Every New Beginning Comes from Some Other Beginnings End

After thousands upon thousands of miles traveled, hours upon hours spent on buses, and trains, and airplanes, feelings of sheer wonder and awe, bouts of homesickness, friendships made and others tested, spiritual insights revealed, questioned and then affirmed, hours spent pondering the glory of the universe and what it all holds in store for me, new dreams formed while realizing that some things really don't matter as much as I once thought they might have, seeing things that I never imagined I would, gaining a better understanding of different cultures and religions and how much we all really have in common, and perhaps most importantly being reminded of the abundant blessings in my life and all I have to be grateful for ---after all that, I have finally come home.

The flight home was entirely too long and honestly I would be ok if I didn't step foot inside another airport for a long, long time--Except to go see Candace and April in DC in a couple of weeks of course, for them I will make an exception.

My little brother Thomas was there to pick me up from the airport when I got home. Although we have always been super close, being the only two single people left in my family, we have grown abundantly closer in the past year. The 2 hour drive back to St George was filled with excited chatter as we shared insights about the things we have learned and experienced in the past few months as we have each had our own crazy adventures. I was grateful for the time alone with him as we talked about things than neither of us ever talks about with anyone else.

It's good be home and surrounded by those I love, I only wish my sisters were here to partake in it all with us. As it is, it might be a couple weeks yet before I see any of them.

I can't wait for my job to start in about a month. I am definitely ready to move forward with my life. I want to find a place to live where I can finally put some roots in, something I haven't had or experienced since before my family moved to California my junior year of high school almost 10 year ago. Somewhere where I can truly call home with all the feelings of love and warmth that the word implies.

I'm excited to be a career woman and I'm determined to give it everything I have. At the same time I hope I'm able to maintain a well balanced life filled not only with a career but with family, church, friends, and of course boys.

So many hopes, so many dreams, aspirations, doubts and fears. They all remind me that so much of my life is

Yet To Be Determined

And yet I am determined to live every day to its fullest. As Elder Uchtdorf put it in last nights women's conference, life is not to be spent looking for our "golden ticket," so focused on our dreams and future goals that we are too blind to see the small and simple gifts that a loving Heavenly Father gives us on a daily basis.