If It Is Too Good To Be True…. It is!!

Aloha!! We have officially made it to the island! A bit of a rocky road getting here but we made it safe and sound.  Clayton and I experienced our first life lesson in searching for a house.  I am hoping if someone reads this it can help them in the future!!

                We found THE PERFECT HOUSE.  Was only $1,200 a month, all utilities included, 4 bedroom 3 bath, stand-alone home, in a safe neighborhood, and even had a fire place in it.  Too good to be true? OH YEA.  Clayton and I checked out the place and it was a good looking place, and we could save so much! I cannot believe this has not been snagged before!  The owner said she moved to London and could mail us the key only after we saw the place and filled out a renter’s application.

                We decided to look at other places while we were in the area. This owner said he moved to Africa for his job. (seemed strange that this was the second person renting their house but didn't live there!) When we pulled up to the cheap rent place there were still renters in it.  Clayton started talking to them and they told us about this scam going on people told them about for their house where the land lord said he was in Africa but they knew the land lord and he lived locally! The person would get their Social Security number and all info and money if they could get it and identity theft!   Then we started putting the dots together about the similarity about the “dream house”. The London lady would never answer direct questions about the house, kept wanting us to fill out paper work, and phone number was incorrect.  We called the real estate agent, which had the sign in the front lawn and said it was a big scam and we were lucky we never gave them any information.

                Clayton and I were very lucky all was hurt was our idea of our “dream house”. We are much more cautious about looking at houses and how we view the world to an extent.  Neither one of us thought this would ever happen nor there people out there like this that we would run into.  Lesson Learned.

                Great news is there is many houses out there and we know that we will find the right one for us!

Good bye Arizona!

Good bye Arizona.  It has been hot, dry, smoky, adventurous, sometimes lonely, a huge learning experience, a place my marriage has positively grown, some great laughs and mostly something totally new I never knew I would ever experience.  

Clayton's training came to an end today and he had his graduation.  He was given an award and did very very well in his class!  I could not be more proud of how hard he has worked, and achieved our 4ish months here!

 All smiles and ready to go to graduate!

Clayton receiving his statue as apart of his award.

Arizona in a whole has been great, and we are ready for this next chapter of life.  Through my internship with Cardiac Rehab and Clayton's training we have learned so very much and met some AMAZING people. We are both hoping that Hawaii has some great people that we will meet and can start a life there and connection.  I would really appreciate it if you could keep us in your prayers in the upcoming weeks with all the big changes and learning experiences coming upon us!

I found a quote that I think is very true and I need to keep in mind as life comes along..

"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful"

Movers have come and gone

What a busy, adventurous, learning, and new things have happened in this last week!! 

I was WONDERFUL seeing my parents and grandma this past week and exploring just about all of Arizona with them!! We saw a ton of beautiful rocks, saw elk at the Grand Canyon, went rafting down the Colorado, climbed the Cathedral rock in Sedona, and even saw dinosaur foot prints! Here are a few pictures from our trip.

 Rafting through Colorado River the 15 minutes that it was not raining.... 

Cathedral Rock that we hiked!

Our group picture

Now that the Family week is over, and the packers have come and gone, and the Condo is empty this moving thing is feeling real! We just have a long drive and a plane flight left.  Next up is finding a house, a car, furniture, and find me a job! What an adventure Clayton and I have ahead of us.

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. - Antonio Smith

Cooking and cleaning.....

Another day at the condo, and I made today cooking and cleaning day!  I baked Mrs. Turners Snickerdoodle recipe.  It made a ton more cookies than I ever could have imagined but Clayton is going to take them to the guys and gals he is training with!  I am glad they will not go to waste and the everyone will enjoy them. They turned out Delicious!! Here is a picture of the finished product!

Then I made dinner, German Meatloaf.  We lost the recipe  of meat loaf that was so very good from the patient from Cardiac Rehab so we found a similar one online.  Hoping it turns out well and Clayton will enjoy it!! 

I enjoy cooking, learning and eating of course when I have the time.  And I have had so much of time lately.  The one thing that I REALLY want to make is cupcakes.  I have been watching the cooking channel and they always make the more interesting, unique cupcakes.  No cupcake pan with us here so it will have to wait till after the move.  If anyone has some neat cupcake recipes I would love to try it!! 

"When baking, follow directions.  When cooking, go by your own taste."  ~Laiko Bahrs