Where I Live

Yep, that's my exit...we are about a half mile from the federal and state prisons. I like to tell myself that at least they are all locked up!

I am getting used to Tuscon more each day but it is a change from nice quite Clarkston, MI and to be honest a little scary sometimes. We do like it though and found quite a few fun things to do this summer. Hopefully, it will continue to grow on us and we will love it as much as Michigan. The amazing weather is helping that process along!

Welcome to Arizona

So we have been here in Arizona for about a month now and have been officially welcomed by scorpions, monsoon season and a broken air conditioner. It has been an eventful month!

First, I was stung by a scorpion at the pool one Saturday and it hurt so freakin' bad; I would not wish that on anyone. Actually, the initial sting doesn't hurt and is hardly noticeable but it's what comes after that sucks. I was fine by the end of day but it was a rough couple of hours. (No picture for this part because those things are just too creepy, but if you want a look, click here: Bark Scorpian

We are right in the middle of monsoon season and we have gotten some pretty awesome storms here. I love the rain so I am actually a big fan of the storms. However, that pouring rain is really scary to drive in. One storm took out our power for the night and the next morning we realized that it had knocked down six power line poles right outside of our neighborhood.

Driving into a storm (It looked darker in person)

 The lovely, clear sky behind us

Lastly, our air conditioner broke two weekends ago and was out for 4 days. It was 89 degrees in the house which is hot and yucky. Thankfully it got fixed as quickly as it did and we are good to go now!

Thanks for the warm welcome Arizona!

Moving

Right before Nick graduated, he got a job offer in Tucson, AZ. It was a great offer and we felt it was right for us so we took it and are now residing in sunny Arizona! Nick started his job the first week in June and Makell and I came down at the end of June. It was a long month apart but we are glad to be back together and living in our first house! We are just renting but it is great to be out of apartments, especially since our last experience was so terrible. The best part of it all is that I get to be a stay at a home mom! I am thrilled and loving it. It has been torture to send Makell to day care for the last three years and I am elated that I won't have to do that again. I am so proud of Nick and am excited for our newest adventure!

Here is Makell on moving day, waiting to go to the airport. She was such a trooper through the whole process.

Painting

I found a cool Pin from Pinterest for making your own sidewalk paint. We tried it out and Makell loved it. You should try it too:
 http://domesticcharm.blogspot.com/2011/05/liquid-sidewalk-chalk.html

 This picture is just 'cause she is so cute!

Graduation!!

Yay!! Nick graduated from U of M on April 29th with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering! This has been a long time coming (we took the scenic route) and we are so thrilled. On to bigger and better!

The Great Flood of 2012

I am a bit behind on blogging but I wanted to post about the awesome (not really so awesome at all) flood that we had in April. Our upstairs neighbors decided to break their toilet in half and then go to sleep while water was gushing out of it so we ended up with:

• a night of no sleep due to incredibly loud dripping water, and maintenance in and out of our apartment all night long
• a soaking wet apartment
• 4 very noisy fans running for seven days straight to dry the wet apartment
• having to move many of our belongings including large furniture twice in two days (once to stop from being ruined by water and once to have carpet replaced)

I think we have bad luck with apartments because this happened to us once before. We so glad to be done with apartment living! 

The first time we moved it all out of the bedrooms. 

 The second time we moved it all out so they could replace the carpet.

Easter

Ok, I realize that Easter was uh, 4 months ago but I really wanted to post a pic of Makell's Easter basket. I made her one this year based on a Pinterest Pin and I think it turned out super cute. Since it took a bit to make, I think it will be her basket for the next few years. She loved it and carried it around for several weeks after Easter. 

The basket with her Easter goodies

 Giving her new Bath Time Baby a nice bath in the sink