from Lillian ... and Brandy .... and maybe a few more! I KNOW it's been like 2.5 weeks since I've posted. AND it was even in ANOTHER STATE!!! But that's my excuse! Ohh that - and I haven't downloaded ANY pictures yet. Maybe I'll do that WHILE I'm writing. Because you KNOW I can get all long winded and stuff. :)
So really now - I've laid awake at night trying to think of ALLLL the things I could write about. And I decided to do a PROS and CONS list of living in Arizona. We'll see how long it will go - the kids are playing and I PRAY they keep playing nice.
Ooo - let's start with the KIDS:
PRO:
Leaving early from Utah to get a head start! Thinking ... "Oh - this will be GREAT!"
CON:
Stopped by my sister's house - balled hysterically. Then she gave the girls water bottles w/ holes in it. Which then became WEAPONS of war until Bountiful when Baby Maby lost her BINKI (ya - 20 minutes into it). We couldn't make her happy until we stopped 3 hours later.
PRO: Because it's freaking STEAMING hot here ... you can put frozen butter OUTSIDE and it will soften for cookies in like 4 minutes.
CON: Because it's freaking STEAMING hot here ... you can put a human OUTSIDE and it will MELT in like 4 minutes.
PRO: Because we don't know anyone here yet, the kids are forced to play together and be nice.
CON: Because we don't know anyone here yet, the kids are forced to play together and fight.
PRO: During the months of July, August, September it's (like I said above) STEAMING HOT HERE. (hold on ... I'll get to the PRO part of it) So MONSOONS come and it DOWNPOURS like crazy! The night after we got here it rained SO hard in the late afternoon and it dropped to a BEEEERZIE 91. But really it felt like 70! Because of the downpour, Baby Maby INSTANTLY stripped down (again - this is a pro!) and ran outside into the rain. I took a picture on my complete piece of crap camera and can't the USB cable to download. So picture it with me, will you??? She ran all around finally ended up laying on the back porch in 2 inches of rain. Pretending to swim... naked mind you. Loving every bit of her new home.
CON: I was wearing my Grandma's pajamas (story to come later) and after Baby Maby went inside I sat on the back porch and cried. In the rain. Letting it hit my face. Ohhh crap - that's bad.
Ok - enough - that's too much for me. :) Some interesting things that happen here:
My pantry wall backs the garage - so things don't stay as COOL as they should. So my hidden treasure of CHOCOLATE melted. Just being in the pantry.
Geckos are on our back wall. The kids LOVE to look at them. I do, too - from afar. ;)
We'll get in the car after it's been parked somewhere and it will say 122 most of the time. We just laugh ... knowing that that's ALL we can do! :) It WILL cool down though to like 115. :)
So - back to the story of my grandmother's pajamas... :) My Grandma Stewart was a BEAUTIFUL woman. And VERY strong. Moved all over the country w/ her airforce family. Even to Japan. The story goes that my Grandpa Boyd came home on leave for them to get married. The day after their wedding, they packed up their belongings into their little car and headed back to Texas where they would be living. The next morning after they arrived, Grandpa Boyd headed off to work. Leaving Grandma Sybil (OHH love their names!) to herself. And the boxes. And her lonesome. So she sat down in the empty living room and cried. She said she cried for about an hour. Then she stopped - sat up and said "well - that won't do me ANY good." And she went to work! She said she decided right then and there that SHE would CHOOSE to be HAPPY! No matter her circumstances - no matter what state or country she lived in - no matter how much money they had - no matter how freaking hot it was outside - no matter how much time she got to spend with her husband. SHE WOULD BE HAPPY!
And so my family's motto goes something like this:
YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!
The day we got here I was unpacking and found my Grandma Sybil's pajamas. My mom found them in her cedar chest and gave them to me, along with 2 of her aprons. I was feeling a bit sad and overwhelmed that night - so I decided to climb into those pajamas - to feel of her strength. Something interesting happened. I DID feel stronger - almost as if Sybil were standing right here beside me saying: YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!
And I can. Grandma Sybil actually lived in the city of Chandler, AZ back when my mom was 8. So somehow I feel a bit more connected to this city. She saw the same roads (although they weren't built up like this ... it was still the same dirt). She saw the same sky. And she raised her family - happily. Even away from what was her "normal" home. SO - I can and will be happy! And I'm happy to do so! I wear her pajamas quite frequently. Channeling her strength and love. And it helps me when I'm sad. But I'm happy here - and the family is too!
I think I'll take one of the aprons and start using it as a little "sisterhood of the traveling pants" ... but insert apron! My sister just got called as R.S. President in So. Carolina. She needs Grandma Sybil's apron to bring her strength. I thought it would be fun to see where Sybil's apron gets sent throughout my family.
Grandma Sybil's apron.
We also got A FABULOUS SURPRISE Friday night! Ava's best friend Kelty was in town!! Their family lived next door to us and they have family in Mesa. So Kelty's mom surprised us and was about 15 minutes away!!! Ava was giddy! So happy to see her that way! They played all friday and saturday.
Kelty ...
And Ava:
And because my family is DYING to see where I live I give you ... (now - don't adjust your computer screens - this is BROWN you are seeing....)
My home. Renting it until December. It's a good home - not trashed - but just not my style. But VERY lovely to live in really.
Oooo and I found that if you mix one part brown to 87,000 parts BLEACH ... the brown turns into RED, PINK, BLUE and YELLOW!!!!!!!!! :)
Again - NONE of these are fixed for your loveliness. They are SOOC. Kitchen/tv area. Love the wood floors. CAN NOT STAND THE TILE!!!!
This is what you see as you walk in the house from the entryway. WHAT IN THE WORLD? Seriously - this space... what do I do with it? Well - besides move those boxes into the already full garage? :) I think it's meant for a FORMAL dining and FORMAL sitting. Hmmm. Ohh well. At least Oscar looks cute atop the loveseat.
Master. Good space - GOOD LIGHT!!! Ohhh the plans I have for tomorrow!!!
Wesley's room. All put together. We didn't bring about 1/2 of our belongings due to NO SPACE here. So his cute barn armoire is in my sister's basement. To be retrieved when we buy.
This is the room connected to that GIANT room that NO ONE knows what to do with. A LOT OF TILE. Did I mention that tile isn't my favorite. :) It's clean. But it's echoey. This is my PARTIAL office. Couldn't fit the other half of it. So it's make shift. With lots of things in boxes still.
Entry way - which is a FUN green w/ that wood floor I love. Ava flittering by ... :)
Standing by the back door in the tv/family room looking into the kitchen. That wasn't staged. OR cleaned for you. I COME AS I AM! ;) Ohhh and that is a picture of Grandma Sybil on that bottom shelf on the right. :)
And my back yard. I LOVE this space. Although we are rarely out here because of the heat. But I LOVE the green and the pretty things the owners planted by the back wall. There's also a doggy door right there to the left and baby Maby climbs in and out ALL DAY LONG! :) We'll have to put one in the house we buy for sure!
I have some other random pictures that April took of me (she's my FABULOUS DARLING FRIEND that only lives 15 minutes away ... the one I flew out to see Twilight with! Oh and THANK YOU NEW MOON for having a BEAUTIFUL trailer!!) But .... the pics were sized too small. I'll have her send them to me bigger. Last Monday we went to Scottsdale and went to the premiere of PAPER HEARTS! A DARLING new film coming out August 6 with Michael Serra. Ohhh it's SO cute! And I LOVED going to a PREMIERE! It will be our new thing... so I'll post pics of another one w/ APRIL.
So ... REALLY long post later... we are HAPPY HERE! We DO miss family and friends - but we feel GOOD HERE! Nate loves the heat and feels great here! His new job will work out beautifully and this experience is starting to feel like home. But mostly because Nate just came home w/ our new ARIZONA license plates and it hit me ... I live in Arizona. :) I'm happy to be here w/ my children and to be in charge of them and teaching them and showing them that they too can do hard things! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and love and emails and threats ... LILLIAN!!! :) I'm excited to get back into photography here. Found the GREATEST place to take Wesley's baptism pictures. If only it was so FREAKING STEAMING HOT! ;) But I need to get my hands busy doing that... it makes me happy to create. To feel divine and strong and like a smart woman. I love that. That's what women SHOULD feel like.
Now... to get ready for the day. It's only 2:00. :)