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A Real Relocation Story: Why They Chose Cottonwood, AZ

Judith:[00:00:00] Okay. Have you ever wondered really what it's like living here in Cottonwood, Arizona? Well, today my guest, miss Ally, is going to talk about that for her and her family, making that decision to move here as their home. Alright, so Ally. Tell us a little bit about you and your family. You and I were talking on Tuesday and I learned a really funny thing.

Now when you listen to her talk, you're not gonna believe this, but she's originally from Louisiana, which blew mind. It kind a few people's minds actually. It's like, oh my God, I think in New Orleans. Of course.

Ally: Yeah, so, well, it just depends on what I'm saying or what I'm doing in the moment. My customer service voice is very southern, 'cause people tend to be a little bit more nicer, you know, which is interesting.

Judith: Do you do the bless you thing? Bless you, bless your heart. Bless your,

Ally: sometimes, yes. It's if it's necessary. but it's just one of those things when I go back home and I'm around it a [00:01:00] lot, it'll kind of come out more. If I watch something, it just, it just happens, you know? But, yeah, I grew up in Louisiana since I was four, and then I.

Knew my future husband was not from Louisiana, which he's not, he's from California. And so we moved around a lot and then we just made three years here in Arizona. So that's kind of like a big deal for us. Yeah, yeah. It's like probably one of our longest days

Judith: actually. Actually today is well. The 31st or the 30th?

Yeah, 31st. The 31st of 2024. They closed on their first home here in Arizona. So I was just saying congratulations.

Ally: Yeah. We just made a year in our house one year. I know. We're like really proud of ourselves.

Judith: Is that a hard thing to do?

Ally: It's with our jobs and, well, mostly my husband's jobs, since he flies helicopters, we've moved around a lot for work, so that's why it's a big deal that we've even made it three years in the same area.

That's awesome though, because we've moved so much.

Judith: Well, and again, we talked a little bit. [00:02:00] Earlier this week about, well, how did you end up here?

Ally: Yeah.

Judith: And so tell us that story and kind of why you decided with all this moving around

Ally: Yeah. This is where we wanna be.

Judith: Why Cottonwood Arizona is where you wanted to be.

Ally: Yeah. So as you know, Rendell is a helicopter pilot. He actually went to school here in Prescott, went, which is so cool to Yavapai college and everything like that and then. The job that he got hired for was in Baton Rouge, which is how we met. And then over time we just figured out, oh, we love going to Arizona.

We have friends here, we've babymoon here. We vacation

Judith: babymoon?

Ally: Yeah. So its like,

Judith: what does that mean?

Ally: You have a little vacation before your first baby come? Oh yeah. So it was right before we had our first kid. so we, you know, we went to Jerome, we went to the Grand Canyon. We somehow went everywhere but Cottonwood.

But you know, we have a lot of friends up in Prescott and Flagstaff and, I don't know, we just, we came all through different seasons and we loved it. And we're like, well, what's the one place we both would be okay moving? [00:03:00] And we're like, well, let's go see if we like Cottonwood. And then, he got a job offer and we just took it.

And we've been here for the last three years now.

Judith: I love that. I love that. And it's funny, because you kind of touched on a lot of the reasons why this is a great area. Yeah. It's so freaking centrally located.

Ally: Yeah. I mean it really is.

Judith: It's close to, you said several of my favorite places. Jerome.

Yeah. Love Jerome. I mean, from my house, I, I timed it seven minutes.

Ally: Oh, that's nothing. Yeah. That's super. That's like, it just takes all the time to go up the hills. That's it.

Judith: Yeah, exactly.

So it's like, okay, I'm in Jerome. I love that. And then you mentioned Prescott. Yep. Which is. 45 minutes away, depending on how you drive.

Could be an hour. and then, okay, so we're gonna, we're coming back. We gonna take a little food and wine drink break. And I was just saying, Ally, thank you for starting out my new year. Yes,

Ally: thank you. And. You finished my last year Strong. So we're, we had a good year. We're gonna keep going.

Judith: We're gonna keep going. We're gonna keep this

[00:04:00] going. It's a good thing.

Ally: It'll be like a yearly thing now where we see each other at the new year.

Judith: Exactly. Every year. Every year course.

Every year. Of course, of course. And then of course, just so you know. Okay, we are at Divines. Yes. Divines. And I'll post their information below

Ally: the local winery here in Cottonwood.

Judith: Yes. Yes. Delicious. And restaurant winery. We're doing a flight each. She's doing whites. I'm doing reds 'cause. I just prefer Red Reds and she's doing the white. So we can comment on that as we do our interview. Yes. And then, Ms. Ally is also a hairdresser. She does my hair, not her fault. It looks like this today.

I did not.

Ally: We're more than just a realtor and a client at this point. So yeah, we have a very serious relationship.

Judith: Yes. Oh, so serious. And yes, we know the books. That she reads too. So don't look Ally go up on TikTok.

Ally: My little book talk, everyone keeps asking him, do you know what your wife reads? And he is like, I just pretend I don't know. So

Judith: it's all good. It's all good. [00:05:00] These french fries?

Ally: Yes. The duck Pommes Frites. I think that's right. 'Cause they're bake, they're cooked in duck fat. That's what makes them so good. They're so I know.

I know. So yummy. They're

one of my faves. So

yummy.

Judith: So, yes, we are here. And again, part of the reason that, we're doing it here is because we wanna support local businesses, restaurants.

Oh, all right. We just had to take a little break 'cause we have food and there will be pictures. You can see we got the charcuterie board. We're doing a wine flight reds and whites and the french fries.

Ally: Yes. The duck pommes frites cooked in duck fat,

Judith: cooked in duck fat, and they, and they're delicious.

Ally: They're so good.

Very, very, they're like bougie french fries,

Judith: I mean, bougie french fries, the bougie french fries, just so you can see. Bougie French fries.

Ally: I'm sorry, you're looking at me through the window. The family's good. [00:06:00] He just pointed at me for drinking wine. Oh man.

It's not that much. It's that. So

funny.

Judith: It's hard to do an interview and eat.

Ally: I know the french fries are. I know. They're so good. Delicious. My God. Jacob is the

head chef here and he knows. He knows what's delicious.

Judith: Oh, so there you go. The head chef knows good stuff and so far it's been great. Again, like I said, part of what's wonderful about living here is obviously we have a lot of wine vineyards.

Ally: Yeah. Beards and, which I didn't know a lot of moving here.

Judith: I didn't know that either.

Ally: I didn't know it was like a wine country

Judith: and it's the heart of wine country. Yeah. In Arizona. It's crazy. It's, it's crazy. I guess just because we have. Such temperate weather.

Ally: Yeah, that would make sense.

Judith: And it's not real wet, which wet is not good for vines.

Yeah. And grapes. So it's not real wet and it's temperate and the vineyards are just popping up everywhere. Yeah. [00:07:00] Yeah. And so, that is, I mean, I used to drink a lot more 'cause. I used to, but I'm older. Yeah. I'm wiser. Yeah.

Ally: This is my enjoyment.

Judith: So I mature. I've matured a little bit. I love this. You feel elegant.

Ally: Yeah. And well, it's so cozy too. It's,

it's, I've noticed all the places I've gone to and tried it's very cozy feeling. Mm-hmm. Which I think kind of is what this area has felt like for us, like homey, but cozy and then like you go to the right places, you know, like there's just a vibe. It's, this is a really positive vibe.

Judith: Exactly. You know, it just, it feels welcoming. Yeah. It feels like you're part of the community even if you're newer. Yeah. it's just,

Ally: which is intimidating at first when you move to a new area. Yes. However, I know my personality is very bubbly and my husband, you know, has said we wouldn't know anybody if it wasn't for Ally.

Which is true. I am a social butterfly and I know someone everywhere I go now, which is pretty impressive in a three year time span. Oh, totally. You know? Totally. So, but it, I still [00:08:00] wake up and I'm like, oh my gosh, we live here. It's so beautiful. I can't believe we live here. And I tell my friends that all the time.

I'm like, I miss you guys. But I love living here so much. I tell my family the same thing. Like, this is, this felt like home.

Judith: Totally, totally agree. I know. And I tell people this and they're like, what? I, I was like, before I moved here. I was retiring and I'm like, I gotta get outta Minnesota. I cannot handle a cold one more winter.

I cannot do that. Yeah. And I'm not a real water like water sports person. Okay. Plus the humidity is horrible in Minnesota. So I like I now, I just said that about humidity. My two choices when I retired was I'm gonna go to Florida, or I'm gonna to go to Arizona.

Ally: So really, really, really extreme humidity or No humidity.

Judith: Or humidity. Yeah.

And I'd never been here and so I went, you know, I should probably go on a vacation. Yep. I should check it out before I move here. And so I got in the plane and even before I landed in the Phoenix airport. Mm-hmm. [00:09:00] This is just my soul went Your home. Yeah. And I have to say that living here every day.

Mm-hmm.

I say, thank you, God, I get to live here. 'cause I love it.

Ally: I know. It's amazing. I look outside and I can see like Sedona from like our backyard or something, you know, and you're just driving and you're like, there's Sedona over there,

Judith: there Sedona, there's the Red Rock.

Ally: Look at these rocks. Like, you know, it's, it's usually really nice.

Hey John.

Judith: So it's kind of one of those places where. I, I don't know. I think people are either one way or the other. They absolutely love it here. Yeah. Or they wish they didn't live here. Right. There's really no between them. Right. At least that's what I found with people and I was chatting with a neighbor and I said to her the same thing that we just said was, you know, every day I say, I love living here. I'm so thankful. And I said, how many people do you think where they live? Say that? And she's like, not that many. No. Yeah. And I never said that in Minnesota. I'm sorry, I never said that. I'm [00:10:00] sorry Minnesota. I was born there, I didn't have a choice, but I get to choose Arizona and I love it.

the weather, like right now, yeah, it's January 2nd,

Ally: but I'm enjoying this so much.

Judith: And the weather, it's been a little cloudy and rainy. But the weather here is always so temperate.

Mm-hmm.

It's, we got seasons.

Ally: Yeah. Fall. That's, that's a huge thing for me coming from Louisiana where it's flat. It's so much humidity.

I have done Christmases and t-shirts and shorts 'cause it's so hot and like to feel Christmasy is so nice. But you're right. Like we have seasons here and back home it is just no, you have like a few months out of the year that are actually bearable. So it is nice to be here. And you see the leaves change and like, yes, summer is hot, but it's not deathly hot like Phoenix area.

It is. Oh God no. You know, but it doesn't last long. It doesn't last too long and there's no humidity. It's a dry heat.

Judith: It's a dry heat. But I noticed. And this [00:11:00] is pretty cool because I like to do outdoor stuff. Yeah. I like to hike. I like to get outside. I can't stand being in the house all the time with the air conditioning on and or the heat on.

Yeah. And in the evenings and early morning you can still get outside even if it gets up. Yeah. It feels really nice digits during the day, it cools down. And that's because we don't have urban issues with pavement and buildings. Yeah, that's true. Holding the heat. We, we are a small community.

Yeah,

it's less than,

Ally: I mean, I thought, I came from a small town and then I went to my husband's small town, and then we came here.

This is even smaller. It, it, it's actually, it's a very intimate town.

Judith: It really is. I mean like you will know

Ally: somebody that knows somebody and all it's, everyone's connected somehow or another, you know?

Judith: Exactly.

Which again, I grew up in a small town. I grew up in a small town of like 700 people. Mm-hmm. This is a little bigger than that.

However. Some of the neighboring towns are not so big. I mean, Jerome, actual residents who live there [00:12:00] mm-hmm. Is probably close to what I grew up with. Yeah. It's

very, very small. It's, it's very small. Like

they actually live there. And then you have Camp Verde and Rim Rock and Cornville, who are also very small communities.

they don't even have downtowns Really. No. Camp Verde kind of does. Yeah. Rimrock doesn't? No,

not really. Yeah. And you live in Rimrock?

Ally: I do live in RimRock and I really love it. It's actually, a little more on the low key side, which is what we really enjoy. Especially like my husband growing up on a farm. He's not used to really having neighbors.

I don't care either way, but also because we have three boys and we have dogs. It's important that we have somewhere for our kids to run around and be boys because they are so outdoorsy, which is like kind of goes back to like hiking and doing outdoors. There's so much stuff that is available for all ages, in my opinion, you know?

Mm-hmm. And like every. You know, aspect of like, oh, can I do this hike? Or what's an A hike That's okay with kids and dogs. Like I feel like you can find a variety of things. Oh, totally. Cool. You know, in that. So yeah, we love Rimrock. It's very [00:13:00] chill and there's cute little like hidden gems of like coffee shops and restaurants, you know?

And that's kind of like the fun part about is you get to find those little, those little hidden gems.

Judith: Those little hidden gem. Exactly. And that's a lot of. What makes this special Yeah. And draws people here for for sure, is because there are these little unique things that you get to do. Mm-hmm. You guys, you were just saying you went on the Verde.

Yeah, we just did the Christmas train. Railroad.

Ally: Yes.

We did their Christmas train. So, you know, we did. Santa's workshop. We had the whole Santa experience, which was so great for the kids, but the adults enjoy it too. I, I'll be there

next year. I know.

So I wanna definitely do one of their other seasonal ones or a longer train ride, you know.

But it was, I mean, that was my kid's dream. We wanted to go on a train so bad. And, um, unfortunately Randall was out of town, so we kind of missed out on it, but we'll go again.

Judith: So in the fall we did fall for the bruise, the booze and bruise. Well, yeah. Well, they have a chocolate one.

Oh, I, okay. I am sold on the chocolate, the

wine and [00:14:00] chocolate.

They have a Valentine one. Okay. In, that's the wine and chocolate. And we went in the fall and we paid, a little extra and then we got into the, Car that had like, we had our own bartender. Oh, nice. And we got champagne and we had a little buffet. Oh, nice. Actually ran across that video. I'm like,

yeah.

Ally: It was a lot of fun. Excuse me. It was a lot of fun. Like more fun than I was expecting because I'm like, Ooh, I don't know how I'm gonna feel about it. But the kids loved it, and that honestly brought the most joys because they were so stoked, you know? And they had so much kid friendly. Things because I mean, we are, we moved to a community that, we kind of touched this on Tuesday, that people think it's just retirement.

But there are younger people moving in. Mm-hmm. And they are starting to have, we're starting to have more kid friendly, young parent, young adult activities. And I think that's huge as far as like, you know, you have to start growing that [00:15:00] community eventually with younger people, you know? so it is nice that we are finding stuff to do with our kids that we don't have to go so far to do.

Exactly. Which is to me huge. Like it's, you get to stay local, you get to support local, and that is really nice.

Judith: Exactly. Exactly. And I do think that as I'm looking at more and more activities in the area, like they did the stationary parade.

Ally: Oh yeah. I was wondering how that went

Judith: and that the kids loved it.

Oh, okay. It was awesome. It was very kid oriented. Oh, that's nice. Very, very kid oriented. And I enjoyed it 'cause it was just fun watching all the kids Yeah. Have their fun and seeing Santa Yeah. And lots of treats for them. That is, yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, part of being retired doesn't mean extracting yourselves from young people.

Right, right. It's, it's important I think, to have that nice blend of retired people, older people, and the younger generations because it helps us to stay engaged in life, I think. Mm-hmm. And it's, [00:16:00] it, it's what keeps the community growing

Ally: Well, yeah.

And it brings like a youthfulness that some people probably don't realize.

You need that in a community and like that. To me, that's huge. You know, like you need the, the wise. And stuff, but you also still need like the fun and the mellow. Like you need that clash of like a little bit of different cultures and personalities and stuff. You know, like I know when I do hair, I'm not everybody's cup of tea, but I at least know I can find a way to relate to them, no matter like their age, which is important.

Judith: Yes,

exactly. Exactly. And um, the other thing, and you've talked about this. That is really, I mean, there are so many outdoor things to do. And you've talked about camping.

Yes.

Several times.

Yes.

Talk about your wild children. Yes. Two, three boys,

Ally: three boys, and they're all like from seven down to two, so

Judith: they're amazing.

They're so fun. They're boys. They're boys though,

Ally: through and through

Judith: the whole mud One.

Ally: Oh my gosh, yes. We went camping. It was my first time tent camping up on Mingus, which is not far. [00:17:00] It's a little past Jerome, so I don't know, maybe took us 45 minutes to get to where we were going. But from Rimrock? Yes, from Rimrock.

And so it was, they found this giant mud hole. It had rained, I think a few days before, and I mean, head to toe. They like, we call it Lord of the Flies. Because we were with friends and out of all of the kids, I think there was like 11 kids, I think only three of 'em were girls. So the girls were just as much in there.

They were, you know, and we didn't bring water to wash them. So thankfully we were going home the next day. But they, they had so much fun. And that's really what that was about, was like they had such a great time that I enjoyed watching them happen. And that wasn't things I did growing up, but that's something my husband did.

You know, like, 'cause you grow up in the swamp, you do RV camping. Or you don't go outside because the bugs are massive, you know? And the humidity is nasty. Yeah. So to do that is like, oh, it's such a different experience. And I think that's why I'm enjoying it so much, because I'm obviously seeing it through my kids' eyes, but also like, this is so different for me [00:18:00] than what I grew up with, but like in a such a fun and unique different ways.

Judith: Exactly. Exactly. And part of the other thing, and you haven't done this a whole lot with your kids yet. But there's a lot of cultural things I'd call it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. museums that are really inexpensive or free Yeah. To go to and learn about the community. We were just talking about the petroglyphs.

Yes. Um, have you seen those yet?

Ally: No. My husband and the kids have seen 'em, so they do cool stuff without me and families in town, but I try to do other cool stuff too. You know, like we did Bearizona and that was like really fun. That was worth going to. Okay.

Judith: Williams is what, an hour and a half-ish

Ally: yeah, maybe from Rimrock.

It's probably like a smidge less,

Judith: but Okay. Okay.

Ally: But you know, because we've done the Grand Canyon with the kids, that's always fun, you know? yeah. They've gone to Montezuma Castle. We were just talking about Tuzigoot. We haven't done that one yet, but there's so much stuff to do that's so close. And we, my kids love going to Jerome.

That's one of their favorite places to go to. Yeah. They love seeing the skeletons all over the place. Oh, that is [00:19:00] so, it's so silly.

Judith: I go because of the history. Yeah, it's the history. Yeah. It's really neat. And the old buildings you, you can feel it's an old town. Oh, totally, totally. But it just like enthralls you.

Yeah. It just grabs you and you just wanna go.

Ally: And the views are beautiful. Yes, I do love going to drone.

Judith: Well, in general living here. I gotta say the views are,

Ally: it is, it's true. You can't, I came from flat country. There's nothing but lots and lots and lots of green and it's just trees and flat and some swamp.

Not, we don't all have alligators in our backyard. Everyone assumes that, but it's not true. So no alligators here, no. Nope. So it is, it's beautiful here.

Judith: And, and that's, I know some people, it kind of bothers them, but you can, like literally here you can see for miles and miles. Yeah. And miles. And I just love that.

And when I go back to Minnesota, it's like you just said, it's flat and trees and it's like, you can't see very far. And I, I dunno. I mean, I love [00:20:00] the mountains. I love that it's.

Ally: Seeing mountains for the first time was like mind blowing for me, but like in such a cool way, because I was like, oh my goodness, this is what other parts of the world look like.

Which is so silly, but it's also like, until you see it, you know, like. When it snowed earlier last year, my friends were like, don't you live in the desert? I'm like, no, we're in high desert. Yeah, we're in somewhere that does get snowed sometimes. And I was like, it is so beautiful up here. They're just, I mean, I was the same way.

I know. You just picture tumbleweeds and cacti everywhere and it's not true. And sand. And sand. Yeah. Yeah.

Judith: The first time I heard that it snowed here, I thought they were pulling my Yeah, you're like, and then I'm like, they have ski resorts.

Ally: Yeah.

Judith: Like yeah. If you go to Flagstaff. Yeah. Higher. Yeah. You just something about that they have ski.

I'm like,

Ally: and I didn't grow up with snow, like we don't get snow. If you get snow, we close everything down. It's like hurricane party day, but it's snow party day. You don't go anywhere. You just stay at home. You have some drinks and some food, and you stay home. You don't go anywhere. So it's [00:21:00] a change. That was a big change for me.

Judith: Yes. Well, they do tend to tell you to stay home if it's. Snows here too, because they don't have sand trucks. Mm-hmm. And snowplows. Yeah. It's not prepared. It's not prepared. So they prefer that you stay home. let me think. I'm looking at my little list here. We talked about it being centrally located.

I mean, that is to me a huge thing. We talked about the wine. Wine country, which just blows my mind. Family friendly history.

Ally: Very.

Judith: Is there anything that you can say about making the decision, not just because it was Reynold's job, right, but making the decision. To make this sort of your home,

Ally: you know, when we were originally gonna come out here, we're just gonna come look and visit.

We were like, let's just go see if we like the area. Because I weirdly hadn't heard of Cottonwood and I didn't realize how big Sedona was, which is so silly 'cause I specialized in wedding here in makeup and I had no idea that was a [00:22:00] wedding destination. So I felt so naive in that moment. Well now, you know, makes, when I was like, I wonder if weddings are big out here?

And they're like, yeah, it's huge. So when. We were like, we'll just go check it out. And then he got the job offer. I was like, we'll just move. We don't like it. We're living in our fifth. Well, we can move. But there was something that just,

Judith: okay, I pause you for one second. She was living in a fifth wheel with a dog, two dogs and three small children, and her husband.

Ally: I was told not to complain, and I never did. I never did, and I was probably the least excited person to buying a house.

Judith: I heard you were having some issues.

Ally: I was, they were like, is your wife so happy? And he is like, no. And then they're, they're like, she's probably the first one we've ever heard of. And I was like, just more realistic and, 'cause I had to be, I had to be a little skeptical, you know, too good to be true and like, is everything really gonna fall into place?

Because that's, that's actually what happened is we took the job, we moved here, everything fell into place. We made, we started to build our village of friends and people who either were in the same position as us or they're like, oh yeah, we've been out here. We just haven't found people [00:23:00] that are younger that kind of fit our vibe and our, you know, it's just, I don't know, it just all fell into place.

It's, it's kind of bizarre.

Judith: And you got your business going?

Ally: Yeah, so I started doing my own hair and makeup, you know, specializing in weddings and events, you know, high school dances, whatever's, you know, kind of big out here. 'cause you know, I grew up in the south where, you know, we did. The pageants, you do the Mardi Gras balls and then obviously the weddings and special events and all that stuff, and so like, it is nice that I've been able to do that.

Not just here. I've done it in Louisiana, I've done it in California, I've gone to Texas, I've been able to travel. So it's been very beneficial. But I, you know, told myself, I was like, if this is the right fit, I will find a salon. And I did. And I have been with rumors for over a year, and when I walked into the salon.

It felt like home.

Judith: See, isn't that just awesome?

Ally: And it's so crazy because I said I would never go back in a salon and it just kind of fell into my lap. And that was the thing is like everything just kind of started to work out and happen. And I'm like, oh my gosh, okay. It's meant to be. We're supposed to be here.

Our kids love it. [00:24:00] We love it. You know? 'cause it was so important that Randall and I were both in a place of loving where we're at together, you know?

Judith: Exactly.

Ally: And where we wanna raise a family.

Judith: Exactly. And I think that it comes circles back to all of the things that make Cottonwood amazing. Yeah. And you don't know that till you come here.

I think the other thing you touched on, which is huge, is that community, that connection. Yeah. And things just kind of falling in place and. I kind of feel the same way. Mm-hmm. That, that's kind of what's been happening, since I've been here, is things just falling in place and being home. Yeah. Just really feeling like I can put roots down here.

Yeah. I can, I can be as home here as I was. Because you lived, you grew up in the Louisiana. Yeah, I grew up in Minnesota, lived there my whole life. And I came here, and I'm gonna say this and I bet you can say the same. I have never once missed Minnesota.

Ally:[00:25:00] No. I miss do, miss the people in the food sometimes, but I don't miss living there.

Living there. Exactly. You know, because everyone's like, how do you stay so far from your family? And I'm like, you know, my parents did raise me to be a strong, independent woman, and I have been able to do that and go. But they have visited and they love it and they see why we love it here. And you can come live here.

We'll keep them in Louisiana, we'll keep them in Louisiana. I would like my in-laws to move out here, you know? We have a preference, but I mean, I would love for my in-laws to move out here. Wow. We're like, come on, just make your way. We know I'll someone, stay here, they'll

Judith: retire. We show them all these, awesome.

That's the plan. That's the

Ally: plan. And

Judith: they'll go, oh, why would we not wanna live here close to our three grandchildren?

Ally: Right. We're the only ones with grandchildren there you. So we would like, I mean, selfishly, we're golden children right now. I love it. I love it. But I love all my in-laws and all my sibling in-laws, so Yes, she does.

She does. She does.

Judith:[00:26:00] Some we like closer than others. Yes. Yeah. We just, you're feeling well,

Ally: just wanted to move this way.

Judith: Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah. Coming here. Sounds like it has been just a blessing for you and your family.

Ally: It's a blessing. It's been fruitful. It is like, you know, we found a great school for Ross.

He's going to the Christian school out here and he loves it. You know, 'cause we were nervous, like starting a new school. This is a big deal, you know? Of course it's, you know, it's normal, but like. He gets it from his mom. He makes friends with anybody. So, so he's done really well, but he loves going and that's such a huge thing for us to like, you know, we want that positive like, impact for them, you know?

Absolutely. Absolute. Since he is the only one in school right now, but Yeah. Yeah. So we do, it's just, it feels right. And that's what's so nice. And Randall loves his job and that's huge. 'cause this is his first job where we have relationships with his coworkers and we do stuff with them. And like it feels more like family and not work.

And I feel that way about my salon family. It feels more like a [00:27:00] family and not like a work. Just work.

Judith: I go to my job. Yeah.

Ally: Like you see me, I'm always having fun in there. Yes, she does.

Judith: She

Ally: has. I bubble a lot more than I do anything else. So,

Judith: yeah. So yeah. And, and I would highly recommend her for your hair if you're looking for anyone, your hair and makeup.

Yep. I know she didn't do my makeup today, so don't get upset about that. I did it. You can see how gorgeous she looked. She did a beautiful job. I try to put some effort here. It's all good. It's all good. Uh, well thank you all so much. Yes. Thank you for having me. Appreciate you. I know you,

Ally: I mean, we wouldn't be in our house if it wasn't for you and you dealing with my not excitedness, not

Judith: excited and very like.

Detail oriented husband,

Ally: which is good. He's particular and we love him many ways for it. So it's a

Judith: big investment and you should not take it lightly and just go, I'll take that house over there. Yeah. Just because it's in your price range. It's like you gotta look at stuff.

Ally: If he was happy, I knew I'd be happy.

'cause I'm really laid back about things. But you know how you have like yin and yang, like someone's like really [00:28:00] strict, you know, and does all the things and other one's like, happy go lucky golden retriever. That's me. So. You know, opposites of track.

Judith: So you did a great job. You're awesome that way. I love it.

I love it. Alright, well thank you so much. Thank you. This was lovely. Yes. Now we'll continue eating and drinking. Well, now that you've watched the video of my interview with Ms. Ally. And why she and her family have decided that Cottonwood Arizona is where they want us live. I encourage you to take a look at my top 10 reasons to retire here to Cottonwood, Arizona, as well as many of my other videos highlighting Cottonwood, Arizona and the Verde Valley.