1,095 to be exact. We’ve lived in Arizona now for over a thousand days and most of them great. Today marks the three year anniversary of loading up a Penske truck and driving our lives into the desert. Here are some of my favorite things about living here:

• The people I have met. I am so grateful for the friendships so quickly cultivated here. They are already deeply rooted and treasured, like they were just waiting for me to arrive.
• The cactus. I can name more kinds now than I ever knew existed and they are each indescribably beautiful in their own ways.
• Sedona. It is my happy place, the place my spirit longs for, the minute I see those red rocks I feel my heart settle into a complimentary rhythm.
• My dog Mango that I was finally able to get when we moved.
• Tempe Town Lake and the plethera of things to do there.
• The Phoenix Zoo and Papago Park.
• World Wildlife Park and having dinner at Dillon’s with sharks.
• The Herberger Theatre, for a multitude of reasons.
• Driving to Ahwatukee to have Nikki do my hair.
• P83 with the Ball Park and restaurants for days.
• The proximity with which we are now available to both sets of parents and our aunt.
• Having friends and family visit and exploring together.
• Downtown Scottsdale.
• The White Tanks and it’s trails.
• The view of South Mountain on a clear day.
• The view of the sun setting almost any day of the year.
• Luke Air Force Base and the fighter jets that fly over regularly.
• Our booth at the Brass Armadillo.
• Creating a space for me to work on my spiritual journey complete with rattle, drum and sage.

While moving here was completely the right thing to do there are some things I miss still:

• The smell of the theatre as I walk in the back door.
• Seeing Jennifer every morning and sharing every detail of our lives together.
• Messing with Colton and wondering where our bucket is and why he won’t try harder.
• Hearing Jesse and Caleb’s laugh from the audience.
• Mike Mechanick’s smile.
• Yelling Tony’s name at the top of my lungs, for no reason at all.
• Being able to see Laurie for our lunches and dinners.
• Drunk Sundays with the worlds best neighbors.
• Family dinners at Tom and Lori’s.
• An only two and half hour drive to see Alex and Cory.
• Driving to San Francisco just to have dinner and come back.
• Being able to go to Napa, Sonoma and Calistoga for a day or a whole weekend to restock the wine frig.
• New Year’s Eve parties and cast parties and birthday parties and every kind of party.
• Writing or directing a show and seeing it come to life.
• All my theatre kids.
• Our volunteers who were more like family.
• Being a short drive from everyplace I’ve gone to school or lived.
• Knowing my favorite grocery stores and their layouts.

Now all this is not to say that I have traded one thing for the other. I don’t feel that way at all. I feel that there are times when our lives are outwardly, visibly in motion. Where we are seen and our impact is felt by many on a large scale. And then as the Wheel of Life portends, there are times when we retreat into a dormant, restorative phase. A phase of healing, incubation and ripening. I am blissfully a part of the later, but only for a time. I feel my phoenix rising and rebirth already begun. The desert is a beautiful place to be transformed.