This has been a very bittersweet week for us. We made our big move to Arizona. We had to make some pretty tearful goodbyes as we left Utah. Bill and I spent our last night in our house by having a slumber party in the living room since most of our stuff was already loaded onto the moving van. It felt that it was appropriate since we spent our first night before officially moving in by doing the same! If I remember correctly, I had a hard time sleeping that first night... because I was so excited about our first house! I had a hard time sleeping on Thursday night... because I was so sad to be leaving so many good things behind in Utah!
I moved to Utah almost 10 years ago... I got there in October 2004, not long after getting home from my mission. A lot happened in those 10 years. My two biggest and most difficult trials and so many good and amazing things. I truly feel that Utah was exactly where I needed to be for all of those experiences. As reflected on those things in the middle of the night, I was struck with a feeling of gratitude to the Lord for putting people and experiences in my life to bless me... especially the people that came into my life at just the right time, exactly when I needed them. I feel that I need to take a minute and reflect on the people and experiences for which I am so grateful that Utah brought me.
Of course, the most important person in my life is Bill and I got him in Utah! We met when we lived in the same apartment complex. The first day I met him wasn't exactly a memorably first meeting, but the next day was Halloween and he offered to give me and one of my clients a ride to the ward Halloween party. He told me that my client could sit in the front seat of his car and I will never forget the look of sheer terror on his face when I told him I would put her in the backseat with me since she had a tendency to choke the driver. Too bad I wasn't joking. After our first date a few weeks later, my roommate told me that we were going to get married. I laughed at her. We will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary this December. My life is so much better with him in it!
And what would our family be without Charlotte? We truly would not have her if it weren't for Utah. We waited a long time for her to join our family and we needed a lot of help! We are so grateful for all of the doctors and nurses and IVF coordinators and doctors at Maternal Fetal Medicine in both Provo and San Fransisco who helped us make her being here possible. She will always get to claim Utah as home and that makes me happy!
We have so many friends that have blessed our lives in so many ways. I met Janel Jasper when we ended up sharing a room when I first moved to Provo... oddly enough, though, I don't think we met for over a month despite sleeping in the same room! We eventually bonded over our horrible roommates and are still friends! Janel really helped me get out of my comfort zone and meet new people and be more social.
When Bill and I first got married, we lived in a tiny apartment in Orem. On our first Sunday there, he ran into a girl (Emily Morgan) he had known years earlier who was now married and living in that ward. We started hanging out with them and became really good friends. Right after my mom died, I was really feeling like nobody I knew understood what I was going through and one day while hanging out with the Morgans, Emily said, "you know that my mom died, right?" and I suddenly felt like I had an ally! We spent many afternoons together canning food and talking about our moms and life without our moms. It was very therapeutic for me and I will always remember those days fondly.
When Bill and I first moved to Spanish Fork we had a hard time making friends. We felt that people didn't want to be our friends because we were the childless weirdos. For several years we tried and felt like we failed at establishing any kind of connection with anyone in the neighborhood. Until
finally Roger and Shauna Phillips came into our lives. We have been greatly enriched by their friendship and have spent many many hours together since then. Shauna became my crafting buddy, answered many random mommy questions when I was a new mom, introduced me to BYU football, encouraged me to actually be a runner, and cheered me up many times during the in vitro process, the triplet drama we experienced, and many times since then. The Phillips have been true friends.
During our childless weirdo years, we often admired a family in our ward (the Woods) who spoke about frequently about their infertility struggles. I don't think Kelli ever realized how much I admired her strength and willingness to be open and share with others how her struggles had strengthen her faith. Last year Kelli and I were assigned to fulfill a church assignment together and we got to know each other better and I found that I liked everything about her! We really grew close during our few months of serving together and I was sad when our assignment ended! We have stayed good friends since then and I appreciate the support and love she has shown me as we have had some similar life challenges.
I have been blessed to work for a great company called TURN Community Services for the last seven years. They have given me opportunities to grow in my profession and have taught me how to properly provide services for people with disabilities. They really are a premier provider. I have enjoyed so many co-workers and the family members and the clients throughout the years. I am so glad that I get to still work with them. One of the greatest associations from working there is Kendra. We miss her so much already! She has become one of my best friends! Charlotte adores her. I value our time we get to just chat and hang out. Her family has welcomed our family into theirs and I hope that they feel like they are apart of ours!
The night my mom died, Bill and I drove to Sandy to spend the rest of that long sleepless night with my grandparents. I have thought a lot about that night since then and especially during the last week or so and I have come to realize that that night was the beginning of a new relationship with my grandparents. For the last 7 years I have needed them to help me fill close to my mom and they have needed me for the same reason. They are wonderful examples of showing love to all of their grandchildren and helping them through hard times and I am grateful that we were able to live in close proximity as we all mourned the death of a wonderful lady. I have been especially grateful for my grandma's recollections of how my mom was as a baby so that we can compare Charlotte to her. It is fun to see how similar they are! And of course, I value her stepping up to help fill some of the "I still need a mom" void that I have experienced. And my grandpa is the absolute cutest with Charlotte. I watched him sit on the sidewalk and play with her for a good 45 minutes on the 4th of July. It melted my heart.
Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me... in this incredibly long blog post. Maybe I should I have put a disclaimer at the beginning!
TTFN
Mariah
