I'm Moving to Salt Lake City!

Maybe. Hopefully. In a year. Or more.

When Mormon leader Brigham Young came to the area that is now Salt Lake City, he said, "This is the place!" and four days later had the city's grid laid out. I had a similar experience. Within two hours of being in the city, I told my husband I wanted to move there.

I've visited lots of cities that I love and would love to live in if money were no object (I'm looking at you, San Francisco). And I've visited other cities that I've really liked but weren't quite right (Denver is a bit too sprawling for me; Asheville, NC is a bit too small and remote).

But Salt Lake City has pretty much everything I want:

I haven't done my vacation recap yet (so many pictures to go through!) but it was probably my favorite vacation ever, and Yellowstone was the most amazing, spectacular, and breathtaking place I've ever been. It touched my soul. And my soul wants me to be out there!

My husband and I are from the Pittsburgh area, and we have lived together here for the past 16 years. We are the biggest Pittsburgh fans and have explored every part of this city and have done all the day and weekend trips to explore all the places close to this area. But for the past few years, we've been talking about retiring somewhere else, which is why when I visit a new city, I think about moving there. But, we don't have kids, our nieces and nephews are grown, and we don't really have any reason to stay here. (Except for being close to my mom, the only surviving parent of my husband and me, but she's had me for 42 years!) So, why not move now, when we're still active and healthy and into hiking and exploring, instead of waiting until we're older?

The big issue with Salt Lake City is the weather. It's very sunny, and it gets very hot. It also snows a lot, but I've read that it's so sunny that the snow melts quickly and that it rarely gets frigid, so I'm okay with the winters. But, it's very dry and has very low humidity. It got up to 92 when we were there, and while it was hot, it definitely didn't seem as bad as a high-humidity day here in Pittsburgh. While I don't like the sun, I found that wearing hats and light, long-sleeved tops helped me be comfortable on the hot and sunny days in Yellowstone and SLC. So, maybe I could learn to deal with it?

My husband has not said yes. But he has not said no either. I created a one-year plan to prepare and assess moving. The big task is to finally do all those home improvements we've been putting off. If we are ready to move and sell our house, that work will increase our house value, but if not, we'll have finally done the things we wanted to do. Also, I want to regularly check the weather for one year to see just what the winters and summers are like. I'd also like to visit the Pacific Northwest again before we make a decision. I feel like the Pacific Northwest is a better climate for me, but I don't know of a city that meets all my requirements (Seattle is too expensive and Portland is too pretentious).

This is where my head is at right now...which is a very bad thing to happen right before my race! Before my vacation, my training and race was everything. Now, it just feels so inconsequential. I'd much rather be researching job postings and real estate listings than running! So, yeah, this vacation really messed up my momentum and enthusiasm. On Tuesday, I quit on my run instead of pushing for the first time in my training. That is not something I do! Today I got some of my momentum back and was able to push through when I felt like quitting. I really need to get my head back in the game for the race, which is in just over two weeks, and then I can switch to SLC-dreaming mode again.

Any suggestions for how I can get my motivation back?
Me in Salt Lake City, wearing my new top from SLC-based Albion Fit!

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