If you can't take the heat, get out of AZ

As you can probably infer from what I imply in the title of this post (quick grammar lesson: infer = "to derive as a conclusion from facts or premises" and imply = "to involve or indicate by inference, association, or necessary consequence rather than by direct statement"), we are vacating the Valley of the Sun and relocating to a land flowing with barbecue sauce and beer, specifically of the Budweiser variety.

The city of Columbia in the great Show Me state of Missouri will be our place of residence as of August 3, when we move into our new home. By God's grace, in answer to many prayers, Colin got a job as Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Missouri, known as Mizzou to NCAA fans. We are very thankful that the funding was available for this position – as much as we love our church and the friends we've made over the past five years, Colin was more than ready to be done with school, and we were both willing to try living somewhere else besides the inferno that is Arizona during the summer. In his job at UM, Colin will be teaching Relational Communication and Family Communication classes and conducting research on the connections between communication, health, and emotion. Meanwhile, I'll continue to work for my company at its new Columbia office, consisting of one employee and one guard dog. My boss was gracious enough to let me telecommute, saving me the trouble of having to find work in a city that's home to one of the country's best journalism schools, which I'm sure is pumping out more bright-eyed, idealistic writing/editing grads than there are writing/editing jobs available.

Of course, preparing for all of these changes has kept us pretty busy, with packing, trying to find a renter for our condo, and Colin wrapping up his dissertation, which he defends on July 29 (henceforth you may refer to him as Dr. Hesse). Getting ready to leave is making me a little sad as I think about all the memorable moments we've had during the past five years and all the things we'll miss when we're gone. To name a few:

• Bringing Kaffy home for the first time when Emily and John were staying with us (it was raining at the time, as was custom whenever Emily came to visit)
  
• Thanksgivings at Grandma and Grandpa Hesse's
• Small groups with Neil and Kate
• Weekend trips to the Grand Canyon and Sedona
• Attending several great sporting events – going with Gavin to the annual Seahawks game against the Cardinals, watching ASU play UW (football and basketball), meeting up with Perry and Michelle at the Suns games, making the trek to Peoria for the M's spring training games, seeing Tiger Woods at the Match Play Championship in Tucson
• LOST parties with our Queen Creek friends
• Simultaneously ichatting and talking with my friend Sharon at work
• Planning Colin's surprise party with the assistance of Jamie and her sons
  
• The abundance of great restaurants
• Playing Rock Band with Jamie and Stephan
• Living in close proximity to a pool
• Celebrating five anniversaries together and trying to eat our wedding cake after transporting it from WA to AZ (didn't work too well)

All good times, to be sure. And while we've had our fair share of trials, we are incredibly thankful for how much God has blessed us.

One rather unfortunate consequence of the move is that it's compelling me to finally join Facebook. I've managed to avoid it thus far, but seeing as how it's one of the primary ways people communicate these days, I probably should bite the bullet so that I can stay in touch with friends. But I still refuse to join Twitter and send people messages about what kind of cereal I've had for breakfast and other meaningless drivel.

Before I sign off to update my Facebook profile or whatever it's called, I should probably provide the answer to the convoluted riddle I mentioned in my last post. The thing that Wal-Mart, the Seahawks, and garden gnomes have in common is that they all characterize Missouri. To explain each:

• When we visited Columbia a few months ago, we were told that some of the Wal-Mart heirs live in the area. So apparently, we might have a couple billionaires as neighbors.
• The St. Louis Rams are in the same division as the Hawks, which means that we can watch them play live at least once a year. This was one of the main reasons why the Mizzou job was one of the top prospects on Colin's list.
• Our new home is adorned with several Kaffy-sized garden gnomes positioned along the periphery of the front lawn. I guess we'll find out when we get there if we'll assume ownership of said gnomes along with the rest of the property.

Hasta la vista for now; next month I'll give you the scoop from MO!