Driving into California yesterday was a real treat. As soon as I got close enough to the ocean, I opened up the sunroof so I could hear and smell EVERYTHING!! I did about 6 hours of driving in all, making a few stops to break it up and enjoy along the way. Starting the day in Grants Pass, Oregon, my first stop heading south was in Crescent City. I stopped just to get out and actually BE at the ocean. It's not the most beautiful beach I've ever seen, but it was still beautiful. As I walked over to take some pictures, there was an older gentleman sitting on the rock wall so we started visiting. He was heading back up north to Alaska, and once I learned he had served in the Air Force, we visited much longer than I first anticipated, ha ha. It was a pleasure to get to know him and his lovely wife. He even complimented me on my beautiful new top! Second stop was in Trinidad, CA. I absolutely love this little beach harbor town!! The population is only about 500 but it's s

Friday was rough. I'm not gonna lie. But most of my emotions had already leaked out of my eyes before that day even arrived. The leakage started the previous weekend when I woke up at 7 a.m. with Scott turned over in bed looking at me with love in his eyes. And then when he said, "I love you," that's when I lost it. We have done deployments before, so this is nothing new to us. But then, because it's nothing new, we knew what was coming. The beauty of a deployment - (I can't believe I'm even saying this) - is that when you're apart, then the other person becomes your main focus like never before. When we're under the same roof, we spend time together occasionally, while we each do our own thing for the most part. We go on dates, we eat together, pray together, sleep together, etc. But when we're apart like this, suddenly our prayers become more focused, our hearts become more focused, and our thoughts become more in tune with our other half.

This has been a very busy summer! Not only was there a temple wedding and backyard reception to prepare for (which was beautiful and lovely and all things wonderful), but as soon as the dust cleared from all the festivities and family and friends, we had to move immediately into Phase 2: Prepare to leave our home for an entire year! We've been organizing, down-sizing, packing stuff up, and making room for Caleb & Bethanne (our nephew & his new wife) to move in. It's coming together in these final days, but there is still much to be done. A lot of people have offered to help in one way or another, but really this is not something to delegate out. We just have to buckle down and sort through one closet at a time, one shelf at a time. We don't have to clear out every room in the house, but we are focusing on cleaning out the master bedroom and bathroom, as well as a couple other areas. It has been satisfying to get rid of items and memorabilia that aren't as impo