New Home Sweet Home

We've now been in Washington, UT one week. I'm not sure I can call it 'home' yet, but maybe in time. I miss Salt Lake and friends and familiarity of all the places I used to go, but, between unpacking spurts, I'm learning my way around town.

During my drive down I found myself comparing the best of SLC to the worst (or anticipated worst) of St. George. That's not a fair comparison, but here are some of the trade-offs I've experienced this last week that reinforce my original list

Salt Lake                                         vs.                           St. George
Crickets at night                                                      Cows mooing at night
Bunny in the yard                                                    Black Widows and lizards in the yard
Temps in the 70's - 90's                                            Temps in the 80's - 100's
Shade and grass                                                       We'll have to plant trees and grass
6 min to my favorite canyon                                    20 min to a treeless, hot, sandy canyon 
Sweat                                                                      Melt
Sunscreen to go to the pool                                     Sunscreen to go to the car
Work - daily interaction with people                        Errands just to talk to people/cashiers/etc
Friends - weekly get-togethers                                 The library has some great books
Smell of flowers blooming on the street                   Smell of horses' "business" across the street
     
That being said, there are a lot of great things here. I have a dishwasher for the first time in years! I've always wanted a sink in the laundry room. The stars are beautiful and living in a single family home on the edge of wilderness has it's quiet, peaceful perks. We have family here and a few friends that I'm sure we'll see once we get settled in.

Without a job I've had time to do a lot of things including:
cook - loving it
nest (do all the unpacking and organizing, then move it and reorganize it) - most my time this week
I've checked out 4 grocery stores to see who has what and at what prices (I prob shouldn't admit this)
I got a library card (and realized I'm so glad I don't work at the library)
Take a walk past farm fields - as long as it's before 8am when it gets too hot to be outside
Ride my bike. I've always wondered how guys with big beer guts ride. My prego belly can relate
Go to the pool in the middle of a weekday
Stay up late and not worry about it
Answer emails the day I get them
Put my laundry away when it finishes drying
Blog
WATCH THE TOUR de FRANCE :)
Stare at the wall and wonder what to do next - so many options

A few Pics

On my way into town for day one. Welcome to St. George

Driving down our street

You can see our rooftop on the left behind the horse fences

Day two: Temp of my car sitting in the sun. It dropped to 107

The couch took half my toenail off, but the nail polish held it on. Good excuse to keep up pedicures

On a lonely day this fish at Walmart made me smile. Yes, I was hurting for any kind of interaction

View out our front door. That's Pine Valley mnt in the distance

To the right of the front door

To the left out the front door

Our backyard. Weeds make for great landscaping, really

View out the kitchen window, through the backyard

Windstorm. We had 2 of these monsters this week. Dirt blows everywhere

Bike ride. My jersey barely fits over the baby belly and my legs aren't used to sharing space with it. I need to higher my handlebars so I can sit up straighter

Dishwasher....awesome

Why have one fridge when your place comes with two!!!

Laundry room has a sink :)

Bathroom cabinet. Gotta love the etching on the mirror. Oh yeah