Woodland Hills

We're back from a wonderful week in Utah! Jared took a week off work for a second interview in Elko and a first interview at a clinic in Orem. Unfortunately, we received Elko's official offer a few days before we were to head down there, and it was . . . underwhelming. We'd only move to Elko if the offer was much higher than all our other offers, but it was lower. We haven't cut them off our radar, but Jared is talking back and forth with the head of contracting there to see if they can get us a more enticing offer before we'd take off time to go back again. 

The good news is, the Orem interview went great! It was a really casual interview, kind of like the one in Cedar City (the doctor asked Jared why he was wearing a suit haha). They basically wanted to size each other up and talk about the prospect of taking Jared on, see how serious each other were, that sort of thing. Very basic steps toward a real offer, but with 10 months left until Jared graduates, there's plenty of time. They seemed to hit it off really well, and Jared will be back in November to work with him at his clinic for two weeks. In the meantime, the doctor will be figuring out what would be the best setup for taking on Jared (as an employee, a partner, or having Jared start his own practice and they would share the clinic space). I'll keep you posted if it works out! I have a feeling that we probably won't have a contract signed for wherever we're headed next until spring. Everyone seems to be moving slowly these days. 

I have loads of pictures on my phone of all the wonderful vacationy things we did in Utah (mostly fun activities with family), but I'll keep this post simple with some DSLR shots from a new hike Jared and I did on the south side of the valley after Jack was in bed at my parents' one night. 

There's a little town I LOVE tucked into the mountains of southern Utah Valley called Woodland Hills. It's nestled up on the mountain, most houses surrounded by tall scrub oak trees and sitting on a full acre. The fire danger is higher there, but man, I just love the nature and the quiet and the view. I would settle down there in a second if it weren't so far from Dry Canyon (my favorite place to hike) and likely Jared's future workplace. Those are the only cons for me though, and it's honestly only half an hour from Orem, so we could absolutely end up moving there someday. 

There's a switchback trail up at the top of Woodland Hills that's pretty unknown. Granted, it's quite steep. But these views are worth it! We didn't make it quiiiite to the top. My knees started to give out and we were quickly running out of daylight by the end. We'll be back to summit someday though.