July 2010

So many things to say about living here that I simply haven't had time to post about. So now that I have a moment I thought I'd try to get at least a couple posts done. When we arrived in Arozona on July 1st we literally had the stuff in our van and that was it. We had the TV and computer, a few pots, clothes, pillows, and sleeping bags and that was about it. Thanks to my messgae board addiction I already had some friends out here in AZ (not strange creepy people met in a chat room a week before the move but actual people I've been "friends" with online for a few years) that were already anticipating our arrival. One of these amazing ladies loaned us an air mattress (which I am ashamed to admit I still have and it's now March) so we didn't have to sleep on the floor.

We sold a lot of our furniture in Michigan to save space on the moving truck and because we had no idea how much space we'd have in the apartment so we figured we'd get a smaller couch (we had a wrap-around) once we got here. So we figured out where a few furniture stores were and set out on our journey to find a red couch. We asked Nathan what color we should get and that is what he said. Jon and I had actually both been thinking a red couch would be quite fun even before Nathan said red so we were totally on board! The couch was delivered before our moving truck arrived so we at least had somewhere to sit now.

Finally on my birthday (July 7th) our moving truck rolled in. Happy Birthday to me, I get all my old crap back, lol. We had an awesome crew of people from church helping us move in. The truck could not get into our complex so it parked across the street and everything was loaded off the truck into our van or the two pick-ups people brought with them then driven to our unit and unloaded and carried up the stairs. It was quite the operation but it was done quickly.

One of the perks of moving to AZ for our little family was being a relatively short drive away from Disneyland! Since the job lay-off in MI and the subsequent move meant we had to cancel a big Disney World trip we had planned for August we were even more anxious to go to Disneyland. We decided to book a trip for Fall Break (mid-October). After a few days we were thinking that we could get annual passes for a great price that would totally pay for themselves if we just made 2 trips to Disneyland this year so we quickly booked a July trip and left a few days later.

The kids loved Disneyland. We were surprised about how much they remember from last year when we went to Disney World (if you haven't figured it out we are kinda Disney freaks here). Here are some pics from the trip.

Welcome to California! We realized after this trip that our van has pretty much been driven coast to coast now. We went out to New Jersey a couple years ago and now it has been to California.

At a potty break for Nathan we saw this seen. That WAS a fire hydrant. Someone was having a rotten day for sure!

Disneyland and California Adventure:

We were mean parents and made Nathan go on a few rides that he was a bit scared of. Hey, at least we warmed him up with the little kid coaster before taking him on Space Mountain. To this day he is still afraid of elevators because we took him on Tower of Terror.

Nathan is such the Ladies' Man. He's got a way with these Princesses!





And the Fairies just can't resist him either. Seriously, Tinkerbell had a 5 minute conversation with him, completely holding up the long line of people behind us!

We made it back just in time for new teacher orientation and then life got very busy! A few other things we did do in July were find an indoor mall with play area (perfect for those 115+ degree days) and an outdoor mall with splash fountain and Coldstone for the 90 or so degree evenings. So much fun!

The final leg of the drive: Albuquerque to Phoenix

July 1, 2010, the day we are to arrive at our new home. After saying good bye to our friends in Albuquerque we were on our way to Phoenix. It was a day of excitement and relief to finally get out of the car!

We don't have many pictures from this final leg of the journey, the battery on the camera was very low and we knew we would want a few key shots. We really began to see a change in landscape as the plains changed to mountain and desert.


We crossed into Arizona:

Not too long after entering AZ it was time to exit I-40. We basically could have gone one of two ways to get to Phoenix, down the mountain or through Flagstaff. Our friend the GPS told us go down the mountain! I (Michelle) was driving and lets just say the GPS and I have suffered some major fall-out in our friendship after that experience! Quite possibly the scariest thing ever. It doesn't help that there was also a rather large construction project happening. But we made it out alive and as we reached the valley we knew we were "home." We just happened to arrive on what was one of the hottest days of the entire summer. Really, the heat wasn't too bad.

We knew it would be a few days before our moving truck arrived so we had some basics with us in the van, a box of kitchen equipment, sleeping bags, TV, computer. Thanks again to the generosity of strangers, who are now friends, we were able to borrow an air mattress so we weren't sleeping on the floor. We went out to dinner, then to Walmart (oh Meijer how I miss you dearly) and got a few groceries and things that we knew we would need (garabge can, cleaning supplies, etc). We were a bit surprised when we left Walmart around 8pm or so and it was DARK outside. It was the middle of summer and we were not expecting that, but then I remembered that AZ doesn't participate in daylight savings time so it made sense that it was dark that early.

And so there you have it, our drive from Michigan to Phoenix!

The Drive to AZ: OKC to Albuquerque

Waking up June 30, 2010, we were a bit excited. Today we were driving to Albuquerque and we were actually staying with people we knew! Just a week before we left Michigan we had some friends leave as well and they moved to Albuquerque. Jokingly one day, as we were planning our drive I mention to the husband that we could just stay with them in Albuquerque for a night and was shocked the next day when the wife told me they were excited for us to stay with them. How amazing that even though they'd only be there a few days themselves they would open their home to us on our way to Phoenix.

Jon and I were also excited to drive through Texas, even if it was just a small part of Texas, since neither of us had ever been to Texas. We made a point to stop and eat in Amarillo. just to say we'd done it. Yup we are dorky like that!

Oil rig in Oklahoma. It's the simple things that amuse us.

Red dirt! It is the REALLY simple things that truly amuse us, lol!



I get the whole wind energy thing, but putting the turbines on the side of the highway is VERY distracting to those of us not used to them (side note, this wasn't too bad, on a future trip to LA there were probably thousands of them for a good stretch of the road and it was beyond distracting):


Entering Texas:

Jon really got a kick out of these billboards scattered along our drive:

This was the only place we've ever seen a different speed limit depending on the time of day (well minus a school zone):


Hmmm... Leaning Water Tower of Texas?
Entering New Mexico, we are almost to our new home, just one more state away!

The Drive to AZ: St Louis to OKC

So it's been over 6 months since we first departed MI on our way to AZ, what better time to get caught up, right?

The next leg of our trip was driving from St. Louis to Oklahoma City. Again we would be staying with a family we had never met, but had offered us a place to stay for the night. And this family also were the ones that arranged our stay in St. Louis since they themselves had recently lived there and knew people. In OKC we stayed with the oldest child of a family that Jon and I had grown up with. To make things a little more comfortable, upon arrival I was surprised to see that one of the other "children" is the family, one I had known since he was around my age, was there visiting as well.

I suppose they call this area of the country the "plains states" for a reason. Driving along I-40 was, to be honest, a bit dull...beautiful, but dull.


This picture reminded Jon and I of The Amazing Race!
Entering Oklahoma:


On a funny note, while staying at our overnight accommodations Jon received a phone call for an interview for a job in Texas. We actually were really interested in the area of Texas that was calling but seeing as we were half way to AZ he had to turn it down.

Homesick

Sorry I haven't written much. I still haven't even finished writing about our journey cross-country and we've been here now for nearly two months.

It's been a busy two months, trying to figure out our way around, exploring new places, working, and all the many other things that go along with a big move. We've taken a trip to Disneyland, checked out the Arizona Science Center, found a mall with a play area and another with a little splash fountain. And still there is so much we have yet to explore.

School started about a month ago. Teachers went back on July 29th and we had students August 4th. Jon is enjoying his job a fair amount, but I am not. I don't belong in a classroom, I belong home with my babies. Only 161 more school days until I can be home with them again. We have pretty much already decided that we will have to find a way to keep me home next year, whether it mean finding a part-time night job or a job working from home, I need to be home with my kids. I realized that today more than ever when Nathan was singing some songs with me and told me he learned them in school, songs that I had taught him and he simply didn't remember me teaching them to him. It broke my heart. :(

And then as I was checking my email my monthly zillow.com report showed up for our MI house. Just seeing the little thumbnail picture brought me to tears. Nathan tells me occasionally that he misses his red room and the backyard.

I just want to go home, back to Michigan, the place I was so desperate to leave just a few months ago. Go home to my happy life of being a stay at home mom, the life where a teacher work day was from 8am-3pm and Jon was home most days by 3:15, a place where teachers are paid a fair salary.

We are literally out of our house 11 hours a day. We leave between 6:30-6:45am and don't arrive home until between 5:15-5:30pm. Our technical school day is 7:30am-4pm but I always have at least a few hours work each night. It is insulting how little we are paid here and how hard we have to work. I don't want to sound like a total whiner, after all most people don't go into teaching for the money, but I don't even want to be a teacher anymore, at least not the kind of teacher that is in a classroom all day.

I pray every day that Jon's job in Michigan decides they need to make the .8 job they offered him full-time. School hasn't started there yet so I hold on to a small sliver of hope even though I know it is useless. If they called we would move back in a heartbeat, I don't know how but we would figure out a way. We have only missed 1 mortgage payment thus far and the offers aren't exactly rolling in. The two short-sale offers have been denied. It'd be easy to get back in our little house that we miss terribly.

Well that is about it for now. I know this post is all over, but what do you expect it is 1:30am after all. I really just needed to get my feeling out so I could stop crying and maybe get some sleep.

The Drive to AZ Part 2

Continuing on our drive, here we are entering Indiana. We stopped for dinner at Mickey D's and this play area had video games that Nathan pretended to play: And just because she is so cute: And the sun sets on our first day of driving, though we still have many miles to cover before we can rest: And here we are entering Illinois:
After Illinois we entered Missouri. When entering Missouri you enter into St Louis, and of course you can see the Gateway Arch. We were a bit mesmerized by the Arch and crossing the Mississippi River and also trying to make sense of what our GPS was telling us to do, so we don't have a pic of the "Welcome to Missouri" sign.

We knew before we left where we wanted to be each night before we stopped, and considering we had made arrangements to stay with people along the way, we really had to meet our driving goals. Our first stop was in St Louis, MO. There we stayed with a family whom we had never met, but had graciously agreed to let us stay with them for the night. Since we left Michigan several hours later than we anticipated we were afraid we'd have to find a hotel instead. Around 9pm, our anticipated arrival time in St Louis our GPS gave us an ETA of about midnight St Louis time (so 1am MI time). We called the family we were staying with and said we wouldn't be there until that late and would completely understand if that was too late and they would rather us not come, but we were told to come and get there when we got there. So sweet!

We spent the next morning in St Louis and visited the Arch and a local custard stand that I was told is a must do in St Louis. Driving to the Arch we noticed the Mississippi River waters were a tad bit high, flooding several areas making it impossible to walk along the river. It looked like the flooding did quite a bit of damage.


They have these little pod like things that take you to the top of the Arch. They seat 5 people and the doors are quite small. Nathan wasn't too sure of it.The Mississippi River, views from the top, you can see the flooding:

Views from the other side of the Arch:


Back on the ground:We saw this sculpture while trying to get back to the freeway:

We hopped back on the freeway, stopped off for some custard then hit the road, next stop Oklahoma CIty. Look for more to come about the rest of our journey!