"Welcome home!": Memories new and old

Sitting in church today a sweet sister asked, 

"How was your time away in...(long pause)...where was it you were these last few months?"  

It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who wonders, on most days, where I am.  :)  

I'm thinking a GPS chip might be in order.

These last many weeks have been spent reading and writing here...

 ...in the Library of Congress.  This (above) is the Main Reading Room of the Jefferson building. 

I loved every minute I spent here.  And also every minute that I spent perusing the books here:

...on my very own shelf at the Library of Congress.

Walking the halls of the Library of Congress brought back a flood of memories as an intern on Capitol Hill over a decade ago. So many wonderful memories!!

When not reading and writing, I was lucky enough to take some fun trips that took me down memory lane.  The beautiful thing about being in the same place again (and with the same people!) is that you get to not only remember the awesome adventures from the past, but also relish in making new memories together.

I'll start with Chicago...

Kate and the rest of the Leinweber crew.  I love, LOVE, LOVE the Leinwebers!  

And all the Mormons love the Leinwebers.

This Mormon especially loves Coach Leinweber. 

He is the best of tour guides, I'll tell ya'!  

And an awesome football coach.  Go Westmont!! :)

 I even 'love' the smallest and furriest of the crew: Otto.  (Don't be jealous Fred!)  :)

I feel like an official Leinweber now that I've been given a traditional Leinweber birthday.  

Thank you dear, sweet friends!!

Kate and I also made it out to Fox Lake, an hour outside of Chicago.  Julie and Pat invited us out to their lake house 2 years ago.  They invited us back again this year. Five hours on the lake with Captains J&P and Miss Kate was just what the soul needed.  It didn't hurt, either, to get in some slalom skiing.  Pat is an AWESOME driver.  He knows just how to pull a skier.

And they sure know how to entertain (with a cook out and playing bags)!! And...

...propelling potatoes across the lake!  It was all in the name of a perfectly necessary science experiment (and it was completely legal, of course!).

Kate was kind enough to drive me to church while I was out there. She suggested the 11am service.  After the service, one of the speakers came up to us and introduced herself. We discovered that we have a very close connection: she and my mom served together in Switzerland and France on their LDS missions back in the 1970s. What a SMALL WORLD!!

Can I just say that friendships are among the greatest of blessings in this life?!  I am so, so grateful that my path crossed with Kate's all those many, many years ago in Washington, DC.  Who knew that she'd be a source of such AWESOMENESS at every turn?!

Then there was the BYU vs. Virginia Tech game in Charlottesville.  Dan and I headed down there for the game.  The best parts?  1. tailgating with friends before the game, 

2. the lightning warning that shut down the entire stadium (and delayed the game for a few hours) which meant we ran into tons of people we've known over the years, and 

3. sitting right behind a dear friend of mine, Elizabeth, from our days in Austin.  Really?!  BYU games are like huge family reunions. I had no idea. :)

There were other great memories to be made.  Like game night with special cousins and friends,

 Evening chats with my dear cousin Hanna as we visit places like the MLK Memorial (on the 50th anniversary of MLK's 'I have a dream' speech, no less!)...

and the discovery of 'real' water in the Midway Airport.

And now, as of a few short days ago, I'm back in...

Finland!

This is what greeted me in the airport terminal:

"Welcome home"

The jury's still out as to whether it was the message that made my heart smile, or whether it was that I actually understood the message.  I guess, technically, it had to the latter.  And I'm grateful that it was also, definitely, the former.  

It made my heart smile so big, in fact, that I walked up a flight of stairs to take a picture of the sign as I had passed it on the way down the escalator to collect my baggage.

Finland, in many ways, feels like home.

And this is the view from the kitchen window at the place that I'm lucky enough to call home (for now).  My deepest thanks to my dear friends who have welcomed me into their home and hearts!  I'm excited for the many awesome memories that are to come in this next chapter of life!

I'm grateful for beautiful memories--both new and old.