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These last few weeks have been so wonderful! I have been longing to connect with people out here to try to fill the void of the wonderful friends I have back home. Jason and I finally went to a "small church" which is basically Sunday School. The small church we went to is called "After I do" so it it for couples who have been married 5 yrs or less. We sat at a table with all these strangers, kind of feeling awkward not knowing anyone while others exchanged personal jokes that totally went over our heads. The people at our table were great. I met a lady named Amy, she has a 2 year old girl and one on the way, and she has been so wonderful! She invited me to Moms group later that week. On Tuesday I went to Moms group, Amy was waiting for me. It was really great to get to know other moms. Their moms group has child care so you are able to get to know other moms undistracted, which was a nice break. Afterwards Amy invited me to a cookie exchange later that week, met a whole bunch of people there.
Later in the weeks Jason and I hung out with two different couples, had a GREAT time with both. When we got home I told Jason with a huge smile on my face, "WE HAVE FRIENDS!" Ladies in the church have taken me under their wing and have been connecting with me. It has been great. In fact we have even had to turn down plans because we have been so busy.
God Has been so good to us! A friend of mine asked me, "Are you sad you guys are out here and away from home?" It was relieving to honestly tell her, "no". I GREATLY miss my friends and family back home, but I can truly say that we are where God has us and I don't want to be anywhere else. God has been answering our questions as to "why Arizona? And Why now?" and we are so thankful that God is using us where we are.
On Saturday we took our Christmas picture, extremely late. We didn't have anyone to take it so we used Jason's tripod. They came out pretty well considering.
Here's a few!

Christmas around the corner, lots to be thankful for

Holy Molie! Christmas is almost here! My mom and I braved the crazy Black Friday sales. (I went for moral support, didn't buy a thing) We arrived at Target at 4:30 am. It was a mad house! We couldn't find a cart anywhere. I followed a lady in the parking lot to get her cart. She probably thought I was nuts. It was FREEZING out. An amazing 35 degrees! Why is Arizona so cold? Everyone told me "why would you move out there? People melt from the heat." and here I am freezing. Anyhoo... Got the cart, went inside, pure madness! My mom had to leave me with the cart several times to get things because we simply couldn't push the card through the sea of people. (sidenote.. we went to a SUPER Target so you could imagine how many people were there) Everyone was in there PJS and you could smell morning breath all around. We got what we wanted and then set out for Super Walmart next door.
Super Walmart was super picked over. Doors opened at 12am so we were way late. I had asked an employee about a Steam mop that was on sale to which she laughed at me for even asking if they were in stock. We got a couple items there and left. At the end of the morning we had hit up Super Target, Super Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and another Walmart. Then a much needed Starbucks run. It was a lot of fun to spend time with my mom. She bought us a Christmas tree which was such a blessing because we didn't think we would have one this year.

Karli has been so much fun. She has discovered a love for singing and dancing (much like her mommy). My mom bought her "Your baby can read" and has since learned to read 3 words. She has been such a wonderful distraction from missing home. She brings joy everywhere she goes from saying "hi" to people in the grocery store to climbing up on mommy just to give hugs. I am soooo incredibly thankful for her and couldn't imagine life without her.

My husband has been such an amazing father. He is always there to lend a helping hand. Karli is so excited when daddy walks in the door! Jason has also been such a loving husband. He is always finding ways to bless me and I feel so spoiled by God to have him as my husband. This morning I woke up to him cleaning the dishes. I walked downstairs with Karli in my arms and he said "I knew you didn't really feel like doing them so I did them for you." I must say, the way to my heart is cleaning my kitchen.

Being Thankful

Jason and I looked over our finances last night and it was awful. Student loans have been so amazingly awful! We are paying nearly $1000 a month. UGH! (pardon the vent)

So last night was the sad realization that there will be no presents this year and no Christmas tree (this on top of horribly missing friends and family back home). As I was sitting on my couch, crying (and looking at the black friday ads which did not help) I thought of how amazingly selfish I was being. There is a drought in Africa that is killing thousands each day. Americans are hurting all over the nation because they have lost their jobs and can't afford to afford to put food on the table.

We have a roof over our heads, a healthy little girl, I have a husband who loves me, we never worry about food (although we shop CHEAP). I have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. God has provided so much for us this year! He has been so faithful!

So moving forward Jason is hoping to pick us some videography jobs (which he has 2 potentially lined up) and I am looking for a part time job, which I am excited about to get out of the house and meet new people. Please continue to pray for us. This has been discouraging for Jason as the realization of our finances has kind of dashed our dreams of buying a house. But, God is faithful!

Starting to settle in

This past week my cousin Kaycie got married and it was so much fun being a part of her big day. The whole family came out and I had my house filled with my entire immediate family. It was great seeing Karli and Mason back together.

My cousin and I at her bachlorette

My brothers and sister-in-laws at the wedding

Karli's ready to get her dance on

Dancing with Daddy

Cousins (and grandpa)

I am starting to settle into our everyday routine. I was so proud of myself when I ran errands the other day and went all over Chandler and Gilbert and never had to get directions. Jason and I have been so busy that we haven't really had time to get plugged into some of the church events. We really want to get to know more people at church. So far the people we have met have been really welcoming. We had some friends over last night and it was so wonderful to just hang out in our home(haven't done that in a while). They are really great people.

I am hoping to get a part-time job, not only to have some extra income, (which will be really helpful) but to get out of the house. At the end of the day I find myself staring at the clock waiting for Jason to get home. He is probably getting sick of me calling and asking "have you left yet?"

On the upside, I finally made another dinner that Jason liked! I suck at cooking but I am on a quest to get better.

As for the Karli girl.... She has definitely made the transformation from baby to toddler. She mimics everything. Walking hasn't quite started yet, but she is getting brave enough to let go of things to stand on her own. She is saying about 12 words now (girl likes to talk) and is starting to associate animals with the sounds they make. Her new thing is dancing, once music comes on she is moving. Teaching her "no touching" has been a struggle. She thinks we are playing a game with her.
I am just amazed at how fast they learn and how quickly defiance creeps in.

As for our upcoming trips.... We will be going back to California after Christmas and then going to Missouri in March. I am so excited for Karli to get to see her cousin Alana! They are going to be so cute together.

We miss you all and we thank you for your prayers!

Back home for Karli's birthday

Having survived 2 weeks in Arizona, we went back home to California this past weekend for Karli's birthday (and Mason's and Hannah's). As we were packing up the car late thursday night I just got so excited to see all my wonderful friends. This weekend was a whirlwind weekend. Friday was filled with running errands, one errand was with my incredible friend Beth who I about cried when I saw. Friday night was baking cookies, which I must say (not to gloat) turned out rather adorable. I was so proud of myself cause I am NOT crafty.

Saturday we celebrated my Dad's birthday and Mason's birthday. (sidenote) One of my favorite moments this weekend was seeing my nephew Mason walk in the door on Friday, see me and scream "Lolo" and come running up to me and give me a hug. I adore that boy!

Later on Saturday Karli's BFF Hannah turned 1 and we were so excited to be able to celebrate with her. Karli and Hannah were so happy to see each other. I miss them together! At Karlis party we had to get pictures of them together to document their friendship.

Sunday was Karli's Party and it was so much fun to be able to celebrate with friends and family. It was so sweet to see how Karli recognized everyone. Karli ate her first cupcake, which did not go over well at first, she just wailed. Then Jason pushed a little piece in her mouth and you could see her expression change from "my world is ending" to "dang this cupcake is good". She ate the rest of that cupcake so fast you would have thought she was a starving child (which resulted in a not so pleasant diaper change on the way back to AZ)

We got home last night at around 1:30am. So exhausted! So surprised Jason made it through the whole drive. The whole way home I would hit him or randomly call him from the back seat to make sure he was still coherent. When we got home we both agreed that it was great to see everyone, but man was that tiring. Thank goodness we had my mom and my sisters to help! 

It is exciting yet bittersweet to start this new chapter in our lives. Thank you everyone back home for supporting Karli throughout her first year of life. We love you all! You are all so wonderful!

WE MOVED!

It official, we are in Arizona! After 24 years of living in California I am now an Arizonian. It was surreal to wake up in our big house our first morning here. Seeing our stuff in this big house seems unreal. Jason and I keep saying, "Can you believe we live here?" God is so good!


We have been driving all over to try to find where to shop, doctors, etc. I was so excited to see a lady in in Target that had Trader Joe's bags. She probably thought I was so strange because I gasped when I saw them and babbled "There's a Trader Joe's HERE?!" She said "ya it is just down the street." I about peed my pants I was sooo excited!


Jason and I have been cheating on Albertsons. We were very loyal to our grocery store, but we have discovered Bashas, a family owned grocery store that has some really good food. Sorry Albertsons!


We went to church last Sunday and put Karli in her class for the 1st time. I was nervous for her because they were all strangers, but she did well despite missing her nap. The Children's ministry is AMAZING. I was very excited to not see her number flash up on the screen during service.


I must say I really like the area out here, however I really miss the people back home. I miss all my fellow mommies. Next week I am going to go to the church's moms group.


BLOG: this blog is for friends and family to keep you all updated on what we are doing and how we are doing.