We are now Homeowners!

Beth and I have joined the Homeowners club. We went to the closing meeting today and finished all the paperwork. We are now the owners of a great house here in KY.

The sellers will be out tomorrow and then it is all ours. On the downside of that, our movers can't deliver our things until Tuesday. Looks like we will be in the hotel for a little while longer. We can't wait to get settled and put some personal touches on the place. We might get some family help in our sister Jennifer to come over for some painting. I am lobbying for an UT orange color in one room, but Beth is not exactly on board with that so far.

On a bright note, it looks like we already have our first house quests lined up. We can't wait.

Louisville at last

Our cross country trip has come to an end.

Today on our trip I almost had to cry. Let me explain...We needed some breakfast and some go-go juice so we got off the interstate east of St. Louis. I drove 3 miles off the exit just to get to a Hardee's. I really wanted to get a good biscuit(AZ doesn't have their breakfast). When I pulled up to order my BEC (read best breakfast sandwich: Bacon, egg, and cheese) I saw one of the most grand sites in this country. Mello Yello was on the menu. Can you hear the angels singing? I know I could. It is good to be back in Mello Yello country. After we fueled up, it was back to driving.

We made it to Louisville today around 1:30. After grabbing some lunch, it was off to check into our hotel/temporary quarters/squatting pad for the foreseeable future. We are staying in the same hotel as on our house hunting trip. I remember it being a whole lot kooler last time. I have already had to get missing items from the front desk twice. Beth and I are both bummed out because of the substandard TV and its lack of audio video inputs. This means 2 weeks with no Wii. Reading, internet, and mindless television will have to do instead. I'll try to keep everyone up on the latest happenings from KY. Monday is my first day in my new office so wish me luck.

Day 2 and 3 update

I didn't get a chance to post last night mainly because I was lazy. That's right kids, all I did was drive for awhile and couldn't make myself post a blog update...not good.

Day 2 found us in Oklahoma City. Last time when we drove through TX I didn't like anything that I saw, but this time there was a lot of AG that looked really kool. OK also was interesting to see as we drove through. Beth was amazed by all the oil derricks throughout the countryside. We ran into a lot of wind on the way through the state, which made for some fun driving. Yesterday was a big blow to my manhood. I have this compulsion to drive Beth and I everywhere. It is a deep rooted idea that that the man should get us from point A to point B. Is this logical? Heck no, but I never said I was a logical man. So when I got sleepy yesterday after driving 350 miles, I gave the reins over to Beth for the last 150 miles to Ok City (this would repeat itself the next day). We had some storms come through that night, but seeing how I was tired I slept right through them.

Day 3 ends with us in St. Louis. We are a quick 270 miles from our new home city. The dogs are still adjusting to the trip, but as I type this Spike is eating his dog food for the first time on this trip. Beth went out and grabbed us food and I chilled with the pooches. Now we are getting to settle in and get ready for our last leg of this trip.

1st day of travel to Louisville

Beth and I started our cross country trip today. We said bye to our friends (Curt and Ali) and hit the road out of Phoenix. We made good time to northern AZ and stopped to eat lunch around Winslow, AZ.

From there we went to Ganado on the Navajo Reservation. I had been to the Hubbell Trading Post before without Beth, but had been wanting to go back with her. One at a time we went in and looked around for Navajo rugs (remember the dogs are with us). We found two (very small ones) that we liked so we're really happy. Can't wait to see them in our new house.

We got back on the road and headed toward NM. Now comes the part of the trip that we had to find a hotel that would allow dogs. It was a harder task than one might think. As I type this we are settling down for the night in Albuquerque. Tomorrow we will get up and drive for another 8 hours or so. Stay tuned...

AZ is not for everyone

Let me start this post by saying Arizona was great for us, but this is not the case for everyone. Yesterday our movers came and packed/loaded our whole place in a matter of 12 hours.

A couple of particulars that you need to know first; Jose was our driver and calls PA home, it was 112 degrees at our house yesterday, we had a four man crew (including Jose) moving us, and they had to use a Uhaul to ferry our things from the condo to the tractor trailer.

So here is the story. Jose called us on Saturday to confirm the time and see how much stuff we would be loading. Now is a good time to tell everyone that Jose had never had a job in Phoenix. He was supposed to start about 9:00 in the morning, but Beth convinced him to start a little earlier because it was going to be so hot. He showed up at 7:30 in the morning Monday and started packing. Jose started out the day in a good mood and was joking around and moving as fast as he could. Skip to 3:00. Now it is really hot and they have started moving things in the Uhaul. The day started going downhill for Jose. He was sweating like a pig on the way to a bacon factory. After their 2nd trip in the truck, he was our house finishing up and I asked him how he was liking the weather. His response was, "I HATE it. This is like torture, and if someone gave me a half million dollar home here for free I would still not live here." I laughed out loud at this statement so inquired, "Does that mean that you won't be taking anymore jobs out here anytime soon?" Without skipping a beat he answered, "I am NEVER coming back here on a job. I will turn down every job that comes to me for Phoenix." That's right folks, one day working in Phoenix was too much for this east coast guy. He right then and there swore off Phoenix as a whole. So next time you hear someone saying that old line about Phoenix being a dry heat, Punch that person in the face and then tell them you "don't tolerate that kind of talk."

Going away lunch

I just had an awesome day at work. Our whole office went out for my going away lunch, along with a few extras. I got a happy surprise when I found out that Janet (friend from work that is not with us anymore) came along to see me off. Janet is great; we had a ball while she was there. She and I once decorated Dave’s office with as much ASU stuff as we could find. Dave is a U of A grad and saying he dislikes ASU is the understatement of the century. Janet and I would play pranks on each other all the time. It was really nice to see her again.

TGI Friday’s at Chase Field was awesome (I am attaching some pics in this post). The Dbacks were playing in Cincinnati today so the field was empty except for some grow lights. It was a perfect view to take in while eating lunch. I think everyone had a good time and there were laughs all around. After lunch we all went back to the office and ate some dessert.

After dessert, there was some fun poked at me and my southern heritage by Dave (it was all funny) and then Steve gave me a couple of pictures. He had photo shopped me onto these fake magazine covers with pictures I didn’t even know he had accessible. One is me doing a standard Jeff “there are no lights on in the whole house” look and is supposed to be the Poker player of the year with Bluff magazine. Beth and I both laughed until we hurt. It was just a fun day all around.

This is just one more reason that makes it hard to leave Arizona. I wouldn’t change one thing about my office and our time here. We are excited to be moving, but that doesn’t change the fact that Arizona was a really good thing for us.

After we left the office we headed to ASU and bought some tickets for Wicked this weekend. Beth has really wanted to see it so I am glad we are finally getting to go. So we have that and the river to look forward to this weekend.

The Move Looms

As I write this we are 2 weeks and 2 days from our move from Arizona. It seems like it was literally yesterday that we found out we were moving.

Since my last post we went on our house hunting trip to KY. It was a learning experience to say the least. There is too much to get into here, but we found a house near the end of our trip. Beth and I are really excited to be getting our very own house and being closer to our family. I also got to go by and see my new office and meet everyone, very briefly, that I will be soon working alongside. Everyone was great and I am eager to get to know everyone better and see how the office is different from Arizona.

Our last few weeks here will be wrapping up household whatnot and spending some time with our friends that we are really going to miss. This Saturday is our last Salt River trip for the foreseeable future. I am going to take my digital camera for the first time and try to take some good pictures. I'll put some on here after I recover.

Havasu Trip '09

So here is the latest on the trip that Beth and I just took. We went for another dose of the Havasupai reservation. It was just as amazing as last year. This time we took Brandon (Beth's little brother), Andrew (my friend from school), and Jessica (one of Beth's friends) along for the adventure. There was a major flood that happened after our last trip so it was interesting to see how the landscape had changed, and boy did it.

Beth and I really worked hard to get ready for this trip. I lost 35 pounds and we hiked North Mountain (a park near our house) more times than I can remember. This all paid off as we had a better time during the hike since we weren't so wore out. The hike is 11 miles from the trailhead to the campground. After we got down and setup camp, we went for a swim at Havasu Falls. The canyon is so peaceful and it was nice to wake up and just walk around in the cool air taking it all in. For our full day down there, we went to the tallest of the waterfalls (Mooney) and scaled down the side to follow the creek on down the canyon looking for Beaver falls. I ended up twisting my ankle this morning and had a hard time walking the rest of the day. Beaver falls ended up being too much for us to find and we just hiked back to Mooney in the creek the whole way. There was great scenery and I think the cold water helped keep my ankle from exploding.

After the second night we packed up camp and started our hike out. We started out at 6:00 am and made it to the top at 11:00 am. This was an hour quicker than last year. Guess those trips on North Mountain did help. All in all, it was another great trip. We had fun with our friends and family that went along and everyone made it in and out safely which was the important thing. The final specs on the hike were the following: 2 nights, 30 miles walked, 40 lb. backpack, 4000 ft. total elevation change, 1 sore ankle, and at least half a dozen blisters.

I can't wait till the next time we get to go back. It is truely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Now we are back at home and just taking it easy this weekend. Next weekend it is going to be Dbacks and Salt River with Adam and Alison from CO. I leave you all with a video of Havasu creek just below Mooney Falls where another creek joins the fun.

Kermit gets a slideshow

Added a slide show to my page. Kermit (read the BEST FREAKING MUPPET) has been with our family since we went to Disneyland. We picked him up outside the Muppet 3-D Adventure. Now Kermit goes all most anywhere with us. He is about to make his second trip onto the Havasupai reservation. This time he will get a good picture in front of the waterfalls. Wish him well. I will add more of his photos in the time to come.

Random place to eat

The standard practice in our office for someone leaving is a going away lunch. The person in question (read, me) gets to pick the location. I have heard all different kinds of locations for past engagements such as, Spaghetti Factory, various mexican places, and other places that are specific to the Phoenix area.

Now, enter my decision. I could have picked a restaurant that is only in Phoenix, or I could have gone the route of a nice place that I might not get to try again. This opens up a large realm of possibilities for my decision. Beth and I don't go out to eat very much, and when we do we almost always go to Old Chicago. But there is not one near the office so that was out of the question.

Now, to my decision. T.G.I Friday's. That's right, off all the places that I could pick I went with Fridays. As you read this you may be saying, "Why?" So let me tell you. This happens to be the Fridays located at Chase Field where the Dbacks play. Since one of my favorite things to do out here is go to a game I couldn't think of a better place to have my "last supper" of sorts. I'll try to get some pictures from the lunch and post on here after the fact. It is not till July, but this just popped into my head.

The Start of my Blog

As we are coming to the end of our time in Arizona, I thought I would start a blog to let everyone know what I was up to and our plans. Right now Beth is in TN visiting family after going to her friends wedding. She is bringing her little brother back with her to spend a little time in the desert.

We are getting close to our backpacking trip into the Havasupai reservation. Beth and I have been looking forward to this for a year now. We have been putting quite a few miles on our hiking shoes in preparation for this camping trip. It is one of the most impressive places that I have ever seen. The best part about planning this trip is that Scott suggested that next year we should take a family trip back into the reservation. I am hoping we can get as much of our family to go possible.

As everyone knows, our move to KY is coming up fast. June is going to be a really busy month for us. We are hiking to Supai, having our kool (that's right, kool with a K) friends from Denver in for a weekend visit, going on a house hunting trip, and trying to make it to the Salt River as much as we can in between. We are going to spend a week in Louisville trying to find a house. Here is hoping that everything works out.

I'll try to keep this as updated as I can. Till next time.