Happy Birthday to Me!!

An update on live so far here in Phoenix.  Tyler and I started school August 12 and 13.  The year is going amazing.  We both love our classes and our new schools.  It has been quite an adjustment, having to commute to work now, but we still enjoy it.  Both of our schools are very supportive of us, and help us get done whatever we need.  Tyler has 68 sixth graders, and I have 20 amazing third graders!!  They helped me celebrate my birthday yesterday, and that was such a blessing.  After school we even played a game of wiffle ball (the staff), just because we wanted to.  We are so blessed to be here, and even though finding a house is on hold, we are still enjoying being married, and the curves of life!

A hold on moving

Well, we have had to put a hold on our house hunting.  We got the numbers back for our mortgage guy, and it wasn't as good as we had hoped for.  So now we are hoping that we will be back to our Christmas plan.  It may not work out that way, but we are hoping.  I know that by the time we are ready to buy a home the one that we will fall in love with will be there.  

We are both working on getting our classrooms together.  I had my first staff meeting on Monday, and Tyler's first one was on Friday.  So now we both have a little over a week to get every thing together for kids to come!!  I can't believe how short our summer has been this year, but that's okay.  Hopefully I will be working on my masters starting this fall as well.  I have applied to Concordia Wisconsin, and I am just waiting to hear if I got into the program.

Jim and Nina came to visit us that weekend, so that was a blast!!  We went and saw Step Brothers on Friday night with Matt, Katie and Andy.  Yesterday we gave them the whole tour of the area.  Went to Shepherd, Christ, downtown, Valley, all over.  Then last night we played lots of games.  They had to leave early this morning though, so no more excitement today.  We miss them already!!

Four Houses

So Kim is amazing!!  She sent us information on houses in Matt and Katie's neighborhood, and then some that are near their house.  Tyler and I found four that we really like so we went and found them this morning.  We were only able to look at the outsides, and this is what we have discovered.  The cheapest one will need a lot of yard work.  The other one in Matt and Katie's neighborhood is the biggest unit in their housing development!!  The other two are like five minutes away from their house.  The first one we went to has these huge orange flowers in front of it, and this huge entry way.  I really liked the neighborhood, and there is a school really close to the house.  The other house is on the other side of the 51, but is BEAUTIFUL.  It has a porch in the front where we could sit out there, after we trim the hedges in front.  The landscaping is beautiful, and the neighborhood is amazing.  I really liked some of the other houses in the neighborhood too, but they weren't for sale.  :D

Kim emailed us again tonight, and said she could meet with us this week.  So we are meeting with her tomorrow morning.  She's going to take us to these four houses, and we'll see what we like.  These are only our top four off the information she sent us, but she is amazing!!  She is working so much for us already, and we haven't even talked to her yet.  Thank you so much Matt and Katie for recommending her to us!!  Thank you Shepherd for being there, so that Matt got a job three years ago!!  :D  Thank you Kim for loving Jesus so you go to church there.  Thank you God for all that you do for us!!

Continue to keep us in your prayers.  This is our last week of summer.  Both Tyler and I start staff meetings next Monday, July 28.  At the rate that things are going with Kim we are hoping that we might be able to buy a home by October!!  We are really excited about this, but also very nervous.  It's going to be such a commitment, but we are ready to start the next chapter in our lives.  NO we are not having kids, or thinking about it yet, but we have to prepare before we can act on it.

We miss you all and love you!!

Realtor

Tyler and I have emailed a new realtor, and she responded very quickly back to us yesterday.  She is the one who helped Matt and Katie buy their house, and they loved working with her.  I will be calling her this afternoon when we get back from the movies to see what she can do for us.  Keep us in your prayers!!!

Sedona Pictures

Sedona was beautiful!!  We were able to stay at my parents time share.  We had a one bedroom room that had a bathroom that was the size of our bedroom in the apartment we just moved out of.  We went to a super nice dinner the night of our anniversary, and they had put flowers on the table for us.  Tuesday we met Matt and Katie for lunch because they were also up there celebrating their anniversary!!  We didn't do much other than relax while we were up there!!  It was such a blast!!  Thanks mom and dad!!

Search and you will Find

I started going through the boxes in Mom's living room and guess what I found!!  The camera cord!!  So here are some pictures from the move, and being here!!

Our living room, before we started packing up the truck.

The view out the back of the element.  I was driving the element, and my mom was driving my car for us.  Tyler was driving the truck!!

The view out of hotel room in Palm Springs.

Welcome to Arizona!!

This one is for you Uncle Al!!  :D  We did eat there!!

Almost Over

Tyler and I had the last week here at the house to try and get things situated.  His mom and dad were in California for a week, so we had the whole house to ourselves!!  We didn't really do as much as we had wanted to, but we did get some things done.  We had Matt and Katie over for dinner twice!!  We figured we needed to entertain them while we could, before we get our house.  I had my first experience of Phoenix rain too.  We had big storms Thursday night.  Tyler was very excited it rained, but it didn't really bother me too much, growing up in the Bay Area for 18 years!!  :D  We watched a couple of movies too!  Tyler brought some home with him from Matt's on Friday, so we had a nice relaxing weekend.  Yesterday he went with me to school to take all of my heavy boxes.  Now I just have the load left in my car.  It's amazing how much stuff I have to go through before the school year ends.  Tyler and I only have two more weeks of summer, and then we are diving into a new school year!!  I still can't find my camera cord, so no photos as of now.  Sorry every one, but hopefully I'll find it before we buy a house.  If not, I'll just have to go buy a new one!!  We sent an email to our relator yesterday, and filled out paperwork for a mortgage, so now we can start house hunting!!  Hopefully our goal of Christmas will work out!!

We miss all of you not here enjoying this journey with us, and can't wait to see you whether it is this fall or not until the holidays!!  Love you guys!!