We love living in Provo. There’s some great things about this area (Provo & Orem) that set it apart from other cities in Utah. The music scene has been great to be a part of, and has been the creator of some memorable date nights for us. Someone, somewhere nearby, for some inexpensive price is always playing, and they are usually pretty entertaining. I don’t know of any town that can do that, let alone, has enough talent to give birth to some great bands. The college town feel has also been fun. We can always count on student discounts somewhere. And because we are surrounded by so many other young married couples, we can always count on another couple to double-date with. All of us couples generally have a lot we can relate to each other on, because of our similar circumstances. However, similar circumstance is not always a blessing.

Just a pitstop

The thing about Provo is that for most people here, it’s just a pitstop in life. It’s where they come to school for 2-6 years and possibly marry someone along the way. It’s where young adults start their lives until they know what they are doing or where they are going. For most of the young married students living here, when they graduate from school they are most likely moving out of state for jobs, or to go back to their families. And if they do take a job here in Utah county, most of them will still move. We are in the same boat, though. We knew when we moved into our apartment, that it was temporary for 2-3 years, maybe. With Trevor’s mission, our college switches, home, and getting married, this is the longest time Trevor and I have lived in one place since graduating high school. The hard part was there was always an attachment of some sort in each of those cities with people or things. So forgive me if I’m getting tired of having a “temporary” state of mind, in having to detach so often.

We have been realizing lately the reality of Provo–it’s fun and great but it lacks consistency. Our Latter-Day Saint ward and apartment complex has multiple couples moving in and out every month, and by the time we’ve gotten to know one of the new couples, they are about to move again! And sometimes we’ll start doing a lot of things with a few particular families, (the kind of families you can rely on for borrowing some vanilla or lemon juice; or the kind of families that knock on your door all the time with a new dessert for us to try! We miss you, Fillmores!), but then graduation or life comes around for them and they move, too. I don’t think we’re the only married couple in Provo that notices this.

The Answer

I’ll say it again, I have loved living in Provo, despite the inconsistency. We’ve created some long-lasting memories with people, and within our marriage. I mean, how could we not? This has been our first apartment, in our first year of marriage! The temporary feelings I’ve felt the past five months have been challenging, though. I’ve been hesitant to organize for the long-term. My desire to decorate here has significantly gone down. And as mentioned, I’ve been struggling socially. I’ve been praying for months for the answers to make these feelings go away, and I think those prayers were answered this week. A part of it is just realizing that this is life. Everyone has a different plan and though we may want to bring them along on our plan, it won’t happen. I love the friendships we have made here and I hope they can continue. We shouldn’t stop enjoying people or a place though we know the relationship could be short-term. The rest of the answer we received was important for our specific situation. Stay tuned for when I share that sometime soon! :)

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