Paint and Pixels

Things I will miss about Utah

OK, so this blog is a little bit cheesy and sappy but isn’t that what you supposed to feel when one chapter of your life is ending? The onset of summer always makes me feel a little sentimental anyways. Maybe it’s the extra sun rays that make me start to reminisce about all the happy times…

Although it may surprise you, there are actually a few things I will miss about this place. I have already started praying that God will replace them in Colorado. This is a list (not necessarily comprehensive) of the things I will regret leaving behind.

1. The Mountains I know! I know there are mountains in Colorado too. But I don’t think they are quite as impressive as the mountains here. Our house seems to be nestled snuggly against the towering mountains near our house, and I love the way it makes our home feel so cozy. It seems like you can never get that close to the mountains in Colorado, and I don’t know why. It must be an optical illusion that the mountains here are closer, because on the rare occasion that an airplane flies near to them, you get a better perspective of how far away they really are. Otherwise, the airplane would crash into them. I especially love the mountains during sunset when the sun glares against the rocks and makes them seem to glow a flaming orange. I actually once thought that there was a huge fire on the mountain while the sun was setting. After the sun sets, on summer evenings, the moon creeps up behind the mountains and looks huge. It is an unreal sight that makes me feel like I am in a movie. As the moon travels higher into the sky, it gradually appears smaller, for some specific scientific reason. Maybe God will replace the mountains with a tree or river or meadow or something… I just don’t know.

This isn't the greatest picture to show how the mountains looked from my house, but you get the idea. This is Ben Lomond Peak, which we see out our front door. Supposedly the Paramount Pictures logo is designed after this mountain. Cool huh?

2. Stephanie In my life, I have pretty consistently established a pattern when it comes to friendships. I tend to make a friend, become best friends with her, and then break up about six months to a year later. You wouldn’t believe how many best friends I have gone through in my relatively short life. Stephanie is the first friend I have had that breaks that pattern. I have been friends with her for almost 4 years, and hopefully longer. I don’t know if this is due to changes I have made in myself (which I, no doubt, have), or if Stephanie is just a diamond in the rough that I was lucky enough to find. She taught me that yoga is important for moms; she’s tried on bras for me in the middle of Sam’s; she’s been comforting when I needed comfort; and most importantly, she taught me that it's OK to not put things away. Stephanie never puts things away. She leaves everything she ever uses out in the open- especially in her bathroom. That is why she is so much more diligent about reading her Bible than I am. It’s because she never puts it away. In fact, she doesn’t ever bother closing it. It is always sitting open on her kitchen counter. And that’s probably the biggest reason why I will miss her and I am especially praying that God will send someone to… not replace her… but fill in for her since she won’t be around. This is when we went snow tubing.

3. Javier’s Mexican Restaurant After a hard day when I am feeling stressed, or sad, or especially happy, or just normal (but especially if I haven’t had time to cook), Javier’s was always the perfect comfort. Their bean burrito with sour cream and guacamole and yellow rice couldn’t be better. And the chips and salsa are perfect. And after all that, when I go up to the counter to pay, a handful of butter mints (that probably have tons of germs and unknowns on them) is the perfect ending to a perfect meal. Every time I called for take out, no matter what I ordered, or what time I called, I was always order number 100. I like that kind of consistency! I am defiantly praying that God will replace Javier with another fine Mexican man in Colorado. This is me and Roxanne at Javier's. Needless to say, it is a pretty old picture. Look how cute she was!!!!!

4. The kid’s preschool I think it is peculiar that sometimes the biggest blessings in my life are things I wasn’t even asking for, praying for, or looking for. I never worried about finding a good preschool for my kids- probably because I didn’t consider worrying about it (otherwise I would have). I didn’t even look around for the best preschool. I simply enrolled Rocket in the first preschool I found (I did the same thing when I was looking for a husband). It just so happened to be one of the best parts of Utah for us. Miss Laura, the director, has got to be the warmest, most encouraging lady I have ever met (and I’m not just saying that because I know you’ll read this, Laura!) I know that my kids are more confident, happy children because of the preschool and that gives me so much joy. The best part of my day is usually when Rocket tells me about something he has learned in preschool. Like: “did you know Pluto is the smaller planet?” or “did you know bugs and catfish live in ponds?” or “did you know clouds can look like pancakes or like fluffy cotton balls?” Those things fascinate me too.
I am slightly torn over whether or not I should be praying that I find a good school in Colorado for the kids. Although God’s never NOT given me something I have prayed for, he didn’t need me to pray in order to take care of it this time, why should I pray that he will take care of it next time?
We had to pull the kids out of school about a month early, due to the early sale of our house (a reminder that we should be careful what we pray for). Even so, the year is coming to a sweet end for me- mostly because I finished the new classroom’s mural in just the nick of time. Here are some pictures of the mural. As you can see, my airbrush came in handy and has added some new charm to my old style of painting.

Here's the whole thing all at once. This is the little potty room.

Ok, so I will miss all of these things. BUT, the good news is that I get to take all the things that I loved most about Utah with me- my darling darling children and my wonderful husband and my couches. Awwwwwww!!!