We recently traveled back to Utah to visit family, have our little Pooka-Shell's Baptism, and house hunt! This trip was taken by car. Being in a car for 18 hours should be a form of torture. The kiddos were reasonably well behaved. On the way back they even slept through the night. I, however, cannot sleep in a car for more than a few minutes at a time no matter how tired I am. Poor hubby had to drive 95 percent of the way. When I would take a turn I could barely do an hour and my eyes would start to cross from lack of sleep. We drove straight through....only stopping for gas, food, and potty breaks. I hope to never do that again...ever!
That said, it was WONDERFUL to be back home. Utah is where I was born, where I grew up and discovered my talents and love of performing. It is familiar. I know how to get anywhere when I'm there. There are so many great restaurants and retail places. So many memories. It is where I found the love of my life and started a family. It is where most of my family still lives. It was delightful to see places closed on Sunday, and Deseret Book stores, and Hale Center Theater, and mountains, and Jamba Juice, and Costa Vida! We ate at Leatherby's twice....man have I missed Amy's hot fudge brownie!!
I will write more about the Baptism in another post, but it was amazing. Looking out at every one in the chapel and realizing all 45 of them were family! I say all, because the few of our dear friends that came are just like family to me too. Our beautiful oldest child Baptized and now having the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Priceless...the Spirit there was amazing.
I left Iowa 33 years old and came back 34! My birthday was lovely. I didn't have to change any of the dirty diapers that happened that day :0) I also didn't have to feed any one....hubby stepped up. I got to go for a nice run in the morning... Took a nice long shower... Got ready without anyone hurrying me....had lunch with some old friends from the 24th ward...and that night we saw Zorro at Hale Center Theater. It was so good to be back at HCT! "It was almost like we never said goodbye".
Staying with family and seeing our kids get re-acquainted with cousins and grandparents was so neat. We looked at a ton of houses. Although many of them were quite nice, we didn't find our "dream home". It turns out that it will be best for us to rent a house for the first year or so, and most likely build the house we really want. That solves a few problems. Renting does not require a down payment, so we can save that amount to go towards building what we want. Also a rental house doesn't have to be a perfect fit...just adequate. It would be hard house hunting for out dream home from across the country. So if any of you know of someone who wants to rent their house in the South Jordan or Riverton area....
When it was time to come back to Iowa I was ready. I wanted to be back in our own home. With our kitties...surrounded by our own things. I wanted to be back in our own ward, our own neighborhood. Home. Iowa has become our home too. It is where we went from a family of 4 to a family of 5. It is where I became a Zumba instructor, and a Runner! It is where Hubby has become an amazing OB-GYN. It is where our oldest children started elementary school and learned to read. It is where we fell in love with fireflies and cardinals, and the Hawkeyes. It is where we have gained a lot of faith and a lot of perspective. The trip back home seemed like a dream. Like we were on another planet. In another lifetime. Very soon we will be back there for good....and missing Iowa.
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What a fun post to read. Wish I lived in South Jordon so I could help with the rental hunt. I remember seeing you perform in high school, and at HCT, too, and you were wonderful! We will be leaving Utah in another year and I have a feeling I will miss some of those same places! I introduced my hubby to Leatherby's. Now I want to go there! ;)
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