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!!!

Flowers are Blooming!

Last fall we planted tulip bulbs just in time for us to enjoy them once before we leave our home. Nevertheless, it was well worth it, for they bring us much joy everyday. The kids and I choose a new favorite flower each morning. I hope the next owners of our home receive pleasure from them in years to come too. Here are some pictures of Roxanne enjoying the tulips:

Here is a picture of Rocket enjoying tormenting a frightened dandylion:

What a great find!!

On Saturday, I hosted my first annual garage sale in order to get rid of all the junk that I seem to acculate so easily. I made a lot of money and decided I ought to do it more often. After the sale, I took all the junk that didn't sell (which was a lot) to a thrift store to donate it. And while I was there, I did a little bit of shopping to replace all the junk I had gotten rid of. I came upon this beautiful painting and bought it for $8. I can't wait to get a new house to hang it in! I can't help but wonder what the story behind it is. If you know who this man is, let me know.

These are two more pictures of my beautiful friend Kelley.

Seahorses and Pregnant Women

This is the second piece of artwork I have created using my new airbrush. It was an assignment for my airbrush class to create a picture that includes a sillhouette. I was suposed to bring it back to class finished next week, but the Pregnancy Care Center of Ogden needed donations for their annual auction, and so I am going to give the picture to them. Besides, pregnant women kind of look like seahorses, anyways. Or maybe seahorses look like pregnant woman... I dont know. I have always thought that, and so when I heard a pregnancy center was looking for artwork, I knew it must of been this painting's destiny. My airbrush and I are becoming very well aquainted and adjusted to eachother, although I am learning that the airbrush is very picky about what kind of paints I feed him. He only wants the highest quality stuff.

Moving

So it looks like we will be moving. Matt excepted a job offer with another company, doing the same work he is doing currently. It will eventually end us up in good ole Colorado- and that's where we came from. Even after he excepted the job offer, I still didn't count on moving (yeah- cause that has happened a couple times in the past couple of years already), but the other night I walked into the bedroom and looked at the computer screen and gasped. What I saw really shocked me. It was a letter of resignation. I yelled out to him, "What the heck is this Matt??!!!" He actually had the nerve to print it up and give it to his boss the next day. Now all these moving companies and realtors are calling my house, just out of the blue! i guess reality is setting in for me.

So am I happy about the move? Well, I am indifferent. I could be happy in Utah. I could be happy in Colorado. I could be miserable to Utah. I could be miserable in Colorado. Infact, I could be miserable in Hollywood, or the Bahamas or China, or some other exotic place, even if I made a ton of money and was very popular. And... I could be perfectly happy in Antarctica, even if I never saw a penguin or polar bear (just as long as my kids gave me plenty of eskimo kisses). What I am trying to say is, even if my location has an uncountable amount of potential adventures and blessings, they are useless if I don't have the ability to enjoy them... and that ability only comes from God.

I had my whole summer planned out. I had planned an incredibly adventurous roadtrip with just my husband. I had planned a ladies only camping excursion. Rocket and I had planned lots of hiking trips and treasure hunts. Now I don't have any plans- which is OK, because a blank itinerary has more potential than a full one. And I am counting on God to fill it up with all sorts of unexpected discoveries. His spontaneous appointments tend to be more enjoyable and adventurous than anything I could ever plan.

Wish me luck and grace in my upcoming embarkation to Colorado. Matt is leaving me next week, so the kids and I will be on our own for the next two months. That is a scary thought for me. I am hoping the house will sell quickly so that Matt and I can quickly reunite in Colorado and live one happy life in the Rocky Mountains!

Kelley

These are some pictures of my lovely lovely (and pregnant) friend Kelley. She is due to have a baby boy named Devan in Apil.