change

Hello from AZ! It's been awhile (like a longggg while), so I thought I'd fill you in on what's happened in the past 3 months. There's a lot, so I'll just bullet-point some of big and/or interesting/funny stuff for you.

• Paige and I are all moved and settled into our Tempe apartment. On August 15th, we packed up both of our cars to the point where we had to leave some stuff at home because we could stuff anything in anymore crevices. We even had to strap 2 big luggage bags on top of Paige's car.... But my mom, dad, Paige, and I had a 3-day caravan road trip to Tempe. My parents stayed with us for a week and helped us shop and move in, then they flew out the following Sunday back to SD. 

  

  My favorite corner in the apt

• Ikea saved our lives. (And our money.)

• Paige and I weren't sure how we would like the desert climate and landscape, but aside from the dreadfully high temperatures, we are loving that we get a little mix of palm trees, mountains, and city skyline all in one place. 

  

  Drive to class

  
  

  

  AZ sunsets are exquisite 

• We have seen 4 scorpions IN OUR APARTMENT. Welcome to the desert folks.

• The other day Paige and I woke up super early in a hot sweat only to realize our electricity/air-conditioning/everything had been shut off. We were scared our food in the fridge and freezer would get bad so we hurriedly drove to Albertsons to put money on this card that we had put in this machine to give us power. It's a long story, but we know now how to maintain our power so that's nice.

• When Paige and I went to go get groceries one night my car was dead. So we pulled Paige's car up the spot next to mine and tried to jump it. The second the last jumper cable touched, my car alarm would go off, so we tried to hurry and jump it so we wouldn't annoy the neighbors too much. Well, long-story-short, my car killed Paige's car and we ended up with two dead cars. So we called AAA and they came and jumped Paige's but couldn't jump mine. They told me that I had a problem with my starter and that I would have to call a repair shop and get it towed. It was late so I planned on calling the shop in the morning. Well the next morning after my mom called our repair guy from home and I did some internet research about the problem, we outsmarted AAA and got my car to start easily. (I tried to keep this story as simple as possible, so it might be hard to follow, but I figured no one cares too much about car problem details.) Moral of the story: I am smarter than Triple-A.

  

  Paige's car died in someone else's reserves parking spot,
  so we had to write a note.

• I am taking a graphic design course and I'm really liking it so far. Here's a glimpse of my first finished project. It's a self-portrait made on the computer solely out of type.

  

  Here's my face made out of words

  

  Unrelated: P's first day of college!

• After an EXTENSIVE two-month job search, I FINALLY got the job I wanted at Starbucks! Even better, Starbucks has this deal with ASU that employees get free ASU online tuition so if it works out, I'll be taking advantage of that next semester!

• Reminder: Don't take home-cooked meals for granted.

• We've now experienced both dust-storms and monsoons. 

  

  Monsoon season is no joke

• How did I go without Trader Joe's before now?

• I've been loving making açaí bowls recently. They're just so pretty and delicious.

  

  YUM

• Out best friend here would probably have to be Juan - an elderly man who has two chihuahuas. He puts one in a doggy-backpack on his back and one in a doggy-backpack on his front and walks all around our apartment complex daily.

• There's this place near us called "Agritopia Farms" and every Wednesday night they have different food trucks come and people come and go throughout the night and enjoy all different kinds of yummy foods from Hawaiian shave ice and vegan dishes to gourmet grilled cheese and waffles. They have it all set up so cute with lights when it gets dark and it is just adorable. Paige and I went and absolutely loved it.



*snarfs down waffle*

• Paige drove my car the other day for whatever reason and ended up leaving my keys in the keyhole on the outside of our apartment door ALL NIGHT. She lucked out and they were still there in the morning. Yikes.

• We went to the One Direction Concert last month (the tickets we got Paige for her graduation gift) and at the risk of sounding like an obsessive 14 year old girl, it was the best night of my life. That's all.

  

  I took these

  

  That is how close we were 

  

  HARRY. STYLES.

  

  best night of my life

• The day I found out I got the job that I had been wanting for so long, I wanted to celebrate so I searched out the most authentic Italian pizza in the area and concluded that Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana looked like the best option. And boy was I right. Paige and I shared two AMAZING pizzas that took me straight back to Italy. They even served us Limoncello after dinner. Is that even legal? Oh well.

  

  Downtown for dinner

  

  SO GOOD

• Paige and I have discovered the luxury of movie theaters with reserved seating lazy-boy recliners. I can now justify paying for movie tickets. 

  

  just lovin' life ya know

Well that's all for now guys. Here's some random pictures from before the move that I never posted. Enjoy.

Last family night in the Hills

"I whip my hair back and forth"

My fav people

Hello there George.

Joy-ridin' with the presidents

The Duffy's dropped this off the morning before we left,
so we were pretty well stocked for road trip necessities.
 So thanks Duffy's, you're kind of the best.

Did NOT want to say goodbye to these cute faces.