How We Ended up in Price

For the past few years Dan wasn't exactly happy with his job. It wasn't horrible. But it wasn't good. There wasn't anywhere for him to move up in the company, he didn't get much positive feedback for the things he was doing (or any feedback really), there were no raises (even when he got his engineering license)--he was really feeling stagnant. If you know Dan, you know he's a do-er. The highest compliment he ever pays anyone is that they are "a hard worker." And poor Dan just wasn't feeling like he had the room to grow and be the hardest worker he could be in that company, so we started looking elsewhere.

We looked into companies similar to his. We looked into sales positions for companies that sell products that engineers design with. We applied for jobs with the state. We applied and had interviews. We prayed. And looked. And prayed. And applied. And prayed. And interviewed. And the weird thing is, that even though it was stressful, with him hating his job, and not having any of the opportunities we were finding work out for us, we always felt like there was something in store.

Finally, I started having the feeling that maybe there was something for us outside of our current area. This was a weird thought for me because my whole life I never really imagined living outside of Utah County, but I felt like maybe we weren't finding the right job because we weren't looking in the right place. I shared that thought with Dan and we expanded our search. We started looking in places where we thought we'd like to live: St. George, Las Vegas, Denver, Logan, etc.

One night Dan mentioned to me that he'd seen a job opening with UDOT in Price. I'd never been there (well, I'd driven through on the way to Moab plenty of times, but never stopped). I asked him about a week later if he had applied for it and he said "No. It closes today, do you think I should apply?" I told him, "sure," thinking that it would be good practice to apply with UDOT and at least get his name out there. But then they called him for an interview. And then they offered him a job.

Dan was elated by the job offer, but I had a meltdown. Bawling. Panicking. Freaking out. Hyperventilating. Meltdown. I was 7 1//2 months pregnant. I had a really great preschool business going. I was loving my new calling as gospel doctrine teacher (which was really amazing because I had previously thought that would be the worst, scariest, awful-est calling in the entire church). I liked my Lehi life. Maggie was loving her kindergarten experience and had been taking gymnastics at the Legacy Center. I loved her Lehi life, too. I couldn't wrap my brain around really moving to Price because in my mind the whole application process was just a practice--it wasn't supposed to pan out because none of the job applications up to that point had ever panned out.

We decided that we'd go down to Price and have a look around before actually deciding anything. We went. I cried on and off the whole drive. The drive through the canyon was pretty but once we pulled into "town" I was a mess. Price was ugly. It was the end of October, so there was only dirt and dead grass everywhere. There wasn't much in the way of shopping. There wasn't much in the way of anything really. I just kept crying and writing depressing and vague facebook status updates. Dan was fed up with my attitude (I like to think that pregnancy hormones were partially to blame).

We drove around a bit and walked through a house with a realtor just to see what was available. We stopped at a really cool park with a really great cheesey name ("Dino-Mine Park") and I started to relax and see some of the good things about Price. But ultimately I was still in Panic Mode.

We talked and argued about it all weekend. I texted my only friends I knew that had lived in Price, TJ and Cami. They assured me that Price is a great place. I believed Cami because she's from Bountiful and that really is a great place and I didn't think she'd lie. We weighed out the pros and cons of taking the job. I was absolutely sick about it. I think that I was mostly upset because I didn't feel like I could say "no." It reminded me of when I received my mission call. Most people are elated when they open their mission calls. I was terrified and depressed. Going to Hungary was the last thing I had expected. Probably because I had never expected it. Learning the language seemed impossible. Everything about it just filled me with worry. I had 4 months to worry about it before leaving. I cried and worried to the point that my mom even told me that I didn't have to go. But I knew that I did have to go because for some reason God needed me there. So I went. Entering the MTC was the hardest day of my life. But my mission was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I prayed and prayed about going to Price and I didn't feel impressed either way. I told Dan, "I definitely don't want to move, but if I know God wants me to, I'll go." I continued to pray about whether or not we should go and still I didn't feel like I got an answer. Dan reminded me that sometimes you need to make your decision and then take that decision to God. I looked at him and said "Well, if it was up to you, I know what your decision would be." He agreed, "I think we need to go." I tearfully replied, "Alright then." And after that, I felt like I got my answer. The Spirit affirmed to me that we needed to go.

I was still depressed and overwhelmed with moving, having a baby, ending my preschool, pulling the kids out of school and away from their friends, and leaving the home, ward, and neighborhood that I really loved, but just like my mission call I knew that if God needed me there, then I'd do it.

And somehow it worked out.