Home

In moving around so much since graduating high school, I've learned a few things about making a new enviroment feel like home. Sometimes it's something small like finding a new favorite restaurant nearby or realizing you're in walking distance of a fun park. Being close to family and friends always helps too. The move to Arizona has been a little more difficult than my other moves. My previous post mentions all the little things we miss (including family and friends) so, needless to say, we have to get creative in making this our new home.

Jake and I grew up on opposite ends of Utah, so "home" is different for both of us. For me, growing up in a small town means knowing your neighbors and classmates and everyone else in town. It means 4 wheeling and shotgun shooting and chasing rabbits for fun. It also means dairy farms and pig farms and lots of wonderful manure smells, especially on summer days. For Jake, growing up in a much larger town means graduating with 800 plus classmates and going to a grocery store without knowing every single person you see. It means going to skate parks and skiing and having a job that doesn't require you to milk cows or herd cattle. It also means having movie theaters and bowling alleys and shopping malls within 5 miles rather than 50. So, I'll admit, one thing I really love about where we live now is the mysterious manure/alfalfa smell that lingers in the air and the huge empty dirt lot below our balcony where people come to play when it rains and turns to mud. Ask Jake how he feels about that smell however, and you'll get his notorious "ham and swiss" face (story for another time, just know it's not a good face).

Miraculously, despite our different comforts of home, we both looked at each other one night and agreed that we were home. It was Christmas night and we had just driven 8 hours from my mom's house where we had spent our holiday. We were tired and didn't want to unpack and just wanted to flop on the couch and do nothing. We had some gifts to open so we did that and then decided we could call it a night. While we were getting ready for bed it just hit me. We were home. I told Jake about my moment of clarity and he agreed.

So what makes this feel like home? Having lunch together every day while I'm still looking for a job, cooking dinner every night instead of going out (while we were in the process of moving we lived in a hotel for a week and had to eat out more than either of us would like to do again. So much that our first home cooked meal made me deathly ill!) Sunday morning breakfast in bed, being able to drive somewhere without using the GPS, becoming attached to a grocery store close by, and driving 100 miles for an enormously huge employment opportunity (another story for another day, it was more than worth it).

Guess what people?! We live in Arizona and it's home.

The Little Things..

Since we moved to Arizona we started to miss a few things that we unknowingly took for granted before. Of course we miss our family and friends, but this is about the little things we never knew we would miss!

Anyone who knows us knows that we love movies and spend many weekends at the theater. What was so nice about Megaplex was the rewards program we "joined" a couple years ago which gave you points for every dollar spent. Free movies, free popcorn, and free drinks were ours! The second alluring feature was the assigned seating. Going to a movie opening night was so easy. Just buy tickets and choose seats online and show up 5 minutes before the show starts. That's impossible here. If we want to go to a new movie we have to get to the theater almost 2 hours early to wait in line just to have a chance to get two seats together! And forget reward points. It is a foreign concept in Arizona!

If you want fresh produce and meat Harmons is the place to go. We miss boars head salami and specialty cheeses. Our best option for produce here is safeway, but there's really no comparison!

Fry sauce! Ok I've always known fry sauce is a "Utah" thing, but I've always been able to stick it out on vacations and make my own. This is the longest vacation ever! I get a lot of strange looks from people when I ask for a side of mayo.

Last but not least, Tillamook ice cream. We have found Tillamook cheese, but no ice cream. I know, 1st world problems right?

Smoothie Anyone?

I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who wants to pay me to be their personal smoothie maker...? I'm still job hunting and right now this is my best option! In all seriousness, Jake and I have been extremely loved the last few months. Between getting married and spending our first Christmas together in a new apartment, new city, AND new state, we pretty much have every appliance and gadget you could ever dream of. Two of my favorites are this fabulous blender we tried out tonight and a pressure cooker that will perfectly accommodate our love of rice, soup, artichokes, and plenty more! Are we lucky or what?! Now, back to this personal smoothie maker...

Flaming Kabob!

That's what I heard Jake say as we were driving to cafe Rio last night to cash in one of our many wonderful free meals we acquired from having them cater our reception. Great perk by the way and so worth it! Anyway, driving to cafe Rio I hear Jake say, "flaming kabob, that restaurant is new!" Immediately I see a penguin in a pillow fight shouting,"chimichanga, these pillows are filled with baby birds!" (Madagascar 3 or something... the newest one). It took me a second to realize flaming kabob was the name of the restaurant and not just a clever shout of exclamation. I had a good laugh about it and I think that might be our newest, and my most favorite, way to show excitement about something. We might even try the food too.

This is for Jana

Most people have already seen our wedding pictures and know where Jake and I went on our honeymoon, which was a huge, wonderful surprise, but I forget about the ONE friend I have who is not on Facebook! Miss Jana, this one is for you.

Our wedding was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. We were engaged for 6 months and spent that time planning the perfect day. It's so hard to believe that 6 months can go by that quickly and that all your hard work is over faster than you can blink! But it was so much better than we could have ever imagined or planned for. Everything worked out perfectly; no snags, no "if only".. not a single part of that day sticks out in my mind that doesn't make me smile. So many of the special moments are stored in our memory banks, but we also had an amazing photographer to freeze time for us. Here are some of my favorites, for my favorite, Jana Banana.

So our honeymoon was in Lihue, Hawaii on the island of Kauai. It was my first time going to Hawaii and it was amazing and beautiful. I don't know if I could even give another island a chance after spending a week on Kauai! We stayed in a beach front room and hiked along the Na'Pali coast, went on a dinner cruise along the Na'Pali coast, had fun at a luau, and spent a lot of time beach hopping. Couldn't have asked for more!

6.15.12

The last post I made on my "old" blog. I want to remember this.

"Low Battery Life"

Is what my iPad just told me. Rudely. As I was trying to type. Well fine, I was only trying to share my thoughts with the world. I guess your battery life is more important. Whatever!

Quickly, I want to express how grateful I am for family and friends. I've been blessed to share my life with some amazing individuals who love me and teach me new things on a daily basis. I love them all, with my whole heart. I wouldn't trade them for anything or anyone! Life is changing for me right now, in a lot of extraordinary ways. I'm so thankful to have the blessings I do, and am excited to see where I go from here. I know as long as I have my "posse", I have everything I could ever want or need.