Arizona State of Mind

So, with no jobs, money burning a hole in our pocket, and a deep need to see a new part of the country, we packed up and started the hours-long drive to Arizona. From Texas, with all of our stops and such, it ended up being about an 18-hour journey. Not including, of course, the overnight stop that wasn't even planned by us that we were essentially peer-pressured to make by Madi's travel-bug grandmother...

But that isn't the point. Madi's Jeep Renegade was filled to the absolute brim with suitcases, duffels, imperative decor, and my two small dogs. Yes, I took my two un-car-trained, bark-at-all-people, shedding and scratching dogs with me. I couldn't spend a month in a house without my sweet pups. They added to the coziness and familiarity of our home. I got to see more of our neighborhood by taking them on walks, and I felt safe when I saw them sitting in the window anytime we arrived home from a night out. And nearly every night was a night out. But we'll get to that shortly.

First, let me tell you about our home. Two bedrooms, one bath, a turf backyard with two palm trees, and just a five-minute drive from town. The house was built as a part of a government housing effort post-World War II. It had been updated a bit but still had its older home charm. I slept in the front bedroom with the big window and dark green accent wall. Madi slept in the back bedroom with a view of the backyard from the old crank window. The quaint kitchen had an open bar cutout that looked in on the living room's comfy sectional and large window covered by flowing sheer white curtains. My dogs would sit on the back of the couch by each window, one looking toward the street and one looking into the carport and wait for us to arrive home or bark at innocent passersby, dogs and humans alike.

Tempe, Arizona was our paradise, a gem hidden under the disguise of a college town. And, don't get me wrong, it was very much a college town. But it was more than that. Families lived in quiet neighborhoods, delicious coffee shops sat tucked into street corners, and mountains sprouted around the town and even right in the middle of it. While, yes, there were wild bars and trendy brunch spots, there were also nice restaurants and serene hills to sit on by the river. We visited Phoenix several times as well, and we frequented Culinary Dropout in Scottsdale more times than was financially responsible, but we always felt drawn back to Tempe. It was our home for that brief moment in time. I long for the nights out and fancy dinners, of course, but I also miss spending the entire day lying in bed with my dogs, playing Just Dance in the living room, or spending a night on the couch with a homemade meal and Trader Joe's mini sheet cake while binging the final season of Never Have I Ever on Netflix. I even miss the heat, the dry heat with a light breeze such a contrast to the wet, thick humidity of Texas.

Something I don't miss is getting ready...every night. I'll admit there was a level of therapy to sitting in front of my full-body mirror and listening to Taylor Swift while doing my makeup, but it became monotonous. Every night was a meltdown while trying to choose an outfit, curl my hair perfectly without spraying hairspray directly into my eye (true story), and pack my poor tired face with foundation. Going out each night was fun but exhausting. The drinking and dancing and staying up until the wee hours of the morning catch up quickly, especially when it isn't a normal part of your routine.

And listen, we had our fun, we clubbed in Scottsdale and drank out of buckets at Casa in Tempe, but we kept up with our church lives as well. We found a young adult church group to visit once a week and a Sunday morning church we went to on our very last Sunday. Back in our real lives in Texas, we attend Bible study once a week in a trusted mentor's home, having dinner and fun conversation then following with a mini-sermon. At the church we chose in Phoenix for our Wednesday night meet, we met the sweetest group of girls who cared about our journey to Arizona and wanted to get to know and encourage us. We even got invited to their pool to hang out. It was a great moment for us to find community in this new scary place. And then we started connecting with people everywhere we went, and it was refreshing.

Being from a small town in Texas and having known the same people for my entire life, it was almost a culture shock to have access to so many people and so many that were around my age as well. I never went away for college or anything like that, so this was my first time stepping into this kind of experience, and my longest time away from home at that. We met and connected with people in the church as well as random people at bars or restaurants, waiters and bartenders, security guards, and brides and grooms-to-be on the dancefloor.

It was a surreal experience full of adventures, like riding in a self-driving car, climbing several mountains, going to a baseball game (on our second attempt, because upon our first attempt Madi got hit with food poisoning right as we were about to walk out the door), and waiting outside of the Matt Rife show for hours without tickets and somehow miraculously getting in and getting sat right next to the stage (more on this in the Celebrity Encounters Recap portion of this story).

But it was in the long talks, neighborhood runs, and early morning coffee sessions that I truly realized our purpose for being there and found peace in it. The grocery shopping trips and homecooked meals, the laundry days, sitting on the couch doing our respective work with Jersey Shore on the TV as somehow comforting background noise. We made our Arizona house a home, and I can't wait to see if my life will bring me back there one day.

But we couldn't stay forever, and after our month was up, we started the dreaded journey home.