Droid Diaries: Missing in Action Allie (& Life Updates)

Hi guys!

I know I have been so M.I.A. these past few days weeks, and I cannot apologize enough!  The reasons for my absence lately being vast, the main two are the fact that my sister, Shannon, finally had her baby- YAAAAY!!!  I was in Orlando all last week and spent 2.5 days at the hospital with her while we waited for beautiful 10.9 pounds (yep... you read that correctly 10.9 lbs.) baby Lacey Marie to be born on Sunday, April 7th, 2013 at 8:39 AM :') She is precious and the most perfect first niece anyone could ask for.

She is healthy and lovely and all things happy.

Her mom & dad are both doing great, as well :)

The other main reason for me having neglected you all for far too long is the big piece of news that I mentioned previously in this post.  Now has come the time to share with you all what that [very time consuming] news is...

My boyfriend, Matt, and I are...

Follow me on Instagram @alliegee319

MOVING TO PHOENIX, ARIZONA IN JUST A MATTER OF DAYS!  (Monday, April 22nd to be exact!)

I am beyond excited for this new chapter in our lives.  Matt has lived in Florida for his whole life, and I have been here since the fall of 2007.  We tend to think of ourselves as kind of "movers and shakers," the type of people who want to see and experience as much as the world as possible.  We decided after we graduated from college in December 2011 that we would move out of Florida as soon as we could, but we also agreed that whoever got a job first is where we would move.

Well, as luck would have it, he got an engineering job an hour north of Tampa in March 2012... then about a week after he had accepted the position and we had moved to our new town, I was offered my dream job at an animal rights nonprofit organization in Washington D.C. ...just a few days after.  I was pretty bummed, because we had just signed a year lease and, unfortunately, I had to turn down the D.C. job offer.

So here we have been for the past year, waiting anxiously to see where we would go next.  My mom and stepdad moved to Arizona last year, and when I visited them in December 2012, I fell in love with Arizona.  I returned to Florida in January, told Matt about my yearning to move out West, and the plans for our big 2013 move began to progress.  Now here we are, nearing the end of our lease, and we have given away/Craigslist-ed/packed up our 2 bedroom/2 bathroom house into one tiny Mazda 3.  We are hitting the road in a few days to begin our cross country road trip to our new home.  And I have to say: I really see Arizona being our home for a quite a long time.  It is full of amazing hiking trails, mountains, sightseeing [Grand Canyon, anyone?], and is just about 5 hours from anywhere you'd want to visit out West.  This is the adventure I have been waiting for for the past year, and I cannot wait to begin our new desert lives with Luna, Dakota, my mom, and stepdad :)

Have any advice for us or great places to check out in the Phoenix area?  We are just sort of picking up, going, and hoping for the best, so we need all the help we can get!

E-mail Me | Tweet Me | LunaVida on Facebook | Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest | Chictopia

Xoxo,
-Allie


PS: As we continue to pack, get the house ready to move out, and begin our 2,097 miles-long journey, I am still a bit lower on time than usual.  I will try to blog as much as I can the next few days/weeks, but eventually, when we are all settled in, I should be back to a more normal schedule.  So stay tuned - I promise to be back :D