Home Sweet Home

First week home and it's like we never left. I wrote most of my recap of travelling back home in Peaches and Pitt blog so rather than repeating myself too much I'm just going to say that a 27-hour roadtrip in 2 days was an absolute whirlwind but we made it and are happy to be home. It still feels like we are just visiting because living out of boxes is like living out of a suitcase and we've spent what feels like every waking second outside of my workday visiting and catching up with lots of friends and family. I'm sure the novelty of us being back home will wear off eventually but it is fun to see and catch up with people we haven't seen in month and/or years. As Dorothy once said there truly is "no place like home."

We have quickly found that being home meant being babysitters which is more than fine with us we've missed our nieces and nephews and love spending time with them. Even if it is another healthy dose of birth control! Since Jaden doesn't start work for a couple more weeks he got to be the "manny" for Crew and Parks until I got off work. We took the boys swimming, played games, ate dinner and got to experience having the "you're gonna eat it and you're gonna like it" conversation at dinner. I didn't realize that pasta with chicken was so controversial but it is. We then wrapped up the night with one of the boys' favorite movies Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I had never seen it before but it was actually super cute. My favorite quote of the night was Parks saying "wow so you just choose a book of the shelf and it plays a movie? That is SO cool!" A sad day when knowing what a DVD is ages you.

 

The next day Jaden headed off for a bachelor's party in St. George for Landon. I accompanied mom to a "butterfly release" that Lindquist mortuary puts on every year. Grandma loved monarch butterflies so it was a tribute to her. It was an interesting experience to witness an event that was more secular than religious. I am very grateful for the knowledge and comfort the Plan of Salvation gives me. After we went and dropped off a little treat at Steph's new house. She's been sick so we took her some lemon themed treats to her at her new house. 

Mom and I went to the temple the next day in Ogden which was so refreshing. I am going to try really hard not to take for granted the reality of having temples located within 15 minutes instead of 5 hours. As much as it feels good to be home in the state of UT it feels even better to be home in the temple. I'll admit the day we went I felt rushed leaving work early and trying to make our appointment. I ended up drafting and sending emails in the car while we drove and honestly did not feel like being there. However that feeling dissipates right as soon as you enter the doors and feel the calmness that always there. Mom and I did intiatories which I hadn't done in a long time and it was special to hear those blessings and think about the grace and mercy of our Savior. 

After the temple we stopped by Grandma and Grandpas so I could see them for the first time since being back. Grandma showed us the new flowers she bought from the mother's day gift card we always get her to the local nursery. Then we sat on lawn chairs on the front porch and enjoyed the surprisingly present evening air. 

I will say Jaden and I have been floored by the weather. We were expecting an absolute heat wave but I'm pretty sure Pittsburgh was hotter than it's been here. We also can't believe the nightly cloudbursts we get now. Jaden turned to me one night and said "I didn't realize we never left Pittsburgh, all of this rain is nuts!" That being said it has been shockingly green here and I absolutely love it. I heard winter was brutally long but it seems like it is worth it. Unless you're one of the houses sliding off the side of the mountain from flooding and mudslides. 

Saturday I went to the Ogden Farmer's market with the Core 4 Girls (Mady, Bryn, Kennedy) while all of our guys were in St. George. It was a lot of fun and we all ended up getting some fun room sprays, yummy sourdough bread and fresh produce. I love a good farmers market! 

That evening I went and paid a visit to Eleanor our cute landlady from our first apartment. I surprised her with some flowers and she was so excited to hear we were back in town for good. She showed me a bunch of family pictures and got me all caught up to speed at what I had missed in the neighborhood and her family the past two years and then she sent me home with a bouquet of roses from one of her lovely rosebushes.

 

To round out the week Saturday night I got a text from the ward executive secretary asking if I could come meet with a member of the bishopric the next morning. I was so confused it was literally our first week in the ward. I didn't even know how our membership records got transferred because I hadn't made arrangements with our last ward or been to the current ward to get them transferred. Side note I was super nervous that only my records came over and they were only going to read my name in. With Jaden being gone on the bachelor's trip it would have been a really bad look to only have my name read in and my husband not in town. I really didn't want to be the latest relief society gossip of people wondering if I had moved back with my parents alone. Luckily both of our records were transferred and they got to read those in along with a calling for me to be in Young Women's. I met with Brett Jones who I knew well from babysitting his and Kimber's kids for years. He said to me "even if you're only here for a few months we'd love for you to be in young women's with the girls." I am excited, I love Young Women's and I don't think it's a coincidence that I will be in Young Women's with the same group of girls I taught back before I was married. Now they're 5 years older and approaching graduation. Crazy!

We are so happy to be back home and reconnecting with friends and loved ones. I am in awe at the way things work out better than what we had originally planned for and am grateful for a Heavenly Father that sees a bigger picture way better than I can. I also feel so grateful to be part of a network of so many people who love and support us whether it's from across the country or across the street. I feel so blessed to feel so loved. 

Peaches

• Reuniting with family
• Swimming with nephews
• Watching Jaden interact with our nieces and nephews
• Laughing with my team at work
• Making dinner after eating out so much the past few weeks
• Seeing a butterfly release
• Doorbell ditching Steph 
• Started a new book called the 5 A.M. Club. I am trying to keep an earlier schedule and want to sign onto work at 7:00 so I can be more aligned with my team at work who are either in Central or Eastern time zones. Loved this quote from the book:

• Going to the temple with mom
• Saw one of Grandma Moyle's friends at Deseret Book after the temple
• Seeing Grandma and Grandpa
• Going to a farmers market with the girls
• Buying yummy smelling room spray
• Catching the end of one of Jaden's and my favorite movies: Crazy Rich Asians

• Seeing Eleanor
• Picking roses with Ellie
• Driving past an apartment Jaden and I are going to go tour next week with Bridge when we were out running errands
• Seeing friends and neighbors from the ward
• Getting to be back in Young Womens
• Jaden getting home from St. George
• Finding this drawing in a folder and needing the reminder

Pits

• Feeling gross from eating out so much
• Trying to get settled while living out of boxes
• Worrying people would think I was divorced if Jaden's records didn't get transferred to our church and mine did
• Struggling with the adjustment of finding a new routine in a home you haven't lived in for almost 5 years