#52 Stories--Story # 29

How many different homes or apartments have you lived in throughout your life? How many different cities? What have you gained or lost in each of those moves?

As a very young girl I lived in Sunnyvale--a house on Santa Paula street until I was about 3 or 4, and another home on Sugarpine Drive until we moved to or family home in Gilroy, CA. I lived there with my parents, sister, and grandparents until I left home to go to college in Provo, Utah at BYU. I was just eighteen years old when I left home.  I lived my freshman year in the Deseret Towers, U-Hall, apartment U-712, as I recall.  DT has been torn down now and made way for newer nicer on campus housing and other buildings.

I lived there for 2 semesters then came home to work the summer after my first year away at school.  I lived back in my childhood home that summer while I worked in San Jose. then my second year of BYU I lived in an apartment at Raintree Apartments on Freedom Blvd in Provo.  I have had several roommates, by my room-roommate there was Stephanie Coltrin. she was from Westchester, New York. We lived there for two semesters then moved to a little rental home that following summer that was behind the old Albertson's on University Parkway. Living with her was not helping me be a better person, and due to some additional complications, I moved at the end of the summer to Stadium Terrace apartments, just north of the BYU stadium.

In those apartments I moved without knowing anyone, but I knew whatever it was  had to be a better situation than I was leaving. Boy, did I luck out there! I ended up living with the apartment manager, Stacy, and her other roommate, Perri Campbell. We each had our own rooms in this apartment, as part of the perks of living with the manager. Plus the bathroom was a huge common area with sinks and countertops and 2 "stalls" and a curtained off shower area. I'd never seen anything like that before. We were a "basement" apartment directly off the diving board of the swimming pool.  My room backed up a portion of the mailboxes--consequently I could hear EVERY TIME someone picked up their mail. Stacey and Perri and I lived together for a couple of years.  Things were great there.  I stayed year-round and kept going to school while I lived there.

Eventually Perri had to move as her dad had been diagnosed with ALS and she needed to go home to Washington and care for him and help her mom. I was crushed to see her leave, as I felt she was like a big sisters I never had. I knew it was the right thing for her to go home and help her dad in his final years.

Stacy had plans to move on too.  Things just can't stay that "young adult college student" phase forever, I suppose.  So I had 5 knew girls move in. I remember one called herself Michel--but after stealing something from the rest of us, she ended up committed to the psych ward at UVRMC for a time.  I never did get my favorite jeans back from her.

The final group of ladies I lived with were fantastic roommies!  Jennie, Jen, Jodi, and Shannon were wonderful to live with for the last year or two of my university life. Jen, Jodi and Shannon had known each other from their missions to Norway. Jennie, Jen and Shannon I believe had known each other from internships in Washington DC. They were gracious enough to include me in their group as we lived together in the same little downstairs apartment until three of us got married that final semester we were there.

Then after marrying Genius Golfer, we lived in his mom's Springville home's basement while I finished my degree that summer. I ended up working at a place in Provo following graduation, and we found a brand new apartment in Springville (169 N 200 E, I think) where we lived for a semester until we realized that we could move back to his mom's basement and save money to buy a home. So we did that, moving back to 235 E 1300 N in Springville.  It worked out great as she worked nights as a nurse at the Provo hospital and I was working days in Provo while GG was trying to get his business off the ground.  She'd had dinner made when I got home from work, and I'd cleaning up the kitchen and she'd be off to work. She made those couple of years pretty easy for me, I'm happy to say.

Toward the end of summer 1994, we felt it was time to find a place, but after having grown up and attend schools in basically one place my whole life--and GG having to move mid-high school--we knew we wanted to find place where we could raise our kids.  we found a spec home that the builder was getting ready to finish and we squeaked by with out financing and a little help from my parents and bought our first home on 300 West in Pleasant Grove.

The kids went to the same elementary school, junior high and high school as many, many of their friends--graduating together after going to their whole public school years together. Not everyone can say that.  I made wonderful friends in PTA, Strawberry Days committees, kids' swim, soccer, and football teams and of course our local congregation over the years.

About 18 months ago, we saw the chance to build a retirement home in St. George, after having visited several times and falling in love with the weather and landscapes there. We aren't living there full time at this point, but wish we could get there more often to enjoy the quiet and peace it offers.

Someday the day will come that we make the permanent move south.  But I love where I am until then. When we do move it might take me a few years to really love my neighbors and make new friends in the area and ward there. But all good things take time.  Just like leaving here will take time to get over too.