KC and I meet in high school. Well actually according to him, we meet in Jr.
high. I apparently sat in front of him
in history class but I was so shy I really don’t remember anyone besides my
friends. So the next time we ‘meet’ was our
Jr. Year in high school when we began eating lunch with common friends. I vaguely remember talking with KC but I do
remember that I thought he was super cute but very intimidating. He was popular, funny, loud, and self
confident. I again was extremely shy and
awkward. I do however have vivid memories of one
particular night when we both went to the same party and he made a big scene in
front of everyone about how ‘cool’ he thought my hands were. If you know me you would know that I have
very wrinkly hands. It’s a combination
of genes, AZ sun, and dry skin. Needless
to say I was extremely insecure about them and was so mad and embarrassed this
really cute guy would do that to me.
Later that year, he started dating one of my friends for a couple
months. Then in the beginning of our
senior year we started talking through friends and he asked me to the Valentines
dance. By this point I had forgotten the
torture he put me through at the party and my friend who he had previously
dated had given me her blessing to go out with him. So… that was the start of our love
story.
In short… we got married 3 years later at the age of
21. We bought the house he was renting
and we started our life. KC was adamant
about me finishing school before him to ensure that I had a career I
loved. I graduated from Radiography and
then enrolled in the Radiation Therapy program.
I graduated from that program in 2006 and quickly started looking for
jobs. We had everything planned out. We lived in Gilbert in our own house, 2 miles
from my parents and both sets of his parents. We were secure, we were happy but something
was missing. I think both of us agreed
that we didn’t want to be that secure.
We wanted to be on our own; we wanted to be a couple away from it
all. We wanted to have an
adventure. So I got a job at the University of Chicago.
We sold our cars and rented our house out and moved in November of 2006
to downtown Chicago. It was crazy and amazing. It was a huge change for us and something
that we never thought would be possible.
But it was, and it was everything we had hoped for. I loved my new job and KC was going to school
for business. We lived each day
there. We experience so much those 2
years. From exploring the city to
exploring states around Illinois
we embraced it. But by the beginning of our
3rd winter there, we were really missing our families and well the
winters in Chicago
are pretty brutal. It was time for a
change again, so I found a job in Tucson,
AZ. We moved to Tucson in November of 2008.
I, never in a million years, would have thought I would move
to Tucson. You see growing up in Gilbert and having most
of my family as alumni of ASU, Tucson
was kind of the town that people made fun of.
I had been there a couple times in my life to visit KC’s friends who
went to the U of A for college, but never really saw past the dirt and
cactus. But this job at Arizona Oncology
was going to pay for us to move and KC got into the U of A, so everything fell
together perfectly and I kept an open mind about it all. We found a little town house close to the U
of A and bought my dream car - a Prius.
I have to say, at first I didn’t like Tucson.
I’m pretty sure for the first couple months we drove to Gilbert to see
family almost every weekend. But after
about 6 months it really grew on me. Tucson is really
beautiful. I finally saw the beauty of
the desert. It doesn’t mask the desert
with grass and palm trees; it uses its natural elements to create something
beautiful. It also is about 10 degrees
cooler than Phoenix
and has a pretty sweet monsoon season.
There is tons of culture and the people here are so friendly and down to
earth.
Coming Soon… Part 2
