Cedar City: The Answer to Our Prayers

So I thought I would tell the history of how we ended up living in Cedar City. In November of '07 I had decided I needed a change. I really wanted to go back to school and start studying Spanish at BYU. I also had always wanted to work at the MTC so I thought that would be the perfect set up. I applied to BYU, was accepted and enrolled in 16 credits of classes. I let my boss know I was going to quit and go back to school. I also told him I was applying to the MTC. I had an interview at the MTC where I had to "teach" and show my abilities, in english. I then got a phone call to test my spanish abilities. They called my back for a second interview but it started to feel wrong. It wasn't really what I wanted and since I didn't get hired, I know it was what was right. My boss let me stay on part-time at Independence University and I was going to go to school as well. Then, the Saturday before school started, Glen proposed... (He surprised me by saying he had applied to BYU and would be willing to transfer there for me, even though he hates it!) This meant I was going to be moving out of my parents' home and would need to make enough money for two people to live plus rent and all the other things I hadn't needed to pay for since I was mooching off the parents. When I called to tell my boss I was engaged, his first question was, "So, do you want your old job back?" The thoughts of needing to make money had not crossed my mind yet since I was so consumed by feelings of giddiness. So I said, "No! hahahaha."
Then I started thinking about it and realized, yes, I did want my old job back. I called my boss back and pleaded with him and I was given my job back. Then I went home and dropped out of all of my courses. It was a scary feeling and a little frustrating since I had already bought all of my books. In fact, they are still on my bookshelf, I never got the chance to take them back.

Well, now we had to figure out where we were going to live. And that always seemed to be everyone's first questions when we told them we were getting married, "Where are you going to live?" I started looking for a place in Springville, Provo and Orem. Everything was really expensive and very little let you have a pet. I searched for weeks and couldn't find anything. Then Glen said he was willing to go to University of Utah as well. (This whole time he is still enrolled at SUU and living in Cedar City so he can't help me search for a place to live) So I start looking in Salt Lake and Murray (where I worked) that would work for us. Everytime I went to look at a place, I took pictures of it with my phone and sent them to Glen. Nothing seemed to work. Then I found a place in the Marmalade district in Salt Lake. This was about two blocks from the BYU Salt Lake Center where I was currently enrolled in classes, and about two miles from the U. They allowed pets for a fee and I was finally pleased. I took my mom to look at it and she liked it but something didn't feel right. I put a deposit down anyway because we needed a place to live and we were getting married in like a month.

But neither Glen nor I felt very good about Salt Lake or the U. We started to think maybe we should move to Arizona since that's where my parents were moving and where a couple of my brothers live with their families. We looked into apartments in Tempe where ASU is and where I would have a job. I used to work at Walden University and I was offered a $10,000 raise to go back. It was very tempting. I found a really cute apartment that was pretty affordable and I knew if worse came to worse, my parents have 4 extra bedrooms. We both applied to ASU. However, as I thought more about it, I realized Glen would not be happy at that school. He was used to SUU and ASU is huge-mongous. So, one weekend when I was visiting him in Cedar, as I tried to do quite often, we were sitting in church and passing notes. We had considered moving to Cedar but my parents made a pretty good argument against it since I wouldn't have a job... But it sounded like a good idea because SUU pays for all of Glen's schooling and then some. We were having a hard time deciding what would be best for the both of us. However, as we sat in church passing notes, Glen asked where we were going to live. I said I didn't know. He then said we needed to make a decision and handed me a paper that said "Cedar City YES or NO: Circle one". That wasn't very nice of him but it worked. I sat there for a minute and then I circled YES. Ever since that day I knew we made the right decision.

The next day it was Glen's turn to search for a place for us to live. Within a week we had decided on a house. The rent would be about half what people were asking in Salt Lake. It was located two blocks from campus. I talked to my boss and he said he would see if he could figure out a way for me to work from home. Everything was falling into place. However, when we got back from the Honeymoon and moved in, I found out I had no job... We were quickly running out of the money I had put away. I searched in Cedar for a job but without much hope. My boss said he was going to talk to the manager of another department and see if he could get me a job there. I inteviewed but didn't hear back for awhile. Luckily, after we'd spent the last dollar in our checking account, Glen received a check from SUU for $1000. Apparently they had some extra funds and gave them out randomly to students (lesson: pay tithing). Then, after a month of unemployedness, I had a job again. A job that allows me to work from home. I think it's safe to say this was the right place to end up. Everything has been great here. We love our ward! They are family. I am able to take a few courses at SUU since I work from home and it is so close I walk to school. I've always wanted to walk to school. Anyway, long story short, the Church is true! Listen to the promptings of the Spirit and everything will be alright.