Conversation Points

So I'm glad that so many of you were amazed by our road trip last week and thank you for posting a comment-I think that was the most comments we've ever had on one post. Yes, the cabin was amazing. Even if it was just the one night. Here's the link to see what I saw when I decided we should go stay there: http://www.redstonecabins.com/index.html One more little note on our trip last weekend. While with family in Henderson, none present were yet established and settling down in a specific place. Oliver's brother & sister-in-law are finding this topic of discussion to be more relevant to their current situation because they'll need to make a decision by the end of the summer. Of all the places they can choose, they've narrowed it down to two and are now trying to weigh the pros and cons and pray about it and make a permanent decision. Oliver and I have been putting this off for a long time.

Often in a relationship, the settling point is decided very easily-either both partners come from the same area and both want to return to it or one of the two have a strong desire and the other is okay with that decision or it is decided by the occupations and where those job openings are. For poor decision makers, a teaching position is too flexible to help us narrow anything down.

I have always thought that I would return to the Midwest. I love the trees, I love the flatland, I love the green and the natural way that the rain comes and makes it so green. Because we don't have a yard to care for everyday ourselves, sometimes I'm still a bit taken aback by the efforts put forth just to keep a yard green during the summer.

Anyway, Oliver and I still have a little while before we HAVE to make the decision, but it is still interesting to think about. What are your priorities in making that decision? Is it the weather/climate? The natural landscape? The size of a city or town? What you've always considered to be "home"? How close or far away you are to family? and if you have to choose one family over the other, which one do you pick-or do you pick neither and therefore don't have to feel you are missing out on one side more than the other? Do you choose the place that you've enjoyed living the most?

Most of Oliver's life has been spent as a military child whose home was dictated by someone other than his parents and was changed every 3 years(roughly). You would think that would help our cause right? Wrong. Oliver found positives and negatives in every place he lived and enjoyed them all equally. So that doesn't help us. In fact, he has now lived in Utah the longest. After his mission he came back to Utah and has lived in Provo ever since-that's almost 8 years for him. And all of the things that we have done together as a couple and as a family and what he has done through school of exploring the natural surroundings of Utah has actually made him form a connection with this state that he hasn't had with any other place. My problem is that I'd never considered Utah to be a final settling ground for me. I lived in not only the same city or same state my growing up years, but the exact same house and I loved it! And something else I've had to think about is that does it matter where you live? Does the location make a difference or is it how you raise your children and what you focus on as a family inside the home you live in? I've determined that it comes down to what goes on within the family boundaries. Our children's lives will be effected by where we live, but it shouldn't determine their character or their morals or all those good things that I want them to develop. There shouldn't be a BAD place to live (unless your family is in danger) so long as you can give your family what it needs and help everyone achieve what they want to achieve and help everyone grow closer to God and become the best person they can become.
What has made you decide where to plant your feet?(oh...one day, I'll have a yard and can plant stuff that grows)

And to appease one dear friend of mine, here's a photo of me that Oliver took in Nevada during our long weekend.