Week One!

The drive down to AZ took a little longer than expected but I was glad I didn't try to push it into one day! My first stop was in Draper to meet up with my sisters T and C for a final goodbye since I hadn't seen them over Father's Day weekend. We met up for some sweets at the Sweet Tooth Fairy shoppe in Draper and had some cupcakes and just talked for over an hour. It was great to visit before saying goodbye. It was good to see T's girl as well!

N trying on my new boots

The car was stuffed to the hilt and there was nothing else that was going to fit in there. I even had to arrange things a few times so I could see out my right side mirror. I made it into Las Vegas by around 7pm and stayed with my wonderful friends the Brewers. So great to have a good nights sleep and great company!

Travel Day Two was pretty uneventful. I stopped by to see Lake Mead and the famous Hoover Dam. A new bridge has been build for the interstate so I had to get off the highway to actually drive over the Dam. I had to pass a security checkpoint and they got a kick out of my overstuffed vehicle. I was afraid they were going to want to search it but they just checked the rooftop carrier and then let me through. I guess I didn't look too suspicious.

Lake Mead Viewpoint

 The new interstate bridge

 Trying to capture the amazing dam with my little camera

A professional photographer from the air does it much better!

I stopped in Mesa to visit my good friend/brother Dan Brewer and his wife Devery with their growing family for some lunch. The pizza was great and it was so good to catch up. I don't believe I had seen Dan since his wedding. Now he's my emergency contact in AZ since I don't know a soul!

The final 90 minutes to Tucson took forever and I was so glad to pull into my new driveway and get right to unpacking. Tuesday I unpacked in Tucson and then Wednesday I unpacked at the Ranch in Arivaca and I'm still working on making both of these places my home(s). 

 Bedroom in Tucson

The "North Bunk" at Arivaca Ranch. My little space. It's getting more comfy every day.

The first three days at Arivaca Boys Ranch were just as I expected. I had some great moments and some not so great moments. I don't feel that it is appropriate sharing in a blog some of the experiences I am having with boys and staff but let me just say that a lot is changing with my arrival and that creates some resistence. But it will be good in the end and I'm just trying to say humble and "out of the box" and work through things. If you want to know more about the Ranch and the therapeutic model combining Natural Horsemanship and Arbinger Institute principles, check out the links provided.

I came home that first weekend and crashed! I took me a full day to recouporate and I still had quite a bit of moving in to do! I bought a queen sized and got that moved in and most of everything put away. I slept really good that weekend.

Monday it was back to work for my first full week! So thus is the beginning of the dream. I know I am going to learn so much from this opportunity. I know it is going to be hard but I'm excited about the growth. I'm most concerned about finishing my thesis at this point but that will just have to come one day at a time! Thanks for reading!