I am not from Arizona. Neither is my husband. I moved around a lot as a kid, but I graduated high school in Arkansas then went to Idaho for my college education. My husband grew up in Canada. We met in college and got married. When Ches was getting ready to do his student teaching, his advisor said, “You should go to Arizona. You’d love it.” We didn’t have kids at the time and I had just graduated myself. We were ready for an adventure, so we said “Let’s go!”
We moved to Mesa in mid-January. It was the absolute perfect time to move to Arizona. We had just come from lots of snow (there was a blizzard the week of my graduation in December) and when we got out of the car in our new neighborhood all we saw was blue skies and we felt warm air. It was wonderful! We immediately fell in love.
Ches and I only stayed for 6 months before we moved back to Idaho, but we made it a long-term goal to come back. 5 years later, we were back, this time to stay. By then we had two little boys and number 3 was just about ready to make his appearance. This time, we moved at one of the absolute worst times: August. I was 9 months pregnant and I swear that when we crossed the border into Arizona my ankles swelled up. It was hot and I was miserable. However, we were excited to be back. We quickly made friends and felt like we fit right in.
We’ve tried really hard to take advantage of the many things Arizona has to offer us, especially as a family. There is so much to do here all year long and you just can’t be bored. We love it here… most of the time (ask me again in July if I love it). We’re definitely here for the long-haul, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Hot But Happy 