You can take the girl out of Utah but. . .

I have been getting some gentle promptings (and not from the Spirit) that I should start a blog. Well, I finally gave in and here we are. One of the reasons that it took me so long to start a blog (besides my crazy, busy life) is that I could not think of a name for my blog. Well, as luck would have it, I was at lunch with some co-workers when the name came to me.

We were at one of my many favorite restaurants in D.C. called DC Coast and I was asking the waiter a few questions about the menu. Apparently, I have a reputation of asking a lot of questions about the menu (I have weird food allergies, really!). Everyone was hungry and they did not want to wait for the waiter to answer my questions. When the waiter left, I started to try and explain why I had to ask my question (which was a very good question) when one of my co-workers said, “Well, you can take the girl out of Utah but you can’t take the Utah out of the girl.” The whole table starting laughed and I was a bit taken back. Was I supposed to take his comment as a jab or a put down? Was my co-worker saying that I was less sophisticated or a little bit country? For the next few days I thought about this statement and came to the realization that in July I will have lived outside of Utah for 11 years and in those 11 years the East Coast has provide some wonderful and some not-so-wonderful learning experiences. For almost my entire adult life, I have lived on the East Coast but still to some I have not lost the “small town” part of me. (For the record, Salt Lake City is not that “small town”, Springville is “small town” (sorry Millers).)

So, I have decided that what my co-worker said is actually a compliment. I am proud to be from Utah and I am proud that maybe I haven’t lost that “small town” part of me completely. I am proud that my friends that have visited Utah always comment on how happy and friendly people are and how the landscape is so beautiful. So, I guess you can take the girl out of Utah but I hope that no matter where I live, I never take the Utah out of me!