Do I have an option?

[Daisy and Delilah]

Beth, if you have a plan to be able to stay behind successfully, I would go with that. Especially if your parents feel you're responsible enough to make your own choice. It sounds like the thought of making this move is practically making you sick. I remember feelings like this when I was young. It wasn't pleasant at all.

I was given a golden opportunity to move to a much nicer house while my kids were in high school. I refused to move so they could graduate from the school they wanted to graduate from. I felt they had moved enough in their lives and it was time to stop changing their lives to suit everybody elses. I know this doesn't describe your situation. I just wanted to tell you the story so you could see that I know how you feel.

Go with your gut feeling on this. I'm not saying the grass isn't greener in Arizona. Who knows? Just do what feels right to you. My .02 cents

[Scooter's Mom]

The part of AZ you would be moving to (near Kingman) does get rather cold during the winter months. Kingman can actually get snow - it's at a higher elevation than Phoenix, where I live.

I moved to Phoenix from Houston in January 1999. I had never set foot in Arizona.

Change can be scary. I am not one who likes change, and so moving here was HARD. My mother was terminally ill... so that made leaving home even worse. But I did move here, and LOVE it.

Good luck with whatever you do. Please just remember to keep an open mind at whatever you end up doing.

[Catsnclay]

I live in Glendale AZ. which is part of the Phoenix area and I LOVE it. You can not get me to move back to my native NY for anything in the world.


I don't know how old you are, but when I was 13 we moved from NY to AZ and I hated it too, until I met a few people and started a new life.

Moving IS hard, but Catnapper said it best, if you don't learn how to make changes now, it will only get harder the older you get.

As for your boyfriend, he can come and visit you and vise versa. I also know you are going to hate me for this next comment, but BF's come and go, you are young and I'm sure you will have no problem finding many a boy-friends here at all! Kingman is NOT a bad place, it is a rather small town, in comparison to Phoenix and from your signature, it looks like you enjoy horses.....well guess what?!!! Kingman is the perfect place for you and your horses! I would love to move there! It does snow there, but not a lot so you will have lots of riding time.

I think you also said that if nobody liked it in a year, you would all move back. That sounds more than fair to me. Your parents are willing to work with you and your sister, why not give them a chance too?

Bunny

P.S.
I noticed that you liked basketball - we have season tickets to the Phoenix Suns - if you want, when you move here, contact me and I will take you to a game - how's that??? PM me for more info!

[Toby's my baby]

Thank you everyone for the great advice. Just so you all know, I'm taking everything you say to heart.

I haven't really sat down with my parents much, but me and my dad talked about moving a little bit tonight. I told him I didn't want to go at all, and he knows I dont want to for sure. He said that he is going to keep his business here, and that he would be comming back to Minnesota for 10 days out of each month, he also said that he is going to keep one of houses empty but furnished (we own somewhere around 30 places that we rent out) so he has a place to stay. I mentioned to him that since he was going to be having a place, that I could just stay there. I don't think that would fly over AT ALL though. If I did go with them though, I would for sure be comming back with my dad when he does come back.

My dad said, " tell your mom that you dont want to go" and I said "why" and he said "so she knows you're staying..." ... what is that supposed to mean?

As for the whole boyfriend thing...how dare you say that Bunny! Just kidding I know.. so many people tell me this, and of course, it's reality, so I shouldn't have my mind set on not moving just because of Josh. He has told me that if I do end up moving, that I shouldn't make a decision based on him. It is so hard to make a decision when you are so attached to someone though.

I think I'm going to have to sit down and talk to my parents SOON, before my mom goes down for the job interview, or maybe after, I'm not sure yet, but I want them to know exactly how I feel so everything is straight.

I also like the idea of living down there in the summer and going there for holidays and stuff like that. I would probably like that actually, and that way, this summer if I don't like it, I can come back and go to school, and it won't be that big of a deal.

Where we are living is very close to Yuca, which isn't even really a town really, but I guess it is lower elevation so they don't get snow there..? But.. I can deal with the little snow they did get, you have to keep in mind, I've lived in Minnesota my whole life.