Move 'em On, Head 'em Up

Packed with a few possessions to call his own and with the hope of finding a good life up north, Moose's Mustang burned asphalt all along I-10, through Tucson, and up the 5 corridor to Washington, Seattle exactly. It was 1992.

Meanwhile, i was boarding a plane for Germany, going on an adventure as an exchange student for a few weeks. It was really something too, as i was going to be 17 and on my own, leaving my American friends and my teacher to visit my family up in Northern Germany for a few weeks. It was the best thing that ever happened in my life, so far.

After returning to Tucson, i finished up my senior year of high school. Ever the doting parents, mine encouraged me to forego the boys and stick with the studying. Sounded like sound advice, although there were a few crushes to distract me. I was faced with a pretty majour decision for all my efforts...head to U of A and stay with my folks, or accept a scholarship up in Flagstaff a couple hundred miles away.

Moose was up in Seattle, working for an engineering firm, and looking to move out of his Grandma's house and into his own apartment. He settled down in the southern Puget Sound area and toiled his little heart out. Outside of work, he was involved with a young adults group from church, which introduced him to all kinds of recreation around the area, sporting events, and at least one club, so i've heard. And around this time, Moose's mom returned with the rest of her children home to Washington as well. She settled near her twin sister and Moose, and he was happy to have his family around again.

After graduation, i started university right away at U of A--a pharmacist sounded like a great career to me. My mom worked at the U, so each day between classes it was fun to catch up for a visit or lunch. However, i really was struggling with the class load and outside of my mom and her kind workmates, it was lonely too. There weren't a lot of friends from high school to meet up with, and for a painfully shy girl like myself, meeting new classmates was almost killing me.

Moose was in need of a different job. He was tiring of the uncertainity of working for a private company, especially through downturns in the economy. During this time he was able to gain employment with a city government. He worked his way up through the ranks to become a design engineer. He was 25 and starting to get the itch to settle down, regardless of what the camaro parked in his driveway said.

Meanwhile, Tucson was wearing on my parents, especially after my father was laid off from the mining industry. He's old school though, a saver, so they weren't really worried. In the summer of '95, my parents decided to officially retire and move up north. A few months earlier, my dad had taken me on a trip to check out Idaho State's pharmacy school in Pocatello and i had been accepted into the undergrad programs. Needless to say, it wasn't the best decision i ever made, and truly a time i wish to forget. You couldn't cast a glance at a cute boy without being asked out, but once they found out you weren't Mormon, that was the end of it--sometimes even before dinner was done. Oy! So i returned to North Idaho with my parents and started working at a local insurance company as an assistant to their assistant.

Pondering what to do with myself now. I was 20, awkward, depressed, and just couldn't stand the thought of living in a podunk little town in Northern Idaho for the rest of my life... (upon reflection now, what do 20 year olds know, eh?)


Stay tuned for the next installment of The Impractical Love Story of Me and My Moose.