Merry Christmas!

Our first Christmas in Arizona!  We went to see Julia's choir perform at the Temple and enjoyed the amazing lights.

I entered (but did not win) the Ugly Sweater contest at work.  Gave the sweater to my boss after work.  Yes, it's his face.  He was amused.

I love our little tree in the niche above the fireplace.  Daddy's rabbit seems very happy there, too.

And yesterday I baked cookies.  #weddingdiet

Merry Christmas!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving morning, Cassie was surprised by a visitor!  Chris flew in from Louisiana to propose!  She said "yeah," of course.

And I took pictures. 

But Rachael had taken her for a manicure the day before, and her nails didn't even show in the picture!  So I took another one...

Don't her nails look amazing?  And then we had Thanksgiving dinner at Mikie's house and the theme was "plaid."  I didn't get the memo, so...

Here are Chris, Cassie and Jenna rocking their plaid, with Shaine in the background (Shaine, apparently, got the memo).

Later that weekend...

I thought these two were praying.  I was actually feeling quite proud of them.

But they were coloring.  

Plans for a Spring wedding are in full swing, thanks to Wisegirl Weddings.  So exciting!

Wait, you went to Disneyland Again?

Yes.  I went to Disneyland again in November.  Some friends from Sitka were planning to be there, and I will use ANY excuse to go.

Loved the Jingle Cruise.

Enjoyed a visit to the Enchanted Tiki Room with Pam.

And lunch at Cafe Orleans with Pam, Delainey and Scott before heading back to Mesa.

So good to visit with friends.  And what could be better than Disneyland?

Even More Disney!

It's Captain America!

And Thor!

So happy to be riding the tram! Love the 60th Anniversary ears.

And Lightening McQueen!

Star Tours!  I am the rebel spy!  (I did not buy the shirt, we just took a picture with it.)

There are lots of Photo Pass backdrops around the Parks now.  We only stopped at this one.  Aren't we adorable?

We stayed through Thursday evening, leaving the Park after Fantasmic! to drive home.  I don't know how Mikie does it.  I could not stay awake and we ended up stopping twice to nap in the car.  With traffic delays and napping, we didn't get home until 7:30 a.m. Friday. I was exhausted and slept until 2:00!  Don't think I'll attempt the overnight drive again.

Next planned trip to Disneyland:  November 13.  

Party of One

As you probably already know, I love Disneyland.  I bought my Annual Passport and made my reservations for Fall break back in August.  As it turned out, I ended up going by myself on Sunday and Monday.  Cassie joined me Tuesday through Thursday.

I must say, going to Disneyland alone was AWESOME.  Just a few reasons why:

• Single. Rider. Line.  Did you know there is a single rider line for many of the bigger rides?  California Screamin', Soarin' Over California, Radiator Springs Racers, Indiana Jones, Matterhorn Bobsleds (there may be more).  They tell you when they hand you the pass "your wait could be longer or shorter than the stand-by wait time."  But here's what I experienced:  I arrived Monday morning shortly after park opening, bought coffee and some pumpkin bread at Starbucks in Downtown Disney, sat down to eat the pumpkin bread then enjoyed a leisurely walk to California Adventure (coffee in hand).  The posted stand-by wait time for Radiator Springs Racers was 50 minutes.  I got in the single rider line and my coffee was still too hot to drink when they were asking me to board.  I'm talking NO WAITING.  At Soarin' Over California, the posted wait time was 45 minutes.  My wait in the single rider line was 13 minutes.  On California Screamin', there was virtually no waiting (just the time it took to ride the elevator up and then down to get to the boarding area).  
• Walk at your own pace.  No need to worry about walking too slow or too fast.  Awesome.
• Never get separated from your group in the crowds!
• Eat wherever you want.  No need to confer with your group or compromise.  Eat where you want, when you want. 
• Easily find a place to watch the parades. They can get crowded, and it can be difficult to find viewing area for a group.
• If you don't feel like talking to anyone, you don't have to.  Don't get me wrong, people are great.  But sometimes it's nice to quietly take in the surroundings.  I did end up in a very long line at the ticket booth to get my Annual Passport printed.  While in that line, I chatted with the couple behind me.  Their daughter is in the Coast Guard and moved to Sitka in June.  What are the odds of meeting people with a connection to Sitka? It's a Small World, after all.

Winnie the Pooh drawing at Animation Academy.  Isn't he cute?  And then I went to the Disney Junior Live Show.  Is it for kids?  Yes.  Did I sing along with ALL of the songs?  Yes, I did.  Again, awesome.

And I FINALLY got to have the highest score in the vehicle at Toy Story Mania!  Cassie always beats me, so this was also 

awesome.

How many in your party?  One.  

I'll definitely do it again.  

Party With Paint!

I've wanted to do this for a while.  Now that we are living in the Real World, there are so many fun things to experience.  I found this place online and talked Lori into joining us ("It's a sexy shoe."  and "You can drink wine!").  Here are our final projects:


Carole walked us through the entire process, from sketching the shoes, to mixing the paints, and then step-by-step through the whole project.  This one is upside down so we could paint the bottom of the canvas:

Lori's sexy red shoe:

Cassie chose blue.  So pretty!

Almost done...

This was so much fun!  All of the supplies are provided, including the wine glasses.  Just bring the wine and have fun!

#partywithpaint

A Date With Mickey!

I'm going to Disneyland October 4-8.  Who's coming with me?

Missed Opportunity

The new job is great and it gets better each day, but still I am exhausted by the end of the day.  And there are things to get done.

The shipper called to schedule delivery of our crate from Sitka!  It will arrive on Thursday.

I'm in the process of opening and closing accounts, so today I was on the phone with a Customer Service person and his name was Jake.  And I totally should have asked what he was wearing, but didn't think of it until it was too late. We even chatted -- he lived in Scottsdale for a while, but is originally from Boston and now back on the East Coast.  My brain just needs more rest.

"What are you wearing, Jake?"

Next time...

A Sense of Belonging

So many businesses want to be my friend here!  I know it's all for marketing purposes, but I do enjoy all the shiny cards and the promise of rewards.  They want me!

And speaking of shiny cards, I'm official and I've got a badge to prove it! This one gets me discounts on books.  Sweet!

Pinteresting

Kindergarten is exhausting.  CNA school is also exhausting.  Cassie and I are hoping we'll have more energy once we adjust to the new routine.  In the meantime, we have a plan.

A trip to Costco and Safeway after Mass, then we spent an hour and a half prepping, chopping, and pouring, and ended up with 11 crock pot meals that will be stored in the freezer.  We'll pop one in the crock pot each morning, Dinner is served!

Killer Instinct

Maybe you can't tell from the picture, but this was the fourth and largest scorpion we've had visiting our apartment.  Thanks to my sister, Lori, I was able to attack it with a toilet bowl brush (chasing it across the floor a bit in the process), and get it into the toilet for burial.

So far, all of the scorpions have been in Cassie's bathroom.  This one was in her bedroom.  I've called for the exterminator but I think they don't come until Friday.

Mike and Ginger are bringing us some diatomaceous earth, which I guess scorpions don't like.

We'd like to not see any more scorpions.

Just What I Needed or This Is The Land of My People

The Last week the driver's side seat belt latch on the car broke.  The timing was horrible -- I was in training in Queen Creek all week for my new job and Cassie needed to take the road test for her driver's license.

I swore.  I spewed a four-letter word.  Why, universe?  Why does the seat belt latch need to break right NOW? This is just what I needed.

Yesterday I got the answer to that "why," and now I am ashamed of my frustrated outburst.

We have People here.  Cassie's cousin, Rachael was happy to take her for the driving test in another car (one with working seat belts).  And they had a fabulous time.

We have People here.  Lori was happy to take my car in for service. I was due for an oil change and needed a new gas cap, anyway. The gas cap wasn't sealing properly and the "check engine" light would come on intermittently. Lori took my Kia in and got the oil change and the gas cap, but the seat belt part had to be ordered.  That took a few days.  We got creative hooking the driver's and passenger's seat belts together while we waited.

On Thursday the part was available.  Lori took the car in, and the "check engine" light was on AGAIN.  Why?  A little investigation by Service Manager, Gaby, and we learned that the catalytic converter is going out.  Oh, no!  That sounds expensive!

But wait, there's more.

The catalytic converter is covered under warranty until 80,000 miles.

My car currently has 78,794 miles on it.

See what happened there?  The seat belt breaking was the catalyst for getting the car in for repairs before we hit that 80,000 mile mark.  It will save me a lot of money.

My apologies to the Universe.  I'll try to have more faith in you next time.

In other news, we are settling in.  I have a great group of team mates, we found a Church! (more about that later), our apartment is great, the crate is finally on it's way from Alaska, Life is good.

Friends and Family

Somewhere along our journey my Kia developed quite a wobble when braking.  Since I have PEOPLE here, I asked one of them what that was and how to fix it.  Mikie went for a short ride with me (to Walgreens!  We saw another Alaska license plate!). He said my brake rotors were warped.

The repair cost?  We just had to listen to a lecture about the inner workings of an engine, complete with visuals and math problems, while Mikie smoothed out the brake rotors and then put the car back together.  My family is the greatest!

We also got to meet Pops!  He'd been following our road trip progress, too, so we were kind of like celebrities.

There's my brake rotor!  Isn't it pretty?

And here's Mikie putting it back on the car. No more wobble.

We also got to have lunch with one of my nieces last week, Rachael.  A yummy lunch at Joe's Farm Grill and a quick trip to DSW where everybody found something we needed.  Fun morning! We also got to see the rest of her drapery and upholstery shop, Pillow Talk Designs.  She's pretty amazing!  You can follow her new custom furniture venture on intragram here.

Since I'm adding plugs for my talented family's ventures, Rachael's sister Cristal has an adorable shop on etsy that you might want to check out, especially if you have a little one.  Or know someone who has a little one.  Or know someone who loves hair accessories:  A Dash of Sass Designs.

While the job offers are pouring in, we spent some time shopping for apartments and furniture.  Here we are testing out a new mattress:

Turns out the apartment complex wants you to have proof of INCOME before they'll rent to you.  So we have the couch and beds picked out, but didn't get to buy them yet.  Guess we're staying at Lori's house a little longer.  We like it here.  It's very nice, and we get to use the kitchen.  Also, I finally got to have Marlon's famous tacos! Wow!  They live up to their reputation.  Delicious.

Also on the agenda:  catching up with old friends.  I attended high school with most of these people a million years ago. A couple of them went to Mesa High, but they turned out okay.  Thanks, Karen and David for hosting a lovely party!

The job search is not going quite as I'd hoped.  Andrew recommended LDS job service as a resource, and I'm going to their resume and interviewing classes tomorrow.  Somebody will be willing to pay me what I'm worth, I just need to find them. 

Our search for a new church continues, as well.  Tried a third one this weekend.  My favorite so far, but  St. Gregory's, our parish in Sitka, is going to be really hard to replace.  The churches here are all so big.  

Here we are

So this happened.  We're staying temporarily at my sister's house in Mesa, and both brothers came for dinner.  

This is my family!

Spent the weekend preparing resumes and searching job listings online. A new journey begins today.

Yesterday Cassie, Lori and I went to see Inside Out. Really enjoyed it!  I cried, of course.  It's Pixar. The short film before the movie, Lava, was odd. 

Here's Cassie at the theater:

Cassie and I also tried a different Catholic Church yesterday.  There are 30 within 20 miles and we've been to two of them.  We'll keep looking.

Avoiding Bill

Now that we've decided we've had enough, we are pretty much driving all day without stopping at any points of interest.  Avert your eyes from those tempting brown signs on the highways.  The historic sights will be there for the next road trip.

Pizza was on the agenda, though, as we headed toward Chicago.  Fortunately our fan club/following is keeping tabs on us and warned about Chicago weather.  Here's a screen shot of the highway closures due to flooding:

South it is!  

Drove above the speed limit (shhhhh!) to get pictures of the sculptures on the back of this flatbed truck.  Probably headed for Chicago.  Hope they made it safely to their destination!

Road work humor in Missouri. 

We did NOT want to be in Kansas, however, tropical storm Bill ruined our plans, so north again to drive across Kansas.  The eastern half is much prettier than the western half.

See?

Thousands of hours later, we made it out of Kansas, quickly crossed the edge of Oklahoma and arrived in Santa Fe. (Recommended by Phil and Heidi Taylor.). 

This is St Kateri.  Took this picture for Connie.  Pretty, isn't she?

The St. Francis of Assisi cathedral.

The downtown Santa Fe area is really cute. Adobe buildings must be a city ordinance . Lots of shops and restaurants.  We found a place for Mexican food and enjoyed an early dinner.  

Road trip ends tomorrow.  We've logged over 10,000 miles!  Thanks for following along.

Final Destination

We left Sitka eight weeks ago today!

At the outset, I believed that I would find my place somewhere along this journey.  We'd visit a quaint little town and I'd just KNOW -- "this is where I belong!"

That hasn't happened, and we are done with this road tripping.  It has been great.  We've seen some beautiful places.  I can pretty much rule out everything east of the Mississippi River, all of Kansas and Oklahoma, Denver, Houston, and all of California.

Where do I belong?  I asked Siri.  She said "I'd prefer not to say."  That was helpful.

So what's your vote  Where do I belong?

Escaping New York

A 2:00 am wake-up today so we could get through NYC before the rush hour traffic.  It worked!  And then we just kept driving.  

Well, I kept driving while Cassie napped.  

All the way across Pennsylvania, the Road Kill State.  I counted SEVEN deer, three raccoons, one groundhog, and countless unidentifiable dead critters.  

 

We stopped at Midas in Ohio for an oil change and new wiper blades (finally, and just in time for today's rain!). So that was a two hour break from driving.

The service plazas on the Ohio turnpike are very nice, btw. Very clean bathrooms, information booths, food courts (with Panera and Starbucks in some cases).

Oops!  Didn't mean to go to Michigan!  That makes 27 states so far.