Our Next Great Adventure

For a long time we thought Georgia would be the place we put down roots, but Heavenly Father had other plans for us. On Saturday, May, 20, 2011; we made our way back West. We watched the movers pack our whole life into boxes, watched our home go from the home that we had filled with memories, laughter, and love; to just a house we once lived in. As I watched the movers put our stuff onto the truck I felt the rush of excitement that comes with going to a new place, where you start with a clean slate and have a chance to be better than you were before. A new place filled with new adventures and new memories. I also felt a stabbing fear; fear of the unknown, fear of not fitting in. Fear of not making great friends like we made Georgia. I know everything will work out, but that first step is always the hardest.

So for the next few days our life was going to be filled with hotels, fast food, potty breaks on the side of I-80, and gross, gross, GROSS gas station bathrooms. The kids actually did great on the drive. It was such a blessing. There were only a couple of things that can make a car trip truly awful, those are, crying kids and stomach issues (let's just say we didn't stop for any Mexican on our trip). Thankfully we avoided both of those. I wish I could say we had amazing adventures seeing amazing things along the way, but mostly we just saw flat farm land (mostly cows) and sky. We did, however, have a great time singing songs (we love the Tangled soundtrack); talking, sleeping, and reading out loud to Jason (my dad gave me a great book about one of my ancestors). We did have a fun experience at a gas station in Wyoming. It was so windy when we drove through there. I'm talking gusts of like 50 mph. The kids had to go so bad and we were finally in an area where there was a turn off that had a gas station; the last three times they had to go we had to just pull over on the side of I-80. Having Charlie pee on the side of the road with the wind blowing that hard, made for an interesting experience. So we get to this gas station and I have to get the older three out of the car. The wind practically blew my door off! It was hilarious watching the kids faces when the wind hit them. I haven't heard the kids laugh that hard in a long time. The wind practically pushed us to the bathroom. I had visions of Charlie being blown away (have seen how skinny he is?).

Once we hit the Utah state line everyone started to get excited, which for the kids entailed singing our Utah song (I like to make up random songs about things, I know you wish you made up cool random songs too) and asking if we were at our house yet. After about the millionth time of asking Jason said, "Yes we are living here on the side of the road." They stopped asking after that.

The drive into the valley was amazing. There aren't words for how beautiful it is here. The mountains were still covered in snow (it snowed a week after we got here, crazy) and the sun shining on them made them seem to almost glow white.

So now begins our life in Utah. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about fitting in. Tomorrow is our first Sunday in our new ward and I'm terrified. I know everything will work out, but meeting new people is hard for me. I miss my old friends who knew me and where everything was comfortable. Other than that part it feels wonderful to be here. I forgot how much I loved the west coast weather. It was 78 today and I didn't feel like I needed to turn on the A/C in the car; I just rolled down the window and enjoyed the breeze. I haven't seen but one fly the entire three weeks we've been here. I love it, no cockroaches, big hairy spiders and any other big nasty bugs you can think of.

The home we are renting is pretty good. The only complaint I have is that the dinning area is really small and that the previous tenant didn't clean this place before they left. It was a disgusting mess. I have since scrubbed it down (several times in fact) and it is getting better, we've almost eliminated the funky smell in the basement. Despite all that it will be a good home for the next few years. Then we will be building our dream home, just not 100% sure where that will be. I'm 90% sure it will be in a community called Daybreak. This place is amazing. It has it's own temple (in the neighborhood), schools, 13 miles of trails for running or biking, shops, parks and the most beautiful homes! It's pretty amazing!

I look forward to seeing what life will bring to us out here. As long as our family is together I know it will be great!