Oh hey, it’s been a while! Oh boy, do we have some stories to tell. So what’s new with us? Everything. Everything is different. Let’s start from the beginning because I always tell people “yeah we’re in Idaho, it’s a long story”. Well here’s the long story: In February of 2018, we moved from an apartment in Tempe to a rental house in Phoenix. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I quit my job because I was already at that time getting excruciatingly bored. Emily had already quit her job, and not knowing where the next job opportunity would be, we decided to move to the center of the crushingly massive metropolitan area that is Pheonix, and coincidentally enough, back into our old ward. We had no way to know what a huge mistake moving would turn out to be. As soon as we moved in, everything just felt wrong. Part of the problem I think was that the new job I moved to was the first time in 4 years that a job change felt like a lateral move instead of a huge step up. That was bothersome, but we also just weren’t excited about where we were living. It could have been because we ended up having to pay every utility, plus pest control, plus 1250 a month in rent for our three bedroom house. I think we were unhappy with the amount of money we were able to save each month. It could have been a combination of those reasons or something else, but the excitement of the adventure of the past 4 years of forging our path in what felt like a foreign city to us was gone. And we really did have a great 4 years gallivanting around the desert, but like the great BB King would say, the thrill was gone. I wrote in my journal “I feel like I have a gaping hole and I don’t know how to fill it”. I think Emily felt that even more strongly than I did. When we went on trips to visit family, we found ourselves dreading going back home, which was very unusual for us, because we’re generally very happy to get back and get on with our lives and sleep in our own bed. When Labor Day rolled around we decided to get out of the sweltering heat and head to the Arizona pines for the weekends, despite feeling uneasy about it. It amounted to a great weekend in the mountains. When we arrived home and walked through the door, we were surprised that we had left the light on. Then we noticed that the sliding door was wide open and the curtains were flowing in the breeze. Our hearts sank and we knew one of our biggest fears had come true - we had been robbed. I’ve never had the displeasure before of having someone break and enter into my personal space and forage through my personal belongings that I worked hard for and casually help themselves to whatever they want. Having to replace all of our electronics have clean up the vomit on our kitchen floor was secondary to just the feeling of being violated, of knowing that a stranger had been in our house, knew where we live, and even had the keys to our car. We became jumpy, and every little noise we heard in the house or Alexa suddenly babbling about some update was cause for anxiety. I tried to go into work the next day after the incident, but I just couldn’t concentrate, and I came home and almost immediately started packing up. We were getting the hell out of there. The only problem was, where to go and the biggest question: how to get out of our lease? We had been talking about finding a way to get out of our lease ever since we moved in, but we weren’t serious enough to actually act on it, it was more just wishful thinking. Now we were serious and we were motivated. For the last several months, in our search for direction in our lives, we decided to go to a huge park, complete with a pond and a long walking path and we just walked and talked about everything. I mentioned to Emily that I was interested in Data Science and she responded essentially “that makes a lot of sense”, and it became the new goal. We had been exploring ways for me to get into Data Science and there seemed to be two options: Either join a “bootcamp” type program that would take about 6 months to complete if I was able to set aside 20 hours a week or go back up to Idaho to finish my college degree. About 4 years ago, I had dropped out of college with only a few credits left to go in my Computer Information Technology. I had been profoundly unsatisfied with what I had learned and didn’t revel in the idea of doing whatever job having a degree in CIT would supposedly magically earn me. After we had moved to Arizona to forge our own path, I spent almost every waking spare minute of my life either reading about programming, or actually programming. I barely took my foot off the gas for the next 3 or 4 years, and as a result, I had almost quadrupled my income in that time. I didn’t need a degree and still maintain that I absolutely do not need a degree to make a good living. But after four years in the software industry, I was getting kind of bored, and that’s why as early as the middle of 2017 I had begun to play around with the idea of finishing my college degree, as much as anything to stave off monotony and boredom. I was really taking my time on it though, as anyone who knows me knows that finishing my degree would be a radical 180 from my previous position and attitude. By September of 2018, I was taking a couple of classes online, though I knew that very soon I would have to take classes in a Rexburg, Idaho classroom to continue my Data Science pursuit. We assumed we would have to wait another 8 months or so for our lease to expire before we could start on that path. It turns out living in a place you hate, in an occupation that’s grown stale, and having all your stuff taken by an unknown, intoxicated, is what it takes for me to get serious about moving across two states to a climate akin to Antartic summer, and to pay 2,400 dollars to get out of our rental lease in order to do so. Thankfully we run a tight ship financially and were able to pay off our landlords and get all the moving stuff squared away using our emergency fund. My dad offered us his old 2000 Toyota Camry so we decided to give our 1997 Toyota Camry to our bishop who was going to keep it until he found someone who needed it. Even though our “new” Camry has 300,000 miles on it, it still feels like an upgrade - not only due to the conspicuous lack of a bashed-in hood, but it has a V6 engine, and it’s just overall in really great shape. We’ll see how many more miles we can squeeze out of her. I have to admit saying goodbye to our car was a little sad, since that was our sole form of transportation for most of our married life. 
Prepping for winter 
Before: 
After 
Getting the heck outta Dodge 
Here’s the obnoxious structure I passed by every day on my commute to work - I don’t know why I’m posting a picture of it other than to tell you people that it’s dumb. 
One last stop at my favorite record store. I go for records, Emily goes for dogs. 
The day of our move we found ourselves in the middle of the most intense rainstorm I’ve ever experienced in my life. I know that’s not just hyperbole because that month Arizona set the record for the wettest October ever recorded. If we weren’t moving we probably would have stayed at home and hoped that the rising pools of water outside didn’t decide to make themselves at home inside our house. Instead, we had really no choice but to run errands like renting a shop-vac to vacuum seal our mattress to make it suitable for moving. We didn’t get many good pictures because we were too busy trying to avoid getting trapped in floodwater. 
We must be crazy or something, but we did the ENTIRE move with just the two of us. We moved the mattress, dresser, and bookshelves and all the lots of boxes of books by ourselves. I’m not sure I’d recommend it, but we don’t want to try and get help especially considering how many times we’ve moved. Truthfully it also feels good to be independent and able to take care of ourselves. After a day of packing the truck full of our crap, we drove off to Nathan and Corris and spent a couple nights there while we put the finishing touches on the house before handing it over. We had a great time hanging out with them, doing family night and playing with the kids. When it was time to leave, it hit us that we were actually doing it- we were leaving Arizona. Emily called me as we were leaving (we were traveling in separate vehicles) in tears about leaving the place where we’ve had so many adventures and seen so much growth in ourselves. We almost feel like completely different people from when we first moved to Arizona to when we left. For some reason, we can’t seem to sit still and settle down. But to be honest, I don’t regret chasing adventure and experiencing different areas and meeting new people. We’ve always valued progress over comfort and because of that, we’re off chasing a new adventure. 
Things go up and then go down, chase a smile with a frown. He knows that his joy will stop, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’s a ship on the sea, setting sail to perfidy. He is cold, he is warm, he’s the peace inside the storm. Feel the swelling of a wave, hear the ringing of a bell, He’s been weak and he’s been brave, he’s been to heaven and he’s been to hell. See the old in the new, see the life stretch before you, See a mother in the child, there was youth behind grey eyes. I don’t know him anymore, he isn’t like he was before. A stone is taken by the tide, another season on the other side. Like the spinning of a wheel, he’ll be hurt but he will heal.
There’s a flower in the weeds, there’s a life inside the seed. (And he said) “I have never been as happy as I am today”, (But then the seasons turned and the darkness came) “So when it all falls apart I will have peace in my heart” (Try to think of the healing that comes out of the pain). “Try to redeem myself for mistakes in advance”, (The sun will always shine after the rain) “I know that when I fall down I’ll get another chance” (Just wipe away the tears and try again).
We couldn’t see without the dark, thing’s wouldn’t end without a spark. There is no truth without lies and no future without memories. He’s in the middle of the road, from where he’s been and where he’ll go. He’s the forest kissed by flames, the trees die so they can grow again. He knows that death is part of life, he would have made that girl his wife. Now there’s only darkness, there is no dawn, now that she’s gone.
“I have never been as happy as I am today”, (but then the seasons turned and the darkness came) “So when it all falls apart I will have peace in my heart” (Try to think of the healing that comes out of the pain). “Try to redeem myself for mistakes in advance”, (The sun will always shine after the rain) “I know that when I fall down I’ll get another chance” (Just wipe away the tears and try again).
- Turn the Season by F***ked Up