So here are the pictures

I didn't want to post pictures because they aren't the greatest...I was sort of embarrassed to be taking them so I just clicked really fast - they were showing us a house that was way above our range and so I felt like I was a total dreamer. PLUS, and this is a big PLUS, if you haven't been introduced to what houses and living is like in AZ then our house will seem lame in these pics, but from what I understand this house is basically the ideal traditional home for AZ. This is something I am still trying to get myself converted to. So this post is not to brag, it is the opposite. Its in an effort to try and talk myself into realizing that we won the lottery with this find of a house. Don't get me wrong, I really really like this house and I know its where the Lord wants us, and I know we will be happy there, but it is different then the white picket fence we all sort of think of. I have this sense that I don't really appreciate how awesome this house is so I am trying to unwrap this gift from Heavenly Father. Here are some things I have learned about AZ living and why this house is the BOMB. ;)

- NO grass....well, you can find it but it is three times harder to find in AZ then in a place like Vegas. AZ, especially Tucson, is not about elevating the dessert into a green oasis like Vegas does its about embracing it in its natural glory. Tucson is all about natural landscaping. There are TONS of trees/shrubbery things growing everywhere...hardly any space is manicured. giant cactus and flowers and green shrubs are the norm. And it all grows all by itself. It is a pretty desert there. The idyllic desert. So much prettier then any desert I have ever lived in. So those of you who are used to not even using sprinklers and enjoy huge green lawns prepare yourself for lots of gravel in these pictures! :) And if you can imagine us saying "wow, that's great there is gravel and its nice gravel!"...try, because gravel is a LOT better then dusty dirt...which is the norm in a rentals' back yard. :)

- location location location. Tucson is small (well, being said from a girl who grew up in LA) and so to wrap our heads around the different areas was pretty simple to do. This house search was all about location. Crime is a huge issue in Tucson with it being something like 100 miles from the boarder. With the drug wars going on in Mexico there is a lot of theft. Grab and run to the boarder in the norm. Advice from locals, get LoJack....good thing we've already got it. With the crime consideration in mind we decided that when people say don't live on that side of town you we wouldn't. seriously. Then the schools are important. AZ has amazing schools. Of course there are bad schools and ok schools but we knew that we could get an EXCELLENT education in Tucson for our kids since it is so common there. Knowing that, we made it our top priority to be in an A+ school. The tricky part was finding an A+ school that wasn't way out of the city limits. We didn't think we could afford a foothill house where the schools are great and the neighborhoods are still close enough to the city where everything is. I didn't want a 30 min. drive to the store like we have now  or longer as it was looking like it was going to be. Tucson is basically all street driving, freeways are sort of on the edge of town so you do not want to have to drive 30 minutes on the freeway just to get into town and then drive another 30 minutes to get to whatever store or appointment you need to be at. The thought of driving for hours each day trying to get to the places I need to on out of the way freeways and slow streets was not appealing to me. BUT Lucky for us we found a house that is right on the edge of the foothills area so we benefit from being in a great school area and are still really close to town and shopping. We will live within 10 minuets from everything I could want. YAY!  Plus our little school is just down the street. YAY! Our house is just down a ways from the Sabino Canyon Natural reserve area. One of the most beautiful desert locations you can think of. Hiking here we come! Oh, and least I forget Stewart can ride his bike to work! Not only will that save gas money but it will get him exercising which he hasn't done regularly since before med school. How fun for him to be able to ride again! He is super excited about it. His father's day gift will be a bike! :O)

-  An Arizona style home verse a traditional home. In AZ you don't want an upstairs. It gets too hot. You want to be as close to the ground as possible. You want brick walls, maybe with stucco on the outside and that is it. From what I gather, 30 years ago that was basically all that was built here...but with more and more conformity builders are building more traditional style homes, but old school locals will tell you old construction can be way better then new construction in AZ. And that is what we have. This house is so low to the ground it looks silly from the outside. We drove up and I just giggled at it. And the pic at the top really shows you what I mean. LOL What you don't see in that picture is that it is nice, totally re-painted and very well taken care of, on the other side of the front there is a huge cactus and some more shrubs and then this long drive way. I already have planned to plant some flowering shrubs in the front to give it at least a little curb appeal! LOL. But it is this squat little funny house set in the middle of what looks like half an acre of gravel. oh, giggle. But we walked in and it was so cool in there. Like the temperature was great without any AC. Really nice. And this house has a grand total of 9 ceiling fans, and they are all nice too.  I think we will be very comfortable there, plus they just put in a brand new AC unit. score!

- Out door living. besides the summer living, which is what the rest of us would mirror during the winter as far as staying inside all the time, AZ peeps are outside the rest of the year. And this house was built for outdoor living. We have three very large patios, one is so nice its called an Arizona room which has been fully screened, wired, and has a ceiling fan. It is huge. I think we will be using it as the kids play area/family room/ pool dry off place. :O)- insert my husband saying "and with what money will we be creating such a space" to which I replay "in time, in time".... - :)  In addition to that we have an wired outdoor covered dinning room and then a front porch which I am not sure what to do with just yet. maybe a seated swing thingy....who knows. Then we have a nice pool with a little slide which the kids are so excited about and then a really large gravel area which I hope to put the trampoline and a little swing set on. Then there is a little concrete area in the back corner that I think I would like to put the fire pit there and some chairs for when we roast marshmallows. In my dream world we'd buy the tent thing I saw on pintrest that goes on top of the trampoline and then we could do Fall and Spring camp-outs in the back yard: doing a BBQ, roasting marshmallows, going for a swim, and sleeping outside. Bridger would be in HEAVEN! Everyone, spring break at my house! :O)

- The Kitchen. I love the kitchen. hmmm. the Lord loves me. This is a cooking for company kitchen...or maybe just cooking for a family of 6 sort of kitchen :) but whichever, I love it. I have wanted a space for my kids to do their homework that wouldn't be also needed on a daily basis for something else like our DINNER! So what will I get to use? There is a very large bar that I plan on turning into the homework area. I think I will store paper, crayons, scissors, and stuff in the draws underneath and the kids will sit there while I cook dinner and do their homework until they get old enough to need their own quiet space to do their homework. I am really excited about that prospect. Plus there is a double oven...Thanksgiving will be so much easier with that extra oven. joy. (when stew saw the kitchen he said "and here is where you can cook so many yummy things for me!") LOL

- The Garage. The garage is Stewart's thing. It has a ceiling fan and a TV box and I can see Stewart going into his "DEN" and cutting his latest wood project watching a TV show while he sands and all that jazz. He'll love it. Plus there is a very long drive way which I know the kids will enjoy riding their bikes on. husband joy.

- Entertaining. We love to entertain. We have hosted many 20+ guest parties at our tiny house and now we will have a house that was built for entertaining. It really was built for a party. everything flows and with so many large gathering spaces that link together and link outside it is perfect for a Ward BBQ or something like that. Stewart said he will be so excited to host his radiology peeps over for dinners and stuff. He'll really enjoy that.

So that is basically the deal with this house. It has large closets, nice upgrades throughout including the bathrooms and kitchen and with weekly pool service included and essentially no yard care its the bomb Arizona living. the bedrooms are good sizes which is really a nice upgrade for us since our rooms are all very small currently. I think we are very blessed and we will be very happy there!



view from entry way