she's home

hard to believe another 18 months has gone by.

last week i saw my dear friend becca return home from her mission. she was probably the best dressed sister missionary in the world, and most prepared as well. i loved having a long distance correspondence with someone via letters. i've never been that consistent before and wouldn't trade it for the world.

the year and a half went by treacherously slow and oh so fast at the same time. 18 months ago i was still at byu. 18 months ago we were loving our new townhome in layton. 18 months ago we hadn't lived in belgium. i hadn't worked at my full time job. i wasn't a mother. it's crazy to think how different my life is now from just a year and a half ago. 

 the summer after i graduated high school, becca was gracious enough to let me come live with her in NYC. Up to that point in my life, that summer topped all charts. We lived in an apartment on the upperwest side, 12 blocks from the temple, with a separate bedroom--a high comodity in ny--tiny typical kitchen, and windowsills hosting a view that had us entranced, endlessly peering out at the city below. i'll never forget those windowsills and that view.

we spent our days dancing, sweaty, trying to hit the gym early and failing, giggling, joking, journaling,  studying, exploring the city, blowing our money on clothes, and blowing our burned calories on all the incredible food new york has to offer. mostly we just ate:)

we were able to witness a true conversion, as our dear friend jenna took the missionary discussions and was baptized all in one month. golden investigator. becca was born to share this gospel.

one of the most memorable moments i have with becca came late one night as we were walking home. it started pouring rain. rather than cry about it- we decided to be silly. we had heard it's a good workout to jog backwards. so with ten huge new york blocks left, we half-jogged half-walked backwards out of breath and to the entertainment of every new yorker passerby. we had blistered feet the next day, and practically pulled hamstrings. it was hard. becca's shoes were red and the rain seeped through to permanently stain her feet bright red for a couple of days. it was a hilarious fiasco. from then on we started writing notes to each other backwards in memory of our silly night. i was ram, backwards for mare. and she was ace, backwards for becca. we signed most our letters these past 18 months as ram and ace.

here's to you ace. thanks for teaching me so much about life.