The skies are blue in Utah

Anoher update from me to you!
I think the last time I wrote I had only been here a couple of days. I think now it has been a couple of weeks and I am getting a little bit more settled. The first week was the hardest. When I finally came out of the shock and denial that I was in it hit me a little hard that I was no longer living in Washington. What seemed like a little adventure all of a sudden became a permanent reality. You with me here people? If you care to learn more about it you may refer to Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' s five stages of grief. Of course she is referring to death and dying, but moving to Utah is pretty similar.

Here is a list of my activites in order of frequency

1. Sleeping
2. Job searching
3. Watching TV
4. Visiting my brother in Logan
5. Talking on the phone
6. Family History
7. Church stuff
8. Getting ready on the morning (usually takes a couple of hours. I am not in a hurry)

So, as you can see my life is very exciting. Actually it is not too bad. Having a break is good. I am looking forawrd in getting back to work soon. My job search is going okay. Obviuosly not successful yet, but I am working on it. I am being a little picky about the jobs I am applying for because I wanted to make change for the better.

I have done some really fun stuff since I have been down here. My friend Willi came down here on Business and we got to hang out in Salt Lake City. This included seeing he Joseph Smith movie, seeing beautiful christmas lights on temple square and seing the mormon tabernacle choir reherse. Salt Lake is a beautiful city with some great things to do. You are all invited to come down and visit me.

A couple weeks ago I visited my brother Neil in Logan. We got to go to the temple there, which was fun and then he asked if I wanted to go on a hike with him. It was for one of his homework assignments. I guess he had known about this since the beginning of the semester, but put it off until mid-November. But, I knew what time of year it was when I agreed to go. What I didn't know was how hard it was going to be for me. I need to premise this story with I can usually hike up a hill. I might stop every couple o' hundred yards to beathe, but I make it and have never given up. To get to this 'hill" we had to drive up the Logan Canyon. We park the car and the trail is right next to the road. So are the mountains. I was okay for about 1/3 of the trail. And then the pain came. The pain I am speaking of is the pain of really cold air in your throat and lungs as you are gasping for air. I had to stop because it hurt so bad. In fact I had to stop about every 15 feet at which point I would lean forward and pray that I wasn't going to vomit. Neil kept saying that we were almost there and I didn't want to be a quitter so I went on. Even though if there ever was a time to quit someting it should have been then. I was even getting a little light headed. Probably not so smart to go on. Like he could lift me down the mountain when I passed out. But, my pride got in the way and I went on. We continued to travel uphill, switchback after switchback, crossing through snow, slipping in mud, having your legs completly covered with mud, having Neil tell me it was just around the next corner. Even though I found out that he had never been there in the daylight. But, I can say that it was worth it. At the end of the trail was a large water-made cave that youcould cawl under. It was really cool and beautiful. I was very glad that I had my camera on my cell phone to take some pictures. It was great. Neil had this great idea that we would take a shorter way back and I got a little worried when the trail ran out and the ground was covered with fresh snow. All I could do was laugh and take a picture. Obviously we did find out way back beacause I am now writing this down for all of you.



Neil and I have also been doing some family history. We have discovered some old documentation about our ancestors that were part of the first settlers of Cache Valley (where Neil lives). Last Saturday I went with him and drove to some of their gravesites. t is beautiful country and lots of fun.

So as you can see my life is full. I will keep you updated on current events. I hope this letter finds all you well and would love to hear from you. You are all missed and thought about daily. I appreciate your calls, letter, thoughts and prayers. They are helping me more that you know. Love, Misty