Leaving Las Vegas

I seriously cannot believe that we have lived her for 6 years... and that we are leaving.  Seems like yesterday we were just newly married, moving into our shoe box of an apartment down on Rock Springs.  It had pink counters and the loudest neighbors in the entire world who always insisted on yelling at each other just outside our bedroom window at 3 in the morning.  We really didn't plan on staying here this long.  We figured once Brad got his Bachelors Degree, we'd be moving on some place else for Graduate school.  But as fate would have it, Brad got accepted into the UNLV DPT program.  Yes, I may have cried the night that we decided we would be staying another few years in this city, but I can honestly say I'm so very grateful that we did.  Although it was never my dream to live here, Las Vegas has been very, very good to our family!

Brad has had the greatest experience in ULNV's DPT program!  He has a really great class and made life-long friends.  The professors have been outstanding and some have become role models.  Its seriously been the coolest thing to see him transform into a Physical Therapist.  That's sounds super weird, I know, but its true!  When we started dating right when he got home from his mission, becoming a PT was this faraway dream that he talked about.  And now, after watching him suffer and work and sacrifice, he is only months away from graduating as a Doctor of Physical Therapy.  I am beyond proud of him.  And even though, to say he is over-joyed to be done with classes would be an understatement, I think a small part of him will miss this building and this time in his life.

Las Vegas is the only place that's ever really been our home together.  Over the years, its really become a part of us.  Its strange to think that so much of what has been our life will be so different now.  We've developed our routines and our habits.  We've found all the places here that we like to go to and all the places we steer clear of.  We know how we like to spend our free time and our weekends.  Its all been so steady for so long.

We are really going to miss living in the same city as this lovely temple!  But when you consider traffic time, its not going to be a huge difference driving to the temple from Overton. 

Oh how I will miss Target!!!  It is mine and the little boys place!  On days when we are bored, this is where we go.  Yes, we frequent the thrift stores, grocery stores and the parks, but none of those places have popcorn and a dollar section.  We seriously have spent hours upon hours wasting time walking around and looking at fun things.  We rarely buy, because we are still generally too poor for even Target, but we love to window shop.   

And we love the grocery store we go to!  The Smith's on Ann.  It has the best produce of any market in the area and a friendly old man greeter named, Walter, who knows our names and a friendly cashier named Deb, who also knows our names and gives the boys stickers every time we go through her line.

And we will miss our classy Mailman.  He blasts the most awesome classical music out the windows of his mail truck and its convinced me he must be some sort of genius.

We will miss our favorite sandwich shop ever!!!  I never thought a sandwich could be heavenly, but this place is magnificent!

Our frozen yogurt place!!  Seriously the best frozen yogurt ever!  The mango is to die for.  I'll miss trying to think up reasons why we should be celebrating so we can justify going here.

Macayo's :)  Our restaurant.  Isn't it gross that this is "our" restaurant?  I don't care.  Its delicious and where we always end up going on dates, because nothing else ever sounds as good.  Plus its fitting since we both have an abnormal love of Mexican food.

The Hidden Canyon Ward.  The greatest ward in the entire world.  I just cant say enough good things about these people.  They are gold, each and every one of them and we are going to miss them tremendously! 

But probably more than anything, we are going to miss our little house.  We have lived here for 4 years.  Who knew you could grow to care so much about a house, but I really love it so much!  Almost all of our happiest moments have taken place in this house.  Its been such a haven for our little family and we're so grateful to Emily and Travis for letting us live here.

I'll miss our green living room and all the memories here, the place we always gathered.  When I look at this picture I see the room scattered with toys and the boys screaming and laughing with joy.  I see countless tv series marathons late into the night.  I see Sunday afternoons with the windows open and a football game on.  I see days of the whole family being sick and laying in our pj's, eating soup and crackers.  I see the couch piled with books and the kids silently reading for hours.  I see the night we knelt on the floor beside the couch to pray about where Brad should go to school and getting a definite answer.  I see the day we came home to find our house had been broken into and so many of our things stolen.  And then to have several days of face after smiling face showing up at our door to offer gifts, treats and support and making that year's Christmas the best we've ever had.  I see the night we brought Kalvin home from the hospital for the first time and we couldn't get him to stop screaming.  I see Clark learning how to walk and falling all over the place.   

I'll miss my tiny kitchen where I have spent a lot of time trying to teach myself how to cook.  I'll miss the little white shelves Brad made me that hold my cook books and aprons.  I'll miss my stupid, temper-mental oven that I have learned to operate perfectly.  I'll miss the spice cabinet that has a small crack in one side that I used to hold my recipe cards while I was cooking.  I'll miss the happy pancake breakfasts and the crazy, lasagna-in-the-baby's-hair dinners.

I'll miss seeing Brad at his desk, stressed out and overwhelmed and trying his darndest to stay motivated to keep on studying late into the night.  Late into every night.  I'll miss bringing him little "study snacks" and I'll miss his desk being entirely covered in books and papers.  I'll miss sitting in there with him for hours while I rocked a baby or folded laundry so he could explain what he has been learning and not understanding hardly any of it.  I'll miss the kids always finding reasons to go "visit Dad in the office" and just end up playing with Brad and talking him into showing them funny youtube videos, like silly cats and baby monkey.

I'll miss Clark and Kalvin's little room.  I'll miss that blue color we painted on over the purple walls the night we moved into the house.  I'll miss hearing them laugh and talk to each other when they are suppose to be sleeping.  I'll miss Kalvin climbing on the toy box to play with the light switch.  I'll miss Clark getting stuck in the crib.  I'll miss them jumping on beds and breaking the closet doors and being totally crazy, because its "their room".

I'll miss waking up in this room and looking out the glass door at the humming birds in the grapevine.  I'll miss folding laundry on my bed while I watch Doris Day movies.  I'll miss Clark finding reasons to tiptoe his way in here in the middle of the night, cause he knows Dad will let him sleep in our bed with us for a while. 

I'll miss our lovely little backyard.  We've spent SO much time in this little space.  Planting, weeding, watering, sweeping, swimming, BBQing.  So much time.  I so wish that there was some way to just pick up this little house and little yard and place it wherever we want.

But I guess we cant do that.  So that means we must say goodbye and be on our way.  If I could somehow, I would say thank you to our home.  To the walls and floors.  To our yard.  The grass and trees and flowers and garden and bricks.  I would say thank you to this city that has filled up our lives and our family with so much good and so much happiness that we are lucky enough to carry around with us forever.  But I don't really know how to do that.  So I'm going to thank the Lord and hope that covers it.  Goodbye Las Vegas!!!