Some Restaurant-related 101 Things and the Move

I was able to check off a couple more things from my 101 list. I finished trying 20 new restaurants (I actually surpassed that, too... I kind of like trying new places.) And I left a 100% tip at another restaurant.

I'm now moved and pretty settled into my room that I'm renting in a house. (Yes, I did end up finding a place to live, despite my kind of freak out in my last post.) I think I'll like it. I know it's where I'm supposed to be, but that doesn't necessarily make it easy. Having to essentially start over is hard. A big part of me just wants to be back in Provo, even though I know that isn't home anymore.

Things change so fast. Boise wasn't even on my radar screen a little over a month ago. And now I'm here for the foreseeable future. And I start my new job tomorrow.

This still feels a bit surreal. But I'm going to make it work. I have to.

Another 101 List Accomplishment... and House Hunting

I was able to cross another thing off my 101 list today.... to write a friend/acquaintance a nice note/text every day for a month. I know that probably doesn't seem like much, but I thought that it'd be a good thing for me to do. I know how much simple texts or notes have meant to me at certain times of my life, and so I tried to spread some of that happiness. It was a nice reminder to think of others who might need a boost and not be so wrapped up in myself (like I am sometimes prone to do). I hope to continue to be in tune enough with the Spirit to be able to reach out to others who may need help, even if it's just as simple as sending a text.

In other news, I hate house hunting. I've been looking online and making phone calls and sending e-mails pretty much since I accepted the position, and I'm finally out here to look at things in person. It was hard enough doing things from afar, when less than half of the people you contact respond to your inquiries. But it's hard being here, too. Things I've seen so far in person just aren't right. And I'm not super hopeful about anything tomorrow. I'm supposed to be moved up here in a week and a half! I'm definitely freaking out a bit. It's overwhelming. I never thought I'd be making a major move by myself like this and it's really difficult.

I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be at this job, so I know I'm supposed to be somewhere up here. But I'm just not entirely sure where that somewhere is. And that's frustrating.

Let's hope things work themselves out tomorrow.

Multiple Temples in One Day

One of my 101 list items was to "go to three different temples in the same day." I figured that I should take advantage of the fact that I'm in Utah and can do that. There are so many members of the church who have to travel so far to make it to just one temple... who sacrifice so much money and time to just go once in their life. I'm so blessed to be able to go to the Provo temple once a week. And I figured before I leave Utah, I should hit multiple temples in one day. So yesterday, I did just that.

I visited the Provo, Mount Timpanogos, Draper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain temples. I also did my typical Thursday night Provo temple visit after all that, so I did five different temples, six times. It was really neat.

I'm so grateful for temples and the peace that I find in them.

Trip to Boise

I was invited to go up to Boise and interview in person for a job and so I headed up there this week.

It was a bit intimidating, since I've never been to Boise, but it ended up being a really cool experience. I got to spend basically a whole work day with them, meeting the team and getting more familiar with the job description. The lady who would be my supervisor even took me and saw little parts of Boise to point some things out. They also treated me to lunch at a cafe on a local airport, where I got a delicious chicken burger and tater tots (hey... it's Idaho). And we saw this awesome plane. (Sorry it's a bit blurry.)

After spending the time with them, I drove around Boise and the surrounding area a bit. I went to a beautiful park, went to the temple grounds where people were busy cleaning the grounds for the upcoming open house, and went to a class at the LDS Institute.

I actually quite liked Boise, for the bit of time that I spent there. Though the roads are so crazy. I was so grateful for my navigation system. I think I would've literally died without it (so many one-way streets)!

Examples of crazy Boise streets.

I thought that if they offered me the job, I would probably take it. It would be hard to move, but I really thought I'd like the job and I would adjust to it. However, I was thrown for a loop on Wednesday as I was driving back, when I got a call from a family clinic in Provo that I interviewed with. I was expecting them to say that I didn't get the job, since I've been getting several rejection calls and they had told me that they would let me know early in the week if I got it. I figured since they were calling on Wednesday, they were informing me that they picked someone else. But they ended up offering it to me. I was a mess the rest of the way home and the rest of that day. I didn't want to leave Provo. And I had a great offer to stay! And when Thursday morning rolled around and the job in Boise did offer me the position, I was so torn. I'd enjoy the job in Boise more, but I was so tempted to be able to just stay in Provo. After lots of tears and praying and talking to several different people, I did accept the Boise job and I'll be starting there the end of the month.

It's crazy how fast life can change! I'm definitely a bit nervous about moving, but I feel great about the position. Hopefully this will be the start of a great new chapter of my life.

Also... bonus pictures. Driving back from Boise, I pulled off the freeway to try to call someone and found this little shop that had llamas out front. It made me smile when I was really struggling with a hard decision, and I thought I'd share the happiness.