Aligned for Adventure

Sometimes the stars align just perfectly and the universe gets a little bit more exciting as wonderful things all start happening at once. My stars aligned last weekend, my universe got more exciting, and many wonderful things all happened at once.

Two of my lovely friends from my old ward got married in Washington on Saturday. A group of friends decided to carpool up to the lovely Evergreen State for the wedding celebration, and you better believe I jumped on that opportunity. Thursday night 5 long time buddies crammed into a little car and made it all the way to Walmart before wondering are we there yet? Turns out we still had 14 hours, one run-in with the po-po, persistent car trouble, and a whooooole lot of goldfish to go before we made it. But boy oh boy, when the car pulled up in front of my house, it was all worth it.

Hunt and Riri

Two of my great friends who I got to know separately at different times under different circumstances. Now, 3 years later, they are married... TO EACHOTHER. I mean, its pretty exciting. It was an honor to be able to attend their reception and drink the world's best chocolate milk and dance with no shoes on and of course take some weddin' selfies.

Baby Quinn Lenae Perry (and her fam too!)

One of my major motivating factors in making the trip home was the fact that Kevin and Carli's baby girl #3 was born last weekend and I was dying to see her. Folks, she is perfect. Okay okay I know I say that about all of my favorite little humans, but still. At one week old she is still pretty much a blob, but blobs don't get any better than her. All I wanted to do was hold her and cuddle her, so I did just that every chance I got. Is there anything more peaceful and heartwarming than a baby that snoozes in your arms for hours on end? Nope! Now, I can't say what the consequences were of her sleeping all day after I left and her parents were left with her all night... oopsie. #sorrynotsorry, it was totally worth it. I love that I have siblings with permanent residence in Seattle. I love that they have 3 of the most darling girls who hug me and watch Frozen with me and sneak out of bed to come downstairs to tell me that I am their best friend. I love that the attempt to get a picture of me with all 3 wiggly energetic little girls quickly turns into an impossible joke and it ends up being a great memory anyway!

Sorely tempted to become a kidnapper... probs just a sign of how wonderfully squishy she really is.




Try try try try try try try try try try try try try and try again.

Then give up and filter the heck out of one of those suckers.

Mallory Jan

Oh how I love her. I've gushed about her before and how grateful I am that my experience in Tonga yielded such great friends, but here I am ready to do it again. The fact that she lives in Seattle is so beyond perfect. I go home = I see a best friend. She drove on down to see me on Monday and we ran on my favorite running trail while gossiping about all the things we haven't gossiped about since we saw eachother at Christmas. Our visit also involved new running attire and the world's most delectable chocolate peanut butter shake.

My Parents

I'm not even going to say much here, but my parents are literally the best parents in the whole world. I made some big life decisions while I was home last weekend, and my parents were right there with me every step of the way with nothing but support and encouragement. Also they decided they wanted me home for a few extra days, so they bought me a plane ticket for later in the week. Mom made some of my favorite meals. Dad let me wear his big sweatshirts. Nobody stopped me from raiding the food storage room until my suitcase was bursting at the seams. Being home was exactly what I needed, and my parents' ability to make me laugh and cry and jump for joy in all the right ways was purely icing on the cake.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was in need of an adventure. No doubt, my trip home fit the bill. However my craving for adventure hasn't quite been fulfilled yet... soooo i'll be in hot and sunny Arizona by nightfall tonight, wearing shorts and a ball cap as I watch my Mariners play a nice game of spring training baseball. "Can life get any better? I submit that it can not."