Category: Thoughts

Utah Vs. Arizona

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Seven years ago when my husband and I were preparing to move to Arizona, we were looking everywhere for information on what it would be like compared to where we already lived: Utah. At one point we clicked on a YouTube video that was titled “The differences of Arizona and Utah” and it ended up LITERALLY being a thirty second video of a guy saying, “They’re about the same”. Lol

Well, now that I’ve had a decent handful of years in both states, I decided that I’m going to be that blog post that I was searching for in the spring of 2018. So I know this is a super niche post, but yeah it is what it is.

SO HERE ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN UTAH AND ARIZONA

(also no real organization. Just writing whatever comes to mind)

Whenever I visit Utah and relatives ask me about Arizona, they only want to talk to me about the heat haha. And I guess that’s everyone’s first consideration about Arizona is how hot living in the middle of a cactus forest is.

So yeah, it’s hot. And summertime is bunkering down into survival mode honestly. I’ve said this before (which is also a good post about AZ) but the heat is very similar to when you have to bend down and pull cookies out of the oven. But it’s only when you go outside. The weird part that I never really hear people other than Arizonans talk about, is that during the summer here in the valley EVERYWHERE (stores / vendors / businesses) is completely REFRIGERATED inside. It’s really bizarre. Because it’s 120 degrees outside, but the AC is pumped SO HARD inside Texas Roadhouse that you’re shivering lol. I’ve literally seen people walk into the grocery store in the dead of Arizona summer and bring their jackets with them.
It’s sort of weird though, okay. Because during the summer you’re in the constant extreme temperature changes and it’s bursts of refreshing feels. Like, I don’t know how else to explain this? You’ll walk from your car into the doctor’s office sweating like crazy and then as soon as you get into the building you’re like “Ahhhhh that feels amazing.” And then by the time you get out into the heat from the serious AC you’re like, “Ahhhh that feels amazing.” Hahaha!

As far as compared to Utah. It’s the same as the winter, just opposite timing. In the wintertime you stay indoors. And here in the summer you stay indoors. That’s pretty much it. Utah winters, it’s a pain in the ass to scrape your car, shovel your driveway and navigate I-15 in the snow. And Arizona summers, it’s a pain to touch your steering wheel when you get into your sunny car. Literally a pain. But other than the super sweaty car seat, I don’t think the maintenance of the heat is quite as bad as the maintenance of the snow. That’s my opinion of living here. Like, yeah you might have to turn on your AC and cool your car down. But it’s not like you have to turn your car on to warm it up and also physically dig it out of the ice to get to work. I don’t know. So in my personal opinion, I think the Arizona summers aren’t quite as challenging as Utah winters. As far as maintenance or commuting. Like if you WANT to take family pictures you really could year round. Whereas in Utah it’s a little more challenging to do that around the weather.

If you are familiar with Utah and their cities and you’re wondering which area of Arizona you want to move to (at least in the Phoenix / East Valley), I can tell you what compares. I would say Mesa is comparable to West Valley or Layton. And Gilbert is just Provo basically. Like I’ve seen more BYU bumper stickers in Gilbert than in Provo itself, if that gives you some idea. Scottsdale is like Park City, it’s beautiful and got cool things to see but unless you’re a professional baseball player I don’t see how you could afford to live there. Phoenix equals Salt Lake. That one’s easy. Apache Junction is like Vernal if it got overrun by a fentynal zombie apocalypse.

Okay, so if you’re on the fence about moving to Arizona from Utah. I’ve created a little quiz to help you decide:

QUESTION ONE: Can you eat a plate of fries without fry sauce? if the answer is no, stay in Utah.

QUESTION TWO: How many golf courses do you need within a 2 mi radius? Because if the answer is more than three, you want to be in Arizona.

QUESTION THREE: Do you like the color beige? If the answer is no, stay in Utah.

QUESTION FOUR: Do you need trees to breathe or can you get oxygen from turf?

QUESTION FIVE: Would you rather maintain a pool or shovel the driveway?

QUESTION SIX: Would you rather scrape ice off of your windshield with a credit card or have a pair of oven mitts in your car just in case you need to drive somewhere in the summer?

QUESTION SEVEN: Would you rather have an incredible 4th of July at a park with soft grass you can actually sit on? Or have a magical Halloween day where you don’t need a jacket over your costume and everyone’s outside on their driveway actually participating in trick or treating?

QUESTION EIGHT: Would you rather experience a full four (winter, spring, summer and fall) season? Or just a two (“Arrakis Hell” and “Snowbird”) season?

QUESTION NINE: Scorpions or Black Widows? It doesn’t matter, Arizona has both.

QUESTION TEN: Do you have a hobby of skiing or snowboarding? If yes, that’s fine we have Flagstaff.

QUESTION ELEVEN: Do you generally go 40 miles over the speed limit in any condition or street? If the answer is yes, welcome to Arizona.

You are a Squid

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You are a squid.

An intelligent being crawling on the bottom of the darkest ocean.

The only light you’ve ever known are the speckles of the bioluminescent plankton.

You cannot comprehend the sunlight. The days. An entire world above you surrounded by constant light.

You are a squid.

You are surviving. Hunting. Sleeping. Camoflouging.

You cannot comprehend that there are other intelligent beings physically separated from you.

Other intelligent beings who have built a civilization and harnessed the light. Beings who effect your ocean for better and worse.

The only difference between you and the squid is that one day you will conquer the pressure of the deep and see the surface.

One day you will know sunlight. You will see the things beyond your comprehension. Beyond your deep sea.

You will rise above the waters and feel warmth for the first time.

But for now, you are a squid.

Take comfort, Little One. You will not drown. The bottom is not forever.

34 Random Facts About Myself

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Hello. I turned 34 last week. My age feels both accurate and inaccurate. Like I don’t feel 34 while sitting on my office chair with my feet tucked under my butt. But I guess I do feel 34 when I drive my minivan to pick up my kids from school. The heartburn and the back pain screams 34 haha.

Anyways, to celebrate my age I wrote 34 random facts about myself, one for each year I’ve been alive. You’re welcome.

  1. I was born in the same exact hospital that I birthed my first child in.
  2. Dinosaurs have been a special interest of mine ever since I was two.
  3. One of my earliest memories is giving myself the chicken pox. I was jealous that my mom counted all of my sister’s chicken pox and so I snuck into her room when she was asleep and tried to “breathe in her germs” hahaha! Unfortunately, it worked and I got WAY sicker than she had been.
  4. I wrote my first story at three or four. I drew it as a four panel picture on a Mac “Kids Pic” program. And it was about the chicken pox I gave myself lol. (“I got chicken pox”, “Then Mom gave me a bath”, “Then I felt better”, “The End”)
  5. I’m the middle child in my family. I have a sister three years older than me and a brother five years younger than me.
  6. I’ve always held my pencil “weird”. Resting on my middle finger instead of pinching it or whatever. My first grade teacher tried and tried to correct it but I still hold my pencil that way as an adult.
  7. When I was in second grade I was obsessed with Santa’s reindeer. I wrote them each individual letters instead of Santa that year.
  8. In third grade I purposely sat in the back of the class so I could write stories in my blue denim notebook all day instead of pay attention to the teacher. I filled that notebook and I still have it.
  9. At 9, I briefly took acting classes but I couldn’t sing worth a dime so I never got cast in any significant roles
  10. I started directing my own plays and performed them for all the other 5th grade classes. (This was the skit I had my friends do haha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLdFZ4my9g )
  11. The only time I got a ticket or a pink slip in school was when I snuck under the fence to play in the creek next to our elementary school. My mom wasn’t even mad about it. She was more mad about the girl who tattled on me.
  12. In Jr. High, I had a red guinea pig named Joe.
  13. At thirteen, I wrote, directed and starred in a play I put on for my local church. It was a comedy called, “The Foot.”
  14. I was obsessed with the original Twilight Zone. I even threw a Twilight Zone party for my friends. That TV show would become a massive influence on my writing.
  15. Took 4 years of French in secondary school because I liked this guy in my class. Can’t remember a single word and speak fluent Spanish now lol.
  16. In high school, I wrote a full-length feature film with my friends. A low-budget student slasher. (What else?) It wasn’t very good or anything lol but it ended up being a creative catalyst for a lot of the kids who worked on that project, including me.
  17. I got shingles my senior year. How does that even happen? Haha. The haunts of giving myself the chicken pox
  18. One year I repeatedly got cast as a monkey in a few different plays. Type casting I guess.
  19. I studied Classical Acting at Southern Utah University until I ran out of money and had to move back home.
  20. One of my favorite hobbies when I was 20 was exploring abandoned buildings. One time the cops came and my friends and I hid ourselves inside an abandoned school. (oops)
  21. I lived in various areas of Peru for a year and a half. Lima, Trujillo, Salaverry, and Neuvo Chimbote.
  22. Twenty-two was one of the worst years of my whole life. Like the entire year. Birthday to birthday. Just horrific. I couldn’t think of a single good fact I wanted to say about this year. So I guess that’s my fact. Unlike the popular song at the time, I was not feeling 22 lol.
  23. Coincidentally, twenty-three was one of the absolute best years of my life. Even at the time I called it “The Golden Year”. I ended up meeting my soul mate when I was 23.
  24. I used to work in Accounts Receivable at a printer company and got in trouble for writing during work (Heh heh heh. It wasn’t funny to me at the time, but now it is.)
  25. I left my job at the printer company and went back to school. In my Intro to Educational Psychology class, the professor said that “the things we chose to do in our free time as children reflects as close to our true selves as possible.” That’s the moment I realized how much story-telling has been a passion throughout my life.
  26. When I was twenty-six, I began writing regularly and have not looked back since!
  27. The first time I had ever set foot in the Phoenix area, was when I stepped off the plane to live here.
  28. I found out my first story was going to be professionally published while I was in active labor with my second child.
  29. At twenty-nine I had this life-changing Beatlemania phase that… never went away lol.
  30. We moved into our first house the exact weekend that everything shut down for the pandemic.
  31. I have three spectacular kids and I’m not just saying that. I really love each of those three people so dang much.
  32. I published my first book on Amazon at thirty-two.
  33. I got my first screen-writing credit at thirty-three.
  34. At thirty-four, I still sit on my office chair with my feet tucked under my butt haha