At Least I Can See Snow

Here is the T.V. stand and the bookcase that I built. Vanessa designed the T.V. stand and picked out the glass doors. I think it's a nice touch. I built the bookcase too big, but luckily Vanessa is really good at filling in the blanks.

In the five years I lived in Georgia, I never saw snow once. Ice a few time, but never snow. In less than five months in Tucson, I have seen snow. The desert landscape allows you to see large distances. These mountains are not that far, but they are high. I think Tucson is between 3,ooo and 4,ooo feet in elevation. These mountain rise over 9,000 feet. Winter in Tucson is awesome. It gets down to about 35 degrees at night and can get up to the 70's during the day. Even days when it doesn't get about 60 are still nice because there is no humidity in the air. If you get cold, just go stand in the sun for a minute, you'll warm right up. We haven't turned on out heater yet and I don't know if we will this year. We have a fireplace for when it get cold at night, then we open the windows when we go to work in the mornings. It's just great.

We are leaving Thursday for Atlanta. I can't wait to get back to the South. I love it out here but it's just different. You don't get the small niceties that you do in the South. Plus, I can't wait to see all of my family. I love the holidays. It will be great to see mom and dad again. I went to the drug store yesterday to get some pepcid ac so that I will be prepared for all the great food I know is coming my way. I think we finally finished our Christmas shopping. The malls were no joke yesterday. I'm convinced that half of Sonora comes shopping in Tucson every weekend. Sonora is the Mexican state that borders Arizona. The parking lot is full Sonoran license plates and these people aren't raised with same manners as we are. It's just a different culture. Nobody seems to mind if they run into you or if the breastfeed in the middle of the mall. It's just a different culture and I can appreciate that, but it's just annoying as hell.

Thats all for now, and for everyone who reads this, see you soon.

Thankful

I know it's a little late, but I just wanted to take a minute and think about a few things that I'm grateful for. I had a really great Thanksgiving this year. Vanessa and I just sat around the house, ate pizza and watched lots of movies. It was great to relax and spend some quality time with her. It seems like it's been so crazy ever since we moved here, between work, school, and church. I'm really lucky and grateful for her. I'm also thankful for a wonderful family. I know that everything I am is because of how I was raised. I could never have asked for better parents or brothers. I'm thankful for the church and the scriptures. I'm thankful for the soldiers protecting me and my family. I'm thankful for Neal Boortz and his genius ideas. I wish he would run for president. I'm thankful to have a job and have the opportunity to be back in school so that hopefully I can one day move past the manual labor. I'm thankful for my new TV. It is so awesome. I'm thankful for Nico's super fries. Nico's is a Mexican fast food place in Tucson, but it's not like Taco Bell, it's real Mexican food. Super fries is a giant mound of french fries covered in cheddar cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, and carne asada. It's absolutely amazing. I'm thankful for the 1980's classic Footloose. I'm thankful for World of Warcraft, the best game ever. I'm thankful for the new Shooter Jennings cd and the new Coen brothers movie, No Country for Old Men. I'm thankful for custard filled pastries. I know that this list is getting out of hand. I don't mean to sound so materialistic, but I am thankful for everything I have and everything that makes me happy.

Now for the list of things that I'm not thankful for. The mainstream media, California (mainly San Francisco), the "hip-hop culture", illegal immigrants, noisy neighbors, Rescue Dawn (biggest waste of time), reconstruction, Islamic fascism, being awaken by cats, people at Wal-mart, France, Nickleback, onions, people at any store, Josh Groban, lies perpetrated against the South, and the color lavender.

bored

Almost cut my hair
It happened just the other day
It's gettin kinda long
I coulda said it wasn't in my way
But I didn't and I wonder why
I feel like letting my freak flag fly
Cause I feel like I owe it to someone

Must be because I had the flu' for Christmas
And I'm not feeling up to par
It increases my paranoia
Like looking at my mirror and seeing a police car
But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
Cause I missed myself this year
I feel like I owe it to someone

When I finally get myself together
I'm going to get down in that sunny southern weather
And I find a place inside to laugh
Separate the wheat from the chaff
I feel like I owe it to someone

Westward ho!

Here we are at beautiful Sabino Canyon. It's about a 10 minute drive from our apartment. Emily took this picture while she was here a few weeks ago helping us with the cats. It's absolutely gorgeous here (mom would love it). Let's back up a little bit though. About a month ago on Pioneer Day, Vanessa and I, in the tradition of the pioneers, loaded up everything we owned into a 17 foot U-Haul and said goodbye to Athens, Georgia. We didn't want to drive anything bigger, so we sold or gave away lots of stuff to make it fit. I didn't think it was going to, but the elders in Athens had a different plan. Looking back, I still can't believe that they got it all in. We pulled our Camry behind us. Neither of us had ever driven anything this big (and I know it's really not that big) so we were a little nervous. We hit Atlanta about 10:30 on a Tuesday morning. Perfect timing. Just after the morning rush hour and just before the lunch rush. After Atlanta, I was feeling a lot more confident behind the wheel. I love the way that traffic just disappears after you leave a city. One minute you're surrounded by rows and rows of cars, the next there's no one in front you you. Alabama is pretty boring. I-20W wrapped around Birmingham so we didn't have to experience that. We drove through Tuscaloosa and saw the hotel we stayed in a few years ago when we went to the University of Alabama for the Southeastern Ecological and Evolution Convention. Fun times. After Tuscaloosa, I was in uncharted waters. I had driven across the country before, but never the southern route. If Alabama was boring, Mississippi was even worse. We stopped at a gas station about mid day for some fuel and food. One word: Rough. These people looked rough. The motel with the hourly rates and the gas station with the rap music blaring so loudly you could barely talk to the woman behind the counter and the Hardees where I couldn't even understand what the woman at the counter was saying her draw was so thick, rough. The only real city we drove through in Mississippi was Jackson. It must of looked a lot nicer back when Johnny Cash was singing about going there because it was nothing to write home about. Hot and muggy and really bad roads. Then we were crossing the mighty Mississippi. It's a pretty impressive river. Louisiana is also nothing to write home about. At least not the northern part we crossed through. We stopped for the night in Shreveport. It's a lot bigger city than I thought it would be, and we couldn't find a hotel vacancy anywhere. Well, at least not a hotel that Vanessa would stay in. Thanks to our Garmin gps device, we found a holiday inn express that had a few rooms. We ordered pizza and went to bed, thus ending day one.

Day two began about the same as day one. We got in the truck and headed west. After Shreveport, the scenery starts to change. Less forests and big trees, more fields and grasslands. It makes for a pretty boring drive. Texas was next. You always hear about how big Texas is, but you have no idea until you drive across it. It's just ridiculous. We drove through Dallas and Fort Worth, which is pretty much one huge city. Bad roads and lots of traffic is all I really remember. That and my constant prayers to help me keep the truck in my lane. After Dallas, there's nothing. And I mean it when I say nothing. Gigantic expanses of oil fields and ranches. I can't explain it, but even the sky looks bigger. We had planned to stay the night in Midland, home of the current president, but all of the hotels were booked. Not to mention they all looked crappy and the lobbies reeked of cigarette smoke. Now this was my birthday. July 25 in Midland Texas looking for a hotel. It was beginning to be the worst birthday ever. It was around 5pm so we decided to just head down the road. According to the map, there really wasn't anything between there and El Paso, about 300 miles away, so I figured worst case scenario I'd have to get some energy drinks and drive straight through to El Paso. Then we saw it. About 30 miles west of Midland was a little town called Monahans. It was the kind of town where the whole town was located around the interstate, and towering over everything was a brand new Best Western. I couldn't believe our luck. They had plenty of rooms available and it was a really nice place. Since the town was so small, we decided to walk around to see what they had to eat. We found this little barbecue place with the best brisket I've ever had and then we had desert at Dairy Queen. It ended up being one of the best birthdays ever.

Day three started about the same as day one and two. We loaded up the truck and headed west. Now if I didn't mention previously, driving through Texas is very impressive, and very boring. It's impressive for the sheer size and emptiness, but it's also boring for the same reasons. We continued west and eventually I20 ended and we got on I10W. This was exciting because this is the interstate that goes through Tucson. The next large city was El Paso. It's a huge city also. I guess I just always imagined El Paso to be this little frontier town with saloons and brothels and gunfights in the streets. I was really taken aback. I guess I watch too many westerns. It was cool though because El Paso borders New Mexico and Mexico. You could literally look to your left and see signs in Mexico. And as anyone who's ever driven long distances can tell you, you live state to state. That's another reason Texas really sucks. When you get to Alabama and the exit numbers start at 250, it okay, you can do it. Just 250 more miles and we'll start a new state. But when you get to Texas and the exit numbers start at 690, it's just down right depressing. So hitting New Mexico was awesome. It lifted my spirits and put me in a better attitude. We stopped at a rest area just as we got into New Mexico and there was a plaque dedicating that stretch of interstate to my hero, Jefferson Davis. I was shocked. It was all done by the daughters of the Confederacy. I was beginning to feel that maybe the west wasn't going to be so bad.

I got a call from the Bishop. He and the elders quorum president were trying to figure out where we were and when we would arrive. I told him we were just past El Paso and he said that El Paso is only 5 hours from Tucson. I was elated. We were finally going to get out of this awful truck. New Mexico was alright. Just desert, not much to say. Then we hit Arizona, and more desert. Lots of mountains from El Paso to Tucson though, it's very pretty. We drove down into the Tucson valley about 3:30pm, took the truck to U-Haul, dropped off the trailer, then went to our new apartment. The young men from the ward showed up at 6pm and had the whole thing unloaded by 6:15. It was really impressive, and they didn't break anything.

So that's how we got here. Not that exciting, but it was a lot of fun. I recommend that everyone drive cross country some day to see this beautiful country. The words of America The Beautiful come to mind: O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! It really is something to behold. And if you can't go cross country, at least drive through Texas. It puts things into perspective.

Dr. V

She finally did it. After five long years my wonder wife is now a pHd. I am so proud of her. We flew back to Georgia last week for the ceremony. It was almost like we never left. We came back yesterday with the cats. It just might be the most miserable day of my life. The drugs didn't really work and they meowed for about 12 hours straight. Luckily, planes have so many noises you really couldn't hear them. Vanessa's sister Emily came back with us to help us out with the cats. She is awesome. To volunteer for this is very generous. I'm so glad she's here.

This post is out of order. I will tell you all about the move out here next time.
'til then.......

It's Time For A Change

In case any of you haven't heard, we're moving to Tucson. It's a pretty stressful time for us right now. Vanessa defends her dissertation next week. I'm selling my truck next week. We have to reserve a moving truck and try to find a new car. I need to register for classes for the fall. Quentin is coming down next week, it's off to the great state of North Carolina after that, then off to the great white north, and finally to Arizona. Once we get there, we have to turn around and fly back to Atlanta for Vanessa's graduation. Then fly back to Tucson with the cats. Whew! At least we have a place to move into. It is an adventure though. This will hopefully be the cross country trip we have always wanted. I just didn't think it would be in a U-Haul.


I played a Nintendo Wii tonight for the first time. I have to have one. I have a birthday next month if anyone was wondering what I might like.

Random Thoughts: I miss my DVR. Icky Thump is a really good album. I think Cary Grant has passed Paul Newman as my favorite actor of all time. I can't wait to get out of Athens. I asked Vanessa if we could name our first son Jefferson Davis Harris, and she just laughed. Then when she saw that I was serious, she became worried. I'm upset that Ron Paul was not invited to the candidates forum sponsored by the Iowans for tax relief and Iowa christian alliance. I think I volunteered myself to work at the Fair Tax booth at the fourth of July celebration in Conyers. It seems like Scrubs is always on. But that's ok because I love it.