Monday, March 30, 2009

Has it really been 5 years?????

We moved into our house here in Gilbert, AZ on March 30, 2004!!! How time flies. I remember moving in that day, it was raining and a bit overwhelming!!!!C.J. still lived in the apartment we rented for 6 months so he could go to high school in Glendale, AZ. Stacie was still up at N.A.U. Corie and Will lived in north Scottsdale. So Chuck and I with some help from a few friends and Will got everything MOVED in!!!! It's always so much work and so unorganized, no matter how well you mark those darn boxes, it seems like you can never find anything!!! With Will and Corie's wedding just 6 weeks away, we had so much to get done before company would be coming!!!The pool was half done when we moved in,so that helped alot. However the landscapers could only work in the front yard until the pool was completed. Needless to say we had alot to get down in a short amount of time. For along time, it just didn't feel right, I kept thinking I was dreaming that I had been dropped in Iowa or Kansas, all the agriculture around here. Fields of corn and soybeans, cattle farms, etc. One day Chuck called me while driving to work and said he was stopped on the road waiting for some sheep to be herded from one field to another, I had to laugh, thinking for sure we were in a time machine and we have been dropped in some other life!!!But it didn't take long for this Town to feel just like home!!! I wouldn't trade it now for anything. People often ask me "why did you move so far out"" Or why Gilbert", I will give you the answers along with a few photos!!!!

THE PARKS!!!!! We have some of the best city parks you will find anywhere!!!! They are amazing to look at and enjoy hanging out at. Just going for a simple walk, or relaxing by one of the many lakes. So much to do at them. Tennis is also a passion so you can always go and play if you want.
You will always find ducks or some unique bird at these parks, we now have a Riparian Bird Preserve very close to our house, here you will see over 200 different species of birds, and the lake is stocked with several fish, you can actually fish for.

SHOPPING!!!!! Need I say more!!! We now have San Tan Village, an open air mall!!! We love it, I can pull up to my store of choice and park right by the door. I love the small town feel, when I walk into the Hallmark store and the manager Julie knows my name, and same goes for Gymboree the kids clothing store. Gilbert also offers several smaller boutique type stores as well.So we rarely have to drive to Chandler or even Scottsdale anymore!!!
Riding our Rhino right out of the garage and around the corner and we are on the amazing Sonoran Desert. Our Rhino is street legal so we can drive it where ever we want to go. And of course our favorite destination is San Tan Flats restaurant. It's so fun to ride out there on the week-ends and meet up with groups of motorcycle riders or just relax and hang out by the campfires!!!
The many wonderful and unique restaurants. Here is Joe's Farm grill, it recently was featured on the food network, as a great cafe or diner!!! We love it because alot of the ingrediants are organic and grown right on the farm behind it. We also have Casa Blanca, literally an old white house that is now one of our favorite mexican food places. A few more of the not regular chain restaurants are:Blue Wasabi(Sushi) Cantina Laredo(fine dining Mexican food) Brio Tuscan Grille and Vito and Nick's, both wonderful Italian food. So we don't have to venture far to get great food!!!

And last but certainly not least, the FARMS!!!! I LOVE THEM!!! I get so excited in the spring and the fall, spring means time to plant!!!! You will see 1 sometimes 2 or 3 tractors getting their fields ready to plant. I always want to stop and just watch!!! And sometime in the month of July, the first of the sweet corn and tomato's are ready to purchase from a road side stand!!! It is so good and fresh!!!!The fall time is also a fun time of year as they are harvesting the last of the year's crops!!!! And it also means Pumpkin patch time. There are 2 really good ones very close to us. Schepff farms also has a Peach festival every year!!! So fresh peaches to eat!!!
As fast as these 5 years went it won't be long and 10 years will have past!!!I still miss the west side of town because we have alot of friends and family over there, but luckily it isn't really that far to drive. For now the TOWN(not a city) of Gilbert is our HOME SWEET HOME!!!!!

6 comments:

EricaT said...

I love Cantina Laredo!! We just ate at the one in Branson, MO for my sister-in-laws birthday! Gilbert seems great. My parents still live in Arrowhead, but are planning to move out here to AR soon.

Corie said...

I LOVE living here too! I agree that when we first moved out here it was a little strange (especially moving from Scottsdale), but it sure is HOME now! Will even jokes and says that if we ever won the lottery that we would never move from this side of town! He loves it too! :)

Krystal said...

I mean really do you ever slow down? You are always doing some fun and new thing everyday! Way to live life. I love it here too! AZ is the best! And having found you guys has made it that much better.By the way nice job on the house, and your yard is just beautiful!

Mimi said...

HI Krystal!!!!
You are so funny!!!
I was so tired after my cousin left!!! It took me a few days to recover!!!! Some of those outings for the blog about Gilbert have been from Feb. to now. The Sundae party was current!!!!You are so nice and Thank you for the nice compliments!!!! We look forward to spending lots of time with your family too!!! You have a great family and we will definetley be doing some fun stuff with you guys soon!!!
love,
jamie
when your Mom and sister get in town we will hook up then!!
The Easter Egg hunt begins promptly at 10:00 on the 11th!!!

Stacie Gibbs said...

Gilbert is a GREAT town to live in, too bad I'm not there anymore! Even if I am a BIG city girl, I did enjoy the small country style feeling Gilbert brought me the few years I was there! Can't wait to make it back there!!!

Mimi said...

HI THERE!!!!
Now it's your turn to show everyone where you live!!!!Show us your beautiful apartment and the great lake surrounding it, maybe you can look for an alligator!!!!!!I love ORLANDO!!!!!!!
love ya,
mom