I don't know if I can say the trip was worth it (I ended up in Utah) but, there were a few parts of the journey I did enjoy. We made a few pit- stops in Illinois that I was oh so grateful for. We spent the first night of our trip, and the following day, at my childhood best friend's new home. That day, we went out onto the lake, that is basically in her back yard, and spent hours floating along, and getting ridiculous tan lines I had, up until that point, successfully avoided getting this summer.
Then, the next day we were off, like a herd of racing turtles, leaving way later than anticipated, and took a detour to Carthage and Nauvoo. I had high expectations for Carthage, and honestly, they weren't met. For those of you who don't know, Carthage, Illinois was where the prophet Joseph Smith was imprisoned, and then murdered. The LDS church owns the property where the jail, in which Joseph died, is located. Anyone is welcome to come visit the site, and see where the prophet was martyred. Because of the sacred nature of the site, I expected to have an extremely spiritual experience. You know, one those of those moments where you just feel the spirit so strongly, and the truth of what you are hearing or seeing or feeling is manifested and confirmed. It didn't happen. And I left feeling slightly disappointed.
Nauvoo was completely different. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The spirit of the place was almost tangible. Walking around the temple and looking out onto the Mississippi River filled me with so much happiness. I found myself hoping we could stay the night there. I just didn't want to leave. I can't imagine how the early members of the church must have felt, when, once again, they were being asked to leave their homes and move. I, after only having been there a small while, didn't want to go. They, after building a beautiful temple, and creating homes and memories, and building the kingdom of God along side their beloved prophet for the last time, must have been heart broken.It's in simple moments like that one, walking around the temple grounds, where I'm reminded how much I love the gospel and am able to feel the truth of it all being testified in the quite, stillness of the place.
That night the trek continued, and we slowly made our way out West. Finally, late Friday night we made it to Utah, and the next morning we moved into our new apartment. It needs a lot of work. But, I'm so grateful we found a place and that Blake and I are finally reunited, with no prospects of being separated again in the near or distant future.
So, I really don't want all my postings to be about my life. I can't imagine it is going to be a very exciting one for now. Blake has work and school, we can now categorize ourselves as poor married college students, and I...well, I still haven't found a job, and as long as I don't have a job, I can't exactly afford to have hobbies. So...I've got nothing. But, I've been feeling that me not having found a job yet is not the most terrible thing in the world. It may, in fact, be a blessing in disguise. And that, my friends, is why I am writing this blog post. I actually have time to write!! And for whatever reason, I feel that I need to have an intro post to the rest of my future blogging. I think I need to be writing. Not about my life, or the sad inconsequential happenings of my day, but about things that matter. We have a work to do, a world to change, confident lives to create, build and empower, and, of course, cute clothing to be worn while doing it.
Stay tuned for more, I've (finally) got the time to dig into what I believe beauty really is. And hopefully together, we can become more confident in ourselves, realize our potential, and a lift a few (or maybe a couple hundred) others up while we are at it.
