I'm not in Utah Anymore

I live in Las Vegas. It's...   nice? (For lack of words...)


The weather is good... EXCEPT when the wind decides to pick up.
There are pretty palm trees and blue skies... MOST of the time.
There are fun wholesome activities to participate in... IF you are far away from the strip.
There is family to see... WHEN they are driving through on their way to their way to other places.


Ha ha! In all seriousness, while Scott and I don't want to live here our whole lives, we are making the most of our temporary stay here. Home is wherever you decide to make it. Scott and I are doing fantastic, thus Vegas will do.


The classic childhood film "The Wizard of Oz" often comes to mind and I think of the line... "Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore."


I feel those same sentiments when I say... "Scott, we are not in Utah anymore."


I feel like I'm on my guard here... ALL THE TIME. It is hard to be very trusting of most people and situations. Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of great people here, and it really is a nice place, but here are a few examples of why I am always on my guard. 


1- Last night Scott and I were returning home from his intramural volleyball game. We tried to turn onto the road that led to our home and it was blocked off by a police car. So we went around the block to try to enter our neighborhood from the other side. There was a police car there as well, but this time it wasn't completely cutting off the entry to the neighborhood, so we turned to go home and noticed that there was a police car on every block and some in the middle of the block. They all were prominently positioned with their lights on. It was basically blocking off the entire 3-4 block area so no one could get IN or OUT without being seen. We saw a cop inconspicuously standing behind a palm tree on the side of the road staked as a look out. We stopped and asked him if it was okay to enter our complex. He said it was, but that we needed to call and report if we see anything suspicious. From what we gathered, there was someone within the area that they were trying to catch and they were blocking off all areas so that he/she could not leave the area without being seen. Scary.


2- On another day, I was at a ladies house in our ward to participate in a craft day. There in the middle of the day, the SWAT team passed by the window and stopped at a house two doors down. Using the mega phone, they instructed the owner of the home to come out. When they didn't, they sent smoke bombs (very loud ones) into the home to flush the person out. The man was wanted for drugs and murder among other things. Luckily, the man was caught.


3. A man in our ward told a story last week about going out into his garage to find something and boy did he find something... a NAKED man! Apparently the man was hiding from someone or something and he was thought to have been possibly having hallucinations at the time. He had stripped down and had been hiding out at this home all day. Through some guidance from the Holy Ghost on what to do, the man in our ward was able to lead the man away from his home where his wife and kids were oblivious to the situation. Upon finding the wallet in the left behind pants of this man, it turns out that he was a repeated sex offender.


When I am within the walls of my own home, I feel safe (especially if Scott is home with me) but there are a lot of crazies out there and I'm definitely not in Utah anymore.


Just another quiet day in Vegas aye?