Nate and I met in Provo, we dated in Provo and after we got married the first place we called home together was in Provo. We never thought, back when we married and moved into that beauty on Sumac, that we would stay very long. However, we called that place home for 19 months.
And what a home it was. Provo, and that little apartment we called ours, became a new and beautiful home to us once we were married. Separately we'd lived in Provo for 5 (me) and 4 (him) years before beginning our life together. We'd done all the typical college Provo things-bowling, hiking the Y, late night food runs, dance parties, and dollar movies galore. We were both ready to be done with that Provo, but still needed to live in Provo. Luckily, we found our own little niche in Provo-one that involved city festivals and events, 4th of July festivities, walks to the temple, working out at the rec center, new (to us) restaurants, quieter grocery stores, neighborhood bike rides, and plenty of nights in watching movies instead of out on the town. We fell in love with Provo again.
Saturday the 12th Nate and I (with a LOT of help from my darling sister) cleaned that apartment on Sumac for the last time, returned the keys, hugged our angel landlady, quietly said goodbye and drove away. At the time I was tired and swollen and a little relieved to be done, but now, looking back I'm a little sad. That home was such a perfect one, a tender mercy in our life. Getting that home was one of the first times we as a couple had our prayers answered together. We spent countless hours there-sleeping, cooking, reading, relaxing, playing games, and talking. Most of my favorite memories of our first 19 months of marriage took place there, in the place we called home.
Life has a way of moving on though-and for us that doesn't always mean moving far. On December 1, Nate and I moved into a wonderful new apartment in Sandy. The apartment itself is beautiful with even more windows then our last, big open space, and my favorite feature-a bedroom perfect for a baby boy. The real beauty though is that it is in Sandy-the city where the rest of our story took place.
When Nate and I had only been dating a month, I graduated. Not knowing what was next in my life I moved back into my parents home in Sandy-where I stayed for the next 10 months until we were married. Nate and I dated in Sandy. We first said "I love you" in Sandy. We toasted (with sparkling cider) our engagement in Sandy, and got married just minutes outside of it. And soon enough we'll bring our first baby home to our own little corner of Sandy. It was always a home for me, and now it's a home for us.
Provo and Sandy, although they will always be special places to us, are just that-places. What I've learned the last few months though is this-home is not a place, it's a feeling. It's a feeling that can only be described for me as 'with Nate.' So no matter how long we stay in Sandy, and no matter where we carve a place out next I do know one thing-it will be home.
