Phoenix

Well, it hit me again last night. The thought that, man, I love living in Phoenix. This time I had that thought as we were leaving the Cheesecake Factory after dinner. Used to be that Josh and I would have to drive up to Kansas City if we wanted to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (well, apparently they have a CF in Tulsa but we had no reason to go to Tulsa). Kansas City is a 4 hour drive from Fayetteville. It is SO NICE living in a city that has all the major chain restaurants yet it doesn't feel like a big city out here.

I don't know if I've written this before, but I've certainly thought it and talked to a few people out here about it: I don't know if I can go back to Arkansas or move somewhere that's smaller/less populated. At the same time, I don't think I want to live anywhere bigger than Phoenix either. I'm sure Josh will be ready to pick up and leave here at some point (and maybe I will, too) but I just have to follow the sun wherever we go. Who knows? I certainly never thought I'd live in Phoenix.

My sickness has progressed from a sore throat to a cough/runny nose. Nice. I had to present tutor orientation yesterday while half-hoarse. I still was my animated self and got some good feedback from my boss. I have so much work that I plan to do it tomorrow (Sunday) before the craziness begins again on Monday. This job has kept me insanely busy and the time flies...I need more time!

It's FINALLY cooled off here. By cool down, I mean it's no longer in the 100s, it's 82 today but back up to 95 on Tuesday. Today is actually really gray and cloudy. I haven't ever really seen it look like this here before. We have the sliding glass doors open and the fans on instead of the AC for the first time.

I really feel like Phoenix is another planet/in another universe. Here I am, wearing a tank top and short skirt in OCTOBER...back home it's truly fall. I've seen pictures of my friends in other states wearing SWEATERS....SWEATERS!!! It's hard to believe that elsewhere in the states, it's cooled off. In Phoenix, it's really hard to realize that it's not summer...besides the fact that school's in session, college football's on tv, and the sun sets earlier.

Today our community hosted a yard sale. That means so many people in the neighborhood opened up shop and I was in garage sale NIRVANA! Not only was it great because I didn't have to drive far but also I was able to get some really cute clothes for our upcoming trip to Mexico! Yes, Mexico. Josh and I have gone from having a plan to visit Mexico to actually booking our trip to Excellence Playa Mujeres for 5 nights (it's all the vacay/holiday time I could scrap together). After a few more weeks of work, I will be so ready for my vacay! Heck, I'm ready now!

My mom has decided to fly out to visit us in early November. This is a HUGE step for her because the last time she flew 5 years ago she had so much jaw pain that she said she would never fly again. Well, she's flying (and I had a nightmare last night that she arrived from her flight very cranky) so I hope she has no pain so her trip will be enjoyable. We'll go up to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas while she's here. Yay...I love planning trips and it will be so good to see her.

Of course, I'm having a good laugh at myself over all this trying to take time off for my mom's visit and out trip to Mexico. I mean, I've worked at ASU since mid-August and I earn an abysmal 6.7 hours of vacation per month. When I come back from Mexico, I'll have .37 hours of vacation leftover...what's that, like 15 minutes?!?! What they didn't realize when they hired me was that I would be using all my vacay time and if it comes to it, I might even take a leave without pay so I can travel somewhere! Personally, I think it's sad that I earn MORE sick leave than vacation time....SUPER GRRRR!

This might be crazy to say, but for the first time, I think I'm looking forward to going to church. That's how great CCV is. It lasts longer than other services I've experienced in Arkansas, however, it doesn't seem long and it's not boring and I never catch myself thinking, "When is this going to be over," or "What's for lunch?" So, I like it.

Okay, onto more relaxing for the weekend...except for the fact that Josh and I should do more to put the house together so we can invite Joyce and Gary, the real estate agents, over to see the house because they still have our housewarming gift 2 months later :)