First Week of Firsts

Our first week in the Burgh was full of new experiences below is a list of firsts:

First Full Day of Work in New Office (a.k.a. My Cloffice)

I did try to sign on and work for a few hours each day we were traveling and getting unpacked but it did feel good to sit down at my desk that first Monday and have a full day dedicated to work. I am so grateful for my job. I knew as soon as I considered hiring on at Flywheel Outdoor Group that this job would be a good fit with our goal of coming out to Pittsburgh for Jaden to go to grad school. Since it is remote I can work wherever there is an internet connection and thanks to the Xfinity guy we now have high speed internet that works like a charm. Even though I always knew it would be a good fit, I don’t think I fully appreciated the sense of familiarity that comes with keeping the same job I was working at in Utah. So much has changed and been uprooted as we’ve moved across the country but being able to have the consistency and routine of my existing job has been a big blessing as we settle into life away from friends and family. We also feel very fortunate to have enough space in our apartment that I can dedicate the second bedroom to my office or as we also like to call it my “cloffice” since it doubles as both my closet and my workspace.

First Weekly Grocery Store Run 

After going to dozens of stores while my mom was here it was time for me to venture out on my own and do our weekly grocery store run. You know you must be an adult when this is an exciting event in your life. Smith’s was our grocery store in Bountiful, that grocery store is called Kroger’s back here and down south but unfortunately the nearest one is in West Virginia and I don’t think I want to make that drive every week. After being disappointed that the local Walmart doesn’t have a produce section, deli or bakery my mom and I were referred to the Giant Eagle stores. Sounds really impressive and compared to the slim pickings at previous stores it was pretty impressive. If I had to describe it I would say that it’s kind of a mix of a Harmon’s and a Smith’s it's got the aesthetic of Harmon's with the size and layout of Smith's. We were able to find what we needed and then some, as it usually goes with shopping. There happens to be a smaller Giant Eagle three minutes away from our house so I packed up Monday and ventured over. A few things I noticed that were noteworthy are: cilantro (a relatively cheap produce item back home, usually costs around 50 cents per bunch) costs $3.50 per bunch here. Their carts have phone holders on the handle so you can have your list in front of you (extremely convenient). And the most impressive of all is that all of their registers convert to self checkouts if there isn’t a cashier present. It was amazing. I think every grocery store should have that option!!! So there you go that’s probably an embarrassing amount of excitement over and information about a grocery store but I want to remember the little details as well as the big ones.

 

 
First Day at the Gym   

Jaden and I both were able to get our student ID cards at CMU this week. Mine is considered to be a “Sponsored ID” which basically means “I’m not a student but want to use your gym.” Sponsored ID’s give partners/spouses of students and professors access to gym facilities, libraries, and the campus shuttle. We are still trying to juggle the best way to both go in one day because street parking is horrible and the times are still on the summer schedule of 9:00-7:00 making it more difficult for me to go with work. Hopefully the schedules bump earlier so I can go in the morning since I'd prefer to workout in the beginning of the day. Overall the gym facilities are well equipped and we feel lucky to have one so close and are both able to use it.

 

 

 

First Hangout with Carnegie Crew

When Jaden did his internship with CMU last summer (virtually), he met 3 other students from Weber; they would meet up and study together and became friends. After all of them were accepted into the Master’s program we met up for a barbecue and they all introduced us to their wives. Now that we’re all out here 3 out of 4 couples (the other set was visiting family in Ohio) met up for dinner and game night. We decided to try Pittsburgh’s famous Primanti Bros. Sandwiches famous for putting the normal sides of fries and coleslaw directly on the sandwich so that truck drivers passing through could conveniently hold and enjoy their full meal in one hand while the other stayed on the wheel. Though it is supposedly a Pittsburgh classic it wasn’t our favorite sandwich we’ve ever eaten but the experience was worth it and we can check it off of our bucket list. After dinner we came back to our place and played one of our favorite games: Codenames and laughed and got to know each other. We feel very blessed to have built in friends that we already know and look forward to continuing to get to know as we explore Pittsburgh together. We decided to start a Sunday dinner rotation which will make Sundays feel less long since we’re so used to spending them with our families after church.

First Day at Church 

Pittsburgh was already beginning to feel like a new home but church definitely solidified that feeling. Walking into our new church building felt like home. I remember experiencing that on my mission and whenever I’ve traveled, no matter where the church is located geographically the spirit you feel is the same. Our ward is actually bigger than I anticipated. The congregation actually went into the gym overflow. We both commented that it felt like stepping back into the mission field but this time we’re not the missionaries we’re the new move-ins. We were welcomed by several ward members and were happy to discover that we were in the same ward as Jenna and Zach (one of our Weber friend couples, the other two couples are in a different ward. Pittsburgh has four wards: two family wards, one Spanish ward and one young single adult ward). We also found there were several other CMU students that Jaden knew but I hadn’t met yet that are very nice and we look forward to getting to know. The absolute best part of our meetings however, was in Sunday school when a man in basketball shorts, a tank top and missing some teeth spoke up and made the best comment of the meeting. We were discussing the Lord’s light and the Lord’s law and this man made the comment that the way he saw it “the Lord’s law leads us to the light.” It was simple, it was sweet and it struck my heart. It was one of many reminders I’ve had in my short life that: no matter if people around us look different, act different, believe different, speak different we can learn something from them. Some lessons may be positive some negative but I firmly believe that every person we come into contact with gives us two opportunities: to be kind and to learn.

So all in all it was a great first week. Full of peaches, with a few pits and many lessons learned. That’s how I want to finish my posts with a list of peaches, pits and lessons learned.

Peaches:

• Having a great job that allows me to work remotely
• Familiarity of having the same job
• Receiving a housewarming package from my bosses
• Dedicated office space/cloffice space
• Grocery store so close
• Lots of self-checkout aisles
• Finally getting our table and chairs from IKEA that were out of stock so we don’t have to eat on Jaden’s make shift table consisting of an upside down tray on two stools
• Finding a cute French bakery and buying fresh croissants and pain au chocolate to go with dinner one night
• Having a conversation with the guy at the French bakery who had similar turtle shell glasses like mine
• Finding ingredients so easily at the store that were difficult to find at home
• Making our favorite banana bread in our OVEN! (Our last apartment didn’t have an oven)
• Going to the gym
• Walking through campus with Jaden
• Our nightly routine of making dinner while listening to our Harry Potter audio books and then watching Downton Abbey (appears we’re on a British kick)
• Giving Jaden a back to school gift with some new clothes, backpack and Harry Potter themed Owala water bottle so fitting I know- never thought I’d be a Harry Potter fan but here we are
• Getting to know our fellow Weber State alumni friends
• Exploring new parts of the city
• Driving through the quaint neighborhoods so full of character
• Laughing with friends
  
• Saw a woman walking her cat across the street, it was so funny but the poor thing looked miserable
• FaceTiming friends and family back home
• Feeling at home in our new ward
• Listening and learning from our new ward members and people visiting church for the first time
Reading scriptures together
• Nightly rainstorms (so different than what we’re used to to in Utah, need to figure out how to send some of it home)

 

 

Pits: 

• Primanti Bros wasn’t what we had hoped it would be
• Discovering groceries are going to be more pricey
  
• Working out with a mask on (CMU requires masks in buildings. I’m perfectly willing to do my part and wear my mask I just hate feeling stifled when I work out)
• Street parking
• Losing where I parked and getting caught in a cloudburst
• Missing friends and family
• Going to 5 different stores and not being able to find picture frames
• Missing our garbage day because our neighbors said we didn’t have to haul our cans out to the curb because there’s an alleyway next to our house that the garbage truck would come down and pick up the trash, unfortunately that’s not true and so it’s out there rotting… ew
• Spending over an hour trying to hang a picture wall collage in a grid pattern when the walls themselves are crooked. Perks of living in a house built in 1917 ;)

Lessons Learned:

• Primanti Bros is more of an experience thing
• Groceries might be a bit more expensive out here
• Cats don't like to be walked
• I actually didn't know where we parked the car after we got our student ID's and Jaden stayed on campus and I went home
• Genuine conversation no matter if it is short or may seem mundane brightens peoples' days
  
• Tender mercies are there in the little and big things every single day
• God is in the details of the details
• Feeling the spirit is the same no matter where you are in the world
• The Lord's law leads us to His light
• And most importantly each person you meet you can learn from