I've Now Lived in Utah as Long as I Lived in California

It's happened.

I'm at a midpoint.

That conundrum of how do I answer when asked, "Where are you from?"

California or Utah?

19 years in both.

California was my youth.  My growing up years.  That's important, right?  

And Utah is my young adult years. Navigating life post primary education.  Equally important.

My family moved to Utah several months before the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.  We were not expecting on moving at all.  I was attending College of the Sequoias in Visalia California.  Honestly, I loved that school.  They had just finished building a multi-million dollar music building.  Started several new music associate degrees.  And I LOVED that choir.  Having a music degree I've been in a lot of choirs, but that choir from a junior college was my favorite.  Great musical literature.  And we sounded awesome.  Plus the choir director gave me challenging parts.  I mainly sang alto, but also got to sing tenor and second soprano, and it was just so much fun.

I didn't want to move to Utah. At all.  I didn't want to go live where the "Utah Mormons," as we called them then (we call ourselves Latter-Day Saints), lived. There was a stigma that I just didn't want to be apart of.  When I was a kid I vowed never to move to Utah. No joke. I really did.

But my family needed a change, and my Dad decided to put out word in possibly wanting to move to Utah in a couple years.  Putting out the feelers.  That very day his boss was talking to the SLC boss, who said they just had an opening and needed someone.  My Dad asked, two hours later he had a job offer.  When God wants you to move somewhere, the doors flood open.

I could have stayed in California.  Live with my Grandparents and finish my associates.  A good financially responsible choice.  But I prayed, and knew.  I just knew I needed to follow my family to Utah and put my education on hold, which ended up being a 1 1/2 year pause so education was at an affordably manageable rate again.  

Years later it was the right choice.  I'm where I'm meant to be. I love it here.  

And now I'm at that cross road, the further down this road I go my Utah years overshadow my California.  I guess, now, I'm an official Utahn.

But, just so you know, I say the "T" in Mountain.  So my Cali-ness still shows...