Update 2 of 2: Truckin' on into Tucson

Now to the second half of the update, we are in Tucson. Erik started med school the last week of July and I stared on the 2nd of August. I did a week long (in the library) training which was a lot of information to absorb all at once, but it was great to meet all the other new teachers that would be in the same school district as me.

Erik had his White Coat Ceremony. They do this every year for 1st years to signify the step into a long rigorous 4 years. I finally got my classroom set up and we both got all of our school supplies. We both have been learning quite a bit. We have gotten to know some of the people in each of our circles: my co workers and Erik's fellow med school students. They are all nice but we felt like we couldn't relate much to either group.













Then we found Northminster, not to be confused with Westminster :) Northminster is a Presbyterian Church we discovered, when I got lost and missed my turn. We instantly liked it and in fact there is a young married couples group that is made up of some wonderful people. We feel very blessed. It has been great to socialize with all of them.

Also at school, I was approached to see if I was interested in starting to develop an Allied Health/Sports Medicine program at the high school. I was more than thrilled. This was my true genuine dream, right in front of me. I was on cloud 9, but I quickly brought myself back down to reality: I am a 1st year teacher. After talking with several other teachers who have developed programs at the school, they strongly urged me to wait a year and first focus on developing myself as a teacher. I think that what they said was very true. So I am still going to develop a program, but not until next year. I am first going to focus on my teaching and bettering myself as an educator, and then direct my career in the direction I greatly desire to head towards.

To answer the lingering question, YES, it has been hot here! Very very hot!














Most of the time, we are inside so we don't have to deal with it much....except when we get into our cars, watering the lawn, watering the dogs, having to have the AC running all the time and then boxing up our down blankets and any clothing that goes past our elbows and knees. Aside from that, the idea of the heat never really crosses our minds :) We did discover that Sawyer and Wyatt love drinking out of the facet of the bathtub. They coming running every time we turn it on :)

One of the coolest things here are the storms. The thunder is so loud and the lightening decorates the sky on a regular basis. We doubted these so called "monsoons" and then the rain finally hit. They really aren't monsoons, but when you have been surrounded by dirt and sahuaro cactus for a month, you begin to doubt. But when it rains, it is really cool. We open our doors and have the screens bring in some cool air. I love to just sit and watch them. Now they are pretty much gone, so we'll see them again hopefully next June.

Enough about us. While we have been down here, lots of things have happened in the lives of our friends and family. My sister and her fam moved to Boise, Sierra had a baby girl Zoe, Brittney had a beautiful boy Weston and there were lots and lots of weddings! Jake and Rachel, Richard and Amanda, Pat and Anne...Congrats to you all!! Also, Christi is finally back on this side of the world! She has been teaching in South Korea for the last year and a half. I am so happy she is back! Also, my fam is eagerly waiting to see when my oldest sister, Eryn and her family will come back to the states. They are living in Saudi Arabia, where my sister is teaching. Once they get to the states, I plan on visiting them. I haven't seen them in over 3 years. I have met my youngest niece, Ria, and my sister is pregnant with their 3rd! My goodness! I will keep everyone posted on how it goes. They may come in a matter of weeks!

Random pic of a guy riding a weird bike. We saw him when we were driving down from Mount Lemon.






Well that's all my hands can handle typing before they fall off :) Next time I won't wait two months to update. I need to work it into a regular routine. If I haven't posted in a while, ask me about it. Thanks Steph for the motivation :) Below are some pics from Tucson so far.

Update 1 of 2: Ranger Rick?...no, it is Dangerous Dave!

So instead of posting one very very long blog, I am breaking it up into two parts. The first part brings everyone up to speed about what we did prior to officially moving to Tucson.

Erik and I had a bet going on about what the gender of my sister Molly's baby. Well since she had a boy, I lost. The penalty, climb Longs Peak.

For the record I have never climbed a mountain. I have hiked, but this was a step above and a couple notches below legit rock climbing. It was one of several 14-ers in Colorado. A 14-er is a mountain at or above 14,000 ft elevation at the summit.

So since we were starting in Fort Collins, we were at an elevation of around 5,000ft. Then we drove to the base (9,000 feet) which is just outside Rocky Mountain National Park and very close to Estes Park. We arrived just a little after 5 am. Some people were just coming down from the mountain. I guess people like to mountain climb at night...um no thank you. We logged in and there were already over 2 dozen who have already hit the trail. Our goal was to summit by noon at the latest. Apparently there can be nasty storms that come in the afternoon that are very dangerous. Several people die on the mountain every year. I of course found this out AFTER we climbed.

We finally made the summit at 11 am, about 6 hours after we started. I must be honest, we almost didn't summit. There is a part on the climb called the Key Hole. It is an area where all the wind gets bottle-necked and can almost blow you over. If that wasn't enough, once you get through the key hole the back side of the mountain pretty much goes straight up. At one point I became very scared and panicked. As I type this right now, I get back some of that adrenaline rush as I am recalling the adventure. We headed back towards the key hole, with me feeling very disappointed in myself. We worked and hiked for so long and not to summit? This would just not do. So after we sat and I gathered up some gumption, we trekked on back up the mountain.

At one point, I was hyperventilating and crying, all the while, Erik behind me and encouraging me until I was able to calm down. We finally made it to the top with our hands red and swollen from climbing in the shadows and snow of the back side of the peak.

YAY, the summit! Now I can enjoy my gummy bears. Ones I had been saving to reward myself at the top, but the view was way better than any German made gummy bear. Marmots everywhere sun bathing and a sea of "mountains beyond mountains".

I felt so proud of myself. I did it. I then turned to Erik to tell him that I was happy we did it, but I probably wont climb a 14-er again. Then a fellow climber chimed in behind us, "Oh don't worry, Longs is one of the hardest ones, the rest are a piece of cake".

WHAT?! I just assumed all the 14-ers were this hard. At first I was a little peeved that Erik failed to mention this little detail, but in hinds sight, I am glad he didn't. I probably would have backed down.

Speaking of backing down, we finally needed to head back down so we make sure we get back down before it starts to get cold. We headed back down and passed a handful of people coming up the mountain. Some people hike up 1/4 of the way up in the afternoon and camp out and finish the next day.

We finally made it to the bottom in about 12 1/2 hours and pretty worn, but not defeated. We were able to take lots of pictures and I wanted to save them till the very end of the blog. So here they are. Enjoy!! We sure did!