Just a Simple Observation

One of my more recent observations is that I am still living in a place that gets excited about double digit temperatures. In Iowa because of the cruel cold winters people anticipate the warmth of hitting highs that are in the double digits rather than single. In Arizona because of the extreme heat of summer people anticipate the cool of lows that are in the double digits rather than triple.

More Adventures of Life in Phoenix

Friday evening was an unexpected adventure. The night before, James’s dad had called and invited us to dinner, telling us that he and Helen wanted to treat us to a train ride to Tempe and dinner at Monites, a fairly historical restaurant residing in a bit of a younger town. James and I accepted and met his parents at their home in the early evening so we could catch the train together. The ride to Tempe took about 25 minutes. We had fun talking about our week and his parents, the faithful tour guides, told me more about Tempe and Phoenix.

After we arrived at Monties Helen explained some of the unique architectural aspects of the building: the building was constructed before the days of air conditioning so the walls are about two feet thick to allow the building to stay cool during the heat of summer. The décor was made of paintings and newspaper clippings that depict some of the history of the area.

After the waitress took our order and we were served our drinks and the bread appetizer a waiter came to our table to tell us that there had been a bomb threat in the park across the street and that the police were there telling the management that the building had to be evacuated. Still hungry and wishing that we had been able to eat at least part of our meals we left Montes through the south exit as requested.

After we cleared out of the threat zone we ended up walking down the streets of Tempe to a different restaurant called My Big Fat Greek. There we were able to order and eat our food without threat of another bomb. Once we were done with dinner we left and rode the return train to Phoenix.

Saturday was still a fun day even if it didn’t include a bomb threat. I met James at his apartment at 7:00am so we could take our first bike ride together. I ended up riding his mom’s beach cruiser bike. The pink bike has no gears or hand breaks, if it would have had a banana seat and handlebar tassels and my trip back to my childhood would have been complete. James road a really nice mountain bike and kindly enough kept it in a higher gear to make our workouts be a bit more comparable.

After our two hour bike ride we drove to Gilbert, AZ to meet up with Brenda and Eric Bryson. It was SO NICE to see people from home. I haven’t really been dealing with homesickness, but not having friends in Phoenix is starting to get hard. BUT I know that as James and I continue to get connected at church I will be able to make friends.

Life in AZ

I have mixed feelings about time. On one hand I really want time to fly by until the wedding. On the other hand, I love spending time with James and getting to know him as his fiance. I feel like I've been living in AZ for months but at the same time it seems like I just got here yesterday. However quickly or slowly time passes is irrelevant though. It passes and once a moment is gone it won't be relived.

While all the time James and I spend together is special, there are a few moments that really stand out.

On Sunday, September 5 I went to the apartment to meet James before going to church together. He had asked me to arrive early so we could have breakfast. We had some extra time after we ate so we read the Bible together and prayed. After that he asked me to stand up, he got onto both knees and officially proposed. I know that this may seem backward since I have spent the last two months planning a wedding for October 30. But we wanted the official proposal to be face-to-face and not right after I arrived in AZ and was exhausted from a three day trip. James also wanted the proposal to be in our future home. It was the perfect proposal for us.

Last Saturday morning, James and I hiked up a mountain together. We went up North Mountain because it is one of the easier ones to hike and I've never hiked up a mountain. After we were done with our hike, we went swimming, and then made lunch together. It was another perfect day.

Sunday we went to church, washed the cars, made lunch, then drove to the town of Cave Creek. Cave Creek is the town where James's mentor used to live and James wanted to show me the house where he lived before passing away. Then we rented a movie and made dinner. While we were cooking, we lost power three times. During the spurts when we actually had power we were able to make things somewhat edible. The broccoli ended up a bit scorched because we turned the electric skillet temperature WAY up in hope that we could get it to cook while we had power. The cheese crisps turned out. We could have enjoyed a nice candle light dinner if we had candles. Somehow cell phone light dinners aren't as romantic - especially when you have to keep pushing buttons on the phones to keep them lit.

Monday was another good day. James had training so he didn’t get an afternoon break but instead he was done for the day by about 1pm. As soon as he got to the apartment we went to Julie’s house to pick her up so she could sign as our witness on our wedding license application as we got it notarized. Julie made it so much fun. She took her camera out as we were signing the paperwork. Once we were all done signing she asked the Notary Republic to take a picture of the three of us. She is a precious jewel.

I've hit a bit of a routine, my typical day starts out with waking up at Julie Crum's house, getting ready for the day, then heading to James's apartment. I do random things until he comes home for his afternoon break then once he goes back for the second part of his shift I do more random things until he is done for the day. During the average evening we will go for a walk, grocery shop, swim, spend time with his parents, or read together, etc. After that I head back to Julie's house to sleep.

Arizona or Bust pt. III

The third day of our trek was the best. Mostly because while we were on the road I was able to talk to James and we could say cool things like, "When we see each other later today." and "We're now in the same state."

The drive itself was beautiful. We went south on I-17 through Flagstaff, AZ. The mountain drive was incredible. But I have to admit that the last couple hours of the day were almost too much for me. I started shaking a couple times because I was getting so tired. AND although I was really tired God enabled me to safely make the rest of the drive, find Julie's house and get some things unloaded from my car, and then find James' apartment. And then REUNITED with my Honey!!!! YAY!!!

I'll update more later on my first impressions of AZ and other exciting things (including an OFFICIAL proposal) later when I have more time. But for now, here are pictures from Day 3.

Eric on Day 3.

Brenda on Day 3.

Me on Day 3 thinking "I get to see James today!!"

Somewhere in NM or AZ.