Congrats to My Hubs!!

Congrats to my Hubs for being University of Arizona's newest professor on staff in addition to working in the athletics department!!  Lee will be teaching the Sports Administration class in the Eller College of Management business school next summer session.  I am so PROUD of him!!

On a side note, when I found out he got the professorship, I asked him if I could take his class and he kindly responded NO but that I could grade his tests. :)

Love you Lee and am so proud to be your wife!

What a Busy Week!

We've had a busy week but I think it's only going to get busier with football starting in ONE week!!

On Monday my sweet Uncle Raymond turned 80....well maybe not sweet but he certainly is a fun great-uncle!!  Here is a picture of Uncle Raymond (2nd from the left) with my family last October.

The rest of the week was filled with Lacey's annual staff retreat, buying a hammock for the backyard, participating in the 24/7 prayer week for church, Lee playing basketball, dinner with Brent, dinner with Andrea and Gabe, getting the house cleaned, and Jordon Riedel coming into town from Florida.  More to come from Jordan's visit!

Recap of Our First Year in AZ

So, Lacey had this great idea to start a blog so that our friends and family back home can keep up with us while we're in Arizona.  13 months later...we're finally starting it!  A LOT has gone on since then, so we'll try to fill you in.  Here's a quick recap of all the crazy things that have gone on this past year (our other posts will not be this long, we promise!):

July 2008 - Lee was offered a job as the Director of Annual Giving for University of Arizona Athletics and, as much as we hated leaving our friends/family in Houston, we felt God leading us to Tucson.  We drove out here with both of our moms and arrived in Arizona (Lacey's first time EVER to the state) at the end of July.  Here's a pic from the road trip:

August 2008 - We went on a last-minute vacation to Rocky Point, Mexico and had a relaxing time before Lee started his new job.  On our way to the border, Lacey got offered a job working as the Director of Special Events for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson.  What a HUGE relief/blessing!  Check out the view from our sweet condo at Rocky Point:

September 2008 - Football season kicked off!  Took our realtor Camille and Lacey's mom to the first game of the season, with the Wildcats blowing out Idaho 70-0!!  We got to go back to Texas for the first time and were able to check out a Texas A&M game at Kyle Field with our families.  It was great to be back in College Station, where we first met.  Gig 'Em Ags!

October 2008 - Lacey's best friend Amanda came to visit!  We had a great time going to a UA football game together.  Took an unexpected trip back to Texas and celebrated Lee's 27th birthday (yeah, he's old!).  Lee got to travel to the Arizona vs. Stanford football game in California on their annual donor trip.  Here's a hilarious shot of Amanda and us in the stands - for the record, that's not our official hand sign but Lacey and Amanda think it should be!

November 2008 - We took another road trip to Los Angeles with our friends Theresa and David Church for Thanksgiving and the ND vs. USC football game (can you tell we like football??).  We almost had to eat Thanksgiving dinner at Del Taco, but that's a whole 'nother story!  We stayed with Lee's college buddy Garrett - a.k.a. "G Funk" - and had a great time.  Too bad the Irish got KILLED...

December 2008 - We closed on our first house!!!  After months of looking, we finally found our little oasis in the middle of the desert :)  After U of A's best football season in 10 years, we flew with the team to Vegas for the Las Vegas Bowl.  The Wildcats upset #23 BYU and finished the season 8-5!  Our hotel, the Venetian, was amazing.  And the best part about the trip...we didn't have to pay a dime!  There are some perks to working in college athletics ;)  Three days later, we went back to Texas for Christmas.

January 2009 - Right after New Year's, while still in Texas, we went to Lindi and Jonathan Winkler's wedding.  The next weekend we flew to San Antonio for Shannon and Jonathan Badger's wedding and then FINALLY moved into our new house (6 weeks after we closed!).  Here's a pic of us with the Badger's on their big day.

February 2009 - We got unpacked and settled in our house and Lee's parents come to visit us on Valentine's Weekend.  Two weeks later Lacey's mom and grandmother came to visit and helped put the final touches on the house.  Here's the finished product!

March 2009 ("March Madness") - Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16, we went to our first spring training game in Tucson, had our backyard installed, and went to Old Tucson Studios, where all the old western movies were filmed.  Here's what the finished backyard looks like (the plants have grown SO much now!).

April 2009 - We took another trip back to Texas for Easter.  Can you tell we miss our family, friends, and simple things like grass?  We celebrated our 4-year dating anniversary (YES that's right; we still celebrate our dating anniversary!).  We also went to Aggie Muster in Tucson with our fellow Aggie friends Theresa and David Church.

May 2009 - Lee's best friend Hernan and his wife Jennifer came to visit us all the way from New Orleans.  We went to Sedona, AZ and then to the Grand Canyon.  It was MIND-BLOWING!  Here is a picture of us during our our "off-roading" Pink Jeep Tour adventure in Sedona.

June 2009 - That was an extremely busy month for us!  Lacey's mom came to visit and took a Mother/Daughter trip to Scottsdale, Arizona and had a blast.  The next weekend we went to Phoenix to spend time with our friends Tara and Johnny "Junkyard" Mospan.  We stayed at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale and went to a Diamondbacks baseball game.  The following weekend we drove to San Diego to spend the weekend with Lee's parents on their vacation.  Finally, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on June 30th!!

July 2009 - The Mospans came down to visit us from Phoenix to celebrate July 4th.  We watched the fireworks from the 1st tee on the golf course we live on.  We also took a 10-day trip back to Texas to spend time with family and friends.  We managed to hit 4 major cities in Texas, see Kristen Hillhouse get married, visit Lee's 95-year-old grandmother, have a BBQ with all of our Houston friends, visit our favorite former co-workers, spend time in Forney with Lacey's family and grandparents, play golf, and attend Lacey's grandfather's 80th birthday party.  It was a whirlwind trip, but so much fun!!

Whew....That's a lot!  God has truly blessed us during our first year here.

 

Now that you're all caught up on us, stay tuned for more adventures of Lacey and Lee in Arizona :)