all is well

I went to Utah for the second weekend in a row (although you wouldn't know it, unless you follow me on Instagram). My weekend was quite fantastic, for a handful of reasons.

*I had a fantastic phone conversation with Abby
as I drove to Utah Thursday night

*I spent time with family

*I got to see all 8 of my nieces and nephews

*I saw the Warren Miller 2013 World Premier

*I had a fantastic visit with Brooker (both before and after Warren Miller)

*I got to chill with my Ma while we babysat baby Derek
for several hours on Saturday

I headed out later than usual last Thursday because I'm in charge of a group of young girls in my church. (The group is called Achievement Days; we meet every other week, and last Thursday, we drove to a small community and toured a potato cellar. The girls loved it.) Abby called me as I was driving to Utah after the activity, and she made the drive so terrific.

This vision of beauty also helped my drive quite enjoyable.
I pulled over near the Rose/Firth exit to snap this picture.

Any time I get to see my family, life is good. If I happen to see all of my nieces and nephews, life is even better.

Janie chose her own outfit on Friday. I know she knows stripes are my favorite,
but I'm not sure if that's why she wore so many varieties...?

Aaaaand here we have Juliebug, getting into some sort of mischief or another.

Golly, I love these boys; Emmett was as cuddly as usual,
and Seth and I had a nice visit about Harry Potter.

I've gone to the Warren Miller movie probably 4-5 times in as many years; I usually nearly die of boredom, but I've gone anyway, because they have given ski lift vouchers to The Canyons in the past, and usually my friend Cameron can't make it, so he usually pays for the WM ticket and I go in his place so he can get the lift ticket for free. What a good friend I can be! But I digress: this year, I actually thought the film was kind of cool, because I started snowboarding last year. Turns out, if you actually care a little bit about skiing/boarding, it makes the movie much more enjoyable. Also, I got a BOGO lift ticket to Snowbird this year. And I get to keep it! Cameron can't have it!

On Saturday, my brother Ryan and his wife Janel took their older kids to the BYU homecoming game in Provo; Mom and I babysat Derek (their almost 7-month-old) in the meantime, and it. was. awesome. Derek is super chill and SO sweet and I adored every moment with that boy. And Mom. (My mom really is the greatest in all the land, you know...)

He was happy the entire time, until I prematurely took the binky out of his mouth:
then he showed us this sad face, and I gave his pacifier back real quick.

But I'm being honest when I say he was all smiles otherwise, even sans-binky.

We gave him tub time in the sink, and he was quite content splashing around.

This is how he smiles. Doesn't it just melt your heart?

I drove back to Idaho on Sunday morning, and the drive was kind of wonderful. I listened to some Josh Groban as I enjoyed the visual delights of my favorite season: heavy, dense, low-hanging clouds with occasional bursts of rain; the mountains and foothills alight with fading red and yellow-leafed trees speckled among the evergreens; and driving past the lovely communities near the freeway, whose trees glowed with gold and bright orange hues. Yes, I enjoyed my drive back to Idaho, absolutely.  

Breathe it in, baby! FALL!

As I sang along with Josh, I was overcome with the most spectacular feelings of peace, love, joy, and contentment. I switched the music off so I could revel in all the lovely feelings, and ponder a bit.

Sometimes I wish I could catch a glimpse or two of myself in the future; just little snippets to see what awaits, you know? To see who I'll fall in love with and marry, to see how many kids we'll have, and what they'll be like. To know where I'll settle, and other such things.

I realize, of course, that that's not the point of life. 

No. The point of this life is to live in the present. To find your faith and prove it. To allow life (your trials and blessings and everything in between) to mold you into a better version of yourself. To not get so caught up in the "what-ifs" or the "whys" and to quit asking, "when?" 

Life is what you make it, and there is joy to be found in every situation. Even in the seemingly depressing situations, if you'll just look up and around, you'll find something to smile at or laugh about.

I'm not at all where I thought I'd be at this point in life. I figured that by the time I was 31, I'd be married, chasing a toddler and cleaning baby's diapers and making a home with my own little family unit; my yard wouldn't be big, but we'd rake the leaves into giant piles the fall, shovel our little walkway and build snowmen in the winter, plant a garden in the spring, and grill our dinners in the summer. I'd be involved in my kids' lives; I'd wipe away tears when they fell, and I'd read them bedtime stories and tuck them in at night, and we'd go on family walks, and have dance parties on rainy days.

Isn't that a lovely image? It's what I've always wanted. And I think it will still happen...at least, some version of that little dream... 

I just need to keep living my life in the meantime. Make my own adventures, and travel and play and enjoy the heck out of this time in my life. I'm totally loving autumn, and although I'm not keen for winter to start before December, I'll try to take it in stride (because it will likely come by November) and try to trick myself into thinking that winter is the best season while it's in front of me, you know? I'll master carving on my snowboard, and I'll make a different soup every week, and maybe pick up a new hobby when I'd rather stay inside...

During yesterday's drive home, I felt that God is in charge. I mean, I've always known that He's in charge, but I felt with clarity that: God loves me, and things will work out, and I'm at a terrific stage in life and I need to make the most of it.

Anyway, I don't mean to get preachy on you, I just wanted to share my feelings of contentment and peace. All is well, you know?