Phili cheese steak gone southwest?

If you have ever been to the Philadelphia area for good eating at lunchtime you know that there is a serious competition for the best Cheese steak sandwich. A foot long roll is stuffed with thin sliced beef steak that is chopped and cooked on a grill with onions, cheese and whatever else you like. The food is deadly but delicious.

Enter the southwest version -- funniest interpretation I've ever seen...




Wouldn't you know we had the opportunity to try one of these puppies via . Niki's Kitchen was offering a $10 bargain Groupon offer my dear wife signed us up for ...we just had to try one! This place was a combination of Indian fry bread, Philadelphia steak sandwich, and a bit of the Polynesian island of Togo thrown in.


V had to try it...


Yep...it actually was really good. Now the truth be told there was little resemblance to the original. But when you are 3,000 miles away, even a fry bred sandwich sounds good.

Breaking ground on lot 162

The big dig has started...we went by the property this weekend and this is what we saw...














You will notice a few things:
Wood frames have been placed to pour the foundation
Trenches have been dug for the utilities water and drainage
The house next door has been framed already

It happens pretty quickly after they get started...very exciting!

Details, Details, Details...Signatures, Signatures, Signatures

We did it!  We got through the maze of home purchasing details...and signatures.  There were many of each.  I'm not certain if you can imagine how many details there are to a new house...faucet finishes, cabinet door handles, extra outlets.  

To illustrate I have inserted a picture of the floor plan...now you may be more interested in where the guest bedroom is *as I would be* But I don't know if you can see them -- there are little triangles placed in the master bedroom, den and great room...this is where we selected the phone jacks would go!  Now how fine-tuned is that?   Imagine decisions like this in every room in the house.   

Not complaining, just sharing some of the joy of it all :)  One thing is certain, it will be beautiful when it is all in and done.  We'll keep you posted on the progress once there is some.  They break ground in 2 weeks!

Design expert

Aunt cookie arrived and spent the weekend - boy am I glad. She is clearly an expert in home furnishings, we can rely on her to safely navigate the waters on a million decisions.

I know we had good reason for confidence when the laptop opened and a full analysis of the builder's website unfolded on day of arrival Categories, priorities, budgets, upgrades, included features, spec home visits, Starbucks...these are a few of my favorite things (smile).

A new chapter in the Move ...Cardinal Street

A new chapter in the story of The Move has begun. Almost 14 months following our move to AZ. Yep, we signed the papers today for a place of our own in Gilbert, AZ!


Now before you pack your bags, please understand that the place is not quite ready for visitors. Actually it is a small patch of dirt right now. Not very pretty. It will get better over time, in fact if you like construction, this will be an interesting blog to watch, cause I'm hoping to show the progress of our new house over the next 5 months.


In the mean time, I do have some shots of the model that will give you an idea what the rooms (not the decorating) will look like. First, here is a picture of the same model (cayman) home in the neighborhood with the same colors and stone that we chose.





Here is a picture of the front patio done with lots of pavers,



and the study in the model home. The decorating is a little heavy but still not bad looking.


And the master bathroom with the same glass block shower we selected. The cabinets and walls may not be the same, but this gives some idea of what might be chosen.


Here is a picture of the back patio taken from the master bedroom. You can see the sliding door to the breakfast nook and part of the small backyard.


And finally a shot of the man-made lake with small waterfalls at the entrance to the development. We will be a short walk from this area, where there are some benches to sit when it's not too hot!



So what are we waiting for? First, the papers get submitted to the town, and once they have permits they can break ground in about two weeks. We will be able to visit and inspect all along the way.

In the mean time aunt cookie is coming next weekend to join us at the design center, where we have to make selections on a multitude of possible upgrades to everything from flooring to lighting, faucets, appliances...you can even choose what kind of toilet. more pics to follow of that blessed day (8 hour of it...should be lots of fun ;)

We are praising God today, and hope you will join us, for his every provision...in this case more than adequate shelter and every other good gift from his hand.

Goodnight?

We thought we had seen everything out here in AZ. Scorpions, coyotes, monsoons, 117 degrees, crazy drivers (ok, you see a few of them in NJ too)...but this week we experienced a wholly new phenomenon: a wall of dust!

For a moment we thought Harold Camping was right! We experienced this from inside our place, when the evening turned to night in a matter of seconds. We heard this howling wind, and saw the trees bending. But the most shock occurred when we opened the door to look outside, and dust came in immediately. It settled down as quickly as it came but the full impact of what had happened didn't hit until we read the paper in the morning...THIS WALL WAS NEARLY A MILE HIGH! Take a look at this.





Now mind you we are fine, but the back of our patio and right up to the garage door and everywhere you see a blanket of dust was left behind. We washed the back down this evening and will do the front and cars on the weekend. Oh the joys of living in the desert.

Location:Phoenix,United States

And then there was Noah

Our life as grandparents took a hard turn to the right as our first grandson Noah entered the world two weeks ago. This is number two as far as grandchildren go, and number two for 2011 as well... But this time a little boy. Guess Stephanie is the tie breaker!

We have spent the week here with Jamie, Jeremy and Noah ...Rio, Riley, and Beagle as well - what fun! He's an adventure in diaper changing, and his body seems so small. We were placing bets on whether he grew even a half a pound since his last dr visit a week ago (gosh, I probably grew 5lbs since then!). He actually grew 13 oz (Jeremy hit it dead on). Truthfully he IS as cute as a button - not that I'm bias.

The congratulating goes to his parents who have a real gem ... Ours is to pray and support. We only hope we get to hang out with him plenty as he grows up to be all that God has planned him to be.

Location: Columbus, MS, United States