Remodeling

Remodeling. I just can't seem to get away from it. I thought camper living would help, but has it's perks and it's downfalls. One of those downfalls is that when an appliance, such as oh, say the refrigerator, dies, it costs an arm and a leg to replace. Now, I happen to know this because we had just such a problem this week. Yep, came home from work and everything had defrosted and it was a mess. We had to throw away a lot of food, not something I am very happy about, but it was bad. Have you ever opened a yogurt container when it has been warm? Not a pleasant experience. Milk, meat, chicken, fruit, veggies - the whole shebang was bad. So we began our search for a new fridge. We called several places and they all said you cannot get a fridge for a camper for under a thousand dollars because they are "duals" - meaning they run on both gas and electric. Therefore, we decided to go the "cheaper" route and get a home fridge and do some remodeling. Thank goodness for Lowe's and their card! No interest for a year! I called my cousin back home who has done this before and got some great advice. We now have a much bigger fridge that actually works. And you can put a gallon of water and a gallon of milk in there and still have room for other things!! It really is the little things, people. I was so excited about that! Anyway, for less than half the price of a smaller camper fridge we got a bigger home one and it is great. Slowly but surely we are going to have everything in this camper all new. We have yet to replace the stove and oven (I am afraid to find out how much that will cost), but I bought a counter top oven and we use that instead. It works great, and I can even make a turkey in it. Well, that's all for today, so have a great day!

Sedona

So, today we decided to take a drive up to Sedona to celebrate Scooter getting student of the class. He was top dog for the electrical portion of class. It was a beautiful drive full of redrock. Pictures cannot do it justice, but I will show you a few anyway.

This is one of the first formations along the way.

Another beautiful formation. I really wish you could see just how red the rocks are.


After we drove around Sedona we decided to keep going north to Flagstaff. We took the scenic route through the mountains and had to drive through a snow storm. Just a few days ago when those of you back home got your blizzard they had their own and they got 30 inches of snow.

This is on top of a mountain between Sedona and Flagstaff. We stopped here to check out the view, and it seems Tobey forgot how to walk in snow because this happened just as Scooter tried to snap the photo:


Yep. He thought he was king of the mountain until the mountain collapsed on him! The big chunk of soft, fluffy snow beside him landed on him when he went down. It was hilarious! He wasn't quite sure what to think, we went from 60 degrees to 32 degrees and snow. It's a good thing the heat works in the truck! He was shivering like he does at home when it's 20 below!

If ever you find yourselves in AZ make sure to visit Sedona. It is by far the most beautiful place we have seen here so far.

I'm an addict

Yes, that's right, I am an addict. I am addicted to Starbucks. It started so innocently. A little here, a little there, but when it's all around you and you can't have it, you almost need it. I can go without, and I don't even think about it most of the time, but when Starbucks are everywhere it gets harder and harder to control the cravings. They have Starbucks in all of the grocery stores here, and around every corner. It is impossible to shop for anything without that wonderful, delicious aroma. We went to the grocery store to get something for dinner, and suddenly I am no longer hungry, just craving that hot, smooth, sweet beverage. I had to get what I came for and run for the door. There are times when I want to run out and get a part time job just to pay for the habit. I know, it's borderline insane, but once you find that certain flavor, that little cup of bliss, it's hard to "just say no." Days like this I come home and make myself a little coffee, and pretend it's an espresso. Sad, I know, but I do what I have to to get through the day. Now, it really isn't quite that bad, but I do enjoy a good cup of Starbucks.

BRRRR!

Ok, I don't know who started the vicious rumor that it is always warm in AZ, but they are a big LIAR! It has been cold here since Friday with lows in the 30's - yes, 30's ! Today it has been raining since 8 am, and we are in a flood watch. It was like a hurricane out there for a while! Everything was shaking and the wind was blowing the rain so hard it felt like, well, home during a thunder storm...with no thunder or lighting. It was really strange. We got over 2 inches of rain, which prompts flood warnings and washouts on the roads here. On my way home from work tonight there was a lot of debris in the road and a lot of the construction cones and sand bags were in the road. The weather here is very different, and when it only gets up to the 50's here it really feels like the upper 30's and low 40's at home. I really never thought I would be cold in the 40-50 degree range, but I am. They tell me my blood has thinned already. Scooter is even cold here and Tobey, well he's always been a blanket hogger!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all had a great day. It has been really strange to be here where the temperature was 75 and it was sunny all day on Thanksgiving. I have really missed being with my family and friends. Last year we were in Kentucky visiting friends there on Thanksgiving, and this year we are even further from home. We have met some new friends here and spent the day with them. I also had a new experience working retail on "black Friday." That is not the most fun I have ever had, I have to admit. The store opened at 4am, and by 4:30 the paramedics were called because a person fainted and had to have staples in their head. I really don't understand all the hype on that day because if you really watch the sales the prices are not the great deals they are made out to be, and after that day they actually go down. Oh well, people are going to do what they want, right?

In other news, Scooter has made the deans list in school, so I am really proud of him. I also got a new job that starts in a couple of weeks, so I am getting excited for that. We are also getting excited for our moms to get here in 27 days! Yes, we have started the countdown! Otherwise, there is not a whole lot of other news.

windows 7

Well, I was going to write about how I have been making my own pillows and curtains, but instead I am going to rant about windows 7. Yep, I got the free upgrade because my computer is pretty new, and I was having some trouble with it, and the upgrade was supposed to help. Yeah right. It's about a thousand times worse. I do not recommend the upgrade until they have the problems worked out. The reason I am not telling you about the crafts I have been up to is because I can't put pictures on here anymore, along with looking at my wage statements, play games, get on the internet, basically anything that a person wants to do on a computer I might be able to do if I can get it going long enough to do anything.

OK, I'm done. Just thought you all should be warned. Hopefully I can get it taken care of soon so I can show you some new pics.

scorpion

Ok, this is GROSS!!!! I decided to make french toast, as it is one of Scooters favorite foods. Anyway, I took out the griddle that I cook it on. I washed it, as I always do before using it and found this little gem in the grease trap.

This is the first scorpion we have encountered since we have been here. It is very small, and very dead. Don't think for 2 seconds I would have stuck around to take a picture if it was alive. This is Tobey's version of the face I made when I saw it:

Yep, he didn't like it either!! Here's hoping we don't encounter any more scorpions while we're here.

am I done?

Ok, yesterday I asked if I should be done with my painting project, and it was decided that maybe I should do a little more. I had to agree. So, here it is:





Well, what do you think? Should I do a little more or leave it alone? I can't sleep tonight. I am having a hard tome adjusting to not having a regular schedule, so I find it hard to sleep at night. Right now it is 1:10 a.m. here, so it's after 3 a..m. back in MN. Yep. Just a few months ago I had a hard time staying awake until 11 on the weekend, and now I have a hard time falling asleep before 1 a.m. Hmmm....I guess I should try to go to sleep....Anyway, let me know what you think again.

The comforts of home

I have been thinking of home a lot lately. I miss everyone, I even miss my job, what does that say?! It's not that things are bad here, just that I have been missing home. Recently someone I cared about passed away and I never realized how much it means to be able to go to a funeral and say goodbye. He will be missed. So, if you know me, I can't just sit around and think about it, I need to do something. Busy hands are happy hands. Well, it's hard here because there is only so much cleaning I can do, and I can't just go and visit with family and friends, sure I am on the phone a lot, but it's not the same. When you can't just jump in the car and go see someone it is a difficult feeling. Well, yesterday I was cleaning and rearranging and found that I remembered to bring some of the things I paint. I have always taken comfort in painting. I am no artist, but I really enjoy painting things like Christmas decorations. Here is the one I have been doing the last 2 days:



I can't decide if I am done or not. Should I paint some of the bricks a different color? Or should I leave it as it is? I don't know. All I know is that I am glad I remembered this comfort off home. Sometimes I wish life was as easy as this:

Now that's the life. All curled up on a blanket. His biggest concern is getting treats. He is a really big comfort to me, too. Yes, he still likes to drive me crazy (he is male!) but he can also make me laugh so hard it brings me to tears.

I have heard a lot about the weather back home, and I wonder what it will be like to have Christmas with no snow. As long as I can remember I have wanted to have a winter with no snow, but now that it is becoming a reality, it seems really weird. I know at home we are so excited when it is in the 60's at night, but here it really is kinda chilly at night. We have had to bring out the blankets a few times. However, 100 is still hot, no matter where I am. We are looking at upper 90's and low 100's until next week. When it is that hot during the day and then goes down to the 60's at night it is actually chilly. This whole experience has been different than I expected, but it's not all bad. After all, we still have little lizards in our tree!

Progress report

Well, today is Friday the 9th of October, and it was Scooter's final exam day. This means that his time in the classroom is done and he goes into the shop on Monday. He is maintaining a 4.0 GPA and is at 93% in his class. I am so proud of him. I just wanted to send out a progress report, so take care all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM

Today is my moms birthday. This is the first year that I wasn't able to take her out to supper with my brothers. It makes me sad, so I will just have to make it up to her when I get home. It's days like today that make me really miss home, but it also makes me appreciate my family even more. I can't wait to see all of my family again, so, if you all are reading this I miss you all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!! I LOVE YOU!!! :)

sick of being sick

Those of you who know me know how I tend to get sick when it is really humid, such as it is in Minnesota. I thought that moving here where it is dry would help, but I was wrong. I guess I need some kind of balance. It appears to be too dry here for my sinuses and chest. I have felt like my nose and chest are on fire for 4 days now. Scooter went and bought me a humidifier, and that seems to really help. Even Tobey is sick. He has been having his episodes today where he loses balance and throws up, then seems to be fine. There must be something in the air. I have been sleeping on the couch, which is not all that comfortable, but I need to stay elevated, and I don't want to get Scooter sick. He can't miss any school, and I am sooooooo proud of him. He has a 4.0 GPA so far, and is in the top of his class. I think he is still in shock. He has never liked school, until now. I am so happy for him. So, moms, if you are reading this, I am trying the pull-out bed tonight. We shall see how comfortable it will be for the 2 of you.

Otherwise there is now much else to report. The weather is finally cooling off, so we have had the air off for 2 days. It's nice to be able to open some windows. It will also help the electric bill immensely.

Well, that's all for now, so take care everyone, and I miss you all!!!

Nothing much

Well, I haven't written anything lately because I can't really think of anything interesting to say. I couls complain about how people drive here, but that's no fun, or talk about how it is still really hot here, but that's no fun either, so I have opted to just stay quiet. I am finally working, so I guess there is a high point, but there's not much to say there either. I did get a good laugh last night when I brough one of my man's birthday presents home. We have a cat that stayed back home, a cat that I got for him over 7 years ago. He misses his cat and has been talking about it a lot lately. So, I got him a stuffed plush toy cat. Yep, I got him a toy. Now, his expression was funny enough, but when Tobey saw that I brought a toy home that he could not have, well let's just say he was a little more than jealous. It was so funny. He sat by the door and whined for a while, then he put himself to bed. He was so mad that he went to bed. That's the attitude of my little dog. He is such a freak, but I love him.

So, that's what I have to say for now.

Superstition mountains

Today we decided to go out and do some sight seeing. We went to the Superstition Mountains. It was awesome. The new truck did great all the way through. We took Tobey with, we had no idea how long we would be gone, and he loves to go for rides. We left at 11:00 this morning and got home at 7:00 tonight. Fun little 8 hour tour. It only takes about 45 min. to get there, so the rest of the time was sight seeing. Did you know there are lakes in the mountains? I had no idea. First we saw Canyon Lake. The pics there didn't turn out very good, but then we saw Apache Lake. Talk about gorgeous.

I know the pic isn't that great, but to see it is amazing.

Then we got to Roosevelt dam. Wow. I can't imagine what Hoover dam looks like. Huge is the only word to describe it.

Front and back view, then......

this is what waits behind the dam.....

This is Roosevelt Lake, and this suspended bridge is so big I couldn't get the whole thing in one shot. We had quit the surprise going through the canyon, because after the Canyon Lake the pavement ends, so you have to drive on tiny, sometimes one lane, gravel roads. They have incredibly tight corners and sharp angles both up and down. I have never been so happy to see pavement in my life.

So, that is how we spent our Saturday. It was actually a lot of fun, even though it was kinda freaky on those tiny little roads. Pictures do not do these places any justice at all. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend seeing these places in person.

Weather and my new truck

So, yesterday we had to buy a "new" truck. Our car had had enough of this place. We ended up at a small dealership where the sales people didn't try to get us to buy something at least 2x what we said we could spend. So, without further ado, here it is:

It is a Chevy Equinox. It's pretty nice, we like it.

I was going to show some pics of what it looks like here almost every night. It's kind of strange, there is lightning here almost every night and it gets windy at night. If you look close at the middle pic. you might be able to see a rainbow in the clouds.(where the streaks of clouds come down, you can also kinda see it above the truck in the top pic.)

So that's what it has looked like almost every night since we have been here. It's a lot cooler looking here than in pics, but what can ya do?

Otherwise we are doing pretty good. I'm working 4 hours a day so far, so that helps pass the time. Scott had his first test today and did really well. He is enjoying school so far. Now he is getting into the hard part, all the mathematics of it (he has to do physics and calculus) so he's starting to get nervous, but he'll do just fine.

Here I am

OK, OK, so it has been a few days, but here I am again. I started my new job at Kohls today. I will be working in juniors, misses and mens, along with being a cashier. So far it is going petty good. I think I will like it once I get into it.

As for the holiday weekend, we got a new neighbor Friday night. He is from "Jersey" as they call it. Then Sunday we had one of Scott's friends from school ("K") over, and our new neighbor as well. The guy from school reminds me a lot of Chris M. "K" is also a military man, he was a marine. He is young, but already out because of an injury in Iraq. Next time we get together we will get to meet his girlfriend. It's finally starting to feel a little more comfortable here now that we are getting to know some people and I am working.

As for the big storms, they mostly missed us. We got a little rain and wind Sat. morning, but that was it. I guess you can't trust the weather man at all here. So far they have not been accurate at all. Oh well.

The storm is coming

Well, the big storms are a comin'. We are in for some severe weather for the next 4 days, according to the weather people here. I guess we are getting the remnants of hurricane Jimena. It is really windy here right now, the camper is rocking a bit. Nothing too serious yet, but I guess we could get some flash flooding in the next 4 days. Here is a pic of what it looked like shortly before sundown.

You can kinda see from the willow tree how windy it was. Now it is quite a bit windier. Kinda cool looking though, isn't it. I wish I had gotten some better pics. We have been getting thunderstorms for the last 3 nights in a row, and none of them have been predicted on the news. It's really kind of weird how they don't really see some of these storms coming. I really am curious to see what we get for weather this weekend since they are predicting storms. It could get interesting.

Stormy night

We had our first "big storm" last night. It was really windy, 39mph at the deer valley airport, about 3 miles from here. Talk about rockin' the house! The thunder and lightning were incredible. Quite a display. We got a whole 1/4 inch of rain. Woohoo! That's a lot here, ya know?! We are also watching a round of storms from the hurricane coming at us for the weekend. 5 days of storms heading at us. It's funny, I never thought I would be in the path of a hurricane in Arizona. If you watch the projected path, it is coming right to us. It should hit us here by Sat. It will just be a thunderstorm by the time it gets here, but still, who would have thought?

It's a dog's life

Ahhhh.....to be a dog.......

this is what my little Tobey does all day, every day.....

nothin' like getting all cozy on the couch.......

He's not much of a "morning dog", such a face.......

too tired to wake up and pose for the camera....

This last one under the chair is where he lays most of the day so he can be directly in the path of the fan. Such a life. We can only wish we could have the time back when we didn't have to worry about bills, having a job, etc...

He does wake up at night when it's not so hot and play for a while before he goes to bed. He's got it rough, people, really rough. For those of you who know him, you can see that he is getting much healthier. He is eating and drinking better than ever, and he has hair completely covering both ears now. His nose is even healing and turning black again. I don't know why he's doing so well here, but who cares...He's HEALTHY!!!

As soon as I can figure out how to put video on here I will show you how much he likes watermelon. It's hilarious.

That's it for today.

little lizards in my tree

Ok, so I have little lizards living in my tree. Yep, lizards. They are geckos. They drive Tobey (my wiener dog) absolutely crazy. But they are cute little things. See......

See, how cute are they?! As long as they stay outside and not come into the camper I will get along with them just fine. Unlike us, it seems the hotter it is outside the more we see them. Today it is supposed to get to about 116. We are in excessive heat warnings until Monday. FUN. Ha.
Other than that, the job search is still on, and not going so hot. There are not many factories here, and the response I am getting from everyone is that 5 years is too long to be out of the office and the service industry. So, keep your fingers crossed for us, please.

Job Hunting Sucks

So, we spent like 9 hours job hunting today. Do you know what it is like applying for jobs these days? Horrible!!! That's the truth! Most places want you to apply online now, and the applications take about an hour or more each. That's right, an hour or MORE!! They all ask the same questions over and over, and they all want your information like 10 times! What ever happened to filling out an application, taking it in, and getting an interview? Now they want your email to contact you, not so much a phone number, and all of them want criminal background checks. Not that I have anything to hide, but seriously, for anything you apply for you need a background check? Like Petco for instance. It took over an hour to do the app because they require an 89 question quiz, and none of it pertained to animals. Seriously, none of it. Well, I guess it will be worth it if I end up with a job. I am also awaiting the results of an FBI background check, as one of the jobs I applied for requires it. Hmmm..... what next?
Anyway, enough ranting and raving for tonight.

Well, here are some pics of Salt River Canyon, which we happened to go through on the way here. It was supposed to be a short cut, but little did we know, it was actually longer because it was through the mountains. Talk about hard on vehicles! But how beautiful. Pictures do not do it any justice.

Well, here we are in Arizona. It really is hot here, and it's not the "dry heat" everyone says it is. It is humid here too, because we live in the valley. Here is a pic of what I see when I loook out my door:

This is Adobe Mountain, and some empty lots across the street.

Well, that's it for now.

first post

So today em is teaching me to blog at starbucks. This is my first post, so bare with me. This is my first post, and it will be short, so here goes.

Last night my parents had a going away party for my man and I because we are about to leave for arizona in 2 weeks. I took a few pics, so let's see if I can figure out how to get some on here!!

This is my aunt, her son and his new girlfriend! Yeah I did it!

Now here's my uncle, aunt and mom!!



Anyway, I think I'm done for now, so, bye!