JAJ Installment 3: Makinzee

First of all, if you would like to read the answers from our past few contestants....

Click here to read Katelin's answers

Click here to read Erin's answers (she answered one question and has promised to get back to the other two later so feel free to stalk her until she does)

And now on to Makinzee who only asked one question and I have no idea how I ended up with such a long response. I think I have even told parts of this story before, but since this is what my mind spit up today I will just leave it as is.

Makinzee asked: How bout will you always be in WI?

I guess the only honest answer I can give to this one is that I just don't know.

I never thought I would land in Wisconsin in the first place. At the time that we moved here our Utah house was for sale and we were going to build "the house". You know what I'm talking about? The house that the kids would call home for the rest of their lives, no matter how far away they moved. The house where our grandkids would come for sleepovers. The house. We were sure that Salt Lake City, Utah was it for us. Our permanent home.

Then one day Seth came home and said that his VP at Discover Card wanted him to apply for a job in Chicago at Headquarters. The VP in Chicago had asked the Utah VP to refer someone for the job. He said the job fit Seth's skills perfectly. We read over the job requirements and truthfully, he didn't even qualify. Most of the people Seth works with have Masters degrees and there are a generous handful of PhD's sprinkled around the department as well. Seth was, at that time, still working on his Bachelor's degree. We thought we would apply just for fun, expecting very little to come of it, other than good experience and some exposure. Shortly after he applied they flew him to Chicago to interview and wined him and dined him. Well, kind of. They actually just had him charge all his expenses to his corporate card so he wined and dined himself, only without the wine. He came home feeling confident that it went well.

So now what? If this really happened, did we want to go? Did we want to move across the country? Was this right for our family? I was very pregnant with Alex and still working part time in the morning, and Seth worked in the afternoon. This could be the chance for me to stay home and for Seth to work regular hours so that we could be the perfect little Norman Rockwell family.

They offered Seth the job. We decided what they would have to pay for us to agree. Their offer was too low. We decided to tell them the amount we had to have and wondered if that would remove us from the pool of candidates and leave us without a decision to make at all. They agreed to our terms. It all felt right. It felt like perfect timing, and so we went.

We planned to be here for 3-5 years at least, and maybe forever. We didn't ever want to live like it was temporary. We wanted to be immersed in the experience. It is too often that we are waiting on the next big thing in this life and too infrequent that we are just living.

Moving here was the best decision we have ever made. I have talked about that several times so I won't go on and on, but I know we made the right decision back then. Only recently have I started to wonder if we will ever go back.

To some degree, we just follow where life takes us, right? Life brought us here and it hasn't presented a transfer at this point in time. Will we ever actively look for work in Utah or California again? I don't know, maybe. Right now our house is worth less than it was when we moved here since we moved when house prices were high. We could sell it and break even, provided we could sell it at all, but we wouldn't have money for a down payment elsewhere. Also, we have a job here and that is something to keep a death grip on in the present state of the economy.

We have done some discussing lately about what the next step should be. Do we send Seth back for a Masters degree? Discover Card will pay for it, so it is hard to pass up, but that marries us to Wisconsin for a minimum of four more years. Two years for school, and two years after because that is part of the tuition reimbursement plan. If we are going to stay 4 more years, would it even be wise to move back after 9-10 years here? Do we forget about "the house" in Utah that I think is still hanging around in the back of both of our minds? Do we get ready to sell this little house (when the market rebounds) and buy "the house" here in Wisconsin? Decisions, decisions!

The kids love it here. They sometimes talk about living closer to family but this is home to them and they are very happy here. I am very happy here. Just the other night at Relief Society I thought for a moment how great it was to be comfortable. I knew everyone there and I think they all know me. Even the people I don't hang out with are easy to be around and make me feel at home. That is a really big deal for me. I have grown spiritually here and the idea of being in a Ward out west frightens me a little bit. It is just different here. Our numbers are few in the community and we really unite in our faith. I think I am strong enough to go back to Utah now, but not sure if I am ready.

I do miss my family though, so very much. I grew up within walking distance to both sets of my grandparents and that was one of the most stand out things about my childhood. I also want to live by my siblings. I miss them. I want to live by Valerie and pop in to just hang out and play with the kids all day. I want to be there for Halloween and birthday parties and just your regular old Sunday dinner. I have never wanted to go back to California though. I know, I am the only one in the country, but it just isn't where I want to be. (FYI: Seth would LOVE to live in California but I find it overwhelming)

I guess in the deepest, most honest part of my heart if I had to choose (gun to my head) my favorite place, in would be Salt Lake City. That said, the Wisconsin years have been the best years of my life, so it is fast gaining on Salt Lake. But Salt Lake still holds a big part of me. I moved there at almost 20 years old and that is where I found happiness, truth, and love. In the Book of Mormon it talks about how beautiful the waters of Mormon are to the people who found Christ there. I have often said (maybe even on this blog) that Salt Lake City is my waters of Mormon. I feel good and happy there and there is just something there, a feeling of safety and strength that brings me so much joy. If I had to say where I would ideally build "the house" I guess it would still be in Salt Lake, eventually.

However, I am not sure if that is what life will hand me. If it doesn't, that is fine too. I have learned that happiness has more to do with knowing where your home is eternally than worrying about where it is geographically.

Wow, that was not supposed to be that long of an answer. I guess my mind was in an expounding type mood. Good thing you only asked one question. I guess all I was trying to say is that it is really complicated and I just don't know.

Julie asked: How did you and Mike meet? What is your dating/falling in love story?

Julie asked: Did you know that once Seth tried to set me up with Mike? How funny is that? If you don't know the story I will sidetrack from the Q&A and tell it just for you.

Julie asked: Will you ever move back to Utah? I feel like we are living parallel lives in many ways. Three kids, girl,boy,girl, both moved away from Draper Utah to be stay at home moms, and both married in to that fabulous Loveridge family. If we ever do live in the same city again, will you guys come over for dinner some time?


*** Side note: Alyssa just came in to tell me that she was bored so she got a load of laundry going. I don't know where I will end up, but wherever it is, I am taking that child with me.

On Deck: Leslie, who was the brains behind the whole Ask Julie movement, and therefore presented me with lots of questions, a cool dozen to be exact.