We're Moving!

When we moved to New Mexico last year we knew it was just a stepping stone. His boss had said we'd probably be here 3 years. After a few months Ryan got a different boss. He has really impressed her and grown his area. She told him not to plan on being here next Christmas. In December she said there was an open GM (General Manager) position for Colorado that she wanted him to apply for; however, Hertz had just bought Dollar Thrifty so she wanted him to wait until all of that got settled. We were on hold until March. Right before we went to AZ for the Spring Training games she called him and told him that she wanted him to apply for the GM position in AZ now, instead of CO. This came as a huge shock because Phoenix is a top 10 airport and his off-airport fleet would be 10 times as big. For some perspective, right now as an Area Manager Ryan has 10 branches, Arizona has 52. Oh, and did I mention she wants him over NM still too? As a GM he would be over all the Area managers. He was very humbled because AZ is a huge market and he's only been with the company for 3.5 years. He was the only one applying for the position and his boss said he's the one she wanted for the job and she wouldn't let him fail. She interviewed him on March 29th. He was in Chicago for work that next week before our cruise and interviewed with Sean Bromfield (RVP) and Dan Kress (Zone VP) while there. 3 Weeks later while in San Antonio he interviewed with John Holt (Sr VP) and Scott Sider (COO) as well. He was expecting to get put through the ringer and drilled but they didn't even mention his financials or talk much about work at all. It was more like a meet and greet, get to know you relaxed interview. They're really focusing on employee improvement and building morale and Ryan is perfect for that. He's very personable and can strike up a conversation and find common interests with anyone. He's very much a people person and that's partly why he's been so successful. He got the official job offer on April 30. He's in AZ working right now. I'm so proud of him. All his hard work and long hours is paying off. I'm grateful that he supports us and that I can stay home with Hannah. We found a house yesterday in Gilbert and we'll hopefully be all moved and join him in two weeks. I decided not to fly down to help him house hunt. With Hannah it would be hard and I didn't want to leave her home. I found places online and Ryan was happy to go see them for me. We will miss Albuquerque and the great friends we've made here. We are excited for this new adventure. Hopefully we'll be there for a few years. We have some family and friends there to make us feel more at home.

Spring Training in AZ

Some of our good friends from Utah invited us to meet them in Arizona for Baseball Spring Training. We were originally going to go most of the week, but Ryan ended up having a business trip so we had to cut it short, but it was still great. We drove down Thursday morning then spent the night with Ryan's old boss John Whitlow, in Scottsdale. Miss Hannah did so great on the drive down. She was sleeping or just content hanging out and playing with her toys. She loved all the extra attention and being able to stay up late. Friday morning we met up with Paul and Peggy at IKEA then drove together to Tempe Diablo Field Angels vs. Royals. It was so stinkin hot and poor Hannah was just sweating. We brought her stroller which was a bad idea because it was packed and there was no room for it even if I just wanted to walk around with her. Our seats were on the front row right in the sun. I ended up taking her to the top under a canopy for the majority of the game. We went to a yummy Mexican restaurant for dinner then headed over to Peggy's mom's house to play some games. Hannah finally fell asleep in my arms, but woke up when we got back to our hotel. After I fed her she fell asleep around midnight. Saturday morning we picked up some Whataburger before the game so we didn't have to pay Ballpark prices for lunch, but we couldn't bring it into the stadium so we scarfed it down and I had to throw half my drink away anyway. We were much more prepared this time and I carried Hannah in the Baby Bjorn. We got to enjoy the whole game (Angels vs Brewers). It was much cooler and there was a nice breeze that helped. We drove Paul and Peggy to the airport then drove down to Gilbert to see the Temple that will be finished the end of this year. Ryan has a cousin that lives near it so we called her up and popped in to say hello to Tom and Jen. We had a great visit and ate lots of yummy pizza. That night Hannah slept almost 11 hours and then we headed back home. It was a short trip but so nice to get away. Ryan's been gone a lot this month and still has 2 trips before our cruise in April, so it was great to spend some time with him. We are so grateful that Hannah is such a good baby. She is just so sweet and just goes with the flow. We are blessed.

Ryan got to drive John's dirt bike. He did a wheely and his hat flew off. Baby did not participate.

 Us at the game Saturday scarfing down our lunch.

Triple-tasking

My view from the shade

John's fluffy cat. So cute and snugly.

Ryan wore his Boston with Pride although they were not there.