A square peg in a round hole

Just to clarify, the title of my last post was "ONE good thing about Utah", not "THE ONLY good thing about Utah"!

I'm sure that each of you has at least one experience when you moved somewhere and felt very out of place and was unsure about if you really liked it. I felt this way when I moved to Arizona as well. Each place takes time to get used to. Until I get these roads down like nobodies business - it's going a while for me to feel comfortable here and like it!

There are plenty of things I like about Utah - like the fact than you can go sledding or skiing at a moment's notice 9 months out of the year and the opportunity I have to meet new people and make new friends! No seriously - here are my top 10 (aside from my last post)
(although I have made a couple great new friends!)

10. FABULOUS summers. Contrary to popular belief, the summers here are PERFECT. Not humid, and not so hot you could fry and egg on the sidewalk! Remember - summer is meant to be hot!

9. Dunford Donuts - thanks to my MIL for introducing me and showing me that the factory is just down the road. Unfortunately for the waistline - they are scrumptious chocolate donuts!

8. Beautiful Fall Leaves - as some of you know, I was quite puzzled last fall while on the phone with my AZ sister Dayna. I was driving toward the mountains and wondering why college students would put red paint all over the mountains? It made no sense to either of us until I figured out it was the red leaves on the trees.

7. More house for the money - Even though our living space at the time is smaller that what we had in Phoenix, we have much more room in our house. Hopefully before too long we will have more finished space in our house than unfinished!

6. Close to Salt Lake - It is pretty neat being in as my Dad calls it "The Emerald City". To hear church headquarters referred to as "downtown" and being able to visit the Conference Center and Temple Square for various events.

5. New Cuisine - A whole new city full of restaurants to try! I just bought the current issue of "Salt Lake" which features the 2008 Dining Awards. In a year or two I hope to have a list of personal favorites!

4. Warm things - It's funny that in Phoenix we had a fireplace we rarely used but here we don't have one! I love curling up in a big thick blankets and wearing sweaters and sweats. It's something you can't do very often back home (unless you crank the A/C)!

3. New Shopping - It's fun to find new "haunts" such as Tai Pan, Gardner Village, etc. My new favorite is "Emilie Jayne" in downtown Salt Lake. They have old furniture and accessories and very reasonable prices.

2. Jeff's job - There's nothing like having your husband love what he's doing!

1. Living close to Jeff's sister Jane and her family and my mother in law Susan. Not to mention the many members of Jeff's extended family that live here. It's great having my nieces Shelly and Katie at BYU as well. It guarantees that some of my family members visit occasionally! I couldn't do it here without the immediate and extended family!

Give me time and I'm sure my list will grow.
I can't list the things/people I miss back home in 50 items or less, so I won't!