Arizona

Things I am going to miss about you...

Friends, friends, friends. Mine, Nathaniel's and the kids'. We have loved our friends here. It has made all of the difference in the world. Which leads into the next thing...

Running buddies, the track, and good weather to run in most of the year. I never saw myself as a runner, but thanks to Megan I gave it a try and have discovered that I actually enjoy it. Megan and Lori I'll miss you! I'll miss our early mornings, late nights, venting to each other while we pounded pavement, and pushing each other to do more. It meant a lot to have your help. I probably never would have done it without you guys. I love that track. I have so many fond memories that came from it. Reaching goals, laughing, building friendships, and so much more.

Beautiful winters full of outings to the park, not scraping windows, warming up the car, or bundling up the kids.

My playgroup. I loved our ongoing Tuesday gatherings. I loved how you could relate to the other moms and realize you are normal and so are your kids...for the most part.

Game nights and Girls nights. We had some fun groups we did games with and although they weren't often enough, I loved our girls nights and how we always brought games and never opened them because we were always talking and laughing together.

Michael P., our honest mechanic. I guess they do exist. (He's even come to our house twice to fix our car. Gotta love that!)

Our ward(s). We have been in 3 since we have been here since they changed the boundaries. I love getting settled into a ward and knowing faces and names. I'll miss the history I have here. This is the longest we have ever been in one ward. (Meaning this is the longest I have been with a majority of my ward. There were a lot of us that shifted together.)

Being within 5 miles of just about everything I need: walmart, target, home depot, libraries, the track, church, school, entertainment, and most of our friends. That'll be a bit of a change when the nearest walmart is 2 -3 hours away.

The lack of spiders I have seen since I have been here. I have really only seen 3 or so that were bigger than a pencil eraser.

Living close to Nathaniel's side of the family. We go over to Yuma about every other month or so. That has been really fun.

Our neighbor Lilian. She is the sweetest thing and my kids really love her. Every time they see her they have to wave and say "hi" at least 30 times each.

Monsoons. I love the thunder, lightning and downpouring rain. I could sit outside and listen all evening.

Mt. Lemmon and Sabino Canyon. We didn't go much but the couple of times we did we loved them.

Winterhaven. During Christmastime this is my favorite thing in Tucson. The weather is great, the lights are so amazing and we always go with friends which makes it so fun. I will really miss this.

Our house. It may not be really fancy, new, or big, but I have loved a place of our own without neighbors above or below us. I love our garage. We don't park in it because it is at an awkward angle, but we use it for storage, projects, and even play. I will miss that much extra space.

The Whole Foods Market. It has made being GF here easy. I love that Fry's and Albertson's and the Yuma Walmart carry so many GF things.

The Splash Park. What a fun free thing to do with the kids. For that matter, I'll miss all of the other parks here. Since the weather is nice for most of the year, there are so many fun parks to go to. I also loved the zoo here. It was the perfect size and was so easy to do by myself.

Things I won't miss about you...

COCKROACHES!!! And other nasty bugs like palo verde beetles.

Summer heat (and therefore immodesty- is it possible to wear less?) and the humidity that comes in July and August. There is something wrong with seeing 114 as you drive past the bank.

Being so far from my family.

My electricity bill in the summer (you'd think with the house at 80 it wouldn't be that high-wrong!).

Crime. Not a fan. I don't like the helicopters that fly overhead with spotlights, the cop cars at our neighbors, the rapist around the corner, the bank that was robbed 1/2 mile away, the guy that was shot at the car wash around the other corner, and the fact that many of my friends houses have been broken into. I don't like having to check and double check our doors at night to be sure it will only be us in our home.

Living "in town". I don't like living in a place with about a million other people. It's not enough space for me.

The school system. I am so glad to NOT be sending my kid to public school here. They have closed so many schools here this last year due to budget cuts I think kindergarten classrooms are about 30 kids (a lot of which don't speak english well). I think Eliza is ready for a little more than that. Ely's 12-15 kids per class suits me just fine. They also have uniforms. I am glad to be moving somewhere that doesn't have uniforms. Much easier on the budget.