The Extreme Comparison

Sometimes I have to wonder:

Why do I live in the Arizona desert?

It's a valid question.  At this moment, it is 108* and will most likely climb to 111* in the next few hours. 

That's hot.

But, really, we are no crazier living in Arizona than we were when we lived in Montana or Colorado.  They were just the other extreme.

Arizona Summer        Montana Winter
Highs: 110 days above 100*F      Lows: 158 days below 32*F
A/C bill raises                               Heater bill raises
Water and sunscreen necessary     Coats, gloves, hats necessary
Too hot to play outside                  Too cold to play outside
Ice is in constant demand               Hot cocoa is in constant demand

I've heard the argument that cold is better because you can always add more layers, but in the heat there are only so many layers you can remove without getting arrested.  There is definitely some merit in that train of thought.

But, I think I prefer the heat.  In Arizona summer or Montana winter, you end up being sequestered in your home with a dread to go outside.  But in Arizona I never have to worry about the added bummer of driving in the snow and ice. 

Which do you prefer?

The Haps

The haps around here (or "happenings"), are full of drama, as usual.

Mom and Dad came down from Great Falls to visit for Thanksgiving. It was such a great week and a half. They were very patient with us as we tried to secure a home for ourselves. They were also very patient when they were thrust into the home already established with 11 individuals.

We also had my brother Peter and his wife Genica here with us. We even got to see the pictures of Peter Jr (not really going to be his name, but I'll just call him that until we're told what his name will be).

Some of our highlights include:

Beatles Rockband jams. Dad has discovered his love for the Wii. So much so that Mom bought him one for his birthday. He insisted on jamming with Beatles Rockband a few times while they were here. Of course, none of us protested. We had our final session last night and I had fun watching both Mom and Dad rock out on the drumset. They had a bit of a competition to see which of them could get the higher score. It was pretty dang awesome to watch. One night we had a competition between the boys and girls. Dad, Peter, my BIL Jabon, and his brother Brighton all played against Mom, Genica, Tara, and me. Somehow the girls kept winning. Somehow! It was great fun. The boys did get a higher score than us on one song, I don't want to make it seem like we completely blew them out of the water. Not completely.

Thanksgiving. We had everyone here at Tara's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Mom's mom even made it for some visiting time earlier in the day. It was good food (which I didn't overeat, thank you very much) and good family.

Phoenix Zoo. We got to go to the zoo. It was really fun. I have to remind myself that it's not September. It's almost Christmastime. But the perfect weather at the zoo made it hard to remember how far into winter we actually are. The animals were pretty cool to see, although I was somewhat downhearted to find that they closed the alligator exhibit. That was one of my favorite animals. I think because Josh is terrified of gators and crocs. It probably didn't help his fear when he lived in South Africa and had to ride his bike down a path covered by sunbathing crocodiles. Anyway, it was fun.

Black Friday. I've never been shopping on Black Friday before. When I was working, I worked that day because I was at a bank. No days off for Black Friday when you work in the banking industry. After I quit working, we never had enough money for the shopping. Plus, what would I do with my children? Take them with me? I think not. So, Mom, Tara, Genica, and I headed out at 4:30am. I stood in line for a Ninetendo DS (don't tell Emma). But Josh and I had realized that we couldn't just get one. If you have more than one child, you know what I mean. We needed two--one for Emma and one for Ab. I did not need to hear Abby complaining that her Christmas was ruined because she didn't get cool things like Emma. By the time I'd been in line for an hour or two, it was my turn to claim my prize. I went to get one pink and one red DS. I was told I could only get one. I was freaking out! I needed to get two! I took the last pink one and went to get back in line for the second one, when Tara told me that she walked up to the lady and said she needed a red one. The lady didn't argue with her, and Tara became my hero! Now I'm fully stocked with two Nintendo DS's. I could not imagine trying to brave that madness alone. I'm so glad my mom and sisters were with me!

Just seeing Mom and Dad. I've realized that I miss Great Falls. It's only been just over two months since we left, but I do miss my friends, our ward, our house, seeing Mom and Dad whenever I want, seeing Gramma and Grampa whenever I want, seeing frost on the windows, etc. I'm a bit homesick.

Of course, I have no pictures of any of these things. But it was a great visit and I was sad dropping Mom and Dad off at the airport this morning. I'm so glad they got to fly, though. I'd hate to think of them coming and being so busy this whole time and then having to spend two days in the car.

We did secure a rental, but we won't be able to move in until we can get a truck to move out of the storage unit. We'll do that next week. It's slow, but the Lord finds it necessary to continue to try to teach us patience. I'm sure sick of this lesson and hope I can learn it soon so we can move past it.

Arizona Top Ten List

Arizona Top Ten List...

Things I need to get used to:

10. The heat (a given)

9. Sand. Everywhere.

8. Driving time: it actually takes time to drive places.

7. The water is dis-gus-ting!

6. If you're not speeding then you're impeding traffic.

5. Southwestern architecture. Everywhere. (It's hard to tell residential and commercial buildings apart.)

4. A high LDS population. It's been nine years since we've lived somewhere where a single neighborhood might house as many as three wards.

3. Seven kids in one house. Ever thought of having five kids ages 11 to 4 and then a set <1-yr-old twins? It hasn't been too bad, but I'm very, very glad that most of them go to school during the day.

2. Cookie-cutter houses in cookie-cutter neighborhoods. I'm too much a traditionalist. Remember when buying a house meant you had to look at the actual house you were interested in and not the model home? (The house hasn't sold yet, so we're just looking, but still...)

And the number one thing to get used to in Arizona...

Realizing that someday I'll have no point of reference that Millie will understand when I tell her it was below zero on the day she was born in Montana.

The Best Things in Life Are Free...

...But you can give them to the birds and bees.

I want MONEY!!

Yes, besides being a song covered by nearly every band ever formed, this statement rings true. Life is getting tougher trying to remain on one income. This is one reason for my recent blog-absence. It's hard to get on and blog about the goings on of life when you're stressed to the gills over money.

We've been looking at our options of what to do. We have no interest in paying for childcare (and I can't make much money right now since school is out and the only way I can really make money is as a teacher), so it's on Josh's shoulders to find a second job. Unfortunately, he works at the only hospital in town and the clinic, which is the next largest medical facility, is not an ideal second job. Although, it would work easier as a first job. This is the junky stuff I've been trying to avoid blabbing about online. So, I'll just get to the point. Josh is considering becoming a travel nurse. He's looking at going to Arizona so he can make lots more money and we could eventually move there and buy the RIDICULOUSLY cheap houses and he can get the degree he's always wanted for the job he's always wanted.

We love being in Great Falls and even thinking about leaving is tough. So instead, I'm going to focus on some other random part of this whole ordeal. Nurses must be too sensible to be superstitious. One of the travel places contracts travel nurses for 13 weeks. That just seems like an odd number to me. Why not 12? I don't get it. When I worked at a hotel I learned that most hotels do not use the number 13 in room numbers or floors. Since then, I've noticed it all over the place.

The theatre is very superstitious. You use a Green Room for performers to use backstage, but you NEVER paint it green. That creates bad luck. And the whole thing about "Break a leg" was because people were afraid bad spirits would hound a person who was told to have "good luck," so in an effort to trick those bad spirits, performers were told to Break a Leg.

So, now I've been trying to figure out...am I superstitious? I was raised by a nurse, I married a nurse, but I'm a thespian at heart. I don't walk under ladders--that's just dangerous. I don't break mirrors--that, too, is dangerous. I look closely for white patches on black cats that cross my path--that's because I'm weird. And I tell people to Break a Leg. And I will never walk into a green Green Room. And I make wishes in fountains. That's not superstition, though. That's delusionally wishing I were a princess. And that brings me full circle. If I were a princess I'd have a castle and very few cares in the world (in theory).

How superstitious are you?

If I Can Remember....

I need to get back on here to rant and rave about stuff. I don't know what. Usually when I rant and rave I don't know what I'm going to say, but I need to utilize this blog by what it was originally intended for...an outlet for me and my need to sardonize. I don't know if that's a word.

My other reason for blogging is to catch everyone up on the goings-on of the Johnson clan. So, here are some updates:

Millie turned 6 months old on Monday!!

Yes, my baby is getting bigger. And so are her eyes--my word! She often has really big, alert eyes that take in everything all around her. And the overalls she was wearing today were soooo cute! I had to take a picture of them. She's begun eating cereal and fruits and veggies. Usually the veggies end up getting spit all around her. She devoured her pears today, though. She's fun and just so beautiful.


This is our house. I took this picture the day we put our rocks in. It's a nice little place, don't you think? We placed the rocks in the flower beds along the front of the house right in front of the white foundation areas on either side of the front door. This picture makes our front door look like it's just floating above the ground. It's not, don't worry. We have stairs. I know you had to catch your breath just then.

Here's a close up of the rocks. We have our pathetic little petunias planted there, but they're just a little color and they were only $1.99 for four plants. Jackpot.

So, kid updates. This is just another cute picture of Millie, but I have stories of the other kids.

Matt says the weirdest stuff. He makes me laugh. The other day the kids helped me wash the cars. Matt took his sponge and as he did the whole "Wax on" movement he said, "Good bye, dirty. Hellooooo clean!"

When Lori and her boys were here Dad pulled the slip and slide out for the kids to play with. Matt has always been a little shy about water. He doesn't like to get water in his face. So, to psyche himself up to run through the water (because he just ran the length of the slide, he never allowed himself to slide) he chanted, "Wolverine, Wolverine, Wolverine, Wolverine!" By that time he reached the slide so he sucked in his breath and blinked furiously as he ran through the sprinklers. Finally, he made it safely through the water. He would then strut his stuff and cockily chant again, "Wolverine! Wolverine!" Sometimes at the end of the slide he'd just joyously skip and sing, "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!"

To get to the Buffalo Jump, you have to go through the little town of Ulm. The kids have begun doing things that I remember doing as a kid. It just helps me understand how annoying I am. Anyway, as we headed through Ulm the girls were meditating and saying in the perfect monotone, "Ulllllmmmmm, Ulllllmmmmm..." (I remember doing this as a kid.) But the meditative "Ulm" was quickly expanded to "Ullllmmmmm is the place, Ullllmmmmm is the place." And finally it became the full expression of "Ulllmmmm is the place to rock and roll, Ullllmmmm is the place to rock and roll." Because everyone knows that the 20 people that live in Ulm are big partiers.

This is a picture of the final bit of the sunset today. I took this picture at 10:25pm. The longest days on the plains are truly long days.

So, that's about all I've got to say about that. (Forest Gump reference for you there.) I'll try to find some random subject to rant about. I don't know about you, but I'm missing those posts.

Go Jump Off a Cliff

Before Lori and her boys head for home (they're leaving in the early AM), Dad took us to see the First People's Buffalo Jump. It's not even 10 miles away from Great Falls. I didn't realize we had so many historical sights so close by. What have we been missing???

The kids stood next to a buffalo. Don't worry it was stuffed. And they were allowed to touch it, so that made it even better.

The way the jump worked was that a young man, about 13 to 16 years old, would wear a bison calf cape and act like an injured calf and play up to the lead cow. She's follow him up the hill and the rest of the herd would follow her. Then about four other young men would wear wolf capes and start freaking out the herd. They'd be following the lead cow who would be led by the "injured calf" and he'd take them to the edge of the cliff. Because of the buffalo's poor sight, they would not be able to tell that they were actually heading off a cliff until it was too late. It was actually a bit freaky to realize what the young men had to do to have these HUGE animals stampeding behind them. The young men would jump off the cliff onto a shelf and quickly scramble out of the way so they wouldn't be kicked off the hill too.

Dad led Abby and Emma to the edge of the cliff. The grass color change is where the cliff begins.

This is what the shelf looked like. At the edge of the rock is the steep decent to DEATH! It was a bit scary. The cliff ran about a mile long.


Dad and Matt at the edge of the shelf. Matt said being at the edge of the cliff "was fweaky."

Millie slept until about five minutes before we left. She was such a good girl.

As we left, Dad asked the kids what they learned. I think it was Emma that said, "Never jump off a cliff!" Smart kid.

The Dam Joke

I've never felt too restricted in my religion, but I've never been one to shy away from a little rebellion. Although I try not to swear, this is one of my favorite jokes.

The other day we went to one of the dams. Here's what's pretty cool. There are several dams built on the falls that Great Falls is named for. The falls were discovered by Lewis and Clark in their infamous trip through the Louisiana Purchase. So we took a dam excursion.

The dam.

This is the dam suspension bridge you have to cross to get to the dam island in the middle of the Missouri River.

We had lunch on the dam island.

The kids were all running to use the dam bathrooms.

Trent and Millie. There ain't no dam joke for this one.

Dad took the kids up the dam island rocks.

Mom and the kids looking into the dam water.

I know it's a lame joke, but the dam joke makes me giggle.

Springtime in Montana

I love springtime. The grass is green. The trees are budding. The flowers are blooming. It's beautiful.

But that's the stereotypical idea of spring. (This picture is of Norway, not Montana.) Here's our reality:

So, we've gotten six inches of snow so far. We've already had about three or four power outages. The snow storm warning is in effect until 6am Thursday morning. That's not tomorrow. Tomorrow is Wednesday.

Plus, Millie has a runny nose and possibly an ear infection. Poor baby can barely eat without crying. When she's not hungry she's in great spirits, though.