Anyway, on to this business about us moving again. Cedar City, Utah. Moving end of May. Crazy right?
Well it all started when Nicholi's dad starting job searching online, not expecting anything of it. Much to our surprise, he got a phone interview with Southern Utah University within the week & then a 2nd interview later in the month. He was offered the job right away. Nicholi's family made the decision to take the job, move from Bemidji, MN to St. George, Utah & live in Grandma TT's house. They will be moving in June. When first hearing of this news, I'll be honest, we felt abandoned and upset. We had just moved half way across the country to nomad's land with the promise of cheap school for as long as we needed it. And now I'm being told, a year & half in, our cheap tuition, as well as the only family we have here, are picking up & moving & leaving us behind. Ughhh! Obviously, we knew this was not planned or foreseen at all & it is a better situation for them to be in Utah, closer to family & Wendy to take care of sweet grandma TT.
So upon hearing this news we originally thought to stick it out and stay. Nicholi only has a year left at the rate he's going. Might as well finish up since we're already here.
Then after mulling it over for awhile, Nicholi decided he has been wearing himself out with these crazy 17+ credit semesters and has to start taking it easier. He hasn't had any time to study for the MCAT and has just been really stressed. So he has pushed everything back a year to give adequate time to study & to be more at ease. That being said, instead of toughing it out here in MN alone for one year, it would now be pushed to 2 years, maybe even 2 1/2. Which is far too long to be away from all friends & family, in a cold lonely little town, paying full price for school.
My thoughts are, if we move to Utah, I will be closer to my family, meaning possible weekend trips & definitely more monthly visits, because Cedar City is a 10 hour drive to Turlock or 2 hour flight, rather than a 26 drive or 5 hour flight. That means a lot to me. Also my family & friends will be more apt to visit me if we're closer & in a more desirable location, also important, because I miss my friends so much & love having visitors! Cedar City is appealing because the weather is warm most of the year, with a small winter that includes a little snow but no sub zero temps! YAY! Also, SUU has my major, a BFA in Photography, which really is my main selling point. BSU just had some major cuts to their arts department, meaning getting a BFA there is impossible now. They don't have a photography major at all, so I would have to settle for something I'm much less interested in. SUU's art department is expanding, with no signs of any cuts, hallelujah.
The only thing that was holding me back from being 100% for the move was the fact that I love my job here and the girls I work with. Honestly, best bunch of girls I could ever ask to worth with and best boss I've ever had, by faaarr. Moving would mean giving all that up. And all that paperwork to get my Utah Cosmo license, ugh what a headache. I'm in the process now but I will be surprised if I get it all done before June. It is such a hassle that every state has different rules & regulations regarding cosmetology. So that is my only reason for wanting to stay. I will miss my great clips girls far more than they know. Especially Megan, she really is amazing & breaks her back for that salon and for us girls. (We will definitely be having a killer going away party, don't you worry!)
We waited to make the decision until after visiting the town & the school. Conveniently, Nicholi & I had planned to spend spring break with Mazie, Nicholi's sister, in St. George before we even knew about Brian's job offer. It just happened to work out that we were there when we knew of the potential move. So we drove up to Cedar City one day (just 45 mins north of St. Geroge, about an hour from the Arizona boarder). We toured the school & met with the transfer adviser who told us we have both been awarded academic scholarships. I was shocked. We basically got recruited to this school for having perfect grades, much like how an athlete is recruited for being awesome at his sport. I felt pretty good at that moment. The scholarship is not a full ride, but about 3/4, which is pretty damn good. Certainly cheaper than what we are paying at BSU right now, because I don't get any tuition benefits, just Nicholi. The adviser also informed us of a residence scholarship we could apply for, for next semester that would cover 75% of our rent, even if we lived off campus. Amazing! Nicholi & I both toured our departments & met with the chairs & other department heads and were both blown away by the warm welcome, knowledge and amount they offered to their students. SUU's pre-med program is incredible, seriously, 90% acceptance rate into med schools! That rocks compared to BSU who has no record of anyone going on to med school after completing their undergrad there.
The pros were definitely outweighing the cons and we just had to say yes. We're moving to Cedar City, Utah & going to be going to Southern Utah University, with automatic residency and academic scholarships. Who would have thought? Life's weird man. But I am really looking forward to it. As for my job situation. If I can get my Utah cosmo license smoothly & quickly, I will find a salon to work in over summer & go to extremely part time during the school year, because I'm almost done with my gen-eds and I really need to devote myself to my major, come fall. If getting licensed there proves to be too big a hassle, then I will try to pick up a random summer job & hopefully find an easy on-campus job during the school year. Either way, we are both going to work less, & devote ourselves to school, each other & living a little easier.
Hope you've got all your "they're mormon & moving to utah" jokes out of the way. I'm actually pretty excited to be amongst young married couples like ourselves. The population is more than double that of Bemidji, but it's still smaller than Turlock, ha. Someday we'll be back in a bigger city, but at least this is a step up from where we are now! Oh and even though the school and town are twice as big as BSU, the class sizes are smaller with 30 or less kids in a class on average. Super great advantage.
So for now, we are trying to finish up the semester & getting things ready to pack & move. I promise to give updates more often. Now that winter is over and exciting things are happening, you can trust that I will! Until then, here are some pictures of Mazie, Nicoli & I from our spring break in St. George, doing a little hiking :)
