There's No Place Like Home

Six months ago, while watching General Conference here in Virginia, I saw thousands of people walking across Temple Square on their way to the Conference Center. I saw fall going to work on the Wasatch mountains. I saw views of the SLC valley, and although congested with millions of people, I could sense SLC was longing for me to be there. So, instead of having to endure another Conference weekend away from home, instead of making SLC mourn in my absence during Conference once again, and instead of me having to merely see SLC on TV while I desperately tried to swallow my feelings of being homesick, I decided to put myself, and SLC at ease. I was going home. And why not? Spotting a cheap airfare simply means it's meant to be, right?

Friday I spent the day in P-town at BYU. Yes, I may have been overly excited to see students all over campus. Yes, I may have gone to the library and done some "homework". Yes, I may have gone to a class with a friend so that we could play catch up. And yes, I may be a major nerd. But nerd aside, I loved every minute of being there. I don't know why the nerd in me didn't think to take any pictures of my Friday excursion's, but just imagine a whole lot of goodness that engulfed my day. Good friends, cupcake's from this cute new little bakery, J-Dawg's, craver's cookies, and Cafe Rio. Thank goodness it's my on month for sweets. Need I say more?

I spent all day Saturday listening/attending/being inspired by the words that were spoken at Conference by our wonderful leaders. Love them! Saturday night it was cousin {plus Lauren} time. Love them too! If they forgot how cool of a cousin I am, Saturday night was a great reminder for them. Kirk, {cute boy on the far left who is pretending to hate being stuck on the couch for a picture with us when he secretly loves every second of it and will cherish this picture forever and ever} just got his mission call to the Cape Coast, Ghana mission. Michael, we're still waiting on you to get those papers in...HURRY!!! We can't wait for you to get called to Butte, Montana! :)

Sunday morning we weren't quite as attentive to Conference as we would have liked to have been, but thank goodness itunes is so in tune {no pun intended} with Conference and already has every session ready to download for free!

My Mom, being the Super Mom that she is, is always coming up with something crafty to do. So, during Sunday morning's session, we made these:

And she also created this: http://mikejoycandrian.blogspot.com/
Yes, my Mom is now a blogger.

During the Sunday afternoon session, we did this:

{"listening" with our eyes closed of course}

And because the weather was so nice, naturally my Mom thought we needed another cousin picture where we all smile real big and look super excited about it because we just all love each other.

Sunday night I hung out with them:

{Don't pay any attention to the fact that I have the same outfit on in every picture, it doesn't necessarily mean I never changed my outfit}

This morning as I was rushing home from the DMV before I had to catch my flight, this song played on the radio...

...And I didn't want to leave.

Then, it was back to DC I go...

{Contemplating when I'll get to go home again. Next weekend for Easter would be nice}

Instead of taking a taxi or the bus home from the airport, I decided to walk.

Uh, sure, it maybe be a little walk, and the people at the airport may have looked at me slightly crazy when I asked how to get to the Mt. Vernon Trail by foot because I wanted to walk home, and none of them really knew, so apparently that was an odd question, and it may have been slightly overcast, and slightly humid, and slightly numbing to my shoulders to carry a 40+ lbs bag, but I just sat on a plane for 3.5 hours ok!

{My failed attempt to quickly capture me, my bag, and the Mt. Vernon Trail that runs along the GW Parkway before any cars or pedestrians could see me taking a picture of myself and feeling/looking like a dork}

And this is what I walked along until I reach my final destination.

Although, I'm not excited to be back, because let's face it, vacations, family, friends, no work, good food, being lazy, using the excuse "but I'm on vacation" whenever asked to do anything, are all way more enticing than the reality of the "real world", working, and responsibility, it's always nice to be back home. To my "other" home that is.

{And this was the longest post I hope (and you hope) I'll never write again}