From the coast to the desert

It was a typical autumn week in Portland, Oregon as I prepared to move away to Las Vegas. I had lived in other places before for school and a mission, and had essentially been 'out of my parents' house' since high school graduation, but this move was different. No longer was I a student or a missionary. No longer was I trying to decide what to do with my life. I had decided - I was going to be a music therapist. I am going to be a music therapist, and now I'm heading on my way to do that. Reflecting on these things as I was doing my last minute packing, saying my last minute goodbyes, and taking care of necessary business to move to a different state, I realized that now I am really on my own.

The day before I left I went boating with Celestuary, Michael Hagmeier's band that I was in since its' conception. It was raining on and off and it was a bit chilly, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! I love water, and there I was, floating down the Columbia, feeling the rain on my face and watching all the trees go by...knowing that I was soon to move to the desert and far, far away from any coastal line that I am so accustomed to living near.

On the day of the move, my brother and I loaded a 14' U-Haul (didn't quite need one that big...), and attached the auto-transport to tow my car on the long drive to Nevada. Our plan was to go to Utah for the weekend for the semi-annual conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Unfortunately...trucks do not drive as quickly as cars do. And even when the posted speed limit is 75 in parts of Idaho, we were still stuck driving much slower than that. If we were to drive all the way to Provo where we were staying with my great Aunt, we would have arrived at 3 am. So we made an unplanned stop in Twin Falls, Idaho and found the cheapest hotel possible to sleep for the night. As a result we missed Saturday's conference sessions, but it was a good alternative to driving through the night as weary people.

Due to a mixup with my Stake President in Portland, we only had one ticket to conference for Sunday morning. I let Benjamin go in the conference center since he had not had the opportunity before as I had. I watched from the Tabernacle, which worked out nicely as I sat by a television broadcasting with closed captioning, which was next to a television broadcasting an ASL interpreter. Not that I need an ASL interpreter, but it was still fun to watch and refresh a little on understanding the language. Ben joined me in the Tabernacle for the Sunday afternoon session to watch the interpreter as he is to go on an ASL mission for the Church in a couple of months.

While in Utah, I had the opportunity to visit with some extended family. My Grandma's sister, Shirley, lives in Provo with her children and grandchildren. I had lived with Aunt Shirley the first summer I was at BYU, so it was good to see her, although it was weird to not have Uncle Ralph there. Shirley is about to turn 91, is limited to moving around with a walker, and her memory is going. It was really weird to have her ask me the same questions over and over - I think I explained about six times that we were passing through on my way to move to Las Vegas. As Shirley, like her sister Phyllis was, are very intelligent people with normally sharp memories, it was a little unsettling for me. But it was still good to see her and I'm glad she has a lot of family around to help her and allow her to still live at her home.

We arrived in Las Vegas on Monday evening, and managed to get everything inside my apartment before the night was out. This week Ben stayed with me to help me get settled - which was much appreciated! Everything but my bedroom is put together, complete with pictures on the wall. I even painted the bathroom, just because I could. It is a light blue with a rubber ducky theme. My bathroom doesn't even have any cupboards (excepting the old-style mirror cupboard above the sink) - it's just the toilet, sink, and shower/tub. It's very weird. But...it's my apartment! It is a very cool feeling.

While Ben was here he wanted to go see a show so we saw Wayne Brady last night. That was pretty darn funny! Other than that and M&M world the day before, we avoided downtown Las Vegas! It really isn't difficult to stay away from the Las Vegas 'hype' part of town. I like where I live, it's near the agency, and every store imaginable is nearby.

My internship begins on Monday and I am very excited to start that. It will be orientation and observation for the first two weeks, which is extremely helpful for my sanity during this transition. I can't believe I live in the desert and I still have to use a/c during October and that the only trees in existence here are the occasional palm tree...but I am here. Life is official. I'm really on my own. Whee.