My Trip Home

As I said in my previous post, this past week I took a trip back to California. My Nana passed away on Wednesday, and Thursday night my mom and I decided that I would fly home Friday, which meant I would have to take the Salt Lake Express that morning leaving at 8 am. I rushed around the house packing, with Jake's help, and then we settled in for the night so that I could hopefully get a good night of sleep before all the traveling began. 

Jake wasn't able to come with me because it was such short notice and we need him working right now anyways, so it was our first time apart since we were married. Our goodbye on Friday morning was done quickly so neither of us would have time to start crying, but it was still extremely hard. And the five hour bus ride to the Salt Lake City airport wasn't exactly a party, either. Once I arrived at the airport, I checked my luggage and headed over to my gate, and got some lunch along the way ($12 for that stupid airport lunch...ugh!) My flight was delayed, but only for an hour, and then I was on my way to Burbank, California. My mom picked me up from there and we headed back towards my parents' home.

If felt--and still feels--very weird, knowing that my home is now with Jake in Idaho. Before, when I took trips, coming back to my parents' home in California felt like taking a weight off of my shoulders and feeling like things were finally back to normal again. But this time, it didn't feel like that. I didn't feel awkward or uncomfortable or anything like that, but it definitely didn't feel like home. It was SO good to see my family again after being apart for six months, and seeing how much my siblings have grown. While I've been gone Alex has turned eight and been baptized, and Will turned 16 and became a priest, and when I was at my home ward on Sunday I got to see him bless the sacrament, which was very special to me.

The weekend was spent helping out around the house, visiting with one of my best friends, and spending time with my siblings. I played wiffle ball in the backyard with Alex for a little while, and thankfully he told me "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you" so I didn't get beaten TOO badly. That kid cracks me up, I miss him so much!

On Monday, I began my project for the funeral--photo boards. Mom and I went to Joann's and got some thick poster boards for me to use, and then I began gathering photos from Nana's life to display. One board I titled "Louise Dix," for photos before she was married. The next was "Louise Golberg 'Mom'," for when she was married to my grandpa, and became a mother. And the last one was titled "Nana," for photos of her with her four grandchildren; my siblings and I. They turned out really beautiful, and I got a lot of compliments on the hard work I put into them when people were walking around the room we had decorated with memorabilia from Nana's life. 

Tuesday was the funeral, and it was a very long and emotionally overwhelming day. I miss my Nana so much, and seeing how many people she touched throughout her life just made  it more difficult to not be sad. My mom and Uncle Eric spoke at the service in the chapel, and then there was a beautiful graveside service at the cemetery. I'm so so grateful for the knowledge that I'll see Nana again in the next life. While she and my grandpa were never married in the temple and my Nana never went through the temple for herself because she didn't want to go without my grandpa, I know that in a year when we're able to do her temple work, it will be done. I'm so thankful for the temple and our ability to do our own family history work, so that we never have to truly say goodbye to our loved ones!

I was up VERY early on Wednesday morning for my 7 am flight back to Utah, and from there took the Salt Lake Express back to Rexburg. I got home just before five, and I felt that relief I talked about earlier the second I walked through the door into our little apartment. Jake got home from work soon after, and we were so happy to see each other!! I think we'd both forgotten how difficult our relationship used to be, when we were doing things long-distance and hardly got to spend time together in person. It's definitely renewed our appreciation for our marriage.

Since I've been home, I've been resting up and unpacking from my trip, and getting back into the swing of things here in Idaho. On Saturday we had our "date night" and played Rock Band, which was a lot of fun. I played the drums and did pretty well, even though I played on the easy level so that's not exactly a big deal haha.

Today Jake and I went to Stake Conference, and then spent the day together. We watched some movies and finally cleaned out the car...which we haven't done since before our wedding haha. Overall it was a really nice day.

This Week's Spiritual Thought

As I said earlier, today was Stake Conference for our area. The talks given were all really great, and seemed to focus on enduring trials and making the most of the experiences we have in this life. One of our leaders read this poem in his talk. I hadn't heard it for a while, and it really struck me today, so I thought I'd share it.

Good Timber by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.