The Decision

By the end of July, Bear and I were still unsure of what lay ahead of us. However, we had to make a decision, and we had two choices. To stay in Utah for the next year or move back to New Jersey. Both had its pros and cons. Utah- we already lived in the state. No big moving costs. But we didn’t love living in Utah. New Jersey- we would get amazing health insurance. Bear would be around his academic crowd. But we would have a huge moving expense. We weighed all of our options. 

Over. And. Over. And.Over. We thought we had made our final decision, which was to stay in Utah. But after sitting on that decision for a couple days we decided to re-evaluate. Something wasn’t feeling right to either of us about staying in Utah and we wanted to be 100% sure about this decision.

Again, we created a pros and cons list. But this time the pros for moving back to New Jersey outweighed the cons. We deducted the huge moving expense from the New Jersey cons list because we thought we could move across country with only what fit in our Ford Focus. We would have to ship a couple things but we were determined to make it work. The decision was finalized and we both felt good about it. We were New Jersey bound in just a few short weeks.

Now the problem we were going to run into was the very short time period we had to find a house to live in once we arrived in New Jersey, figure out what we were taking, and how we were going to pack everything into our fairly small car. We wrote out every type of to-do list and started checking things off as quickly as we could. The search for finding a place to live proved to be a lot harder than expected. With only five days left until we said goodbye to Utah our living arrangements in New Jersey were still unknown. We were preparing ourselves to be 'homeless' when we arrived. But graciously my Dad stepped in and found us the perfect house in the perfect location. We literally signed the lease and sent a deposit the day before we were starting our journey to the east. Once that was all finalized everything else didn’t seem so daunting.

Next on the list was figuring out what we should take. We had VERY limited space so we had to be extremely choosy as to what we brought. One day I will write an entire post on how we did this. It might be useful to someone else that finds themselves in the same situation. But for now, I will tell you that we cut back on shoes, clothes, and even my nail polish collection.

^Saying goodbye to all of our stuff in the storage unit. Shento relaxing on top of the piles of clothes.^

By this point both Bear and I were running on adrenalin. I don't even remember having feelings or attachments towards anything we had to leave behind. I just remember thinking that we had a mission (and time frame) and we had to accomplish it. We made piles of things we were taking and piles of stuff that needed to go back into our storage unit. We did a couple test runs to make sure everything fit in our car. It's amazing how packing becomes more of a creative art when you have limited space. 

^The test run to make sure everything fit in our car.^

It was almost go time. We felt pretty confident we had done everything we needed to do to make this journey a successful one.  We had checked everything off of our lists, brought the final stuff to the storage unit, and shipped a couple 50+ lb. boxes to New Jersey. 

It was go time. And we were ready. 

we shall be moving

wish us luck today!

we are packing up the u-haul and movin are stuff to provo.

ahhh.... 

ready. set. GO!!! 

our new home on e street

our house is coming along nicely. 

the walls have been painted, the carpet has been cleaned, and the kitchen has been scrubbed.

 we owe a HUGE thanks to both of our parents for helping/doing a lot of the work.

 we will be loading up the u-haul and moving all of our stuff tomorrow. 

let the craziness of un-packing and decorating begin! 

and lastly, no this pictures has nothing to do with moving, provo, or even bear and i. it was taken in park city of some random donkeys that i thought were cute! 

welcome home

whew, yesterday was a whirlwind. we signed the lease, got the keys, and started painting our new home.   the new coat of paint already brightens up the rooms and makes the house look a lot more charming. i have a million ideas for decorating and i am anxious to start moving our stuff/boxes in. today, we are heading back to the house to paint. the more time i spend in the empty house, the more it feels like our home.

Hello

Hello, hello, hello,

this past week was busy. so many little things in our life are happening and it started feeling overwhelming. we have been afraid of jinxing it so we have stayed quite, but we have found a cute old house (to rent) that we will call our home sometime next week. the house is everything we could ask for. two bedrooms plus an office, tons of natural light, a fenced in back yard for Shento, and the best part, they allow dogs! it feels good to have finally made a decision and to know that this is the start of our new adventures in utah.  

in other news, we still miss nj. isn't that the craziest thing? i miss our routine, all of our favorite restaurants, and our friends. i am so thankful that we took full advantage of living there. i have strange flashbacks when we visit local stores that we frequented in nj. i sometimes have to remind myself that we are no longer back east.  i think that i am ready for a trip or i am ready for our friends to come visit us (Janice). we have a nice house and i will be a great host. yes, i am bribing everyone to come visit us. 

also, i am excited about the snow. this weekend i was ready for the predicted blizzard that we were suppose to have but it didn't happen. it was just cold. but this cold is great. in nj when the temperatures dropped you seldom went outside. the humidity made everything unbearable. now we can go for winter walks without feeling like we are going to freeze to death. 

and lastly, the house gets a fresh new coat of paint and we are in the process of picking out the colors. that task is harder than it seems. we stared at all the paint color samples hoping for one to jump out at us. instead we left about a dozen different choices. 

Provo

hope that you are having a great week thus far.

I feel like ours has been productive.

we have checked things off of our never ending to-do list.

We have been moving along with the job search, house search, and grad school.

And after much debate, thought, and stress

we have officially decided to call Provo our home for the next little while.

And while I never thought that I would ever live in Provo/Utah County,

I am starting to except and like the idea.

It's beautiful here and we have potentially found an awesome Indian food restaurant

that I am super excited about (as long as I can find me some good Indian food, I will be great).

The house search is proving to be more challenging than we thought.

Especially in this area because everyone here is dog haters.

How can you not like dogs? Doesn't make any sense to me.

I couldn't even image life without my adorable Shento.

We are in Provo today. I am actually sitting in the student library typing this. Bear is teaching his class.

I am really hoping he hurries up because my stomach is starting to rumble.

Breakfast is sounding yummy right about now.

Any suggestions on awesome things to do in Provo?

We are going to go exploring today.

this shall pass

Moving has been hard and exciting all wrapped up into one bundle. It has been a challenge, and has tossed us many hurdles to jump. This move has not gone exactly the way we had hoped for. And at times both Bear and I feel like this decision of moving out West was not in our best interest. Our home is back East, our daily routine and life is still there, and at times, it feels like who we are stayed, while our bodies drifted west.

It’s funny, since moving, things have been such a roller coaster. And recently it has taken the ups and downs more forcefully.  Things were looking good- Bear went in for an interview for a position that he loved, we found the perfect house, and I was in the interview process for a job that seemed appealing. The interviews went great, the house checked out, and we were feeling like things were turning around for the better. And then wham, within days of each other everything feel through. The job that Bear would of loved was given to someone that had fourteen years experience (but he was their second choice), the house was given to the people who turned in their application right before us, and my potential job was not looking good. To say the least, 

I was feeling rather down about our situation, wondering if and when things were going to change.

But then I remembered all the blessings that we do have. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table, wonderful company that has been so gracious about us living with them, our good health, a puppy that loves us dearly, and each other. 

This situation that we are going through shall pass, and we will walk away stronger.

This quote from an unknown source says it all “ if you feel like your life is in turmoil, remember that this too shall pass. No matter how dark it gets- this too shall pass my love. Focus on what you want to create. And take one baby step at a time. Keep moving towards where you want to go.  After darkness… there is always light.”

I think I will create something today- and maybe even write a list of all the wonderful things in our life. 

I will try to remember that when we look back on these memories we will remember the hard times, but also everything that those hard times taught us- and I am sure we will be grateful for these moments. 

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

it seems as if this past month was played out in fast motion. 

it was a whirlwind of events. 

we failed to really document our trip out west, besides some measly phone pictures. 

but being that it was our 4th time driving across country; we knew the scenery, had already gotten souvenir post cards from each state, and the excitement factor faded after the 2nd across country trip.

here are those measly phone pictures documenting our life this past month. 

 

 

here we are, driving across the plains of Kansas

Entering Colorado and the beautiful mountains. 

Shento enjoying a little fresh air before getting back into the cramped u-haul

we spent a couple days with Bear's Aunt and Uncle in Ridgway Co. 

we enjoyed the small town festivals for the 4th of July.

and watched the traditional fire hose fights (above). 

i was also lucky enough to celebrate my birthday 3 different time. 

thanks to everyone who made me feel very loved and special. 

and lastly, while house searching in salt lake, bear and i tried the new smash burger. 

the selection of buns are impressive and it was nice to be able to sit outside. 

one thing that we have really loved about being in Utah is all the outdoor

 activities, scenery, and fresh air. 

waking up to the beautiful mountains 

and crisp lake every morning 

is a refreshing change from New Jersey. 

Utah, as of lately

The settling in process has begun. We have filled a storage unit that contains our stuff until we find permanent residents. We have started job searching, and we have looked through many different areas and houses around Salt Lake City. The housing search has been tedious, but we have narrowed it down to the area that we would like to call home. So we are keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that a house comes up that we adore.

As for now, we are settled in at my in-laws house, enjoying the company of our families, the delicious dinners, and the fact that we are blessed enough to have this opportunity to stay at their house and not have to rush into any quick decisions about home buying/renting, and jobs.

In other news, Shento seemed to be affected by the move the worst. His schedule was all mixes up which caused him to go into a slight panic mode. His tummy was bothering him, he was extremely needy, and he was not acting like himself. I realize that this is a dog that I am talking about. However, he is part of our family and we were worried! I am happy to announce that as of a couple days ago, he is back on track and seems to be doing lots better. Shento loves that he has a non-stop play date with one the cutest boxers ever, Ali (my in-laws dog), he is crazy about his swims in the near by lake, and there are a ton of people around here that give him loads of attention. I would say that he is living the good ‘doggy’ life.

Everything around here is going good. And we are happy to be in Utah surrounded by everything that we love. Here’s to Utah and the adventure that awaits us. 

we have arrived

after 41 hours
speeds of 30 mph
a u haul packed full
a flat tire
a wonderful visit with family in Colorado
and lots of laughter and conversation
we arrived in Utah at 3 am, and was immediately welcomed with family hugs..

The journey was long and emotionally draining. But we are slowly settling in and enjoying being around all of our family. we are missing New Jersey and all of our friends back east, but we feel that this is going to be a great move for us. I will keep you posted on the journey to come. However, for the next week I will be away from the blogging world as I try to get feeling settled in our new home in utah.

The boxes

What a crazy and exhausting week this has been thus far! Packing, cleaning, maneuvering around boxes, and selling things on craigslist has been slightly overwhelming.  I think that this is the most miserable part about moving. Everything (at least almost everything) we own is sitting in boxes, taped up, and labeled with a black marker. It is like a large box fort around us as we watch TV. 

I feel bad for Shento, he might be experiencing the worst of this move. Every move he makes he is afraid that a box is going to fall on top of him. His bed has been moved and he has to go in between boxes to get to his food. His life and daily routine has been messed with, and he is not a happy puppy at the moment. 

We have somewhat planned our road trip to Utah. We have researched and come up with some interesting stops and yummy eateries along the way. Did I mention that Bear, myself, and of course Shento, will all be cozy up in the front seat of a 17 ft. uhaul (plus car trailer). What an adventure this will be.  An adventure that I am actually in a weird way looking forward to. Road trips are always exciting with Bear. Plus, we have these fun conversation cards that ask really interesting, personal, and entertaining questions. we will be pulling those out frequently to get a laugh at one another. 

In other news, we are looking forward to our hot dog roast this Saturday with all of our closest (New Jersey) friends. The weather has been strange here and right we are having some type of misting rain effect. I hope that it clears up and is beautiful for the hot dog roast. 

Anyways, Bear and I are going out for some rainy day Pho at one our favorite places. We have to eat up at all the favorites before we move...

a couple things to make me smile

Hello, hello,
This past week has been a rush of different emotions. Starting to pack up our home, the home that we created together when we were first married, has been harder than we thought it was going to be.

As people come in and out of our house each taking (buying) a piece of our furniture, our home is starting to look bare. Almost is if it is not ours anymore.

We are excited for our new house that we will create into our home, and we truly can't wait for more adventures in a new place. But for now, the empty house is getting us down.

So every time I feel sad, I think of something that makes me happy, and I SMILE! Here is my list as of right now...


1. hanging out this weekend on a boat with Ryan
2. getting feet tickles from Bear
3. planning our road trip...
4. taking/editing pictures
5. going to my favorite thrift store to see if i can find any good clothes
6. starting fresh (this move is really good for us).
7. being able to go camping in some of the most beautiful places ever
8. making new friends
9. thrift store & garage sale shopping in utah for new furniture and fun home decor
10. being able to see our family whenever we want
11. watercoloring
12. exploring Salt Lake City, Utah
13. making a red bow tie for Bear to wear on 4th of July.
14. finding a fun small town (because we will be driving to Utah) to celebrate the 4th of July
15. BBQ's
16. Bear... he always makes me smile

Let The Next Chapter Unfold

The whole grad school she-bang started back 4 years ago when the hubby (at that time fiancé) was trying to apply to grad school while in China. I (being the loving fiancé) ended up dealing with all the paper work and follow up phone calls. A couple months after the hubs returned from China he received a letter of acceptance to Rutgers University. I ordered Rutgers shirts, decorated the apartment with lots of black and red balloons, and made a celebration dinner. At that moment we had know idea what we really were getting ourselves into. A couple of months later - after our wedding, honeymoon and spending lots of time with family, we packed up our car and took one big giant leap to the East Coast. I remember being carefree and enjoying the journey. I never thought about how we were going to make it financially or when I was going to get a job. I just trusted that everything would fall into place, and it did.

One of my favorite memories that I have is when we first pulled into our parking spot in front of our house. Things started to sink in and become real at that moment. After calling our neighbor to let us in we toured the whole house. We walked into our new bedroom and I sat on the window seat and looked at Bear and started crying. He looked at me and held me tight and told me that as long as we have each other we would be okay.

And those words have never been truer. Almost three years have passed and we have experienced the ups and downs of grad school, jobs, the east coast attitude, and living away from family. We have had so many awesome adventures and have been able to visit some great places. As we close this chapter of our lives and start planning our move back to my home state, I am feeling so many mixed emotions. I am so excited what the next couple years will bring and thrilled to be back home among family. But I am a little sad about moving away from our house and the way of life here on the east (I never thought I would say that). The hubby and I don’t know where the next 5 years will take us. But as long as we have each other we will be just fine.