new beginnings

Well, I have a lot to say but I am not sure where to start and how much to actually go through.

First. Congratulations to my little sister Sarah for landing her first job. AND it's the job she wanted. SUPER proud of her!

Second. I am writing now because bathroom number two has yet to be cleaned and organized. Bathrooms are not my thing. Especially hair in bathrooms.

Third. I already have two interviews for jobs lined up. One in same day surgery this friday and another for a surgery center next thursday. I also turned down two interviews due to timing. I am really freaking out by all the responses and how quickly they have come. I keep asking God to provide the job with the best fit and shut all the superfluous distracting doors. The least amount of choices for me, the better. I have Fort Collins job mentality still too. I nearly gave myself an ulcer during the drive on Friday trying to decide to go to an interview Monday morning. Finally decided to turn it down but I kept having to justify the reasons to myself. So many options now and I am unsure what I'd really like to do in nursing.

Fourth and then some...

I decided to share a few shots of the drive over. Wyoming, especially the southern portion, is lacking in green and variety. The land is wild and not a lot of people call it home. After miles and miles, we hit some slightly varied topography but no green still.

Brown...Brown...Brown... I don't recall the river actually being green

Growing up in the southeast where everything is green and rolling, Wyoming remains a difficult state for me to love. Sure the northwest corner is pretty fabulous but the rest remains mostly stark. From I-80 you can eventually see some mountain ranges off in the distance. That adds a little to the state.

First bit of Utah is much like Wyoming. These shots are lovely... (not)

 It is hard to get the timing right with an iPhone, traffic, gross windshields and the antenna. This is the best I could do for the Utah sign.

Then it starts looking like this... getting better!
(the size isn't depicted well, these were rather large)

I love the west, minus the middle of nowhere Wyoming. It is so rugged and wild. Everything is simultaneously lovely and formidable.  I cannot imagine trying to get through the terrain in a covered wagon. It's insane. If I had been a pioneer, I would have turned around or been run over by a wagon wheel long before hitting this part of the country.

MOUNTAINS! see some ski slopes? this was around Park City
(dirty windshield, due west, glare shot)

Every single picture I've taken so far just doesn't do justice for the views around these parts. This area is more beautiful that we ever thought.


So we arrived, safe and sound, but you know that already. I also tried to take pictures of the inside of the house. Honestly, how realtors take inside pictures of houses and make every room look gigantic is amazing. Mine all looked terrible and probably would have made you more confused. Davis and Eric did all the manly work of unpacking the truck while I attempted photos and setting up the kitchen. Thank you to our dear, dear friend Eric for moving us and keeping us company the first weekend in Salt Lake City. We both are praying you join us out here!

The boys checking out the yard. GARDEN BEDS. YESSSSS.

It was a perfect Friday evening. The sun was shining and the temperature was probably in high 60s/low 70s. It felt like spring. The flowers were blooming around town. Everything was alive. 

Most of the kitchen

 The only decent shot of inside the house is of the kitchen. It's about 100000x bigger than our old cozy cooking nook. We are excited to make delicious meals for people in here. As for the rest of the house, use your imagination. Or better yet, come visit us!

I am excited to say that Ingrid has now mastered the steps fully. The doggie door she can use but sometimes needs reminding that she can let her self in/out now. Way to go Ingrid! We are such proud (ridiculous) pet parents. 

She used to sit here and whine until you moved her past the narrow bend in the stairs.

 
 What else to say? I am trying to catch up to the current minute.

We adventured to Ikea on Saturday. We played and unpacked. Sunday we all went to church. That was the day I really missed the familiarity of Grace in Fort Collins. It always feels weird to be the new people. And there were a ton of kids. TONS. In about four years, the youth group will go from two to thirty it seems. Or from no youth group to a youth group. Either way, lots of young families with kids. We are looking forward to getting involved in a small group as soon as possible.

View from church to the west.

Mountains to the east too.

Sunday afternoon after a large, long, and wonderful lunch with old friends of Eric's, we took a walk up to the University of Utah campus.  Eric showed us some old stomping grounds. All of us, including Ingrid, enjoyed stretching our legs a bit.

Our neighborhood is nice. We can see mountains from our bedroom window by day. At night we can see city lights. It reminds me of living at Covenant on top of Lookout Mountain. We are excited to explore this city and area.

After the weekend, Davis started his job. Eric went back to snowy Fort Collins this morning. It's just Ingrid and I now.  I spent the morning reading news and reports from the Boston Marathon bombing. I cried a bit at how terrible we can treat each other and yet I cried even harder reading all the kind, sacrificial, and gracious responses from others. I cry more often at acts of kindness. It's just one of those weird things about me.


Okay, I must conquer the bathroom now.