The Move

With my decision to stay home with the kids, Tony's career possibilities expanded. I would have to say it all started during our trip to California in April. Tony was visiting a client while we were there and he innocently asked if Tony had ever considered moving out of state for work. This sparked conversation between the two of us. Years ago we discussed we would be open to moving out of state in the future. The idea of a new adventure in uncharted territory was appealing to us both. We agreed then that if we ever moved it would have to be after Alex graduated high school. So here we were, having the same conversation with Alex's graduation just around the corner. California is absolutely beautiful and an excellent place to vacation, but after researching the economy and cost of living we quickly scraped the idea.

Tony's brother lives in Arizona so it was the obvious next consideration. After researching the area we found the cost of living to income ratio to be excellent and the schools to be top rated to boot. The fact that one of my dearest friends from high school lives here too was icing on the cake. Tony got his resume together and started applying and interviewing. I'm still amazed how quickly everything happened and how well everything ultimately fell in place. Tony was offered a job with a great company with excellent growth potential. Less than two months after that conversation in California our Utah house was in boxes and we were preparing to move to Arizona.

I should be a pro at moving. This is the tenth place we've lived in our eleven year marriage. However, this was my first out of state move and by far the most stressful move of my life. It was borderline traumatic to be quite honest. I still recall the day Ryder managed to soak several packed boxes in the kitchen with the garden hose. (Brady carelessly gave Ryder said hose claiming he thought Ryder would do something productive with it, like clean the bikes. I may have cried.) I remember Ryder crying incessantly during the lengthy drive. There wasn't a dvd, song, or other distraction in the world that would make that kid content with being strapped in his car seat for hours on end. It's also a well known fact I detest driving. Around the town errands I'm fine with, but long distances and freeway driving stress me out. I followed Tony in the good old minivan, meaning I drove the entire distance. It was quite the accomplishment for me. In other news, I still loathe driving.

I was thrilled when we made it to our destination. So much so that the record breaking scorching 120 degrees we were welcomed by only made me mildly delirious. I'm adapting to the Arizona heat by hibernating mostly indoors. Many people have reassured me that the three months of hellish heat are well worth the nine months of absolute heaven. Utah summers were typically too hot for me anyways so I spent most of my time indoors there as well. I'm looking forward to the lack of snow and freezing temperatures in the winter. While snow is beautiful, it's also too cold for my liking and horrible to drive in. All and all, I think Arizona is going to suit me just fine and I'm excited for our new journey. The sunsets are absolutely stunning and the area we landed in is superb.

The most challenging part has been missing all the family and friends we left behind like crazy. I have admittedly been homesick on several occasions and am extremely thankful for modern technology that makes it easy to stay in touch.