When my parents come down to Utah to visit, my mom jokes about how they’re in the “big city” now. Up in Montana, they live 10-15 minutes from the closest restaurant, which is in a tiny town. If they want to have a few options for food, or to do shopping, they have to drive 30-45 minutes into the bigger towns. But even those bigger towns are small compared to the cities in Utah. Here, you can drive from Provo to Ogden on I-15 and not leave the city feel. Both sides of the highway are lined with store after store, restaurant after restaurant. It can be a little overwhelming to me at times (I’m a mountain girl at heart) but today I’m thankful that I live in an area that has so much to offer.

My parents and brothers drove up to Sandy today and we all went out to eat at Outback. On my 10 minute drive there I drove down State St, which is basically one long strip of stores and restaurants. If I need a sit down restaurant, fast food, groceries, shoes, clothes, art supplies, you name it, all I have to do is drive 10 minutes and I could get any of those. It’s a comforting feeling knowing that if I ever have an emergency and need something quickly, I can get it very easily. Although it has made me a little lazy, I’m grateful for having everything close by.