If we lived in Utah.....

Today, being Tuesday generally means it is my day off. I wake up and head over to see what Marcy is doing before she heads off to work and somehow end up with Cloe as my sidekick. I am not complaining but it is just become a routine. On this particular morning, things were mixed up a little.

The topic of the week between Marcy and I has been concerning a "wish" that we can eventually move to Utah. So everything we have said between us has started with "If we lived in Utah.....".
So, Marcy assigned me to write a essay with the title being, "If we lived in Utah". Here it goes....


If I lived in Utah, I would be finally be where I need to be. I know, this sounds so dramatic but it is. Here is a little story.....

When I was little, my parents took us kids on the vacation of a lifetime. We packed up the old '77 Chevy Malibu station wagon and set a course west. I can tell you every detail of where we went on that trip. Everything became very significant in my later years. Chicago, Davenport, Iowa, Cheyenne's Little America, the Safeway in Estes Park, Colorado and the little bit of Utah we saw.


Chicago is a place that I spent a lot of time in as I drove truck into the produce market. I lived near Davenport for three years. Cheyenne became my current home. The Safeway in Estes Park is where I heard my father say " I think the Mormon Church owns Safeway". And, just to clarify, in case anyone else is wondering, he was wrong... We spent most of out vacation tooling around Colorado with my parents ensuring me that we drove over almost every one of the big mountain passes ( I had an obsession with mountains as a 9 year old) but I knew I wanted to get to Utah.

Fast forward 23 years. I was on my way to L.A. and started down the Wasatch Range out of Evanston, WY. Echo Canyon was nice but when I reached Lambs Canyon on my decent down Parley's, I saw my "home". Everything about the Salt Lake and Utah Valley's seemed right to me. I stopped that night in Springville and sat at the Flying J, ate a bean and beef burritto, and stared at Maple Mountain. I couldn't get over how nice the people were! It wasn't anything like the east coast "Jersey" attitude I was used to. Now as I think about it, it was pretty much the attitude of the rest of the country.


I know this is a big secret but Marcy and I are DATING (SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Don't tell anyone!) Marcy and I have been best friends for a number of years. We never gave the "Dating" thing much thought. Marcy's mission was guiding me through my conversion. I remember the moment I knew it was "her". It was when we walked into Cranberry Cove in Palmyra, New York 2 days after my baptism. The lady at the counter turned and looked at me and said "It's Her!".
I knew it was......

Within a month, I had a transfer open up to Cheyenne. I put my name in and was gone in a week. We had prayed about me getting this transfer for a long time. I needed to feel what it was like to be part of a "ward family". With my time living close to Marcy and the kids, they became my family. We both feel that there is a bigger plan for us somewhere else. Cheyenne was a stepping stone for something bigger and better....

Now, we are looking at a very good possibility that we can move to Utah. I hope to transfer in to Grantsville or Corrine as soon as the time is right. Marcy and I are also looking at building a little "empire" out of some ideas we have. We both agree that it is time for us to come "HOME".

So, Marcy, I don't think I can call this essay "If we lived in Utah........" The proper name would be "When we live in Utah........."

Mike