Last night, I got together with a group of friends for our "Cooking Club". We talk about a lot of different things (TALK not GOSSIP-- truly) and one of the subjects was the rivalry between Idaho and Utah-- just a brief subject, but it made me think... I really don't remember too many "Utah" jokes growing up except the groaner-- "Why is Idaho so windy??" Yeah-- bad one, but the only one I remember. (My friend's husband works in Idaho and his co-workers call us Utahrds-- okay, come on-- grow up.) When I got to college, I heard Idaho jokes galore-- which they were pretty funny and sometimes true.
Then I thought, "Did I ever imagine that I would someday raise a family here?" I only remember that I really didn't want to live in Twin Falls after I was done with school. I didn't appreciate it until now-- I wanted to LEAVE. I don't think I ever planned on where I wanted to live in the future-- the only thing I planned was not to live in Twin. Twin was a great place to grow up, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to branch out a little. I also love and miss Idaho and the mountains because I am more familiar with them. Rich thinks I am crazy, but I miss the sound of the wind outside my window and the smell of sagebrush out at Grandma and Grandpa's place. When I moved to Utah the first time, I couldn't stand the mountains being so close. I was used to the flat scenery and seeing the Sawtooths from my bedroom window---- way way way off in the distance. So my questions for you are are, #1 Are Utah and Idaho the only ones with a "rivalry"? AND #2 Did you ever imagine you would live where you do now? If not, where did you think you would be....
Rich says that Wyoming residents make fun of Utah and Idaho. Is it just us Westerners that are so territorial-- I mean, we ALL make fun of California, but that is a given;)
** Addendum:
To answer my own questions-- I don't really remember the rivalry because we traveled frequently in both states. When I got to USU there were a lot of jokes about people from Preston that I never heard before, and my Utah friends were always nice about me being an Idaho hick-- hee hee. Anyway--I never really planned out where I would live, but I know I always loved Cache Valley. I cried when I had to go home and work the first summer after college. I never thought I would live in a tiny town and have animals and a big garden-- it is better than I could have hoped for really, and not at all what I would have tried to imagine up for myself fifteen years ago.
I think I have learned that I truly have been happy no matter where I have lived-- even if it is thousands of miles away, I know I can learn to love wherever I am.
14 comments:
You should spend some time here and you'd see that Idaho and Utah aren't the only states that have such rivalry...We, from Espirito Santo, usually have issues towards carioca's (people from Rio) accent...and all around Brazil you would hear some jokes about people from Bahia and how lazy people are there...
By the way...I guess I'm a kinda of small town girl...I just loved Twin Falls...and wish I could lived there my whole life!!!!
I am with you Julie. I always wanted to get out of Twin Falls and move far away. In my almost 11 years of marriage, I spent 2 years in Idaho, 7 years in Arizona and now 2 years in New Mexico. I never imagined living in either of the 2 later states. I didn't even pay much attention to them on the U.S.A. map...especially New Mexico. Both AZ and NM seemed to me, only places you would see in Western Movies. I have really grown to love both places...the landscapes, the people, and the bigger city living. After being back in Idaho a few times this year, there is something that has started to ache inside of me...that yearning to be home...a homesickness. My husband, from Arizona, yearns to be back in Twin Falls. We have realized that we miss the country way of living and the slower pace of life. AZ really seemed to be so full-speed-ahead, which I have come to realize that it is because the weather is always the same...hot. There is nothing in the weather that slows people down. When we first moved to NM, we moved into 12 inches of snow and got stuck in our cul de sac. It was the warmest welcome to us. We were thrilled to have something to make us stay at home and cancel whatever plans we had for the day.
Well, those are my thoughts...I gave you a whole lot more than you bargained for.
Oh, and one more thought. I don't remember rioting with any state growing up...except for the same joke that you referred to. Matt always tells me that he grew up in Ari-zion though...and I do believe there are really great people there.
There's no rivalry. Utahns simply suffer from an inferiority complex and use the jokes to try to save face in front of all the other states.
I don't remember it either. I agree with you, I did not want to live in Twin after graduation. I miss it now sometimes. Like you, I liked being able to see FOREVER! I have never missed Utah though, hmm, strange.
Love where we live and now!
I don't know about the rivalry in other places because I've only lived in Utah and Idaho!
Growing up I wasn't sure where I wanted to live, as long as it wasn't Tremonton. It seemed like everyone there grew up, graduated, and started working at Lazy Boy. I was certain that was not the life for me.
I really didn't know anything about were we live now until college. I came out here once in the dark of the night to my Bishop's house for FHE. It felt like we were driving to the ends of the earth!
Several years, and four kids later, I have come to love this place. I hope to stay here for always. The people are salt of the earth types. The kids still play in the snow and the mud. We can watch tractors drive by all day without leaving our yard. And the funny thing is, I like it because it is a lot like where I grew up. Only smaller.
I honestly didn't think there was a rivaly between Utah and Idaho. Maybe it is because growing up, we loved both places so much. I loved the summer trips up to Idaho with our Cousins. I never thought much about where I would live. I always thought it would be fun to live in a new state, but somehow always knew I would end up here in Utah.
In Ohio we make fun of Kentucky.
Haa!! That is great.
Jess-- I loved doing things in both states, too. I miss those cousin campouts!
Ok Orem...Who would have ever in their life time had thought we would have landed in Orem?
Julie...
They have just arrived FROM the US...they spent about 10 days traveling around with Bruno...too bad I wasn't able to go...someone has to work in this family!!!
Hope you enjoy the recipes!!
PS: Let me know whether you receive my xmas card!
When I moved to Idaho Falls many eons ago, I missed the mountains being close. I would travel to Utah Valley to see Grandmas Loveless and Stubbs and when I rounded the point of the mountain, a feeling of calm would come over me and I would feel like I was at home at last. It took many years to feel like the wide open spaces here in eastern Idaho are home. But now I feel that sense of home when traveling north on I-15 and I see the Grand Teton in the distance and the spire of the Idaho Falls Temple. When I go to Utah Valley now, I wonder whatever in the world possessed Mom and Dad and Mark and Jan to move back to that crazy place.
I have major Idaho pride. Lyndon and I sometimes argue about the two states (Utah and ID). He claims there the same while I stand firm that they are different. I loved it there and was ready to leave like any ancy teen ready to be grown up. I still want to keep moving to different places. The travel bug is not out of me yet.
It seems like success is often measured in the distance you have gone from home, so by that standard, my life is a dismal failure! I always thought I would grow up and move away, simply because I couldn't imagine how I would build a successful future here. But I never, never had that "I can't wait to leave this small town" feeling.I feel an incredible connection to not only this town and its people, but to the actual land. I tell Barry it's just because I recognize a good thing when I see it--I don't have to live all over to realize Cache Valley is an incredible place to live! But in reality, when it came time for us to choose between job offers after college, nowhere we looked was a better match for us than right here. (and that was even before I had such amazing friends move in!!)
Today a client, an elderly gentleman, came in to discuss a probate we are doing. Kara my clerk said she was studying at the U. He said, "Well I understand a lot of U of U graduates drive around with their diplomas in their cars." Kara, "Really? Why?" Bro. Pead said, without missing a beat, "They use them to get handicap parking."
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