OSU Going to National Championship

The last thing we were waiting for to complete our move was for the Buckeyes to come visit for the National Championship game in January. They beat Michigan on Saturday and are 12-0 for the season! Craig and I bought tickets to the National Championship at halftime since we knew at that point OSU was going to win. Tickets were expensive, but well worth it. If anyone wants to visit, that week will be a huge party in Phoenix!


We watched the game at the Half Moon sports bar in Tempe. The couple on the far right is Dave and Marta. We met them a few weeks ago at a game. His one good friend is a big Michigan fan. Obviously he was a bit disappointed.
Gary stopped by for some of the festivities as well before going back to San Francisco. Notice I look a bit more intoxicated. Only for the OSU game though, as I normally do not partake in such activities.

In other news, Tiffany had an interview today for final placement in her firm. She will be starting her permanent position on Monday in Real Estate Law. She used to work in Litigation in Cleveland so this will be new and exciting. I don't start until Monday but will keep you posted.

I went mountain biking for the first time in the mountain trails Monday. It was completely exhausting as I am not used to mountain biking and am probably 8 yrs older than I was the last time I did it. Not to mention it was 90 on Monday. We are having record highs this whole week. Everything else is going good. We have Arizona licenses now and plates. We are full Arizonans.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will be spending ours with some new friends who don't have much family here either. They live in Buckeye. Miss you lots.

More Critters

I guess we have the largest grasshoppers here. Kind of strange since there really isn't much grass, but this thing was huge. Cleo was also entertained for awhile until she batted it down in mid-flight.


I guess we have the largest grasshoppers here. Kind of strange since there really isn't much grass.

Mmmmm...Nice and Warm

To really make everyone want to puke, it was about 84 again today, 88 tomorrow, and expecting 90 on Tuesday (record high).

Halloween Dogs

Here is fun with the dogs on Halloween. Cleo was a Dwarf and Kaiya went as Crazy Remote Control Head.

Jobs!!!

As most of you already know, Tiffany started her job last Monday. She is already in the money. She works at Snell & Willmer, one of the largest law firms in the West. They have offices in phoenix, Tucson, LA, Dallas, Denver, and one other place. I officially accepted my job with JPMorganChase today! I will be working in a department very similar to the department I worked in at National City, except I will be a 1st Shift Manager. This is the largest Retail Lockbox Processing site in the country. It was orginally part of Bank One until they were bought by Chase a couple years ago. Now I can be in the money too, not just Tiff. I will most likely not be able to start until the 13th or 20th depending on when they are prepared for me. Now that 95% of our dreams are being fulfilled, we only need Ohio State to make it to the National Championship, which is in Phoenix on Jan. 8th! Go Bucks!!!

Our First Hiking Trip

This past Sunday we went for a short 3 mile hike in the South Mountains. The South Mountains are the foothills that you see from our backyard. They separate downtown Phoenix from our area of Phoenix (Ahwatukee). The South Mountain Park is the largest city park in the United States. There are about 10-15 different marked hiking paths that can be used for hiking, dog walks, mountain biking, and some for horseback riding. These pictures are from the Telegraph Pass Trail which starts at the base of the mountain about 10 minutes from our house. There is a trail that starts right around the corner from our neighborhood, but we thought this one looked more adventurous. In any event, it was fun and we are looking forward to taking the dogs next time and seeing all the trails. It is just amazing that these things are 5-10 minutes from home. Watch out for mountain bikers though...these guys are freakin' crazy! The paths get really steep and have no dirt towards the top...all rocks, and very uneven. We were looking for rattlesnakes and gila monsters too, but didn't see anything. The trails are pretty heavily travelled and the websites say that most animals or reptiles come out at night. Take a look, the views as you hike up are breathtaking!

More Hiking Pictures

This top picture is a view as we were hiking up the mountains, looking back at part of Ahwatukee and the skyline beyond it.


In this pic below, you can see what most of the trails are like as you hike. They are narrow dirt paths that wind back and forth up the hills. The guys that mountain bike here really know what they are doing. They have very expensive bikes and fly through these trails as if there is no ledge right next to them. Most of the paths are right on the edge of a fairly steep slope.

Here's Tiffany striking a pose as usual:

This pic is a view from the top. Once we hiked to the top of this one particular trail, you are high enough to see to the other side. This view shows the opposite side of Phoenix. This is the side of the mountain that overlooks the city and some of the more poorer parts of Phoenix. The skyline is definitely amazing out here as you can see for miles and miles from in the hills.

Dogs at Peace in the Desert

More Landscape

These are more pictures we took today from the corner of our street. As if we can't rub it in more, it is 85+ everyday and we don't think we have seen a cloud since last weekend. The weather is heavenly.

Friendly Animals

Here are some pictures of our dogs....and the new additions to our backyard....lots of little lizards. They like to sit on the warm walls that surround people's backyards.

Interviews

Tiffany and I ready for interviews...yippee!

Fun on Mill Ave

Here are some pictures of Tiffany and I at Mill Ave on Saturday. The Mill Ave district is close to Arizona State University, about 10 minutes from our house. Lots of shopping, bars, and restaurants. Like High Street at Ohio State, but a little nicer.

The Views

Here are some of the views from around our house. We live in a great location that has some nice views of the city and mountains close by. The picture below is the corner of our backyard with the South Foothills in the background. These hills separate downtown and the part of Phoenix that we are in.


This is the landscape of our front yard:


This is another view out of the backyard looking at the trees and skyline of the other homes on the street:


This is taken from when I went shopping at Target. This is the typical landscaping around our neighborhood. Lots of palm trees and cacti. It makes you feel like you are on permanent vacation. Once we started driving around we really knew we moved to the right place. It is amazing. It took 2 days of being here for Erin to start looking for jobs and rental apts. It is that nice. Well, the weather helps too. We arrived late Friday night. Saturday was sunny and warm. Today was sunny and hot. The forecast for this entire week is about 85 degrees and sunny.

Our New Home

Here are some pictures of the new house now that some things have been unloaded. The house is pretty nice and in a perfect location. We have absolutely everything we could want within 5-10 minutes. We will be renting this home for 6 months before buying.

The Long Drive

These are some pictures of the drive out to Phoenix. The drive was not the most pleasant. Let's just say that Craig and I got to know each other real well seeing as how we had no CD player, no tape deck, etc. Just the loud roar of the rental truck along with some backache. Tiffany and Erin had to ride with 3 pets which was not fun either. After 17 hours of driving on day 1 and 16 more on day 2, we immediately unpacked the truck. We unloaded everything in about an hour. It was nice to see the country, but doing that much driving in a moving truck and with the pets was not something we will want to do again. Here are some pictures of Arizona from the drive. We did not have much power left in the camera, so there aren't too many.

Going Away Parties

Here are some pictures from our going away parties. Thank you all for such a wonderful time. We miss you lots!!!