To avoid looking like a hypocrite...

Yes, I temporarily reopened my Facebook account. I'm not sure how long I will have it open, I'm trying to decide if its worth it or not. I opened it to let people know we were moving back to Utah, and get some suggestions on places to live. I checked for responses a few times, always avoiding reading my newsfeed so as to not get sucked back in to all the things about Facebook that I am trying to avoid. I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't missing anything. Just glimpses of my newsfeed made me feel like a gossipy teenager again.

The internet is so weird. The world right now is so weird. When did it become normal to post every detail of your life online for all to see? Honestly, most of my Facebook "friends" are not really my friends. Thats not to say that I don't like them, but I just don't actually talk to them in real life. Heck, I don't even talk to them on Facebook. I just read about their life as they post it. Doesn't that seem a little stalkerish to anyone else? I mean, think about it, we "follow" people. We "like" their posts. We see pictures of all they do, know about everywhere they go and everything they eat, but we don't actually have conversations with them. Most of them we haven't even seen in person for years. Just saying...stalkerish.

All that being said, I have found Facebook to be a useful tool when it comes to keeping in touch with long distance friends or getting out information, which is why I am now trying to decide whether or not to leave my account up. If I do, I need to set some ground rules, which so far consist of the following:

1. Don't get the Facebook app on my phone or add the Facebook link back to my favorites bar. This will help prevent me from just opening it without thinking and then wasting a ton of time. 
2. Unfriend everyone who is not actually my friend. This probably sounds mean. But, let me be honest for a minute. I have a lot of "friends" who are only my friends because I am curious about how they turned out after high school. (I know I am not the only one...) That is no longer a good enough reason for me. I want Facebook to become something positive instead of continue to be negative as it has been in the past. Using it to see what so-and-so is doing these days only makes me tend toward judging others, and I don't want to do that anymore.
3. Do not post or participate in controversial discussions on Facebook. I already talked about why that is a bad idea for me in my previous post. I have plenty of opinions, if you want to know what they are, we can talk about it in person, or I will share them here. 
4. Only use Facebook as a platform to share my blog, important information, or uplifting messages.

I may add some more rules as I go along. Or I may just shut it back down. I'm not sure. I'm just trying to figure out what is best for me. I'm sure this won't be the last you hear of it.

Here we are

We made it! Amazingly, we managed to pack up our entire apartment in Glendale, drive up to Utah, unload the truck into a storage unit, go apartment hunting, find an apartment, sign the lease, reload the truck, and unload the truck into the new apartment, all in exactly TWO WEEKS!

Whew! What a crazy adventure it has been.

Phil started his new job yesterday, and even though he hasn't done much yet, he already thinks he is going to love it. I have been busy trying to get our new place in order (and take care of the baby, of course) and more and more I am so glad that we chose this apartment. Everything has really fallen into place only giving us more confirmation that we made the right choice in coming back to Utah.

We are also feeling incredibly grateful for all of our friends and family who helped us make the big transition. We had so many friends come and help us not only load up the truck but also clean our apartment. Thanks guys. Phil's family has also been a huge help. We stayed with his dad's brother in mesquite (our halfway point on the drive up) and his mom's sister in South Jordan all last week while we searched for apartments. His brother Dave and brother-in-law Mark also helped us unload, reload, and unload again. We definitely owe them.

We chose an apartment in South Jordan, in a newer development called Daybreak. The apartments here are only a few years old, have really nice amenities, lots of space, are affordable, and close to Phil's job. We really can't complain.

We initially hoped to find a three bedroom apartment because we were starting to feel a little crammed in our two bedroom in Glendale, but all the three bedrooms we looked at (that actually had nice, updated features) were more than we want to spend right now. But, in the end, the two bedroom we settled on turned out to be better than everything else we saw anyway. It is 1200 square feet, and so nice with 9 ft ceilings, granite countertops, new appliances, huge balcony, pantry, laundry room...basically everything we wanted. We feel so lucky.

Its still a huge mess right now, but here are a few "before" pictures:

And a few "in the middle" pictures ("after" will be when everything is unpacked and cleaned up). 

More updates to come soon!

Surprises

Phil and I have loved our time in Arizona. We made good friends, learned the area, and even adapted to the heat. But as Phil's schooling began to come to an end, we started wondering where life might take us next. 

Phil began applying to jobs all across the country around the beginning of the year. He had some good interviews and we felt like we had so many possibilities ahead of us. While he did look at jobs from the west to east coast, he focused more on the southwest region in hopes to find something not too far from family. He applied to a lot of jobs in Texas and we were feeling pretty excited about the possibility of moving to a big city like Dallas. 

Phil also applied to several jobs in the Phoenix area. More and more we were liking the idea of staying here. We like the weather, have family nearby, and moving just a few miles away wouldn't be too rough either. 

As usual, however, The Lord had some different plans for us than we had for ourselves. One of the jobs in Dallas that Phil applied for was with a company called Lanyon, and after several interviews they offered him a position as an analyst. Only surprise? The job was for a position in their Draper, UT office! 

We took some time to think about it before accepting the position, but ultimately felt that despite other offers, this was the best opportunity. We never thought we would move back to Utah, not because we didn't like it, but because it didn't seem like the place that we could have the best opportunities for our family. Phil didn't even look for jobs in Utah and I was busy apartment hunting in Phoenix, not Draper! 

But, now that it's happening we can see the Lord's hand in our lives and know that we are going back to Utah for a reason, even if we never know what that reason is. 

We have been packing like a couple of crazy people and will be moving in three days. We are looking forward to seeing what the future will hold for us!