Catching Up

These are the flowers JT had waiting for me when I got home last week!

Last month JT and I were surprised to find that Little Rock was refusing to allow APX to solicit, regardless of dues and paperwork already submitted. They decided to knock in cities about 3 hours away while waiting for the attorneys to figure it out. 3 hours is a LONG drive twice a day so they also decided to spend every night in a hotel except Saturday and Sunday nights. It was really sad being away from each other for so long so frequently! JT then came up with the idea of sending me to visit my family in California! I'd go visit and then come back as soon as he was home for good. We figured that would be 2 weeks tops! It all took a little longer than 2 weeks however, and once plane tickets got figured out it had actually been about a month.

While in California I.......

*slept in Jillian's bed

*hung out with my siblings

*watched my mom be superwoman as Relief Society president

*talked with my dad

*went shooting with Mike

*went out to eat with Mike and Bonnie

*had lunch with Kylie and then hung out at her house

*visited Lita and Lito

*visited my cousin J'Lene in the hospital after giving birth to Liliana

*went to the home ward

*visited Los Angeles with Jarom and Wailum

*went to Murrieta for dinner with Mike, Grandma, and Grandpa Trout

*drove up to visit Jillian at Girls Camp with my dad

*had my parents buy me my first maternity jeans

*got a bigger stomach

*trimmed Hunter's fur

*watched Jacob work on his Eagle Scout project

*played piano

*went to Laguna beach with my dad, Jillian, and Jarom

*discovered THE best chinese food restaurant in the world in Laguna (they specialize in HEALTH food that tastes great!!!!)

*ate In N Out

*went to the hospital to wait for Mike to get out of his successful surgery with Bonnie

*learned to crochet with Bonnie

*had wonderful tacos at the Mooney home

*woke up one Sunday morning and made strawberry crepes for my family

*played crazy 8s with Mike and Bonnie

*discovered I'm in love with my mom's cheesy garlic bread recipe

*fell down twice while trying to pet Sally

*got to stock up on baby gear

*watched movies

*ate at Cinnabon with Jillian

*had lunch with the missionaries twice

*went to the theater with my mom, Jillian, Jarom, and John to watch Up! in 3D

*talked to JT on the phone as much as possible!

Wow, I did a lot more than I realized! I'm sure I missed something. I'm grateful for the time I was able to spend there. It was nice to be apart from JT for once in my life without having a ton of anxiety and stress to go with it. Mission accomplished Honey. ;) I've always been closer with my mom and Jarom so it was nice to really get to spend a lot of time with my dad and Jillian. JT says that we're going to attempt one more California visit before the baby comes. We'll see how we manage to pull that one off!

The day I left California I boarded my plane at 2:30 pm and arrived in Little Rock at 10:30 pm. Bear in mind that there's only a 2 hour time difference. Yuck. I wasn't actually supposed to get in until 11 pm so JT hadn't even left our apartment yet! It was really nice to see him again. It's strange how many little things I take for granted. For instance, I used to always be aware of JT's personal smell--not his cologne. I especially loved it while we were dating. I'd go a week waiting for him to come home from base. He'd jump in his car and come see me as soon as they let him go! He was always still wearing his camis. Those especially smelled like him. He laughed at the airport when I told him I missed his smell. There was even a bouquet of flowers waiting for me in our apartment! Like I said, it was nice to visit my family but I loved coming home.