Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Oviatts in Iowa
UTAH!
Hello Family and Friends,
In this strangest of years you are not receiving a Christmas card from us. This isn’t because I am too cheap to purchase cards or stamps, because I am despondent over the coronavirus pandemic that has made this year unlike any other I have experienced, or that I am the Grinch personified. It is because we moved from Iowa to Utah this year and many of our things are still waiting to be unpacked. I am not sure where our Christmas cards are or even if I brought them with us to Utah (not everything would fit on the moving truck). Thus, this blog post instead of a card.
After our basement flooded last year, we were looking forward to a more enjoyable and rewarding year in 2020. We had planned that I would retire in the latter part of the year, after which we would sell our house, visit Utah to find a place to live, and then move our belongings from one house directly to the other. This seemed like a sensible plan that should happen without much trouble. But perhaps you have heard the saying, “Man plans, God laughs!” Our plan seemed to be a good one … and then the coronavirus pandemic happened.
I was laid off in April due to the virus, well before I had planned to retire. At that point it made no sense to look for another job for two reasons: 1) as unemployment skyrocketed, no one was hiring, and 2) everyone who knew me was aware that I planned to retire and move to Utah later in the year. So Brenda and I revised our plan dramatically and decided to move to Utah before selling our house in Iowa and without a place to live in Utah (placing our things in storage). While I was extremely uneasy with the uncertainty of this plan and the prospect of moving in the middle of a pandemic (what were we thinking?), we decided to take a “leap of faith” and trust that things would work out.
Miracles started happening. Members of our church volunteered their time to help Brenda sort through items she had collected throughout our 29 years of living in Iowa, deciding what to keep and what to take to the consignment shop or donate to thrift stores (a truly gargantuan task she could not have accomplished herself). Others helped with needed repairs to our house. Friends from the West, two couples I have known for decades, called out of the blue and asked if they could come to help Brenda and me pack and get our house ready to sell. They spent several days with us finishing tasks I simply would not have had time to do. Family members came to Iowa to help load the moving truck and drive it to Utah. Three couples in Utah offered to let Brenda and me stay with them while we looked for housing (we took up all three on their generous invitations). A group of former co-workers organized and videotaped a farewell parade up and down the street in front of our house to wish us well and send us off in style. And after leaving Iowa in July, our house sold the same day it was listed. We were blessed indeed!
Once we arrived in Utah, challenges arose. The real estate market in Utah is greatly inflated and hyper-competitive. I thought I would go with a realtor to look at properties, then take Brenda later to see the best options (this in light of Brenda’s health challenges and to preserve her strength). However, I was stunned to discover that when seeing a property you had to decide immediately whether to make an offer because frequently houses went under contract the same day they were listed – and for significantly more than the asking price! If you took a day or two to “think about it” you would usually miss out. I do not know from where Brenda got the strength, but she went with me every time we looked at properties. I began to think we would not find anything we could afford to buy and started looking at rental houses. But rentals were even more expensive than purchasing, so we kept searching.
We saw dozens of houses and made half a dozen offers without success. We had heard horror stories of people who spent years trying to buy a house in this area and I became quite discouraged and anxious. But Brenda’s faith prevailed, and another miracle happened when we made an offer on a house that I thought there was no chance we could get. Unbelievably (at least to me), our offer was accepted! We found a house with the features we needed for our unique needs at a price we could afford in an area that is away from the worst of the traffic congestion and poor air quality here, but still relatively close to where our children and grandchildren live. We are situated on a cozy cul-de-sac next to a walking trail, a small creek, and a park. Our back yard includes a fire pit and an in-ground trampoline (perfect for family gatherings), along with a fenced garden with two fruit trees. We arrived in Utah on July 10 and moved into our place on September 15. After living out of suitcases for two months with nearly all of our things in storage, we were so grateful to be back in a place of our own.
We are now living in the small and still fairly rural town of Payson, located an hour south of Salt Lake City. We are between 20-35 minutes from our son and two daughters, and all nine of our grandchildren, who live here (we have one son who lives in California). In ten minutes we can be driving through the mountains along the beautiful Mt. Nebo Scenic Loop. And we live two blocks from the church we attend and the temple where we worship, literally within walking distance. (Here is a picture of the temple near us, the spire of which we can see from our driveway. Our house is located two blocks towards the mountain behind the temple. The church we attend is just out of the photo to the right.)
It has long been a dream of ours to live again near the mountains (we both grew up in the West and have mountains in our blood) and close to family. While we are near our children and grandchildren, we have chosen to cancel family gatherings – a pumpkin carving event for Halloween, Thanksgiving dinner, and getting together for Christmas – out of an abundance of caution due to the virus surging to record numbers of infections and hospitalizations in Utah. (I’m amazed at how many people here do not wear masks.) We have not been able to see our children and grandchildren as much as we would like, but still have enjoyed being with them more than we were able to do while living in Iowa.
For now, I remain unemployed and the question of finding work remains up in the air. Eventually I will officially retire, and we plan to remain in this house as long as we are able to care for ourselves. When the pandemic runs its course, we will make up for lost time visiting family and participating in activities we have missed because we were living so far away. Our memories of living in Iowa for 29 years and forming wonderful relationships with dear friends and colleagues there are precious, and we will always cherish our time and the people there. Now we look forward to the next – and perhaps final – chapter of our life.
We hope we can stay connected with you. Please feel free to call us to talk, or contact us by text message or email. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that the New Year brings great blessings to all!
Dee and Brenda Oviatt
1489 S 910 W
Payson, UT 84651-3166
Dee.Oviatt@gmail.com, 515-480-6331
BrendaLOviatt@msn.com, 515-306-9514
