I can’t believe that as of tomorrow we will have lived in Arizona for 1 week.  Whoa. We still have some things to get taken care of…like finding jobs.  I’ve had several interviews for positions in my “normal” career field but I’m still looking for that perfect opportunity to officially jump into the world of social media. Any takers??  D has started auditioning with local bands as he plans to continue his career as a professional musician here in Phoenix.  I believe we will have some excellent opportunities in the near future, we just need to be patient and go with the flow.

We’ve gotten a ton o’ stuff accomplished within our short time of being here. Rental insurance, change of addresses, car emissions tests, new licenses, license plates, insurance transferred.

I’d love to have even more things done but as D said, we’re gotten more things done in a week than most people get done in a month.  Come to think of it who decides to move across the country, puts their plan into action, and actually finds themselves moved within 30 days’ time?  Oh yeah, us!

So far I think we’d both say that we are happy with our move and are thrilled with our location.  Although we did a lot of Google searching we basically went sight unseen when it came to our rental home/location.  We have been pleasantly surprised that even though we are decently close to the city we still have a clean, quiet neighborhood, and spacious home.  The close proximity to many grocery stores, gas stations, and restaurants is a huge plus and have found the distance to be quite comparable to what we’re used to.

The other day we took a quick 15 minute trip down to Goodyear Ballpark to check out where the Cleveland Indians play.

Then a short jaunt took us to where the Arizona Cardinals play and then the Phoenix Coyotes Arena.

On Tuesday we even made it to our first Diamondbacks game.

It’s awesome to once again be so close to venues.

We’ve also ventured over to White Tank Mountain Regional Park. Although we didn’t go hiking we look forward to doing so in the near future and have found that we’ll have several more parks to check out in the area. (Hello trail running!)

Speaking of running, after taking a week off of running due to our move I started pounding pavement Monday.  As expected, it’s been a humbling experience.  I know that taking any time off longer than a few days has a bad influence on my running.  Yes, even after running steadily for 5 years that’s how fast I lose it.  After my first day of running I found myself laying on our cool tile floor trying to calm some nasty nausea.  Yargh!  It’s been forever since that’s happened.  Even at 6am the heat is no joke here in Arizona.  In no way am I complaining.  I’m thoroughly enjoying the heat, it’s just going to take some time to adjust.  I always run with my Nathan handheld and found that after just 3 miles I had almost downed the entire bottle.  I have no fears, it will come.  After just 2 days of running I’m already seeing myself rebound.

As seen on my run. Yeah, totally normal to look over and see mountains.

I’ve also started eyeing races.  It’s excellent to not only have races to choose from but that are also close.  What’s even better?  I’ll be able to race through the winter.  Very cool.  Now, what race(s) should I choose??

I know I haven’t posted any videos on YouTube lately, but they’ll be back soon!

Keep Smiling and Be Grateful =)