Change.

I always get sentimental at this time of year. Today I am here...

Photo by Dan Ransom

...and in a week I will be here.

Photo by me :]

I love California, I really do. And I absolutely love being home with my family. But for some reason change is rather difficult for me. (Remember the transition from Christmas break?) I think it's because there are so many beautiful things in my life that I don't want to end. There are certainly more beauties ahead, but it's hard to look forward to them because I'm not exactly sure what they are.

But I read this excerpt by Emily Halverson from The Mother in Me, and her words helped me to find hope in the change, to have faith that God's plan for my life is a happy one.

Perhaps watching can be painful at times, because I must acknowledge that time is passing - but not because, once passed, it's forever gone. Just like the sand that slips from the top of the globe to the glass floor below, it is not spilled or lost. It is stored.

My dad has always said that his favorite age for his children is the one they are at. I like that thought. To me, that is watching with hope.

Watching the change, and seeing what's not changing.

Watching it pass, and knowing it's not leaving.

Tasting every bite, but believing in God's everlasting covenant that the meal never ends. The food is perishable, yes, but there is more to come. And all of it, ingested, becomes a part of me.

I love that thought. I love that every moment of this school year has passed but has not left; it has become a part of me forever.

Labor Day Picnic...

Visiting the Spiral Jetty with the Art History Association...
October 2009 General Conference...

Halloween...

The mystery of Mitch tucking in his pajama pants...

A very Muggle Christmas...

Growing closer to my siblings...
Baking cookies and dancing to "Hey, Soul Sister"...

Ward Nerd Night and the epic Twinkie-eating contest...

Discovering my own soul sisters...

The great spoon incident...

The "Mom" tattoos...
And becoming friends with some of the most wonderful people in the world.
I feel like a small sapling. Each year brings new joys and hardships, but the rings that grow become part of the eternal being that is me. And that's pretty neat.

I guess change isn't so bad after all.