We've Gotta Move :(

Update on our living situation:

So just as Jake and I were debating renting again or buying, the owners of our house notified us this week that they want to sell their house, increase our rent by 5%, and have us go month to month as they make money off of us and show the home to buyers - No way Jose! Our lease is up August 31 so we'll be gone by then. I'm sad because I really like this house and I REALLY don't want to pack and move - I HATE the idea of it.

What to do? Well, Jake and I have decided to keep renting. We've spoken with alot of people and realtors and it doesn't seem like Arizona is a place where we can make any type of money off something here anytime soon. It would just be too much of a gamble. Plus, we don't want to be nailed down. We'd rather save our money and buy a house where we'd love to live for a very long time.

So... here's to rental hunting! Wish us luck as we pack up our stuff in this 115 degree heat - Ick! At least we have a ton of friends and families to help us out.

Highlights From Our Vegas Trip

Here are the highlights from our trip to Vegas a couple of weeks ago. We LOVE it there and could stay forever.

BTW, To see more pics, just look on my facebook (www.facebook.com/brianne.johns).

1. Getting out of town.

2. Our trip mascot. A scary looking happy meal toy from McDonalds - our first stop. Not many food choices on the way there, lots of desert.

3. Seeing the Hoover Dam for the first time. (Bri)

4. The view from our room at the Venetian.

5. Eating at lots of fabulous restaurants.

6. Being in Vegas on the 4th of July. Party in the streets!

7. Tasting all different types of sodas from around the world at the Coca-Cola factory.

8. Walking the strip.

9. This Game! Jake saw it and said we had to play it just because of the name. No luck with wins though.

10. Big Balls Drink! This is the "Wipeout" drink at ESPN Zone. It comes with a light up cube and was supposed to have 4 cherries lined up on the top representing "big balls" from the show, but our bartender was lazy. I actually don't recommend this drink.

11. KA - We didn't plan on seeing this show because we wanted to see the Beatles show "Love" but it was closed. Ryan recommended KA and we were blown away. You've GOT TO see it!

12. We stumbled across this as we were walking in and out of casinos on our last day with no plans. When we saw the sign we thought, why not? It was fun seeing all of the animals. I love big kitties!

Yep, Arizona is Beautiful

The sunsets are amazing. It's freakin' hot. But we're having a blast in AZ.

This is a pic of us on July 3rd at Jason's (former roommate) wedding at a mansion in Mesa. Jake tried to strike up a deal with the owner of the mansion and have them rent it to us for $900 a month, but they said they'd only give us the East Wing and access to the Salt Water Pool a couple of days a week for that. LOL The owners have daughters in my youth group and are new adult leaders for me.

Meet My Summer Interns

These 8 crazy teens have made my summer a blast. We work together almost everyday and they do an incredible job reaching out to their peers. Love them!

When Summer Interns Attack

So I took on 8 student interns for the summer. They have basically signed their life away this summer to work with me. It's been really fun so far. Today was probably the best. We spent the entire day together.

We started off with a long meeting to plan for our Tuesday night program starting tomorrow, and then they all started complaining about being hungry. We loaded up and went to In N Out. Funny thing, when we got there, no one had money... except for me! Yes, I bought everyone In N Out. It was pretty funny.

Afterwards, I went back to the office while they got to work shopping for stuff for tomorrow night. When they got back all of them were acting weird. I could tell something was up. I didn't find out until I left for work and I found this....

I love it. I think it was really sweet. They don't have to pay me back for lunch now. :)

My first cell phone blog post!

Dreams and the Unknown

Jake and I would love your prayers - mostly prayers for just wisdom about our future here in Arizona. So, it's always been our dream to be back in SoCal with family, but we know that the timing is not right and we don't want to just uproot and make a hasty decision with no jobs and no money. We're actually really liking it here. I feel more and more purpose leading this youth group at Central and I'm making some great relationships. Jake is feeling the same about his job. He's actually applying for nursing school (is that right? it sound likes breastfeeding school) to further his career and possibly try a different field. I asked him if I could call him "Gaylord Focker" if he becomes an RN. LOL

So all of this means we're probably committing to another year here as Jake tries out night school. I always told Jake that he would have to get us back to CA if we're going to get back there. And so far, there aren't any jobs for him there. If I was to try, I'd have to start all over with a new church and a new group of teens, and that just wouldn't give us any leeway for being pregnant and having kids (yes, I just said that). :)

So... We're thinking about taking our time here in AZ and building up towards our future back with family. Of course, it is all in God's hands and He could have different desires for us. Could we possibly become permanent Zonis???

As our lease is up at the end of August we're thinking about what our next move is. Do we buy a home here and possibly make an investment toward our future? Do we rent this same house again? We have friends who just bought a house that's bigger than ours and their mortgage is $200 less a month than our rent! It's very enticing and we've gotta make a decision here pretty soon. But if we buy, does that make us stuck here? It seems like such a scary gamble. Obviously you can tell I'm a commitment phobe.

If you have any thoughts or comments on this, I'd love to hear. I'm just putting this out there so you know what's going on with us and what we're thinking about. I guess this post is just more me thinking outloud. We feel like God brought us here to bless us. I feel like He's given us so much more than we ever could have imagined. And I'm so glad that we are even closer to family and make enough money that we can travel and visit anytime. It was definitely a good move for us.

Thanks for all of your love and support. We are blessed to have such great friends and family.