Dreams of the Beehive State

Andrew and I knew that we wanted to move to Utah while we were still dating. Everyone thought we were crazy...so before I jump into us getting here, I think some background is important to understand our motivations.

High School Band Trip Spring 2006

The Midlothian High School Wind Ensemble was invited to play a concert in Salt Lake City, UT. We were all excited because 2006 was an "off" year, meaning every 2 years the band takes a fun trip out of state. For us lucky wind ensembelers we got an extra trip! We didn't know what was in Salt Lake City...but we were happy to go somewhere with our friends, and miss school!

Jais, Rachel and I at the top of Snowbird Mountain Resort.

About this time, Andrew and I began the relationship phase known as "talking." How very high school I know....this basically means we were doing a lot of flirting and just waiting for one of us to get up the courage to formally ask the other out. Andrew had already asked me to be his date to band banquet, so we both knew we liked each other at this point.

A group of us wind ensemblers touring Temple Square in downton SLC. (Andrew and I are circled in red.)

This trip is where our relationship really took off, we starting spending more time together. That coupled with the fact that this was the first time in my life that I had ever seen a mountain made the trip really special. My favorite thing about SLC is that it blends city with mountains. This is kind of like me and Andrew. I'm a city girl, my ideal vacation is seeing the sights of a big city. Andrew is an outdoorsman, he loves camping and hiking and seeing nature.

Our very first picture together...it's horrible!

After this trip, we started dating. We went to prom and banquet together. I watched him graduate and we made the decision to stay together even after he went to college at UNT. As we became more serious we talked about our future and what we wanted. Its amazing when that day creeps up where your language goes from "I want to live here, where do you want to live?.." to "I think we should live here, what do you think?" Anyway as our talks melted into WE, Utah came up. The trip held a special place for both of us. The mountains, the snow. We knew we didn't want to end up living in Texas forever...now don't get me wrong we love Texas with the same blind devotion as every other Texan...but we want to find out what life was like in the snow.

And boy did we ever....