Welcome to Arizona
Last summer, after Bart’s internship was over and he got a job offer, we decided we would move to California once he graduated.
But then, after Star was born and graduation was only a few months away, we started getting serious about preparing for our move and we eventually decided that Arizona was a much better fit for our family. Not only was the group he is most interested in based in Arizona, but the cost of living is so (so!) much better and it’s closer to all our family members.
Bart and I have said for years that the three things we want most from a place to live are warm weather, decent cost of living, and close to family (it’s still a mystery why we moved to Boston in 2009 when it is zero for three on our requirements). Arizona hit all three of those.
At the end of May, I called my mom and asked if she could come stay with the big girls while Bart and I flew to Arizona to look at houses. She said, “Probably. When would you want me to come?” I replied, “How about tomorrow?” Thank heaven for mamas.
Over the course of 38 hours, Bart and I (along with our poor baby who was so tired of getting in and out of the car) saw nearly three dozen houses and made an offer on one.
Three days ago, we closed on that house and we’ve spent the last few days madly unpacking boxes and arranging the rooms. The “we” in the latter part of the last sentence was my mom and me – Bart’s first week of training was in California, so my mom drove down with me from Las Vegas and helped in ten thousand ways to make this a smooth move.
The move-in is definitely not complete, but we made big progress in the two days she was here and once Bart gets home today, I plan to force him to hang a bunch of pictures, reassemble the crib and toddler bed and guest bed, and probably forty seven other tasks. Welcome home!
Ella’s fifth birthday was yesterday and we opted to push off most of the celebrating until tomorrow, when Bart will be home and we can really party it up.
Ella is the queen of delayed gratification, so she didn’t seem to mind at all that the much (in fact, when I suggested a few small things to do on her actual birthday, she strongly resisted, telling me that we were going to celebrate on SATURDAY).
But, I just couldn’t quite let the actual day pass without some sort of notice, so after we went to Meet the Teacher night, we went to dinner at the very upscale location of Chick-fil-A and then stopped at Safeway to grab some of TCBY’s new frozen yogurt.
Ella’s first pick was mint chocolate chip, but I convinced her to go for the cookie dough instead (you’d think it was my birthday – no nice mom points for me).
We came home, grabbed a candle, the ice cream scoop and some bowls, and walked to the neighborhood park (are we already real Arizonians if 95 degrees seemed plenty cool to go to the park? Growing up in Las Vegas appears to have been excellent training for moving here).
We sang to Ella, she blew out her candle, and we ate our ice cream before it all melted.
Then fourteen thousand underdogs on the swing and we packed it up to come home to bed.
Arizona, I think we’re going to like it just fine here.
(P.S. I have coupons for three months worth of free TCBY Frozen Yogurt. Leave a comment telling me which flavor you’d most like to try and I’ll choose a winner at random next week! Also the TCBY truck is visiting various cities and you can stop by for free samples and coupons. If there’s anything better than ice cream when it’s 108 outside, it’s free ice cream when it’s 108 outside).
Cookie dough would be my automatic choice but hubby would love the chocolate moose tracks.
I'm glad your move went well!
Congrats on buying a house! I feel like everyone is buying right now accept us, and then I have to tell myself, one more year until that MBA is done, one more year! This makes me feel more sad for your orange master bedroom though… at least you can freely paint now!
Welcome to my former home state. I spent most of my formative years in Arizona–Tucson, Flagstaff, and Phoenix. I wouldn't choose to live there again, since I am most definitely not a hot-weather kind of person, but I do still miss the desert and the mountains. My parents are still in Tucson, and my brother and his family live in Gilbert, so I still have family there to visit. Though with three children, our means for buying five plane tickets from NY to AZ are getting slimmer by the year.
First, Happy Birthday, Miss Ella!
I'm glad have successfully purchased and moved into your new home. It's wonderful that your mom was able to come down to help with the move, especially with Bart unable to help temporarily. Have fun with the decorating! I hope you all will be very happy in Arizona.
On a personal note, I am happy that you spent a year in the Boston area.
I'm with Ella. Mint chocolate chip is my go-to!
Happy birthday to Ella and congrats on the move!
English toffee crunch or the sea salt caramel swirl.
Or any of the other flavors. Because ICE CREAM.
Welcome to my home state. I love living in Arizona. I agree the nights this week have been "dreamy" at 95 degrees. Now to real business I'd love to try the double chocolate chunk! Hope you enjoy your time here.
Selena Pallas
I would definitely choose the double chocolate chunk since if there is a chocolate option, I ALWAYS choose the chocolate.
The only thing that keeps me from melting into a puddle of mommy tears (I have a strong-willed 4 year old son and a 7 month old baby girl who I just started staying at home with) is bedtime and evening ice cream.
Needless to say, I would love to try some Extreme Cookies and Cream!
Congrats on the house! I would probably melt if I lived in AZ. I visited Mesa for a week a few years ago and couldn't stand the heat. I almost dislike that heat more than the heat with humidity back east. I bet I would love it in the winter though! I'm thinking that the Chocolate Moose Tracks is calling my name.
Can I answer "all of the above?!" I like it all. I guess I would choose cookies 'n cream, but I'm also tempted by sea salt caramel and cookie dough.
Congrats on the move and happy birthday to Ella. My youngest will be 5 in a few weeks. (Well, she is my youngest until Baby arrives in January!)
I don't think I could hack Arizona. Although I am always surprised how much the lack of humidity helps when I visit my grandparents there. And I do love some mint chocolate chip!
I want to try chocolate moose tracks! Stay cool!!
Extreme Cookies ‘n Cream! Yum!
You had me at Sea Salt Caramel!
Seriously, any ice cream would be fab. It's all basically manna from heaven, isn't it?
I hope you enjoy Arizona! All the cool people seem to be moving there. 🙂
The double chocolate chunck looks great!
Happy birthday Ella! My choice (it was a hard one 😀 ) is Chocolate Moose Tracks
Well I'd definitely choose something with cheesecake, or the mint chocolate chip. But my husband would choose anything with loads of chocolate.