We’re CLOSED (and that’s a good thing!)

October 5, 2016 By

We officially closed on our home today and will move in Saturday!

We’re relieved to finally be able to settle in but our time in Park City will forever be treasured. October has always been my favorite month but in the mountains, fall’s splendor comes earlier. I was momentarily sad to think about how much I love October in Denver but then I realized I’d take a hundred Park City Septembers over one Denver October. Autumn leave are nature’s stained glass here. Golds. Scarlets. Mahoganies. Russets. Whether in moody muted light or brightly lighted, we have relished Park City’s fall in all its deciduous glory.

I’m fiercely independent (I wonder where Hadley gets it from) but this move has been a lesson in humility as I’ve had to ask for help. I could not have survived the last 45 days without these two. Kristen for renting us her glorious townhome and acquainting me with Park City’s wonders. Sarah for saving me 50+ hours in the car by taking Bode in the mornings and to soccer. I’ve been missing my Colorado tribe something fierce but I am so grateful to the many new friends who are selflessly helping us build our new life. 

As I was driving the kids to school, Jamie called to tell me we would be able to close today and asked if I would go to the house and take some pictures of what was finally ours. At almost the exact moment it became official.

Terrible lighting of our cute blue door

View from our deck

Deck View Part 2

Panorama shot makes our deck look huge (it’s not)

Kids’ view near the neighborhood bus stop

Ours. It’s been 10 months and coming but it’s good to be (almost) home.

Filed Under: Utah

Serendipitous Deer Valley

September 30, 2016 By

ser·en·dip·i·ty
ˌserənˈdipədē/
noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
“a fortunate stroke of serendipity”

Have you ever had an evening of happy little coincidences? Welcome to our first Girl’s Night Out since moving to Utah!

Let me back up a bit. I was in a bit of a funk. Fall is usually my favorite time of the year and that very week was usually our big pumpkin party and weigh-off when we were surrounded by fun and friends. I was missing our wonderful life in Colorado.

The boys had a father-son campout with our new ward so I determined I was going to invite some of the ladies and Hadley’s new friends over to our Park City townhome for swimming and dinner. The problem: I only got around to inviting Sarah, who has been my lifesaver with watching Bode in the mornings before school. So we decided rather than staying in, we would go out! The week prior, my Kristen (the wonderful gal from whom we’re renting the townhome) took me on a tour of Park City and included in that tour was Deer Valley. I determined that was where we would go.

Deer Valley is the Aspen of Utah, tucked amongst forested slopes with luxe accommodations. Hadley, Sarah and I had dinner lakeside at the Deer Valley Grocery~Café, a casual yet delicious eatery (the turkey panini with roasted rhubarb chutney, Cabot white cheddar, tarragon aioli, fresh arugula, housemade wild rice harvest bread was delicious).

From there, we rode up the free funicular (mountain rail-car) to four-star St. Regis Hotel, nestled above Snow Park in Deer Valley, and hit the trails. Lo, did we hit the trails.

As we marveled at the gorgeous fall colors, Sarah (an ace photographer) gave Hadley some tips as gawked northward towards Park City and Deer Valley and eastward to the Jordanelle Valley.

We continued our explorations back to the hotel and saw a glowing firepit in the distance. We headed toward the light and settled by the fire and acknowledged a young woman selling s’mores but we were still full from dinner. When some hotel guests arrived (with whom Sarah had common friends in Chicago), we gave into the temptation and that is when our lives changed forever. The staffer, Michelle, was a s’mores sommelier who taught us the art form of stuffed chocolate s’mores. Dripping peanut butter cup smores. And s’mores cakepops.

All this while our boys were at the father-son campout eating half-cooked hot dogs.

Nothing like girl’s night out for the win!

Filed Under: Family travel, hiking, Utah

The Best Place to Spend Labor Day in Utah

September 19, 2016 By

Every Labor Day weekend, our little town of 4,000 literally welcomes the world for Swiss Days! What started as a local harvest festival has grown to 100,000 strong as Midway celebrates the Swiss Mormon pioneers who settled the valley. To put on a production of this magnitude takes hundreds of volunteers and thousands of hours.

I was excited to learn each ward has a booth and ours was in charge of the extremely popular Swiss Taco booth, which looks suspiciously a lot like Navajo tacos (but don’t tell anyone I said that). Since we arrived just before school started and are commuting from Park City, I wasn’t as involved in the preparations as I would have liked but volunteered with food prep in the mornings–just call me the tomato slicer extraordinaire.

I attended my dear friend Lisa’s son Mitch’s wedding in Salt Lake City the day before and we were thrilled when they agreed to let their daughter Alex spend the night with Hadley and attend. Jamie’s sister’s family joined us from Salt Lake City and we had a grand time taking in our first Swiss Days, starting with the charming hometown parade (with plenty of candy) and floats.

Headless Horseman of Soldier Hollow

 

There were oodles of the most darling craft booths you’d ever seen (Utah Mormon women are homemaking goddesses) and those Swiss Tacos. I majorly failed on taking pictures because, quite frankly, it was all a little bit overwhelming. We waited to visit the booths until after the parade and congestion was wall-to-wall. We were so busy battling the crowds that we missed out on the huge line-up of Swiss entertainment so I’ve vowed to make better use of my time next year.

One of the cutest things ever was stopping by the Swiss Miss booth for my nieces to meet the five “royalty.” Bode would have NOTHING to do with them (he walks to the bus stop with one of the hotties) but my nieces were enraptured when they autographed pictures and posed with them.

From there, we attended the Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship where the world’s best border collies competed in a competition to heard sheep.

It was downright fascinating to watch these brilliantly patient dogs guide those sheep through a series of gates and the finish line. When the sheep went astray, it was a painful reminder of motherhood and crazy kids!

On Monday, Bode and I attended the Park City Miner’s Festival where the highlight was the Running of the Balls, one of the town’s biggest fundraisers of the year.

Running of the Balls? I expected a lot more blood and gore but no complaints. Our little corner of the world throws the best Labor Day celebrations ever!

Filed Under: Family travel, Utah

Week 1 in Utah

September 13, 2016 By

I’m so far behind on updates about our summer but I absolutely did not want to forget about our first week here in our new area.

The Furniture

We arrived in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, August 17 beleaguered and exhausted but instead of recovering, we were launched into the nightmare of finding living room and kitchen furniture. Yay: Shopping, my favorite! We recruited Jamie’s wonderful mom and sister to help (unlucky them). The challenge with our new home is it is a lot smaller on our main level than our previous house so we sold all our furniture–two sets of couches and two dining room sets. But that’s not the end of it. Our new living room is too small for a full-sized sectional and the small kitchen nook has made for some creative measuring. We think we’ve found a couch and can’t decide on an accent chair. I’ve been obsessed with finding a big, sturdy farm table but we couldn’t find anything to our liking–either it was too big or the wrong color or had grooves in it, which makes cleaning a nightmare. Jamie’s college buddy invited us to dinner (see below) and his wife had a glorious farm table from Pottery Barn: for $2,000+. Utterly depressed we’d never be able to afford what I wanted, my friend Kristen recommended Pebbles and Twigs high-end furniture consignment store and lo-and-behold was the dark farm table of my dreams for a fraction of the cost. It has a few scratches and scrapes but it has character; we bought a gorgeous bench and chairs that need to be redone but I can’t wait to see how everything looks together.

Saturday

Furniture and grocery shopped. Moved into glorious townhome. Hit the hot tub. Passed out.

Sunday

Attended our new congregation. First impressions:  the ward is huge (530+ people) and super friendly. Really excited about this because we left The Best Ward Ever. Gratefully accepted a dinner invitation from Jamie’s college buddy Jim and his wife Lindsay who live just a couple of miles from our  new house. Relived their college days, created new memories and declared them our first friends in Midway. Maybe I’ll make them an honorary plaque.  

Monday

Furniture shopping continued. Unpacked. Decompressed. Got ready for school. Drove to Heber for Bode’s meet-the-teacher night where he met his young and perky teacher who “rodeos.” First time I’ve ever heard it as a verb; welcome to the country.

Tuesday

First day of school. Since our townhome is 30 minutes away, Hadley needed to get up at 5:30 a.m. to be ready for us to leave at 7 a.m. Our glorious mountain sunrise was better than yours, I’m sure.

Dropped off Hadley at 7:30 a.m. then waited 1.5 hours for Bode’s school to start at 9 a.m. Drove back to Park City, went on a bike ride at the Canyons, did laundry, worked for a bit and had to turn around to pick them up again. My average time spent in the car: 4.5 hours per day–as tedious as it sounds.

My day: I fought to keep my mountain bike out of the POD and won, only to realize a cable got damaged in the trailer. After driving back to Park City, biked up up up to the base of the Canyons, a kind gal fixed it at the repair shop and I went on a ride. Vowed office hours would begin Wednesday…or maybe Thursday.

The Canyons

Hadley’s day: She survived. Girls weren’t mean but they weren’t friendly either. Sat by a few of them at lunch who refused to acknowledge her. She already has great friends in our ward (we flew her our for YW girl’s camp this summer) but didn’t see them at all. Definitely a demoralizing, overwhelming day being the new kid. Highlight: In science, the students had to say one thing about themselves. Everyone else went with the regular “I play soccer” or “I like dance” but Hadley contributed “My cat is twice the size of a normal cat,” which created quite the hilarious stir.

Bode’s day: The worst thing ever happened. No, he didn’t get kissed by a girl or stuffed in a locker. The school is so overcrowded (a new one is being built) so the lunchroom is a bit of a nightmare (if you’re late, you sit on the floor). There’s no method to the madness so Bode didn’t sit with his class…and didn’t realize when they left. As he chowed down, he noticed some of his peers were gone. In a panic, he looked everywhere for them (they weren’t in class) and got emotional when he couldn’t find them. A half hour later he located them, only to realize he completely missed recess. Basically, life was no longer worth living.

Tried to lift deflated spirits after school with Granny’s famous shakes, barbecued burgers for dinner and  hit the pool at our fancy townhome. Hope was renewed.

Wednesday

My day: drive, drive, drive. Biked the Millennium Trail  from the Canyons to Gorgoza Park. Worked a bit before had to go pick up the kids. Vowed to hire someone to help with Bode in the morning so I could get at least 5 hours in between pick-up and drop-off.

Hadley’s day: Much better second day of school. Bonded with a fellow new girl named Shannon in her P.E. class as they struggled with their lockers. Found her sitting alone at lunch and voila, her first friend! Completed her science questionnaire the night before and was the only kid to complete the Honors section so she got a special award and recognition for going above-and-beyond. Spirits buoyed up. After driving home from school, we ate dinner and decompressed a bit before driving back for 6 p.m. Parent-Teacher Conference where we went from class-to-class meeting her teachers in Health, P.E., College/Career Prep, English, Science, Math and Journalism.

Bode’s day: Made it to recess. Starting to learn the flute in orchestra. Went to his first Cub Scout Webelos meeting and had a great time meeting boys and touring Ridley’s grocery market. We’ll call that a success.

Thursday

After looking at  the gas tank (less than half full after a mere two days of the commute), vowed to stay in Midway a couple of days per week to save on gas, time and sanity. Hiked Dutch Hollow for the first time, marveling at vistas that are still foreign to me and yet somehow feel like home.

Hung out with new friend Sarah, a gal I connected with before moving here. Her family recently relocated from Chicago and wonder of wonder, this miracle girl offered to take Bode in the mornings after I drop Hadley off, saving me that dreaded 1.5-hour wait. Tried to find Wi-Fi to work but failed. Picked Hadley up from school, went to the public library and found my Wi-Fi and a new library card. Winning!

Hadley’s day: Her social circle of friends expanded to include some of Shannon’s new friends at lunch. The girls give each other nicknames and she is christened “Chip.” She just needs to find her “Chocolate” and she’s golden.

Bode’s day: Four Square World domination at recess. Slowly making friends but says he’s feeling more settled about the move.

Since I’m gone most of the day, Jamie has taken over a lot of the household responsibilities. The kids and I came home to a clean townhome, healthy smoothies for our after-school snack, organic soup simmering on the stove and a fresh baguette, thereby proving he’s a better wife than I ever was.

Patio dining at the townhome

Friday

Bode’s day: Drop off at Sarah’s, missed the the group of girls walking to the bus so Sarah dries him to the bus stop (comprised mostly of girls). Perhaps will have a girlfriend by month’s end. A good day of school to end the week.

Hadley’s day: Announces she wants to join the Science Club. I pick myself off the floor in delighted shock and write that club dues check faster than you can say “Science Geek.”

Conclusion: We survived. I vacillated between the highest highs (I can’t believe we get to live in this gorgeous place) and the lowest lower (living in limbo is so hard and I desperately miss my friends and easier life).

As we sat poolside in front of the firepit at our glorious townhome after the first day of school, Jamie asked, “What were we doing a week ago today? Oh yeah, we were in moving hell.”

Let’s hope life gets a little less hellish every day.

Filed Under: Utah

We have movement!

April 25, 2016 By

It’s a big week Chez Johnson. Not only is our beloved house going on the market (awk!) but we have movement on our Midway property. We wired a sizable down payment to our home builder last week (awk!) and Big Bertha showed up on our lot today to start digging.

I know this isn’t exciting to anyone but my family but one of my regrets when we built our current home is we didn’t document its progress. And thanks to my snitch (a.k.a. neighbor Ellen), I’ll have regular updates.

For the first time ever, I totally get the excitement of the critically acclaimed book and movie, Holes. 

Filed Under: Utah

A Walk (and Trip) to Remember in Midway

April 21, 2016 By

Do you know those parents who take their high school seniors on a campus tour to extol the virtues of attending their Alma Mater? That’s exactly what our trip to Midway was during Spring Break. We figured if we were asking the kids to uproot their lives they love for a place completely unknown to them, we’d better make it look good. Really good. The funny thing is that when I first received my impression to look for real estate in Soldier Hollow, I had only ever visited Midway once or twice while Jamie had never been. That, my friends, is called faith. Or lunacy.

During my initial investigations, I talked to a few moms from Midway. One, in in particular, was a stand-out when I asked her about the demographic of this tiny mountain hamlet.

“There are people who’ve lived here for generations dating back to the Mormon pioneers from Switzerland. Some people have second homes here, others come to retire. We have General Authorities and young families who want an active lifestyle for their kids. In recent years, there has been an influx of people moving in who have no idea why they’re doing it but just feel compelled to be here.”

 Cue the goosebumps. That was one of many answers to prayers and perfectly described why we’re uprooting our lives for the unknown. We may be moving for one big reason or a million little ones. Who’s to say?

The timing of our visit over Spring Break could have been better. Late- March in the mountains is “shoulder season,” which is just a really way of saying it’s a transitional period between snow and green to the tune of mud. Midway’s famed Ice Castles were at the top of our bucket list but they were already melted. That didn’t stop us from exploring!

Tubing

We were fortunate to tube at Soldier Hollow in Wasatch Mountain State Park on closing day. This venue was made famous during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games as host to the cross country and biathlon events and has since added the longest tubing hills in Utah. We arrived wearing our winter layers of clothing and quickly started unlayering when we felt a blast of warm air. Spring skiing is one of the most fun times to ski because of cooperative temperatures and soft snow; spring tubing is equally as desirable!

The hill has lengthy 1,200-foot sliding lanes with lift service for towing people up the hill. Over and over again, we did laps up and down the mountain. The snow was soft but first; when the sun went down, it became slick and the tubers started crashing through barriers at the bottom, warning us to start braking with our feet half-way down. We ignored them, choosing to slow down at the bottom to up the element of excitement.

The Homestead

We stayed for a couple of nights at The Homestead Resort, a throwback to Victorian times with 19 separate buildings of cottages, rooms and condos connected by scenic walkways through lush gardens and lawns overlooking an 18-hold golf course. We slept in the spacious bunkroom, a building with a long history of hospitality but in need of some updating, as was much of the resort. Regardless, as the kids fed the kids sampled fudge in the gift shop and fed ducks before breakfast at Fanny’s, it’s impossible not to feel charmed by this historic property.

In the summer, the Activity Center offers a full slate of fun and a year-round option is The Homestead’s famous 65-foot crater, a geothermally heated pool. The crater is housed inside a limestone dome and we climbed the steep steps to catch a view from above before accessing it via a murky tunnel below. As we entered the crater, the sunlight filtering from the top cast the whole cave in an intense cobalt hue that made it look like an LED disco room–talk about mood lighting! Small stalactites clung from the ceiling above us, creating an otherworldly feel.

Life jackets are mandatory for swimmers, a fact I belittled until I leisurely floated in the 92-degree water that was warmer than your average pool but not too toasty that we were uncomfortable after our hour-long swim. The crater unbelievably offers scuba certification courses. We brought our snorkeling gear but our life jackets prevented us from producing them because we were unable to go deeper. The only evidences of the divers in the clear, deep waters were their bubbles at the surface and their lights illuminating the water’s deep below.  We’ll go deep another time but for that day, it felt luxurious just to soak.

The Walk to Remember

As we’d driven into town I’d noticed a walking trail and vowed to explore it the next morning. I slipped out before dawn as my family still slept and hung out in the lobby by the fireplace until the sun made its appearance. And then I was off! I walked down Homestead Drive past gorgeous Swiss-themed mansions, turning off onto the trail that slithered past Snake Creek. Five minutes later, it ran out. Disappointed at ending my walk prematurely, I turned onto Pine Canyon Road and decided to do a large loop before returning.

Deer curiously watched me, ruminating on the grass from a large plot of land for sale. I kept heading north and then west toward Wasatch Mountain State Park, eventually connecting with a road that would lead me back. Off to my left was a small forested area and steam was rising. I stopped. Midway is a hot pocket of hot springs but could there be something in a hidden grove?  There was a small wooden fence but I didn’t see a “no trespassing sign” so went for it.  I carefully traversed two rickety logs over a creek, pausing briefly to reflect if Jamie would be able to find my dead lifeless body there (such are the thoughts of someone who’s doing something that may not be such a swell idea).

What greeted me was a thousand times worth it. I didn’t find geothermal springs but rather, the sunrise was blazing on a collection of ponds that appeared to be shooting out cotton candy pink and blue puffs of steam. Sun-bleached reeds blew  shaggily in this forest that was so serene and untouched I felt like I was the first to discover it. I wanted to live forever in that moment.

I reluctantly crossed another questionable bridge back to a dirt path that I followed through Shire-like wooded groves and just when I thought my adventure was over, I stumbled upon a Swiss-themed castle playhouse. “What is this place?” I breathed, utterly bewitched.

I raced back to The Homestead to find the kids still sleeping. Jamie and I walked around the property as I downloaded my morning’s adventures.

“You know, Amber. You were probably on private property.”
“I didn’t see any signs.”
“Yes, but there was a fence.”
“But it was a small, unfortified fence. Anyway, how do you explain the castle I found?”
“That was probably someone’s backyard playhouse.”

The man needs more magic in his life. Fortunately, Midway has plenty of it to spare.

Filed Under: Family travel, Utah

The months leading up to our Midway move

April 7, 2016 By

From that unexpected moment in December when we first felt that strong impression that we were supposed to uproot our beloved Colorado life for the unknown in Midway, Utah, our past several months have been a blur.

January

  •  I spent most of January crying. Don’t ask about my ugly sobfest when I watched “Out of Africa” and Meryl Streep introduced her love affair of Kenya with “I had a farm in Africa.”  TIP: DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE IF YOU ARE MOVING FROM A LAND YOU LOVE.
  • I also spent January purging the house. I literally cleaned out every single room and we will have one heck of a garage sale next month. On April 15, we will celebrate our 12-year anniversary in this wonderful house. This was the home of my kids’ cherished childhood. It feels strange as they enter their tween/teen years they will have completely different memories in a new place.
  • Jamie and I flew in and out to Utah on the same day to meet with the builder to discuss initial plans. Funny story: when we first walked onto the property in December, it was foggy and we couldn’t see any views of Mount Timpanogos. On our return visit, we were literally blown away. It is the perfect view (minus annoying power lines). This picture is zoomed in of our yard.

February

  • We told the kids about the move. They cried, I cried. Jamie (The Man Who Never Cries) sympathetically consoled us while Fat Kitty looked at us like were lunatics. He has no idea of the trauma that awaits him this summer (Fat Dude hates any change and becomes unglued simply riding around the neighborhood in the car).
  • Told our closest friends. More crying.

March

  • Things are becoming real. Started fixing up the house for sale.
  • Spend a fortune on new carpet we’ll never enjoy.
  • Word of our move spreads like wildfire in our ward that has become our second family. Crying etc.
  • We visit Midway for Spring Break and introduce the kids to their new life.
About 95 percent of the homes are completed in our new neighborhood and only a few remain including our lot and our immediate neighbor’s but I was thrilled to see their cars and told Jamie, “we need to go meet them!” We hadn’t taken even two steps out of our car when Ellen FLEW out of her house, exclaiming, “are you our new neighbors?” And just like that, she and her husband Dave welcomed us with open arms to the hood.

The good: She is my twin in twenty years and her husband is just like Jamie. Plus, they fed us coconut cookies.
The bad (for Hadley): She offered to become our kids’ piano teacher.

During our visit to Utah, we had planned to go to our new ward hoping to meet a few new people but church was canceled due to the Provo City Center Dedication. But the timing of our Spring Break visit was otherwise perfect. Hadley was able to attend an overnight retreat with the young women from our new ward and made a few friends. She will go to YW Girl’s Camp in our Colorado ward and then a week later with her Utah one. It was a relief that she was able to bond with the new girls before showing up for camp!

So, that left Bode. I’m concerned about both of them with this move for different reasons. Hadley has a lot of friends but sometimes takes a while to warm up to people and then she’s the life of the party. However, if she doesn’t click or fit in, she’s fine with going it alone. Case in point: She’ll often hang out with friends on the bus but if they’re not around, she’d rather just sit by herself than be with someone she doesn’t like.  It’s good that she’s comfortable enough with herself to just be by herself but sometimes not so good when she would rather not put forth the effort. Starting at a new middle school without knowing anyone is no stroll in the park.

Bode is the complete opposite. His friends are his world and he collects them like trash on his bedroom floor (translation: he has a lot). Everywhere he goes, he makes a new BFF. This is a great quality but the worry is what happens if he doesn’t click with the kids there? He’s a thoughtful, sensitive kid and it would be waaaay more devastating to him than Hadley.

Hadley’s retreat was at the Young Women’s President’s house in our neighborhood who has a daughter Hadley’s age and a 9-year-0ld son like Bode. I mentioned I’d like them to meet so Bode would at least know one person before the move but her son Tommy was at his grandma’s a block away. Just as we started to leave, another  boy, Titus, showed up asking if Tommy was around to play.

And this is where my Mama Bear My Children Must Make Friends instinct kicked in. “Tommy isn’t here but would you like to go with Bode up the street to his grandma’s house?” Titus was game so he and Bode walked together while I followed them in the car.

Yes, it was as creepy as it sounds.

It got worse. We arrived at the house but Grandma wasn’t home. Tommy and his siblings (I think there are 8 of them?) were in the care of their teenage brother. I hesitated. Surely I shouldn’t leave Bode there with no grandparental supervision, right? I followed Bode and Titus to the basement where Tommy was hanging out with his brother.

I went for it. “Hey, we’re moving into the neighborhood and are wondering if Bode can hang out for a few minutes?”

Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds.

They hesitatingly agreed and for the first time, poor Bode looked uncomfortable. I cheerfully assured him, “I’ll be back soon” and drove back to our lot to meet Jamie. Because our home is one of the last in the neighborhood to be built, we were not able to see our actual model before committing. Scary, right? Our neighbor across the street, Jan, generously opened up her home for us to tour and for the first time, we were able to see the layout.

The good: Jan is awesomely friendly and talked a lot.
The bad: Jan is awesomely friendly and talked a lot.

Normally I’d be thrilled with such a warm reception but remember that I dumped poor Bode at a grandma’s house without a grandma with kids he didn’t know? That few minutes turned into an hour and I agonized as time ticked on. I finally had to politely excuse ourselves and raced back over to the house. As I walked up to the door, I noticed something in the distance–a child riding a scooter that looked suspiciously like Bode.  I walked down to the street. Yep, it was Bode. He raced around the corner with Tommy and Titus in hot pursuit.

“Bode, did you have fun?”
“Definitely!”
“Have you been exploring?”
“Yes! We went back over to Tommy’s house and he loaned me this scooter. Do you know what we just discovered?!!! A SINKHOLE in an open field behind our new neighborhood.”

Something tells me that boy is going to be just fine. Let’s just hope the rest of us will follow.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor, Utah

The House

April 6, 2016 By
Welcome to what has become my ongoing series documenting our move to Utah. Don’t worry, this won’t last forever. Pretty soon I’ll be commiserating about leaving my beloved Colorado as I cram in every last adventure I can!
I’ve been asked for more information on the timing of our move and our new house so I’ll give you a window into my stress. As I mentioned before, the Denver housing market is on fire with a huge shortage of houses on the market, thousands of people moving here and being forced to pay top dollar because of the lack of inventory. Jamie’s sister has encountered this problem. She sold her home last year, made a huge profit on it, and traveled to Europe. Now that she’s back and looking for a job, she can’t afford to buy another house and is currently renting a one-bedroom for $1,300. I know New Yorkers would scoff but that price is high for Denver.  People are realizing what an awesome place this is to live and are coming in droves so I don’t see the prices dropping back to where they once were, though I’m sure the market will stabilize eventually.
Our plan is to put our house on the market late-April and hopefully move out by late-June.  Hadley has YW Girls’ Camp in our Colorado ward the last week of June and camp in our new ward the first week of July, hence the timing. Thus begins our homeless stage and the source of much stress. Since we’re building, there is a laborious process to endure. We spent several weeks in review with the house plans and making any necessary adjustments and upgrades and now we’re stalled as the building permits are approved. What was supposed to be 3-4 weeks it taking much longer. The original projected completion date was early-August (perfect) but now we’ll be lucky if we’re in our new home by early-September (imperfect x 100).
We’ll be living with Jamie’s parents in the interim and the kids and I always spend a good chunk of July with my family in Canada. That’s all fine. But school starts in mid-August and there is no way I’m driving 45 minutes from my in-laws’ house in each direction, two times a day to drop-off and pick-up  the kids. That’s 3+ hours a day in the car. So, let’s not think about that and  I’m praying like crazy the permits are approved so they can start construction, PRONTO.
Due to the premium price tag of our lot, in order to fit this move into our budget, we had to select the smallest model. That’s fine. Our new home is actually comparable in overall size to our current house but it is ranch-style and the layout is completely different. There are only three bedrooms upstairs (that are a lot smaller) so almost immediately we need to scrounge together some money to finish two rooms in the basement so we’ll move Hadley to the basement and Jamie can setup his office down there. Hadley’s temporary bedroom upstairs will become my office. We’ll slowly piece together the rest of the basement over the next several years.
Hadley is a wonderfully gifted artist and loves to create. The problem with that is she has decided this is HER house and her design choices. She begged to go to the design center with us a couple of weeks ago but we made it very clear that, though we value her opinion, she did not have the final say and could not use words like “barf” and “disgusting” when she did not agree with our choices.  She was very well behaved during the process and bit her tongue a few (hundred) times, I’m sure. We consoled her that she can decorate her new room in the basement however she wants. Tip: do not give a full license to a burgeoning artist. She is currently designing her dream bedroom that looks just her Grandma J’s guest room, complete with a chandelier. Good luck with that, kid.
We dragged Jamie’s sister Tammy (a former interior designer at Gensler in New York) to the design center with us. Her family just renovated a beautiful new home in Salt Lake City that looks like a showhome from the magazines. I mean, the woman still carries around paint samples in her purse. That’s how hardcore she is!
I deferred to her on almost everything except for two items: the interior wall and exterior house color. I really wanted our home to be gray with white trim and a blue door but when we pulled up to the neighborhood, we noticed that there were three other very similar looking homes with the same colors and one even had a blue door. Cursed! We took a stroll around the block debating the virtues of various home colors. Jamie and Hadley really liked a dark grey house with red trim but our current home has plenty of red accents and I’m over it. I opted for a beautiful slate blue house with white trim but they wouldn’t have that, either.
We finally compromised on the gray house with blue door. So what if it looks like we’re copycats? It was what I originally wanted and it’s ours.
I’m really great at pinning looks that I like on Pinterest  (is that a talent?) but have zero ability to translate that into making selections that work together (lack of talent). Tammy was a godsend and I’m really excited to see the final product. We’ll be significantly downsizing on the main level, getting rid of both of our dining room sets and two sets of couches, and buying only one dining table and couch. I’m really hoping we won’t feel cramped until we’re able to finish the basement.
Our property backs to farmland that is owned by Jon Huntsman who leases it to be farmed with alfalfa and a 90-year-0ld couple owns several acres on our south side. We posed for a few token pictures in our new yard. The next time we see it, there will hopefully be some movement on it!

 

As we scrimp and save and try to figure out how to make this house work, I think about that $55,000 premium price tag on the lot and how that would have more than covered putting in our yard, deck and basement. But then I look at those views and know that waking up to this as our backyard will make it all worth it.

Filed Under: Utah

To shutter or not to shutter, that is the question?

April 5, 2016 By

As we fix up our house to put on the market, our past several weeks have also been dedicated unto life-altering decisions such as “Do we put shutters on the new house?” I’ve had sleepless nights over such minute details. Only the strongest of marriages survive a renovation or a move. Fortunately, we’ve naturally gravitated to our areas of strength. Jamie has handled all the refinancing, loans and permit details while I’ve focused more on purging and cleaning our house.  You know, the things that don’t require any brain power, that’s me!

The whole process has been seamless but we sometimes clash in our design decisions. I want a completely different look and feel from our Denver home. We currently have a lot of browns and reds, which was swell when we built 13 years ago but I want to brighten up our plot a lot more. To Jamie’s credit, he has acquiesced on much of it, thinking I will give him full reign over the basement and yard and for the most part, I will. Except for the location of his greenhouse. Out of all the places on our .5-acre-plot, he wants to build it smack dab in the middle of my view of Mount Timpanogos. HEAR ME ROAR!

We’ve finalized most of our decisions from the design center but we’re still pending on one minor detail: to shutter or not to shutter? Our design consultant a.k.a. Jamie’s Generous Sister Who is Trying Not to Kill us With our Indecision sent over a few photoshopped pictures of her neighbor’s home that is undergoing renovations. Obviously, our house will have a different design but the colors are similar and this gives us a general idea.

No shutters.

The home with photoshopped black and then white shutters.

 

Jamie and I sat down to discuss our options.

Jamie: “I like no shutters.”

Me: “I think the black shutters make the house look too dark. Let’s nix those.”

Jamie: “Agreed.”

Me: “I’m kind of leaning toward the white shutters. I like the clean lines”

Jamie: “Huh. I’ll tell you what. Let’s compromise and do no shutters.”

Amber: “How is that a compromise? That is the choice you originally wanted!”

Jamie: “Exactly.”

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, Marriage, Utah

Midway’s heaven on earth

April 1, 2016 By

In case you missed our announcement: my family is moving to Midway, Utah this summer! For the story and reasons behind the move, go here.

I’ve been slammed with questions and emails that I tried to answer in my previous blog post but will expound upon them a bit now and plan to write a more official article with my travel tips after our move. We can’t wait for our many adventures in our new home!

About Midway

Nicknamed “Little Switzerland,” Midway is located in the Heber Valley and is literally heaven on earth. Our Swiss-themed hamlet is nestled at the base of Wasatch Mountain State Park and has outstanding year-round outdoor recreation including golf, fly fishing, boating and watersports, plus skiing and other winter sports with Deer Valley and Park City Resort only 15 minutes from our doorstep. Summer and winter temperatures (thankfully) average 5 degrees cooler than Denver and snowfall is abundant, which makes me a very happy Canuck. The Midway Ice Castles are a popular tourist attraction during the winter months.

Midway is practically surrounded by water. Jordanelle Reservoir is popular for boating, the Provo River is less than a mile from our house and is a fisherman and tuber’s dream and we have a gorgeous view of Deer Creek Reservoir from our home. I foresee this family taking up many watersports in our future!

So long as I don’t have to get my face wet. File that under “Some Things That Will Never Change.”

I’ve always dreamed of living in the mountains but never aspired to live in the middle of nowhere. Midway is the best of both worlds. Our tiny town of 4,000 is 15 minutes from Park City and 40 minutes to Salt Lake City where Jamie’s family lives. I can have my cake and eat it, too.

A few fun facts about Midway from the Heber Valley Chamber.

  • Despite its growing population, the Heber Valley boasts a 25:1 ratio of fish to people.
  • A series of warm-water hotpots are sprinkled throughout Midway City. Our family went swimming in The Homestead Resort’s famous crater over spring break.
  • Soldier Hollow, the 2002 Olympic venue for X-Country Skiing, was one of the most visited sites of the 2002 games. We had a blast on their lift-serviced tubing hill last week!
  • The number of golf holes within a five mile radius is one of the greatest in the Western United States.
  • The Heber Valley Rail Road, once a major transporter of sheep, now carries 75,000 visitors per year.
  • Red Rocks are prominent on the East end of the valley while soaring mountains are located to the West.
  • More than 1,000 miles of snowmobile trails wind throughout the area (the equivalent of riding to Denver, twice).

Stay tuned next week where I’ll give updates on our new home and all the [not so] fun things that go into pulling this move together.

Filed Under: Utah
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