the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY!

So, I've learned that everywhere you go/live there is a learning curve. Different climates, different people, etc. In NJ, I loved not having to have sprinklers, loved that you could drive to another state in less than 2 hours, etc. Here is my what I have discovered about AZ so far...

The Good...

We LOVE the weather so far (not so sure I'll be saying the same thing in the summer though). It is almost always sunny & cheery. I have been wearing flip-flops since we moved here in January. We got a season pass to the Phoenix Zoo and have really enjoyed going there.

Where else can you find a cactus slide??!!

I already have flower pots!

I love, love having flowers on my porch.

I am also growing tomatoes and peppers. I attempted a couple of times to garden in NJ only to have the animals eat my tomatoes just when they ripened. So maddening! I've learned there are 3 growing seasons out here. I have plans for Tad to make me a raised garden.

Last, but not least, the people here are just as sweet as those in NJ. I do miss my NJ friends though.

The BAD...

You may look at this sweet, little bird and think "How can that be bad?" Well, when they decide that your roof is their home and they will NOT leave....it is bad. We would wake up every morning to their "tweets" that aren't so sweet and quiet. We could almost live with that, but not when they LIVE on your roof and have nests there and continually poop on your roof. Lots and lots of poop. Disgusting right? It took Tad about 4 hours and a big black garbage bag later to remove all of their nests and poop off of our roof. Then he sprayed it all down with the hose. But to no avail, they came back.

A little hard to see, but Tad put plastic spikes in the spots where they liked to nest and put up an owl to scare them away, but they still came back, so...let's just say a pellet gun helped solve the issue. We are now pigeon free, and hope to stay that way!

and the UGLY...

So, the horror stories are true! As soon as we started telling people we were moving to Arizona, half the people had scorpion stories to tell us. Well, this little guy Tad caught in our garage. Fun right? Except if they sting you and you are numb for 1-3 days. No, that hasn't happened yet, and hopefully won't. We had one in our house by our front door 2 days ago, which Tad flipped outside then stomped on. We've found two dead ones - one inside our house and one in the garage. There is no spray that kills them, but thanks to our knowledgeable friend, we discovered there is spray that you put around the whole perimeter of your house and door frames to keep them out. I'm a little worried about these "little friends" of ours.