I did more laundry today.

Zion called from AZ and told me that our unity candle from our wedding fell off the table and broke. That is sad.

I will still come back to Arizona, Zion, I said I would.

We just got back to Lima from Cheo (Christian Homeschoolers Education of Ohio). It was a fun but crazy 3 days. There were 80 mile an hour straight line winds in Lima the day we went to Columbus. There are trees down all over town still. (It reminds me of the ice storm last winter)

Becca, Brandon and I arrived in Lima late last night.
Today I am going to Love and Learn to get ready for Cheo.
I will be working with my Mom and sister, Jess.
We'll have fun.

I did laundry today.

Today we are packing for our trip to Ohio.
Yesterday our car broke down and when I jumped out to help push, my flip flop BROKE.
My flip flops were almost 2 years old.
I bought my flip flops for Family camp two years ago to wear in the shower.
They came from the dollar store.
I got my $1 worth out of them.
I threw them in the trash after they broke.
Tomorrow we will go to Phoenix for church.
We are going to stay at Danny and Joanna's.
Danny or Joanna are going to take Becca and me to the airport on Monday.
Monday night we will be in Ohio.
I will write more later.

All right, already! That's quite enough!! You won't even believe what I am about to tell you. This is what happened tonight...

Well, first things first, today Becca and I went shopping at the Outlet malls in Casa Grande and had a jolly good time!!! We each got a bunch of adorable clothes for camp without spending a fortune!! (Very exciting in my book!) And when I got home from the mall, Zion told me that BOTH cars were repaired and it only cost us just under $300!! Plus, hurray, Jariah's car is repaired, too, we just have to go pick it up in Phoenix next time we're there!!

Then, when we got home, Zion wanted to take us the Tanque Verde Swap Meet. On the way, OUR STUPID CAR BROKE DOWN AGAIN!!!!!
Can you believe it??! My '03 is down for the second time in a week! UGH!!!

I know you guys are all going to say that how much I like or dislike AZ all depends on my attitude. But, contrary to popular belief, I have been trying NOT to read too much into all this nonsense that keeps on happening from the minute we arrived here in Tucson. Seriously though, how much more can one person be expected to take??? This is ridiculous!!!!!!!

I am getting the impression that I’m making the Ramirez boys mad at me, (I’m very astute like that) and (believe it or not) that was NOT my intention in starting this blog. The reason I started it was so that some of my buddies back in Ohio could kinda keep up with what’s happening with me. I was mostly doing this for my Holiday Inn buddies so I didn’t have to email them individually. I wasn’t planning to talk to all you Ramirez guys on here, after all, we live HERE now, why should we have to keep in touch over the web? Well, anyhow, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you by “whining” about your precious Tucson, like I said, that wasn’t my intention, but I am also using this blog to express the way I feel so if you don’t like it, don’t log on. I don’t keep a diary, this is it, and sometimes (especially since I moved) I need to vent. It’s very therapeutic and it’s nothing personal. I would have had similar problems if I had moved to Wyoming, Vermont, Egypt, wherever!! And yes, Josh, I know that I am blessed to have such a wonderful Husband and family, but don’t forget, I have a whole other family 2,000 miles away and it should be understandable that I wouldn’t be overly thrilled with leaving everyone and everything that I have know behind, but I did it and I’m willing to stay here for 2 years and to give it a try. I’m not superwoman, so I shouldn’t be expected to act like I have no emotions or that I love to live on (what looks to me like) mars. (Venus, maybe… mars, no) Well, you know where I stand, I’ll be posting what I’m feeling on here, regardless if you guys approve or appreciate what I say. Like I said, it’s nothing personal. How could it be?

Praise the Lord, MY car is fixed, and it only cost $72.00!!! WoooHooo!!! Something was messed up with the ignition. I don't know what it was exactly, but it doesn't matter, because it's fixed now!!!

Now we just have to get Jariah and Zion's cars back, and we'll be back in business!!

You've heard the old saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side..." And I have always heard "of the fence" to complete that saying. Whoever made that up, had never been to Tucson, Arizona! I would like to change that well known saying to "The grass is always greener on the other side of the Country!" Zion keeps telling me that the only reason I'm not liking it here, is because I live in a hovel and we are sharing it. I don't think that's necessarily true, because we drove through one of the "really nice" million dollar homes neighborhoods on our way to Sabino Canyon about 2 weeks ago, (Zion turned too soon) and to be completely honest, I would rather have a $120,000 home in Ohio than a Million dollar home in Arizona, because their "yards" are not yards, they are dirt with catus and other dangerous looking plants. It's all dirt! Everywhere you look is dirt! Then, there's huge mounds of dirt that they call "beautiful mountains". Blech!!

I will admit, that the mountains look pretty cool, FROM A DISTANCE!! (Then, only because you can't tell that they are just big piles of dirt.)

P.S.
The reason I refer to my house as a "hovel" is because of all the leaks, and electrical problems, and non cool cooler. Below is the actual defination of the word, but I still think it fits. =)
hov·el
1. A small, miserable dwelling.
2. An open, low shed.

Well, today it reached 110 Outside, so it was HOT Inside!! Beccca and I didn't go anywhere today, so there aren't any fun driving mishaps to report.

We both started packing for our three week trip home!! I never thought that I would ENJOY packing after packing up my entire house to move to AZ, but today it was a real joy. (Probably because I know that the final reward will be I GET TO GO TO OHIO!!!!)

I called and got all set up to go to Family Camp, Becca and I will have a cabin again this year!! Woohoo!!! It's so much more fun to GO to camp if you actually get to STAY at camp! I can hardly wait!!

Okay, so, I'll write more later, Thanks for reading!

Isn't this the prettiest blog you've ever seen?

Ok, so here's what happened today, and I'm not blaming AZ for this, I'm just going to say, Big City+ Jeshanah Driving+ Strange Car= Disaster! Now that we have that cleared up, let me explain.

Becca and I took Jess and Ness to the airport today. On the way, we had no problems; we went to the Tucson Mall first thing to charge Jess’ cell phone for the last time, then we headed for Phoenix. On the way to Phoenix, we stopped at the Gap outlet and found a bunch of really great clothes for Jess for camp. (Becca's going back later, and all I really want is a $6 bag.) We had no problems getting to the airport, no problems checking the bags, no problems getting them to their gate, no sweat saying goodbye because we’ll see each other in only 6 days. It was wonderful! Finally, an “easy” day despite the fact that we were in a different car.

After saying "see ya later" to Jess and Ness; Becca, Brandon, and I headed back to the airport shuttle bus stop to take us to our car. We walked to the wrong place (we think) the first time, so after giving it a second, we walked to another section of the airport(the RIGHT place), but then we doubted ourselves and went back to the original place. Of course, we then had to walk BACK to the right place. It took us about a half an hour carrying Brandon and the diaper bag, it was fun!! <- Sarcasm (After we were actually ON the shuttle, we figured out that the first place we went would have worked, too. I hate airports!)

Something very strange, and embarressing happened ON the shuttle, I scratched my ankle and it started gushing blood. (apparently there was an ant bite there) Now there’s blood all over my nice white sandals that will probably never come out.

When we finally got to the car, I was pulling the door shut and got some disgusting melted chocolate candybar all over my hand. One of the perils of driving a borrowed car I guess. Luckyly I didn't get any on my white skirt.

Then we were on our way! We were supposed to meet Joanna at another outlet mall because we had to pick up an air conditioner for Zion’s grandma on our way to Tucson from her. Somehow on the way out of the airport, I made a wrong turn and eventually ended up heading west on I-10. (A.K.A. the opposite direction of where I was SUPPOSED to be going). No big deal, right? All I had to do was exit and get back on going the opposite direction, right? Wrong! If only it were so easy. Joanna had to wait for us for like an hour, while we were aimlessly driving around Phoenix looking for a way to get back on I-10 East! I finally got onto I-10 East and it was naturally rush hour and no one was moving. Traffic was finally starting to move again and Becca was on the phone with Joanna when we found the road that we were looking for and I proceeded to DRIVE RIGHT PAST it, helpless to get over and get off because there were WAY too many cars for me to get through. Joanna was so sweet and just came to us at the next exit so we didn’t have to get back off and on. We went to the McDonalds and Joanna was there just a few minutes after us. We got the air conditioner and some food, then hit the road to come home. Whew, Just another day in the life of Arizona. 693 days and COUNTING!!!!

John, I haven't figured out how to make paragraphs on a blog yet. I'll work on it. =)

Only a week from now and I'll be back in beautiful, green, muggy, humid Ohio for three whole weeks, where they have actual air conditioned houses!!Coolers are the pit in my opinion. (For my Ohio friends, "coolers" are what people in AZ use to keep their houses cool, but they aren't that great because they only keep the house about 20 degrees cooler than the outside so when it's 105 OUTside, it's 85 INside. However, in our case almost all they have done so far is leak nasty water all over our new floors and on all my scrapbooking stuff. They have also broken down at least 4 times which makes the guys have to climb around on the roof to tinker with it at all hours of the day, including the hottest hours)
I can hardly wait to get to OH and see everyone again! This has to have been the longest 36 days of my life! Plus, I'm probably going to stay at my brother Justin's new house!! Wooohoo!! (It was mine until a month ago when I moved and he bought it! I'm REALLY going home!!!) The only bad thing about it is, Zion doesn't get to come with me, but I'll be back here in this lovely town soon enough!

Oh yeah, and Becca has a wierd rash on her back now. Probably from getting fried the other day, but...Man you gotta love this place.

Today, Monday, June 12th, Jess, Ness, Becca, Brandon and I all went to Old Tucson! We had a lot of fun and Ness even got to "Drive" an old fashioned car. (It was one of those cute little things on a track. She thought it was so fun!) We saw a bunch of different shows and movie memorabilia and just had an overall great time! Okay, so after today, all the fun we had, I was thinking, alright, maybe Tucson's not so bad after all. I WAS WRONG!!! WAY WRONG! IT'S HORRIBLE!!! We moved with 3 cars from Ohio. We now have 3 cars that DON'T WORK!! Jariah's car has had problems in the past, so that wasn't such a big surprise when it broke down about a week and a half ago. And, our old car(Zion's car) wasn't a huge, huge surprise when Jariah called and said that it was overheating on the way to Pinnacle Peak this evening...(it's a '97) But when Zion went to rescue them, our new car (MY car) stopped! And wouldn't start again. For hours. And hours. So Jess, Ness, and I were stuck at Pinnacle Peak the whole time, which was better than Jariah, Becca, Brandon (and eventually Zion) who were stranded along the side of the road forever. Olga and Andy came to the rescue of Jess, Ness and I. (I have never been so happy to see Olga before!!!) Andy let us use his cell phone to call Zion, (because of course, Jess' phone was dead, and Jariah had mine) to find out where we were supposed to go. Olga loaned us her car and Andy and Olga led us to one of the main roads that would take us to our house, but it took us a few seconds to get out of the Pinnacle Peak parking lot, then we had to do a few u-turns, and by the time they waved us past, we were both so confused that we weren't even sure if we had been following the right people!!! We were laughing (Nervously) so hard that I'm a little surprised we didn't wreck! It was funny and scary all at the same time, made worse by the fact that it was almost midnight Ohio time while all this was going on and Jess and Ness are still very much on Ohio time. I have no idea what's wrong with either car, plus I don't even know where MY car is, which is making me kinda nervous, but I do know that I want my Daddy!! And I WANNA GO HOME!!!

Oh yeah, how could I have forgotten about this very interesting detail. On the second day that we were all here working, Dad needed some water to mix grout for our tile floor in the kitchen, so Zion sent Mom and I off to go get some water. We went to the gas station to get them the water, and there was a cop car sitting in the parking lot of the gas station. We didn't think all that much of it (Gas stations have coffee and doughnuts, hehe) so I jumped out and ran in to get the water, but alas, they had no water to sell to me. By the time I got back to the car, two police officers were talking to my mom and saying, "Why are you here?", "You shouldn't be here", "Two girls from Ohio have NO BUSINESS being here, it's not the best neighborhood, get away from here as soon as you possibly can", and things like that. It was very scary and none of us girls wanted to stay in this house after hearing all that. But we did and so far we are all fine, even though we aren't huge fans of the neighborhood.

Hello, I am starting this blog to keep all my friends back in Ohio up to date on my move and new life. Since this is my first post and I have been living here for 36 days now, it will be a long post. (A lot's happened) I recently moved from a very small town in Ohio, to Tucson, AZ, and so far I'm not a real big fan of big city life. (I will say that I have discovered an unexpected weakness for Starbucks that took me completely off guard. White Chocolate Mocha Latte- Wow! ) We arrived in Tucson on Sunday, May 7th. My Mom and Dad drove a trailer full of Jariah and Becca’s stuff, my oldest brother, Justin drove our second car, and it’s a good thing they all came because our “new house” was in BAD shape! (It seriously made me long for my trailer, if you can believe that!) When our friends Asa and Tim arrived with my stuff, I wanted to jump in their truck and tell them to head back home to Ohio because I felt like I had landed on mars! (I never really wanted to live on mars… hmmm…) The guys ripped out all the old nasty flooring and cabinets and we replaced it with nice clean laminate flooring and new base cabinets. We also got the whole house painted, and it’s looking better all the time. By the 11th, everyone who came with us from Ohio was sick. I even lost my voice completely for like 3 days, it was horrible. I could barely even say goodbye to my Mom, Dad, and Justin when it was time for them to leave on Saturday night because I had no voice! I was sick for the first 3 weeks that I lived here with some sort of cold/flu thing. Less than a week after my cold ended, on June 6th, I was off to Phoenix (2 hours away) to pick up my sister Jess and niece Ness from the airport!! It had been 30 days since I‘d seen them so I was very happy to have them!!! On the way home from the airport we went through an InsAnE sand storm. Whoa! I have only seen stuff like that in old western movies!! (Centennial comes to mind, and as I recall, the lady who lived through those storms later killed her whole family…) Talk about scary, we couldn't see a thing! I pulled my car in between 2 semi-trucks and just made sure that I could see the truck in front of my car the whole time. The truck in front was my "Knight" in shining armor. (It was a truck from a company called "KNIGHT"). The next day, Wednesday, June 7th, I got bit by about a million red ants (Zion says that they weren't actually red ants, but they sure looked red to me) and my leg and foot are still itchy 4 days after the fact. Two days after the ants, on Friday, Jess, Ness, Becca, Brandon and I went to a water park and got fried, despite the fact that we were all wearing sunscreen SPF 50!! Ouch!! We did have a lot of fun at the park though; and Ness even went down a huge water slide all by herself! I was soooo impressed! The good news is, Becca, Brandon and I will be coming home to Ohio for 3 weeks very soon and I can hardly wait! Woohoo, I'll be home for family camp!! Unfortunately, that means I’m stuck doing activities for John, but on the bright side, I get to see John and everyone else!!! Oh, by the way, What was I thinking?!?!?!