Dear Mum

As I'm sure every single person can attest, your childhood home and the memories you make there are priceless. For me, that childhood home carries so much significance because it's where my mom is, where my mom nurtured and taught me, and instilled within me Gospel principles.

It's where she loved me.

I have been gone for seven years now. It's been seven years since I moved away and went to college. In that time I have served a mission, cared for orphans in Ecuador, and picked up my life and established myself on the East Coast.

There have been dozens of trips home and although repeated over and over throughout the years, I will never get tired of pulling into my driveway, opening my front door, smelling the rich beautiful scents of my childhood, seeing the beautiful decorations my mother has meticulously collected, smelling the latest decadent dish cooking in the kitchen, and arriving in my childhood room, with my bed perfectly made and my mail waiting for me on my pillow.

It all means so much to me. And it means so much to me because that's where my family is and that's where my mom has been all these years.

In May I wanted to finally show my mom a little of my life here, the life I've established for myself and love so much. So one plane ticket later and my mom was due to arrive in October for a four-day extended girls trip here in DC.

I was nervous of course- nervous that we wouldn't get along or that she wouldn't like what I showed her, nervous that we wouldn't have a lot to talk about. It had been so long since we'd spent that much time together. I couldn't imagine that those four days would become precious to me and that I would enjoy them more than just about anything.

Oh but they were glorious! I got to finally show her this place that I'm obsessed with! So I took her to all of my favorites: the monuments and museums, Arlington Cemetery and Mt. Vernon, Founding Farmers and the Washington DC temple. To top it all off we did a Capital Bikeshare monument bike ride at night, my most favorite thing to do with visitors in DC. And she loved it all! I couldn't have been happier than seeing the sites sink down deep and have a real impact on her, just like they do me.

So thank you dear Mother. I'm glad we got to spend those precious days together. More than ever I'm grateful that you are mine. That I share some of your beautiful features, that I resemble you, that I think like you, that I laugh like you. Thank you for visiting me and seeing my life!

It means the world.

Un-expectations

Sometimes when I'm browsing Pinterest I come across something like this:

And I laugh.

I laugh because it's ridiculous! It's ridiculous to push your body so hard that you would puke, faint, or die.

That doesn't make sense! Why would you do something like that to yourself? That can't be healthy.

So tonight I was at the gym working out with my trainer Joe (aka Joe the Rock) who is a literal magician when it comes to helping me fix everything I don't like about my body. He's kind but motivating. He pushes me just enough but not too hard. He encourages me to reach a little further and dig a little deeper.

And guess what?

I puked tonight at the gym.

Yes, puked.

We were almost at the end of the workout when I sat up from a particularly hard set and....just...lost..it.

For a second neither of us even realized what had happened. But then Joe saw the look on my face and the splatter on the floor, reached for the equipment wipes, handed me a couple, and turned away.

I was so embarrassed until he came back and told me that he'd seen worse come out of his client's bodies.

So sometimes you laugh at things on Pinterest. You laugh because they are so ridiculous.

And then they happen to you.

Election Day

There is a feeling in the air today, a feeling I've never felt before in DC. There's an air of excitement and anticipation. It's like a buzz, filling the metro, the office, every conversation.

Today is November 6, 2012. Today is the day we decide to deep Barack Obama in office or elect Mitt Romney.

Both the young and the old are leaving the polls after standing in lines for hours and are wearing their "I voted" stickers proudly.

In just 16 hours or so we'll know the leader who will shape our country for the next four years. We'll know the man whose policies and promises will change my own life in the next four years.

Never before have I felt so involved emotionally in a campaign. Four years ago I was a missionary in Texas and barely knew who the candidates were let alone cared enough to vote. Eight years ago I had just barely turned 18 and although I did exercise my right to vote, I hadn't put much thought and effort into educating myself about the candidates and issues.

So here I am now. I graduated in Political Science from BYU-I. I moved to DC (Arlington, VA to be exact). I live a swing state. I actually read the news. I watched all the debates. I've studies the issues and hashed out the differences with roommates and friends. I have dozens of friends who've worked tirelessly on the campaign, putting in hundreds of hours and losing sleep to spread the word.

And everything is to be decided today.

Go Mitt!