Fun with Daddy

This is what they do while Reese is busy doing homework.

I guess you can see a little bit of our house in this video. This is the family room where all the hanging out take place every day. We haven't put any pictures up yet so the walls are kinda bare. In the opening where they're biking from is the 'formal living room' which we don't really know what to do with yet. Lots of toys in there so we might just make it a play room for the kids. Our bedroom is through the opening next to the tv. We also have a den next to our master bedroom. The kids rooms are right out from the kitchen.

The house is mostly tiled flooring. The carpeting we have are only in the bedrooms.

Ok that's all for now! More later!

Arizona vs. California

Ok I am a victim of creating lists and comparing things.

1. The heat.

Ok so it's not a surprise that it's 110+ here all the time. At night the temp only drops to the high 80's. Our A/C is on 24/7. It's sort of like when it's winter in northern CA. The heat gets turned off during the day but it comes back on when you get home. It's our A/C here. We turn it to 82 when we leave in the morning, which means it doesn't kick on at all. Our power bill is going to be about $200/month. Small price to pay if you think about it... because it beats putting up with 115 degree indoors!

2. Helmet law.

Apparently there is none here in Arizona. It kinda scares me when I see motorcyclists here riding on the freeway with no helmet. I mean... why wouldn't you want to wear a helmet??

3. HOV lane.

It's High Occupancy Vehicle lane here in AZ. It's a double solid white lines that you can move in and out of at anytime and there's no breaks. No one told me this and here I thought you're trapped in the lane until there's a break in the lines like in LA. durrr...

4. Where are the Rice Rockets?

I am going to risk sounding really really racist right now, but there are no rice rockets here! It's kinda nice because you're not dodging (or them dodging you) stupid little cars all the time like back home. It's probably because there is hardly any asians here.

5. The friendly people

I don't know what it is but people here are so much more friendly and nice. Not saying people in the bay area aren't friendly... they're just more stand-off-ish. I don't know. People here are so much more approachable and warm. Easier to talk to.

6. Our little dinky town

I never thought I would say this but we love our dinky town of Maricopa. We definitely live in the 'Tracy' of Arizona. We're a half hour (no traffic) outside of Phoenix and the only way you can get to our town is on a 2 lane road through an indian reservation. It's 20 miles from the next town with a hospital. lol. If we ever have an medical emergency... lord help us.

7. Peet's? Starbucks? Where are you?

There is one Starbucks in our town, yes ONE Starbucks and it's inside the grocery store. Which means it's not the quick in and out like I'm used to. And Peet's? These people have never heard of it. I guess we'll have to get our fix when we come home again. But I did find a Tully's coffee and they make KILLER iced mocha's.

You're in our thoughts....

In the recent events - even captured by the media... one of our good friends has had a run-in with the law. We know he's in a lot of trouble and probably won't see the light of day for a while.

We just want him to know that our thoughts and prayers are with him and his wife.

If you ever need an escape, come on down.

First week in our new home

Ok here are some more photos of our place with furniture and stuff in it. Settling in if you will. Some of the rooms have really weird angles so I couldn't get a good picture. Like Reese's room for example. If I took a picture from the door, I would just get him and his bed. He's happy in his new room though with all his toys, Xbox, and TV.


Here's Bailey in her "Big Girl Bed" with her entourage of stuffed animals.

Our master bath with a stand up shower and open oval tub. Which the kids mostly use because it's big and fun!

Our walk-in closet in the master. That's all my clothes on that side, Chris has the other side, but his clothes are mostly folded shirts and he goes to work in shorts! So his pants are just hung up collecting dust now.

Our bedroom. With the TV that used to be in the living room at our old place. I am going to paint the nightstands black to match the bed and the dressers.

Our (messy) kitchen. I really try to keep it less cluttered, but for now, things are still finding where they belong so that's what it looks like.

Our family room in the back of the house behind the kitchen. That's where we hang out. We actually have a formal living room that we don't really know what to do with. I think we're going to make it a play room for the kids instead.

That's all for now! More in a few days!

Invading Arizona

So here's a little bit of our first day in our house in AZ. It sure is hot down here in the desert. We now live in a little town way far away from the closest suburb city to Phoenix. But we're not so far that we can't drive into Phoenix to work/play. I love it. This little house is perfect for us. In a neighborhood where it's safe for Reese to go ride his bike on the street without us being too worried that something might happen. Here are some pictures of the house BEFORE the movers got there. I swear, I took these pictures... then an hour later the movers showed up with our stuff. More pictures tomorrow.

Our garage with my car parked in it. My car now has a 'home' :)



Our master bedroom. Chris put his big TV in it at first but it's now in the living room.


The kitchen with all our random stuff on the island. I was hijacking internet for a couple of days before we called for cable/internet/phone. The fridge is stainless steel and I can't put any of my magnets on it!! How am I supposed to keep up with what's happening if I can't post it on my fridge!!??


Front of the house. No grass... it doesn't grow down here. Well it does, but it's too high maintenance to grow.


Our family room. Bailey had a great time running around the house when it was still empty yelling just to hear herself echo. lol. Yes, that's all tile. That's how they do it here. Carpeting only in the bedrooms. We have to consider buying a few area rugs.

Ok that's all for now. More tomorrow.