Ain't life funny

About eight years ago I graduated from BYU with a degree in elementary education. I applied for jobs everywhere; Utah, Idaho, California, and on and on. Teachers were in high demand, so I was pretty confident I was going to find a job. As the summer slowly carried on and I spent night after night in the room behind the food storage wall in my parent's basement, I began to be very worried. No one was calling and I was starting to contemplate my future career as a burger flipper. Then one day I got a call from a place called Yuma, a place I'd never heard of. A place that was hotter than the sun and practically in Mexico. Not exactly what I had in mind, but no one else wanted me, or it was my destiny, how ever you choose to look at it, so off I went to Arizona. Most people sending me off seemed to think I'd be back within the year. I was advised to buy folding furniture to make the move back easier. Arriving in Yuma and seeing it for myself didn't make me feel a whole lot better. Oh how I cried when my family left me there. Yuma slowly redeemed itself, I met Lee, made some friends, and ate some really good Mexican food. Things were good, no folding furniture needed. And then there was a slight downward turn, we moved to Blythe. And then a further plummet downward, Quartzsite. A place on the edge of the sweltering wilderness, full of crazies and old people. There is nothing here, really nothing. We've been here for nearly 5 years, and every year I get a little more desperate to put this place behind me. Hopefully this will help you understand why, on Monday, when we found out that Lee got a transfer to Yuma, I did a happy screaming dance. If you had told me 8 years ago that Yuma would bring such joy to my heart I would never have believed it. Yuma has real grocery stores! Lots of them. Yuma has Target! Yuma has four Walmarts! And restaurants that don't involve golden arches. If my children get hurt, Yuma has actual doctors, and even a hospital to help them. Yuma has real wards and real Primaries! Yuma has preschools and fun parks! Seriously several times a day I find myself grinning like an idiot, just thinking of all the possibilities this opens up for us. Yuma is not the nicest place on earth, but I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Where I'm coming from, it's a utopia! We'll miss our friends here, but I can't wait to leave this place behind! We don't even know for sure when we're going, but I've already started packing.