big. I think you guys might need a third parent."



My sister refers to these as "Taylor-ism" and tells me I should write them down. Some days he is downright hilarious, so I really should get better about remembering them. The other day Jazzy was on a roll as well:

"Mom, why do you write letters on my water bottle?"
"That's your name, Jazzy. That way everyone at school knows  it is your bottle and no one takes it."
"Mama- what happens if Target didn't have letters on it?"

Sleeping Angels

No matter how crazy or chaotic the day has been, my babies turn into beautiful little angels when they sleep. After they are tucked in and fall asleep, Brooks and I usually stay up to watch a movie or one of our TV shows. Then, when it is our bedtime, we go back in the room to fix their covers, adjust their stuffed animals, and I always whisper in their ears "mama loves you."

Because I do.

So how do we really feel?

Recently, we took on this project of helping a friend update and sell a house. That is totally fine and there are no issues with the house or that we are doing this. The problem is that in the course of this, we hired another friend, Adam Cortese of NDC Home Services to do the work on the house and he has screwed us over. Big time.

There really isn't much to it: we gave him a deposit, he said the whole thing would take 2-3 weeks and that he'd begin prepping for paint the weekend that we gave him the deposit. This was on a Thursday. Brooks noticed that he cashed the deposit about a minute after getting it. No biggie, I thought. We were going to stop by the house on Monday and he was going to meet us there to see his work, but then on Monday he texted to say he had not been to the house and would not be going to the house to paint for a whole other week. Which meant that painting on a 2-3 week job would not begin for 12 whole days after the job was supposed to start. So we thought about it just a bit and decided we would paint to get back on schedule during that week that he said he couldn't paint. His response, again via text, was that he had some issues and concerns and this was not how he normally did business. He admitted he had not done any work or bought any materials though. We met again a few days later and he said he was now going to raise the prices on the remaining work. Since he had not done any work or bought any materials this really shouldn't have been an issue. When he came back with his new prices, we had already gotten second opinions on the other work he was supposed to do and thought his prices were higher than the job warranted. He didn't even give us the chance to fire him, but on his own said he'd give us the deposit back. He gave us some BS story about how he had pre-paid the money on his Home Depot account and said we'd have to give him time to earn the money back. In the meantime he had a birthday party for his son, so my guess is we paid for the party and presents. It was also the first of the month so we could have paid for his rent, or maybe a car payment. But regardless the money we gave him for the house was gone and had not been used on the house. He was supposed to meet us last week with the money, but once again, texted to say he couldn't come and told us we could "take the next step."

So we did.

We filed with the small claims court on Friday evening. On Monday I mailed his paperwork per the court's instructions. But, he could either not sign for it, not be home, not bother to pick it up if he is not home or not bother to respond. Which means the next step is to hire a constable to serve him. And then he has 20 days to respond and then we have to get a date scheduled. So this could take a while.

We are both angry/upset/hurt on a few different levels.

1) This was a friend. Why would you do that to a friend? He should have honored the schedule he gave us, should have understood that we were stepping in to make sure the work got done in time for our friend and should have made some good faith effort to return the money to us. Also, even though we weren't terribly close with Adam, his fiance Brandi and I are friends, and she made no effort to apologize on his behalf, or even try to communicate with me or make any good faith effort on her part. My husband would never do this to one of my friends. Ever. But, hypothetically speaking if he did you bet I'd make every attempt to do something for my friend. I'd be mortified. Why doesn't she care?

2) We found out Adam has been to small claims before. And, he even has a misdemeanor for contracting without a license. In both cases, he failed to appear and in the misdemeanor case had a warrant out and is still paying restitution. This makes me think he'll totally disregard our case just as he has the other two. I also feel stupid that we did not look into his business history before hand, friend or not.

3) We have to be good friends to Nas, who put us in charge of the house. Even though it was his money that we put down for the deposit,  since we are good friends and will do the right thing, now it is our money that will replace it. Also, now we had to explain why we are doing the work on our own. Thank goodness he took it all well.

4) I am also mad at myself that I would vouch for this guy or allow people like Adam or Brandi into our lives. I had a really great conversation the other day with a real friend, who reminded me about the positives to being 30. At this point in our lives we have earned where we are and what we have. She also said that we've weeded out people in our lives who aren't worth being a part of our lives. So now I have weeded out Adam and Brandi. I am embarrassed I made the mistake of considering them friends, but also even more embarrassed for them by the way they have conducted themselves.

Brooks is awesome and amazing and I am so happy he is my husband. He is a pretty calm guy but is pretty fired up about this based on principal. $1000 is a lot of money, but not end-of-the-world money. It won't break us or make us fight or make our lives worse without it. It will take some time but we will get it back. Adam stands to lose a lot more - the money plus court costs, loss of business and maybe even a little dignity. If he has any.

Tiger Cub Taylor

I think I see now why people blog semi-anonymously. The can give their kids cute names like one of my favorite blogger does- Pork Lo Maniac and Little Dude and most important write about others without them knowing and possibly being offended or hurt. But, alas, I have not gone that route.

Sigh. So here goes.

I should at first start by saying that Cub Scouts is a great organization, and something my Little Man is super excited to be involved in. Brooks was in Cub Scouts when he lived in Korea, so I think he was excited to have Taylor follow in his footsteps.

Taylor's pack is a decent size and the leaders are all very kind, however, there are some serious geeks. We refer to the Pack leader as the Head Nerd. There is another nerd in charge, whom we refer to as Ghostrider, which is his email name. In Taylor's Tiger Den, there are only maybe 7 kids- 3 of whom are in his class. The den leader is nice enough and seems to definitely bring some organization that the Head Nerds surprisingly lack. Brooks nicely worded this past weekend's events as "campy, " I do feel bad saying nerdy or talking about them that way. Because really, they are super nice.

This past weekend was the Space Derby. I only remembered the Pinewood Derby from my little brother's Cub Scouts days, so this was a new but very fun experience. Brooks and Taylor worked together on building the rocket, Taylor came up with the design and I painted it. I wanted to make sure it at least looked really cool just in case it didn't fly. We got there a little bit early as we discovered that morning that we'd manage to lose the nose cap piece that holds the propeller. Thankfully the Head Nerd took our panicked call and said he'd have a bag full of extra parts at the event. He even helped Brooks assemble everything there. Taylor waited not so patiently for the Tigers turn and then guess what?

It flew! And- it was first!

I think he even came in first for the 2nd round, but then on the third round it did not move at all. They let him re-fly in the finals, but he was beat out by the den leader's kid. I think Brooks and I were more concerned about his placement than Taylor was. He just thought it was cool that everyone seemed to think his rocket looked cool. In the end, he won a certificate for Best Tiger Spirit and was just really excited to be running around with his friends. Nerdy parents or not.

Staycation!

Labor Day weekend we spent three lovely days at the Fort McDowell Resort in Fountain Hills. It was close to blissful, if you take away the crowd and drunks from the Labor Day par-tay we didn't bother to research before booking. But, no biggie. The room was clean and comfy*, food was good, pool was perfect and kids were happy which is really all we ask for.

We left on Saturday after going to Baby Zeke's 2nd birthday party at the splash pad. Kids were dressed in their swim suits and ready to start the weekend with a little water teaser. A Mexican birthday party is really made up of: a lot of people, a lot of family, lots of food, a pinata, a late start and a late depart. It was fun and Araceli and the kids came down which made it even more perfect!

After the festivities, we headed down the road about 2 hours to Fountain Hills, which is so pretty with beautiful mountains and beautiful homes. Fort Mc Dowell was on the rez, which means there was a casino next door. Initially, I had big plans that involved putting the kids to bed and trusting them in the care of my little sister Bella so we could sneak to the casino with a few bucks. But, the older Brooks gets, the harder he is with parting with his money so this big idea never came to fruition. But we still had fun!

The hotel was sooo pretty! The only downfall of Radisson hotels are the Sleep Number Beds. Brooks really is not a fan; I can usually do fine with the bed set on 35, Taylor prefers his on 0. We hit the pool everyday, including the first night. They had bands playing poolside for the weekend, and I think a radio station was there with a margarita sponsor and a DJ hosting a shortened version of the dating game on the stage. The funny thing was, there weren't really younger people there, more like people our age re-living their youth. We did see one lady try to sneak a huge bottle of vodka out to the pool, then get busted by hotel security. But other than that we had a blast swimming, playing basketball in the pool and Brooks and Bella played volleyball in the pool as well.

The kids did well and love spending time with Bella; she is such a good kid and we really love having her around. This was actually her first time at a hotel, so we wanted to make sure she enjoyed it. We ate a few times at the casino, ordered room service, and went to the three story Fashion Square mall in Scottsdale.

And then the weekend was over and we had to leave. Which totally sucked. My babies love hotels and so do I. The weekend made me think about the many hotels we have stayed at and adventures had at each one. I think once things slow down with the house I will try to blog more about that...

Yes We Can!

We are now thick in the midst of flipping a house. I really don't like that term, I guess it just seems sort of shallow and profit driven and in reality we aren't doing it for money at all. But we are updating a house for Brooks' friend and it is 1) a ton of work; and 2) exciting and entertaining; and 3) totally teaching us something about ourselves.

When Nas first asked Brooks if he'd handle this, I mentioned we could try to do some of it ourselves. Brooks immediately became concerned we couldn't do it as well as a professional and we decided to hire someone to handle the re-model. We went with a friend, which was a big mistake and a huge learning experience. It wasn't a close friend, but close enough we didn't think we'd be taken advantage of. However the past 3 weeks have been way more stress than they were worth trying to rely on someone else. In the meantime since no work was getting done on his end, we decided we needed to get some work started in order to meet the time frame Nas was originally promised, and we have totally realized that we can do anything! I've wrestled with vertical blinds, picked out some sick fixtures and the perfect paint color. Brooks has become a pro with the drill and today we removed one of those big, heavy mirrors from the bathroom  without hurting ourselves, breaking the mirror, or damaging the wall.

The house is in pretty good shape, we really don't have too much left to do and since we've fired the contractor the only stressor left is trying to get our deposit back. But we've laughed a lot and really have had a good time doing this. It has totally taught us we are handy and it makes me smile to see my husband who is good at so many things already, realize he is better at so many more. We've given the kids brushes and let them paint away (and then gone back and re-painted) and now that's it's just us we are relying on, everything has gone surprisingly well.

Just before working on the house, I had started saying  that when we work together, we work well. This experience has totally proven that.

HGTV and the Dubs

Here is a long overdue pic of the new couch. It is off-white leather and fabulous. To all  you Nay-Sayer's who think white and kids don't mix- leather and kids mix quite well, actually. In fact, Mr. Couch has already become pretty familiar with chocolate pudding on a few occasions and still looks showroom new. He is comfy, big enough for our both to stretch our feet out on and watch movies together after the kids go to bed. Totally perfect and I am happy.

Well, sort of happy.

Seeing this nice, new couch in our living room makes our chaise look shabbier then he was already looking. So, I am going to begin a new project hopefully soon and attempt to create a new dark gray slipcover for the chaise. I found the fabric, but since I have no idea what I am doing (although the old slip cover will make for a great pattern), I need to recruit some help with this. Specifically someone with  a sewing machine as I don't want to hand stitch the whole thing and my beloved stitch -witchery will only go so far.

Big project #2 is updating and decorating a house for Brooks' friends who live in Miami. They don't want to fly back to handle selling this house which used to be a rental so we are acting as the middle men to get it done. Today Jazz and I walked around Lowe's and found some pretty cool counter top solutions. This is fun and I feel a little like all the HGTV watching we have done is paying off. I am enjoying finding nice things at a bargain and can't wait to see it all come together. We are re-painting, updating the electrical as well as light fixtures and hardware and faucets, ceiling fans and new counter tops and mirrors. I am truly loving this and wishing we had the extra money and the market was better to where we could either have some rentals or flip some houses.

One of those days...

Today is just one of those days. I am feeling overly emotional and guilt-ridden.

The morning started fairly uneventfully. The kids were dressed, ate breakfast and brushed their teeth without much nagging on my part. As long as we leave the house by 7:25 I get to school in time to walk Taylor into the playground and watch him play for about 10 or 15 minutes before the bell rings. Today though, he had a hard time finding anyone to play with and just kind of wandered about until maybe 5 minutes before the bell rang when his friend Brennen showed up. But Brennen was running so fast Taylor had a hard time keeping up and went back to wandering. It was the first time that he actually looked a little sad, I guess I've always thought Autism kept him blissfully unaware of these awkward social moments.  So seeing my Little Man like this, I began to think of what I could do to make this better...this playground is so big and there are more kids then he has ever gone to school with. Would he be better at a smaller school? But then what about college? College will be big, will he have adapted by then? And then of course my big fear wondering if he will even be able to go to college. And then I started thinking about me working- if I were working, I would miss all of these moments. Is that really worth it? Can I convince Brooks I should stay home just a little longer?

I think that what might really be happening is that we are just coming back from our weekend visit with Brooks' parents who are now on a plane headed back to Madrid for the school year. The kids really enjoy spending time with their grandparents and this was the first time Jazzy was realizing they were going very far away for a long time and I could see her getting sad and concerned about that. I know I felt bad this weekend watching them play with their grandparents and thinking about their relationship with their other grandma. My mom last visited with the kids in January- 8 months ago. She did see them briefly during the drop off and pick up when my little sister spent the night. Taylor remembers Grammy and enjoys her company although it seems to take way more phone calls, texts and effort on my part to make that happen anymore. The last time we saw her when Katie was being dropped off, I had to actually tell Jazzy later that the woman visiting was her other grandma.

So there I was this morning thinking about all the things in Taylor's life that I could not control and feeling sad for him. I wish I could make other kids want to play with him, I wish I could help him run faster or have an easier time doing the monkey bars so he could be involved more in what the other kids were doing. I wish I could only fill his life with people who loved him and always wanted to be around him. I wish we could win the lottery so both Brooks and I could be home with him and help him learn these things.

I hope when I pick him up from school he has a big smile on his face, because I know I will when I see my sweet Little Man again.

Tucson Catch Up

We have now been in Tucson officially for 32 days. It has been one full month, so here is my attempt at a brief re-cap.

School:
Paragon Science Academy was great, but their sister school in Tucson is horrible. Because they aren't good enough for my son we looked at a number of different schools and put him on the waiting list at one super cute school called Tucson Country Day School. As the first day of school approached, he never got called so we resigned ourselves to him attending our neighborhood school. Then my friend suggested I beg talk to the principal at Soleng Tom, which is where Jazzy would be going to preschool. On the Tuesday before school started I said about 10 Hail Mary's and gave it my best shot. He was super kind, told me he thought they did have room and we filled out the enrollment paperwork. The very next day I got a confirmation phone call and Taylor now had a school! His teacher is Mrs. Lowe, she is damn near as saintly as the principal and I am in love with the school. It is on the east side in the beautiful part of the desert and the drive and smell of the desert makes me happy. Yeah, I said it. I may even be falling in love with this silly town.

Sassy Jazzy:
Little Miss decided she liked Pre-School once she met the teacher and discovered the classroom had some pretty neat toys. Rachael's son Matt is in her class and it is beyond adorable watching those two play with one another. She loves school and only goes Tuesday/Thursday but wants to go every day. I love that they go to the same school, being a taxi is making my days a little hectic but someday soon hopefully we can buy in the neighborhood closer to the school.

The Car:
My car is pretty but has a lot of miles on it and is starting to be pretty needy. With me not working, we really aren't in the position for two car payments so we are just fixing it on what seems like a regular basis. The newest repair was a new fuel pump and cam sensors ($700). Now the A/C which was just recharged is blowing hot out of the two drivers vents off and on and the anti-theft light keeps blinking. Le sigh. But, my super handy-when-he-feels-like-it husband replaced the air filter and fixed the trunk brake light this weekend. Whoo-hoo for figuring out how to do somethings ourselves :)

A Job:
I have applied for a number of different jobs, but only had two call back for interviews. One was for an event coordinator which would be a dream job for me but when they called back for the second interview I had to decline. Now that we know where Taylor is going to school, the commute is just way too far to work out how we'd get the kids to school and ourselves to work. I am thinking about trying to find a part-time retail job at someplace where the discount would be handy: a kids clothing store, maybe a home decor store.

Getting settled:
Our dining room still looks like a storage unit, but we did buy a new couch this weekend! It gets delivered tomorrow and then the living room will look a little better. I also found a really pretty lampshade for our room today, too. I can't wait to actually be able to have people over again once we get all the Rubbermaid's and boxes moved out and a new table moved in.

HALLELUJAH!

We have a TV!

I know, our priorities are totally apparent here... we still do not have a dinning room table, we don't have a couch...but we have a TV.

We have now been in Tucson for 21 days, we've been eating out, picnicking on the floor or the bottom two steps leading into the living room, I've also been trying to mooch dinners off of our friends whenever possible ;) OK not really, but we do enjoy seeing our friends and appreciate the invites. Our dining room is the first room you walk into, so it looks a little odd to walk right into a table-less room with the back wall stacked tall with boxes that hopefully soon will make it into storage. With the TV our living room looks a little better although I would love a couch at some point hopefully soon.

After being moved in just a few days, Taylor made his own TV:

Here is the "small" TV Brooks picked out:

What's even better is that when we plugged the sucker in we picked up a few basic channels...and get this- we picked up even more digital channels. Go figure that one, but as I type this the babies are watching Nick Jr. I can only attribute this as being a gift from the Heavens. God saw I was tiring of the kids fighting and knew a little non educational programming was just the fix.

So, thank you Jesus. Last night I was able to watch Love In the Wild, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

And tonight after I watch some more TV, I will get the privilege of sleeping in my own bed. Yes! It's true! While opening his wallet for the TV was not something he even had to think about, Brooks tried the old "we'll look at mattresses tomorrow" trick with me and Angry Laura merely had to speak a few choice words and we were out the door to the mattress store. For the past 21 nights I have been sleeping with Jasmine and he has been sleeping on the extra twin mattress. If this purchase had not been made, my lovely, handsome and sweet husband would be having very personal conversations with Jesus.

So, it's coming along. Slowly, but surely this place will be complete.

Tucson Continued

As of today it has been a whopping 18 days in Tucson, but it feels like at least 2 months. Taylor is now the third kid in the lottery at Tucson Country Day School, so I remain hopeful he'll make it in by the end of this week. We've found a dinning table, I think we've found a couch and I can now count down the days until we are sleeping in our own bed. Once we have those three things I think I will feel a little more "moved in."

Brooks' parents are down this weekend for a visit and the babies are loving it. Grandma did not disappoint and brought over a big batch of Chex muddy buddies, peanut butter cookies and rice crispy treats with M&M's. I noticed she also snuck a few extra packages of M&M's in the goody bag as well. Taylor enjoyed giving them a tour of our apartment and Jazzy and Grandma played dress-up with the Barbies. Taylor may or may not have joined in, but if he does any "girly" stuff it is all in secret and certainly something he does not want his mom broadcasting over the interwebs. After some playtime we went out to lunch at the Texas Roadhouse, then headed over to their hotel which happens to be next door to our complex. We went swimming and then headed back to their suite to watch the new Phineas and Ferb movie and hang out. Jazzy and Grandma played hide and seek for quite a while, Jazzy gave away her spot every time but it was super cute to watch. We ordered pizza for dinner, and then walked home.

Somehow we all managed to completely crash out and woke up about 2 hours later than we normally do. We were all still in our jammies, and Brooks was still asleep when Grandma and Papa knocked at our door to join us for breakfast. OOPS! Thankfully, they were understanding and the kids were very excited to see them again and play some more. After breakfast we went swimming again and then out to lunch and said goodbye. We'll be back up to visit them at the end of the month when we take them back to the airport to say goodbye.

Taylor is really getting pretty confident in the water. He has been trying out different cannonball-ish dives, going underwater and has even swam completely unassisted for short distances. I think as long as we keep getting him in the pool he will be a full-fledged swimmer in no time.

We made it!

We have now officially been in Tucson for 12 days, and have been through an insane amount in those mere 12 days.

Most importantly, Brooks likes his job and the kids have adjusted just fine. Our apartment complex  has a pool, which is small, clean and never busy.  I scored a super cute floatie from my friend Lauren just before we moved down and Jazzy discovered yesterday she could actually let go of us in the pool and float all by herself. The weather has been awesome- pretty much in the 90's this whole time and raining almost daily. We also tried Five Guys Burgers for dinner and last night had Lucky Wishbone, a Tucson staple. Both were yummy albeit way more calories then we should probably be having.

As for crappiness- the experience loading up the truck from our storage unit was pure Hell. It was about 5 million degrees out and our unit got attacked by the haboob so we were not only super hot but super dusty. Both of us were dripping with sweat and the longer we were at the unit trying to load up, the more steam we lost which meant we just kept moving slower and slower. Finally the torture was over and we picked up the kids from Araceli's and made it to Tucson for the second half. My little brother and two sisters came to help us unload, which helped that half move much faster than the load.

We have been through the wringer with Sonoran Science Academy and my sentiment at this time is that they can eat shit and die. Taylor is on the waiting list at another school which we have heard nothing but good things about. The only problem is with school starting soon, I am not sure he will make it up the list in time. Our home school is in a decent area, but the test scores are pretty low so we have looked at tons of other schools with no luck. Jazzy starts preschool on the 15th which she is not happy about at all, but I am sure she'll decides she likes it once she gives it a chance.

The apartment is great, I really love the community. It is small and quiet and in a great location. But, we managed to give away a lot of our furniture months ago so at the moment we have some re-decorating to do. The only seating we have is our chaise lounge, one small kids bean bag chair and the good ol' floor. We have been looking around and I think found a dining table we liked at Z Gallerie, so we'll probably pick that up this weekend. We also have no mattress, and I am hopefully we will find some good prices soonish as I have been sleeping with Jazzy and Brooks has been sleeping on the extra twin and we could both use some decent  kid-less sleep.  And finally, we have no TV or internet (legitimately). We turned our Cox account on at Brooks' parents house and will transfer it down here once they return to Spain for the school year. That really is no biggie,  they have done so much for us and the kids will survive although we have to convince them of this. We also need to buy a second car before school starts.

Being back is not as bad as I thought. Driving around is so much easier, things just seem a little more calmer and laid back here. The most important things is that the kids are happy, which makes me happy.

...and now reasons I will enjoy being in Tucson

I guess it only seems fair, right?

1. The mountains are so beautiful, I've always thought they looked like painted movie backdrops.

2. More democrats. It will be nice to return to our people.

3. Many, many more memorable restaurants. I can really only think of two places I will miss in Phoenix- Greek Wraps in the West Valley and Someburros. But in Tucson there are so many more unique and great places to eat- Mi Nidito's, Rosa's, Molina's, Eegees, El Minuto, Caruso's, Zachary's (is that still open?), Sinbad's, Ali Baba... I could really go on and on. If you can't tell we like to eat and will undoubtedly be eating our way through Tucson.

4. My family. I am one of 10, nine of which live in Tucson and all of which I love and have missed equally.

5. The U of A and everything about it.

6. There is nothing like the smell of rain in the desert. Tucson gets more of it, and it somehow even smells better.

7.  An abundance of rocks and gravel. If we get a haboob, we'd probably not even be able to tell the difference.

8. My friends! Yay!

9. It works hard to maintain a homey, small town feel

10. Old adventures from when I was a kid to re-live with my own babies.

12 Days Countdown: Independence

Moving away from Tucson was a big deal. I knew even as a kid that town was not for me and definitely not big enough to fit all of my dreams. When Brooks mentioned moving away from Tucson was  his plan I knew it was our plan- there was no way (and we didn't even discuss it) that I would not be going with him. So we started making our plans. It seemed to happen pretty quickly, without guilt or hesitation or sadness.

Phoenix was a great first step away; in fact I always thought it was just the first step away to bigger and better things. I didn't hesitate to leave my family, my school, my job. It was maybe the first time I made such a big decision without asking for advice of consulting anyone. I was doing it for me because it felt right and that is probably why it was so easy.

We loved having all the perks of a big city- more attractions, freeways, better housing and job opportunities, making new friends. We figured everything out on our own and managed to do it just fine for about 8 years.

Because of this when we began talking about trying to move out of Arizona, we knew it was the right thing to do and something we could easily do. I knew we'd make new friends (and still keep our old ones), we'd come back to Arizona every so often and we'd live someplace cool that others would want to visit, we'd figure out places to visit and things to do, we'd conquer a new place easily and on our own. I thought we'd gotten pretty good at that.

When the opportunity to move back to Tucson came up, it was such a hard decision for me. For Brooks it was easy and logical and made perfect sense. For me, it felt like I'd failed. As if I had left and tried to make it on my own and then couldn't and had to come back. Even though I knew this was not the case at all I couldn't help but feel that way. He had to remind me about a hundred times that this was not the case, but I can't say I am quite over it yet.

So I will miss my independence. I will not miss what I left behind in Tucson when we first left- in fact I hope to never again have anything but pleasantness in our lives. I am older and wiser now and I think Brooks and I have managed to do a lot. We are great parents to our amazing and beyond adorable babies, he has a great job- hopefully soon I will too...there is so much going right with us that going back does not have to be a "wrong." It's a temporary move and something that we are meant to do in order to be even better and wiser.

So, goodbye Phoenix. I will miss you, I will visit you and I may even drive through you when we finally make that move out of Arizona for good. And I know that eventually we will.

12 Days Countdown: My Seester

My oldest sister Araceli and I barely tolerated each other as kids. I called her mean names, she decapitated my favorite Barbie and then colored her body with markers. It was a classic case of sibling rivalry at its finest.

Now though, she and I are very close and although we are complete opposites she is one of my best friends. She cooks me veggie omelets with raw cheese and organic eggs, then fries me up some taquitos and refried beans. She tolerates my potty mouth, loves my babies like they were her own and has opened up her home and her supply of almond milk and Craisins without hesitation.

For this and 12,000 other reasons I will miss my Seester.

12 Days Countdown: BizEWorks

It is so hard to describe what BizEWorks was or  what exactly we did. We struggled with this as it grew, and never really found a short way to define ourselves. It was the business I never knew would be a businesses and an experience I would never change.

We started out as eight moms who met on Mamasource, a nifty little website that I think is now called Mamapedia. Anyway, the idea was that we would all meet monthly and share tips from all of our individual businesses. This is actually how I had met my Mary Kay upline, she was at an event with her networking group and it gave me the idea to start my own. This was in 2006 when Taylor was just about 18 months old. I really only worked my Mary Kay business for a few months, then my time and attention went solely to BizEMoms (what we called ourselves when we first started). We did a few showcases where we all had tables and then sold extra tables to those outside and group and continued to meet regularly, refer business and help support one another. After that first year we grew from the original eight to now 40 different businesses, alternating meeting at each other's homes.

We changed things up a few times- we moved to a clubhouse as our meeting location, then to one of our member-owned deli's, we began to have guest speakers, developed a new fancy website, started the bridal show, held a few events at a school including the craziest fall festival ever. We went back and forth between being a support group to a business networking group, we worked with several different charities and organizations, spent a morning cleaning a townhome for a homeless family, walked a few 5K's, organized a Christmas present bonanza for a family with cancer, and started up the still going Mother/Daughter Glamour Day with Hope Kids.

BizEMoms became an official business in 2009 and we changed the name to BizEWorks to incorporate all the different divisions. By this time we had gone from just myself doing the planning to me and three others, to me and Tamara and one another and eventually just me and Tamara. We both had our second kids during this time; the group itself had enough babies we joked to newcomers not to drink the water; Tamara's daughter had gone through and survived cancer and I had survived running the show without her for a bit. We also gained so many friends; our "network" was more like family. Some businesses did great, some maybe not but that did not matter. I am happy to say that somehow we had the perfect mix of women (and a couple of men!) that made it all work and work well.

The experience was great, I would not go back and change anything. But it was so much work and completely took over our lives. I get that businesses do that and there were many times when we did have excited chats about how far we could go with this and what exactly we could do- should we add a magazine? Do two bridal shows? It really came to the point where the bridal show completely overwhelmed everything else, we struggled to make the whole thing function just the two of us. And then I dropped the bombshell on Tamara that we wanted to leave Arizona. If that happened, was there a way to make it work?

Even though we did not end up moving out of state, we decided that we'd have to let it be and we were happy to go out on top. I am even happier to say that we are still close with many of our members and I am amazed and all the things we did over the course of the business.

I am forever changed by the people I met and the tips, advice, love, understanding and support that was shared. I sometimes cannot believed I owned a business and I know now what it was: Tamara and I helped others and I loved every moment of it.

12 Days Countdown: Sports Teams and Stadiums

I love watching sports live and it will be great to catch some U of A basketball, football and hockey games. Brooks sleeps, eats and breathes sports, being in a city then with big sports teams was a pretty amazing experience. He's been to more Suns games than I have, but we had one really incredible date at a Suns game. He received two 11th row tickets from a vendor at work, another time we received Diamondback's tickets from his work as well. He's been to the FBR thanks again to his job, and a Coyote's game as well. We did not manage to make it to a Cardinal's game but Taylor loves the Cardinal's so I imagine that will be in our future. We have been to West Gate, where the University of Phoenix and Jobing.com area are. The kids have been to Disney on Ice and the circus at the US Airways arena and we still call Chase Field "Bob." Of course we will still catch games and drive up for events, but it will be different that these are no longer our hometown teams.

12 Days Countdown:Things Left Unfinished

I guess one of the things I will miss about Phoenix are the places we have yet to visit and the adventures left not-had.

I love, love, love getting away and going to new places. Phoenix is closer to the middle of the state, which means our drives were that much shorter. Yeah, Tucson is only two hours away but that's two extra hours in a car with kids. I think that means it is much more like 4 hours away when you factor in the extra potty breaks, extra stops for water because they drank it all (already!), gray hairs from worrying, hoarse voice from yelling, cost of visiting the chiropractor from having to turn your neck 45 times in one hour...this could really go on and on. We still have not been to the Out of Africa Wild Animal Park and Bearizona. We'll go- I might just have to do a little drinking while Brooks is driving to make it there ;) I kid, really. Maybe. California is a much shorter drive from here, as is Vegas. We'll still go to all of these places, I just may think about it a little more before making the suggestion.

There are also places in Phoenix we've yet to visit: Sea Life, The Arizona Science Center, We haven't been to the Fire Museum since Taylor was too little to remember. We've only been to one of the water parks, never been to Lake Pleasant or experienced the Dolly Steamboat tours. That leaves our stay in Phoenix feeling a little incomplete and unconquered. Now I guess these will all have to be reasons to come back and fun adventures to be had on those trips.

12 Days Countdown: Malls

Honestly, I really am not that much of a shopaholic. I have met others who are waaay worse. One thing I am appreciative for though is the ample supply of malls, shopping and the general selection of stores in Phoenix. In Tucson there is Park Mall and Tucson Mall as well as the long neglected El Con Mall. Having only those few selections means that they are generally more crowded and that makes for a less enjoyable experience. We not only have more malls, we have more stores like my beloved Trader Joe's and Sprouts. I think there is only one Sprouts in Tucson which is on the other side of town, but worth the trip.

One thing I won't miss about Phoenix though are the parking lots. People in Arizona don't know how to drive in general, but this is particularly bad in parking lots. To find a car without dings from other car doors, or to even go a day without witnessing someone barreling through a parking lot is a rare thing.

12 Days Countdown: Big Movie Theaters

Just a quick post as somehow the day has escaped me and now I find it almost bedtime and I certainly can't miss posting about one of my favorite Phoenix phenomena: big movie theaters.

Brooks and I love to watch movies; of course with our two little adorable suckers of alone time , this never happens anymore. That is, except for summers when Grammy and Papa return from Spain and babysit for us. When we first moved to Phoenix and before Taylor was born, Brooks and I discovered the 30-plex in North Phoenix. When I was pregnant and running an internal temperature to rival the Arizona heat we'd head to the theaters three nights a week at least. We may or may not have even movie hopped a time or two.

So now going to the theater is a total treat and a super fun date. Although we have watched far more uber guy action movies than my beloved chick flicks, it's still a yummy bucket of popcorn and time alone with my honey. Yeah Tucson has theaters, but not as many, definitely not as big and certainly not as many happy date memories.

12 Days Countdown: Splashpads and Parks

Tucson is really a pretty place. There is far more "desert" and much prettier mountain views, but surprisingly it does not have nearly enough parks for the kids and as far as I know only has one park splash pad and another splash pad at the zoo. Phoenix has a great selection of parks, splash pads and even dozens of public pools with water features and water slides. Somewhere in Tucson I hear a collective "oooohhh!" coming from the fellow moms out there. Yeah! Go figure- a city that supports public works projects!

When I lived in Tucson, we used to complain that all the money went to Phoenix. It totally does, but then that's what I love. I love seeing landscaping with grass (yeah, another round of collective "that is so wasteful! We live in a desert!") But it's pretty, I say. Phoenix roads are in much better shape, there are far more beautification projects. And as I already mentioned- tons of parks. And really great ones!

Probably my favorite splash pad is at Tempe Beach Park. It is huge and even has a small water slide. There is also a great one at Desert Breeze, and Rio Vista in the West Valley has a great splash pad next to a really cool play area. When we lived in Ahwatukee, there was even one in the park right next door. There are far more than I've mentioned here; it's almost like a requirement to have a splash pad at a park. And there are tons of parks! Practically every development has at least one, plus there are tons of city parks- small ones and big ones with grassy fields and most have shaded equipment. Probably our favorite park is Tumbleweed in Chandler. It has a ginormous barn themed play area that is shaded, it also has a city play area and a sandy dinosaur dig area.

Tucson, you need more parks and splash pads. Give kids and parents something to do.

12 Days Countdown: The Wedding Industry

When we first moved to Phoenix in 2003, I had no idea what my life would have in store. Little did I know that in 2007 I would venture into something I had always loved, but didn't know I could make a job out of.

It's sort of a long story, but the gist of it is that my BEW business partner and I decided to try a bridal show. I mean, it made perfect sense as we were working to create showcase opportunities for local businesses- why not try this avenue? Our first show was about 55 vendors, certainly not small but nothing compared to what it would grow to be. The next year we moved to a hidden gem of a venue in Mesa. Beautiful and within our budget, which in all four years never included a salary for ourselves, The Windemere Resort housed shows two and three. In year four we moved to The Chapparal Suites in Scottsdale and about 20,000 square feet of my wildest fantasy. Fashion shows, thousands of dollars in prizes, amazing displays, a Groom Room lounge, over 100 vendors, a budget to rival many people's annual salaries (and still no salary for us)...I cannot even begin to describe how much I absolutely LOVED this experience. Of course there were high maintenance "PITA's" (pain in the aardvarks"), endless errands, phone calls while hidden in rooms with screaming babies in the background and praying the person on the other line couldn't hear it, and we dealt with the unexpected so much it should have been expected. But I LOVED it. Every missed meal, 2:00 am email, panicked moment when we had to figure out a plan B. I love it all, and when I look back am totally amazed and proud that we did this.

So what did we do? I'd like to think that the Arizona Bridal Affair was a refreshing dose of how business should be done in Phoenix. It was not just about selling for us; we so cared about each and every business that signed on and really wanted to do everything we could to help them grow. We were totally novices in the beginning and cherished every little tidbit of advice and insider knowledge that was passed on to us. We learned that some of our big goals had to be compromised and that was not necessarily a bad thing. We also learned there were some bad apples out there, but oh so many more good ones. Doing business with others who were in the business helped us be better.

This last year was my favorite; I loved our new venue, I loved all the networking events we went to (thank you, thank you to Curtis Whipple and WEN), I loved the support we received, I loved when people passed our info on to others or when people started remembering our name, I loved the many faces we met and most of all I loved our show. I loved how pretty it was, our pre-show party for our vendors was amazing, I loved celebrating the people who had stuck with us since the beginning and I loved that when it was all over I really think we shook up the way other shows worked. I loved turning business associates into friends- thank you Jennyvi Dizon for EVERYTHING!

I also loved being able to breathe when it was all over with and spend time with my babies, who had patiently waited while mom had spent the past four years with a phone at her ear and a computer on her hip. I also love my husband who only grew frustrated a few thousand times and seems to have forgotten it all and is supporting me in trying to get back in it.

Phoenix wedding industry- you are amazing! Thank you for supporting and working with us. Thank you for the endless memories of enjoying your work, thank you for being kind, thank you for talking with us, hanging out with us and not laughing when Tamara and I snuck seconds and thirds at the food stations. If I renewed my vows, I honestly would not know who to hire as there is an endless supply of talent and caring professionals. What do I mean if? We will, because this gal has been planning her wedding since birth and June 24, 2005 needs to be celebrated again and again. And, in case you can't tell by all the pics, I think for sure we'll have a photobooth ;)

12 Days of Phoenix Countdown: Ikea!

My mom has this Swedish friend she works with, who would laugh at our Ikea obsession. She said shopping at Ikea for them was the equivalent of shopping at Wal-Mart for us. Well, since being American isn't exactly synonymous with having great taste, I give you my next favorite thing about Phoenix.

Ikea is just awesome. I really love it. Brooks says he is ready to graduate to the next level of nicer furnishings, but I still find things in that massive blue store that I NEED. We were here when Ikea first opened it's Tempe location and the news covered how people camped out to be one of the first through the door who would also get a free, funky Poang chair. I shouldn't diss that chair- we eventually bought one as well. It was probably equally fun shopping and trying to figure out how to pronounce the names of items. My mom and I could easily spend about 4 hours making our way through the displays and marketplace, laughing at the names and finding way too many things we thought we needed. The kids loved hopping in the beds and trying out all the chairs and couches, then finally making our way to the kids area where they'd play and we'd have to bribe them with ice cream to be able to get out of there. Taylor loved the ice cream so much that we had a heck of a time convincing him we could get plain vanilla cones at other places and not just Ikea. One time we gave him a cone and happily pushed him about in his stroller, and when we looked down again he'd eaten every last bite of his cone including the paper wrapping.

Quite honestly, almost all of our furniture has come from Ikea. Brooks jokes that Ikea furniture is great until you have to move. He is right about that one. Since you have to assemble it yourself, it isn't always the most durable, and since we've moved a few times our furniture has definitely seen better days.

But regardless, I still love this store! Even though the drive will be a little further, I will still find excuses to spend a few hours looking around and buying little gadgets with unpronounceable names.

12 Days Countdown: Morning News

I remember when Brooks and I would come up to Phoenix to stay for the weekend and I caught my first glimpse of a real morning news program. It was hilarious! I first watched AZ Family Channel 3 and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. It was not news like I was used to; the newscasters didn't blandly report- they bantered back and forth, told jokes, played music not muzak...maybe this doesn't seem like a big deal but the first time I turned on a TV and saw this I thought it was yet another way that Phoenix was oh so much cooler and hip than Tucson. The local Fox channel had a funny morning program as well and one time I saw the Fox weather guy in line at the 99 Cent Superstore. We also saw one of the Biggest Loser contestants at the Golden Spoon on another occasion. She  rode her bike and came clomping in with her bike shoes on.This was before the finale and she was barely recognizable, but I still couldn't help but stare not-so-subtly.

Back to news, little did I know that during our time living in Phoenix, I would be on the AZ Family Good Morning Arizona program seven times with BizEWorks, and one additional time as a jean model. We were also here for the devastating helicopter crash between channel 3 and the ABC station.

I've watched the local news a few times in Tucson during trips back, and recall some of the same reporters from when I was a kid still reporting and looking quite old. I guess they love Tucson. Morning news is just one of many reasons I will miss Phoenix.

12 Days of Phoenix: Freeways!

In honor of our move from Phoenix, I'd like to share some of my favorite things about this city. You're probably thinking: Laura- you are from Tucson. Is moving back really that big of a deal? Well, yes it is. Moving to Phoenix was the first big step in getting away from Tucson and moving on to bigger and better things. I know plenty of people love Tucson and now in my older and wiser state of mind I can see why. But, when I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to move on and get on to those bigger and better things.

Bigger and Better thing #1: Freeways! And lots of them!

Tucson has no freeway though town, only the I-10, which does not go through town, just around the outside of town. So that makes it virtually useless unless you are driving far, far away to either Texas or California.

Moving to Phoenix then was totally exciting for this no-freeway gal. Big freeways, with wide lanes and very well maintained asphalt! In all my travels (albeit maybe not as wordly as I wish), no other city has freeways quite like we do. They're beautiful and I will miss them. Especially you, state route 51 with all the pretty houses perched on the hillside. I used to imagine the pro athletes lived in those houses. And you- the ugly and neglected lanes of the I-17 and the 60- I will even miss you too. And you, 101 with your bad traffic but your proximity to every place I ever needed to drive to. I will miss you, but I will enjoy your carpool lane when we visit, which will hopefully open soon.

I will never forget our nephew Kyle's first trip to Phoenix. He was taking pictures of the freeways and I thought it was both cute and funny. That may be me soon.

Big News!

Whoo-hoo! We are moving!!

I could go into a real long tale of what the past year has been like for us, but I'll be brief.

We have wanted to move out of Arizona for what seems like forever. We tried, gave up and then out of nowhere Brooks gets contacted by a company he had previously interviewed for. This was on a Wednesday, in fact this past Wednesday. On Monday he interviewed with one other person, on Tuesday he was offered the job. And that was it!

Where is this exciting city we'll be moving to with amazing schools and superb Autism support? Welllll, that's the catch. It's actually none of those things, it's Tucson. But- this is a big company with offices in at least 30 cities so the opportunity to get the eff out of Dodge is far greater than if we stay here. And that is what swayed the deal. It's also Brooks' very own building, an opportunity to get experience with tenant improvements and construction (which seems to be what every other company wants) and possibly less work for a little more money. He'll be going from 1.5 million square feet to 140,000. That's fewer tenants, fewer roofs for rain leaks, less copper pipes to be stolen and sprinkle systems to get air stuck in them and then accidentally alert the fire department. You know, just an average day in the life of a property manager.

By divine chance, we had planned on going to Tucson last weekend anyway, so while we were there we filled out registration paperwork for Taylor at Sonoran Science Academy (Paragon's sister school), and found an apartment. We've reserved the UHaul, scheduled the electricity and now are just counting down the days.

The only thing we have had to sacrifice on is our planned vacation. Brooks' wanted to give 4 weeks notice, but the best they could offer him was 3 weeks so we had to scrub the trip in order to give Carlson adequate notice, since otherwise Brooks would have been gone for two of his last three weeks.

We've signed a 6 months lease, then will be buying a house which means we'll be broke for a while. Our only vacations then will be staycations and trips to Phoenix.

But we're all excited! I can't wait to finally unpack! And, crazy as it sounds I can't wait to pack it all again and move to our dream place.

Each anniversay we debate the date possibilities. Then we realize we are kidding ourselves and end up planning something with the kids. This year we got tickets to see the the Greatest Show On Earth. Taylor remembered the last circus we went to, probably two years ago. He was very excited; Jasmine didn't start getting excited until she saw the commercials on TV.

The day of the circus we had a few other errands to run, then stopped at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant for an early dinner and even made it to the show early! We took the kids on the floor for the pre-show activities. Jazzy was in a bad mood and whinning about everything, so Brooks took her back to our seats. I managed to get the tickets soon after they went on sale, so we ended up with great seats. Taylor had a blast walking around the floor! We met a clown who was wearing dog tags just like Taylor. He was a former Marine and Taylor thought he was pretty cool. Taylor also got to have his picture taken with one of the trapeze artists.

Jazzy eventually decided she liked the show once the horsies came out. Taylor loved the tigers and added a new friend to his menagerie- Tigie the white tiger. He also told us that he would like to be a baby tiger trainer when he grows up. Although I would have loved to be out on a romantic date just the two of us, this was totally worth being married six years for.