Desert Dwelling

We made it to Yuma! I know it's been a hot minute since I've posted on here. I do so much life sharing on Instagram (@semperag_blog) that I sometimes feel this blog is unnecessary. But then I get the itch to write, so I guess my little corner of the web shall remain as is.

Our move from College Station to Yuma was pretty smooth. Nick and my son made a father/son road trip out of the move, and towed my car on the back of a trailer with his truck. Dannika and I chose to fly, and we made it out here a day after the boys did. Our stuff arrived mostly undamaged, and we are so grateful for that. I had been reading all sorts of horror stories about military moves this year. I guess this has been one of the worst PCS seasons for many military families. Lots of families missing furniture, receiving their things grossly damaged, and the list goes on. We are in the minority I guess when it came to PCS season this year (praise Jesus!).

Yuma is a small desert town located between the California and Mexico border.

It's mostly a military/retirement community. There are lots of "snowbirds" down here (retirees that move here from colder climates just for the winter to escape the cold). As a Marine, I have been here before for training, and from what I remember (before moving Here) is that this place is full of bad chain restaurants catered for its' young military population and older retirement population (still true). Since actually moving here, I have realized that there is a lot more to Yuma than I realized. I can't say that I LOVE it here yet, but God has shown me glimpses of how great life will be here for us.

We decided to buy a house out here. Our house is one of the things that I LOVE about this place. I will have to do a separate house tour post soon. But I am in love with our house. It has so much character, and it is definitely a place that I am going to really enjoy my time at. Nick also promised me a pool, so I'll keep y'all updated on that situation. Hey, if you're gonna drag me out to Yuma, Arizona, you betta get yo girl a pool!

Our kids school is ok. We came from such a top tier school district that we knew coming here, it'd be unfair to try and compare the school here to the one we came from. BUT...Arizona has some of the lowest paid teachers in the entire nation, and when you invest so little into your educators, the quality of education goes down. Not because the quality of teachers, but because of the lack of resources and funding that teachers here get to do their jobs. It's sad really. I have already been disappointed by the school here, and we have put our kids on waiting lists for a public charter school here and also a private school. We are hoping we only have to deal with public schools here for this school year only.

Anyway, I'll give more updates on our life here. I just wanted to give everyone an update about our short two weeks here so far! I am so grateful to finally be together as a family, and there truly is nothing better than that (even in Yuma!).