I love Harry Potter

While driving 3300 miles, I had one salvation: Harry Potter 6 and 7 on CD. I can't tell you how grateful I am that they made the many hours I spent driving pass quickly enough to be bearable.

Also I got to see HP 7 while in Spring, Texas and I love it. Best HP movie yet. And I'm guess the last one is going to be great as well. My friend Jon and I and a bunch of friends went to the midnight premier. It was fun, and very intense.

I didn't take any pictures in Texas, but I was there, so I thought I'd add their flag. 

It was nice to visit Texas, but I don't plan on driving through Texas, or New Mexico ever again. I'll fly next time, thanks.

New Orleans

New Orleans

The Bed and Breakfast where I stayed

Jackson Square

Yummy tomato soup and sandwich at the American Sector

Just a cool looking wall.

View from the ferry of the New Orleans skyline

French Market

Cafe du Monde where I ate yummy beignets and listened to mediocre street musicians.

Sunny Florida

My next stop was Orlando! Beautiful weather, great friends, and soaking in the sun. How can it get any better?

Lunch on the pier with Bethany. So relaxing, except for the seagulls trying to eat our fries.

Why does anyone live anywhere not warm and sunny in November?

Gotta love the hair, but believe me, I was happy in the sun!

Touring Beautiful Charleston

I loved Charleston. It was my favorite city of the whole road trip.

I stayed in Columbia with my sister-in-law's family. They showed me true southern hospitality. The temple was small, but I got there just as the sun was setting and it was a nice stop.

Suzanne took me on a fun carriage tour in Charleston the next day. Our tour guide was great, and the houses were amazing. It blew my mind that houses that were built in early colonial America could be so extravagant, beautiful, and still worth millions today.

This was my first time having pralines. Oh so good.

We had lunch at the famous Hyman's Seafood. The plaque on the table where I sat reads: Itzak Perlman Ate at This Table.

Original Cobblestone Street

South Carolina has awesome trees

White Point Garden near the Battery. It was a PERFECT afternoon.

The Market

Rainbow Row

Last stop of the day: the beach at sunset

Would have been a nice evening for romance, but alas, I'll just have to be satisfied with a nice sunset picture.

One small step

Things are falling into place! Finally found someone to take my room and sold all the furniture in it. The kids I nanny for have a great new nanny and I have a road trip ahead of me. Still a lot of emotions as I prepare to say goodbye to Sam and Isabella who have been such a constant source of love for the last year and a half (which has been so needed amidst all the heartbreak).

Also not especially looking forward to saying goodbye to all my friends and closing yet another chapter in my life. Still I have a lot of meaningful relationships to go back to in Utah and know that is the right place to be.

Still hoping to find a way into teaching somewhere but realizing what a challenge that will be.

Figuring out one step at a time...

The Master Architect

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but he is building up a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself.

C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity

So I'm about to take a leap of faith. Beginning with a long drive across the country alone. But knowing how wonderfully God has blessed me (see several examples in the post below of how amazing this year and half has been out here in DC) --I'm certain that He will continue to allow miracles to take place in my life.

I am more than content to let God be the architect of my life. He's been doing such a good job, despite my stubborn resistance and the raw materials he must work with. But that is what God does, take the raw materials and form us into sometime greater. I'm turning my life over the Lord, making the conscious decision to trust Him every step of the way, especially when things don't go as planned/wanted/or as I desperately hope they do.

Favorite DC/ East Coast Memories

Boat cruise from old town to Georgetown as the sun set

Halloween masquerade in Boston

Braving Snowmaggedon

A run through the cherry blossoms and Jefferson memorial

A surprising, yet perfect first kiss across near the white house, late at night

Laughing at Sam and Isabella's dismay upon finding out George Washington doesn't live at Mount Vernon anymore: "I don't think George Washington is really dead!" -Isabella

Nanny playdates: zoo, pumpkin patch, museums, parks, Mount Vernon

Shenandoah natural watersides/ camping. So so fun!

Turning 26 in new York: front row wicked and amazing ravioli. (thanks Cody and ericka!!)

Dinner conversations around Lindy's dining room table

Bike rides along the Potomac!

Duck Beach--at least the laying around in the sun part.

Planning parties: Chinese New Year and Bethany's goodbye

Checking off my to see list: Gettysburg, Liberty Hall, Monticello, the sacred grove, fireworks on the mall, terra cotta warriors

Colonial Williamsburg with Mom

Christmas Eve dinner at Mount Vernon

Evenings of revelation in the beautiful Washington DC temple

Laughing, making funny faces, playing in the sun, splashing in the water, eating cookie dough with Sam and Isabella...And getting paid for it

A dozens of different beautiful memories with a dozen different people on the docks in Old Town Alexandria.