first glimpses of Arizona

We're finally here in Arizona! And now I can officially confirm the rumors: it's hot here. So very very hot. If I'm outside for more than a minute or two, I start getting *misty* in places I never knew one could *mist.* The inside of my elbow. Anywhere the baby is touching me. My cheek when I talk on the phone. It's unpleasant. One of the guys who helped us move in said we were either insane or crazy to move to Arizona in the last week of July. I vote both! :)

The week we moved was crazy. All of last week, we were in Provo wading through a sea of boxes and donation piles and yelling to each other, "Where'd you put the permanent marker?" and, "Can't we move this pile of pictures? I keep stubbing my toe on them!" Claire was grumpy because her play space was usurped by boxes, and she was bored with the two toys we left out for her. I was grumpy because packing, as we all know, is the literal actual WORST. Next time I'll pay exorbitant amounts of money, if necessary, for someone to come move me. So help me, I'll do it! You just wait and see! Professional movers are just a phone call away! Better to spend money on movers than to kill your husband due to moving stress, as they always say!

And then, on top of the moving madness, Claire got a terrible case of hand foot and mouth disease. The poor girl had a fever and blisters everywhere, and she was NOT happy about it. That set us back a few days in the packing. And then we were supposed to go out of town on a little vacation with Sam's family, which was a problem because of the aforementioned packing and diseased child problems (Sam ended up going for a few days while I stayed behind with the baby).

So basically the last few days were a whirlwind of stress and a crying baby and long-distance phone calls to the family on vacation. Then it was a whirlwind of taking loads to the truck and scrubbing baseboards and saying goodbye to my family. And then came the twelve-hour car trip down here, which was not a whirlwind. In fact, time crawled by slower than it's ever moved before as we were stuck in the middle of a desert with major construction and a screaming baby who decided she does NOT like the car anymore.

But then - we made it here. And it's like I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding.

We love our new place. It already feels like home. It has a few quirks like any place does, but overall, I think we are going to be so happy here. Family, friends, and ward members we didn't even know showed up to help us unload our truck that first night. Now, five days later, we're almost all unpacked and settled. Claire is back to her normal happy self with a routine and a real crib to sleep in and a much bigger nursery to boot. The weather really isn't that bad - okay, it's kind of that bad - but everywhere we go is air conditioned and comfortable, and there are pools on every street. Arizona is gorgeous this time of year, with palm trees and bright desert flowers in bloom everywhere you look. Good vibes all around.

So here we are! I really missed blogging during this three-week break. Well, to be honest, there were some thing I didn't miss at all, and it was so nice to have a break from some aspects of blogging. But I really missed a lot of things - including keeping up on my favorite blogs, connecting with people, and documenting my life in a creative way.So I'm really glad to be back at it.

I have so many things I'm dying to share with you, so stay tuned for more Arizona adventures, plus family pictures, a few new products and stores I'm in love with, and the start of my husband's graduate school. Bring it on, Arizona! We're ready for you.

PS The pictures are from this post about how Arizona is a foreign country. And seriously, it is.