Bridge Ices Before Road -- And Other Revelations

a couple of weeks ago, i realized that i am married. that only took a little over a year. aaron and i were standing outside late at night, in the same spot where we had our first kiss ironically, fumbling to get our key in the door in the dark. that was the moment i realized that i will spend every night with aaron for the rest of my life, whether we make it in before sundown or are fumbling in the dark for our keys. there was no associated feeling of dread or euphoria ... only a weird sense of reality. reality for me though looks a lot like this:

so who's complaining?

i'm coming up on my two-year anniversary of being in arizona and i'm still not quite adjusted. for example, in virginia, the sign says "bridge ices before road." this is still what i expect to see when i cross a bridge. i just can't get used to "ice forms on bridge first." my brain skips a beat every time as it struggles to process my pre-conceived notion of what i think the sign should say and what the sign actually says.

i will go on and on about the DMV (department of motor vehicles) which is actually the MVD (motor vehicle department) in arizona and i see no reason why VDOT cannot refer equally to the virginia and arizona departments of transportation.

i'm still not used to the dry -- which is OK because it means i get to buy a lot of yummy-smelling moisturizer -- and i still don't feel like it's humid. ever. however, i will repeat: dry heat, my ass. it's HOT. i got my first dose of "extreme heat warning" in phoenix yesterday when i gave a seminar on supplemental needs trusts to the hydrocephalus association support group. i was thrilled by the technical difficulties in my power point presentation so that i did not have to lift my arms to point at it after traveling just a few blocks in the 115 degree heat from the parking garage to the hospital. sheesh. it is literally like being in an oven. on the bright side (as always), there's no need for make-up with those bright eyes and flushed cheeks and smoothly-gliding lip gloss!

i'm still amazed at the scenery every time i drive by the red rocks in sedona or zip down the 17 through the rugged nothingness that is bloody basin and bumblebee. i still think it's weird that i live my entire life at a mile above sea level -- only a few hundred feet less than the highest point in virginia -- mount rogers at 5,729 feet. so ... i guess it takes more than a couple years to overcome 25 of life on the farm.

in general, life's as slow in northern arizona as it is in central virginia -- but not for me! i've moved my grandpa's 13" tv and complete collection of futurama DVDs from virginia to tempe to prescott to flagstaff to prescott valley and am finally settling down (haha) -- back in prescott. i've gone from unproven law school grad to attorney, wife, and small business owner/part-time bike shop girl. (side note: if you haven't already, check out our progress at sultana cycles. needless to say it's been a long, time-consuming progress, and i'm sure there will be lots of fun times in the future, like when we have to figure out how to do our taxes ...) i've also gone from mostly blonde to brunette ... and trust me, it is much more fun to have a fake hair color and forego the endless hours spent pulling out those gray hairs.

for picking up and moving 2500 miles away to a place i'd never been on a whim, i've done pretty good. here's to more adventure. (and more time to share it ...)