Decisions, Decisions...

I’ve thought about starting a blog several times in the last few months, but I always push the thought away. What would I write? And who would want to read it anyway? After months of ignoring the thought, I'm finally giving in. It can be a good journaling tool for me, even if nobody does read it! I used to write in my journal incredibly faithfully, but my entries have slowly started getting less and less frequent, and I really don’t write all that often anymore at all anymore. Now I have all these journals stockpiled on my desk and I don’t know what to do with them! I also really love to write and hope some practice will help me improve. So hopefully you find my musings at least somewhat amusing. (I know what you're thinking..."I see what she did there." So clever.) :) 

We’ve recently been going through many steps toward making some big changes in our lives. Announcement! No, we're not having a baby. Nick has accepted a new position in Utah (can’t say where yet!) that we are so very excited about! We are so stoked to be closer to both our families and back near our beloved mountains! It will also be so hard for us to leave Iowa. Despite being where we met (which is obviously a big deal!), Dubuque has been a really important chapter in both of our lives, and we will miss our beautiful Midwest home and our wonderful friends. We’re excited to move, of course, but holy cow! This whole big change thing makes for a lot of work, and a lot of decisions. Where to live, where to go to school, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Speaking of school, another great thing about our upcoming move is that I get to finish my undergraduate degree on campus. Wahoo! Online classes are a great resource for a lot of people, but I have found that they are not for me. I’m not motivated enough to work that hard, I guess, but when did I ever think I would be? I only have 25 credits (insert happy dance here!) left until graduation, thankfully, but I’ve been exploring a few different options for finishing my degree. The shortest route is to stay at Utah State and finish it out, but that means commuting to Logan (yuck!). Another option I explored was to transfer to the University of Utah. This would add a few more credits, but A LOT more time because of their course schedule. Yet another option I explored was BYU (also yuck!).

I’m not sure why I hate the idea of going to BYU so much. I’ve always been a Cougar sports fan, and my dad, sister, and brother-in-law (not to mention my HUSBAND!) all attended there. It’s a great school, and cheap, too. After really struggling with even considering attending BYU, I figured out what my problem is with it. I hope this doesn’t sound self-righteous or prideful or whatever, but hey, this is my “journal” so I can say what I want. :) So much of my identity has been shaped by my attempt to stay away from the typical Utah Mormon stereotype. (so much for that, Miss Mrs. I-got-married-at-21) I love Utah. I especially love Salt Lake and the neighborhoods where I grew up. I think that because of those neighborhoods and the schools I attended, I don't think I've had the typical Utah Mormon experience. I celebrate that! I know many people are in the same boat as I am, so I don’t want to make this sound as if my experiences are somehow unique, but in comparison to many other people, I think they are. Because of the schools I went to growing up, I have had a lot of experiences in really diverse environments. I have come to love and admire so many people who have totally different backgrounds than my own. Since moving to a smaller town, I really miss that! Like, desperately. My life is made so much richer by these people. What scares me about attending a school like BYU is all the sameness, and I guess I don’t trust myself to stay true to who I am and want to be when there are so many social pressures to be a certain way. And I could be way off base here. In fact, I probably am. I probably sound like a jerk. I’m sure there are many environments within the school that are diverse, and that’s great! But I decided it wasn’t right for me. And besides all that, finishing my degree there would add a whole lot more credits, and credits=time!

Anyway…tangent. Eventually, after some surprisingly really negative experiences dealing with the University of Utah, and the prospect of unnecessary extra time, I’ve decided that I’ll commute to Logan (still yuck!). Thinking of all that time in the car is NOT exciting to me, but thinking of graduating in a little more than a year and starting grad school sooner is!

See ya in August, Utah!